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Blinken Meets Ukrainian President in Reaffirmation of America's Support for Ukraine; Georgia Parliament to Decide on the Fate of the Foreign Agents Bill; Michael Cohen's Testimony Highlights Day 16 of Trump's Hush Money Trial; Jury Selection for the Corruption Trial of Sen. Bob Menendez Resumes; GameStop Shares Rebounded After Roaring Kitty's Return; Melinda French Gates Steps Down as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 14, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, a show of solidarity. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Ukraine's President to reaffirm America's support as Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield.

Dwindling food aid, medical shortages and overcrowded shelters. It's a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable scope. We will hear one U.N. worker's story of the reality Palestinians are facing in Gaza every day.

And Donald Trump's former fixer takes the stand in New York, Michael Cohen, telling the jury that Trump personally approved a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now in Kyiv on an unannounced visit to reaffirm America's support for Ukraine. It comes after Russia launched an intense cross-border assault on northern Ukraine over the weekend. This is Blinken's fourth visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war began and his first since the U.S. approved billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine late last month.

Blinken will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as other officials. The U.S. says some of the new aid has reached the front lines, but Blinken acknowledged the delay in getting that aid approved has been costly for Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers are now warning that ammunition and spare parts for foreign-made tanks are running low, adding another obstacle on the battlefield. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is promising to ramp up the delivery of aid and says a new package of weapons will be announced this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The delay put Ukraine in a hole and we're trying to help them dig out of that hole as rapidly as possible. And so at the highest levels in our government we are engaged with the highest levels of theirs to be able to ensure that we're doing everything humanly possible both ourselves and our allies who are searching equipment as well to get it there to the front lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ukrainian officials are acknowledging that Russia is having quote "tactical success in the Kharkiv region". The commander of the Kharkiv city defense forces says the overall situation in north- eastern Ukraine remains difficult. He says heavy fighting continues in six border towns after Russia claimed to have taken over several villages.

A Ukrainian-backed paramilitary group comprised of Russians opposed to the Kremlin released this video saying they were firing at Russian forces that pushed into Vovchansk, the town was liberated from Russia more than 18 months ago and is now under attack again. Ukrainian officials say even though Russia is gaining some ground their losses are enormous. Here's what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says needs to be done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our task is crystal clear to thwart Russia's attempt to expand the war. The fulfillment of this task depends literally on everyone who is on the ground from Charniv to Vovchansk, from Kharkiv to Donetsk. There must be no safe place for the occupier on the Ukrainian land as well as in our sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Hundreds of Ukrainians are being evacuated from these dangerous areas near the border but the police chief for the Kharkiv region says evacuation buses and police vehicles are under almost constant shelling.

And CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Berlin. Good to see you Fred. So what's expected to come out of the meeting between President Zelenskyy and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set to begin this hour?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rosemary. Well, first of all, I think that meeting is very important and one of the things that has already come out of this trip of Secretary of State Blinken is the fact that he is on the ground and he is sending a message to the Ukrainians that the Americans are now back in the mix, that U.S. aid is coming again and certainly that's a big morale boost and going to be a big morale boost for the Ukrainians in light of all the things that we were just talking about right there, especially with that new offensive by the Russians coming up there in the north east of Ukraine.

You saw the areas of Vovchansk where the Russians have been saying that they've been making some quite significant gains they say.

[03:05:07]

The Ukrainians are saying they're trying to hold the Russians up but certainly that is proving to be difficult. Now I think this visit by Secretary of State Blinken is important also because you did have those words coming also from Jake Sullivan the National Security Advisor saying another weapons package is now on the way for the Ukrainians, certainly it's going to be very important in light of that backlog that he was also talking about. The fact that the Ukrainians are starved for shells as they put it, starved for artillery ammunition also as far as rocket artillery is concerned.

So those are the main things that they need and I think the Ukrainians are saying look, right now it's difficult for them to defend. They are having to draw forces from other front lines to head up there to the north east but once more of that U.S. aid hits the battlefield they think they are going to be in a better position and certainly the U.S. today sending the message to Ukraine that they are now back in it.

Of course, one of the interesting things that Secretary of State Blinken said earlier is that the U.S. is in it for the long run but of course that's going to be something that's going to be very difficult for the Ukrainians to see in light of the fact that you did have all that turmoil in Congress leading up to the decision to once again send military aid to Ukraine, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Alright. Fred Pleitgen, joining us live from Berlin. Many thanks.

Joining me now is Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Appreciate you being with us.

