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Renewed Fighting in Parts of Gaza IDF Previously Cleared; Key Witness, Former Fixer Michael Cohen Takes the Stand; Putin Replaces Russian Defense Minister Shoigu; Floods Devastate Villages in Afghanistan; OpenAI Unveils New Model of ChatGPT. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 14, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, how confident are you, you can bring home the hostages?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Never give up hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But those hopes are fading with Israel's military said to be now force ready in Southern Gaza as an all-out assault on the city of Rafah looms closer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Trump, why do you have lawmakers with you today?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because they chose to show up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: They wanted to show up apparently to step in and publicly slam Michael Cohen, the star witness at Trump's criminal trial in New York while Donald Trump is under a gag order.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: U.S. officials believe after a weeklong buildup of Israeli troops in Southern Gaza the IDF has the manpower needed for an all-out offensive on the border city of Rafah where there's four brigades of Hamas fighters are hold up, so too the last major hub of Hamas infrastructure, according to the Israelis. But also home right now to more than a million Palestinians who fled there seeking relative safety.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have indicated an all-out assault on Rafah is now simply a matter of time. Despite strong opposition from families and supporters of around 100 Israelis being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Protesters greeted Prime Minister Netanyahu, as he arrived for Israel's official Memorial Day ceremony. Dozens have walked out during his speech, some holding protest signs which read their blood is on your hands. Netanyahu, though, remained defiant, telling the crowd the war with Hamas is a matter of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It is either us, Israel, or them, the Hamas monsters. Either continued existence, liberty, security and prosperity, or destruction, slaughter, rape, and enslavement. We are determined to be victorious in this struggle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And as Israeli forces mass in the south, new fighting has reported -- had been reported, rather, in Northern Gaza where Israel had previously claimed the dismantling of Hamas and operational control. And what's left of Jabalia civilians rushed to escape renewed fighting. All of this raising new doubts about Israel's overall strategy for winning the war. The U.S. National Security adviser says Israel needs more than just simply a battle plan for victory in Gaza.

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JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Military pressure is necessary, but not sufficient to fully defeat Hamas. If Israel's military efforts are not accompanied by a political plan for the future of Gaza and the Palestinian people, the terrorists will keep coming back and Israel will remain under threat. We are seeing this happen in Gaza City.

So we are talking to Israel about how to connect their military operations to a clear strategic end game, about a holistic, integrated strategy to ensure the lasting defeat of Hamas and a better alternative future for Gaza and for the Palestinian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More details now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond on this renewed fighting in Gaza, also on an emotional Memorial Day ceremonies in Israel.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli military now says that it has forces from three different divisions operating inside of the Gaza Strip, in both Northern, Central and Southern Gaza. The Israeli military is expanding its military operations in Rafah, for example, where we've watched over the course of the last week as the Israeli military has bit by bit ordering people to evacuate from areas in Eastern Rafah and then expanding its military operations.

We've now seen, according to the United Nations, more than 360,000 people who have fled that city that was once viewed as a last refuge for nearly 1.5 million Palestinians. Many of these people displaced not just for the first time, but for the second, third, even fourth time in some cases.

The Israeli military is also returning to ground operations in Northern Gaza, in the Jabalia refugee camp. And that's so significant because you think of the early months of this war, and that's where a lot of the fighting was focused. But the Israeli military months ago finished its fight there or thought that it had, withdrew its forces, but it didn't put anything in place in terms of leadership, in terms of a government in that area.

And so a power vacuum is what has existed in its place. One that Hamas has now returned to fill raising major questions about the Israeli military's overall strategy in the Gaza Strip.

Now as all of this is happening Israelis across the country were also commemorating a very somber Memorial Day, which is not only for commemorating fallen soldiers, but also victims of terrorism.

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And I attended a rally of thousands of individuals who are calling for a hostage and a ceasefire deal. I also spoke with the families of some of those hostages, including Ayelet Samerano, whose 21-year-old son was killed on October 7th. His body taken to Gaza, still being held hostage to this day. And on a day when she would normally be visiting his gravesites to mourn him, to commemorate him, she's not able to do that as his body is still held hostage in Gaza.

