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CNN International: Israel-U.S. Relations Strained as Rafah Braces for Assault; Numerous Obstacles in Getting Aid Delivered to Gaza; Some Protesters Demand Israel's Disqualification from Eurovision; Stormy Daniels Wraps Testimony After Combative Cross- Examination in Hush Money Trial; Brazil Grapples with Massive Deadly Floods. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 10, 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)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eurovision is not political. It has always been political. And it will always be a failed excuse.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm innocent and I'm being held in this court with a corrupt judge who's totally conflicted. Take a look at his conflict. It's a disgrace to the city of New York, to the state of New York, and to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It's Friday, May the 10th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Israel, where there's outrage and indignation over President Joe Biden's public ultimatum to Israel that it'll get fewer weapons from the U.S. if it launches a major assault on Rafah.

The Israeli prime minister insisted the Rafah operation won't be called off and repeated his stance that Israel will stand alone if necessary. The Israeli military adding that it already has all the weapons it needs for upcoming missions. Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel's stance on the American talk show Dr. Phil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: 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 7th, this enormous massacre, again and again and again. So we have no choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Back in the U.S., Republicans and former President Donald Trump have accused the Biden administration of abandoning Israel. Democrats appear divided. Some have criticized the decision. Others say it's a step in the right direction.

As Israel ramps up its operations in Rafah, U.S. officials say there's now a pause in ceasefire negotiations. Sources say Hamas is demanding that Israel agree up front to an initial 12-week halt in the fighting rather than the six weeks discussed earlier and before any of the Israeli hostages are released. And that's a non-starter for Israel.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live for us in Abu Dhabi. First of all, what do you make of the language coming out from Israel on this, you know, pause, if you want to call it that, of weapons shipments?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, it certainly seems as though a number of Israeli officials were taken by surprise. Even though this had been flagged, we hear from the Biden administration and the U.S. president had been very clear with Benjamin Netanyahu, there has been some surprise, some frustration, publicly and privately. Some officials saying that they believe this is like the U.S. abandoning Israel at a time when they need the most, at a critical time in the war.

Now, we've heard from Netanyahu himself, as you said, saying that Israel will go alone if need be. But he also points out that that he has known the U.S. president for some time. And there have been differences in the past. And he's hopeful it may rectify itself. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: I've known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more. You know, we often had our agreements, but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now. But we will do what we have to do to protect our country. And that means protect our future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: We also heard from the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, saying that this decision could actually encourage the enemies of the state of Israel.

[04:05:00] Now, we did hear from the military, though, pointing out that even though this may happen, that there is this pause in in military shipments, specifically these 2000 pound bombs that the U.S. is concerned about being used in an urban, a dense urban situation. They have said that they have enough to carry out the operations that they would want to carry out with this ground offensive in Rafah anyway.

And it's certainly true that we have seen significant security assistance, military assistance from the United States to Israel since October 7th. In fact, just last month, there was a $26 billion security assistance package that was approved.

So from Israel's point of view, there is frustration at the what the U.S. president has said. But there is also an acceptance that they could go alone if they wanted to, because they have what they need in order to what they believe would achieve the goal of destroying Hamas.

FOSTER: In terms of the ceasefire talks, they're not dead, as I understand it, but they are, you know, being suspended effectively.

HANCOCKS: Yes. So the word that we heard from, from two U.S. officials was pause. So there's a pause in the talks at this point.

We know that they have pointed out that this limited operation in Rafah is partly to blame for that. We know that the CIA director, Bill Burns, has left the region. He was here for a week trying to bring the positions of Hamas and Israel closer together. We also know that the Hamas and the Israeli delegation have left Cairo as well.

So the mediators are continuing to talk, we understand, from Qatar, Egypt and the United States. But the two main players are not involved at this point.

And Hamas has also made a counteroffer saying that they would like a 12 week ceasefire up front instead of the six week in line with hostages being released that we believed had been agreed by Hamas. And that is a nonstarter for Israel. We understand that this is a major obstacle to the negotiations at this point -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Paula in Abu Dhabi. Thank you so much.

Desperately needed humanitarian aid for Gaza will be delayed a few more days. Heavy seas in the eastern Mediterranean have left the U.S. unable to deploy its floating pier system. It had to be moved to the port of Ashdod in Israel last week and it hasn't left since. Once it's in place and operational, the U.S. is still working to finalize who will actually transport the aid from the ship to the shore. The U.S. and the U.K. have both ruled out using their own troops due to security concerns.

