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CNN International: U.S. Warns Israel Against Major Military Ground Operation in Rafah; Ukraine Warns Northern Front Has Significantly Worsened; Putin Replaces Russia's Defense Minister with Civilian; Ex-Trump Fixer Michael Cohen to Testify on Monday; Deadly Floods in Afghanistan. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American officials are continuing to warn strongly against a ground invasion of Rafah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last functioning bakery in the south is about to run out of fuel. Let's be very clear, this will result in children dying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's sad and I think it's a really bad way to end your college career.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The floods have destroyed entire villages, washing away homes, livestock and access to clean drinking water and food.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Max Foster. It is Monday, May the 13th, 9 a.m. here in London.

It is Memorial Day in Israel and officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are marking the occasion at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The sound of a siren signaling Israelis to pause for a moment of remembrance there.

Each year, ceremonies are held to commemorate fallen soldiers. This year, the holiday has special significance. It's the first since the attacks of October 7th which killed at least 1,200 Israelis. Despite strong opposition from the Biden administration, Israel continues to plan an expansion of its military operations in Rafah.

The war has already left more than 3,500 people dead in Gaza according to the Ministry of Health. At least 63 were killed over the weekend. U.S. officials are warning that a full Israeli invasion of Rafah could lead to a massive civilian death toll. The Secretary of State says it could leave a vacuum filled by chaos. So far, more than 300,000 people have evacuated from Rafah but they

say they have no safe options.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHER AL-RABAIA, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): We are tired and lost. We don't know where to go. In a small area, we are lost. No one is standing with us. Not Netanyahu, nor Muslims, nor Saudi Arabia, nor any Arab country. This is the destruction.

We are working as workers. I left with a shirt and a torn undershirt. I'm working as a worker for 10 shekels. We are suffering from the high prices from one side, and the war from the other side, and we are displaced. I swear since five days, I only had one meal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Israel says it's opened a new crossing to allow humanitarian aid into the enclave in coordination with the U.S. The Western Erez crossing is in northern Gaza. The U.N. says no aid has come through southern Gaza over the past several days.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with his Israeli counterpart amid those growing concerns about the fate of Rafah. The White House says he discussed how to ensure the defeat of Hamas without an expanded invasion of the city. CNN's Kevin Liptak has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: American officials are continuing to warn strongly against a ground invasion of Rafah, really channeling President Biden's view that American weapons should not be used in an operation that they view as ill-advised and very, very bloody. And those concerns were raised in a phone call on Sunday between President Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his counterpart in Israel. The White House says that Sullivan raised those concerns, discussed alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah.

Israeli National Security Advisor said that those concerns were being taken into account. But at the end of the day, these concerns are nothing new. President Biden has been raising them with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on phone calls dating back to February.

And there are no signs that Netanyahu is necessarily taking those views into account. He has said that a ground invasion of Rafah is necessary to completely eliminate Hamas. That view is completely at odds with what we heard from American officials on Sunday, including the Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that a ground invasion of Rafah could launch a Hamas insurgency.

Listen to more of a little bit of what he said.

[04:05:00]

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: 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 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 to. 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.

LIPTAK: Blinken also said that the U.S. believes Israel has killed more civilians than Hamas members over the course of this war. He also said that the U.S. hasn't seen a plan from Israel for security and governance in Gaza once this war ends.

So really taken all together these are some of the strongest words that we've seen from the Biden administration directed toward Israel since the start of this conflict. And it really does go to show that this relationship and this war are very much reaching an inflection point.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, traveling with the president at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Scott McLean, live in Istanbul. More on the situation, Scott. The U.S. continuing having really quite harsh words, really, for Benjamin Netanyahu.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems like they're getting more and more direct with their messaging toward the Israelis. Max, you heard Kevin describe what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was saying. He is making increasingly clear that there will be no weapons used in, or the U.S. doesn't want any of its weapons to be used in this Rafah invasion.

You also heard Kevin there say that the Israeli side claimed in that call with the U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that it was taking U.S. concerns into account. But when you look at the situation on the ground, it is difficult to see how anything has changed beyond Israel just plowing ahead with its plan as it had already planned for. You have 300,000 people who have left Rafah, many of them going to this so-called humanitarian zone along the coast in an area called al- Mawasi.

But this is a place where people have pitched tents. There's not much there in the way of infrastructure, certainly not the kind of infrastructure that you would need to support that volume of people for potentially an extended period of time.

You also have very little aid getting in over the last few days. There have been some squabbles and some disagreements over the precise number of trucks, but no one is claiming that it is a lot, certainly not what is needed. In fact, UNRWA and the World Food Program say that they are at serious risk of actually running out.

