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CNN International: Soon: Trump's Former "Fixer" Michael Cohen To Testify; Putin Picks Civilian Andrey Belousov As New Defense Minister; Palestinians Try To Flee As Israel Targets North & South Gaza. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired May 13, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ERICA HILL, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around. I am Erica Hill. This is CNN Newsroom.
Just ahead, star witness Michael Cohen set to take the stand in Donald Trump's hush money trial in the next hour. So, will he connect the former President to the alleged criminal cover-up? Then, Ukrainian officials say Russia is gaining multiple positions in the Kharkiv region. We have a reality check for you on the state of the battlefield. Plus, thousands of people fleeing the areas in Gaza, which are under intense heavy fighting, as the White House issues another stark warning against a full invasion of Rafah. We're live in Jerusalem and Washington.
Weeks of testimony at Donald Trump's hush money trial really leading up to today, the man who called himself Donald Trump's "fixer" set to testify. Michael Cohen is seen as a key witness here for the prosecution. And while this will be his first day on the stand, his name has been central to much of the testimony we've heard over the last several weeks, as a central figure in the effort to keep Stormy Daniels quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Trump.
Cohen made that $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. But, it's how Donald Trump reimbursed Cohen and logged that payment that forms the basis for the charges in this case. Cohen's credibility issues, well, they've been front and center as well at this trial. He is, of course, a convicted felon. He spent time in jail and has admitted he lied to Congress.
Our coverage begins this hour with Criminal Defense Attorney Janet Johnson. Janet, good to have you. Look, has is got a lot against him. The prosecution from the get-go has warned of some unsavory characters that the jury would be hearing from. We've heard his name come up. They're trying to get ahead of this as much as they can. Have they done that?
JANET JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah. Good morning, Erica. They've done it. But, I think that in the closing argument is where they're really going to explain it's not their problem that Michael Cohen has these foibles, that he is not trustworthy, that he is a liar. I mean, he has admitted and been convicted of lying. It's Donald Trump's problem. And they will have to deflect all of this unsavory character
assassination and put it back on Trump and say, you know who picked Michael Cohen? Donald Trump did. We didn't. The state of New York didn't. And in fact, Donald Trump's entire defenses, he was such a good lawyer. I paid the $130,000 for his lawyering skills, including bonuses and covering his taxes. That's their defense. So, they can't now separate themselves from the unsavory parts of Michael Cohen.
HILL: How do you best use Michael Cohen here, because again, he needs to connect those dots, right? He needs to put Donald Trump in the room. He needs to show that Donald Trump was behind these decisions for a very specific purpose, which is what makes this a felony charge in the state of New York. What have you seen so far that has started to lay that brick work in that foundation to then have Michael Cohen come in and put it all together?
JOHNSON: Right. Well, they did it starting with David Pecker saying that this was part of an entire campaign to elect Donald Trump. It wasn't just about Stormy Daniels. Remember, Karen McDougal was another affair that they essentially covered up through American media. They ran stories about his opponents, about Ted Cruz being all sorts of outrageous things that only American media could allege, and that it was Trump and Cohen that actually orchestrated all of that.
So, they have laid the groundwork. And we know that Cohen has previously pled to being directed by Donald Trump and coordinating with Donald Trump to do those things. So, he is on record in a plea dialogue going back to 2018, saying under oath, which may or may not mean a lot with Michael Cohen, that it was Donald Trump who directed him and who coordinated with him to do it. So, the bricks are already in place. The cement, I think, will come this week.
HILL: How important is this tweet from Donald Trump that he said, I believe was 2018, this was -- this payment was in fact reimbursement?
JOHNSON: Yeah. I mean, that's a confession, and that could be admitted into evidence because it's a statement against his interest, even though technically it's hearsay. And that's, I think, on both sides. You could say Michael Cohen has a book. He has been on TV. He has tweeted. He has pictures of himself wearing a t-shirt with Donald Trump in handcuffs. But, on the other side, Donald Trump has a much longer record of saying things on Twitter, saying things at rallies. One of the things he also tweeted to Cohen was, he is a fine man and he is not going to flip on me. If you didn't do anything wrong, you're not worried about people flipping on you in court.
HILL: It's a fair point. How do you prep Michael Cohen? Because he is, sure, he is the lawyer.
