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Israel Has Enough Troops Around Rafah For Offensive; Michael Cohen To Take The Stand In Trump Hush Money Trial; U.S. Says Russia Defense Shake-up Shows Putin 'Desperation' On War; Georgian Parliament Set To Adopt Controversial Foreign Agent Law; Michael Cohen's Long- Standing Relationship with Donald Trump; Floods Devastate Villages in Afghanistan killing 300+; Melinda French Gates to Resign as Gates Foundation Co-Chair; Open AI Unveils New Model of ChatGPT. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 14, 2024 - 01:00 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 ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, how confident are you, you can bring on the hostages?
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'll give a hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still, those hopes are fading with Israel's military said to be now forced ready in southern Gaza for an all out assault on the city of Rafah.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this trial is absolutely ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Based on a star witness that is a convicted disbarred perjurer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, this guy, he's up there given an acting scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: While Donald Trump is under a gag order, Republican lawmakers step in publicly slamming Michael Cohen on his first day of testimony as star witness of Trump's criminal trial in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause. VAUSE: U.S. officials believe after a week-long 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 Israel says at least four brigades of Hamas fighters are holed up in the last major hub of Hamas infrastructure.
But the city is also home now to more than a million Palestinians who fled their seeking relative safety. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet have indicated an 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 Netanyahu as he arrived for Israel's official Memorial Day ceremony. Dozens walked out during his speech, some holding protest signs which read their blood on your hands. Netanyahu remains to find though telling the crowd the war with Hamas is now a matter of survival.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): It is either us, Israel, or them, the Hamas monsters. We will continued existence of liberty, security and prosperity or destruction, slaughter, rape and enslavement. We are determined to be victorious in this struggle.
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VAUSE: Israeli forces have also been redeployed to the north of Gaza to areas which Israel had once declared under operational control. But now we're Hamas fighters appear to have regrouped with fierce fighting around the Jabalya refugee camp not far from Gaza City, once again forcing civilians to flee. As war in Gaza appears to ramp up once again, questions are being asked about Israel's overall strategy. Here's the U.S. national security adviser.
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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.
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VAUSE: For one hour on these tensions between the White House and the U.S. and -- well, Israel, I should say. Here's CNN MJ Lee.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOSUE CORRESPONDENT: Two senior administration officials tell me and Kylie Atwood, that the U.S. has current assessment is that Israel has amassed enough troops on the border of Rafah that it could make a full incursion into the city in the coming days. But the reporting caveat that we are being told is that senior U.S. officials don't actually know whether Israel has made the decision to go ahead with such a military operation.
Of course, if Israel were to move forward with such an operation, this would be hugely significant precisely because of what President Biden told CNN's Erin Burnett, last week, he made clear that the U.S. would stop sending offensive weapons to Israel if Israel were to go into Rafah and also this would just be in direct defiance of the President's repeated warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the previous months.
Now in the sign of how problematic all of this would be in the eyes of the Biden White House, one senior official telling me that Israel has also not come anywhere close to making adequate preparations, in terms of housing, in terms of food, in terms of hygiene, ahead of a potential evacuation of the more than 1 million people who are currently sheltering in Rafah.
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What is also interesting is that we are increasingly seeing U.S. officials publicly questioning Israel's approach to not only the war, but also what its endgame might be in the conflict. Kurt Campbell telling our colleague Kylie Atwood, that Israeli officials often talk about the idea of a sweeping victory on the battlefield and about total victory.
But importantly, he said, I don't think we believe that is likely or possible. So that's certainly a sobering assessment from a top US official, as Israel continues to warn that it is going to move forward with a Rafah operation. MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
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VAUSE: Will 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 get you up early. So appreciate it.
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, as well as formulate a post Hamas plan for Gaza.
So, does that postwar plan essentially determine what the definition of victory is? And without that plan, which is what 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. And let me explain. So it is true that the government did not decide on a political endgame yet because of contrary political pressures. On the one hand, extreme right government want to occupy fully occupy maybe resettled 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.
Just like Netanyahu did so many times before, is not reaching the decisions delaying the decision indefinitely. But in which is very important, even in order to a, let's say, hand over the Gaza to the P.A., or doing in the kind of an airplane multinational coalition as the U.S. and the more moderate faction in the government would like to do, one has to destroy the organized military force of Hamas.
