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Gaza Death Toll Surpasses 35,000; Thousands Of Civilians Fleeing Rafah; President Biden Warns Israel About Rafah Invasion; Putin Replaces Defense Minister Shoigu; Michael Cohen To Testify Monday On Hush Money Case; CNN Covers Widespread Abuse Inside Israel's Shadowy Desert Prison; Students Walk Out On Seinfeld's Graduation Speech At Duke; Pomona College Graduation Moved Off-Campus To Avoid Protests. CNN Original Series Presents "How It Really Happened." Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 12, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and tonight the Hamas-run Ministry of Health saying the number of Palestinians killed since the start of that war has now surpassed 35,000. CNN cannot independently confirm those numbers though that do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

These latest numbers coming as the Israeli military launches new attacks ahead of a major ground offensive in the city of Rafah. Israeli troops are moving in on the eastern part of that city as well as central and northern Gaza, where the IDF claims Hamas is trying to rebuild. More than 300,000 civilians have fled Rafah since Monday. That's according to the U.N., calling it a, quote, "forced and inhumane displacement of Palestinians."

Back here in the U.S., top White House officials continue to send Israel stark warnings against the launch of a wide-scale invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe two things. One, you have to have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven't seen. Second, we also need to see a plan for what happens after this conflict in Gaza is over, and we still haven't seen that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: We are tracking all the latest developments here at home and overseas. We start with CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. And Paula, a major concern for humanitarian groups in Gaza is the lack of food and other absolutely essential supplies. What more do we know about that?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, with 300,000 now moving out of Rafah and have done over the past few days, you're seeing them moving to an area just along the coast, which the Israeli military said was a humanitarian and safer area. But it's an area that the U.N. teams on the ground are saying is inhumane. They are saying it is not suitable for the sheer number of people to be moving towards. It is not set up to be able to cope with that level of displacement.

And what we're seeing is the amount of humanitarian aid trucks that are getting into Gaza at this point has been severely affected by what is happening in Rafah. Bear in mind, this is where most of the humanitarian aid groups have based themselves over the past seven months. We know the Israeli military is in charge now of the Rafah crossing with Egypt. And we know that Egyptian officials have said that they're not coordinating with Israel to try and get more humanitarian aid trucks in because they're citing security concerns.

Even if they manage to get their trucks inside, it is dangerous and it is very difficult to be able to distribute that aid where it is needed. We're hearing from U.N. teams on the ground that they believe that they will be running out of food and of water. Now, the Israeli military say that they have opened another land crossing, and this is to service northern Gaza at this point. But the critical concentration of displacement at this point is in the southern area, and that is where the serious concerns are.

Now, when it comes to the fighting itself, it is interesting because the Israeli military says they're now fighting Hamas once again in central Gaza and also in northern Gaza. This is at the Jabalia refugee camp. It's an area where Israel said that they had pushed Hamas out some time ago and they had control of this area. But they say they now have intelligence that Hamas is trying to regroup. They are trying to move back to this area and reassemble to cause a threat to Israel.

So, what the military says they're doing at this point is they're actually issuing evacuation orders to civilians in that area as well, trying to move them out of the way. And once again, they are fighting where they said they had already cleared the area. And it really speaks to just how difficult the situation is. If the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he is going to completely destroy Hamas, it just shows how almost impossible that would be to do. Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi. Thanks so much for that reporting. And let's go now to Kevin Liptak, who's traveling with President Biden today in Delaware. And, Kevin, top White House officials are doubling down on the president's ultimatum. What are they saying today?

KEKVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they're continuing to warn against a major ground offensive in Rafah. And I think they're channeling President Biden's view that American weapons cannot be used in an operation that, in their estimation, would be ill-advised and very, very bloody. And, in fact, just in the last few hours, we've learned that the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, did speak with his counterpart in Israel.

[17:04:51]

This is significant. It's the first phone call that we've seen announced between the White House and the Israeli government since President Biden delivered that ultimatum on CNN that he would halt shipments of certain weapons to Israel if this ground offensive in Rafah goes forward. The White House says that they discussed President Biden's concerns. They discussed some of the alternatives. And the White House said that the Israeli national security adviser did say that Israel was taking some of these concerns into account.