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He is also a hothead. I mean, we've seen him blow up at several people over the years, and to your point, he did testify, right, as to what he knew in 2018, but he also admitted that he lied to Congress. So, the oath may not hold as much water here. JOHNSON: Right, which is an amazing thing. As defense attorney, you rarely get to say this person is a convicted liar, which is admitted in court. And he also was under oath under other occasions. So, you can't really rehabilitate him by saying, but today you're under oath. The preparation, I'm sure, was intense. I mean, he is clearly not a dumb guy. He is a lawyer. He does know the rules of law. He can be charming. We've seen him in interviews where he actually can win people over. But, we've also seen him on cross-examination explode. And his reputation is, even as a lawyer, you make a terrible client because you think better. Presumably, it's very experienced lead prosecutor who is going to direct him. She has practiced this, and I'm sure he is prepared. But, on cross-examination, all of that practice can go out the window.
HILL: There was some questions on Friday with the judge about Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO for the Trump Organization, whether he should testify and whether the separation agreement that he had with the Trump Organization could be brought into play. What do you make of that? Do you think there is any chance that that happens, or that we could even hear from Weisselberg?
JOHNSON: I don't think we'll hear anything except I invoke my Fifth Amendment right. But, what the judge was saying is, if you're trying to get in these documents and get in these facts by saying Weisselberg is not available, I need to see evidence that you try to get him here. You can't just come in and say we know he is not available because he is contrary to our side, or he has already been convicted, or he is telling us he is not available. They didn't even try. So, the judge is saying, you have to bring him in here, and without the jury, you have to put him on the stand, and then he will invoke and then I'll let you get in all this evidence that you want. So, I think they may bring him there, but I don't think we're going to hear from him.
HILL: All right. So, we'll be watching for that. Last question before I let you go, we're expected that this will last a couple of days with Michael Cohen. What are you watching for?
JOHNSON: Well, I think the direct is going to be pretty predictable. It's going to be fairly rehearsed. He knows what to say they have practiced. And so, I think on the direct we know what we're going to hear, which is, I was directed by Donald Trump to do this. He said this before in courtrooms, in federal courtrooms, and basically been convicted for doing that. What I'm looking for is, of course, I think the fireworks are going to be on cross-examination because that is not rehearsed. And those are leading questions. The state, the government can only ask direct questions that don't suggest an answer. So, it's going to be very short and he is going to know what the answers are that he is expected to give. On cross, I'm looking for fireworks.
HILL: It is anybody's game. I think several of us are expecting those fireworks as well. Janet, really appreciate it, as always. Thank you.
JOHNSON: Thanks.
HILL: Let's turn out to Ukraine where Russia is claiming its forces have captured at least nine villages in the northern Kharkiv region. Moscow says this is all part of it surprise cross-border offensive which began late last week. Ukraine, for its part, well, the country's top general admits the situation has quote "significantly worsened".
Meantime, the death toll from Ukrainian strike on an apartment building in the Russian city of Belgorod over the weekend has now risen to 15. That's according to Russian state media. All of this comes amid a major shake-up at the highest levels of Russia's military, with Vladimir Putin naming a civilian as the country's new Defense Minister.
CNN's Clare Sebastian has more now live from London. So, Clare, walk us through the shake-up inside the government. What does it tell us about the war moving forward?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erica. I don't think we're about to see a major shift in battlefield tactics from Ukraine. I think the major battlefield decisions will still be made by the head of the armed forces and of course by the Commander in Chief, the President himself. But, I think what this does tell us, number one, is that Russia now with the financial cost of this war really mounting, approaching, the Kremlin says, Cold War levels. They really wanted a firm, stable economic hand to manage that level of spending, and that's what they have in the selection of Andrey Belousov.
I think the second part of this, given that it wasn't entirely unexpected Shoigu's position was in question. There was a corruption scandal just a couple of weeks ago. A deputy Defense Minister was arrested for corruption. There may also be an element here of cleaning house. And of course, Putin now just at the beginning of his fifth term tightening his grip on power. Take a look.
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SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Center stage but already on shaky ground. This was to be outgoing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's last victory salute. Much less ceremony, the Kremlin's announcement of his replacement Sunday.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON (Interpreted): Today on the battlefield, those who are more open for innovations, more open towards a quick implementation of the innovations win.
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That is why it's natural that on the current stage the President to take a decision for civilian to be in charge of the Ministry of Defense.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The nominated civilian is Andrey Belousov, a career economist and former First Deputy Prime Minister. That choice coming as the Kremlin made a rare admission that defense spending is approaching Cold War levels, its factories pushed to their limits amid sanctions and the labor force decimated by war.