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AYELET SAMERANO, MOTHER OF KILLED ISRAELI HOSTAGE: Where should I go? Where should I do it? I have no place to go.

DIAMOND: You have no place to grieve?

SAMERANO: No. All the parents are going to a special place and they have the time with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And without his body being returned to Israel, without a gravesite, not only can Ayelet not properly mourn him, grieve him at his gravesite on a day like Memorial Day, but she is also struggling to find that sense of closure. She tells me that months after the Israeli government told her that her son was dead, she's still holding out hope that perhaps, perhaps, her son could still be alive.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

VAUSE: We'll stay in Jerusalem a little longer. Joining us now is Danny Orbach, a military historian and professor at Hebrew University.

Danny, thank you for being with us and getting up early. It's appreciated. DANNY ORBACH, PROFESSOR, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: Thank you for

having me.

VAUSE: So this is, what, now day 220 since that deplorable Hamas attack, which left more than 1,000 Israelis dead. That means Benjamin Netanyahu and its government have had 219 days to win this war with Hamas, and also formulate a post-Hamas plan for Gaza. So does that post-war plan essentially determine what the definition of victory is? And without that plan, which seems to be the case, any declaration of victory will essentially be meaningless. Is that the situation we're in right now?

ORBACH: I think it's a little bit more complicated. Let me explain. So it is true that the government did not decide on a political end game yet because of contrary political pressures. On the one hand, the extreme right in the government want to occupy, fully occupy, maybe resettle Gaza, which is not possible due to contrary pressures in the government and also of course international pressures and the position of the U.S. administration.

So Netanyahu, just like Netanyahu did so many times before, is not reaching a decision, he's delaying the decision indefinitely. But, and this is very important, even in order to, let's say, hand over the Gaza to the PA, or doing kind of another plan, multinational coalition as the U.S. and the more moderate section of the government would like to do, one has destroyed the organized military force of Hamas.

So what the government did decide upon is a milestone, is a kind of an interim war goal of dismantling Hamas, cutting its supply lines from Rafah, and this will be necessary for evil post. Evil, you know, handing over Gaza to the PA as part of the two-state solution or, as the right-wing want, to settle Gaza. In any case, what Israel is doing now will be necessary. So that's what the government is now focused on.

VAUSE: When it comes to the end game in Gaza, the view from Capitol Hill in the U.S. is very different compared to the view from the Knesset in Jerusalem. I want you to listen to the U.S. deputy secretary for state speaking to CNN.

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KURT CAMPBELL, U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: I think in some respects we are struggling over what the theory of victory is. And I think sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield. Total victory. I don't think we believe that that is likely or possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And when he talks political solution, he's also talking about a ceasefire deal with Hamas like that, but a bigger deal with the entire region. So what you alluded to, you know, one which ends with your homeland, independent homeland for the Palestinians. Isn't that (INAUDIBLE) when Israeli forces now back in northern Gaza

in areas once declared Hamas free, that a military victory, if it ever happens at all, could take years, maybe longer?

ORBACH: I'm not sure it would take years, but it will take time and we should compare with previous U.S. campaigns. I would like to remind your viewers that it took the United States nine months to liberate Mosul from ISIS, and this was only one town and Gaza have five dense towns, much bigger territory, plus a lot of tunnels which existed in the Mosul in a much more rudimentary state.

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So the issue is urban warfare is grueling, slow, and very, very, very difficult. So I don't think it's fair from the part of the U.S. administration to expect from Israel to achieve, you know, to occupy Gaza in such a rapid basis. The U.S. itself could not do in its previous campaigns. One should be realistic. But I think Israel did a grave mistake by not establishing any military administration in the area in Gaza in order to prevent Hamas from coming back.

But one more thing, one should differentiate between dismantling Hamas as guerrilla, which I think that's why the deputy secretary of state meant, it's unrealistic to expect. We know Hamas guerilla. But what Israel really wants is to dismantle the Hamas government. The mini state that rules Gaza openly and only a government, not the guerilla movement can launch attacks such as October 7th. So it's very, very important to know the difference between these two war goals.

VAUSE: Danny Orbach, thank you so much for being with us, sir. Really appreciate your time and also getting up early for us today. Thank you, sir.