But at the end of the day, these concerns are nothing new. President Biden has been raising them with Prime Minister Netanyahu going back all the way to February. Netanyahu has shown no willingness to back off his plan on Rafah. He says that it is necessary to go after Hamas there to completely eliminate the terror group.

When you hear American officials, their views are completely at odds, including the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that a major ground offensive in Rafah could lead to a Hamas insurgency. Listen to a little bit more of what he had to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: And they will be left holding the bag on an enduring insurgency because a lot of armed Hamas will be left no matter what they do in Rafah. Or if they if they leave and get out of Gaza, as we believe they need to do, then you're going to have a vacuum and a vacuum that's likely to be filled by chaos, by anarchy and ultimately by Hamas again. We need to see that too. We have the same objective as Israel. We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again. We want to make sure it's demilitarized. We want to make sure that Israel gets its leaders. That's what we're determined. We have a different way and we think a more effective, durable way of getting that done. We remain in conversation with Israel about exactly that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: Now, Blinken also said this morning that the U.S. believes Israel has killed more civilians in Gaza than Hamas members. And he also said the U.S. hasn't seen a plan from Israel about governance and security in Gaza once this war ends. Taken altogether, these are some of the toughest words that we've seen from the Biden administration towards the Israeli government. And it really does give you the sense that this relationship and this war is reaching quite a critical moment. Jessica?

DEAN: Kevin Liptak, traveling with the president in Delaware today. Thanks so much for that reporting. Joining us now, CNN Global Affairs Analyst and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Mr. Secretary, great to have you here this afternoon. First, I just want to know if you think the posture that Kevin was just laying out from the Biden administration is the correct one.

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Jessica, first of all. Look, I think the decision to cut off arms is a mistake, not immediately so because denying the Israelis the capability. But what it does is sends the wrong message to both the Israelis and, more importantly, to Hamas, because it looks like, once again, there's a gap growing, continues to grow between Tel Aviv and Washington. And what it means for Hamas is just continue to sit on the sidelines

and don't negotiate, don't give any ground, because their leverage continues to improve by these types of actions. And it's interesting to say it's not just Republicans pushing back against President Biden on this one. It's Democrats in both houses of Congress who are raising concerns about him taking this position.

Now, look, on the other hand, it is true, I think, while I believe that Israel needs to go into Rafah, get rid of the four militant battalions remaining, track down the Gaza leaders, Yahya al-Sinwar and others, and dismantle the tunnel networks, they need to do so in a way that allows for more humanitarian aid to come in and to limit, again, civilian casualties, which I think they can and should do a far better job of doing. But I think they need to go in and do this. The question is, how can they do it far, far better than how they've been doing the last several months?

DEAN: And to that end, the IDF says Hamas is trying to regroup in the north that's why they're targeting those areas also right now. I want to play a clip from Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. He was on with my colleague Dana Bash this morning. We'll hear what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Every intelligence expert has already come to the conclusion you are not going to be able to eliminate Hamas, right? There is going to continue to be a resistance movement to the state of Israel. And the question is, is it going to be weaker or stronger after 13,000 to 15,000 kids are killed inside Gaza? My argument is that right now the prospects are that it is going to be stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Mr. Secretary, do you think that that is right? Do you think that the elimination of Hamas is possible? That's long been Israel's goal. They'll say they have achieved victory when Hamas is fully eliminated. Do you think that's an achievable goal seven months in?

ESPER: Yeah, I've been saying for some time that destroying Hamas is not possible. It's an ideology as much as it's an entity. But you can dismantle it. You can disable it. You can make sure that it has no warfighting capability and that it cannot govern again. And I think that's what we're aiming to do by going into Rafah, by finding the leadership and eliminating the leadership.

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I think what you're going to have to deal with then, and this remains an unanswered question, and I agree with Secretary Blinken here, we need to know what the plan is after they finish up with Rafah. Once we believe that we've dismantled all the Hamas battalions, there has to be some type of governing authority in there. Because if not, then Hamas will rise back up and they will govern and threaten and bully Palestinian people there. So, there's been some talk about some type of, you know, peacekeeping

entity among UAE, the Saudis, Jordanians and others. But we need to know what that is, what the conflict looks like at the end. Because again, somebody needs to govern Gaza and part of this governance will be peacekeeping, policing, but another part of it will be making sure that Hamas doesn't rise up again. And I think that's the big unanswered question now is what happens when the military conflict is over.

