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CNN International: IDF Ramps Up Operations In Northern Gaza & Rafah; U.S. Says Aid Deliveries Are Underway Via Floating Pier; Vladimir Putin Visits Harbin, Wraps Up China Trip. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired May 17, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

A mugshot of the world's number one golfer, being led away in handcuffs after trying to get into his championship tournament, Scottie Scheffler detained and then released on charges, including a felony. We will have all the details. The Israeli military expanding its ground offensive in northern Gaza, targeting the center of Jabalia. We are live in Jerusalem. And a deadly storm rips through the state of Texas, leaving at least four people dead, hundreds of thousands of people without power, and a warning of more to come across the southern U.S.

We want to begin with this stunning series of developments involving the world's number one golfer. Scottie Scheffler was arrested by police in Louisville, Kentucky, on his way to the PGA Championship. Now, he has since been released, but does face four charges, including a felony charge of second-degree assault on a police officer. Here is video of the arrest outside the Valhalla Golf Club. Now, Scheffler was handcuffed after driving past a police officer near the scene of a fatal traffic accident that happened earlier. In a statement on Instagram, Scheffler says that it was simply the result of him misunderstanding an officer's instructions. And now, the Masters champion is back in the game. He teed off just a short time ago for his second round, as the crowd cheered him on.

Let's get straight to CNN's Andy Scholes for the latest on this. Really rapidly evolving story. Andy, this all happened within a few hours. What's the latest here?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, arguably the -- I mean, I didn't really say arguably, Rahel, this is the craziest morning in golf history. And the latest news is really that nothing can rattle Scottie Scheffler despite everything that happened this morning. Scheffler, he made his tee time. He birdied the first hole. He birdied the third hole. He did have a bogey on two. But, just amazing that he is out there golfing and then doing well.

And Rahel, I'll walk you through what happened just in the past six hours. At about 5 a.m., there was a fatal accident involving a pedestrian that created a massive traffic problem. Then at about 6, Scottie Scheffler, he was trying to navigate his way through that traffic and then was detained by police after trying to go around it. At about 7:30, he was booked into a Louisville jail, and 8:40 Scheffler was released. About 30 minutes later, he arrived at Valhalla Golf Club. Then at 10:08, he teed off for his second round.

And here are the charges Scheffler is now facing, second-degree assault of a police officer, which is a felony, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, disregarding traffic signals from an officer. Now, Scheffler, he released a statement before he teed off, saying I was proceeding as directed by police officers. It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that occurred earlier. And there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do. I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I'm hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today.

Of course, all of this, all of us involved in the tournament express our deepest sympathies to the family of the man who passed away in the earlier accident this morning. That -- it truly puts everything in perspective. But, Rahel. I mean, just what a series of events, and the fact that Scottie Scheffler is out there playing right now and doing well is just remarkable.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Really incredible. Andy, what about the ESPN reporter who was on the scene who Scheffler apparently looked at him and said, can you help here? I mean, what else is he saying?

SCHOLES: Yeah. So, ESPN's Jeff Darlington and their crew happened to be coming up right as this was all unfolding, and he shot this video. We will show you. Darlington, he said -- he tweeted what was happening. He said after a misunderstanding with traffic flow led to Scottie's attempt to drive past a police officer into the Valhalla Golf Club. The police officer then attempted to attach himself to Scheffler's car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla. The police officer then began to scream at Scheffler, to get out of the car, and when Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.

Now, Rahel, all people for this tap into, Scheffler, I mean, he is one of the nicest, most liked people on the entire PGA Tour. He just had his first child a week and a half ago.

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And he is on one of the best runs we've ever seen in golf history. He has won four out of his last five starts this year, including winning at the Masters. So, again, when I said this is the most unlikely morning in golf history, I mean it, because on top of everything, Scottie Scheffler is such a good dude, and for this to happen to him, it just makes you shake your head.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Shake your head and also ask a lot of questions about perhaps the miscommunication or the directions that he was or wasn't being given. I'm sure we'll hear a lot more from authorities there. But, Andy Scholes, thanks for bringing it all down, really sort of chaotic few hours. All right. We're going to have more on this story later in the show.

But, in the meantime, we want to turn our attention to the Middle East. The Israeli military there expanding its ground offensive in northern Gaza, targeting the city of just the center of Jabalia. Now, here you can see the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp. The IDF says that, over the past week, they killed more than -- they killed 60 more Hamas militants. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 31 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in just over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, officials at one hospital say that since fighting ramped up in the north, they have received over 100 dead bodies.

Meantime, some critically needed assistance is now moving into Gaza after arriving on a floating pier built by the U.S. military. Now, even with the pier now operational, the White House still stressing that more aid is needed.

