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Israel-Hamas War; No Secure Place In Gaza, According To Palestinians; Egypt Declines To Work With Israel To Coordinate Help; Israel Getting Ready In Rafah For Potential Ground Assault; MSF: Unable To Ensure Patient Security In Rafah; Protests Against The Government Before Israel Memorial Day; Israel-Hamas War Left Emotional And Physical Wounds To Survivors; Stunning Reappearance Of Auroras In The Midst Of A Solar Storm; Russia's War In Ukraine; Russia's Offensive In Northern Ukraine; Volgograd Refinery Targeted By Ukrainian Drones; Five Settlements In Kharkiv Area Allegedly Under Russian Control; U.S. Report Does Not Go So Far To Say Israel Broke The Law; 2024 U.S. General Election; Amidst Criminal Prosecution, Trump Holds Rallies In New Jersey; Floods In Southern Brazil Claimed 136 Lives And More Than 100 People Missing; In Lagos, Prince Harry And Meghan Will End Their Trip To Nigeria; Nigerian Capital Welcomed Prince Harry And Meghan With Much Enthusiasm. Aired 04:00-5a ET

Aired May 12, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom."

More evacuations ordered in Gaza. Israeli forces expand their military operations, and Palestinians say there's nowhere safe to go. Mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv ahead of Israel's Memorial Day. Protesters demand the release of the hostages and the resignation of the Prime Minister.

Plus, Russia claims villages are falling to its forces as they press toward Ukraine's second largest city.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber."

BRUNHUBER: Palestinians in Gaza say they have no safe place to go as Israel conducts strikes from the north to the south. Have a look. This is a live look at Gaza, where people say there's nowhere to turn to escape Israeli military attacks. Some say, they can't even evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Honestly, I do not have a tent to go to. All the tents were distributed already. And I do not have cash to get a vehicle to move my belongings, which costs 400 or 500 shekels. It is a very difficult situation. Can you imagine having to evacuate when you don't have the means to do so? Rafah is huge, and those who must evacuate are in the Janina area. But now other areas like Sultan and other areas are evacuating. It is very difficult. We do not know what to do. This is not fair. As for me, where can I go?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The IDF says, about 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated to Rafah, to what Israel calls expanded humanitarian areas. Also in Rafah, the group Medecins Sans Frontieres says it's transferring the remaining patients from its hospital there, saying it can no longer guarantee their safety.

Meanwhile, trucks carrying aid meant for Gaza are backed up at the Rafah border crossing. Egypt is refusing to coordinate the shipments with Israel. Israel took control of the Gaza side of the crossing earlier this week. Now, all of this as Israel prepares its ground offensive in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge.

Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins us now live with more on the situation. So, Elliott, more evacuations, more people who say they have nowhere safe to go.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: That's right, Kim. And I suppose the other big problem right now is getting humanitarian aid into Rafah and other parts of the Southern Gaza Strip. As you mentioned, Egypt is now refusing to coordinate with Israel in terms of getting trucks in from the Egyptian side of the border into Rafah because it tells CNN, or officials tell CNN, they are unable to guarantee the safety of those trucks.

And I suppose we've got a similar situation in terms of the border between Israel and Gaza in the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the south of Rafah, where Israel says over the last few days, some 200,000 liters of fuel have gone through. But certainly, according to authorities in the Hamas-run enclave, that is simply not getting to the people because it's not just getting the aid into the Gaza Strip, it's also a question of distribution.

Now, we've heard from various U.N. bodies operating inside Gaza that they will simply run out of food by tomorrow, by Monday, if they do not get aid coming in. And again, according to the head of the Gaza Crossing Authority, not a single truck has gotten through from the Egyptian side into Rafah for six days.

So, we've been talking, of course, a lot over the past few months about not enough aid getting through. That was with the Rafah border crossing open and with Kerem Shalom operating, I suppose, at capacity. Now, that situation is getting even worse.