DEAN: And so many people say exactly what you're saying that I'm talking to about this conflict. And so how do they begin to untangle that and get to some sketch of what that might look like when this conflict is over? It is a big question.

ESPER: Yeah, look, there's reporting out there that something is emerging that the United States is leading on this to bringing partners together. But this now gets backed into domestic politics in Israel, where you have reporting coming out last 24-48 hours that the head of the Israeli military had a showdown with Bibi Netanyahu saying, hey, tell us what the plan is. We need to know what the plan is. And he would be absolutely correct if that's the case.

But the domestic politics are tough for Netanyahu. And not to give him an excuse. But on one hand, he has a far-right members of his coalition who want to see Israel control Gaza. They believe it's part of the promised land and they want to go back in to where they were in 2003, 2004, 2005, before Israel walked away. But most other Israelis say, no, we want to get out, stay out of Gaza and are looking for this broader deal. So, Netanyahu is trying to walk this fine line on this on this issue.

And it's not just the strategic matter, but it's also, of course, the tactical issue of going into Rafah or not. And then at the end of the day, what does the end state look like? I mean, what's the long-term peace plan? Most subscribe to a two-party solution, two-state solution. But Netanyahu has walked away from that one as well a long time ago.

DEAN: And before I let you go, I want to ask you about a different subject. I want to ask you about changes tonight in Russia's military leadership. President Vladimir Putin has replaced Shoigu as defense minister. And the Kremlin spokesperson says that change is due to the need for, quote, "innovation." He wants to replace him with someone who's a civilian. What do you make of that?

ESPER: Yeah, a few things. First of all, Shoigu has been a loyal ally to Putin now since being in office for 12 years or so. You know, I had to deal with him many times when I was in office. Most people don't know he's really not a military guy. And I know you're flashing pictures there of him in a uniform, but it's different system. He didn't grow up as a soldier in a military thing. He's probably arguably more civilian than a military guy.

But what's interesting is it's happening now. I guess some people would say that Putin just got his fifth term was just we just had the ceremony marking that maybe that was the time. I thought maybe Shoigu would have been pushed out during the Prigozhin rebellion rise up last year, but I guess not.

But the bigger argument coming out of Moscow right now is that the Russian is moving toward a war economy, and it's true. Seven percent of their GDP now is focused on defense. They're on a war footing. Arguably, they're saying that they want him running the military industrial complex. And they say the new guy being brought in is more innovative.

And I think one of the disappointing things of Shoigu's tenure is that we thought the Russian army, at least during my time at the Pentagon, we thought they were professionalizing, that they were modernizing all their equipment, their doctrine, how they train and fight and everything. And we really haven't seen that on the battlefield.

So, I'm sure more will come out in the following days. But this is an important move and it's an interesting move. So, it'll be curious again to see how they try to explain this and what the new defense minister's role will actually be.

DEAN: Absolutely. Secretary Mark Esper, thanks so much for joining us.

ESPER: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, it's come down to the fixer against the former president, how Michael Cohen's testimony could seal Donald Trump's fate as a felon or his credibility problems could sink the state's case. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: The stage is set for a dramatic courtroom showdown on Monday as former attorney Michael Cohen takes the stand to testify against the man he once said he'd take a bullet for, his former boss, President Donald Trump.

Cohen is expected to connect Trump to the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels to keep an allegedly damaging story quiet before the 2016 election. Cohen was warned by the judge on Friday to stop talking publicly about the trial after taunting Trump online.

Meanwhile, Trump holding a rally on the Jersey Shore Saturday, where he attacked the trial, Biden, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FOREM PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Carried out by radical Democrat district attorney. You know, who he is? Fat Alvin. Corrupt guy. And then we have a highly conflicted judge. He's corrupted, highly conflicted, so conflicted. There's never been a judge that's more conflicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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DEAN: And joining us now is CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen. Zach, what do you make of Trump attacking both Bragg and Judge Merchan? That is all, by the way, allowed under this gag order. So, it is within what's allowed. What do you also expect for tomorrow?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, that's exactly right, Jessica. And a lot of ways, this is more of the same of what we've heard from Trump really over the last several months and even years as he's approached this re-election for president. He's attacked prosecutors and judges across all of his criminal cases trying to push his baseless claim that they're conspiring with the Biden administration to target him as some sort of a politically motivated investigation, even though there's no evidence to support the fact that that is not true in this case or in his other cases.