ORBACH: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: Well, another U.N. aid worker has been killed, one other injured in Rafah Monday. Both were in a clearly marked U.N. vehicle which came under fire but officials with United Nations have not assigned blame for the attack to either Israel or Hamas. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment. We're yet to hear back. Meantime, Human Rights Watch says there is a pattern of IDF attacks on aid workers, which is raising questions about Israel's commitment to international law.

The group says Israel has carried out at least eight strikes on aid workers throughout this conflict. And that includes an attack back in April, which killed seven workers of the World Central Kitchen. Human Rights Watch says the attacks happened despite aid groups giving their coordinates to the IDF well in advance.

Day 16 of Donald Trump's hush money payment to a porn star trial and the prosecution's key witness who once said he'd take a bullet for Trump has finally taken the stand. Bagman Michael Cohen, former lawyer and fixer, testified about everything he did to protect his then boss. Cohen detailed how he set up the $130,000 payment to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, and through his testimony, jurors for the first time heard evidence directly connecting the former U.S. president to the payoff and reimbursements.

More details now from CNN's Paula Reid.

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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The prosecution's most anticipated witness, Michael Cohen, taking the stand in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial.

TRUMP: We paid a lawyer, a legal expense. We have a legal expense. It is a legal expense. It's marked down in the book, quote, "legal expense."

REID: Facing his former boss, Cohen spoke about his 10 years working as Trump's attorney and fixer while Trump sat back in his chair, closing his eyes, not reacting to Cohen's testimony. Cohen said he enjoyed working for Trump. And whenever he received direct praise for completing a task, he felt like he was on top of the world.

Cohen told the court that when Trump was mulling a run for the presidency in 2015, Trump warned Cohen, you know that when this comes out, meaning the announcement, just be prepared. There's going to be a lot of women coming forward.

Cohen claimed that just weeks before the 2016 election, the editor of the "National Enquirer" told Cohen Stormy Daniels wanted to sell her story about having an affair with Trump, which Cohen said would have been catastrophic and horrible for Trump's campaign. Cohen said Trump got angry with him when they spoke about the Stormy Daniels story.

I told him that one of the things that we need to do is obviously take care of it. Trump allegedly responded, absolutely. Do it. Take care of it. Cohen testified that it was his idea to include a punitive damages clause in the Daniels deal to ensure that she didn't speak. Cohen said Trump told him to drag the Daniels payment out as long as possible. In fact preferably until after the election.

Because if I win, it will have no relevance because I'm president. And if I lose, I don't even care. And he added, this damning allegation. He wasn't thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign.

Cohen walked the court through the process of creating several LLCs. In order to transfer payment to Daniels, Cohen had to front the money himself and used a home equity line of credit because it was paperless so he could hide it from his wife. I was doing everything I could and more to protect my boss, which is something that I had done for a long time.

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Cohen testified that on October 28th, he immediately called Trump after Daniels signed the agreement, telling him that this matter is now completely under control and locked down. Cohen said in early 2017, he tried to get repaid for the money he fronted to Daniels, I needed Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg's input for questions about taxes. Cohen said he would be reimbursed over the course of the next 12 months disguising the payment as like a legal service rendered since I was then going to be given the title of personal attorney to the president.

TRUMP: There's no fraud here. There's no crime here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID (on-camera): Cohen will be back on the stand Tuesday and likely for the rest of the week. Now his eventual cross-examination, which is expected to be conducted by Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche, sources tell me it is expected to last as long if not longer than direct questioning from prosecutors.

Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

VAUSE: With us this hour from New York is Norm Eisen, CNN legal analyst, as well as former House Judiciary special counsel for Donald Trump's first of two impeachment trials. He's also author of "Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial."

Thanks for coming back. It's good to see you.

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Always good to be with you, John. It's always a big law day here in the U.S. when we get together.

