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Powerful Solar Storm Happening Around The World; Biden Administration Closely Monitoring For Potential Impacts; Series Of Coronal Mass Ejections Causes Vivid, Far-Reaching Auroras; Storm Could Disrupt Communications, Satellites, Power Stations, GPS; U.S., Canada Brace For Potential Solar Disruptions; U.S. Report On Israel's Use Of American Weapons In Gaza; U.S. Report Stops Short Of Concluding Israel Violated Law; Russia Launches Cross-Border Offensive In Kharkiv Region. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 11, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Who will stand out from the competition?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What will attract new industry consumers?

STEWART: Where will productivity hit a new level

STOUT: And how will it impact the global economy? Join me, Kristie Lu Stout.

STEWART: And me, Marc Stewart on Marketplace Asia.

LYNDA KINKADE, AUSTRALIAN JOURNALIST AND CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta. Welcome to this special edition of CNN Newsroom. We begin this hour with a powerful geomagnetic storm happening right now.

The solar storm is classified as extreme level five out of five. It hasn't got to this level in more than 20 years, and it is causing the northern and southern lights to dazzle many places that rarely, if ever, see them. Take a look at this scene here in Atlanta, Georgia, in the southern U.S. a short time ago.

And most of the Midwest and even northern California have high chances of seeing the aurora. The skies over the UK and Ireland lit up with vivid colors earlier Friday night. Parts of Europe and Asia are likely to have another chance to view the lights Saturday.

In the southern hemisphere, the Aurora Australis was spotted over New Zealand as well as Argentina. And it all started when the sun erupted with a series of solar flares and what's known as coronal mass injections, launching particles directly at the Earth. We'll have more on that in a moment. Well, the lights are expected to peak in the coming hours, though, the storm will likely continue throughout the weekend. The Biden Administration says, it's closely tracking the possible impacts of the solar storm as it could disrupt communications, satellites and power stations.

Electrical utilities are making preparations just in case. Well, CNN's Chad Myers is more on the historic solar storm and where you might see the auroras.

CHAD EVERETT MYERS, AMERICAN METEOROLOGIST, CNN: Right. So, everybody wants to know whether it's going to be visible where I am, right? It will be visible across most of North America, maybe not all the way down to the Gulf Coast, but it'll be close. And it's not a one-day event.

So, even if you have cloud cover tonight, you will still be able to see it tomorrow because there's more than one coronal mass ejection on the way. So, what is it? Well, it's just a ball of plasma that's being shot at the Earth. These things happen all the time, but rarely do we have them that go straight at the Earth.

Think about how big three dimensions, they could go that way, could go to the back, could go -- depends on where the sunspot is. Well, we know this is coming toward the Earth because of what we call the halo effect. When you see the cloud mass kind of come out of this, this is the sun, right here, this is the sun being blocked by a disc.

But, when you see the coronal mass ejection come this way, it's like looking at somebody blowing the smoke ring at you. You know it's coming and you know it's on its way. That's the same idea. Same kind of smoke ring that we're seeing. So, yes, we have more than one still coming.

So overnight, a big one, still landing on the Earth's atmosphere, and we are still seeing that really bright colorful cloud all the way around the globe typically. The only place you're not seeing it, is where it's sunny, where the sun has already come up and you can't see it. But, it was very, very spectacular.

Somewhere around, I would say, maybe one Z, one Zulu Time, Greenwich Mean Time, somewhere around 9 o'clock, not quite 9 o'clock on the east coast of the U.S., but it was still light. We couldn't see it in North America. But, another one, and then, another one, and another one.

This is still going to be going for quite some time. This is what the solar wind looks like. And I want you to think of it like a -- like a -- you know, the seismograph. And when you're looking in California and you see the Earth shake. Well, the sun wasn't shaking at all.

The solar wind was doing just fine, being nice and flat. But then, all of a sudden, around two 2:30 or 2:40 this afternoon, the Earth began to shake, literally. And so, did the solar wind. And it came in very, very quickly. Get this number around your brain, 1.6 million miles per hour. That's how fast this solar wind is coming. Aurora is seen farther

south with a G5, big number. This is five out of five. This is as big as we get. There are still levels of five, but G5, we're already up there. Power outages are likely and also satellite disruptions are also likely. So, yes, it's certainly possible.