But still, look, those attacks have really focused on Manhattan DA and Alvin Bragg and the judge in this case, Judge Merchan, since this trial started about three weeks ago. And look, as you mentioned, that's not prohibited under the gag order. Donald Trump is allowed to criticize both prosecutors and the judge.

And because of that, it's really interesting who maybe Trump did not mention by name or attack during this rally, and that is Michael Cohen, his former fixer, his one-time attorney, who is slated to testify as the key witness in this New York hush money case starting tomorrow.

Look, Michael Cohen and Donald Trump have a checkered history. He started off as one of Trump's most loyal allies. They had a falling out over, you know, about in about 2018. And since then, Michael Cohen has been very vocal in his criticism of Donald Trump and recently taunting Donald Trump on social media, even prompting the judge in the New York case to tell Michael Cohen he needs to stop talking before his testimony.

So, it is interesting that Donald Trump not attacking a potential witness, Michael Cohen, but continuing to go after prosecutors and the judge in this case, which he is allowed to do.

DEAN: Certainly. Also joining us, criminal defense attorney David Oscar Markus. David, good to have you with us as well. Prosecutors have waited to --

DAVID OSCAR MARKUS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER: Thank you.

DEAN: -- yeah, waited to call Cohen until the very end of the trial. And so much of this puts him at the center. They've tried to lay a lot of groundwork so that even though he has a checkered past, he doesn't have to be the only one saying this information. They've tried to corroborate it with other witnesses. Can they achieve that goal? Can they bolster his credibility or does he have too much baggage, do you think?

MARKUS: Well, I think every single witness, even the strong prosecution witnesses, have one thing in common. They all hate Michael Cohen. Everybody consistently does not like the guy. And so, you know, the defense is obviously going to attack him. If I were the defense lawyer, I would try to let him hang himself. The first question I would ask him is, are you an honest person? Because how is he going to answer that? He's clearly not.

And so, I think unlike the Stormy Daniels, where it was full on attack and, you know, the jurors have to pick who are they siding with. Are they siding with the questioner or the witness? With Stormy, it seemed like they almost were siding with her throughout the cross. This one, the defense has to make sure that they side with the defense, with the questioner. I think it's going to be much easier to do that with a guy like Michael Cohen.

DEAN: And Zach, when Stormy Daniels was testifying, we saw examples of where Trump would really get frustrated to the point where the judge had to call his attorney over and tell him to stop with these little outbursts or saying things under his breath. We can hear them. Do you think he's going to have a hard time sitting quietly while Cohen is there on the stand? There's just a lot of tension between these two guys.

COHEN: There really is. And Michael Cohen testified in Trump's civil New York fraud trial only for a short time. But the tension was very palpable in that testimony. And I'm sure we will see that tension play out in the courtroom on Monday when Michael Cohen is expected to take the stand.

But look, Michael Cohen and prosecutors will argue that this is not about Michael Cohen and, in fact, the jury should listen to what he says about these payments that he made and about the narrative that he creates around Donald Trump's alleged knowledge and involvement in the planning to pay Stormy Daniels and also the subsequent reimbursement of Cohen.

That's what prosecutors will argue is the value, the takeaway of Michael Cohen's testimony, despite his checkered history and his being a convicted liar. They will try to ask the jury to separate those two things. And they try to lay the groundwork, as you mentioned, to by introducing documents, including text and e-mails that they say will support what Michael Cohen testifies to when he takes the stand.

DEAN: And David, how do you think the jury so far is absorbing what's been presented to them? Do you think that the prosecutors have been able to successfully put together their case so far?

MARKUS: You know, from what everybody says inside the courtroom, this jury has been poker faced. They have not given a lot of signs as to how they're reacting to the witnesses. And I will say about what Zach's saying. So, that's right. The prosecutors will try to separate out his checkered past, but that's going to be very difficult to do. Remember, they need this witness to tie up everything at the end to show that Trump knew that these entries were false.

[17:24:57]

So, they're going to need Michael Cohen or else they wouldn't call him. This is a very risky witness, but they need him to win the case. And so, the defense is going to make it all about Michael Cohen. They're going want the case to come down to Michael Cohen. And I'm surprised that the prosecution is ending with him as opposed to trying to bury him in the middle of the case. To end with him is very, very risky play by the government.