MARK ESPER, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Russia is moving to a war economy and it is true. Seven percent of their GDP now is focused on defense. They're on a war footing.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): That demand for weapons unlikely to slow. Ukraine frantically evacuating civilians in the Kharkiv region this weekend, as Russia launched a major cross-border offensive Friday, taking advantage of a narrowing window of opportunity as Kyiv waits for promised U.S. aid. An official video from a Russian military brigade purportedly showing a massive glide bomb hitting the Ukrainian border town of Vovchansk.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): The idea behind the attacks in the Kharkiv region is to spread our forces thin and undermine the moral and motivational foundation of Ukrainians' ability to defend themselves.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Russia's attack on Kharkiv may also be an attempt to form a buffer zone. This the aftermath of what Russia claims is Ukrainian attack on a residential building in Belgorod. Russian state media reports more than a dozen dead. Russian lives, the other spiraling cost of Putin's war and Shoigu's legacy.
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SEBASTIAN: Now, that also includes, of course, lives on the battlefield. We're hearing today from the head of the Kharkiv city defense forces that Russia is having tactical successes in that area, but he claims at enormous cost to the Russian forces, which is, of course, a pattern that we've seen throughout this war.
As for the nominee to succeed Sergei Shoigu, Belousov, he has been speaking in Parliament today as part of consultations on his nomination, talking about improving the conditions for servicemen, perhaps a subtle recruitment tool, but also a reminder, Erica, of the gigantic bill that Russia is having to foot for this war.
HILL: Yeah. Absolutely. Clare, appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, demonstrators in Georgia staging an all-night protest outside that country's Parliament. They want to block lawmakers from entering Parliament for the final debate on the Russian-style foreign agents' bill. That debate is set for Tuesday. A key Committee has already approved a third reading of that bill. 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. Now, the EU says the law could jeopardize Georgia's candidate status. Protesters, meantime, they warned it would turn their country into something unrecognizable.
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TEKLA, STUDENT PROTESTOR: I want Georgia to live in Europe. I want -- I do not want to wake up in Russia. And I really hope that our generation is going to have a bright future, because I want to get education. I want to get educated in Europe, not in Russia. And I have this sincere fear, and I want to ask this government, what does it really give you that it costs you our fear?
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HILL: We will continue to follow that. Meantime, Israeli forces now pushing into Gaza from the north as well as the south, leaving Palestinians with no safe options. In fact, the UN agency for aid in Gaza saying bluntly there is nowhere safe to go, calling Israeli operations "an inhumane displacement of Palestinians". In the north, Israel says it is trying to prevent Hamas from regrouping, while in the south in Rafah, the UN says more than 360,000 people have now fled over the span of the last week. Egypt, which borders Rafah, says it will now support South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The war has left more than 35,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health, and we know at least 63 were killed over the weekend.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond joining us now live from Jerusalem. So, first, let's get a stock of where things stand in terms of fighting, intense fighting on the ground inside Gaza. What more can you tell us today?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. The Israeli military this weekend expanding its military operations in northern Gaza as well as in southern Gaza. We have seen that the Israeli military has now sent ground forces back into Jabalia in northern Gaza. This hasn't been seen in several months now, and it's because the Israeli military says that Hamas has come back and re-installed itself in areas of the Jabalia refugee camp. On the ground, we have reports of intense shelling and gunfire in Jabalia over the weekend, as ground operations recommenced there, footage showing people fleeing today, expressing the fears that they are facing as the Israeli military closes in on that area.
And we've also heard from the director of the ambulance service in northern Gaza saying that they are having trouble evacuating the dead and the wounded amid the active fighting that is taking place there.
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Meanwhile, in Rafah, where we have seen the Israeli military expand its operations there over the course of the last week, over the weekend, evacuation orders re-issued for additional areas of eastern Rafah, expanding the Israeli military operations there. And we've now seen 360,000 people, according to the United Nations, have now fled Rafah over the course of the last week. That is just an enormous number of people being displaced, many of them displaced once again for the second, third or even fourth time, heading north now for that coastal Al-Muwasi are which the Israeli military is describing as an expanded humanitarian zone.
But, we have seen that the conditions there simply, according to humanitarian aid officials, simply aren't adequate enough for the large number of people who are beginning to flee there. So, certainly, a very precarious situation. The Israeli military seems once again still very much determined to carry out this major offensive in Rafah, arguing that there are four Hamas battalions embedded with the civilian population in that area.
HILL: This is also Memorial Day in Israel. This war, one would imagine, is impacting that day of remembrance. What has changed this year for Memorial Day?