MALCOLM DAVIS, SR. ANALYST, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So Russia launched an intense cross-border assault on northern Ukraine over the weekend targeting the Kharkiv region but a delay in the arrival of U.S. approved aid and a depletion of ammunition and weapons has cost Ukraine dearly. Is it too late for the war-torn nation to fight back and win this war eventually in the midst of Russia's renewed military gains?

DAVIS: It's certainly not too late. I think that what needs to happen is that the U.S. in particular but also Europe needs to step up and accelerate the provision of military aid to Ukraine to make sure that the Ukrainian military get the key systems, the ammunition, the long- range weapons as quickly as possible so they can actually hold off Russian advances in key areas such as Donetsk and now Kharkiv as long as possible and then once they're in a position to go on the counter- offensive.

So I don't think it's too late by any means but if the pace of weapons deliveries continues to be slow then I certainly would be worried about how the Ukrainians are going to cope in coming months.

CHURCH: And Ukrainian officials are admitting Russia is gaining some ground but say Russia's losses are enormous. Do you agree with that assessment?

DAVIS: Yes and I think from Putin's perspective he doesn't care. From his perspective he's essentially using an old 20th century attritional war approach whereby soldiers are thrown into battle in effect as a meat grinder and the Russian military takes heavy losses but if they continue to advance then they take territory and key locations. That's all that matters.

The counterpoint to that of course is that there's a 21st century form of war here in terms of long-range missile strikes and drone warfare and electronic warfare that the Russians are now employing very effectively. So it's a mix of old and new capabilities that are being thrown into the battle.

CHURCH: And in other big news from the weekend, President Putin replaced his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with a civilian economist Andrei Belousov. What does that indicate to you from a military perspective?

DAVIS: It indicates to me that President Putin is determined to wage a protracted war. He has no intention whatsoever of sitting down and talking peace or a ceasefire.

What he seeks to do is protract this war out well into 2025. I think he's probably thinking that if Donald Trump wins then the pressure goes off because Trump will pull any support for Ukraine and that will then enable the Russians to advance much more rapidly. But I think that protracted war is one aspect. The second aspect I think is that Putin is deadly serious when he talks about Russia being at war with the West.

So therefore he's actually preparing for Russia to be in open conflict with NATO. And what he needs therefore is an economist and a technocrat to modernize and streamline the Russian defense industrial base so that they can produce advanced technology weapons much more efficiently and rapidly than has been happening in the past.

CHURCH: And you did mention the need to increase aid to Ukraine. The U.S. is now promising to ramp up the delivery of that aid that's already been approved for Ukraine. And an additional announcement of a new weapons package that's expected sometime this week. How critical is it that the U.S. gets this done and gets it done now?

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DAVIS: It's absolutely essential because if the aid is slow in getting to the Ukrainians they will run out of ammunition. They're already very close to that point right now. They're already suffering from manpower problems and they could simply

lack the means to fight. In which case Ukrainians confronted by not only Russian advances in the Donetsk oblast but also now in the Kharkiv oblast would have to split their forces between those two fronts and the Russians could then break through and make significant advances.

So I do think it's absolutely essential that the Biden administration and European leaders do everything they can to accelerate the delivery of that military aid to Ukraine and get it there as fast as possible.

CHURCH: Malcolm Davis, appreciate your analysis. Thanks for joining us.

DAVIS: Thank you.

CHURCH: The United States says it thinks Israel has enough troops around Rafah to launch a full scale assault. But two senior U.S. officials say it's not clear if they've made the final decision yet.

Meanwhile there's renewed fighting in northern Gaza where Israeli forces had claimed to have dismantled Hamas but now say they're trying to reassemble there. And in central Gaza hospital officials say an Israeli air strike early this morning on a residential building killed 13 displaced Palestinians while they were sleeping and left families buried in the rubble.

All this is raising new doubts about Israel's strategy for the war and the U.S. National Security Adviser says Israel needs more than a battle plan to win in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SULLIVAN: 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 endgame. 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)

CHURCH: Meanwhile at least one United Nations aid worker was killed and another injured in Rafah on Monday. The U.N. says they were in a clearly marked U.N. vehicle that came under attack but did not assign blame for the attack to either Israel or Hamas. CNN has reached out to the IDF about the incident and is yet to hear back.