So, where the red coronas, and then, the most common are the green. This is what we see all the time across parts of Canada. But, the less common are the purples and the reds. We are seeing a lot of them tonight.

KINKADE: Thanks to Chad Myers there. Well, Ryan French is a solar physicist with the U.S. National Solar Observatory. He joins us now from Pawnee National Grasslands in Northeastern Colorado. Good to have you with us. Thanks for staying up.

RYAN FRENCH, SOLAR PHYSICIST, NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY: Well, of course, I think I would've been up when, anyway, considering the light show that's currently going on behind me.

KINKADE: I mean, it's been spectacular, this solar storm.

[02:05:00]

I understand the peak time is about now 2:00 AM ET, where is the best place to see it?

FRENCH: Honestly, the best place to see it is wherever you are currently. I wouldn't waste time getting in the car and driving too fast. Right now, I'm in northern Colorado, somewhere we would never typically expect to see the Northern Lights, and I've seen it out behind me in full force. I even saw it to myself earlier today. So, wherever you are, if it's dark, just go outside, and then, take a look.

KINKADE: And hope for the best. Your research primarily investigates solar flares. Obviously, we can study this one so much more than the last major one, two decades sago. What are you hoping to learn?

FRENCH: Yeah. So, we have a whole suite of facilities around the world observing this flare and the effect from this flare, including the National Science Foundation's, Gong facility.

And by pairing all of these different data sets from all of these different instruments, we can really start to piece together the story, the narrative of from when that flare first leaves the sun or the flare triggers on the sun, and that plasma moves through the solar system to arriving on Earth.

And with all these different pieces of data, we can begin to piece together that story in a way that we -- we haven't been able to before.

KINKADE: And, of course, the sun has these solar flares, right? There's powerful eruptions forming on the sun's surface. And I understand you started a project called, Sun Science Daily, which got a big following on social media. Explain why it got that following, and at what speed are these flares heading towards Earth right now?

FRENCH: Yeah, so, I think for a lot of people, they don't realize that the sun really does anything. They think of it as a static, unchanging ball in the sky. But really when you start to look at the data, the sun is doing interesting things all the time.

And sometimes those things manifest itself in a large wave like this. But, even the small events are interesting to scientists as well. And these things are hurtling away from the sun at thousands of miles per second. So, really, really quick stuff heading our way.

KINKADE: And this activity is all linked to this very, very big sun spot right on our sun. It's -- it's quite a strong magnetic field. I've read it so big that if you have those eclipse glasses, you could see it with the naked eye. Is that -- is that right?

FRENCH: That is true. If you have any eclipse glasses left over from last month's eclipse, stick them on. It's -- it's a bit of an eyesight test, but for most people, you should be able to make out in the sort of approaching the edge of the sun now, you should be able to make out a big black dot with your eye, and that is the sunspot that produce the Northern Lights tonight.

KINKADE: Wow. And, these solar storms are cyclical, right? They typically happen every 11 years or so. This one was expected to hit mid next year. How long could it last?

FRENCH: Yeah, so, the sun itself follows an 11-year cycle, where these solar storms are more probable. So, it isn't one that happens every cycle. So, it's not one every 11 years. But, towards this peak of this cycle, we expect to have more.

So, this year, next year, we anticipate having more of these things than we did a few years ago and more than we will in a few years' time. This current solar storm is set to end over the weekend, but we could be due for more coming soon in the coming weeks and months.

KINKADE: Well, that is exciting. And these geomagnetic storms can have the capacity to affect technology in space and Earth, right? What could be impacted?

FRENCH: Yes. So, it's important to note that flares and solar eruptions can get much bigger than this. So, this did reach a G5 geomagnetic storm, but there have been flares in the past couple of centuries that have gone way off that scale. So, the last time we had a G5, geomagnetic storm was back in 2003.

And the recorded impacts from that were a few transformers being damaged down in South Africa and some sort of power outages in Sweden as well. From this level of events, we could see some sort of localized small-scale temporary effects, but, it's only for the much bigger events that, again, get a lot bigger than this, where you might see wider spread outages.

KINKADE: So, you're talking about outages, in terms of GPS tracking, in terms of the International Space Station, astronauts up there right now, could they experience any impact?