Chessa Latifi is the deputy director of emergency response for Project Hope. She joined me last hour and explained the current state of humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHESSA LATIFI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE, PROJECT HOPE: There is no people going in, no fuel, no food, no medical supplies. The amount of aid that's been coming in at least for the last few months has been so limited that it has been something. And right now we're at zero and it's a desperate situation. It's a really, really desperate situation.

FOSTER: In terms of the different crossings, what are we looking at and what are you getting through them?

LATIFI: Rafah has always been the main crossing. It's, you know, it's had its complications. There's a backlog of trucks, but it is the main way that we were able to get goods in.

But even somewhat importantly for us as Project Hope is a health-based organization. And we were able to bring in search staff for hospitals in both Deir el-Balah and then also we were looking to put staff into a hospital up north. Earlier this week, we can't bring those people in.

And, you know, these surgeons, these emergency physicians, these anesthesiologists were key in being able to provide support to these health facilities that have been completely overwhelmed for months and months and months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (on camera): Now, the Eurovision Song Contest, usually a fun event whose official slogan is United by Music, has become the latest focal point for dueling protests about Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas. Israeli singer Eden Golan performed in the competition's semifinal on Thursday and advanced to Saturday's grand final.

But earlier, thousands of demonstrators in Malmo, Sweden, which is hosting this year's Song Contest, came out in support of and against Israel's participation. Some protesters criticized what they suggest is Eurovision's double standards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATILDA VARATTA, PROTESTER: What we expect and what we would like to see is that they disqualify Israel like they did with Russia, when Russia invaded Ukraine. Because that is not true, that the Eurovision is not political. It has always been political and it will always be. So it's just a failed excuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:00]

FOSTER: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined the pro- Palestine protest. She says young people have been showing the world how to react to the dire situation in Gaza.

For more on this, I'm joined by CNN correspondent Anna Stewart. We'll talk about the demos in a moment, but I hadn't realized that other countries had been disqualified previously. Because my initial thought was surely disqualifying a country would be more political than not.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the EBU, which organizes this event, always says they're not political. And they have lots of rules in place to make sure that there are no statements, for instance, on stage. But in the past, this is often a political event, given that it includes so many different countries.

And in the past, they have disqualified some countries. So most recently, in 2022, Russia was barred from joining the contest. Before that, it was Belarus in 2021, after the government cracked down on dissent. And if you go all the way back, you can look at the 1990s, when Yugoslavia was banned for the siege in Sarajevo.

So that's why some protesters say there's a double standard here, because in the past, the EBU has weighed in. And actually, they did make the Israeli act change the title of their song from October Rain, which seemed to allude to the Hamas attack, and some of the lyrics.

FOSTER: Because it's a very diverse population in Malmo, there's been demonstrations, protests for some time. But this is a big opportunity for them.

STEWART: Of course. In terms of the city, this is somewhere where we've had weekly pro-Palestinian protests since October. So of course, this is a city with a big Muslim and pro-Palestinian population. So you would expect it already to have these sorts of protests.

It's going to be huge. The organizers of the protests for tomorrow, when the final takes place, are expecting 20,000 people to show up. That's more than the 15,000 in the arena. So you're going to have protests off the stage, outside of the arena. We could also see protests actually inside the arena.

People are banned from having Palestinian flags. You're not allowed to have any flag of a non-participating country inside the arena. I'm sure people will try.

I suspect there will be booing from the audience through the Israeli act. And of course, you also often have the option for acts on stage from other participating countries. Even though they're not allowed to make a statement, they could do.

In the past, the Icelandic act actually held a Palestinian flag up. They got fined, but these things happen. So it's going to be a showdown.

FOSTER: Are you going to have to watch all of it?

STEWART: I will watch the highlights, Max.

FOSTER: Anna, thank you.

After the break, tense exchanges between adult film star Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump's lawyers on day 14 of the Hush Money trial. That's next.

Plus, the threat of more rain for parts of Brazil, already struggling with deadly floods, and the effect to help victims stay above water amid the storms.