Meanwhile Human Rights Watch says there is a pattern of IDF attacks on aid workers that raises questions about Israel's commitment to comply with international law. That includes an attack in April that killed seven workers of the World Central Kitchen. And CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi, with more

on what's happening in Gaza. So Paula, what is the latest on that deadly Israeli airstrike on a building sheltering displaced people?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Rosemary, this was in the area of Nuseirat in central Gaza. What we understand is that at this point at least 13 people have been killed in that airstrike.

It was in a residential building that people were sheltering a four story residential building and we're being told by officials on the ground that there were up to 100 people who were actually displaced and sheltering in that building at the time. Now the airstrike took place at 2:00 in the morning while they were sleeping so the death toll is expected to rise.

Now there are disturbing images from the scene itself where we see some people trapped within the rubble as well. Our CNN stringer on the ground said that he had spoken to four people who said that they had at least six members of their families that were still missing. So we are expecting more to have lost their lives in that particular airstrike.

Now this is an area where the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, had been operating just last month. They had retreated from this area. In fact when some of the residents had gone back to the area once the military had left they said it looked like an earthquake had hit because of the sheer amount of destruction in that area. But we are seeing now the military back in the Nuseirat refugee camp and with deadly consequences in this occasion. Rosemary?

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CHURCH: And Paula, doubts are being raised about Israel's military strategy with their return to areas they previously said were clear of Hamas. What more are you learning about that?

HANCOCKS: This is in particular in the area of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. We know that as of Saturday that the Israeli military moved back into that area. The IDF saying that they had intelligence that Hamas was trying to regroup, trying to reassemble in that particular area.

It is an area that they had said was cleared of Hamas. It's an area that they believed that they had controlled. And yet we are seeing this in other areas around central and northern Gaza as well that the Israeli military is now finding it needs to move back and carry out more operations there it says because Hamas is starting to regroup.

And this really goes to the wider military strategy which has been criticized quite roundly recently, especially by the Biden administration, that Israel does not have a plan beyond the military plan, that there is no political plan. We've also heard from the chief of staff in Israel saying that there needs to be a political plan to complement the military plan. Otherwise, the military is just going to have to continually fight against Hamas as they regroup. So in this particular area in Jabalia, for example, once the Israeli

military had withdrawn, there was no governance, there was a vacuum of power. And this has happened across the Gaza Strip. And that is when we are seeing the militant groups move back into those areas. And so this is one thing that the Biden administration is warning Israel about, that there has to be a political plan to complement the military plan. Otherwise, within this vacuum, Hamas will regroup and they will be able to attack Israel again in the future. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, joining us from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks for that.

A final vote on Georgia's controversial foreign agent's bill is expected today. Despite fierce protests by thousands in the capital city, we will have the latest in a live report just ahead.

Plus, the witness who could make or break the Donald Trump hush money case takes the stand and tears into his former boss. But can convicted felon Michael Cohen convince a jury? We'll take a look.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Georgia's Prime Minister is vowing that a controversial foreign agent's bill will be approved today, despite widespread protests across the former Soviet country. A final debate and vote is set to take place in Parliament. If it passes, the law will require organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence or face major fines.

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(VIDEO PLAYING)

Protesters are continuing to march in the capital city of Tbilisi. Critics say the bill mirrors a similar law in Russia and there's concern the legislation could jeopardize the country's bid to join the European Union.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): This law will contribute to the dictatorial Russian regime taking root in our country. We do not want to live under this kind of regime and return to being under the Russian influence.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Have a look at these people. All of them are full of hope for victory. We know that the youth will defeat this Russian government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Clare Sebastian is following developments. She joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Claire. So what is the latest on these ongoing protests? And of course, the final reading of a bill which is expected to happen soon. CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, we've seen protests now for weeks since the government revived this so-called foreign agent's bill. They had, of course, tried to pass it last year, but withdrew it after mass protests. They said it's threatened political stability, but then they brought it back, of course, just some three months after Georgia gained E.U. candidate status.

And we've seen these protests for a number of weeks. They really ramped up again over the weekend. We saw a huge protest on Saturday as Georgia marked Europe Day. And then Sunday into Monday, we saw protesters massing outside Parliament, the standoff with police on Monday as lawmakers tried to undergo the third reading at committee level.

Today, we see the third reading at the full chamber of the Georgian Parliament. This is sort of the last procedural step. It doesn't immediately become law. After this, the president, who is pro- European, has said she will veto Parliament, then says it has enough votes to override that veto.

So this is a moment where I think the government will say that it has de facto passed this if it passes the third reading. But as you saw there, the protesters say that they will not back down either. So Georgia really finds itself at a crossroads here.

