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Powerful Solar Storm Happening Around The World; Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Expanding Rafah Operation; Trump Hush Money Trial; Russia Launches Cross-Border Offensive In Kharkiv Region; NBA Playoffs; WNBA Expansion Team Coming To Toronto In 2026. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired May 11, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Incredible new images of a rare solar storm happening across the world today. We'll look at how the phenomenon could also cause problems throughout the U.S.
Plus a new Biden administration report finds Israel's use of American weapons in Gaza may have violated international law. That comes as the IDF is ordering immediate evacuations from neighborhoods in Rafah. We'll have a live report.
And the fixer versus the former president. How Michael Cohen's hush money trial testimony could seal Donald Trump's fate.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin this hour with a powerful geomagnetic storm happening right now. The storm has weakened to level 4 after peaking at the highest level 5 a short time ago. It's the most powerful storm of its kind in more than 20 years and it's causing the northern and southern lights to dazzle many places that rarely, if ever see them.
And have a look, this was the sky over Nashville, Tennessee, in the southern U.S. earlier. The time-lapse video captured the vivid hues swirling and dancing above Music City.
Further south, this was the view for parts of Florida, a remarkable sight for the balmy state north of the tropics.
The northern lights were also spotted across much of Europe and Asia on Friday night.
This was the scene in Germany. Now in the Southern Hemisphere, the aurora australis were spotted over
New Zealand as well as Argentina. And we'll bring you more images from around the world throughout the hour.
The storm will likely continue through the weekend and potentially impact communications, satellites and power grids. Elon Musk's satellite internet provider, Starlink, says it experienced degraded service earlier. But Musk says everything's holding up.
Now the geomagnetic storm started when the sun erupted with a series of solar flares and what's known as coronal mass ejections, which launched particles directly at the Earth.
So what exactly is a coronal mass ejection, the solar phenomenon that's causing the storm?
CNN's Chad Myers explains.
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CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: 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 dimension today. It could go that way, it could go to the back, it could go to the -- it 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 disk.
But when you see the coronal mass ejections come this way. It's like looking at somebody blowing smoke ring at you, you know what's coming. And you know what'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, you know the seismograph in -- when you look 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 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.
Auroras seen farther south with a G5, big number. This is 5 out of 5. This is as big as we get. There are still levels of 5 but G5, we're already up there. Power outages are likely. And also satellite disruptions are also likely.
So yes.
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It's certainly possible. So rare, 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.
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BRUNHUBER: And live now to Reading, England, and Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So we're in the midst of some pretty phenomenal space weather right now.
How exciting is what you're witnessing right now?
MATHEW OWENS, PROFESSOR OF SPACE PHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF READING: Oh, I mean, for a space physicist, it's really exciting.
You've got a lot of bleary-eyed solar physicists this morning from staying up, watching the spacecraft data and then remembering to look up at the sky as well.
Yes, this is what we live for, right?
BRUNHUBER: All right, so take us through the physics of this. Coronal mass ejections, CMEs, what are they exactly?
OWENS: These are really big eruptions from the sun of material. So this is stuff. It's really moving, we're talking 1 million miles an hour. But it's a long way from the sun. So they take two or three days to get here. So we actually put a forecast 2.5 days before they arrived, we were
pretty confident that this was going to be some (INAUDIBLE).
BRUNHUBER: Yes, these forecasts are important because it allows us to prepare. As you say, this is happening 93 million miles away. The impact here, however, it could feel it here on the Earth.
We saw in the report there, in 2003, there were some effects and, of course, 35 years ago, we were hit by a CME about the size of 36 Earths. It caused lots of chaos, particularly in Quebec, which saw plenty of power outages.
I was actually there at the time.
So how vulnerable are we to something like that happening again, do you think?
OWENS: It's quite difficult to really know. We haven't heard of any major outages from this event. But I'm hearing a few anecdotal reports from localized power issues, particularly in Scandinavia. We'll find out more as time goes on.
But it's very difficult to assess just how vulnerable you are because there's a whole range of factors that conflate together -- demand on the grid, what time of day these things hit, things like that.