FRENCH: So, interestingly, you mentioned, astronauts in the International Space Station, there's a policy that if there is a large solar flare or solar storm, they don't do any spacewalks, because if they were outside the space station, they would be exposed to more radiation. So, during these times, they will be confined to the living quarters, which are in the center of the space station there.

KINKADE: Wow, incredible. And I imagine they've got a pretty good view of it right now.

FRENCH: They will. I actually saw the International Space Station passover not too long ago, and as I was seeing the Northern Lights from down here, no doubt they would've been looking out the window if they're able to looking down at the Northern Lights from up there.

KINKADE: And so, for someone like you, doing what you do, this must be a -- an event of a lifetime. I mean, to get -- to have solar flares, this geomagnetic storm, on this scale, something we haven't seen for two decades.

[02:10:00]

FRENCH: It's certainly really exciting. I mean, the sun and researching the sun has been my life since about 2017, and with the solar eclipse last month, and the current solar storm going on now, it's so great to see public interest in the sun, being interested in something that, that we do all the time at the National Solar Observatory. So, really exciting stuff.

KINKADE: And so, over the coming nights, is tonight meant to be the best night to -- to see this? What can we expect over -- over the next couple of nights?

FRENCH: So, we expect tonight to be the peak. Tomorrow night, I will probably come out again and see what happens. So, do keep an eye out from tomorrow night, and if you're somewhere around the world, maybe sort of Asia, Australia that hasn't had nighttime yet, or you're just moving into nighttime in the next few hours, definitely worth -- worth a shot there.

But, again, Saturday night, we could still expect some ongoing solar storm, but probably not as high as, as what we have right now.

KINKADE: All right. Ryan French, exciting times. Good to have you on the program tonight. Thanks so much.

FRENCH: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, Canada is no stranger to the potential disruptions and dangers from geomagnetic storms like this. CNN's Paula Newton is just outside the capital of Ottawa, and spoke with my colleague Michael Holmes earlier.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the colors all over North America have been incredibly spectacular. Not so much here in Canada, though this time. About 10 miles from us, they had some beautiful purples and pinks in the sky, but unfortunately, we have some cloud cover here still. So, we're going to be a little bit more patient and see if it comes out.

The issue here, Michael, is that in 1989, they had a blackout in Quebec, that is a Canadian province, actually just over the river behind me. And that was a lot of chaos that happened in 1989. But, what's fascinating here is that, they just didn't have the sensors, the monitors, the satellite, certainly technology that they have now than they had in 1989.

So, they are better prepared, they're better prepared in all the hydro grids, all across Canada and the United States. They do not believe that, that would occur this time around for various reasons, in terms of the infrastructure backups they have in place and the new technology.

Having said that, as Chad clearly explained, this is a very strong solar storm. So, they're thinking a bit out of the box here and wondering, OK, what could go wrong? And they were trying to foresee all the possibilities. So far, so good.

Midnight, just after midnight, where I am here, Eastern Time, apparently there's supposed to be some really strong, some solar storm activity coming in the next hour or two in this location in Canada. We'll see if the clouds clear up, but right now, it is just a lot to look at in the sky. On the ground, everything seems normal for now.

KINKADE: Yeah, those last shot's quite incredible from Maine. Well, our special coverage of this massive solar storm continues in just a moment. After the break, I'll speak with an astronomer about what people are seeing around the world.

[02:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: We are getting some stunning pitches in, of the auroras created by that ongoing geomagnetic storm coming in from around the globe. The Space Weather Prediction Center says, it's been upgraded to a G5 or an extreme storm, something we haven't seen in more than 20 years.

Shades of pink lit up the sky of a West Virginia. And take a look at this, the view from, of the Northern Lights, from a neighborhood in Ohio, and it was even seen as far south as Georgia and Florida.

Well, the White House says, it's keeping an eye on any possible impacts from this rare solar storm, including disruptions to communications in GPS systems. CNN's Brian Fung explains what could happen.

BRIAN FUNG, TECHNOLOGY REPORTER, CNN: The good news is, if you're an average cell phone user, this solar activity may not affect your devices very much. The exact reasons for that are really interesting, and it gives you a fascinating glimpse into how our everyday technology really works, not to mention, the science behind this storm.

As you've been hearing all day, the sun has been sending radiation toward Earth that interacts with our magnetic sphere. That's what's causing these auroras everywhere, and a byproduct of all that can be fluctuations in the upper atmosphere that scatter or even block radio transmissions in certain specific frequencies.

