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Biden-Netanyahu Ties Tested After Stark U.S. Warning; Israel Qualifies For Eurovision Song Contest Final Despite Protests; Stormy Daniels Faces Blistering Cross Examination By Trump Lawyer; Russia Marks Victory Day As Putin Rails Against West's Arrogance; Biden- Netanyahu Ties Tested after Stark U.S. Warning; Survivors in Doha "Gaza Ward" Struggle with Loss, Recovery; Death Toll Rises from Massive Flooding in Brazil; Bears Take a Splash in California Pool. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 10, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:12]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Digging in and doubling down with the message from Israel's Prime Minister to the U.S. President. You're not the boss of me. And Israel doesn't need U.S. military assistance anyway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just super excited to go on stage once more, and share a bit of my love with everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, that love doesn't go to everyone it seems at this year's Eurovision anti-war protesters booed and (INAUDIBLE) Israel singer, we have very on that of coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex appear to be real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And going low. The star witness at Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York, stormy Daniels cross examined for hours as the defense tries to destroy her credibility. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John
Vause.
VAUSE: The feud between the U.S. president and Israeli prime minister is once again playing out in real time and on full public display. If Joe Biden was hoping a threat to withhold some U.S. weapons, would force Israel to rethink plans for a major military offensive on the southern Gaza City of Rafah.
He should think again, a day after President Biden made that threat during an exclusive interview on CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on the Dr. Phil Show, and strongly implied without those U.S. weapons, Israel would be defenseless. That is not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: You can't talk about Israel's right of self-defense and then oppose Israel using it. You can't say we agree that Hamas has to be destroyed, and then oppose Israel when it sets out to destroy Hamas.
Are we going to succumb to the hypocrisy? Are we going to basically remain defenseless, and not destroy the Hamas terrorist army there? Because if we do not destroy them, if we leave them alone, they'll come back. They'll emerge from the tunnels, they'll take over Gaza again. And they'll do what they promised to do. They said, we'll do it. We'll do October 7, this enormous massacre, again, and again and again. So we have no choice.
I've known Joe Biden for many years or 40 years and more. You know, we often had a grievance, but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And within President Biden's own party, where his support for Israel has caused months of internal divisions, those divides remain. Some Democrats loudly questioning or criticizing others applauding the new tough stance on Israel as a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have falsely accused the Biden administration of abandoning Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM COTTON, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: Joe Biden's de facto position is for a Hamas victory over Israel.
ELIZABETH WARREN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: The President has made clear by his actions that all U.S. military aid is conditioned. In this case, Prime Minister Netanyahu has created a humanitarian disaster and he will be held accountable for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: As Israel presses on with its military operation in Rafah, U.S. officials say ceasefire negotiations are on hold. Sources say Hamas is demanding Israel agree upfront to an initial 12-week hold in fighting rather than six weeks, which was discussed earlier. And before any of the Israeli hostages are released. That is a nonstarter for Israel.
The White House has been doubling down on its warning. We get more now from CNN Arlette Saenz reporting in from the White House.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House has shown no signs of backing down from President Biden's warning that the U.S. could withhold some aid for Israel if it loose forward with a full scale invasion into Rafah.
The President made these comments in an interview with our colleague Erin Burnett and officials here at the White House were quick to stress that what the President told Erin in public is what he's been conveyed privately to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials for months now.
They are not trying to walk back these comments and officials argue that it should come as no surprise to the Israelis. But the President's decision to go public with this ultimatum was no easy decision. It comes after months of phone calls between Biden and Netanyahu months of meetings between top national security officials here in the U.S. and their counterparts in Israel as the U.S. was trying to make clear that any major invasion into Rafah would not done with the aid of American weapons.
[01:05:12]
This week, President Biden or last week I should say the President put a pause on a shipment of some type of weapons, including as of 2,000 bought pound bombs for Israel. And the White House has said that going forward, it's still a hypothetical that the potential withholding of additional weapons will depend on the route that Israel decides to take when it comes to launching an operation into Rafah.
Now, this move and comment from President Biden really drives fierce pushback from multiple sectors. You have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has who has said it's a mistake to withhold this initial shipment that was put on pause. You have lawmakers up on Capitol Hill who are arguing that the President is walking away from Israel, that is something that the White House pushed very forcefully against in comments with reporters on Thursday, they tried to stress that the President will continue to provide Israel with the weaponry they need to defend themselves.
But it's certain type of weapons that they do not want to see us in a potential Rafah invasion that could have a wide impact on civilians in the region there. But certainly, this will now be a key test going forward as the White House is watching very closely, the moves that Netanyahu decides to launch that full operation into Rafah.