BRUNHUBER: And it's not just the power grid but satellites as well that are vulnerable. And these days compared to, let's say, 2003, we -- there are more satellites out there. We rely on them more in terms of our GPS and communications and so on.
But we are also better prepared because of what we've experienced.
Is that, is that fair?
OWENS: I think that's right. Even just take an example of Starlink, they lost 48 satellites two years ago. But that was because -- and that was a very small CME but it happened during launch. And so they now do that launch in a different way. So they're not quite as vulnerable.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Now this -- solar flares and so on. I mean, it happens fairly regularly but this one obviously really big.
What are we hoping to learn from this one right now?
OWENS: Well, actually these individual CMEs were not actually that big by historical standards.
But there were just a lot of them and they all piled together in space. And space is a mess yesterday. And then start piling together and just that continual pumping out more and more events that caused this to reach superstorm level.
So this is quite different to previous storms in a way. So there's going to be a lot for solar physicists to come pick over the next few months. I think.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, it's a good distinction to draw, not like the big, huge one we saw that affected Quebec but rather lots of the ones that could have an aggregate effect.
Now you're using special equipment. And to scientists, like you special equipment to see this. But those of us can also see what's going on now with the sun.
Is that right?
If you, if you still have your solar eclipse glasses kicking around from last month?
OWENS: That's right. I mean, the sunspot that has been throwing these CMEs out is huge. It's about 15 Earths across. So if you've got your eclipse goggles and you've still got some clear skies, you can see this with the naked eye quite easily.
BRUNHUBER: Well, listen, it's just fascinating to see what's happening now and to discuss all the ramifications. Really appreciate your expertise, Professor Mathew Owens with the University of Reading.
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Thank you so much.
OWENS: Thanks for having me.
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BRUNHUBER: Now, as I mentioned, Canada is no stranger to the potential disruptions and dangers from geometric storms like this one. CNN's Paula Newton is just outside the capital, Ottawa.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: As you might have guessed, the northern lights are more of a common occurrence in Canada. And the storms, the solar storms do not even have to be as severe as the one we are seeing now.
The issue though is here normally the kinds of colors that you're seeing in the sky are greenish or a milky green kind of color. Some people report seeing some blue.
This time with these spectacular colors, many people across Canada, who do not have cloud cover, will be looking toward the sky and continue to look to the sky because of those spectacular colors that we are not used to seeing.
The other thing people are keeping an eye on is whether or not there will be any disruptions through anything technical, whether it's the electrical grid or anything else. In 1989 in the province of Quebec, there was quite a widespread power outage that scientists still study today. But back then, they did not have the satellite technology that they
have now. They have reinforced those infrastructure grids. But also they have more sensors, more satellite technology. They know a little bit more about what is going to be happening with these solar storms and have a bit more of a prediction in terms of what will happen.
So far, no disruptions throughout Canada, except people will be disrupted their sleep as they continue to look skyward, looking for those spectacular colors -- Paula Newton, CNN, Dunrobin, Ontario.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll continue to keep an eye on this solar storm. But after the break, we'll look at how prosecutors are setting the stage for Donald Trump's fixer to testify in the hush money trial.
And the IDF has issued new evacuation orders for Rafah. We'll have the latest in a live report just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: So many pictures of aurora created by an ongoing geomagnetic storm are pouring in from around the globe.
The Space Weather Prediction Center says it peaked a few hours ago at G5 or extreme storm, something we haven't seen in more than 20 years. It's now at G4 strength, classified as severe.
So have a look, this is what the northern lights looked like from Maine earlier, lighting up the sky in green and pink and purple. Americans as far south as Florida were able to see the lights.
So have a look at this video out of Germany, where many people got a spectacular show across Europe.
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BRUNHUBER: New developments in Gaza right now. The Israeli military is ordering the immediate evacuation of several neighborhoods in northern Gaza. Now this is in addition to the evacuation order that came a short time ago for several more neighborhoods in eastern Rafah.
The IDF posted on social media that evacuees from Rafah should immediately head to the expanded humanitarian area in al-Mawasi. This comes as Israel's security cabinet has approved an expansion of the area of operation in Rafah.