Now, this shouldn't interfere with cellular signals because those run on different frequencies than the ones we're talking about here. Your calls and mobile data should still go through, but, what can these storms affect? Well, the list includes satellites and orbit, as well as any signal trying to reach them through the ionosphere.

That's the upper layer of the atmosphere we were just talking about. So, that could mean, glitchy or less accurate GPS readings on ships or airplanes. But again, cell phone GPS might be less affected because phones usually rely on cell towers in addition to satellites to get a location fix.

Now, shortwave radios will likely have issues. That's because, in order to increase their range, people typically try to bounce them off the underside of the ionosphere. With these storms, that obviously gets a lot harder, lots of commercial businesses and government agencies use this type of communication, and so do amateur ham radio operators.

All of these users could be affected. Now, there is one way in which the storm could indirectly affect your electronic devices, and that's, if the disruptions cause widespread power grid issues.

[02:20:00]

Utility companies say, they're monitoring the situation and are prepared, but Storm Watchers have upgraded this to the most intense level that exists in the U.S. government's classification system. And that could mean overloaded transformers and grid disruption.

If that happens, it could cut power to cell towers, data centers, and other critical infrastructure, but then, it just becomes more of a garden variety power outage problem, not really a direct issue stemming from the solar storm.

And all of these providers have backup generators. So, any interruptions in cell service should be limited, if it happens at all. The bigger problem for most of us in that scenario, it'll probably be how to keep our devices charged. Brian Fung, CNN, Washington.

KINKADE: Well, joining us now is, astronomer Yvette Cendes at Radio Astronomist Center for Astrophysics at Harvard and Smithsonian. Yvette, are you -- are you there?

We're having an issue trying to connect with her right now. CNN's Bill Weir spoke with my colleague Michael Holmes earlier about what we could learn from this historic event in space. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL WEIR, AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: Knowledge is power in these things and there's so much we don't know. And again, it's 93 million miles away. So, there's a lot of margin for error when it comes to predicting when that pulse will arrive. But, scientists a few years ago looked at the big events.

You mentioned the Carrington event. There was another one in 1921, that electricity actually started fires at train stations in New York, and radio telegraph operators were unable -- able to unplug the batteries and just send messages through the electrified air.

That's how intense that storm was. They ran models and just to predict what would happen if a storm of that size hit the North America with a direct hit, it could affect 130 million people. They predict, it could cost between $1 trillion and $2 trillion to repair. That could take from four to 10 years to pick up the pieces, if something that devastating would've happened.

That's absolute worst case scenario. And the odds against it are infinitesimal, but, you never know. Right. And so, you know, the way we can depend on these devices in our lives more and more, the more we know about what could threaten them, the better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: That was Bill Weir. We are there talking to Michael Holmes. So, the White House has released its report on Israel using American weapons. Next, what that report says about claims that Israel used those weapons to violate international humanitarian laws.

[02:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAWN DAHL, SERVICE COORDINATOR, SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER: It's very difficult to forecast space, weather storms. I mean, we're dealing with something 93 million miles away and it's extraordinarily difficult to time these. We did a great job knowing that these were going to hit Earth, but our timing was off a bit, and that's no surprise for that vast amount of distance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, a powerful geomagnetic storm happening right now around the world. One this strong hasn't happened in more than 20 years, and it's causing beautiful light shows in the sky. Well, it all started when the sun erupted with a series of solar flares in what's known as coronal mass ejections.

And when those particles reach the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere creates the spectacular -- spectacular light shows that were witnessing, and is giving many places a chance to see auroras that rarely, if ever, get to see them. Geomagnetic storm activity on Earth is expected to peak over the next few hours, but the storm will likely continue through the weekend and could cause some communication and power disruptions.

Well, joining us now is Yvette Cendes, radio astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard and the Smithsonian. Good to have you with us.

YVETTE CENDES, RADIO ASTRONOMER, CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So, pretty exciting night. What have you witnessed so far?

CENDES: Well, so I just happened to be flying from Denver to Boston tonight, and as we were getting on the plane, the pilot did tell us, there was a good chance of Northern Lights on the way.

And roughly around when we hit Detroit, yes, within seconds, a huge cloud of green showed up in the sky, and then, we just had a curtain of color the entire way back to Boston, which is about two hours of flying time. It was amazing.