VAUSE: Absolutely. So it was on Monday, Michael Cohen, firsthand testimony. You were there last week when the other star witness, Stormy Daniels, was on the stand. Many have reported on a change in Trump's demeanor on Monday. Unlike last week when he was sort of visibly angry and loud, "Politico" reports that on Monday for hours Trump took in the testimony with his eyes shut, nearly reactionless, moving only occasionally to scratch an itch, whisper or pass a note to his attorney, read a document, or glance at the computer monitor in front of him before going back to his shut-eye pose.

So did you notice that? And any reason why?

EISEN: I did notice it and I think we can be bold and say he was sleeping, John. That certainly was my inference from the closed eyes, the motionlessness, the occasional sagging of his head. Then he'd start awake with a slight twitch and dropped back off. But by contrast to his usual sleepy demeanor when Michael Cohen told a very important anecdote about talking to Donald Trump about delaying the payment to Stormy Daniels, that is at the center of this case, and he reported that Trump told him to delay it because if he wins the presidency, it won't matter.

And if he loses the presidency it won't matter. And then Cohen said, well, what about Melania? And Trump looked back at him, Cohen testified and said words to the effect of, I won't be on the market long.

VAUSE: Cohen, when he was taking -- when he was on the stand, rather, giving testimony, he seemed calm, reasonable, measured in many ways, his answers to prosecutors, according to CNN, Cohen is the glue that brings together the other witnesses that jurors have heard from so far, connected through text message, e-mail, and phone calls to Pecker, Davidson, Dylan Howard, Hope Hicks, and others who were allegedly involved in the hush money payments.

The issue here, though, also seems to be, you know, to get a conviction here, the prosecutors need to show a direct connection from Trump to that hush money payment. So did Cohen's testimony prove that or get some part of the way there?

EISEN: I think it did prove it, John. He explained how no major expenditures happened in Trump world without consulting Trump first. He offered many examples of that. You had all the corroboration of that from all the way witnesses who came before. The documents, who came before, and then very credible, calm, even demeanor. He said when discussing the Stormy payment with Cohen, absolutely, do it. Take care of it.

So that's the first half of the case. The allegedly illegal campaign and election hush money payment and then the second half of the case a very similar story, he described a meeting Trump, Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Org CFO, and Cohen early in January in which they agreed on the allegedly illegal grossing up scheme, doubling the hush money payment and repaying Cohen, putting other money in there as well.

And there's even handwritten notes of the scheme and Cohen testified Trump agreed to it at a meeting with the -- with him and Weisselberg. So he took the prosecution to the promised land of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but that's all before the cross-examination and the question is, will the defense team take that back from Cohen and the prosecutors?

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VAUSE: Well, Trump's gag order prevents him from publicly attacking witnesses like Michael Cohen. But Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville did that outside the court on Monday. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I'm a senator listening to a guy on the stand that they had to get out of House arrest because he'd lied in another court to testifying this court. He's a convicted felon. I mean, this guy, he's up there giving an acting scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Trump is not allowed to criticize jurors, but Tuberville questioned the citizenship of some on the jury calling them so-called American citizens. The prosecution also informed Mr. Trump, but not to Republican Senator J.D. Vance who said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): I think this trial is absolutely ridiculous. I think it's a sham prosecution.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: That's just some of the stuff they said. These two senators were joined by three other Republican lawmakers, a whole bunch of others, which prompted this question from a reporter to Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Trump, why do you have lawmakers with you today?

TRUMP: Because they chose to show up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, they just all just decided to show up independently of one another. This does seem to be a very big loophole in the gag order.

EISEN: It is, John. I was in court all day long and those senators must have stumbled into another courtroom because Cohen was sober, he was credible, virtually everything he said was corroborated, even played a tape of Donald Trump participating in the alleged repayment scheme. And the jury absolutely ate it up. So whatever shenanigans may have been happening outside the courtroom, the jury was powerfully moved and I think the prosecution has established what they need to. But now Cohen needs to do as well on cross-examination. That'll be the real test.

VAUSE: As always, Norm Eisen, it's so good to have you with us on these very big legal days. I hope to see you again tomorrow.

EISEN: Look forward to it, John.