DIAMOND: Yeah. I mean, first of all, the fact that this Memorial Day is happening during war time it is notable in and of itself. It is also happening as there are about 130 hostages, some of them who are dead, who remain held captive inside of the Gaza Strip. And one thing to know about Memorial Day in Israel is it is not only for fallen soldiers, but also for victims of terrorism. So, there is definitely added meeting, added significance to this Memorial Day.
But, what we're also seeing today is the fissures in Israeli society that are really showing themselves on this Memorial Day. We have seen protests taking place at several of these ceremonies, at military ceremonies -- cemeteries across the country where members of Netanyahu's government have been speaking. There were dozens of people who appear to walk out in silent protest as the Israeli Prime Minister was speaking at Israel's national cemetery in Jerusalem. The Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, he faced protests from -- with people holding signs saying their blood is on your hands, as he was speaking at a military cemetery in Tel Aviv.
And you even saw scuffles breaking out among hecklers, protesters, and those who were trying to silence them at protests at Itamar -- Itamar Ben-Gvir was speaking, for example, at another military cemetery across the country. And so, this is just really a symbol of this moment in time, this traditionally very somber holiday today being marked by protests, by scuffling and shouting matches between people with different points of view, certainly a moment of reflection in Israeli society, but also one, as you are seeing, people increasingly calling for action on this day.
HILL: Yeah. Absolutely. Jeremy, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, here in the U.S., top American officials are once again warning against a full-scale Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, saying that besides massive casualties, that move would create a power vacuum which Hamas would try to fill.
Chief National Security Correspondent Alex Marquardt joining us with this part of the story now from Washington. So, these warnings that we're hearing from officials really only growing. Is there any indication that they are in any way working, right, that there is any influence over Israeli policymakers?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I think that remains to be seen. You just heard Jeremy there talking about the expanding operation in Rafah. According to the Biden administration, this is not yet, in their view, a major Rafah offensive. It's still limited in scope. The Israelis have given the Biden administration assurances, we're told, that this will be of a short duration.
But, of course, Erica, the fear here in Washington is that there will be what's known as mission creep that essentially the -- this limited operation will grow into a major offensive operation. That is not what the Biden ministration wants to see. They've been issuing warnings publicly and privately for several weeks now. And then, they finally issued a threat last week, President Biden telling our own Erin Burnett that the U.S. will not provide weapons for a major offensive in Rafah.
And so, for the past few days, you've heard senior Biden administration officials essentially defending themselves against these accusations, that they're cutting off Israel, that they're leaving Israel high and dry, that they're not helping Israel defend themselves. They're saying simply, we do not want to see U.S. -- U.S. weapons used for this specific operation in Rafah for two main reasons, Erica, mainly because you've got these more than one million civilians who are there, many of whom were told to go there from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, who will be extremely vulnerable during a large-scale military operation.
But, we're also now hearing the Biden administration simply saying, we don't think that this operation would be effective in dismantling those four Hamas battalions.
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The National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said just yesterday they believe that Hamas militants will simply melt into the civilian population, disappear. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointing out that Hamas fighters are coming back in the north. So, you're hearing more and more from the Biden administration, that they need to focus, that Israel needs to focus on governance for after the war, because otherwise you're going to have this vacuum that Hamas will fill, that will allow Hamas to regrow. And we did hear some criticism from Secretary Blinken just yesterday, saying that Israel is not engaging enough on these questions of governance in Gaza once this war is over. That is clearly a priority they would like to focus on more than this operation, a potential operation in Rafah, Erica.
HILL: Alex, I also want to ask you about this report from the State Department that came out late Friday, a little later than anticipated, and it has been criticized. It was a report looking into whether Israel had violated international law. I spoke with Senator Merkley just after it came out on Friday night. He told me he thought the report was a dodge, and there have been similar criticisms that the report is essentially trying to have it both ways.
MARQUARDT: Yeah. You're absolutely right. There are a number of lawmakers primarily, well, entirely Democrats who are saying that this just doesn't really answer the questions. You're right that it was late. It was two days late. State Department officials saying that they wanted to provide all the proper context. But, critics are now saying that it really doesn't answer the questions that they were obliged in this report to answer. And one of the excuses that the Secretary of State is giving is, there is an ongoing war. It's a very complex and dangerous situation. They can't have investigators on the ground. So, they can't effectively answer the questions with any kind of real precision.
So, the farthest that they went is that it is reasonable to conclude, this report says, that Israel has indeed acted in a number of instances that are not in compliance with international law. The Secretary also saying that Israel has in place a number of measures that they are not always following in order to protect civilians, that Israel has to do more to follow their own guidelines, and that's something we've heard for months now that Israel is not protecting civilians well enough.