KINKADE: Wow. And we just are looking at some of those images that you took. Absolutely spectacular. I was wondering if flights would've been impacted by this at all.

CENDES: No. I think flights are, you know, this is an event that they're rare, but we know that they happen. You might use a slightly different frequency or something like that, but a plane, overall, is very well protected from this sort of thing. We just get a really great light show on the flight.

KINKADE: Yeah, just incredible. What a great experience. Of course, you use radio signals to study the biggest explosions in the universe, and right now, we're seeing these, you know, the result of these eruptions on the sun. Have you had a chance to use radio signals to see if you can hear anything that's happening in the universe right now?

CENDES: So, I don't have any programs going tonight and I'm actually very happy because the disturbance from something like this, if you're looking for very faint signals from deep space, this is really not the best time to be looking. This is really the time to be studying the sun and not looking for fainter things, frankly.

KINKADE: And, of course, the last time there was a geomagnetic storm of this magnitude, it was 2003. Our technology has come a long way since then. What do you expect we'll learn from this event?

[02:30:00]

CENDES: So, I think the very exciting thing about this event is the sunspot that caused it, is so huge and we have so many satellites now that can study things like sunspots. So, hopefully, we'll be able to predict these events a little better going forward into the future. Things like that, I think, is going to be very exciting going forward. KINKADE: And, interestingly, I heard earlier that if you have those eclipse sunglasses from -- from a month ago or so, you could actually see that sunspot.

CENDES: Yep. You can actually go out with your eclipse glasses and look up, and the sunspot is so huge, it's, you know, hundreds of times larger than the Earth right now, and you can look and see it with your own eyes.

KINKADE: It's incredible. The last major geomagnetic storm was 2003. It was an event that briefly knocked out power in Sweden and South Africa. What impact do you see happening this time? What do you think could happen?

CENDES: I mean, for the majority of people, we just get a very nice light show. Something like a power disruption can happen. There's a lot of radio frequencies right now, you could not communicate on, even if you tried your very best. But, I mean, most things, I mean, as I said, these are unusual events, but they're, you know, preventable events or we can predict that they're going to happen.

Something that happens every 20 years, you're still going to prepare for. So, a little bit of disturbance, but most people's daily lives don't get affected that much, frankly.

KINKADE: Can you talk to us more about these coronal mass ejections? Because I was reading, it was like these description about how this magnetic field kind of almost like slingshots out these charged particles. How would you describe what's happening?

CENDES: So, when a coronal mass ejection happens, it's a bunch of material heading toward Earth. And, when it's encountering our magnetosphere, so we have, you know, a very strong magnetic field around the Earth, it basically -- those particles will fall into that magnetic field and interact with it.

And that's actually what protects us from these charged particles on Earth. And most of them, you know, never actually affect us on Earth. So, that's what's happening right now, just in very, very huge numbers. And that's why you can see all these Northern Lights have all these effects.

KINKADE: And so, talk to us about the impact in space of these, especially, obviously, the International Space Station, there's a crew of astronauts onboard. What sort of impact could they experience?

CENDES: So, some satellites can be a little disturbed. Astronauts on the space station, this is the amount of level, there is a more shielded area of the space station if there was a really, really big coronal mass ejection. I don't think this one, I haven't heard, is strong enough that they told the astronauts to go to that part of the space station. But, that is a possibility if that came up.

Otherwise, your GPS satellites can be a little bit affected. So, the signals coming to tell you exactly where you are might have a larger error than they normally do, is a one common example that might expect a space satellite in this case.

KINKADE: Well, it certainly is a spectacular light show and it was great you were able to share your images from onboard that aircraft tonight. Thanks so much for joining us, Yvette Cendes.

CENDES: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, CNN's Kristin Fisher explains how this historic phenomenon can bring about possible disruptions as well as those breathtaking views throughout the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIN FISHER SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice-over): It's called a coronal mass ejection. And those highly charged particles have been bailing towards Earth at 500 miles per second ever since. The first particles began striking Earth's magnetic field Friday afternoon. And forecasters expect it to intensify into the night and, perhaps, through the weekend.