And the big problem here is that drivers are simply too scared to drive into what is essentially an active combat zone, with the Egyptians now saying that their coordination cannot resume until Israeli tanks are no longer on the ground. But given that Israel has said that, if anything, it intends to expand its operation in Rafah at some point, it's hard to see that happening. And if you just cast your mind back, some 10 days when Secretary of State Tony Blinken was meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not necessarily praising Israel, but certainly noting the marked improvement in the amount of humanitarian aid getting into the Gaza Strip. But also noting that that needed to be not only sustained, but accelerated.

[04:05:00]

Well, right now, rather than accelerating effectively, things have gone into reverse. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: And then, Elliott, as I mentioned, in the meantime, protests continue in Israel. Take us through what we're seeing.

GOTKINE: This is happening on a weekly basis, Kim. Thousands of people gathering in central Tel Aviv and other cities across Israel to keep up the pressure on the government, to try to do a deal with Hamas that would see the 128 or so hostages, about a quarter of whom are believed to be dead, brought back into Israel.

Now, this has been happening on a weekly basis. Now, the protesters are not only demanding that the government do a deal, and I should note that talks have, I suppose, let's put it politely, paused. They haven't completely broken down, but they paused for now. Given that situation, the pressure is growing on the government from these protesters. They're also calling for new elections and also calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign.

And this weekend's protests took on added poignancy because it comes on the eve of Yom HaZikaron, the day -- Memorial Day for Israelis when Israel remembers its fallen soldiers and people that have been killed in the various conflicts that Israel has been involved with since the establishment of the modern-day state in 1948.

So, added poignancy also calling not only for the living hostages to be returned to Israel, but also for the bodies of those who have been killed by Hamas to be returned to Israel so that they can receive a dignified burial. Now, most of those protests were peaceful, but there were clashes with police by a number of people that remained after the authorized protest. They blocked roads, set fires, and there were a number of arrests, including, we understand, a couple of relatives of hostages being held in captivity in Gaza.

Those protests are no sign of abating. They are happening weekly and they will continue to happen until a ceasefire deal is done -- a ceasefire deal, Kim, I should say, that seems further away than ever.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate the updates. Elliott Gotkine in London. Thank you so much.

The Palestinian civil defense group in Gaza says there are around 10,000 bodies trapped in the rubble of destroyed buildings there. A civil defense spokesperson says the group's been working for months to recover the bodies of those killed. He also says, Israeli strikes have destroyed more than 70 percent of their equipment. Civil defense crews and medics are the first responders after Israeli strikes.

Now, some families following evacuation orders by the Israeli military are describing the desperate and dangerous situation they face. A father says three of his children are suffering after they have been displaced seven or eight times. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There is no safe place. It's the same story seven or eight times we move. There's no place safe. Whenever we go, there is bombardment. There was bombardment at the Indonesian hospital, and the doctors and medics were forced out. I had to leave like everyone else. I don't know what to say. Is this life? Death is more honorable than this humiliation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The Israeli military has ordered residents in several neighborhoods in Northern Gaza to leave the area immediately and head toward shelters in the west, and warning them that they are in a dangerous combat zone. Now, some of the most seriously wounded Palestinians are getting treatment in Qatar. They arrive with severe physical injuries and emotional scars. Our Jomana Karadsheh has their stories, but we just have to warn you, this report does contain disturbing content.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind every door is a story of what war has taken and what it has left, shattered lives, broken bodies, and tortured souls. This is the Gaza ward at Qatar's Hamad Hospital, where you find just some of this war's countless critically injured. Some would say they're the lucky ones who barely escaped death, and the hellhole Gaza and its hospitals have become.

HASAN ABUHEJLEH, CONSULTANT ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: Hamad had a very severe injury. From the injury, he had an above knee amputation on one side, and a below knee amputation on the other side.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Most patients spent months with open wounds and arrived here with drug resistant infections making their cases even harder to treat.