I would also note that Secretary Blinken is saying clearly that they believe that more civilians have been killed than Hamas militants. We've talked about the death toll for months now since this war began. Secretary Blinken saying clearly that more Gazan civilians have been killed than Hamas militants. The health ministry there saying some 35,000 Gazans have been killed in the past seven months of this war. So, in addition to Senator Merkley, who you spoke with, we've heard from Senator Van Hollen of Maryland who is one of the bigger critics of Israel, who said that the report that came out on Friday doxxed the critical questions at hand and falls woefully short. Erica.
HILL: Alex, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Still to come this hour, hundreds are dead as flash flooding devastates villages in Afghanistan. We'll take a closer look. Plus, blazing Canadian wildfires, the impact they're having on air quality even beyond Canada's border. Those stories just ahead.
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HILL: Deadly flooding across the globe is making life miserable for millions. We begin in Afghanistan, where humanitarian organizations estimate more than 300 people have now been killed due to these devastating floods hitting the country's north, raging torrents of mud, washing away homes, animals, people. It is just the latest climate disaster to hit Afghanistan, which has, of course, just coming off a summer of intense heat and drought. The World Food Programme is calling the situation there "catastrophic".
Ann Coren has more now. And I do want to warn you, some of what you're about to see may be disturbing.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ferocious roar of water heard moments before its devastating arrival. Run away, people, yells a villager. Oh brother, run away. The flash flooding in mountainous Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan hit on Friday. Many men were at the mosque for prayers, while women and children stayed home. Their mud-brick dwellings engulfed with raging torrents of water. These four siblings, including two-year-old Arian (ph) were rescued. Take off the road Famir's (ph) body, instructs the man recording on his phone. Bring him to his mother and get him warm. Their uncle spoke to CNN and told us that all 10 family members survived the flood and are now being treated in hospital. But, everyone is filled with fear of what Mother Nature can unleash.
This is the roof of the madrasa and the flood has swept everywhere, explains the villager. This man held me tightly, otherwise I was gone. For this little girl, there were no miracles that day. The flood took everything, she cries, shaking. My mother was swept away. In the central hospital of Baghlan province, the bodies of dozens of children have been brought here to prepare for burial. Most of these victims are children, explains a man, and so many more are still missing. The World Food Programme says it is sending emergency aid, some via donkey to now inaccessible areas in a region that was already poverty stricken.
TIMOTHY ANDERSON, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: There has been a system to identify the most vulnerable people who are in danger, essentially of starvation. These areas are among those hotspots. So, it was already pretty grim, and now it's catastrophic.
COREN (voice-over): The Taliban says it's mobilizing all available resources, but it's calling on the UN and humanitarian agencies to assist. For a country devastated by decades of conflict, suffering an economic crisis and now bearing the brunt of climate change, this current disaster is one the people of Afghanistan must also endure.
Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
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HILL: And just horrific. We also want to update you on the situation in Indonesia, where at least 43 people have died on the island of Sumatra. This after heavy rain caused cold lava mudslides to cover roads and mountainside villages. Residents are working on the cleanup. You can see the aftermath there after volcanic debris washed down the side of an active volcano, again sweeping away some people and destroying homes.
Meantime, in Brazil, the death toll from weeks of heavy rain and floods is continuing to rise there. At least 145 people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul have now died. 132 people remain missing. That ongoing disaster has also displaced more than half a million people.
And in Canada, authorities are now warning thousands to evacuate as smoke from blazing wildfires is impacting air quality. Multiple fires have burned through nearly 10,000 hectares of land in Alberta and British Columbia. Smoke from those fires has even started to blow into the U.S. and that has also prompted an air quality alert across the state of Minnesota.
Still to come this hour, the so-called fixer set to take the stand. We are live in New York at the courthouse, waiting on this first day of testimony from Donald Trump's former right-hand man.
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Plus, a look at Joe Biden's star-studded campaign event in Los Angeles. What could it mean for the year's election?