VAUSE: Always a big day with Norm.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, shake up at the Kremlin, the longest serving member of Putin's cabinet, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is out. Why now? Who is his replacement? All that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on an unannounced visit to Kyiv, his fourth since the war began, his first since U.S. military aid resumed. Also comes after a devastating Russian cross- border attack over the weekend. Blinken will meet with Ukrainian president as well as other officials. While U.S. military hardware has now reached parts of the frontlines, at least some of it, Blinken did acknowledge the delay has been costly for Ukraine.

The U.S. State Department says the cabinet shakeup at the Kremlin is a sign of desperation. Over the weekend, the Russian president announced civilian economist Andrey Belousov will take over as Russia's new defense minister replacing Putin's longtime ally Sergei Shoigu.

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The Kremlin pointed to Moscow's rising military budget and a need for innovation as one of the reasons for the shakeup. The U.S. is not buying it.

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VEDANT PATEL, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Our point of view is that this is further indication of Putin's desperation to sustain his war of aggression against Ukraine, despite it not just being a major drain on the Russian economy, and heavy losses of Russian troops with some estimates as high as 315,000 casualties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Here's CNN's Clare Sebastian with more details of what might be behind Putin's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (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, PRESS SECRETARY, RUSSIA (through translator): Today, on the battlefield, those who are more open for innovations, more open toward a quick implementation of the innovations win. That is why it's natural that on the current stage, the president has to take a decision for a civilian to be in charge of the Ministry of Defense.

SEBASTIAN: 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 a labor force decimated by war.

MARK ESPER, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Russia is moving to a war economy and it's true. Seven percent of their GDP now is focused on defense. They're on a war footing.

SEBASTIAN: 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.

Unofficial video from a Russian military brigade purportedly showing a massive glide bomb hitting the Ukrainian border town of Vovchansk.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): The idea behind the attacks in the Kharkiv region is to spread our forces thin and undermine the moral and motivational foundation of the Ukrainians' ability to defend themselves.

SEBASTIAN: 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. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The prime minister of Georgia says widespread nationwide protests will not prevent a controversial foreign agents bill from becoming law within the coming hours. A final debate and vote set to take place in parliament Tuesday. If that bill passes, the law would require organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence or face major fines.

Mass protests in the capital Tbilisi have been ongoing including a march by university students on Monday. Critics say the bill mirrors a similar law in Russia and there's concern the legislation could jeopardize Georgia's bid to join the E.U.

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NODAR, MEDICAL STUDENT AND PROTESTER: We also want to say that we do not agree with this bill, against this fight. This is not good for our European future, which is our dream and that's all we want to say about it.

I am here. I am standing here with my colleagues from my university. We are graduating this year and we want to say that we want public here which is European and not pro-Russian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In Germany, court ruling now being said the intelligence service is allowed to continue to surveil the far-right AFD Party because it's now considered potentially extremist. The judge wrote that there is sufficient evidence the party pursues goals against democracy, works against the human dignity of certain groups like Muslims and migrants.

AFD is currently the second most popular party. It's getting more support, especially in eastern states like Saxony. Some mainstream politicians are blaming AFD and its extreme rhetoric for a rise in the number of violent attacks on lawmakers in Germany.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, flash floods are devastating parts of Afghanistan, unleashing torrents of water and mud, hundreds of dead, many more are missing. The very latest in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:32:05]

Rescue efforts are underway in Mumbai for dozens believed trapped after a massive billboard came crashing down during a rainstorm. The National Disaster Response Force says at least 14 people have been killed. Dozens more have been injured.

A warning: images of that moment, may be difficult for some viewers to watch.

The towering billboard, which was located next to a busy road, collapsed on some houses, as well as a service station amid strong rains and powerful winds. There it is.

Now humanitarian emergencies unfolding in Afghanistan, where severe flooding has killed more than 300 people, according to the U.N.'s World Food Programme. With thousands of homes destroyed, other aid groups, though, fear the death toll will be much higher.

CNN's Anna Coren has details. And a warning: her report contains some images some viewers may find difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL 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 Aria (ph), were rescued.

"Take off the rope from his 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 ten 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's sending emergency aid, some via donkey to now inaccessible areas, in a region that was already poverty stricken.

TIMOTHY ANDERSON, HEAD OF U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, AFGHANISTAN: There's been a system which identified 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.