ABUHEJLEH: I've been working in orthopedics around 20, 21 years. And the kind of injuries, the severity of the injuries, the types of bone loss and infections we faced with the Gaza patients are beyond whatever I've seen before.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): But even those who have lost so much have found solace in having their children safe and by their side. Raneem sits alone in her hospital bed. No one by her side. The vacant look in the eyes of a woman who's seen death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in a foreign language).

[04:10:00]

KARADSHEH (voice-over): It was on October 24th as Khan Younis was under Israeli bombardment. Raneem then eight months pregnant was in bed, cradling her 1-year-old son, Azus (ph) to sleep.

RANEEM HIJAZI, INJURED IN GAZA, SON KILLED IN GAZA (through translator): I had a feeling something bad was going to happen, so I held him tighter. Whatever happens to me happens to him. You don't feel the strike itself. You just open your eyes and you're under the rubble.

I woke up screaming. I was feeling around to find my son. Suddenly my mother-in-law came screaming, Azus (ph). She found him over my belly. She picked him up. His body was in her hands, and his head dropped onto my belly.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): When Raneem got to hospital, they thought she was dead. Her baby girl was delivered by C-section.

HIJAZI (through translator): They delivered her, and as she took her first breath, I came back to life.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): With an amputated arm and serious injuries to her legs. Raneem couldn't even hold her baby girl before she was evacuated out of Gaza. Her daughter is now in Egypt. She's watched her grow in photos. Baby Meriem (ph) now is as old as this war. Raneem says most days, not even her daughter is giving her the will to live anymore.

HIJAZI (through translator): It's over. Life has ended. There's no more joy. I shut my eyes, and all the memories overwhelm me. I saw the baby formula I used for my son, and I felt I was dying. And it was just baby formula. You can only imagine what happens when I see his picture, or videos, or his toys, or his clothes. The pain will never go away. We give birth only to lose them.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Every woman we spoke to in this ward has lost a child. Some more. Shahed married the love of her life, Ali, a 26- year-old university professor. When the war started, she was seven months pregnant with their first child.

SHAHED ALQUTATI, CRITICALLY INJURED IN GAZA, HUSBAND KILLED AND LOST BABY IN GAZA: A week before the war, we bought everything for the baby, every clothes, every single t-shirts, pink, pink, pink, pink.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): On October 11th, a blast hit their home. Ali and Shahed found themselves on the street. Shahed lost her leg. Ali both legs and his arm. They called out each other's names before they were rushed to a hospital, but Ali didn't make it. Two days later, their baby girl they had named Sham (ph) arrived into this world, lifeless.

ALQUTATI: It's really hard, very hard, because this is like, my everything, you know, my everything. This is my everything. Suddenly disappeared. KARADSHEH (voice-over): Shahed's nightmare didn't end here. She was one of hundreds of patients trapped in Shifa Hospital when it came under Israeli siege. Like other patients forced out, her father had to push her on a wheelchair for hours to get to Rafah.

ALQUTATI: When we reach Rafah, like my injury was all infections, like the hospitals is not too clean to go in it. If I want to go to the hospital, it will -- I will die.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Despite everything she's gone through, a resilient Shahed somehow still smiles.

ALQUTATI: No one will feel the pain here. Like I'm -- with my -- with the people strong, happy, like laughing. But when I'm, like, alone, I feel something painful here. I cannot be healed from that.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): In every corner of this ward, a story of pain and grief. Too many for us to tell. The journey to recovery for the few who make it out begins here. But how does anyone ever heal from this?

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The Space Weather Prediction Center says a massive solar storm is still hitting the Earth and it is expected to ramp up on Sunday. Here in the U.S., the northern lights may be seen as far south as Alabama.

Now, have a look. This was the view in Spain on Friday, as shades of pink and purple painted the sky. That's when the solar storm hit levels we haven't seen in more than 20 years. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam explains what's behind these dazzling displays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST AND AMS CERTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: The historic geomagnetic storm continues. We're just getting word from NOAA's Space Prediction Center that the geomagnetic storm watch continues right through the day on Sunday as we continue to get these highly charged particles hurtled towards Earth from what is known as a sun spot cluster, that is 17 times the size of the entire planet.