The U.N. says what's already happening in Rafah has displaced more than 100,000 Palestinians. They say conditions at those humanitarian areas are not adequate. Some locations have no running water. There's no sewage system or electricity and people are being forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters on the side of the road.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no water. There's 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.
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BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, a new State Department report says, it's, quote, "reasonable to assess" that Israeli forces have used U.S. weapons in Gaza in ways inconsistent with international humanitarian law.
The report stopped short of saying that Israel violated international law but it is sharply critical of the toll in Gaza.
A part of the report says, "While Israel has the knowledge, experience and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations, the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases."
U.S. law prevents Washington from providing weapons to security forces credibly accused of gross human rights violations. Scott McLean is live in Istanbul with more on the situation.
Scott, so let's start with Rafah, the IDF ordering immediate evacuations of more neighborhoods.
What more are we learning?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim. Yes, the IDF insists it has the weapons to go ahead with this operation in Rafah. And that's exactly what they seem to be doing.
This comes just a day after the Israeli security cabinet approved an expansion of the physical operating area, where they're approved to carry out operations. This essentially just makes it easier for the three-member war cabinet to make decisions quicker on the fly about that approved area.
It doesn't necessarily mean that things are going to be happening in immediately but perhaps there is that indication coming from the IDF in this new ordering of people to evacuate from not only those neighborhoods in northern Gaza that you mentioned.
But also five other neighborhoods or camp areas in southern Gaza, in the eastern Rafah area, telling them to move to the al Mawasi humanitarian zone, as they're calling it, along the coast.
But as you rightly pointed out, there are plenty of concerns about the humanitarian conditions there, with people just putting up tents along the side of the road, with very little infrastructure there. There are also some people in Gaza who are finding it difficult to
move, finding it difficult to find a ride there, finding it difficult to have the money to move. Others are simply unwilling to move.
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And of course, the humanitarian there continues to deteriorate. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. And the U.N. secretary general, Antonio Guterres, says that a full-scale invasion of Rafah will only make a very bad situation worse. Listen.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: Around 100,000 Palestinians are moving north from Rafah.
Yet humanitarian partners have no tents or food stores left in south Gaza. The 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.
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MCLEAN: And in terms of aid, Kim, there is this conflicting back-and- forth between the Israelis and the Americans, who say that there has some -- there has been some aid get into southern Gaza over the last few days.
But the Palestinian side and the World Food Programme also says that that is simply not the case. And look, it is badly needed. There's only one functioning bakery left there. And some of the people there have told CNN that the situation is, in their words, beyond bad.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, beyond bad, exactly. And then Scott, in the meantime, as I mentioned, the Biden administration's report on Israel's use of American weapons. So take us through what they said and the reaction.
MCLEAN: Sure, and there's been a lot of anticipation for this report because, though it doesn't specifically mandate any specific change in U.S. policy, surely it could be the catalyst for some kind of a change at the very least.
One senior State Department official told CNN that it's been a useful tool for the Biden administration to get more information from the Israelis and insist on a change in their behavior.
So it does not explicitly say that U.S. weapons have been used by Israeli in violation of international law. It says that there's not enough information that the U.S. has or has been able to gather to make that definitive conclusion.
But it does say that you can reasonably assess that U.S. weapons have been used in violation of international law. It goes on to say that the volume of reported -- of incidents reported raises serious concerns, that Israelis have the knowledge. They have the experience to minimize civilian casualties.
But that the results on the ground had been very different and the number of civilian casualties have been huge, suggesting that perhaps these weapons are not being used effectively.
Now remember that the whole reason that this report was commissioned in the first time -- in the first place by President Biden was because of pressure coming from Democratic lawmakers. And there may still well be lawmakers who say this report maybe got it wrong.
It did not find that Israel withheld humanitarian aid to Gaza, which would have been a violation of U.S. law. And despite what I just told you about what this report said, it also found that Israeli assurances that U.S. weapons would be used in accordance with international law, were in fact credible and reliable -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. I appreciate those updates. Scott McLean in Istanbul, thanks so much.
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BRUNHUBER: 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 Kara Scannell has the latest from New York.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors' star witness Michael Cohen is expected to testify on Monday in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial.