Also, U.S. markets close higher as weekly jobless claims rise to their highest levels since last summer. Why U.S. investors are happy about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:00]

FOSTER: A tense 14th day at the Donald Trump hush money trial in New York. A tense 14th day at the Donald Trump hush money trial in New York. The presidential candidate again attacking the judge as corrupt after the latest defense motion for a mistrial was denied.

Another defense request to lift Trump's gag order from speaking about witness Stormy Daniels also denied. Earlier, the adult film star finished her testimony after combative cross-examination. CNN's kara Scannell has more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back on the stand, Stormy Daniels, the adult film star at the center of former President Donald Trump's hush money case.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think you'll see some very revealing things today.

SCANNELL: Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles, spent over two hours attacking Daniels' credibility during Thursday morning's cross- examination.

Necheles pointed to Daniels history of making pornographic films, saying: You have a lot of experience making phony stories about sex appear to be real.

Daniels responded: Wow. 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.

Referring to her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, which he denies.

Daniels previously testified that the night of their alleged affair, she felt faint while she saw Trump posing on the bed in his t-shirt and boxers. Necheles questioned why that scene would be so upsetting since she appeared in about 150 sex films. Daniels testified it was because she was not expecting a man twice her age to be naked.

Necheles argued Daniels gained publicity from her story and media appearances, like her interview on 60 Minutes.

ANDERSON COOPER, CBS 60 MINUTES: And you had sex with him?

STORMY DANIELS, ADULT FILM STAR: Yes.

COOPER: You were 27, he was 60. Were you physically attracted to him?

DANIELS: No.

SCANNELL: And she argued Daniels profited it off the alleged affair, pointing to a book deal and documentary, Daniels selling her gear on her website, like hashtag Team Stormy T-shirts, and going on a strip club tour called Making America Horny Again, a name which Daniels testified she fought tooth and nail against.

Asked if she celebrated Trump's indictment by selling merchandise, like her Saint of Indictments candle, Daniels retorted, not unlike Mr. Trump. Trump's lawyer, trying to find inconsistencies in her story, pressed Daniels about her dinner with Trump.

COOPER: Did you two go out for dinner that night?

DANIELS: No.

COOPER: You had dinner in the room?

DANIELS: Yes.

SCANNELL: Necheles said Daniels changed her story. On Tuesday, Daniels testified they did not have dinner.

Daniels defended herself, saying, just because they met for dinner does not mean they ate. Saying, I've maintained that I didn't see any food. It was dinner, but we never got food.

The two also went back and forth about an old tweet Daniels sent that said she is quote, the best person to flush the orange turd down.

Necheles argued the tweet meant she'd be instrumental in putting Trump in jail. Daniels disagreed, saying, I don't see instrumental or jail anywhere in that. You're putting words in my mouth.

Also on the stand, Trump's former White House assistant, Madeleine Westerhout, whose desk was right outside the Oval Office. The jury reviewed a contact list of people Trump spoke most to, which was sent to Westerhout that included Cohen, tabloid executive David Pecker, among others. Westerhout testified about an email confirming a February 2017 meeting between Trump and Cohen in the Oval Office.

Prosecutors allege Cohen and Trump worked out the reimbursement for the hush money payment at the crux of the case in the Oval Office that month.

She also confirmed that in her experience, Trump liked to read things before signing them. Westerhout explained that checks were regularly sent about twice a month from the Trump Organization to Washington. She described bringing them in for Trump to sign and would then FedEx them back to the company.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The Biden administration wants to allow immigration officials to rapidly reject migrants who are ineligible for asylum in the U.S. It says a new proposed regulation would enhance border security by letting agents quickly remove those who present a security risk and have no legal basis to stay. Under the rule, expelling a migrant could take days instead of the longer current system. There still has to be a public comment period before the rule takes effect this year.

It comes as President Biden remains under pressure to control migration at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the election in November.

134 people are still missing in deadly floods that hit Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul. On Thursday, officials reported 107 people have died since last week due to heavy rains and floods. The storms have impacted nearly a million and a half people, leaving thousands displaced and hundreds injured. And more rain could be on the way, as CNN's Dario Klein reports from Brazil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 one million and a half people have been affected because of these floods.

[04:20:05]

And in this road, you can see mainly people going out of Rio Grande do Sul, but there's 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're 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 is a forecast of more rain for today, tomorrow, until the weekend. And that's why the authorities are telling 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)

FOSTER: Parts of Southeast Asia are coping with record-breaking heat meanwhile. Some calling it a blast furnace every day. Groups like Save the Children and UNICEF say more than 33 million children have been impacted.