So far, officials say that what they've seen is just limited in scope. And it also will be a test of whether President Biden sticks to his warning to Netanyahu something that has really drawn a lot of pushback around the world. Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN's Paula Hancocks now joins us from Abu Dhabi. So Paula, we all know by now where Benjamin Netanyahu stands on this thread by Joe Biden to withhold some U.S. weapons. What are other saying about this in Israel? what's been the reaction there beyond the Prime Minister?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, both privately and publicly, Israeli officials have, in some cases, been surprised by what Mr. Biden said to Erin Burnett, which the White House has said that they shouldn't be because this has been flagged to them, they have been warned that this could be the case if they were to go ahead with a major ground offensive in Rafah, but there certainly has been some frustration and some anger, a feeling that the U.S. is really disregarding and abandoning Israel at a moment of need.
And we've also heard from the military side, that actually this won't change much of the ground, they have what they need, in order to carry out this this offensive. At this point, let's see what the spokesperson from the IDF had to say.
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REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The IDF has armaments for the missions it plans. And we also have enough weaponry to complete our mission in Rafah. I say this here in the context of everything that came up with the United States and it is important to say it, the United States has helped us in an unprecedented manner since the start of the war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: And he's pointing there to the fact that that the U.S. has supplied significant amount of aid security assistance arms to Israel, since October 7, just at the end of April, there was a $26 billion security assistance package that passed.
And so Israel says that it is in in a good position to be able to carry this out anyway, it doesn't appear at this point as though they're being swayed by the argument. In fact, we heard from the defense minister, Yoav Gallant saying that the Israeli forces cannot be subdued.
We are hearing consistently certainly from the more right wing elements of the capitalist as well, that this is an offensive that simply has to be done in order to beat Hamas. John.
VAUSE: So Paula, we know from Netanyahu that the Rafah offensive will continue as planned. And so it is right now, what's the latest on that? And also what do we know about evacuations from the crossfire to say stones for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Rafah?
HANCOCKS: Only if you can imagine, John, it's a very fluid situation at the moment. You potentially have between a million and 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering in just this area of Rafah. UNRWA, the U.N. team on the ground in in Gaza say that they believe about 80,000 people have fled this area of Rafah. You have the IDF saying that they believe about 150,000 have left Eastern Rafah, this is where the evacuation orders were dropped on Monday.
But certainly we can even see from satellite images.
[01:10:00]
The number of tents and shelters makeshift shelters that have been moved is a significant amount. It's visible to the eye from these satellite images, but the areas where these people are having to go Al Mawasi, for example, this is an area along the coast, it's about maybe five miles, nine kilometers from Eastern Rafah itself.
It is -- the conditions there we're hearing from the U.N. are inhumane, it's not fit to be able to cope with more people and you have one of the largest hospitals in eastern Rafah as well the el- Masha (ph) which is now having to relocate, they're trying to build a makeshift facility in the central part of the city, which they say is obviously far more limited from what was already limited in eastern Rafah.
So the situation on the ground is extremely difficult for people who are trying to get out of harm's way. And of course bear in mind the people that are still in Rafah are the more vulnerable. Those who could leave earlier who had transport, who had somewhere to go, they did leave earlier.
So these really are the most vulnerable that are left here. They have no transports fuel is scarce. And it is really a very dire situation we're hearing from aid groups on the ground. John.
VAUSE: And it continues to get more dire though today, it seems. Paula Hancocks on the line from Abu Dhabi, thank you for the update.
Donald Trump's gag order does not cover criticizing the judge overseeing his criminal trial in New York. And so he did on day 14 after a defense motion for a mistrial was dismissed. Another defense request to allow Trump to speak publicly about witness Stormy Daniels also denied which must be like other pure torture for Mr. Trump out of the adult film star finish days of damning testimony. CNN's Paula Reid has details.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump continuing to fight back.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There's no case should have never been brought out.
REID (voice-over): As his hush money trial entered its 14th day. His team attacking Stormy Daniels credibility in a tense cross examination. You have a lot of experience of making phony stories about sex appear to be real, defense attorney Susan Necheles said. Wow, Daniels replied with a pause. That's not how I would put it. The sex in the films is very much real. Just like what happened to me in that room.
Necheles asked Daniels if she made up the story with Trump. If that story was untrue, I would have written it to be a lot better, Daniels shot back. The defense zeroing in on small inconsistencies in the details of Daniels' story hoping to undermine her credibility with the jury. Your story has completely changed, Necheles said. Daniels in a raised voice replied, no, you're trying to make me say that it changed but it hasn't changed.
And then they questioned Daniels' earlier testimony that she felt powerless in Trump's hotel room you acted and had sex and over 200 porn movies, Necheles said. But according to you seeing a man sitting on a bed and a T-shirt and boxer shorts was so upsetting that you got lightheaded. This wasn't the first time in your life someone made a pass at you.
Daniels replied no, but it's the first time they had a bodyguard standing outside the door adding Trump was twice her age and bigger than her. When pressed, Daniels explained, my own insecurities made me feel that way. He did not put his hands on me. He did not give me any sort of drugs or alcohol and he did not hold a weapon or hold me or threatened me. Necheles also highly critical of how Daniels' profited off the encounter, even calling out her strip club tour, Make America Horny Again.