Cohen, Trump's former attorney and fixer, is at the crux of the criminal case against him. Prosecutors say Cohen paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf to kill her story of an alleged affair before the 2016 election. Trump denies the affair.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Somebody paid the lawyer and then paid the lawyer so it was a legal expense that somebody happened to be me. I didn't do the bookkeeping. I didn't even know about it. This is what the case is about.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen told his Political Beatdown Podcast co- host on Thursday that he looks forward to testify.
MICHAEL COHEN, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: The sooner this thing starts, the sooner this thing finishes.
SCANNELL (voice-over): After a defense request, Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors he wants Cohen to keep quiet about the case before he takes the stand. But he can't issue a gag order on a witness, something Trump expressed frustration about as he left court.
TRUMP: There is no gag to Michael Cohen. What the judge did was amazing actually, was amazing. Everybody can say whatever they want. They can say whatever they want but I'm not allowed to say anything about anybody. It's a disgrace.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Prosecutors called witnesses to the stand.
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To help lay the groundwork for Cohen's upcoming testimony. An AT&T analyst introduced Cohen's phone records.
And back on the stand, Trump's former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout testified about Trump's reaction to the release of Daniels' story in 2018.
Westerhout testified Trump was upset by it and her understanding was that it would be hurtful to his family. She later clarified Trump did not specifically speak about his family in that conversation.
Trump's lawyer suggested he made the $130,000 hush money pay off to Daniels in order to protect his family. Meanwhile, prosecutors argue he did it to influence the 2016 election which was two weeks away and came on the heels of the Access Hollywood tape damaging his campaign.
TRUMP: And when you're a star they let you do it, you can do anything.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Trump's lawyer Susan Necheles asked Westerhout about the process of Trump's signing checks. Westinghouse said Trump would sign them while multitasking, doing things like talking on the phone or meeting with people. She described FedExing the signed checks back to the Trump Organization.
Prosecutors used Westerhout to show the chain of command of checks like the one sent to Cohen to reimburse him for the hush money. Cohen testified before Congress about the allegations in 2019.
ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD), FORMER U.S. HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: Donald Trump wrote you a check out of his personal account while he was serving as President of the United States of America to reimburse you for hush money payments.
COHEN: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Another witness, a paralegal at the district attorney's office, read one of Trump's tweets about the monthly payments to Cohen, which Trump called a retainer. Trump said, Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign.
The tweet came around the time his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani told FOX News host Sean Hannity that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the hush money, that Cohen paid for it out of his own pocket.
RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Having something to do with paying some Stormy Daniels woman $130,000, I mean, which is going to turn out to be perfectly legal. That money was not campaign money. They funneled it through the law firm, funneled through a law firm and the president repaid it.
SCANNELL: Now this capped a week where the jury saw the documents that prosecutors say were falsified, in this case, the invoices, the general ledger entries and the checks. They also heard from the woman, Stormy Daniels, that's at the center of the hush money payment.
Next week, it will be Michael Cohen squaring off against the man he said he would once take a bullet for. Prosecutors say they could rest their case by the end of the week -- Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: And you can watch CNN's special coverage of the Trump hush money trial, it resumes Monday at 9:00 am in New York, 2:00 pm in London.
The presidential candidate's youngest son, Barron, is no longer going to be a delegate at the Republican National Convention this summer. The office of former first lady Melania Trump says Barron was honored but he, quote, "regretfully declines due to prior commitments."
Barron had been selected by Florida Republicans to serve as an at- large delegate at the July convention. Other Trump children were asked to be delegates as well.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is walking back controversial comments he made opposing government limits to abortions. He had said he supports a woman's right to an abortion even up to the point of birth.
His remarks came during a podcast interview published Wednesday.
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SAGE STEELE, PODCAST HOST: So, in other words, keeping it as is with Roe versus Wade having been overturned and leaving it up to the states to determine if and when a woman can have an abortion?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I-OK), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I believe it's the states.
STEELE: Right.
KENNEDY: No, I would --
STEELE: -- say completely it's up to --
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: -- leave this to women.
We should leave it to the women. We shouldn't have government involved.
STEELE: Even if it's full term?