[04:15:00]

In fact, you can see it with the naked eye as long as you pull up your old eclipse glasses from last April, and you can actually see a black spot that is visible in the bottom corner of the sun. So, have a look for that because that is the reason we are experiencing this beautiful display of northern lights. We are getting this coronal mass ejection. A solar flare that travels that 93 million miles to reach us here on Earth and interacts with our magnetic poles. And it creates that beautiful display that we are all seeing.

This is so rare. I like to coin the term a once in a lifetime opportunity because, well, let's think about the pictures that we have seen with this palm trees in Key Largo, Florida with northern lights display behind it. I mean, that is just flabbergasting. And for me to witness something like that here in my own backyard in Atlanta, Georgia, this far south is really saying something. And we've got more opportunities for northern lights, aurora borealis. So, be on the lookout for that as the sunset. It is going to be quite the spectacle.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, Atlanta, Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Russia keeps the pressure on Ukraine after launching a ground attack in the Kharkiv region. Still ahead, Moscow claims advances on the ground while its air force does the damage in border towns in Ukraine, that's coming up. Please stay with us.

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[04:20:00]

BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian drones went after the largest refinery in Southern Russia, causing a brief fire this morning, that's from the governor of the Volgograd region, who says the attack was repelled, but at least one drone crashed and caused an explosion. He says, there were no casualties.

Meanwhile, Russia is claiming progress in its new offensive in Northern Ukraine. Moscow says it has captured five villages in the Kharkiv region, but Ukraine says they are still contested. Local officials say, at least three people were killed in Russian strikes on the region overnight. President Zelenskyy says Ukraine is now rushing in reinforcements and strengthening its positions there. More than 1,700 people have been evacuated from the region since Russia launched the incursion on Friday.

So, for more, we're joined by Oleksandr Merezhko, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Ukraine's Parliament. Thank you so much for joining us. I just want to start with, what is the latest on the fighting around Kharkiv as you understand it?

OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: The latest is that during the last few days, the heavy fighting is going on along the front line. And there were 155 clashes, military clashes between Ukrainian and Russian troops.

At the same time, Russia has lost more than 1,000, 1,200 military personnel, several tanks. And the thing is that Russia failed to make a big advancement or to break through. Russia had managed to occupy several Ukrainian villages, but it failed, for example, to achieve big success. And it seems like the goal of Russia is to divert attention from other parts of front line.

BRUNHUBER: So, you think that is the goal? You get a sense that this is just, sort of, a probing attack or a diversion, as you say, or possibly the start of something bigger? MEREZHKO: I don't think that Russia is capable to start something bigger. Of course, Russia would like to take Kharkiv because historically Kharkiv in Soviet times was the first capital of Ukraine at that time Soviet Ukraine. So, such victory would have symbolic meaning for Russia. But Russia doesn't have enough manpower and capabilities to do that.

Russia claims that it wants to establish so called buffer zone to protect Russian city, Belgorod city. And, also, Russia is trying to advance further near to Kharkiv to bring close artillery and to be able to shell civilian residential areas in Kharkiv.

BRUNHUBER: So, you say that they have made some advances there. Friday, the U.S. national security spokesperson predicted Russia would make further advances in the coming weeks. Do you think that's accurate?

MEREZHKO: I don't think that there will be major advancement. You see, Putin is trying to put under control to occupy the whole territory of Donbas, two regions, which were later -- previously included in the Russian constitution. And he tried to do it twice, but so far, he failed to do that.

So, his major goal is to occupy at least two regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, but he failed to do so.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. has given Ukraine billions in aid recently. Friday, $400 million more. How quickly can this be deployed, do you think, in the Northeast?

MEREZHKO: Well, it's crucial. To be capable to defend ourselves successfully, effectively, we need major military aid, especially artillery shells, ATACMS and all kinds of long-range missiles. This aid is getting to our troops at the front line.