DEAN: Well, that is an interesting point. I also, David, want to ask you about another Trump case while we have you about the one down in Florida. You know, the South Florida courts and judges as well as anybody. And so, I'm curious what you make of Judge Cannon delaying the classified documents case there indefinitely.

MARKUS: Yeah, it's going to be a while till this case is tried, certainly after the election now. I mean, Trump has all of these cases up in the air. So, it's you know, which one is going to get tried first? We have the New York one now. Will the D.C. one gets tried before the election? I never thought the Cannon trial was going to go before the election.

Remember, it involves classified documents. It's complicated. It's in federal court as opposed to state court. So, the discovery is very limited. He's got these other trials going on. So, I know Cannon has been under a lot of other criticism, but the trial date itself, I just think the defense needs to have some time to get prepared. And as a defense lawyer, I'm sympathetic to that.

DEAN: Yeah. Zachary Cohen and David Oscar Markus, I appreciate both of you.

COHEN: Thank you.

DEAN: Up next, a CNN exclusive. What we're learning about reports of Palestinians being shackled, abused and made to wear diapers at a detention center in Israel. What Israeli whistleblowers told CNN's Matthew Chance and what the Israeli military is saying about those allegations. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DEAN: The White House is now calling an exclusive CNN report on alleged abuse at an Israeli prison -- quote -- "deeply concerning." Since military operations began in Gaza, a growing number of Palestinians are being held in the Sde Teiman Military Detention Center.

Reports of widespread abuse are emerging. And for the first time, CNN spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers who worked in various capacities there at the prison, and they describe a systemic abuse, including mass detention and stress positions, sensory deprivations, beatings and torture. They say they're speaking out as a matter of conscience.

Matthew Chance has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a place the Israeli military doesn't want us to see.

How many Palestinians are in there right now?

UNKNOWN: Who are you? Give me please now.

CHANCE (voice-over): Hang on, what is it that you want? My camera or my card?

CNN has gained exclusive evidence of Palestinian prisoner abuse from multiple Israeli whistleblowers. At the Sde Teiman facility in southern Israel, we joined human rights activists amid growing public concern for the detainees being held inside.

This is a protest by Israeli citizens outside a detention center close to Gaza, where we know hundreds of Palestinians have been held. You can see it's a closed military facility. It's behind a barbed wire fence. We're not permitted access.

(Voice-over): And there's hostility from passersby.

We just had somebody drive past in a car and they shouted out to us in Hebrew, you're defending murderers.

UNKNOWN: No, we're defending basic human rights.

CHANCE (voice-over): And eyewitnesses are now speaking out. Away from the military facility, near the beaches of Tel Aviv, one young Israeli army reservist agreed to speak about scores of detainees at Sde Teiman. He says they're kept in cages or pens, constantly shackled and blindfolded, many for weeks on end. We've hidden his identity and voice to shield him from prosecution.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We were told they are not allowed to move and must sit upright. They're not allowed to talk or peek under their blindfolds.

CHANCE: And what happened if they -- if they did do that? What kind of punishments were meted out?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We were allowed to pick out problematic people and punish them, having them stand with their hands above their heads for an unlimited time. If they didn't keep their hands up, we could zip tie them to the fence.

CHANCE (voice-over): The Israeli military says detainees are handcuffed based on their risk level and health status. But the account tallies with photographic evidence obtained by CNN of Palestinian detainees inside Sde Teiman, and with hand and wrist injuries shown to CNN by dozens of Palestinians released back into Gaza.

"I was zip tied and blindfolded," says this former detainee, "and tortured in a way I never imagined." One source telling us the restraints were so tight they had to amputate a man's hand.

The view that I've heard expressed is that, you know, how do you think Israeli hostages are treated by Hamas?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This sentiment was voiced in the facility. But I think that if Hamas is so abominable, which I agree with, then why use Hamas as a bar? It's a dissent into dehumanization.

(GUNSHOTS)

CHANCE (voice-over): A dissent that's accelerated since the rampage by Hamas on October the 7th last year. The killing and abduction to Gaza of hundreds of Israelis provoke outrage and a brutal response. Amid Israel's wrath, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and thousands detained for interrogation, transported to facilities like Sde Teiman, where one Israeli guard now tells CNN prisoners are routinely beaten.