So while the government did decide upon is a milestone is a kind of an in theory him a war goal of dismantling Hamas cutting its supply lines from Rafah. And this will be necessary for Eva calls (ph). Eva (ph), you know, handing over a Gaza to the P.A. as part of a two state solution? Or is the right wing want we settle Gaza. In any case, what is what is doing now will be necessary. So that's why the government is now focused on.
VAUSE: When it comes to the end gaming 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 of 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 talked 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.
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VAUSE: And when he talks political solution, he's not talking about a ceasefire. Oh, I think deal with Hamas, I doubt but a bigger deal with the entire region. So what you alluded to, you know, which end it ends with your homeland, and you've had a homeland for the Palestinians.
Isn't that likely bolstered when Israeli forces now back in northern Gaza, in areas wants to clear Hamas free that a military victory if it hadn't happened at all, could take years, maybe longer?
ORBACH: I'm not sure it will take years, but it will take time and we should compare with previous U.S. campaigns. I would like to remind our viewers that took the United States nine months to liberate Mosul from ISIS and this was only one town and Gaza, five dense towns much bigger territory plus a lot of tunnels which existed the Mosul in a much more rudimentary state. 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 pace as 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 theory military administration in the end areas cleared in Gaza in order to prevent Hamas from coming back.
But one more thing one should differentiate between dismantling Hamas is guerrilla, which I think that's why the Deputy Secretary of State meant it's unrealistic to expect to be no Hamas guerrilla. But what Israel really wants is to dismantle the Hamas government. The mini state which rules Gaza openly in only a government, not the guerrilla movement can launch attack such as October 7. So it's very, very important to know the difference between these two warbles.
VAUSE: Dann Orbach, thank you so much for being with us. So we really appreciate your time. And also getting up early for us today. Thank you, sir.
ORBACH: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Another U.N. aid worker has been killed when other injured in Rafah on Monday. Both were in a clearly marked U.N. vehicle which came under fire but officials with the United Nations have not assigned blame for the attack to either Israel or Hamas.
CNN has reached out to the IDF we're yet to hear back. Meantime Human Rights Watch says there is a pattern to IDF attacks on aid workers. That's raising questions about Israel's commitment to international law. Group says Israel has carried out at least eight strikes on aid workers throughout this conflict. That includes an attack back in April, which killed seven workers of the World Central Kitchen.
Human Rights Watch says that the attacks happened despite aid groups giving their coordinates and positions to the IDF well in advance.
It's taken 16 days at Donald Trump's hush money trial to a porn star when he payment to a porn star trial. But now we've heard from the key witness the man who once said he'd take a bullet Trump expected to be on the witness stand for much of the week.
Former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen once so loyal to Donald Trump testified about everything he did to protect the boss. Kind of detailed how he set up the $130,000 payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels. Now, through his turn (INAUDIBLE) jurors for the first time heard evidence directly connecting the former president to the pay off and reimbursements. CNN's Kara Scannell picks up the story.
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KARA SCANNEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer and now star prosecution witness finally taking a stand and former President Donald Trump's criminal trial. He's considered the only witness who can directly implicate Trump in the alleged crimes.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We paid a lawyer for legal expense. It's marked down in the book quote, legal expense is perfectly marked down.
SCANNELL: Prosecutors say Cohen paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf to kill her story of an alleged affair before the 2016 election. Trump denies the affair.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I did it at the direction of in concert with him for the benefit of Donald J. Trump.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen testified about notifying Trump after learning Daniels was planning to sell her story saying that the impact on the campaign would be catastrophic. Cohen said Trump was angry at him for not having this under control and told him to stop this from getting out.
Cohen said Trump directed him to try and stole Daniels from releasing it until after the election. We're calling Trump saying because if I win, it will have no relevance because I'm President, and if I lose, I don't even care. He claimed Trump was not thinking about his wife Melania saying this was all about the campaign.
Cohen reached a $130,000 deal with Daniel's attorney to kill the story. And ultimately, a few weeks before the election, Cohen had to front the money himself. But before heading to the bank, Cohen said he had two phone calls with Trump to ensure that once again, he proved what I was doing because I require approval from him on all of this.
Prosecutors show the jury call logs to backup Cohen's recollection. Cohen testified about this in front of Congress in 2019.