And, luckily, Americans have prearranged and started to deliver artillery shells as soon as possible, but at the same time, we haven't received everything what we need right now. We expect more military aid within and next days or weeks. But it's crucial point because, you know, for us, we're talking about lives of our soldiers and civilians.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. In the meantime, as I mentioned earlier, there was another Ukrainian attack on a Russian refinery. ?The Biden administration has been at odds with Ukraine over these attacks, and Washington has tried to discourage them because of fears it could lead to higher gas prices.

[04:25:00]

But that hasn't stopped Ukraine from carrying them out. Why not?

MEREZHKO: Well, it's absolute necessity. First of all, from international legal perspective, it is within our right of self- defense. We should wage war in the territory of the aggressor. And the fact is, we can win this war only when we wage this war in the territory of Russia. Besides, our strikes against oil refineries in Russia, they proved to be very effective. They gave Russians the test -- the taste of war, and they damaged Russian economy, Russian war machine. So, we should absolutely continue this effective method of warfare.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. Really appreciate getting your take on all of this. Oleksandr Merezhko, thank you so much.

MEREZHKO: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Well, I'm Kim Brunhuber. For those of you watching us overseas, "Inside Africa" is up next. For those of you watching here in the U.S. and Canada, I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Please do stay with us.

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[04:30:00]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States and Canada. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom".

Palestinians in Gaza say they have no safe place to go as Israel conducts strikes from the north to the south. The Israeli military says, about 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated Rafah to what Israel calls expanded humanitarian areas. The president of the European Council calls those areas unsafe zones and unacceptable. A group Medecins Sans Frontieres says it's transferring the remaining patients from its hospital in Rafah. Saying it can no longer guarantee their safety.

Meanwhile, trucks carrying aid are backed up at the Rafah border crossing, and Egypt is refusing to coordinate the shipments with Israel. Israel took control of the Gaza side of the crossing earlier this week.

Well, there's new tension between the U.S. and Israel this weekend after a White House report says it's, "Reasonable to assess that Israeli forces have used U.S. weapons in Gaza in ways inconsistent with international humanitarian law." But the report stopped short of concluding that Israel committed violations.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tensions remain high between the United States and Israel with a report released by the State Department on Friday, a high stakes report that marked yet another stark moment between U.S. and Israel.

In the report that was put together by the Biden administration, they found that, "It's reasonable to assess that U.S. weapons have been used by Israeli forces in Gaza in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law." But it's up short of saying that Israel violated the law.

Of course, this stemming from a February national security memorandum that required the determination on this matter, and also whether Israel withheld humanitarian aid into Gaza in violation of U.S. law. Of course, all of this is being serving as another data point that the Biden administration is using in their ongoing discussions with Israel.

But it also comes against the backdrop of the interview that President Biden had with CNN, where he said for the first time that he is willing to withhold weapons from Israel if they launch that major ground operation in Rafah, an area with more than a million displaced Palestinians.

Now, those conversations are ongoing, and the President said that he would continue defensive weapons, but there could be a change on offensive weapons. But all of this together, still making quite clear that there continue to be underlying tensions between the U.S. and Israel as it wages its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Seattle, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Former President Donald Trump was back on the campaign trail Saturday after an explosive week of testimony in his hush money trial in New York. He held a beachfront rally in New Jersey, a state he lost to President Biden in 2020 by about 16 points.

CNN's Alayna Treene was there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump traded the courtroom for the Jersey shore this weekend where he held a massive rally in Wildwood. Now, New Jersey isn't exactly a battleground state. No hate on New Jersey. It is my home state, but it's typically been very blue. Trump lost the state to Joe Biden in 2020.

However, Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that he thinks he could be competitive in New Jersey come November. He claimed that he thinks he is going to win. And that comes despite my conversations with many Trump advisors who acknowledge that they don't think Trump could likely win here in November, even though they think he's performing better than he may have in the past.