Daniels responded, I did not name that tour and I fought it tooth and nail. But Necheles said Daniels has made nearly $1 million from a book deal, documentary and selling products on her website. You're celebrating the indictment by selling things from your store, right, Necheles pressed. Daniels quipped, not unlike Mr. Trump. Trump frowned as photos of the various merchandise were shown before the court.
Daniels defended herself by saying she did an interview with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes for free.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Did you want to have sex with him?
STORMY DANIELS, FORMER ADULT FILM STAR: No. But I didn't. I didn't say no, I'm not a victim.
REID (voice-over): The prosecution later calling two witnesses who were involved in Trump's business, a junior bookkeeper at the Trump Organization, and Madeleine Westerhout, the former director of Trump's Oval Office operations. She confirmed evidence that supports a key part of the prosecution's timeline and email setting up a February 2017 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Michael Cohen, which Cohen has claimed was to discuss reimbursement for Daniels' hush money payment.
REID: Prosecutors are expected to call several more witnesses briefly to help them bring in some evidence ahead of the testimony of Michael Cohen, the man whose testimony is really likely to decide this case.
Possible, Cohen could start on Friday but more likely prosecutors are going to want to bring him in first thing Monday, and he's expected to be on the stand for at least a week. Paula Reid, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
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VAUSE: Ahead here on CNN, as we do shipments of U.S. weapons slowly reached the Ukrainian frontlines, Russian forces apparently ramping up attacks, making the most of Ukraine's ammunition deficit would it last.
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VAUSE: The senior bodyguard for the Ukrainian president has been fired over alleged involvement in a high level assassination plot. Two senior officers from Ukraine State Guard Service have already been detained. They were reportedly working with Russia's FSB to kill President Zelenskyy and other senior officials within the government.
And Western intelligence believes Russia now sees a window of opportunity and will ramp up attacks on Ukraine ahead of the arrival of more U.S. military assistance, which was a Russian troops will actually try to make progress and consolidate recent gains on the frontlines.
U.S. aid was approved last month but it took months before it was approved by Congress and will take longer yet to actually reach the soldiers on the front lines.
Well, Russia has marked the most important day of its political calendar, the anniversary of its victory over Nazi Germany.
Thursday's Victory Day celebrations ended with fireworks even though the events were scaled down this year. But as CNN's Clare Sebastian reports, President Vladimir Putin did not dial back his verbal onslaught on Ukraine's allies.
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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid unseasonal snow flurries, Russian President Vladimir Putin using this moment to turn up the heat in his war of words with the West, accusing it of distorting history.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Revancheism, mockery of history and the desire to justify the current followers of the Nazis are part of the general policy of Western elites to form new regional conflicts.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Putin's third victory days since his full scale invasion of Ukraine another opportunity, but his own brand of factual distortion. Painting the war in Ukraine as the sequel to Russia's role in defeating Nazi Germany, portraying the West as the aggressor, justifying unimaginable losses under the banner of patriotism.
PUTIN (voice-over): Russia is going through a difficult period. The fate of our motherland depends on every one of us. SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Soldiers fresh from the frontlines in Russia's so called special military operation also treading the damp cobbles of Red Square, and yet this year, victory seems more attainable.
Russia now has the advantage on Ukraine's front lines, gains on the Eastern Front in recent months, that biggest in more than a year and a half.
[01:20:00]
Moscow confident enough to show off a selection of Battlefield trophies, European and American tanks and armored vehicles part of a month long exhibition at Moscow's Victory Park.
At home, Putin now two days into his fifth time is more powerful than ever, and he wants the world to know it.
PUTIN (through translator): Russia will do everything to avoid a global confrontation. But at the same time, we will not let anyone threaten us. Our Strategic Forces are always combat ready.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): It was a measured nuclear threat because ballistic missiles rolled across red squares. Putin casually coordinated plans for upcoming non-strategic nuclear exercises with close allied Belarus, both leaders emphasizing this is just routine training.
Well, Western leaders no longer join Russia in marking this shared victory. Putin knows they are watching. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: To Brisbane, Australia now and joining us is retired Major General Mick Ryan, former commander of the Australian College Defense College. General Ryan, Good to have you with us, sir. Thank you for being with us.
MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): Good day, John. It's good to see you.
VAUSE: Thank you. So it seems, well, U.S. weapons are actually being shipped and they are arriving in Ukraine, getting those weapons to where they're needed on the frontlines since we're here much longer than many thought that would be the case.
So when we look at this window of opportunity that everyone talks about the Russians now having, is it a matter of weeks, is a matter of months? What's the timeline here?
RYAN: Well, John, I think the Russians have had a window of opportunity probably since Christmas last year, ever since the culmination and failure of Ukrainian counter-offensive, the Russians knew they had an opportunity. And that was magnified by the ongoing debate in Congress over many months about support to Ukraine.