COHEN: Mr. Trump directed me to use my own personal funds from a home equity line of credit to avoid any money being traced back to him that could negatively impact his campaign.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen served three years in prison at home confinement for crimes including federal campaign finance violations related to the payoff.
COHEN: I am going to jail in part because of my decision to help Mr. Trump hide that payment from the American people.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen emphasized that Trump was a micromanager and that during his time at the Trump Organization, he answered only to Trump. Cohen said he had an amazing experience working for the Trump Organization for a decade, adding that he felt on top of the world when Trump would praise him for accomplishing a task.
During questioning, prosecutors aim to show a pattern that Cohen helped bury negative stories about Trump all upon Trump's direct instructions. Prosecutors asked Cohen about his work with tabloid executive David Pecker to kill stories, including one of another alleged affair with a former Playboy model Karen McDougal which Trump also denies.
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Cohen discussed how he recorded a 2016 phone call with Trump, where they spoke about the $150,000 repayment to pecker for buying McDougal story.
COHEN: I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David --
TRUMP: So, what do we got to pay for this? 150?
COHEN: -- Funding. Yes.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Cohen also testified about the bombshell moment when the Access Hollywood tape dropped.
TRUMP: When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
SCANNELL (voice-over): He said Trump called and asked him to reach out to all his media contacts and said the spin to put on it was that this is locker room talk something that Melania had recommended.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: He described it as locker room talk.
MELANIA TRUMP, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: Yes, it's kind of two teenage boys. Actually, they should behave better, right.
SCANNELL: For most of Michael Cohen's testimony, Donald Trump didn't visibly react. He was sitting back in his chair with his eyes closed a few times he did react to Cohen's testimony by giving a smile or shaking his head. Now jurors they were taking notes again, as they have been throughout this trial. Prosecutors will continue their questioning of Cohen again on Tuesday, and then Trump's team will have an opportunity to begin their cross examination. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
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VAUSE: Georgia's controversial foreign agents bill is set to come law in the coming hours. When we come back here on CNN, a closer look what critics say is a carbon copy of a Russian law, which is a crackdown on freedom of speech as well as protest.
Also head, shake up at the Kremlin the longest serving member of his cabinet. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is out, why now? Who is his replacement? Details at the moment.
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VAUSE: Just got 18 minutes past the hour and add to sell us Secretary Antony Blinken is on an unannounced visit to Kyiv, his fourth since the war began. His first since U.S. military aid resumed comes after a devastating Russian cross border attack over the weekend.
Blinken will meet with the Ukrainian president as well as other officials. The U.S. military hardware has breached parts of the front lines, but again has acknowledged the delay has been costly for Ukraine.
Just days ago, the Russian defense minister was seen in Red Square dressed in full uniform reviewing troops as part of Victory Day celebrations. By Monday he was out of a job replaced by an economist in a criminal shakeup which the U.S. described as an act of desperation. Details now from CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Russian jets bombing Ukrainian frontline positions. This video released by Moscow's Defense Ministry purporting to show that Vladimir Putin's troops on the offensive.
But just as Russian forces have started a new assault on the north eastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine, Putin sacking his longtime defense minister Sergei Shoigu. The two last scene together at Ruissia's Victory Day parade last week where Putin once again threatened the West.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (voice-over): But I see if we did Russia will do anything to prevent a global conflict, but at the same time, we will not allow anyone to threaten us.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): While the Russian army has recently made some gains, there losses and soldiers and armored vehicles have been catastrophic, both the U.S. and Ukraine say.
Shoigu often facing heavy criticism. In March 2022, he disappeared from the public light altogether, fueling speculation Putin may have sacked him, only to resurface in a defense ministry called nearly two weeks later.
When Russia's deputy defense minister and close Shoigu ally Timur Ivanov was recently arrested and charged with corruption, it seemed clear the air for Shoigu was getting thinner, Russian political commentator Sergei Markoff says.
SERGEY MARKOV, POLITICAL ANALYST: One problem is corruption because now Russian military budget increasing twice and arrest of the deputy defense minister, Tmur Ivanov shows that level of corruption around defense minister quite high.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Shoigu will be moved to head Russia State Security Council along with another sidelined former Putin ally Dimitri Medvedev once even viewed as a possible successor to Putin.
The Kremlin is new designated defense minister, the former Minister for Economic Innovation Andrei Belousov, his task putting Russia's army on a long term war footing Markoff says.