And look, I also think that part of the reason we saw such big crowds in Wildwood is because Wildwood is part of Cape May County it is a very red district within New Jersey more broadly. A lot of people from Pennsylvania as well traveled to the state for the rally on Saturday.

Now, I also just want to bring your attention to what Donald Trump said about the current war in the Middle East. He made one of his most explicit comments yet, showing his support for Israel and specifically Israel's military presence in Gaza. Take a listen to how he put it. DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I support Israel's right to win its war on terror. I don't know if that's good or bad politically, I don't care.

TREENE: Now, the former president also spoke more generally about his trial, and at one point did bring up his hush money case in New York. However, he spoke about it in more general terms and did not do anything that could be seen as violating the gag order. And he'll return to court on Monday where his former fixer, Michael Cohen, is expected to begin his testimony.

[04:35:00]

Alayna Treene, CNN, Wildwood, New Jersey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Wildfire evacuation orders and alerts are in effect in two Canadian provinces. More than 3,000 people in Northern British Columbia have been ordered to leave their homes as nearby flames cover nearly 1,700 hectares and some people are refusing to go. The government warns that residents are likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke for the rest of the weekend.

Meanwhile, there's an evacuation alert for Fort McMurray in neighboring Alberta. Officials say, the out-of-control wildfire there is nearly 2,000 hectares in size and extremely dangerous, but there's no immediate risk to the communities. Now, all of this after authorities say last year's wildfire season was the worst in Canadian history. So bad, thick smoke spread across the U.S.

And more than 300 people are dead after heavy flooding ravaged northern Afghanistan, that's according to the World Food Program. A U.N. agency says, the heavy flooding damaged nearly 2,000 homes with thousands stranded without access to services. The International Rescue Committee is calling the disaster a major humanitarian emergency. The ruling Taliban says it has asked its government and local officials to use all available resources to rescue those stranded.

And Heavy rains and floods continue to ravage Southern Brazil. At least 136 people are dead and more than 100 people are missing in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, according to the local civil defense agency.

Our Dario Klein reports from a temporary shelter in one of the hardest hit areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIO KLEIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At first sight, you would think this is a regular gym that -- but if we open the picture, you would see this is more than that. Is -- this has been transformed in a shelter and in a distribution center of the aid of many, many Brazilians that are sending clothing, food, everything that is needed for the thousands and thousands of people that have been displaced and they are living here in this type of shelters.

This Brazilian society has organized itself around many volunteers to make this work, to make this happen. To allow these people to keep living while it's still raining and it will keep raining for probably two or three more days here in this area of Porto Alegre. And that could cause that the river can -- not going down, but it can still got -- go -- be going up even higher level than what happened before.

So, the authorities and the society here in Brazil is very concerned, they don't know what will happen. While the people that is going down in boats, they -- also volunteers are still looking for people in their homes, and they are still looking for even pets that they are still taking out of the places where they are searching all the time and every day.

Dario Klein, Porto Alegre CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And for more information about how you can help flood victims in Brazil, you can go to cnn.com/impacts.

Prince Harry and Meghan are causing quite a stir in Nigeria as the Sussexes continue their tour in the West African nation. We'll go live to Lagos after the break. Please stay with us.

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[04:40:00]

BRUNHUBER: Well, it seems Nigeria has Sussex fever. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have been on a three-day tour of the West African nation, and they visited a military hospital and spent time with wounded soldiers, which has been a focal point of this trip, and they've also visited local charities.

The couple have been well received on each stop of their tour and showered with gifts, including this portrait of a young Prince Harry with his late mother, Princess Diana. For the final day in Nigeria, the Duke and Duchess are visiting Lagos, the country's economic capital.

And that's where we find CNN's Stephanie Busari, who is there in Lagos. So, Stephanie, take us through, what they're doing there in Lagos and how they're being received.