{17:34:57]

We've hidden his identity and voice, too.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): He can take them out and hit them maybe four or five times with a club. It's not done in the face so you don't see blood. The detainees lie belly down, being hit and kicked. People screaming and dogs barking at them. It's terrifying. Some detainees are taken away and beaten really hard so bones and teeth are broken.

CHANCE: So, you saw people who were subject to these beatings, who had their bones broken and who had their teeth broken.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Yes, it's a practice which commanders know about. They want intelligence but they also want revenge and punishment for what happened on October 7th.

CHANCE (voice-over): The Israeli military hasn't approved CNN's requests for access to Sde Teiman. At the gates of the facility, we challenged the Israeli guards.

How many Palestinians are in there right now?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I don't know. I prefer not to answer.

CHANCE: Do you know if they are being handcuffed? Are they being blindfolded?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): No, no, no.

CHANCE: Is this the facility?

(voice-over): As we leave, masked soldier approach.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Hello. How are you?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Can you stop filming?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I'm filming this way.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Who are you guys?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We're CNN.

CHANCE (voice-over): They tried to take our cameras.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Give me please now.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Hang on, what is it that you want? My camera or my card?

CHANCE (voice-over): Then order us to leave.

Well, we're driving now to meet one Israeli with personal experience of the Sde Teiman facility. It's experience that he says has left him shocked at the condition and the medical treatment of Palestinian detainees there.

UNKNOWN: Hello.

CHANCE (voice-over): He told us he treated Palestinian detainees with gunshot wounds fresh from the war zone in Gaza, but was appalled at the lack of equipment and expertise.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): The problem is Gazans who are brought in are labelled as terrorists and it is very popular opinion over here that terrorists deserve to die, so they do not deserve the same medical care as everyone else.

CHANCE (voice-over): Satellite imagery obtained by CNN shows how the Sde Teiman facility was expanded after the October 7th attacks, with detention facilities and makeshift medical beds being added after public hospitals in Israel refused to treat injured Gazan suspects.

Eyewitness accounts describe a field hospital with 15 to 20 patients virtually naked and blindfolded with hands and feet shackled to their beds and wearing diapers. One eyewitness told CNN painful procedures were carried out by underqualified medics. Treatment, the medical worker told us, amounts to punishment.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): In my view, it's the idea of total vulnerability. If you imagine being unable to move, being unable to see what's going on, that's something that borders, if not crosses, into psychological torture.

CHANCE (voice-over): The Israeli military says prisoners are stripped for security checks and that investigations are opened when there's suspicion of misconduct. Still, accounts from Israelis and Palestinians inside and the shocking images paint a disturbing picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Matthew Chance, thank you very much for that report. Still ahead, as graduation ceremonies across the country are being upended by protests, we'll show you what happened during Jerry Seinfeld's commencement speech today at Duke.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: As college commencement ceremonies continue, so do the protests today. Jerry Seinfeld was interrupted at Duke's graduation ceremony in North Carolina while he was being introduced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: To receiving an honorary degree, Jerry is also serving as our commencement speaker today.

(APPLAUSE)

DEAN (voice-over): And you can see on your screen, as about 30 students walk out as the comedian was being introduced, some students waving the Palestinian flag. They are blurred there. Seinfeld told graduates it's important to change the world. It's also important to keep your sense of humor.

JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: And I know all of you here are going to use all of your brains and muscle and soul to improve the world. And I know you're going to do a bang-up job. And when you're done, as I am now, I bet the world -- because of you -- will be a much better place. But it will still not make a whole hell of a lot of sense. And it is worth the sacrifice of an occasional discomfort to have some laughs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Hmm. While in California, students at Pomona College are getting ready for tonight's graduation ceremony. And at the last minute, school leaders decided to move that ceremony off campus to a location some 30 miles away to avoid some of the protests.

[17:45:00]

CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal is joining us now with more on this. Camila, it sounds like they made this decision just rather recently.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They did, Jessica, and that's where you're getting a lot of this frustration from students and also from parents who had to change their plans, figure out how they were going to get here to L.A., maybe add another night at their hotels. And so just people who were uncomfortable and unhappy about the decision that the school made.