MARKOV: This has been more than a war. This knocked on the soldiers but also a technical system as our armies of drones and the connection between artificial intellect and armies of drone and rockets , missiles and artillery system should play a decisive role.
PLEITGEN: Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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VAUSE: Georgia's Prime Minister says widespread protests will not prevent a controversial foreign agents bill from becoming law in the coming hours. Final debate and vote in parliament is scheduled for Tuesday. Once approved, the law would require organizations which received more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence or face major fines and other penalties.
Mass protests in the capital Tbilisi have been ongoing, and clicks have marched by university students Monday. Critics say the bill mirrors a similar law in Russia. There's concern that legislation could jeopardize the country's bid to join the European Union.
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NODAR, MEDICAL STUDENT AND PROTESTER: We also want to say that we do not agree this world against this against the spy. 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'm standing here with my colleagues from my university. We are graduating this year. And we want to say that we want the public healed Europeans, not pro Russia.
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VAUSE: Joining us now Molly McKew, expert on Russian influence and information warfare, also former adviser to the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. It's appreciate it.
MOLLY MCKEW, FORMER ADVISER TO GEORGIAN PRESIDENT MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI: Thanks for having me on.
VAUSE: OK. So, the Georgia Dream party which controls Parliament argues that this bill is just about having more transparency for foreign funding coming into the country and say it was modeled on an American law, dating to 1938 and other similar measures passed or proposed by European and other Western countries.
It is notable that under the George Dream Party, the country has been moving closer to Moscow despite the objection of many Georgians who want to move closer to the EU. Notably, the U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, recently posted this, we are deeply alarmed about the democratic backsliding in Georgia. Georgia parliamentarians face a critical choice whether to support the Georgia people's Euro- Atlantic aspirations, or pass the Kremlin style foreign agents law that runs counter to democratic values.
If we look at this in the sort of context of history, there appears to be a lot of similarities to what happened in Ukraine and the overthrow of the Moscow backed pro president, Viktor Yanukovych. Well, George's president is opposed to the bill and not pro-Moscow. The party which controls parliament is.
So in many ways, is Georgia heading towards sort of a their own made ad moment, if you like?
MCKEW: Georgia is definitely getting very close to the point where the sort of capture of the state by Russian interest and the sabotage of Georgians course toward the west will be complete. And I think the West is at a really critical point of expressing what needs to be done of showing more clearly to the Georgian people how fraught this moment is, because for too long, they've sort of viewed engagement with the Georgian dream government as the only option but it's this Kabuki of Georgian Dream says they are pro-Western, but the laws they pass move Georgia further from the West, and they have not supported Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia for the war, and at the same time, they invite Russian officials to come in draws Parliament.
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So it's this really tense situation of how the West can now support the Georgian people and their aspirations toward the west, and make it clear that the government of Georgia is not getting them there.
VAUSE: Just to look at the situation as a whole, is there enough, I guess, bandwidth that can the west of the EU in particular deal with a crisis in Georgia along with a war in Ukraine.
MCKEW: It's the same crisis. And I think that's the part that we all need to revitalize ourselves on. This is one series of conflict. The Kremlin views it as one war against the West. And I think the rest of us need to have a policy that can embrace all of these different aspects. It is far cheaper, obviously, for us to engage now in Georgia to ensure that Georgia stays on a pro-European political course, than it is to wait for a collapse a crisis and invasion, a military intervention that will require more investment of resources from Georgia's partners.
VAUSE: Transparency International has a petition online opposed to the bill. And they argue this that the law is a Russian authoritarian tool to suppress freedom of speech, its adoption will make it impossible to open negotiations with the E.U. at the end of the year, instead of fulfilling the nine steps defined by the European Union.
The government with this law separates us from the European Union and eventually harms the democratic insecure future of Georgia.
I guess, in the big picture is that ultimately what this law is trying to achieve to prevent Georgia from moving closer to the EU.
MCKEW: I think there's sort of three things, one is absolutely the law will move Georgia further from the E.U. and its European future aspirations. Two, it sort of solidifies the course that the Georgian Dream government has made clear, when in 2014. And in 2022, they did not support Ukraine in any way, shape, or form against the Russian invasion. I have not visited and have not supported the sanctions have not made any statements of support, which shows that they're sort of operating in this separate space. And then third, it creates this opening, which Bidzina Ivanishvili, the sort of leading oligarch of Georgian Dream, has said, will lessen descent on the way up to the elections this fall, and afterward that they will arrest many of the opposition members that he should have arrested before.