And this is just misery for the people on the ground who have told our CNN stringer there that, look, some are unable or unwilling to leave. Some of them are sick or they are just simply exhausted. One elderly man initially decided to stay, then he decided to leave, and he's going there on foot because he can't afford money for a car. Others are seriously doubting the safety of that humanitarian zone, saying that Israel may yet still strike it.

And one other thing that is worth expanding on from what Antony Blinken said on his rounds with U.S. media over the weekend, and he threw some shade at the Israelis for not engaging with the plan for the day after the war. We know that the Israeli plan for the day after looks a lot like the status quo, with troops on the ground, with full control over Gaza's borders. The U.S. is working with Arab countries to try to formulate a plan, but Blinken there made very clear that the Israelis have not engaged on that, and they need to, in his view.

This comes after you had President Biden last week talking about this as well. The U.S. has been in touch in particular with five different Arab countries for a plan to ensure the peace and security of Gaza after the war. And though he didn't say it explicitly, that sounds a lot like what the Turks are proposing for a sort of guarantor-ship system after the war actually ends, whereby you would have Palestinian allies, Arab countries, perhaps Turkey, keeping the Palestinians in line and making sure that they keep their commitments to whatever agreement is made if there is one after the war. And you would have Western countries or Israeli allies doing the same for the Israeli side to make sure that everyone holds up its end of the bargain -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Scott in Istanbul, thank you.

Israel's war on Gaza has decimated the enclave's ability to produce its own food. According to an investigation by the Washington Post, more than six months into Israel's invasion, the territory's already vulnerable agricultural system is now on the brink of collapse.

The paper's analysis uses agricultural data, satellite imagery, and interviews with experts and Palestinians to show the destruction of food and water sources there. While Israel expands its Gaza offensive into Rafah and forces Palestinians to flee, aid officials are sounding the alarm that the area will soon run out of food.

[04:10:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMISH YOUNG, SENIOR EMERGENCY COORDINATOR IN GAZA, UNICEF: Food stocks to support the people in the south are expected to run out in the coming days, and the last functioning bakery in the south is about to run out of fuel. At a time when people are being forced to pick up and move again, life-saving supplies that sustain and support them have been entirely cut off.

So let's be very clear, this will result in children dying. These are deaths of children that can and must be prevented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The President of Colombia and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are criticizing each other via social media. On Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on X that Netanyahu will, quote, go down in history as genocidal. Netanyahu responded by calling Petro, quote, an anti-Semitic supporter of Hamas.

Russia claims to have captured four more villages in the Kharkiv region after launching a surprise cross-border attack on Friday. The Ukraine's army chief says the situation on the northern front has, quote, significantly worsened, but he didn't comment on Russia's claims, which they then cannot confirm independently. Ukrainian police officers also evacuated residents from a city in the Kharkiv region on Sunday as Russian forces pushed in.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says this is a new wave of counter-offensive actions by Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our task is obvious. We need to inflict as many losses on the occupier as possible. In particular, the situation on the outskirts of the city of Vovchansk is extremely difficult.

The city is under constant Russian fire and counterattacks by our military are underway. Local residents are being helped in the city. It is very important that everyone who is directly there in the Kharkiv region shows maximum efficiency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: At least 15 people are dead after Ukraine bombed the Russian city of Belgorod on Sunday, according to Russian state media. Rescuers are trying to dig out any survivors after a high-rise apartment building was hit.

Joining us, Clare Sebastian. Let's start with a shakeup then in Vladimir Putin's cabinet and replacing the defense minister.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a big deal. He was in the job 12 years, Sergei Shoigu, so he predates the invasion and annexation of Crimea. This was in some ways expected.

Obviously, the war, although Russia is more confident now, has not exactly gone to the original plan. There was a recent corruption scandal at the defense ministry where a top deputy defense minister has been arrested. That is sometimes done by the Russian authorities to try to gain information from that individual about the higher ranks, so potentially an element of clean-up here.

But take a listen to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, on why this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN (through translator): Today on the battlefield, those who are more open for innovations, more open towards a quick implementation of the innovations, win. That is why it is natural that on the current stage, the president has taken the decision for a civilian to be in charge of the Ministry of Defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: All right, not just a civilian, but he is also an economist. By training a former economy minister, a former deputy prime minister. I think the stated reason here is that the Russian economy is now firmly on a war footing. The Kremlin, in a rare admission of just how much it is spending on defense, said that it was up to 6.7 percent of GDP, which is approaching cold war levels. They need a firm hand to be able to manage that, to manage this massive ramp-up in industrial production.