KENNEDY: Even if it's full term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now in an interview with that same podcaster, his vice presidential pick seemed surprised by his statement.
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STEELE: I spoke to Bobby about this.
And at the end of the day, he says, yes, this is a woman's choice, period.
And I said even up until birth?
And yes was his answer. And so --
NICOLE SHANAHAN, RFK JR.'S RUNNING MATE: That is not Bobby's position as I understand it. My understanding with Bobby's position is that every abortion is a tragedy.
STEELE: Yes.
SHANAHAN: Is a loss of life. My understanding is that he absolutely believes in the limits on abortion. And we've talked about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Then in a social media post late Friday, Kennedy said, he believes, quote, "abortion should be legal up until a certain number of weeks," adding he believes abortion should be restricted, quote, "in the final months" of pregnancy.
It's the strongest geomagnetic storm in more than two decades. When we come back, what you can expect throughout the weekend as this historic phenomenon makes its way across our planet.
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Plus a professor of space physics explains what's behind these amazing views and why it's so rare. That's next on CNN, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world.
I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Back to one of our top stories we're following this hour, the geomagnetic storm happening around the world has weakened to level 4, the second highest category. The storm was raging for hours at the extreme level of 5. At that time, it was the most powerful solar storm in more than 20 years.
Now this was the scene here in Atlanta, Georgia, in the southern U.S., a short time ago. Much of the Midwest and even northern California still have high chances of seeing the aurora before the sun rises.
Now skies over the U.K. and Ireland lit up in vivid colors earlier on Friday night. Parts of Europe and Asia are likely to have another chance to view the lights tonight. Governments and electrical companies are monitoring the situation for potential disruption to communication satellites and power grids.
The light phenomenon was caused by a series of solar eruptions that hurled particles directly at the Earth. Now CNN's Kristin Fisher explains how this historic phenomenon can bring about possible disruptions and breathtaking views throughout the weekend.
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KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called a coronal mass ejection and those highly charged particles have been barreling toward 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: Just think of gazillions of protons coming toward Earth at the same time.
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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.
NOAA 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 fix 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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Jamestown actual to all astronauts. We've got a solar storm coming in and it's a hot one.
FISHER (voice-over): Apple T.V.'s "For All Mankind" envisioned astronauts on the moon running for cover to dodge the incoming radiation during a strong solar storm. 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 thrust 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 coronal 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 VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to go live now to Gothenburg, Sweden, and Matt Robinson, an astronomer and photographer with the travel company Aurora Zone.
Thank you so much for being here with us. We're just showing one of the pictures that you took here. It's just absolutely spectacular to see all the amazing colors. Now you are in the general aurora zone anyway, in Sweden. So you get to see these all the time.
But this, this phenomenon, the record setting numbers that we're seeing, how exciting is this for you?
MATT ROBINSON, ASTRONOMER AND PHOTOGRAPHER, AURORA ZONE: It's hugely exciting for me because, like you say, I've seen it quite often. But there's a lot of people and a lot of my friends and family who haven't seen it so they've seen it through my images.
So now, because now that they're able just to walk outside their door and look up and see it, it's wonderful.
And now we can share the experience together.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's exactly right.
I mean it's really captivating the world. The fact that we here even down south in Georgia can see it. I want to pull up a picture. Our producer's daughter took this picture just outside of Atlanta, which, I mean, it just blows my mind that you'd be able to see the northern lights in the South here.
From a scientific point of view. I mean, just how exceptional is what we're seeing right now?
ROBINSON: It is pretty much a once in a generational thing. Here in Sweden in Gothenburg, we probably see it maybe once a year, twice a year maybe if we're lucky, open the aurora's on.
In the north of Sweden, Finland, Norway and the north of Canada, you can see it pretty much every day, every other day.
But to see it in Georgia as far south as it's been seen in the south of Florida, that's once in 20-30 years. It really doesn't happen very often.
BRUNHUBER: So explain to us why this is happening.
Why does a geomagnetic storm make it so spectacular now for such a wide swath of the world?
ROBINSON: It's just aligned up perfectly really. A lot of places have got clear skies, which really helps. And the U.K. and Sweden have had that, which is also quite rare. But it was a huge storm that was unleashed a few days ago from the sun, which was then followed up by a few others.