And knowing that this is the rhetoric that he has said this openly in public to their supporters about this law, but it is a piece of this plan that they have in place that will kill Georgia's European future and knowing that those three things are sort of what they're looking at. There's very limited options now for how the West engages.
VAUSE: Well, the billionaire businessman, Bidzina Ivanishvili, he's Georgia needs a tough. His net worth can be measured in percentages of Georgia GDP, the guy's worth about, what five, $7 billion, depending what you read.
He made that money mostly in Russia. He's very close to Russia. If there was one person for targets of sanctions, which could make a difference by the West, is he the one?
MCKEW: He's definitely the one and it should be noted also, he has French citizenship, which should create some possibilities there. But no, I mean, he has been the controlling factor in the country. And as you mentioned, his personal net worth is as big as the GDP of the country, which gives him absolutely outsized control, in terms of his political influence and his capture of state resources and state power.
It is the target that needs to be addressed. I think the United States has been pondering this for some time. There have been a number of people trying to figure out how that could be done. It's a step that probably needs to be made at this point.
Obviously, I can't do anything about that, but he is the target. He is the only person that matters in this calculus in terms of changing the course or not.
VAUSE: I'm only bringing attention to this. It's an important story. It has received a lot of media coverage. So you are doing something we're talking about it and hopefully that will lead to something else. Molly McKew, thank you so much.
MCKEW: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered all U.S. troops to leave Niger within the next four months according to U.S. defense officials. There are fewer than 1,000 American troops in the West African country. U.S. official says a few will remain after the pullout but only for diplomatic security.
Niger's military just announced it was ending the country's 10-year long relationship with American forces back in March. U.S. supported his us counterterrorism efforts before the government was overthrown in a coup last year. Ahead, the witness who could make or break the Donald Trump hush money
payment to a porn star case takes a stand. Singing like a canary but can felon Michael Cohen convince a jury, briefly.
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VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause.
Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer and bag man, Michael Cohen, took the stand Monday during his hush money trial. And his testimony will likely last much of the week.
He's poised to become the trial's most consequential and controversial witness because he's doing what no one else can, testifying about multiple direct conversations with the former U.S. president about allegedly faking business records to cover up a payment to a porn star.
Cohen is also confirming the prosecution's main argument that the so- called catch-and-kill scheme to buy and bury unflattering stories about Trump was a political move meant to help win the 2016 presidential election.
At the same time, Cohen is a convicted felon who's admitted to lying under oath, served time, and is far from a perfect witness.
CNN's Brian Todd has a look at his long-standing relationship with Trump and why it turned sour.
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MICHAEL COHEN, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER FIXER AND ATTORNEY: The next president of the United States of America --
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was those times Michael Cohen seemed to get nostalgic over in his testimony on Monday when he was working his dream job for a man he respected and admired.
It started, Cohen says, when he was at Donald Trump's office to ask about a $100,000 bill for work he had done for the company. Trump offered him a job on the spot.
"I was honored. I was taken by surprise," he said, smiling at the memory.
COHEN: He talked to me. He liked my personality, which is, you know, I mean, you know, my nickname is like Pitbull. Once I get my hands around your neck, you're finished, you know, and I never let go.
TODD: He said his new job was quote, "amazing, fantastic".
COHEN: You could be sitting in his office and next thing, boom, it's a superstar celebrity or it's another multi billionaire or it's a, you know, reporter on the telephone.
TODD: When Trump praised him for handling a problem well, Cohen said he felt like he was on top of the world.
The 57-year-old grew up on Long Island, his father a Holocaust survivor. Quote, "Actually, I didn't want to be a lawyer. My grandmother wanted me to be a lawyer."
He became a personal injury attorney with a side hustle dealing in taxi medallions. He lived in a Trump apartment building, bought and sold additional properties, and even organized a condo board takeover. He liked the way that that occurred, Cohen said.
What did he do for Trump?
COHEN: Well, my job is I protect Mr. Trump.
TODD: Often in a vicious manner, Cohen testified.
MARC FISHER, CO-AUTHOR, "TRUMP REVEALED": He was famous for his rants, his tirades. He'd get extremely angry. He'd make threats. He'd call people names.