So they've had been exploiting an opportunity for several months now. But the Russians have identified is that window of opportunity will now be closing with the influx of more American aid.
VAUSE: So when you think it'll close what timeline we're talking here?
RYAN: Well, I'd like to think it'll close tomorrow, but I think we're weeks away from a large amount of artillery ammunition and air defense munitions arriving in Ukraine. And whilst artillery munitions are very important, it is the air defense munitions that appear to be the most compelling need for Ukraine at the moment.
VAUSE: CNN is reporting that in recent weeks, Russia has thrown vast resources at weak Ukrainian defenses across the eastern front lines, pushing towards three key points, a vital military hub of Pokrovsk, west of Avdiivka, strategic heights of Chasiv Yar, which is near Bakhmut, and Kurakov in the south east.
So that's in recent weeks, what have the Russians actually been doing for the rest of the time? You know, the months when the Ukrainians were low on ammunition? They did take a few small villages about 75 square kilometers of territory, but it was nothing no sort of sort of strategic gains in that period of time.
RYAN: No, I think that's a great point, John. But even when they've had the Ukrainian somewhat on their needs, the Russians still aren't able to make very significant breakthroughs. They have made gains, as you point out about 75 square kilometers, but they haven't been able to make those really significant breakthroughs.
And unless they really step up their operations in these three areas or on a new access to the northeast, it's very difficult to see how they might do that in the near future.
VAUSE: Well, if the Ukrainians can hold the line, you know, for the short term, and then in the coming months, we still combat effectiveness, as well as for what the 10-year brigades, which is the plan right now. I know there's a lot of ifs. But if that all comes together, can they mount an effective counter offensive sometime later this year?
RYAN: I think a counter offensive towards the end of this year would be very difficult to mount even if they were able to form those new brigades and need to train them. As we saw in the lead up to the 2023 counteroffensive forming brigades and having them combat efficient are two very different things. I think the Ukrainians and NATO have learned that lesson, and it's probably best to defend prepare these organizations well and look at offensive operations early in 2025.
VAUSE: We all know (INAUDIBLE) we're being told by Ukrainian defense official that a Russian oil refinery, deep inside Russian territory was actually hit by Ukrainian drone, which flew almost 1,000 miles, 1,500 kilometers to get there. The furthest aid (ph) drone has flown so far in this conflict. What will be the impact on Russia beyond the immediate damage to that refinery?
RYAN: Well, I think Russia will be looking at how it defends these refineries. It's been hit now for several months, it will be looking at drone defenses and it has shown the ability to adapt and improve its drone defenses. So at some point, it will probably be able to defend these refineries better, but that will take away from the efforts in Ukraine.
VAUSE: General Ryan, thanks for being with us, sir. We appreciate your insights. Appreciate your time, as always, thank you.
RYAN: Thanks, John. Good to see you.
[01:25:00]
VAUSE: The Eurovision Song Contest is usually a global kumbaya moment of unity harmony and just a touch of weirdness. But now it's just another staging ground at scenes for dueling protests over Israel's war with Hamas.
Israeli singer Eden Golan has made it through to Saturday's Grand Final, after her performance at Thursday's semifinal, a performance though not without controversy. Thousands of demonstrators in Malmo, Sweden, which is hosting this year's contest came out in support of against Israel being allowed to compete.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the protests and the surrounding controversy in his message of support to singer Eden Golan.
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NETANYAHU (through translator): Eden, I would like to wish you success. You know what, we have already succeeded. Because you are not only taking on Eurovision and a proud and very impressive manner, you are also contending successfully with an ugly wave of antisemitism and representing the state of Israel with enormous honor. So may you be blessed with success and know that when they blew you, we are cheering you on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Malmo, Sweden is Michael Idato, culture editor-at-large. We're going to give me that title over the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age. It is good to see you, Michael. I guess we might too long.
MICHAEL IDATO:, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALND AND THE MELBOURNE AGE: Good morning, John. Hi.
VAUSE: I'm well Thanks, mate. So when it comes to Eurovision, right, either you love it or you hate it, but you can't ignore it. So, from here --
IDATO: I think --
VAUSE: So just tell me where does the culture music go over the Israeli participation? How does it play itself out from this point?
IDATO: Look, I think, I mean, the thing that's going on here, obviously, is that your Europeans preference is for in apolitical environment. That's kind of what they declare the contest to be. I think the reality is that any situation when you put almost 40 countries in one room, it's kind of naturally political. I think it's an inescapable part of this, it seems to kind of, and it certainly comes up much more frequently than it did perhaps 10, 20 or 30 years ago.
The other thing is that the event itself is considered kind of a tool of soft diplomacy. And I think when you're in the realm of soft diplomacy, anyone who's a practitioner of soft diplomacy will tell you that hard diplomacy does occasionally come knocking at your door. You know, I think the reality is, this protest is real, the debate is ongoing. They're struggling to keep politics off the stage. And that may be all they can do.