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HILL: The prosecution's star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to take the stand just about an hour from now when court resumes. This is Donald Trump's former ally Michael Cohen. Of course, he was his lawyer, known as his fixer, and he'll be answering questions about how Donald Trump allegedly falsified business records to cover up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Now, we've heard witnesses talk about Michael Cohen a fair amount since the start of this trial and over the last several weeks and his role as a fixer. A lot of what you're hearing about Michael Cohen, not the most flattering, at that testimony, though, as we know is all building to this moment when Michael Cohen does take the stand and prosecutors need him to tie all of these threads together to put Donald Trump in the room, to tie him to what they say are these 434 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Let's go straight to the courthouse. CNN's Brynn Gingras is there for us this morning. So, Brynn, what are we expecting from prosecutors? We expect Michael Cohen will spend a couple of days on the sand here. But, just kicking things off, are they going to try to put together what this relationship was with Donald Trump?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Erica, you said it perfectly right there. He needs to be the narrator of this entire story for the prosecution, basically tie, connect the dots for jurors as to how these hush money payments were discussed, how the plans before, squashing these stories with David Pecker in the National Enquirer way before the even discussion of hush money payments, and then also the reimbursement plan that followed. He is going to need to take jurors into the Oval Office to that February 2017 meeting where prosecutors say they basically hatched this plan to figure out how to give Michael Cohen back his money and disguise it on the Trump Organization books as legal fees. So, that is the importance of Michael Cohen.
But, as you also just said, he is not the perfect witness. We have heard so much about Michael Cohen in the last several weeks from other witnesses. He has been called only a fixer because he first broke it. He has been called aggressive. He has been called a jerk. So, it's going to be interesting to see how the prosecution handles him and how jurors receive him as the person who is central to this case. And of course, once the defense has their turn, Erica, they are just going to be hammering away at his credibility. It's something that they have been working on with other witnesses. That's why we've heard so much about Michael Cohen up to this point.
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But, they are going to basically pin him as someone who has vengeance against the former President, who goes rogue and does things on his own, really distancing the former President from this hush money reimbursement payment idea, and basically tried to clear, obviously, Trump's name from this. So, it's going to be a very interesting day. Now, remember, this is not the first time these two men, who were very, very close at one point, had been in the same courtroom. Of course, Michael Cohen testified in the civil fraud trial last year. He was only on the stand for a little bit. This is going to be a little bit longer, but certainly fireworks are in store for the next couple of days.
HILL: Yes. That is what we're all expecting. Brynn, appreciate it. Thank you.
We're also closely watching a separate trial in New Jersey. Jury selection set to begin for the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. This is expected to take probably about a day. So, we're anticipating opening statements could begin tomorrow, on Tuesday. The Senator is facing the jury with two co-defendants. The trio have all pleaded not guilty. This is for allegedly engaging in corruption to help the Egyptian and Qatari governments in exchange for some pretty hefty bribes, which are set to include cash, gold bars, even a luxury car.
Joining me now from outside that courthouse, CNN National Correspondent Jason Carroll. There is so much interest in this case and specifically in these charges. Some pretty salacious details here. Walk us through those.
JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And he is facing more than a dozen charges, including bribery, extortion, fraud, obstruction of justice, and of course acting as a foreign agent. 16 felony counts in all, adding them all up. Prosecutors are alleging that Senator Menendez and his wife accepted bribes over a period of time in exchange for the Senator's influence with the government of Egypt and the government of Qatar. In addition to Senator Menendez and Nadine Menendez, two New Jersey associates, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, are also indicted.
And when it comes to what happened here, you look at these bribes. You look at what was found at his home during those search warrants, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash found in his home, stuffed into clothing and in other places. Gold bars found at his home as well. Prosecutors also alleging that Nadine Menendez accepted a Mercedes Benz as a bribe, accepted mortgage payments on her home as well.
So, a lot going on here. Senator Menendez throughout all of this, as you know, Erica, has maintained his innocence, said this is the government overreaching, saying that whatever he did, he was doing for the benefit of the people. Again, jury selection now is just about to get underway, just at about nine o'clock. Jury selection expected to take about a day. And then, we're going to head on to opening statements where both sides will be presenting their cases to jurors. Erica.
HILL: Jason, appreciate it. Thank you.
Authorities are going to attempt to demolish a portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore later today. This, of course, is the bridge which collapsed dramatically back in late March when a cargo ship rammed a pillar. Six men were killed, who had been repairing potholes on the bridge at the time. A massive piece of the bridge has been sitting on top of the ship ever since. So, officials plan to use small explosive to make cuts in that collapsed structure in order to free the ship. Gabe Cohen is joining us now live from Washington with more. Gabe,
what we can expect today and how long this could take.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, this is going to be really interesting to watch. They're going to be using these charges, these explosives for this controlled demolition that you just described. And the Coast Guard is saying that this is really the quickest and the safest way for them to remove the huge piece of the bridge. We're talking thousands of tons of steel that it's still sitting on and really weighing down the bow of the Dali, that container ship that ran into the bridge. Once they could get that piece of the bridge broken apart, they can finally tow the ship away, which is really the next critical step toward clearing and reopening the channel.