Temperatures in Cambodia hit a staggering 38 degrees Celsius in April. Children have had to deal with unprecedented setbacks due to the blistering conditions like sudden school closures, cancelled classes and disrupted activities.

A dangerous heat wave also hit Bangladesh, causing schools across that country to close down.

Some 26 million people in the U.S. are at risk of severe weather today. More than 170 storm reports on Thursday. The country has been a dangerous -- has seen a dangerous two-week streak with at least one tornado reported every day since April the 25th.

There have been more than 300 tornado reports in that time. Storms have hit Tennessee especially hard. The National Weather Service says a tornado with 225 kilometer per hour winds damaged more than 100 homes along its path on Wednesday. The state's governor says the community has stepped up to help with the cleanup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL LEE, (R) TENNESSEE GOVERNOR: When I'm out there and I see almost every time a neighbor standing there alongside that family, by the time we get to them this afternoon, they've got neighbors. They've got folks that have come alongside them, brought them food, brought them help, brought them hope, brought them prayers. The things that loving neighbors do for one another, that brings hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Northern Alabama also saw a large and destructive tornado across the south. At least three people have died and dozens more injured.

Now the new trading day gets underway in the U.S. in less than five hours. Here's where stock futures stand right now. So it's looking like a positive end to the week, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, European markets up and running. And also good news here. You can see the Zurich SMI in Switzerland up nearly one percent.

And here's how markets across Asia fared. A bit more mixed. Shenzhen Index is down. But the other main ones across the region at least are all up.

Now U.S. stocks closing higher on Thursday after new data showed weekly jobless claims rose to their highest level since last August. Those numbers appear to have renewed investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates sometime this year.

The markets are heading towards a winning streak. The Dow is on a seven-day tear, gaining 331 points or just under one percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq up slightly as well. The S&P 500 added half a percent.

Apple, meanwhile, apologizing after releasing a controversial ad for its new iPad Pro. The company's CEO posted the ad on social media Tuesday, showing various items being crushed by a giant hydraulic press to reveal the new iPad Pro. It was met with a big backlash though from social media users who felt the video celebrated technology's destruction of human creativity and art. An Apple spokesperson says the ad, quote, missed the mark.

Coming up, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, or the Duchess of Sussex, are in Nigeria. Here's what we can expect from their visit just ahead.

Plus, Russia marks the anniversary of its victory in World War II and sends a message about the current war in Ukraine.

[04:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, here's some of our top stories this hour.

There is a political fallout over U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement on CNN that the U.S. will halt its supply of certain arms to Israel if it launches a ground incursion into Rafah. On Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated his stance that Israel is ready to stand alone, if necessary, and the Rafah operation won't be called off. Meanwhile, the Israeli military says it already has all the weapons it needs for the missions that it has planned for Rafah.

Throughout the war, the U.S. president has projected unwavering support for Israel, despite mounting frustration with its prime minister. But Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes he and Joe Biden can move past this tension. Here's CNN's Oren Liebermann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An airtight embrace between world leaders in the days after October 7th has given way to barely contained anger, a personal and political fight decades in the making. President Joe Biden has more than 50 years of history with Israel, dating back to 1973.

BIDEN: I've worked with every prime minister of Israel, from Golda Meir right through to the present prime minister.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): He first met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the 80s. Biden, a young senator on the Foreign Relations Committee.

BIDEN: Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel.

LIEBERMANN: Israel's longest serving leader, then working at the embassy in D.C. The relationship has more often than not had some friction. BIDEN: I signed a picture a long time for Bibi. He's been a friend for over 30 years. I said, Bibi, I don't agree with the damn thing you say, but I love you. But we really are good friends.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Biden has long been seen as a pro-Israel Democrat. He surged aid to Israel after October 7th and signed off on Congress's supplemental designating $14 billion for Israel. Under President Barack Obama, Biden was seen as an asset, able to work with Netanyahu.

But the tension between Biden and Netanyahu burst into the open last year when Netanyahu tried to push through a major judicial overhaul.

BIDEN: Like many strong supporters of Israel, I'm very concerned. And I'm concerned that they get this straight. They cannot continue to on this road.

LIEBERMANN: Even so, never before has it spilled over like this.