I think they certainly can't shut down the political discussion, kind of around the event, which is not what I think they're trying to do. I think their mission really is just to keep the stage about a music competition.
VAUSE: Contain it and get through Saturday, and then be done with it. I guess. That's it.
IDATO: I mean, you come back next year.
VAUSE: The running order for the grand final was published or posted online, just a few hours ago, Sweden will be the opening act, notably, Israel is at number six, just ahead of the Netherlands.
And then literally moments after that list was on Instagram came the comments. After the Netherlands we had toilet break. Then a few comments after that one, please vote for Croatia. This is the only hope that Israel does not win. I don't think anyone wants that.
You know, it's all pretty tame, you know, in the most part of it, you know, it seems like the big controversy is over Ukraine appearing as the second act, and Croatia way down at 23. So I'm just wondering here, do these things sort of ebb and flow, which the controversy of the moment and people just move on?
IDATO: Look, I think that I mean, you know, that sort of running list is considered kind of super important, in actual fact, come in quite early in the running order of Eurovision is strategically not great. I think that history kind of the historical or the traditional strategy is that you kind of want your country to perform as close to the end of the show, and the opening the votes as possible.
Because I think the idea is that, you know, your country is kind of fresh in the memory of people who are voting. It's -- look, yes, it's kind of a weird, dynamic. To some extent, this is all kind of going on in a bubble, it's very difficult to punch it because you have this -- the arena is sort of, on the edge of Malmo, the protests are in the center of the city. Most of the delegations from the various European countries are staying in hotels, but in large groups,
I'm in a hotel with 17 delegations in the one hotel and security checkpoints at reception and kind of, you know, so it's sort of -- the degree to which that outside conversation, punctures through is kind of hard to measure.
I think what's going on, though, is there are two distinct conversations. I think on social media, you kind of have this volatile group of Eurovision fans who are making really specific comments, like the comments that you're quoting, I don't think that the protests is in the center of the city, who are kind of driving a more general political message.
I kind of having those conversations. I think the protests in the city are very much driven by capitalizing on the audience. This is a television event with approximately 160 million viewers worldwide. And I think, you know, their thinking or their strategy is to kind of take their protests, their narrative or the message they're trying to kind of bring forward and put it in the sort of in the most exposed space that they can place it which is obviously what they're doing.
[01:30:09]
VAUSE: Yes, you mentioned this that--
[01:29:44]
MICHAEL IDATO, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD AND THE MELBOURNE AGE: I think the protests in the city are very much driven by capitalizing on the audience. This is a television event with approximately 160 million viewers worldwide.
And I think their thinking or their strategy is to kind of take their protest in narrative or the message they're trying to bring forward and put it in the most exposed space that they can place it, which is obviously what they're doing.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. You mentioned this that organizers tried to portray all of this as being apolitical which is why Al Jazeera reported in February, European Broadcasting Union, EBU rejected Israel's a song called "October Rain" on the grounds of reference to the victims of October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel and was therefore too political.
And you know, this is the thing, the reality over the years appear to be quite the opposite. I mean certainly during the 90s when the former Soviet republics were gaining independence, enjoying Eurovision, that was sort of like a big political moment in many ways. Russia was banned a couple of years ago, Turkey has been banned,
Greece boycotted. I mean, it's been a place for protested political controversy since the get-go.
IDATO: It kind of has, and look, the thing is, you know, when you look at the history of Eurovision, it was created after the Second World War when hilariously coaxial cable, which is very antique technology now, was laid across Europe and they wanted to create something to kind of capitalize on this new tech that they had.
And the song contest was seen as a kind of opportunity to kind of create a harmonious environment in the aftermath of war. I think that the kind of inconsistency that we're grappling with right now is Eurovision's focus is on the stage. Their position is we can control the song, we can control the lyrics, we can, you know, we can create barriers to stop political messaging being used in that way.
The challenge they have is you're quite right. Historically, it's incredibly inconsistently applied. You know, Russia obviously was asked not to participate in the wake of what happened in -- is happening in the Ukraine and Belarus was expelled in the same year because there was a perception that -- and a lot of this is driven by national broadcasters -- there was a perception that Belarus's national broadcaster was not reporting that war objectively.
So you know, they make these decisions and that brings politics to their door. I think they're sort of -- they're not even really winnable situation. I think it's kind of -- it's kind of no-win for them if they do nothing, particularly in this case, to expel Israel would have been an overtly political act. To let them stay in the competition has been seen as an overtly political act.
And so I think their position is that it's kind of lose-lose, and they're trying to navigate it as best they can. I mean, in the arena last night, there was --- there was booing. I mean, there's a ticketed guests who have purchased tickets to come in and watch the Eurovision semifinals and final.