HAKEEM OLUSEYI ASTROPHYSICIST AND COSMOLOGIST: Just think of gazillions of protons coming toward Earth at the same time. There's also electrons in there. There's also magnetic fields. And when they hit the Earth's magnetic field or any other planet's magnetic field, they interact with that field. And those changes generate currents, which can damage power grids, satellites, anything that has an electrical conductor involved.

FISHER (voice-over): The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is describing this storm as an extraordinary and very rare event, one that also has them a little concerned. The biggest threats are to satellites and to global power grids. Noah says, it notified critical infrastructure operators and that mitigation efforts have been taken, but it's still warning of possible widespread voltage control problems.

OLUSEYI: The last time we had a big power outage due to a geomagnetic storm was in the 80s. Have we fixed things since then? We're going to find out.

FISHER (voice-over): Satellites will also be tested. Most can go into a safe mode during a solar storm. But, just two years ago, SpaceX lost 40 of its Starlink Internet satellites during a geomagnetic storm that wasn't as strong as this one. And then, there's the threat to people in space.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is (inaudible) to our astronauts. We've got a solar storm coming in and it's a hot one.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FISHER (voice-over): Apple TV's for all mankind envisioned astronauts on the moon running for cover to dodge the incoming radiation during a strong solar storm. [02:35:00]

In reality, it's the astronauts currently onboard, the International Space Station, that may need to shelter in more protected portions of the orbiting outpost.

OLUSEYI: Space radiation is a known phenomenon that is dangerous to biology, whether it's during a geomagnetic storm or just the general twist into outer space.

FISHER (voice-over): But despite the potential danger, a solar storm also rewards us with some of the most spectacular auroras. And this time, over a wider area, extending as far south as Alabama.

OLUSEYI: The beauty of nice corona mass ejection is that, we get to have an astronomical event basically come to us from space that's visible to the naked eye. We all just recently experienced this with the total solar eclipse that happened in April. So, now seeing the Northern Lights, that is another extraordinary, astronomical event.

FISHER (voice-over): Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, after the break, tense exchanges between adult film actress, Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump's lawyers on day 14 of the hush money trial. That story, next.

[02:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Prosecutors in Donald Trump's hush money trial are closing in on wrapping up their case, but not before some bombshell testimony, to kick off their final week. CNN's Brynn Gingras has the latest details from outside the courthouse in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The prosecution continuing to build its case against Donald Trump teeing up Michael Cohen's key testimony. Cohen expected to be called to the stand on Monday.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: He was a lawyer, not a fixer. He was a lawyer. There is no crime, and they failed to show it.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Earlier in the day, Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's former Director of Oval Office operations cross-examined by the defense. Trump Attorney, Susan Necheles asked, would you see him signing checks without reviewing them?

Yes. Westerhout replied, confirming Trump would sign checks sometimes while on the phone or in a meeting. Westerhout exchanged smiles with her former boss as she left the stand. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next President of the United States.

GINGRAS (voice-over): A flurry of other witnesses taking the stand too, helping the prosecution lay the groundwork for Cohen.

TRUMP: I'm kind of looking forward to it.

MICHAEL COHEN, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Sooner this thing starts, the sooner this thing finishes, and that way I can -- yeah, this too shall pass.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Analysts from Verizon and AT&T sharing phone records as Trump's attorneys already attempting to sow seeds of doubt. Emil Bove asked, you're familiar with the concept of a pocket dial. These records don't reflect the content of these calls.

Correct. An AT&T analyst answered. Employees from the District Attorney's office also introduced text messages, business vouchers, and several tweets from Trump about Cohen, including this one from 2018, the day after Cohen pled guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations.

If anyone is looking for good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen. Trump wrote.

TRUMP: Hello, how are you?

GINGRAS (voice-over): Also revealed call logs relating to this September 2016 conversation with Trump Cohen recorded.

TRUMP: What financing?

COHEN: Well, I'll have to pay him something.

TRUMP: Pay with some cash.

COHEN: No. No, no, no, no. I got it. No, no, no.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Cohen claiming the call was referencing another hush money payment for Playboy model, Karen McDougal's alleged affair with Trump. Trump not paying close attention to the testimony from later witnesses and was seen using a highlighter and flipping through possible news clippings.

TRUMP: This trial is a scam. It said it something should have never happened.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Aside from Cohen prosecutors say, they have one more witness to call before they rest their case, possibly by the end of next week. Then, of course, it's a defense's turn. And the big question remains, will Donald Trump take the stand?