As I said, it is now an E.U. candidate. The E.U. has said that this law would negatively affect its bid for membership. The government, though, denies that it runs counter to E.U. ambitions. But we have heard, of course, from the United States as well, Jake Sullivan saying that this is democratic backsliding. So this is really a sort of crossroads between East and West.

The protesters on the streets worry that this is a sign of growing Russian influence over this more post-Soviet state. They say that this law is modeled on a Russian foreign agent still, which we have seen has, over the years since it's been passed in 2012, become really the cornerstone of Russia's repression of civil society and freedom of speech.

So that is the big concern here. So the plenary session of the Parliament set to start in about just under an hour from now. The protesters, as I say, not backing down, confident that they will be able to force change as they have in the past.

CHURCH: Clare Sebastian bringing us that live report from London. Many thanks.

A German court has ruled that the country's domestic intelligence service is allowed to the far-right AFD party as potentially extremist and can keep them under surveillance.

The judges wrote that there is significant evidence the party pursues goals against democracy and works against the human dignity of certain groups such as Muslims and migrants. AFD is currently the second most popular party in the country and is gaining more support, especially in eastern states like Saxony. Some mainstream politicians are blaming AFD and its extreme rhetoric for the rise of violent attacks on lawmakers in Germany.

United Nations officials say food aid in southern Gaza is nearly gone. And with border crossings closed there, the situation for Palestinians in Rafah could get much worse. We will talk live with a U.N. official in Gaza just ahead.

Plus, jury selection has begun in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. We will have a preview of what to expect in the hours ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom". I am Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made an unannounced visit to Kyiv to reaffirm America's support for Ukraine. It's his fourth visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war with Russia began and his first since the U.S. approved the new military aid package for Ukraine late last month.

Donald Trump's former fixer took the stand Monday in the hush money trial. Michael Cohen is poised to become the most important witness because he is doing something no one else can, testifying that he had direct conversations with Trump about allegedly faking business records to cover up a payment to a porn star.

The United States says Israel has enough troops around Rafah to launch a full-scale assault. But the White House says such an assault would be a mistake as right now there are more than one million Palestinians in the city who would need to be evacuated.

The U.N.'s Humanitarian Affairs Agency says food aid is likely to run out soon for Palestinians in southern Gaza. There are food shortages throughout the enclave but once the World Food Program and UNRWA run out of supplies, people will only have what's already been distributed. And with renewed fighting in northern and central Gaza, people in the enclave are being displaced multiple times.

Olga Cherekov is a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and she joins us now live from Gaza. Thank you so much for being with us.

OLGA CHEREKOV, U.N. OCHA SPOKESPERSON: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So with Israel building up troops around Rafah in Gaza's south ahead of a possible assault and with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the area, the depletion of humanitarian aid has become even more dire. What are your main concerns as you watch this pressure build in and around Rafah? CHEREKOV: Yes, we have many concerns, of course, one of the primary

ones being the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers, as well as protection of humanitarian cargo and supplies and having assurances from all parties to this conflict. So this is one of our main concerns that continues to kind of demonstrate the opposite in terms of the insecurity that prevails here.

And, of course, the concern is the massive forced displacement that is ongoing at the moment. So far we have estimated some 449,000 people have so far been displaced from Rafah and over 100,000 have been displaced from the north from Jabalia after the evacuation orders came in a couple of days ago on the 11th.

CHURCH: And where are these civilians fleeing Rafah going to and what will it mean for them when it comes to access to food and clean water?

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CHEREKOV: Yeah, they are going, a lot of them are going to al-Mawassi area, the middle areas, some of them are going to. But these areas that they are fleeing to, a lot of them are just open lands, some of them are agricultural land, a lot of them are unsafe. There's unexploded ordnance still remaining in all of these areas.

And people have been displaced six, seven, eight times, and they do not know where they will end up when they get there. And of course, the situation in terms of services is extremely dire. There is very little, the sanitation conditions are horrific. There is the water supply, there's no water production in Rafah that has stopped the infrastructure damages, of course, and access to food. As you said, our stocks are depleting very, very quickly.

CHURCH: And we are now seeing renewed fighting in northern and central Gaza. What is the situation in those areas when it comes to access to humanitarian aid?

CHEREKOV: Yes. Again, as I mentioned, the number of people that has so far been displaced since the 11th of May from the north, well, it's from Jabalia to Gaza City, so it's within the north. It is over 100,000 people so far, and the flow continues, and it's the same situation. And the level of destruction everywhere in Gaza is unimaginable. It is so shocking to see it with your own eyes.