Let's bring in Jeremy Diamond, who is live in Jerusalem. So, Jeremy, give us a sense, now that this pier is operational and you and I have spoken for months now about this, how much more aid will be able to enter Gaza through this pier?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, the first trucks actually were able to make their way onto this pier today and the cross that causeway and onto the Gaza shoreline. We're told that this began today around 9 a.m. this morning, local time, according to the U.S. military. This is one ship that is being unloaded today. And then, once it gets to the shoreline, it's the World Food Programme that's going to be responsible, we're told, for offloading and then distributing the aid.

Now, in terms of your question and the amount of aid that we could see flow through this new floating pier, the U.S. military has said that they hope to get about 500 tons of humanitarian aid per day, that's about 90 trucks a day, via this floating pier, but they hope to ramp that up even further to about 150 trucks per day. And all of this is coming, of course, at a critical time. Even as humanitarian aid officials say that land routes are the best way, this is nonetheless going to provide additional humanitarian aid to Gaza at a time when the Rafah border crossing has now been closed for nearly two weeks since the Israeli military moved troops into eastern Rafah, capturing that critical border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, ongoing negotiations between Israel and Egypt to try and reopen that crossing have so far gone nowhere.

And so, with that crossing closed, this maritime route is going to provide some additional -- an additional way to get more aid in. But, as I said, nonetheless, humanitarian aid officials say getting those land crossings back open is going to be critical, especially at a time when the Israeli military is intensifying military operations, not only in southern Gaza, but also in northern Gaza. And we're seeing more than a half a million Palestinians currently being displaced from Rafah, alone. Rahel. SOLOMON: And Jeremy, to that point, I mean, tell us what is the latest in terms of this increased military operation, not just in the north, but, as you point out, in the south, in Rafah.

DIAMOND: Yeah. In Rafah, we've seen the Israeli military commit to sending additional troops to further intensify its operations in eastern Rafah. So far, no signs of any kind of imminent all-out ground offensive to capture the central part of that city, which of course the United States has been warning Israel against. And we are also watching the Israeli military intensifying its operations in northern Gaza, now saying that Israeli troops are operating in central -- in the central part of the Jabalia refugee camp. That's an area that was a Hamas hotbed early in the war. It was the site of so much of the intense fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas. It was also the sight of so much of the intense bombardment that Israel delivered in those early months in the Jabalia refugee camp.

Just overnight, Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza says that 12 Palestinians were killed in these military operations, constant sound of gunfire, as those battles between Hamas and Israel continue. Rahel.

SOLOMON: OK. Jeremy Diamond live for us there in Jerusalem. Jeremy, thank you.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with more news after this.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Russian President Vladimir Putin is wrapping up his official visit to China. On Friday, Mr. Putin visited the northeastern city of Harbin, which has historic ties to Russia. While there, he paid tribute to Soviet soldiers who died in battle for the liberation of China. The Russian President also spoke to students at Harbin University. He promoted there trade and the importance of the relationship between Russia and China.

Let's bring it now from Beijing, Marc Stewart. So, Marc, it's a visit that ended with the two men hugging. What else did this visit accomplish for the two countries?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, let's not dismiss the important -- importance of these images, because a big part of this trip was to show that these two men, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, not only share a friendship but they also have a shared vision of the world, and a lot of the imagery and the optics that we saw certainly conveyed that message.

Let's first talk about this hug goodbye. We saw the two men embrace each other. They said goodbye. They had a hug. Earlier, we saw the two of them sitting together, sipping tea. But, this is much more than just pleasantries, which is an important image to convey. [11:15:00]

It was also a chance for these two men to share to the world how they feel about the West and the United States, in particular, viewing the United States as a de-stabilizing force. We heard from the two of them, they released a joint statement toward the end of this visit, a 7,000-word statement covered everything from Taiwan to Gaza. Let me just read a part of it to you because it does summarize how these two world leaders view where they stand in the global landscape. This joint statement says "Russian and Chinese relations stand the test of rapid changes in the world, demonstrating strength and stability, and are experiencing the best period in their history."

But, this is an alignment of two nations that goes far beyond words and philosophy. There is an economic relationship, as you mentioned, but there is also a military relationship. These two leaders talked about the importance in the future of holding joint exercises, joint training, as well as joint sea and air patrols. The South China Sea, where I am here in Asia, is a very volatile part of the world. So, it is going to be interesting to see how these two nations perhaps work to patrol this area, or at least establish the barriers.

So, what has this mission accomplished? The answer is, yes. The world now knows that Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping share this "no limits" friendship between themselves personally and also between the two nations, Rahel.

SOLOMON: And Marc, before I let you go, just, if you would, explain for us a bit more about how the U.S. and perhaps the West is viewing this increasingly fond relationship between the two countries.

STEWART: Well, it's interesting, because the U.S. has had talks with Xi Jinping. We have seen Secretary of State Antony Blinken here recently. We have seen the two leaders, President Xi and President Biden, meet at the APEC summit in October. With all of that said, this relationship that Russia and China enjoy together is of great concern to the United States. In fact, there was some policy paper that was released, where they called the relationship with China the most serious long-term challenge to the international order, just referring to China as a whole, going on to call Russia a clear and present threat. So, this is something that American officials and officials from the entire West are going to see how this develops, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. You think about even Xi Jinping meeting with Emmanuel Macron not long ago, about a week ago. Really fascinating stuff. Marc Stewart live for us in Beijing. Marc, thank you.