I do want to show you that animation that's on your screen right now. It gives you a much clearer sense of how crews are going to do it. So, you can see right there crews are going to make these precision cuts, only millimeters wide, into the steel, those pieces of the bridge, and they're going to do that in very specific spots. Then they're going to insert those charges, cover them up essentially with a big piece of tape, and then later today, they're going to detonate those charges which is going to rapidly separate all that steel and thrust it away from the ship. It is not going to be some sort of fireball, Erica, or at least it shouldn't be. Officials are saying it's really going to look like small puffs of smoke, sort of like little fireworks going off.
And throughout all of this, the crew with a Dali is still going to be on board, as they have been for the past seven weeks.
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They are going to be sheltering in place during the detonation. And remember, the ship is nearly 1,000 feet long. It is close to the size of the Eiffel Tower. And so, even though they are going to be there on the ship, officials have said it is perfectly safe. There is plenty of space for them to be on board as this unfolds.
HILL: It's incredible to think about the fact that they are still on that ship, nearly two months later, and the investigation obviously still ongoing. Where does it stand today?
COHEN: Well, really right now, we are waiting on a key preliminary report from the NTSB, from some of the federal investigators, who have been looking into why the ship lost power. We know that they have focused in on the ship's power system and its circuit breakers at this point. But, we still don't know what caused that glitch, what caused that total blackout onboard the ship that made it lose steering that night and eventually caused it to hit the bridge. And so, the NTSB is expected, in the coming days, to put out their preliminary report. So, hopefully, we're going to learn more as to what caused all of this.
And as for reopening the channel, Erica, if today goes well, officials still seem hopeful they can get it cleared and get it reopened in the next couple of weeks. But, that timeline has just been so fluid here over the past couple of months, as we're still waiting for information and hopefully still waiting for the channel to reopen because there are major economic impacts in Baltimore.
HILL: Absolutely. Gabe, appreciate it, and appreciate your continued stay on the story. Thank you.
COHEN: Thank you.
HILL: Turning now to politics, Joe Biden set to bring the star power to his Los Angeles fundraiser next month. We're learning that Hollywood A-listers George Clooney and Julia Roberts are set to appear along with former President Barack Obama. In March, you may recall, Obama appeared alongside former President Bill Clinton at a fundraiser in New York, which raised more than $26 million for Joe Biden. The campaign is an advantage when it comes to fundraising over rival Donald Trump. The latest filings show Biden with nearly twice the amount of cash.
Joining me now, CNN White House Correspondent Arlette Saenz. So, money is a good thing, and the campaign is obviously hoping that those big celebrity names are also a good thing. What do we know, though, in 2024, just how much impact do these big names have?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Biden campaign is hoping that these big names will be able to draw in, not just high dollar donors, but also small dollar donors as well. That is why they are assembling this star-studded event featuring Julia Roberts and George Clooney along with President Obama. Now, this will be a draw for those high dollar fundraisers. But, the campaign is also planning on running a contest to small dollar donors, and having Julia Roberts, having George Clooney out there taping digital videos, videos for social media, to try to draw in some of those grassroots donations as well.
But, it's clear that the Biden campaign has seen some type of winning formula when it comes to fundraising with these big events, especially when they feature former President Barack Obama. As you mentioned, that fundraiser with a trio of presidents, Biden, Obama, and also Bill Clinton, back in March raised about $26 million for the campaign in one night alone. They are hoping that this event in -- on the West Coast at some point in mid-June might also be able to bring them an additional a big haul as well.
Now, President Biden spends part of the weekend out on the West Coast, doing fundraisers in the Bay Area in California as well as in Seattle. Those fundraisers, we're told, brought in about $10 million. That is a chunk of money that will go towards their May fundraising haul, as we're still waiting to hear how much Biden raised in the month of April. Now, just a few weeks ago, Trump's campaign told donors that he brought in about $76 million in April, the most that the former President would have raised. We're still waiting for those official reports.
But, it does come at a time when Biden has enjoyed this cash advantage over Trump. Now, there is an expectation that at some point that could begin to narrow, now that Trump has secured the Republican nomination and is able to rally all of those donors around just him, whereas during the primaries, it was divided a bit more. So, we will see whether there will be any narrowing of that fundraising advantage when the campaign in the coming week is expected to release their fundraising numbers.
But, this is an area where the Biden campaign has seen some positive news at a time when Biden has lagged Trump in many polls. And the campaign is hoping they can continue to raise this kind of money to fund the campaign, to fund those advertisements that they're putting on televisions and on digital, as they're really trying to make headway in this race heading into November.