And yes, there is some food coming in to the north, but it's still insufficient. And it's also, if we wanted, for example, to get it into the south, it will be very, very, very challenging and dangerous.

CHURCH: And of course, we've been watching what's happening in Rafah. We talked about the build-up of Israeli troops. That is of great concern. The U.S. does not want the IDF to go in on this ground incursion that we think may be imminent. But talk to us about how people feel about that and the concerns and worries that they have about it.

CHEREKOV: You know, I've talked to so many people about this subject, and the kind of running theme is the same everywhere with all of them. They are absolutely terrified of what may come, and they have lived through so much suffering and so much horror for seven months, over seven months now.

And there is so little hope left that once that dies, I don't know, the people here will have nothing. And everyone that I've spoken with, there's so much fear, and there's so much uncertainty, and it's like the walls are closing in on them.

CHURCH: Olga Cherekov, thank you so much for joining us and for the work that you do. We appreciate it.

CHEREKOV: Thank you very much for having me.

CHURCH: This story just coming into CNN. Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China this Thursday and Friday. That is from the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Putin's visit has been expected, but this is the first confirmation from either side of when it will take place. And we will, of course, bring you more details as they come into us.

After months of publicly and viciously slamming each other, Donald Trump and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, came face to face for the first time in the hush money trial sitting just meters apart. Cohen is the prosecution's most important witness, and on Monday, he divulged critical details about how he doled out $130,000 to buy the silence of former porn star Stormy Daniels at the direction of Donald Trump.

CNN's Kara Scannell has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, and now star prosecution witness, finally taking a stand in 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 pay the lawyer a legal expense. It's marked out in the book quote, "legal expense". It's perfectly marked out.

[03:34:59]

SCANNELL (voice-over): 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, and 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 stall Daniels from releasing it until after the election, recalling 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 Daniels' 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 showed the jury call logs to back up 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 and 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 appraise him for accomplishing a task.

During questioning, prosecutors aimed 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.

Cohen discussed how he recorded a 2016 phone call with Trump where they spoke about the $150,000 repayment to Pecker for buying McDougal's 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: Yeah, 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, the 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Let's bring an attorney and legal affairs commentator, Areva Martin, who is in New York. Thank you so much for joining us.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So it's been called blockbuster testimony from star witness Michael Cohen, landing blow after blow on Donald Trump during his first day in the stand. But how does all this strengthen the prosecution's case against Trump in this hush money trial, and will it sway the jury?

MARTIN: Well, a couple of things, Rosemary. One, I think it strengthens the prosecution case because it burrows a hole into the defense case that we know Donald Trump is trying to make in this trial, starting with the notion that this was all about trying to avoid some kind of embarrassment for his wife. We know that's what Donald Trump's legal team wants the jury to believe, that he was a family man, that he loved his wife, that he was concerned about these facts about Stormy Daniels, or this story about Stormy Daniels coming out, because it would be embarrassing to his wife.

Michael Cohen testified today that that was not the issue. This had nothing to do with embarrassment or his family, that this was all about trying to ensure that women voters in particular would not be so offended as not to vote for Donald Trump.

The other issue that we know the defense is trying to push is that Donald Trump had no knowledge of this, that somehow Michael Cohen was acting as a lone actor.

[03:40:02]

Michael Cohen blew a hole in that theory by testifying very clearly and with lots of detail that this was all part of a plan orchestrated by Donald Trump and that he knew every step of the way, everything that Michael Cohen was doing to suppress this story and to make it appear as if this was a legal transaction or some kind of legal fees that he was being reimbursed for, rather than being reimbursed for the payment to Stormy Daniels.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, Cohen testified that Trump instructed him to pay Stormy Daniels that $130,000 and then Cohen called Trump just before paying the hush money and testified that Trump then approved the plan to pay Cohen back. So how does the defense overcome testimony like this that directly ties Trump to the alleged illegal scheme?

MARTIN: Yeah. This was a really big day for the prosecution and a horrible day, quite frankly, for the defense team.

The only thing the defense team can do in a case like this, when such damning testimony has been provided by such a key witness, is to attack this witness credibility.

And we've heard that Trump's team plans to keep Michael Cohen on the witness stand for hours. And that's all to show every inconsistent statement he's ever made, to go into the felony conviction that he had, to go into the inconsistent stories that Michael Cohen has told. And this is a guy that's been on television a lot talking about this case.