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, AFRICA: So, yes. We're actually standing at the site of a school, senior -- Ilupeju Senior Grammar School, which is a secondary school in Lagos, and this is the first engagement this morning. And they will be taking part in an exhibition match organized by none other than basketball star Masai Ujiri, who joins me now to tell us about how his organization Giants of Africa has been changing lives in Nigeria and across the continent.

Good morning, Masai. Congratulations on all the work you're doing with underprivileged children. MASAI UJIRI, CO-FOUNDER, GIANTS OF AFRICA: Thank you.

BUSARI: Tell us how this all came about.

UJIRI: You know we've done clinics and basketball camps all over the continent. And one of our projects we do around the continent is actually building courts. And this happens to be one of the schools, Ilupeju Grammar School that we built an incredible basketball court here.

And now we formed a little partnership with the actual foundation, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Megan. And it brings us back today to do a basketball clinic for the young kids here.

BUSARI: Fantastic. Well, we're looking forward to seeing the match later and well done again on giving opportunities to youngsters on the continent.

UJIRI: Thank you.

BUSARI: Thank you for joining us.

UJIRI: Thank you so much. Thank you.

BUSARI: So, Kim, that's one of the events that they will be featuring in today and next after that, the Lagos state government -- governor will be hosting them to a private reception. Now, remember, this is a private visit. This is -- they haven't met the president of Nigeria, but they have met some governors and many of them are keen to welcome them and say thank you for coming to Nigeria as part of that warm reception that you've talked about. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: That's really cool, we're having the president of the Raptors there with you. And do we have time to ask a quick follow, Stephanie? Meghan Markle spoke there about her Nigerian heritage.

BUSARI: Sure.

BRUNHUBER: That must have really endeared her to the nation, right?

BUSARI: It really has. And I was at an event yesterday evening, Women in Leadership special event that she co-hosted with Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, the head of the World Trade Organization. And Meghan started by saying that she was -- she described Nigeria as my country, and that had such a rapturous response. And said that when she found out that she was 43 percent Nigerian, she -- the first person she rang was her mom.

[04:45:00]

And she also revealed that people have been saying to her, we're really not surprised that you are Nigerian because you have all the traits, resilience, bravery and all of these other characteristics of Nigerian women.

So, the people lapping it up here, warm -- welcoming her with a really warm embrace. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: I can imagine. All right. Stephanie Busari in Lagos. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right, still to come, this year's Eurovision Song Contest was full of the usual eye-popping showmanship and super catchy pop songs, but it wasn't all sunshine and roses, even for the winner. We'll tell you about that next, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Pro-Palestinian protests continue across some college campuses here in the U.S. Protesters interrupted the graduation ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley on Saturday, forcing a brief pause. A university official says, the demonstrators finally left the stadium voluntarily.

CNN's Camila Bernal reports many graduation ceremonies have been different this semester due to the protests.

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LOGAN BARTH, GRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: There are so many students that are frustrated right now. No matter what side of the conflict you are on.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a celebration, but it wasn't a traditional commencement.

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BARTH: It's a joke that's going around our class. It's kind of funny, but it's kind of sad. Our last normal graduation was eighth grade.

BERNAL (voice-over): Much of the class of 2024 impacted by the pandemic in high school.

BARTH: I barely had a graduation. It was, you know, six feet apart mass. Couldn't have guests beyond your immediate family. So, it was not normal.

BERNAL (voice-over): And now college graduation also not normal for Logan Barth and many others graduating this year.

A number of colleges and universities around the country changing, adjusting, or even cancelling commencement ceremonies citing safety concerns after campus protests.

At Columbia University, the school says, they decided to make class days and school level ceremonies the centerpiece of commencement. And a similar focus across the country at USC. The university said the intensity of feelings fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East created substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.

ANNA KRYLOV, ASSOCIATE CHAIR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: They handled it correctly by closing the campus and by cleaning -- calling police to clean the encampment and arresting some people.

BERNAL (voice-over): And they were trying to avoid this.

CROWD: How many kids did you kill today?