KINKADE: Well, the Biden Administration has released a long awaited report that finds it reasonable to assess that Israel used American weapons in Gaza in ways inconsistent with International Law. But the report stopped short of concluding that Israel committed violations, CNN's Kylie Atwood has more from the State Department.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Biden administration found that it is reasonable to assess that Israel has used U.S. weapons in Gaza since October 7 in a way that is inconsistent with International Humanitarian Law. But, the Department of States Report does not make a definitive conclusion on whether International Humanitarian Law was violated or not, saying that, there are specific incidents that remain under review, they're still looking into.

Now we should know that the Report does say, that it is challenging to make these determinations, particularly, because of how this war has had to have been waged, the fact that Hamas hides in population centers, and in civilian infrastructure. Now, we should also note that the Report makes it very clear that there are concerns about Israel using its capabilities that it has to drive down civilian deaths.

I want to read to you a part of the Report saying, quote, while Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, the result on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases.

We should note that the Biden Administration is in touch with the Israeli government on this front.

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They've provided this Report to the Israeli government and they will continue asking the Israelis for information on these specific strikes that they are looking into.

They have, in some cases, received that information. In other cases, they haven't been receiving that information. So, we'll watch to see as these ongoing assessments develop. Kylie Atwood, CNN, the State Department.

KINKADE: Well, Israel's security cabinet has approved an expansion of the area of the operation in Rafah. More than 1 million displaced Palestinian civilians have taken refuge there. Many have already fled other parts of Gaza. And Israeli officials (inaudible) CNN, the Security Cabinet's decision has been, quote, green light -- given the green light for the war cabinet to expand the operation in Rafah.

But, we're told this does not mean an imminent expansion. The UN says, what's already happening in Rafah has displaced more than 100,000 Palestinians. And they say, conditions that what the IDF caused the humanitarian zone are not adequate. Some areas have no running water, no sewage, and no electricity, and people are being forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters on the side of a road.

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MALEK AL-ZAZA, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN: There is no water. There is no food. No one is asking about us. No one is looking for us. As you can see, that is our situation. We only have God looking out for us. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the UN Secretary General says, things will be much worse if Israel conducts an all-out offensive in Rafah.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: Around 100,000 Palestinians are moving north from Rafah, yet, humanitarian partners have no tents or food stores left in south Gaza. A massive ground attack in Rafah would lead to an epic humanitarian disaster and pull the plug on our efforts to support people as famine looms. International humanitarian law is unequivocal. Civilians must be protected.

KINKADE: Well, U.S. President, Joe Biden, is threatening to withhold additional U.S. weapon shipments, if Israel goes forward with an all- out ground offensive. The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a measure calling on the Security Council to reconsider Palestinian membership.

The vote was 143 to nine, with 25 countries abstaining. The measure also grants the Palestinian Authority new rights and privileges at the UN. They won't have a vote, but they will be able to submit and introduce proposals and amendments.

RIYAD MANSOUR, PALESTINIAN OBSERVER TO UN: Our flag flies high and proud in Palestine and across the globe, and on the campus of Columbia University. It has become a symbol raised by all those who believe in freedom and is just ruled, by all those who can no longer stand idly by in the face of such utter injustice.

KINKADE: Well, before the vote, the U.S. vowed to again veto any bid for Palestinian statehood that is brought to the Security Council. Ukraine says, its second largest city is not in danger of falling after Russia launched a new ground-defensive in the Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian sources say, Russian troops swept across the border in the Northeast on Friday, advancing up to five kilometers in one area. Residents of some border villages were later evacuated, and at least, two civilians were reportedly killed. President Zelensky says, Ukraine's artillery stopped the Russian advance. But, fierce battles are underway.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE: We are adding our strength to the Kharkiv directions. Along our state border and along the entire frontline, we will consistently destroy the occupier in such a way as to thwart any Russian offensive intentions.

KINKADE: Washington has approved $400 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Friday, on top of the more than $60 billion announced last month. The U.S. Defense Secretary says, most of the new aid is headed to Kharkiv. Jill Dougherty is a former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. She joins us from Washington DC. Good to have you with us, Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT, MOSCOW BUREAU: Oh, thank you, Lynda. KINKADE: So, this war has long been waged in the eastern South, and now Russia has opened a new front in the northeast. Ukraine's President calls it a new wave of counter-offensive. How would you describe this development?