TODD: And Cohen testified he would sometimes lie for Donald Trump. But after Trump was elected, Cohen was not given a job in Washington.
FISHER: Donald Trump always kept Michael Cohen at a certain distance. And Cohen became more and more resentful of the fact that he was being kept an arm's length distance by Donald Trump.
TODD: The relationship ruptured after Cohen's role facilitating the hush money payments to Stormy Daniels became public. Cohen went to jail, was disbarred, and bitterly testified against Trump in Congress.
COHEN: He is a racist, he is a conman, and he is a cheat.
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TODD: Is Cohen really a different man now from those days as Trump's bullying fixer?
FISHER: This new Michael Cohen seems quieter, more subdued, chastened. He does seem to be defeated. He's lost stature. He's lost his connection to Trump.
TODD: As for the future dynamic between the two men, Trump biographer Marc Fisher says it's possible that Trump might try to retaliate somehow for Cohen's testimony. But Fisher says that Trump is also known for bringing people who go astray back into his orbit. He says that's a possibility with Michael Cohen, albeit a slim one.
Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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. And so it was on Monday, Michael Cohen's first day of testimony.
You were there last week when the other star witness Stormy Daniels was on the stand. Many have reported on changing Trump's demeanor on Monday, unlike last week when he was sort of visibly angry and loud.
"Politico" reports about 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 drop 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's taking, when he was on the stand, rather, giving testimony 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, email, and phone calls to Pecker, Davidson, Dylan Howard, Hope Hicks, and others who were allegedly involved in the hush money payments.
This 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 witnesses who came before, the documents that 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 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?
VAUSE: Well, Trump's gag order prevents him from publicly attacking witnesses like Michael Cohen but Republican Tommy Tuberville did that outside the court on Monday. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL), I'm sitting there listening to a guy on the stand that they had to get out of house arrest because he'd lied in another court to testify in this court. He's a convicted felon.
[01:39:55]
TUBERVILLE: I mean, this guy, he's up there given 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 (INAUDIBLE) to Trump, but not to Republican Senator JD Vance, who said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH): I think this trial is absolutely ridiculous. I think its 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 who've prompted this question from reporter to Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, why do you have lawmakers with you today?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because they chose to show up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, they 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 handled 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 through all these very big legal days. Hope to see you again tomorrow.
EISEN: Look forward to it, John.
VAUSE: Jury selection will resume in the coming hours in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. The New Jersey Democrat is accused of taking bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts with government officials in Egypt and Qatar.
CNN's Jason Carroll has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, jury selection will now move into Tuesday. Once a jury is seated, then we will move on to opening statements where both sides will present their cases to the jurors.
We already know what the prosecution says happened here. The prosecution says that Senator Menendez and his wife, Nadine, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for the senator's influence in trying to get influenced for the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Those bribes coming in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars and home furnishings.
Senator Menendez, for his part says that the government is overreaching, that the government is out to get, him that he has done nothing wrong.
He says that money that was found at his home was money that he had saved over a period of period of time, other money that came in the form of loans. We also got a clue as to what also might be part of the defense here.
That came in a pretrial document. There's particular statement of note. It reads, "Senator Menendez intends to present a defense arguing in part that he lacked the requisite knowledge of much of the conduct and statements of his wife, Nadine. And did not agree to join any of the charged conspiracies.
Nadine Menendez will be tried separately. Her trial starts in July.
Jason Carroll, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A huge container ships stuck under collapsed bridge in Baltimore for seven weeks could be moving again possibly within days.
A controlled explosion was set off Monday to dislodge wreckage from the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Officials say the blast removed a tremendous amount of steel. Now they'll figure out how to remove the remaining debris from the ships bow.
The ship hit the bridge in the middle of the night back in March, causing the span to collapse, killing six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time.
When we come back here on CNN, flash floods devastating parts of Afghanistan, unleashing torrents of water and mud, hundreds are dead, many more are missing. The very latest in a moment.
Also an acclaimed Iranian filmmaker has fled the country after being sentenced to prison time, as well as a good flogging. His story just ahead.
[01:44:01]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Rescue efforts are now underway in Mumbai where dozens of people are believe trapped after a massive billboard came crashing down due to a rainstorm.
The National Disaster Response Force says at least 14 people have been killed and dozens have also been hurt. The town 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.