[00:35:05]

COREN (voice-over): The Taliban says it's mobilizing all available resources, but it's calling on the U.N. 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 when the people of Afghanistan must also endure.

Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Dozens of wildfires are burning across Canada, threatening to engulf entire communities. Residents in a number of towns have been ordered to evacuate, including in Alberta province in Western Canada, where wildfires have now been burning out of control just 16 kilometers from the town of Fort McMurray.

One wildfire in British Columbia may have tripled in size over the weekend to nearly 5,300 hectares. In Manitoba, a massive fire scorched more than 34,000 hectares.

A huge container ship stuck under a collapsed bridge in Baltimore for seven weeks could be moving again within days. A controlled explosion were set off on Monday to dislodge wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Officials say it -- removed a tremendous amount of steel. And now they'll figure out how to remove the remaining debris from the ship's bow.

The controlled explosion was originally planned for Saturday, delayed because of bad weather.

The ship hit the bridge in the middle of the night back in March, causing the span to collapse and killing six construction workers on the bridge.

Still to come here on CNN, OpenAI is boasting that its latest artificial intelligence model can reason across audio, visual, and text in real time. Kind of creepy. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back.

Melinda French Gates will be stepping down from her role as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

She helped lead the organization since 2000, raising almost $78 billion for charity. It will now be renamed the Gates Foundation, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the sole chair.

The pair divorced three years ago. As part of the separation deal, she received an additional $12.5 billion for her charitable work, which she plans to continue.

Shares of video game retailer GameStop have soared after an infamous trader posted on X for the first time in three years. The trader, known as Roaring Kitty, helped ignite the so-called meme stock frenzy of 2021, in which troubled stocks went viral due to online chatter and social media activity.

Roaring Kitty recently posted this cartoon depicting a man leaning forward and the chair holding of game controller that cause GameStop shares to surge more than 110 percent on Monday -- and people say the stock market's irrational -- before settling down at 74 percent up.

To be clear, this huge jump had nothing to do with the company's actual fundamentals. You see here how far the stock has fallen over the past year, down to about $10 a share, before skyrocketing up to more than $30 a share.

Well, you'll now be able to have real-time clever conversations with ChatGPT.

[00:40:04]

OpenAI has unveiled its latest artificial intelligence model for ChatGPT 4.0, effectively now a very helpful digital buddy that's capable of witty dialogue in any language.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like you're feeling pretty happy and cheerful with a big smile and maybe even a touch of excitement. Whatever's going on, it seems like you're in a great mood. Care to share the source of those good vibes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, no. The reason I'm in a really good mood is because we're doing a presentation showcasing how useful and amazing you are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, stop it. You're making me blush.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE; The new version can also do real-time translations, also be able to view your photo screenshots and documents, talk about them, as well.

And it's free.

CNN's Claire Duffy has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRE DUFFY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A true virtual personal assistant, it can have real-time spoken conversations as well as text interactions.

DUFFY (voice-over): It can also interpret photos, videos, documents, and have a discussion about those things in real time.

One of the things I found really interesting is it's also going to be able to do real-time translation in more than 50 languages. We have a clip we can show you of that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike, she wonders, if whales could talk, what would they tell us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They might ask, how do we solve linear equations?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DUFFY (voice-over): So you see there ChatGPT listening in Italian, translating to English, listening in English, translating back to Italian. Really powerful stuff.

And as you said there, this is going to be free for all ChatGPT users, which I think is really important in this moment, in the A.I. arms race, when you have players like Google and Meta, who are incorporating their A.I. tools into much more widely used products like Google Assistant, Facebook, and Instagram.

OpenAI wants to give people a reason to use its product, ChatGPT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, glitz and glamor on the French Riviera with the 75th -- 77th Cannes Film Festival, set to begin in the coming hours with a -- the version of the French language comedy "The Second Act."

The festival's nine-member jury met for the first time Monday. The international panel is led by American filmmaker Greta Gerwig of "Barbie" fame.

The group will decide who will be awarded the prestigious Palme D'Or, which honors exceptional cinematic achievement.

The festival runs until May 25th.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. I will be back with more news, top of the hour. Meantime, here's WORLD SPORT.

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