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DOUGHERTY: Well, it's significant, it appears that it's not really that clear exactly what the final objective here is, but it is significant because it does pull, you know, as you were pointing out, it could pull Ukrainian troops from the East where they've been fighting and trying to hold on, as the Russians move in and then, pull them up to the north, northeast where Kharkiv is.

And so, it does -- it's a shift, and it comes as, I'm sure, we will discuss, in the midst of this delay, in getting aid from the United States.

KINKADE: Yeah, exactly. I want to get to aid in just a moment, but I just want to ask you what this could mean for the city of Kharkiv, which is home to about 1.3 million people. It's Ukraine's second largest city, because Ukrainian forces or officials rather, have repeatedly said that they don't believe Russia has the capacity to take that entire city. Do you agree? And if not, what is Russia's strategy here?

DOUGHERTY: Well, it appears that with the number of troops that they have, the Russians, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to take the city. That doesn't mean that they couldn't be begin, you know, to kind of eat away at the process, and then, bring in more troops if they were successful.

But, you know, there's another side to this, which is really the psychological side of it. You know, if you have Donbas, and then, you have another part of Ukraine, this aerial bombing of energy sources for the Ukrainians is very, very disturbing.

And if you begin to bomb or attack a city like Kharkiv, it's psychologically very, very difficult for people to put up with this. I think, that might be, you know, part of it, part of the rationale.

KINKADE: Yeah. That makes sense. Of course, you mentioned, the U.S. today has announced this new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine. We know that Ukraine says, it will deploy it to Kharkiv as it sees fit.

This is the third aid package in as many weeks, but this comes after months and months of delays. How has those delays impacted Ukraine's ability to defend itself and what will this latest aid package mean?

DOUGHERTY: Oh, it's been really a significant problem. I mean, essentially the U.S. Congress was waiting around and not passing this for a half a year, six months. And so, what's happened is -- let's talk about like the Donbas area in the East. It's been very difficult for the Ukrainians to hold on. They simply don't have the equipment, and certainly, ammunition is a huge problem. The Russians, as we know, are getting ammunition from the North Koreans. They're getting drones from Iran. And so, without that, the Ukrainians have really suffered. Now that they're getting it, they need it as quickly as possible.

KINKADE: Yeah.

DOUGHERTY: But, I think, that has really set them back.

KINKADE: And we know Ukrainian commanders have -- have said that they have been expecting a summer offensive, but according to a Ukrainian military source, who spoke to CNN, they said, this particular assault was unexpected. What does that mean for Ukraine's preparedness?

DOUGHERTY: Well, you're right. They did think something was going to happen and Ukrainian intelligence knew or predicted that something like this would happen. Exactly where, I'm not quite sure, what they thought or where it would come. And, that's why, it's a little unclear about the entire, let's say, ultimate aim of this.

I think you could define two. One would be, exploiting this window of opportunity before the weapons from the United States get into the field, the Russians push as far as they can and do as much damage. But it's also, as I kind of mentioned, is to pull away Ukrainian forces from Donbas and bring them up to Kharkiv. And that weakens, of course, the protection on the East.

KINKADE: Yeah, you make really good points. Jill Dougherty, as always, good to get your perspective and analysis. Thanks so much.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

KINKADE: Well, I want to turn to Brazil now, where the death toll continues to rise after nearly two weeks of that devastating widespread flooding, 126 people already lost their lives in the southern State of Rio Grande do Sul. Now, dozens more are missing, and nearly 2 million people have been impacted.

The looming threat of further storms could make this situation even worse. More rounds of heavy rain and strong winds are expected to hit throughout the weekend. I want to leave you this hour with a massive geomagnetic storm that's hitting the Earth right now, giving people, in many places, across the globe, a rare view of the Northern Lights.

The sky over Staffordshire, England, turned green, and here in the United States, the Northern Lights were seen as fast south as Georgia painting the sky pink.

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The Space Weather Prediction Center says, we haven't seen a solar storm this intense in more than 20 years, and the good news is, it should continue for the next few days.

The storm could affect the power grids, though, as well as potentially satellite and radio communications. We are watching this story closely and we'll keep you updated in the hours ahead. And that does it for this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with me. I'll be back with much more CNN Newsroom in just a moment.

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