They've caught up to the original storm. And it's kind of all hit us at once. So that's why it's so big. That's why it's so intense because it all came at the same time and it's quite dense and fast speed on this stone (ph).
So it's just everything is aligned up perfectly for most of the planet to be able to see it.
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BRUNHUBER: Now this is a pretty basic question but as we're looking at the pictures that are just so spectacular, so layered with so many colors, what does create the different colors that we're seeing?
ROBINSON: It's the molecules in the Earth's atmosphere and the height of them. So when these charged particles filled that down through our magnetic fields, in the (INAUDIBLE) poles, they'll then interact with molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere.
So on the top level of our atmosphere, it's predominantly oxygen. So the charge particles will hit those molecules, fill them full of energy, then they'll release a photon of light, which will correspond to the red and the green.
And then further down, you get more interactions, which will be the nitrogen. And then you get the blues and the purples and you want to get the blues and purples when it's a strong storm, a very dense and fast speed storm.
So that's why we're getting a lot more colors because there's a lot more particles coming in from the sun because of these storms.
BRUNHUBER: Fascinating. So let's look toward the future here.
Was this the peak of it in terms of watching?
Or if you didn't see it tonight, does it mean you've missed out completely?
ROBINSON: I've just been checking because I want to see it again.
I always want to see it again. My advice would be no, would be if you didn't see it last night, go out tonight. It might not be as strong as last night. It's likely that it won't be.
But there will be something there. So as we're coming around it at nightfall in Europe, we should start to be able to see it and hopefully in the U.S., it will hang on in there and there'll still be more to see.
So it might not be as far south as down to Florida way but in the mid regions in the U.S.. There's a chance that we will be able to see it again. So you definitely won't see it if you're sitting at home. So my advice is to go out into a safe (INAUDIBLE).
BRUNHUBER: Yes, once a generation phenomenon.
Let's hope that if people didn't catch it, they might be able to catch round two.
Matt Robinson in Gothenburg, Sweden, thank you so much for speaking with us. Really appreciate it.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
All right. Russia opens a new front line in northern Ukraine and brings ground combat closer to the country's second largest city. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus the latest on the catastrophic floods impacting nearly 2 million people in Brazil. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine says its second largest city is not in danger of falling after Russia launched a new ground invasion in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian sources say Russian troops swept across the border in the northeast on Friday, advancing up to three miles or five kilometers in one area.
More than 1,700 people in the region were later evacuated and at least two civilians were reportedly killed. President Zelenskyy says Ukraine's artillery stopped the Russian advance but the situation is serious.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The main focus is the Kharkiv region. Russian forces today attempted to expand operations against Ukraine. We understand the extent of the occupiers' forces, see their intentions. Our soldiers, our artillery, our drones respond to the occupier.
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And Washington approved $400 million in new military aid for Ukraine on Friday on top of more than $60 billion announced last month. U.S. Defense Secretary says most of the new aid is headed to Kharkiv.
The death toll continues to rise in Brazil. After nearly two weeks of devastating widespread flooding, 126 people have already lost their lives in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Dozens more are missing and nearly 2 million people have been impacted. The looming threat of further storms could make the situation even worse.
More rounds of heavy rain and strong winds are expected to hit throughout the weekend. CNN has gathered a list of vetted organizations there on the ground, responding to the humanitarian crisis in Brazil. And you can find details on how you can help at a special section of our website, cnn.com/impact.
We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: In sports, the Indiana Pacers pulled off a dramatic victory over New York Knicks, keeping their hopes alive in the NBA playoffs. "CNN SPORT's" correspondent Carolyn Manno joins me.
Carolyn, I mean, this was basically a must-win game for the Pacers, right?
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It was Kim. Down to oh, no NBA team has ever come back from being down into a 3-0 deficit to win a seven game series. The Knicks were down several starters but they still have Jalen Brunson and down three with just under a minute to go.
Bad ankle and all, New York's MVP candidate draining a step back three to tie this game. He finished with 26 points but Indiana would find an unlikely hero, Andrew Nembhard, getting the pass from Tyrese Haliburton, with time running out on the shot clock, forced to give it up and nothing but nylon.