HILL: And as we look at where things stand, Donald Trump obviously spending most of his weekdays in this courtroom in Lower Manhattan, complaining he can't get out there to campaign enough, although he has been doing a fair amount of it. When it comes to the Biden campaign, they haven't said much about the trial.
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What is the thinking behind that?
SAENZ: Well, the Biden campaign certainly is cognizant of the fact that this Trump trial takes up a lot of the oxygen in the room at times. It's being covered extensively by media outlets. So, they're trying to find ways for President Biden to break through during this period. But, look, they really have refrained from commenting on the specifics of these trial. That's a strategy that the campaign has employed since the very beginning. And what they've tried to do is create these split screens with President Biden on the campaign trail, while former President Trump has spent the past about three weeks stuck in that New York City courtroom.
Now, last week, you saw him hit the fundraising trail. This week, he is actually going to be here in Washington for most of the week until Saturday and Sunday when he travels down to Georgia for a fundraiser, but also to speak to the commencement ceremony at Morehouse College, a historically black college and university. That will be closely watched, as there are some on campus who are frustrated that the President was invited due to his position when it comes to his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. But, really, the campaign is trying to create these split screen moments, and Biden too is trying to present these arguments against Trump. Just over the weekend, he called Trump "unhinged", especially when it comes to Trump's belief that the 2020 election was stolen.
HILL: Arlette Saenz, appreciate it. Thank you.
Still to come here, Prince Harry and Meghan wrapping up their trip to Nigeria. So, how did it go? We are live with all the details for you. Plus, why scientists believe sperm whales use language a bit like humans?
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HILL: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have left Nigeria, that's according to a Nigerian official, after their three-day tour in the country. The Sussexes wrapping up that visit on Sunday with a basketball charity event in Lagos. The trip was, of course, linked to Prince Harry's Invictus Games. It's also an opportunity, though, we're told, for Meghan to learn a little bit more about her Nigerian lineage.
Let's bring in CNN's Stephanie Busari, who live in Lagos this hour. So, overall, how is the trip being perceived?
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, AFRICA: Well, generally, everybody agrees that this trip has been a resounding success. On the Nigerian side, they're very pleased that it went off without a hitch. There had been some concerns about foreign office warnings about Nigeria being a dangerous place to visit. And so, people were on high alert about making sure that no security kind of issues occurred, and everything went pretty well much without any incidents.
So, on the Nigerian side, they are really taking that as a win. And for the Sussexes also, I think this was billed as a private visit, but in all but name it was a royal tour, because it was the first time we've really seen them going about engaging in the way that they did on this trip since they stepped down as working royals.
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And they had many engagements, private ones with charities, with the great and the good of Nigerian society. They even had three kings, no less, visit that leave that kingdom to come and visit them and bestow upon Meghan, names welcoming Meghan home, because, of course, as you say, she was keen to discover her Nigerian heritage on this trip. And she did that and some more. She really opened her heart to the country, and the country did so to her too. The kings gave her name 'Ada Mazi', which means the princess of the Igbo ancestral palace. And so, Meghan has come here as a Duchess, and leaving as an African princess.
HILL: That does feel pretty successful. You're right. Stephanie, appreciate it. Thank you.
Still to come, could we eventually be able to talk with a whale? A major breakthrough in how we understand the ways that whales communicate may help crack that code.
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HILL: A breakthrough now in our potential understanding of sperm whales and how they communicate. What was once thought to be just random bursts of clicking noises made by the creatures turns out to be a communication system which has a fair amount of similarity to human language, according to scientists.
Here is Isa Soares.
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ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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.
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 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 produce 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 is 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.
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Isa Soares, CNN.
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HILL: A little whale language there at the end.
One of the year's most anticipated film and fashion events is getting ready to kick off. The official poster for the 77th Cannes Film Festival was revealed on Sunday. This year's images taken from the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's film "Rhapsody in August". Event organizers say it serves as a testament to the power of cinema. Cannes Film Festival begins on Tuesday and runs through May 25.
Two Austrian skydivers making history as the first people to complete a wingsuit flight through London's iconic Tower Bridge. Check this out here. The duo leapt from a helicopter at 3,000 feet above River Thames on Sunday, reaching a top speed of 246 kilometers an hour. That stunt came, as you would imagine, after extensive training, and also included the use of cranes to simulate the dimensions of the bridge.
Thanks so much for joining me here on CNN Newsroom on this Monday. I'm Erica Hill. I'll see you right back here at the top of the hour with Becky Anderson for Connect the World, as our special coverage of Donald Trump's hush money trial continues. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
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