And when Israel took to the stage, there was a lot of applause, but there was booing. There was free Palestine chants. So you know, there's a lot -- I think they're just I suspect you're trying to just to get through this song contest and you know, and kind of look forward.
VAUSE: Yes. The cheering, the jeering, and the booing. I mean, just not cool, people, not very cool at all.
You know, have a protest by all means, but you know, let performers perform.
VAUSE: Michael Idato, so good to see you. Thank you for your time.
IDATO: Good to see you John.
VAUSE: -- your report and yes, nice to see you. It's been a while. Take care. We'll take a short break. When we come, the children of Gaza, despite having nothing to do with the war in their homeland, they're now paying the highest price of all. Many are now being treated in hospitals in other countries. We'll have their stories in a moment.
[01:33:13]
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
As Israel's military ramps up its offensive on Rafah, the U.N. believes about 80,000 people have now fled the city in southern Gaza since Tuesday.
The Israel Defense Forces puts the number higher though at 150,000. The IDF warning people to evacuate eastern Rafah earlier this week. On Thursday, Israel sent more tanks and troops to the Gaza border. And U.S. President Joe Biden earlier threatened to withhold some us weapons if Israel continues on with this plan for a major offensive on Rafah.
The IDF says it already has all it needs in terms of weapons and material for the Rafah operation.
Joining us now from Tel Aviv is Israel's former New York Consul General, Alon Pinkas. Mr. Ambassador, thank you for being with us, Sir.
ALON PINKAS, ISRAEL'S FORMER NEW YORK CONSUL GENERAL YORK: Thank you, John.
Good to be with you. Good morning.
VAUSE: Thank you. Good morning.
The last time we spoke, it was about Netanyahu and his motivation for dragging out the war in Gaza.
You'd written an op-ed for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz with the headline, "King Midas in Reverse"; the sub-headline, "Diplomatically, Israel had everything going for it in its war in Gaza against Hamas after October 7 then Netanyahu's hubris, mismanagement and disingenuous incompetence took over."
That seems just as relevant now when talking about the harm done to the relationship between Israel and its most important ally, the United States.
So how can it be fixed and how long will it take?
PINKAS: Well, I'm happy -- I'm happy you mentioned that article, John, because now I can re-submit it based on your recommendations instead of working hard writing a new one. Listen I have to add one -- well, from a different article, but that's
not the issue. Since November; since in fact later October, Mr. Netanyahu has been actively and deliberately seeking confrontation with Mr. Biden.
He thinks it's good for his narrative that this is a Palestinian state trying to be super imposed on Israel but more importantly, he's trying to project ineptness and failure on Biden.
So now he has the almost perfect opportunity to say I was on the precipice. I was on the verge of a major victory, topping Hamas, but look what stopped me -- Joe Biden.
Now back to your question. How could these be fixed? The short answer, John is, it cannot be. In the last year relations between Netanyahu and Joe Biden -- President Joe Biden have become untenable and unfixable.
So yes, you know, it could be mitigated. We could iron out some differences. The arms shipments may resume, provided that there's no large-scale attack in Rafah.
But the basic, the fundamental differences of approach will remain and Mr. Netanyahu's credibility that is in Washington is only growing.
VAUSE: You know, (INAUDIBLE) with Washington though are nothing new for Netanyahu, especially when the president is a Democrat but Biden was always a bit different. He once described a photograph, he give it to Netanyahu saying he wrote on it "Bibi, I don't agree with a damn thing you say, but I love you," you know, days after October 7, Biden flew to Tel Aviv to give Netanyahu a hug.
You know, until a couple of months ago, U.S. support for Israels even almost without limit. So to sell (ph) that sort of relationship, it seems Netanyahu must have gone the extra mile. And was this just purely because of politics. Was there anything else at play here?
PINKAS: No. Its only -- its 100 percent unadulterated cynical politics. And more to the point, the politics of survival. Mr. Netanyahu was responsible and should be held accountable for the debacle and the catastrophe of October 7.
He's trying to save his political career. There are criminal charges against him in an ongoing trial awaiting after the war ends. And so not even going into that dimension just in terms of managing the war, he is prolonging it and trying to keep a tension going on with Washington only for his self-preservation.
[01:39:42]
PINKAS: Now, don't forget one other thing, John in the nine months from January 2023 until September 2023 Mr. Netanyahu was not invited to the White House because of the constitutional coup that he instigated.
So yes, he knows Biden for 40 years, but here's the thing. Biden knows him for 40 years as well. And that maybe therein lies the problem.
VAUSE: It's a good point.
We should note however, this, you know, threat about withholding weapons, it's not a done deal, it is still just a threat, which I guess in theory means the door is still open for Netanyahu to walk back from this military offensive in Rafah. Is he capable of doing that? Is that even possible?