BERNAL (voice-over): At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, pro- Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted the university's commencement ceremony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I was less concerned with the protests and the encampment impacting graduation. I was more disappointed in the university's response to everything and how they handled things.

BERNAL (voice-over): At USC, graduation events went on without any apparent disruption, but it still wasn't what many hoped for or expected.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It definitely would have been nice to have like a traditional commencement ceremony, especially for a class who was already impacted four years ago.

BERNAL: And in terms of protests and interruptions, we did see at least 12 students out of Virginia Commonwealth University walking out of the commencement ceremony after the governor of Virginia began his commencement address.

Here in California at UC Berkeley, the commencement ceremony briefly stopped as there were protesters and chanting. The dean of students asked those protesters to leave and also said they were welcome to speak to her after the event.

Eventually, these protesters did leave peacefully and no one was arrested. But it was that kind of incidents that universities like here at USC were trying to avoid. Everything here appears to have gone on as planned despite the cancellation of the traditional commencement ceremony.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, it was a chaotic and controversial Eurovision Song Contest, but this year's winner is evoking pure joy.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 226 votes. The winner, the champion of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, it is Switzerland.

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BRUNHUBER: You see it there. The Eurovision winner, Nemo, Switzerland won the affection of the audience and judges with their song, "The Code", a celebration of the singer's acceptance of their non binary identity. Now, this is the first Eurovision win ever for a non-binary person, and Switzerland's first win since 1988. But Nemo admits the competition was really intense and not always pleasant, that's because the contest took place while protests against the war in Gaza raged outside. And some people inside the arena booed and left the arena as Israeli singer Eden Golan gave her performance.

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is indeed heading to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, that's according to trainer Kenny McPeek, who said the horse is doing fantastic. Mystik Dan won the Kentucky Derby in a rare three horse photo finish last Saturday. Earlier, McPeek and the owners were noncommittal on going to the Preakness, giving the short turnaround after the Derby. The Preakness is next weekend in Baltimore, Maryland.

All right. Now, to a breakthrough in our understanding of sperm whales. What was once thought to be random bursts of clicking noises made by the creatures turns out to be a communication system bearing some similarity to human language, according to scientists. Our Isa Soares reports.

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ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR (voice-over): The clicking noises sperm whales make, known as codas, have long been known to scientists. But after years of trying to understand what they mean, researchers now think those random sounds are deliberate. The clicks appear to make up a sort of alphabet, meaning the way sperm whales communicate is more similar to other animals, and even humans, than once thought.

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JACOB ANDREAS, COMPUTER SCIENTIST, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: One way of thinking about what we're doing in this new paper is showing that sperm whale codas are more like an alphabetic system than a pictographic system, which was kind of the picture that we had before.

SOARES (voice-over): MIT's Jacob Andreas and his team at Project CETI, or the Cetacean Translation Initiative, study the language of these very social mammals. Their research suggests sperm whales speak with a certain structure, varying the rhythm and pace of their clicks, sometimes even adding an extra click at the end, like a suffix. The next step though is to decipher what that structure means, a challenge that will require a closer look at social dynamics.

ANDREAS: That in turn requires a huge amount of data about what the whales were doing, who they were with, and so on when they produced these sounds that we were studying in this paper. And so, a big part of the larger Project CETI effort here is to actually get that behavioral data paired with the communication data in order to answer these deeper questions about what it is that the whales are saying.

SOARES (voice-over): It's a project that requires a deep dive into the largest animal brains in the world. And even if we do, one day, understand what sperm whales are saying, should we try to talk back? Andreas is optimistic that the answers are within reach. ANDREAS: This is an incredibly vulnerable population with a socially transmitted communication system that we really don't want to disturb. And so -- right, we're just at the very beginning of this process, and I think there's a lot more research that we have to do, before we know whether it's a good idea to try to communicate with them, or really even to have a sense of whether that will be possible.

SOARES (voice-over): Isa Soares, CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Please do stay with us.

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