I think the unspoken thing here is that Putin is now in his fifth term. I think a reshuffle, certainly of this magnitude, with someone of that level of longevity, indicates that no one is safe, that no one will be allowed except Putin to accumulate power in Russia. So in that sense, there's also a sort of a tightening of his grip.

FOSTER: The wider world is concerned about this axis that's formed between Russia and China, if I can call it that. We've got a big meeting coming up on that.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, we don't have a firm date yet, but certainly it's no coincidence that this will be his first foreign trip, Putin's first foreign trip of his fifth term. I think it will be the fourth time that the two leaders, Putin and Xi, will have met in person since the invasion of Ukraine. They call it this no-limits partnership.

And the issue here is the U.S. is extremely worried and has expressed as much to China that China is giving Russia significant help when it comes to ramping up that military production, everything from, you know, drone engines to actual joint production of drones, according to Biden administration officials, on Russian soil. So the West has been really working hard to discourage China in this.

So from that perspective, in terms of how it feeds into the war in Ukraine, despite what China says about being in favor of peace, I think that is the element that will be most closely watched here.

FOSTER: Sebastian, thank you. Late

Putin critic Alexey Navalny was posthumously awarded the Dresden Peace Prize on Sunday in honor of his pro-democracy work. The prize commemorates the Allied bombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945.

Navalny's widow accepted the award on his behalf and vowed to speak openly about the threat commemorates the Allied bombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945. Navalny's widow accepted the award on his behalf and vowed to speak openly about the threat Putin poses to the world as long as he's in power. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YULIA NAVALNAYA, WINDOW OF RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER ALEXEY NAVALNY (through translator): Words have different values depending on where and when they are said. In a cozy and beautiful hall, it is easy for you and me to say that we are against war. It is difficult for those in Russia.

You can go to jail for saying that. And if you are already in prison, you will be waiting for your punishment cell, hunger, torture, a new sentence, and sometimes even death. But Alexey talked about it anyway. He paid the highest price to be had.

So that his sacrifice is not in vain, so that the sacrifices of thousands of Russians arrested at anti-war protests and hundreds of political prisoners held by Putin in torture conditions are not in vain. It is necessary, at last, for the world to get rid of false hopes and hear those that have been warning of the danger all these years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Georgia Parliamentary Committee has approved the third reading of a controversial foreign agents bill, according to the nation's public broadcaster. Now the legislation goes to the full Parliament for a vote which is set for Tuesday.

But tens of thousands of demonstrators are hoping that doesn't happen. They staged an all-night protest in front of the Parliament building amid a heavy police presence. If passed, the law would require groups receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents or face heavy fines. The EU says the law could jeopardize Georgia's candidate status.

Now day 16 of Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial will kick off in the coming hours. Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen is expected to take the stand. But prosecutors say it's entirely possible they'll rest their case by the end of the week.

CNN's Zachary Cohen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Prosecutors in Donald Trump's hush money trial are expected to call a key witness to the stand on Monday. The testimony of Michael Cohen, Trump's one-time attorney and fixer, could make or break the Manhattan District Attorney's case against the former president. He's the only witness who will testify about Trump's involvement in both the alleged decision to pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep her from going public about a past encounter with the former president ahead of the 2016 election and the plan to reimburse Cohen for advancing the money.

Now tying Trump to both the decision to pay Daniels and the reimbursement is critical for prosecutors who are seeking to prove Trump allegedly falsified business records to keep Daniels quiet.

Now the jurors have already heard a lot about Cohen from other witnesses who have testified over the last three weeks and most of it has been unflattering. Trump's defense attorneys will likely try to further undercut Cohen's credibility during what is sure to be a tense cross-examination.

Prosecutors meanwhile have tried to lay the groundwork for Cohen's testimony by introducing documents including emails and texts they say back up his version of events. Ultimately the case could come down to whether or not the jury finds Cohen's testimony credible or if Trump's attorneys are able to convince them otherwise.

Zachary Cohen, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now you can watch our special coverage of the Trump hush money trial. It resumes today 9 a.m. in New York that's 2 p.m. here in London.

Meanwhile Joe Biden's campaign bringing star power to its Los Angeles fundraiser next month. The source tells CNN that Hollywood A-listers George Clooney and Julia Roberts along with former U.S. President Barack Obama will unite to help fill Biden's coffers. The Biden campaign is at an advantage when it comes to fundraising with the latest filings showing Biden with nearly twice the funds of rival Donald Trump.

Mr. Biden raised $10 million over 24 hours during a west coast fundraising spree last week.