PINKAS: He has to. He has to. Look here's the thing. I mean, let's cleanse the demagoguery and the pontification that Mr. Netanyahu used in his interview with Dr. Phil last night. All the U.S. did was condition one shipment of aid on developments in Rafah and said that it will not send offensive weapons in the event that Israel launches a grand or a large-scale operation.
That, you know, we all tend to look at this as dramatic, which it is because its public and the president said it in his own voice to Erin Burnett on your network on CNN.
But practically this is the same president that two weeks ago approved over $40 billion in aid to Israel. This is a president who just four days ago signed a special $827 million worth of arms, of munitions shipments to Israel.
So yes, in terms of the rhetoric and the public policy, this is dramatic, but practically Israel is quite safe, is still getting arms from the us and quite capable of defending itself.
So all this, you know, pontification and righteous indignation that you see come on, this is -- this is -- this is cynical politics, no one should take this seriously.
That is a good point to finish.
Ambassador Pinkas, thank you so much for being with us, sir. We really appreciate your time.
PINKAS: Thank you, John. Good to be with you.
VAUSE: Right now, it's believed 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza, another 70 wounded each day on average since the war began, 20,000 are now orphans. Those numbers are at best an approximate estimation.
Precise numbers may never really be known as to how many were killed, how many were wounded in this war. Suffice to say, the toll has been immense and tragic, made even more so by Gaza's collapsed health system which means some of the more seriously hurt are now being sent far from home to other countries for treatment.
Jomana Karadsheh reports now from Doha. And a warning: her report contains some graphic and sad images.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Behind every door is a story of what war has taken and what it has left, shattered lives, broken bodies, and tortured souls.
This is the "Gaza Ward" at Qatar's Hamad Hospital, where you find just some of this war's countless critically-injured. Some would say they're the lucky ones who barely escaped death, and the hellhole Gaza and its hospitals have become.
DR. HASAN ABUHEJLEH, CONSULTANT ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: Hamad had a very severe injury. From the injury, he had an above-knee amputation on one side, and a below-knee amputation on the other side.
KARADSHEH: Most patients spent months with open wounds and arrived here with drug-resistant infections making their cases even harder to treat.
ABUHEJLEH: I've been working in orthopedics around 20, 21 years and the kind of injuries, the severity of the injuries, the types of bone loss and infections we faced with the Gaza patients are beyond whatever I've seen before.
KARADSHEH: But even those who have lost so much have found solace in having their children safe and by their side.
Raneem sits alone in her hospital bed. No one by her side. The vacant look in the eyes of a woman who's seen death.
KARADSHEH: It was on October 24th as Khan Younis was under Israeli bombardment. Raneem then eight months pregnant was in bed, cradling her 1-year-old son, Azus (ph) to sleep.
RANEEM HIJAZI, CRITICALLY INJURED IN GAZA (through translator): I had a feeling something bad was going to happen, so I held him tighter. Whatever happens to me happens to him. You don't feel the strike itself. You just open your eyes and you're under the rubble.
I woke up screaming. I was feeling around to find my son. Suddenly my mother-in-law came screaming, Azus (ph). She found him over my belly. She picked him up. His body was in her hands, and his head dropped onto my belly.
KARADSHEH: When Raneem got to hospital, they thought she was dead. Her baby girl was delivered by C-section.
HIJAZI: They delivered her, and as she took her first breath, I came back to life.
[01:44:47]
KARADSHEH: With an amputated arm and serious injuries to her legs, Raneem couldn't even hold her baby girl before she was evacuated out of Gaza.
Her daughter is now in Egypt. She's watched her grow in photos. Baby Meriem (ph) now is as old as this war. Raneem says most days, not even her daughter is giving her the will to
live anymore.
HIJAZI: It's over. Life has ended. There's no more joy. I shut my eyes, and all the memories overwhelm me. I saw the baby formula I used for my son, and I felt I was dying.
And it was just baby formula. You can only imagine what happens when I see his picture, or videos, or his toys, or his clothes. The pain will never go away.
We give birth only to lose them.
KARADSHEH: Every woman we spoke to in this ward has lost a child. Some more. Shahed married the love of her life, Ali, a 26-year-old university professor. When the war started, she was seven months pregnant with their first child.
SHAHED ALQUTATI, CRITICALLY INJURED IN GAZA: A week before the war, we bought everything for the baby, every clothes, every single t-shirts, pink, pink, pink, pink.
KARADSHEH: On October 11th, a blast hit their home. Ali and Shahed found themselves on the street. Shahed lost her leg; Ali both legs and his arm. They called out each other's names before they were rushed to a hospital, but Ali didn't make it. Two days later, their baby girl they had named Sham (ph) arrived into this world, lifeless.
ALQUTATI: It's really hard, very hard, because this is like, my everything, you know, my everything. This is my everything suddenly disappeared.
KARADSHEH: Shahed's nightmare didn't end here. She was one of hundreds of patients trapped in Shifa Hospital when it came under Israeli siege. Like other patients forced out, her father had to push her on a wheelchair for hours to get to Rafah.