Nembhard only had two baskets all night, both in the final two minutes. And Haliburton who added team high 35 points just in awe as the Knicks did have a chance to answer. But Brunson would throw up an errant shot trying to draw a foul. The Pacers hold on for the 111- 106 win.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just in the moment like it -- I was just kind of sunk a little bit. I was just happy to Baldwin there, you know.
TYRESE HALIBURTON, INDIANA PACERS GUARD: Happened you're were going into kind of a bad situation. Just made an unbelievable shot, big, big shot. It was really -- just really stepped up to the moment when we needed him the most.
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MANNO: The Nuggets also answering the bell in a must-win road game with Minnesota a day after getting fined for throwing a heat pack at an official after a game where he only managed eight points total.
Jamal Murray responded to boos all night by scoring eight in the first quarter and 24 in all as the defending champs role by 27, making it a 2-1 series.
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JAMAL MURRAY, DENVER NUGGETS GUARD: It honestly just kind of makes you better because you have to -- you have to respond in a way or have to -- for me, at least, it makes me better.
I like to cherish that moment. That definitely fuels me during the game and just keeps me in that mode. So it's when I embraced that challenge, I embraced that moment.
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MANNO: Different story on the ice after a 6-1 loss in game two in Florida, the Boston Bruins came back home and got blown out again on Friday night. The Panthers scored the first four goals of the game, all on the power play. And some frustration would boil over early in the third period as well.
Jakub Lauko getting called for another Bruins penalty for crashing into the goalie. He thought he was pushed there. Coach Jim Montgomery also fired up as the Panthers win 6-2 and regained control of the series 2-1.
And the Edmonton Oilers, very un-Canadian-like, stealing Holbein's (ph) advantage from their neighbors to the West, the Vancouver Canucks. Evan Bouchard firing a worm burner that goes off a very unlucky Ian Cole's (ph) stick into the back of the net for the overtime winner.
Edmonton's first win against Vancouver this season is a big one as they head back home with a series tied at 1.
And in golf, Nelly Korda heating up in her historic chase for a record setting six straight LPGA tour win. The 25 -year old American, one of just three women to win five straight starts. She had her best round ever at the Founders Cup Friday and the lowest score of the day.
Six birdies, no bogeys, shooting up the leaderboard into third at -9, entering the weekend, just four shots back.
And the WNBA's popularity exploding right now, ticket sales soaring up 93 percent from last year. And now for the first time, they are expanding beyond the United States. The league is planning to add a 14th franchise into Renault, Canada, the yet to be named team expected to start play in the 2026 season.
And Kim, I know you're a proud Canadian.
Can you cheer for a team from Toronto?
BRUNHUBER: As a Montrealer, listen, if I have no choice, I will do so.
[05:55:00]
And honestly, I mean, to be to be serious for, say, go Raptors, right?
But on a serious note, I mean, I think it's a great thing for Canada to get a WNBA team. My sister played college basketball in Canada and just what it would have meant to have the next level of players to look up to.
I mean, this is going to really inspire a whole new generation of players. I think it'll be fantastic to see.
MANNO: That's wonderful.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Carolyn Manno in New York. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Sweden is gearing up for the Eurovision grand finale in the coming hours. The host city is preparing to welcome around 15,000 visitors to its arena for the glitter-filled spectacle while millions more in Europe and around the world tune in for the broadcast.
Much of the focus is expected to be on Israel's Eden Golan. She's considered among the top 10 to win the competition, despite protesters calling for Israel to be excluded over its war in Gaza.
Among the other front-runners are Croatia's Baby Lasagna with a coming of age song as well as Switzerland's Nemo with a song about self- discovery as a non-binary person.
All right. We want to leave you this hour with the massive geomagnetic storm that is 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 U.S., the northern lights were seen as far south as here in Georgia, painting the sky pink. The Space Weather Prediction Center says we haven't seen a solar storm this intense in more than 20 years and it should continue for the next few days.
The storm could affect the power grid as well as satellite and radio communications and we, of course, are watching this story closely. We'll keep you updated in the hours ahead.
But for now, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