Well still to come, flash flooding in Afghanistan kills hundreds and wipes out entire villages. We'll have the latest on the damage and the calls for assistance.

Plus, it's been six weeks since the Francis Scott Key Bridge tragedy. After the break, we'll bring you the latest on plans to remove the collapsed portion of that bridge.

And later, Prince Harry and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex wrap up their trip to Nigeria. What the couple did on their last day in Lagos ahead in a live report.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: More than 300 people are dead after devastating flash flooding in Afghanistan over the weekend according to the World Food Program. The floods have destroyed entire villages washing away homes livestock and access to clean drinking water and food. Taliban officials are calling on the international community for help.

CNN's Anna Coren joins me now from Hong Kong with the very latest and the images are stark. ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. They're incredibly distressing, Max, and the most distressing is coming out of Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan. We need to warn our audience that what we're about to show you may be distressing for some viewers.

These videos were shared to us by a journalist group in Afghanistan and it just shows the ferocity of this flash flooding as it hits this village in Baghlan province. You can hear people screaming run away, run away. Now this torrent of water just rips through the village.

We then have footage of these children being plucked from the mud. These are four siblings. The youngest there is just two years old. They are shaking absolutely traumatized by what has happened. But this little girl she has lost everything. Her mother swept away in the floods.

This happened, Max, on Friday during Friday prayers. So the men were at the mosque, the women and the children they were at home.

The area northern Afghanistan has experienced unusually heavy rainfall. You know this is mountainous country and the Taliban claims that 300 people more than 300 people have been killed over 1,600 injured. Thousands of homes, these mud brick homes, destroyed.

But look, from the humanitarian groups that we have been speaking to today they believe that the death toll will be much higher. They believe that there are hundreds of bodies trapped under the mud and the debris in areas that are remote and now inaccessible.

You know, there was one father, Max, who'd lost 13 family members and then as I say, others who've lost everything. And you mentioned livestock, you know, this has been swept away. This is their only livelihood. The World Food Program we spoke to one of their officials today and they said this area already poverty stricken these people now destitute.

The Taliban says that it's mobilizing all available resources but it's also calling on the U.N. and other aid agencies to provide support. Aid groups very concerned about the humanitarian crisis that will follow, you know, the health care facilities, the vital infrastructure that has also been destroyed. You know, it lacks the necessary resources to manage a disaster of this scale.

You know, Max, we can't forget, you know, Afghanistan is very much out of the headlines unless there is a natural disaster. It is one of the poorest countries in the world more so since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

International aid, you know, propped up the economy that has dried up and you know the crisis magnified by the international condemnation of the Taliban's treatment of girls and women.

And on top of all of this, Max, you have climate change and that is being blamed for this latest natural disaster.

Last month we saw deadly floods in Afghanistan. Last year was the worst drought in 30 years. The U.N. says Afghanistan is without doubt one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.

[04:25:04]

FOSTER: So much concern, isn't there, about working with the Taliban handing money over for events like this because they know what's going to happen. And there aren't the diplomatic relationships in place, are there, for many countries. So how can people, governments be sure -- well, how can they help effectively?

COREN: Oh, it's a huge problem, Max. And you know, it's talking to the aid agencies today. They said that they've got aid, you know, going via donkey to get to some of these people.

They will get emergency relief food to these people that will last a month. But what happens in the long term. But he said it is indicative of these countries that are run by de facto governments that no longer have credibility, you know, on the international stage.

So you know, the people who are suffering are obviously the people of Afghanistan. And that's why it's so important, you know, to shine a spotlight on these disasters and these catastrophes when they happen because these people need help too.

FOSTER: Absolutely. Anna thank you.

Meanwhile in Brazil more than two million people have been impacted by ongoing flooding as another round of heavy rain hits the region. The country's civil defense agency reports nearly 150 people have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced from the natural disaster.

But first responders are working around the clock to try to locate more than 100 missing people. Brazil's government has vowed to rebuild what the floods have destroyed announcing more than $2 billion in emergency spending for the crisis.

Meteorologists say rain in some areas could last through to Wednesday as well.

At least 37 people were killed due to flash floods and cold lava flowing from an active volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island. The floods affected four districts sweeping people away and submerging buildings. Officials say more than a dozen people were also injured.

Cold lava is a mixture of volcanic material and pebbles that flow down the volcano's slopes during wet weather.

Still to come, U.S. colleges are wrapping up the school year with graduation ceremonies. But pro-Palestinian demonstrators are in no mood to go away quietly.

Plus, we'll explain how poison from some of Australia's deadliest marine life is being used for medicine and medical research. Stay with us.