A humanitarian emergency is unfolding in Afghanistan where severe flooding has killed more than 300 people according to the U.N. 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 which viewers may find disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 in raging torrents of water. These four siblings including two-year-old Aria, 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 had been brought here to prepare for burial.
"Most of these victims are children," explains the 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, U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, AFGHANISTAN: Theres been a system which identifies the most vulnerable people who are in danger, essentially of starvation.
These areas are among those hotspot so it was already pretty grim and now its catastrophic.
COREN: The Taliban says its 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 one the people of Afghanistan must also endure.
Anna Coren, CNN -- Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A well-known Iranian filmmaker is now in self-exile after being sentenced to eight years jail and a flogging allegedly for making films which endangered national security.
Mohammad Rasoulof says he's in an undisclosed location in Europe and his decision to flee what he called an oppressive regime was done with a heavy heart.
[01:49:47]
VAUSE: His latest work is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next week, but it is not clear at this point if he will be there to see it.
The film festival will officially begin in the coming hours in France with the screening of the French language comedy, "The Second Act". The film's director spoke at a news conference Monday and he criticized what he sees as an increased focus on social and political issues in the movie industry rather than just pure cinema.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THIERRY FREMAUX, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: These are films that deserve to be here or not in our eyes. And if they deserve to be here, generally, it's because of their aesthetic merit, their artistic merit.
So conversely, we are not going to deprive ourselves of a great film because this great film does or does not broach a topic it shouldn't. Where is the cursor line? This applies both to me or my colleagues and a selection committee. In the name of what ideology would we say that the line is here or there to decide to take this film or that film.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The festival's nine-member jury met for the first time Monday, the international panel will decide the winner of the procedures Palme d'Or, which honors exceptional cinematic achievement. The festival runs for about ten days.
Still to come, OpenAI boasting that its latest artificial intelligence model can reason across audio, visual texts -- all in real time. Not crazy or anything like that, is it?
And no more Bill and Melinda, not even Bill -- a shake-up at one of the world's biggest charitable organizations -- just Gates now -- The Gates Foundation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well, three years after they separated, one of the world's biggest charitable organization is now losing one of the Gates from the title. Melinda French Gates will soon be stepping down as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
CNN's Anna Stewart has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is the end of another era for Bill and Melinda Gates. Three years after they announced their intention to divorce, Melinda French Gates is now leaving the foundation she started with her former husband.
Over the last 25 years, it's made nearly $78 billion in grant payments around the world. In a statement posted on X, she said, it wasn't a decision she took lightly, but it was time for the next chapter in her philanthropy.
And she has plenty of money to get it going. Under the terms of her separation agreement, she has $12.5 billion to spend on charitable works.
And while there isn't much detail on exactly what comes next, whether she will launch a new foundation, it is clear where her focus will be.
She said "This is a critical moment for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world. And those fighting to protect and advance equality are in urgent need of support."
Meanwhile, Bill Gates also took to X, thanking his former wife for her work, adding that he was sorry to see her leave, and assuring followers that he remained committed to the foundation of which he will now be the sole chairman.
The name of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be changed to The Gates Foundation.
Anna Stewart, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, 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 a Roaring Kitty (INAUDIBLE) the so-called meme stock frenzy of 2021 during which stocks went viral because of online chatter and social media activity.
Roaring Kitty recently posted this cartoon depicting a man leaning forward in his chair holding a video game controller.
[01:54:45]
VAUSE: Apparently, that's what caused GameStop shares to surge more than 110 percent on Monday before settling at 74 percent up.
To be clear, this huge jump had nothing to do with the company's fundamentals. You see how far the stock has fallen over the past year, down to about $10 a share. That's before Roaring Kitty did what he did and shares skyrocketed up to more than $30.
Well, you'll not be able to have real-time, apparently clever conversations with ChatGPT. OpenAI has unveiled its latest artificial intelligence model, 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 is 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: See? Witty.
Just wait and see here when it speaks in Italian apparently. It's free also.
Here's CNN's Clare Duffy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLAIRE DUFFY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A true virtual personal assistant, it can have real-time spoken conversations as well as text interactions.
It can also interpret photos, videos, documents, and have a discussion about those things in real time.
One of the things that 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.
(INAUDIBLE)
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?
(INAUDIBLE)
DUFFY: 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: How about that?
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. My friend and colleague, Rosemary Church will be here after a very short break.
Hope to see you right back here tomorrow.
[01:57:13]
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