ALQUTATI: When we reached Rafah, like my injury was all infections, like the hospitals is not too clean to go in it. If I want to go to the hospital, it will -- I will die.
KARADSHEH: Despite everything she's gone through, a resilient Shahed somehow still smiles.
ALQUTATI: No one will feel the pain here. Like I'm -- with my -- with the people strong, happy, like laughing. But when I'm, like, alone, I feel something painful here. I cannot be healed from that.
KARADSHEH: In every corner of this ward, a story of pain and grief. Too many for us to tell. The journey to recovery for the few who make it out begins here. But how does anyone ever heal from this?
Jomana Karadsheh, CNN -- Doha.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Entire neighborhoods under water, dozens of people still missing. When we come back, Brazil's flooding disaster and the latest on what's being done to help so many left with so little.
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VAUSE: Weeks of rain and rising floodwaters in Brazil have left more than 100 people dead, affected more than 1.5 million people. More than 130 remain unaccounted for and perhaps worst of all, more rain is in the forecast.
CNN's Dario Klein reports now from Brazil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARIO KLEIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind me, you can see Route BR-101. This is almost the only way you can get to Rio Grande do Sul. The ground zero, the disaster zone that has been flooded almost entirely and where more than 1 million and a half people have been affected because of these floods.
And in this road, you can see mainly people going out of Rio Grande do Sul, but also some people going in. Journalists like us that we are trying to get there.
But you can only see these trucks, this type of truck. This is normal people, regular people. We just spoke with them. That they are taking supplies for the people in Porto Alegre.
They are taking mainly water, food, clothes. And they are taking all types of things that is being needed there where more than 100,000 people is living in shelters, going out of their homes and all their jobs, their commerce, their stores are being affected because of the water.
The government also is taking -- the army is taking their supplies there. And we'll see what we find when we get there. We hope to get there before it gets night.
There's a forecast of more rain for today, tomorrow, until the weekend, and that's why the authorities are asking people to stay, not to go back still to their homes, to find whatever still is left of their homes in Rio Grande do Sul.
Dario Klein from Santa Catarina, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: An update now, on the horse stranded on a roof, we've mentioned on yesterday's program, this also happening in Brazil's flood.
Well now, the horse has been rescued by the military in Sao Paolo. The horse was sedated before being put on a boat as part of the rescue. It's one of more than 2,000 animals reportedly saved from the rising waters.
A little bit of good news after (ph) the bad.
Parts of Southeast Asia are coping with record-breaking heat. Some calling it a blast furnace every groups like Save the Children and UNICEF say more than 33 million children have been impacted by this.
Temperatures in Cambodia 38 degrees Celsius in April. That's pretty hot. Children have had to deal with unprecedented setbacks due to a blistering conditions like sudden school closures, canceled classes, disrupted activities.
Dangerous heat wave also hitting Bangladesh, causing schools across the country also to shut down.
The goal is to help people with paraplegia regain movement. But Neuralink's first test subject has developed problems.
The brain chip implant startup revealed the issue on Wednesday. In January the trial patient had a device surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls intentional movement. Since then, some of its connective threads have detached from the patient's brain hindering the implants data speed and effectiveness.
The company which is led by Elon Musk, will need broader regulatory approval before hitting the broader market, which means consumers will not have widespread access to the technology any time soon.
I think we said that at the time.
We'll be back in a moment.
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VAUSE: Well in California, a family of bears have made themselves home in someone else's home. The owners have a certain fondness for the bears, but sharing their pool. Well, it's a little unbearable, maybe even hard to bear.
As Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's a bear pool party in a people pool, but the owners don't bear a grudge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely the bears swim in the pool three to five times a week.
MOOS: A mama bear, they call Maddie, and her two cubs are regular guests these days at the home of Ricky Martinez and Brian Gordon in the foothills of Los Angeles County.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've killed unicorns, dinosaurs. MOOS: Like this inflatable unicorn. But after a young bear dragged it into the pool, well, this is how it ended. The bears have destroyed at least five or six floaties, not to mention the floating pool lights they've chewed up. They've lifted and licked the fryer, climbed the big tree.
Maddie has used it as a back scratcher. When a delivery of patio furniture arrived, a bear tried to open it.
When the guys first moved in a year and a half ago, they were a little nervous. But now --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love living with them.
MOOS: -- the humans could feel like they're the ones being observed in a zoo, especially when bears get right up against the glass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see how long their claws are.
MOOS: And then stand up like a person. The guests of this pool party have been known to not just play with the chlorinator, but to actually run away with it.
To replace the slaughtered unicorns, the guys opted for a bear inflatable. And if the bears eat their own, well, the owners plan to just grin and bear it.
Jeannie Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll give him props if he makes it to next week.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: That truly was unbearably cute, wasn't it? Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
It may be unbearable, but I will be back with more news in just a moment.
You're watching CNN.
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