And now the graduation will take place here at the Shrine Auditorium. You see it here behind me. And there's already security measures in place. So, you're seeing the metal barriers, you're seeing additional security guards. And there are buses that were provided by the school to bring those students 30 miles from Pomona College to L.A.

But look, a lot of the students are saying it doesn't matter that the school apologized, it doesn't matter that we have bus rides from there to here. They're still extremely frustrated by what has happened and in order or what they have to do in order to have a normal commencement ceremony. Here's what one student said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN GINSBERG, POMONA COLLEGE STUDENT: I think it's sad. And I think it's -- it's a really bad way to end your college career. And I think it's showing exactly where Pomona is headed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And part of that frustration was because where they were supposed to graduate that area, essentially, the stage was covered in tents and posters and signs from the pro-Palestinian protesters. So, in this case, they had to move the location.

In other cases, like Columbia and USC, they canceled the traditional commencement ceremony altogether. And, you know, there have been some disruptions. You mentioned Duke earlier. And there was also over the weekend at UC Berkeley protesters and Virginia Commonwealth University where a lot of the students or some of the students walked out of those commencement ceremonies. Some just briefly disrupted, but really a lot of them went on as planned.

And so, again, there's just this feeling of sadness from a lot of the students that I've spoken to who say they had a difficult time back in high school during the pandemic and in that graduation, and they also feel that this graduation is also not normal, Jessica.

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DEAN: All right, Camila Bernal, thanks so much for that reporting from Los Angeles.

Still to come, the war in Gaza is reverberating through American politics. How growing divisions among Democrats could cost one prominent outspoken critic of the war you see. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:50:00]

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DEAN: Months after his release from prison, there are still so many unknowns surrounding Oscar Pistorius, the Olympic superstar who spent nearly nine years behind bars for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

CNN's David McKenzie takes a closer look at Pistorius's past and how Steenkamp's family has coped with the loss of their loved one.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius quietly released from this prison, out of the view of cameras, to his uncle's mansion under strict parole conditions. He can't speak to the media, leave the city or drink alcohol. But back in 2012, this was Oscar Pistorius, a world class athlete and role model overcoming incredible odds.

UNKNOWN: He has done magnificently well and I think everybody is proud of him.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Months later, Oscar Pistorius's global fame became a sordid global notoriety.

REEVA STEENKAMP, MODEL: Hi, I'm Reeva. I'm shooting the December cover for FHM.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Valentine's Day 2013, he killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, an up and coming model, shooting her four times through a locked bathroom door. The police finding him bloodied and in shock.

Pistorius said it was an accident, and he thought Reeva was an intruder. The state charged him with premeditated murder. His trial, a riveting courtroom drama followed by millions.

UNKNOWN: I will build my case to say that when you got up, you had an argument. That's why she ran away screaming.

OSCAR PISTORIUS, FORMER SPRINTER AND CONVICTED MURDERER: She wasn't breathing.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The defense claimed Pistorius was a vulnerable, now broken man who deserved leniency.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We know that the uncontested evidence was that when he was on his stumps, his balance was seriously compromised. And without anything, he would not be able to defend himself.

UNKNOWN: You killed a person. That's what you did, isn't it?

PISTORIUS (voice-over): I made a mistake.

UNKNOWN: You killed Reva Steenkamp. That's what you did.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): After a nearly 50-day trial stretched over seven months, Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, a verdict later changed to murder.

Reeva's mother, June Steenkamp, said she never believed his version of the story and that the pain is raw and real.

"There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back," she wrote in a statement on his release. "And no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence."

Oscar Pistorius's trial was a global event, but it was also a family tragedy. June Steenkamp says that she will never come to terms with her daughter's death and how she died.

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DEAN: David McKenzie, thanks so much. And be sure to watch the CNN Original Series, "How It Really Happened," "Oscar Pistorius: The Blade Runner." It's tonight at 9 Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

[17:55:00]

We'll be right back.

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DEAN: You are in the "CNN newsroom." Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And tonight, Israel launching new attacks across Gaza as it prepares for a major ground offensive in the city of Rafah.

[17:59:57]

The Israeli military now targeting northern and central Gaza as well as eastern Rafah in an effort to prevent what it says are Hamas's attempts at regrouping.