So there are lots of statements out there by Michael Cohen. I suspect pretty much everything he's ever said about this case is going to be a part of that cross-examination, because Trump's team, they have one job. And that job is to make Michael Cohen appear to be a liar.

CHURCH: Yeah, that is the vulnerability, isn't it? Because Cohen is, of course, the only person who can testify what's at the heart of this case, which is Trump's direct involvement in the alleged conspiracy to falsify the business records in order to pay Stormy Daniels. But he does have this credibility problem, doesn't he? So how does the prosecution overcome that challenge? Of course, they've put the other witnesses up before we're hearing from Cohen. That would make a big difference too, no doubt.

MARTIN: No doubt, Rosemary. What the prosecution has done is try to build its case independent of the testimony of Michael Cohen, doing that through Stormy Daniels to a certain extent, doing it through whole pigs, through the business employees, through those employees that work for the Trump organization, making their case through the documents, through the text messages, through the emails, through the actual signed checks.

What the prosecution has tried to do is, and I'm sure they will argue at closing argument, even if you don't believe Michael Cohen.

Look at all of the evidence that has been put forth in this trial, and based on that evidence alone, you can find that Donald Trump engaged in this conduct. And one of the things I think that's been surprising, Rosemary, too, is the demeanor of Michael Cohen. We expected him to be very erratic. We expected him to be abrasive. And he was quite calm and quite composed throughout his entire testimony.

That was shocking, given all the negative comments that we heard from other witnesses and the kind of persona that was painted with respect to him. So it's going to be interesting to see if the defense can break him down, if they can cause him to get frustrated and irritated and cause him to present himself in a way differently than what he has done so far on the witness stand.

CHURCH: Areva Martin, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your legal analysis on this issue.

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 more.

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JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL 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 influence with 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 time.

[03:45:04]

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 a 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) CHURCH: When we come back, flash floods are devastating parts of Afghanistan, unleashing torrents of water and mud with hundreds dead and many more missing.

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CHURCH: Search efforts are underway in Mumbai for dozens believed to be trapped after a massive billboard came crashing down during a rainstorm. Fire services, police and other officials are now taking part in the ongoing rescue operation. The National Disaster Response Force says at least 14 people were killed and dozens injured. A warning images of that moment may be hard for some to watch. The towering billboard, which was located next to a busy road, collapsed on some houses and a service station as rain and strong winds lashed the area.

A humanitarian emergency is 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 fear the death toll could be even higher.

CNN's Anna Coren has more. And a warning, her report contains images some viewers may find graphic.

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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 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.

[03:50:06]

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 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 OF U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME AFGHANISTAN: There's been a system to identify the most vulnerable people who are in danger, essentially, of starvation. These areas are among those hot spots. 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 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.

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CHURCH: As dozens of wildfires are burning across Canada, threatening to engulf entire communities, residents in several towns have been ordered to evacuate, including in Alberta province in western Canada, where wildfires are burning out of control just 16km from the town of Fort McMurray. One wildfire in British Columbia more than tripled in size over the weekend to nearly 5,300 hectares. And in Manitoba, a massive fire has scorched more than 34,000 hectares.

The huge container ship that's been stuck under a collapsed bridge in Baltimore for seven weeks could be moving again within days. This 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 that's on the bow of the ship.

The controlled explosion was originally planned for Saturday, but it was delayed because of bad weather. The ship hit the bridge in the middle of the night in March, causing the span to collapse and killing six construction workers.

Still to come, it's no longer the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation after a major shake-up at one of the world's biggest charitable organizations. We'll explain.

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Welcome back everyone. 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, during which troubled stocks went viral due to online chatter and social media activity. [03:55:03]

Roaring Kitty recently posted this cartoon depicting a man leaning forward in a chair holding a video game controller. That caused GameStop shares to surge more than 110 percent on Monday before settling at 74 percent. To be clear, this huge jump had nothing to do with the company's fundamentals. You can see how far the stock has fallen over the past year, down to about $10 a share before skyrocketing up to more than $30.

Well one of the world's biggest charitable organizations is losing one of its founders. Melinda French Gates will soon be stepping down as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CNN's Anna Stewart has more.

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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)

CHURCH: Glitz and glamor on the French Riviera, as the Cannes Film Festival is set to kick off in the coming hours. The 77th edition of the event will begin with the French-language comedy "The Second Act". The festival's nine-member jury met for the first time on Monday. The international panel is led by American filmmaker Greta Gerwig. The group will decide who will be awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or, which honors exceptional cinematic achievement. The festival runs until May 25th.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster.

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