All right. Now we want to take you to a frightening scene in northern France, police shooting and killing an armed man who, they say, tried to burn down a synagogue. It happened in the city of Rouen, which is about two and a half hours north of Paris. The mayor says that the attacker threw what appeared to be a Molotov cocktail into the building. And when he pulled out a knife, he was shot dead by security forces. The rabbi at the synagogue says that the attack did not surprise him.

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RABBI CHMOUEL LUBECKI, BETH LOUBAVITCH ROUEN (Interpreted): Unfortunately, we were expecting this. We all have this worry inside of us. But, when it actually happens, it is still shocking.

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SOLOMON: Now, security around Jewish communities in France has been tightened since the war in Gaza began, and ramped up around the country ahead of this summer's Paris Games.

OK. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. And on to severe weather in the U.S. Take a look at this. This is from Thursday's baseball game between the Houston Astros and Oakland A's. Wild weather blew through the stadium during the game. There were warnings about high winds and possible tornadoes. And also, chaos at a Houston area Costco. All right. We will get back to this story.

But, in the meantime, I actually want to take you to Tel Aviv, Israel, where I'm understanding that the IDF is about to begin a press conference. Let's listen together.

DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON (Interpreted): -- of IDF in Shin Bet and some special units of two organizations that worked together for a long time. This is according to intelligence direction of the intelligence unit, and the absence (ph) soldiers unit and many investigations. The forces have been working professionally and with determination, while risking themselves to bring murdered hostages back to be buried in Israel. The bodies that were taken back have been now identified by authorized organizations. The IDF representatives have informed the families.

IDF and the Shin Bet -- sorry, for this difficult time, I call the public, please, do not spread rumors and keep the security of our forces. Listen to the IDF messages. We will update with transparency, first of all the families and then the public, through the media. The intensive war in the strip is going on. And our mission to bring the hostages back is the top priority of every commander and soldier. We're putting a lot of intelligent and operational efforts and complicated and risky combat, including at this very time. We will continue with all the tools we have in order to create the conditions, create the conditions to bring the hostages back home as quickly as possible. Questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): Do we know where they were murdered on the 7th of October or later? And also, was there any opposition with a terrorist that were guarding the place where their bodies were found? HAGARI (Interpreted): I say it again, Amit, Itshak, and Shani, with

pleasant memories, escaped from the Nova festival. They celebrated life in Nova and they escaped when murderous terrorists came there. They came to (inaudible) and according to confirmed information, they were murdered there brutally by terrorists and their bodies were taken into Gaza. As far as operational action, I'm not going to elaborate on that. This is how we'll continue. I want to say a few words in English.

It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that last night the Israel Defense Forces and ISA forces rescued the bodies of our hostages Shani Louk, Amit Bouskila, and Itshak Gelernter, who were taken hostage during the Hamas massacre on October 7 and murdered and was murdered. They were murdered by Hamas. According to the credible information that we have gathered, Shani Louk, Amit Bouskila, and Itshak Gelernter were murdered by Hamas while escaping the Nova Music Festival on October 7, and the bodies were taken into Gaza. They were celebrating life in the Nova Music Festival and they were murdered by Hamas.

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Their bodies were transferred to medical professional for forensic examination and identification. After the procedure was completed, we notified their families. Our hearts go out to them, to the families. At this difficult time, we will leave no stone unturned. We will do everything in our power to find our hostages and bring them home. We will not rest until we do.

SOLOMON: All right. You've just listening -- been listening to the IDF spokesperson there, announced to the press what is three additional hostages, identifying who those hostages were, and confirming that those hostages were killed in Israel, they say, while trying to escape the Nova Music Festival on October 7. That spokesperson saying that their bodies were then taken to Gaza. They have been recovered. They have since been returned to Israel, and the families have been notified.

Let me now bring in my colleague Nic Robertson, who joins me now. Nic, it's a remarkable press conference, because seven months on, with the fighting that continues and obviously very grave concerns about the humanitarian, some would say that the hostages have been lost in all of this.

ROBERTSON: And the concern by many of the families was that with a lack of information about their loved ones, and the implication by Hamas that they were being held, and that they were alive while they were being held, has been one of the most painful experiences imaginable to live for those hundreds upon hundreds, more than 200 days now, thinking that your child, your brother, your sister, your friend, the person dear to you, might still be alive, might be going through the horrors stuck in a tunnel.

And what we're learning from the IDF through this joint operation of the recovery of their bodies, he said, by the Shin Bet, the intelligence service, the IDF, the military force, and intelligence gathered on the ground. So, these three bodies that they've recovered of three young people who were at the Nova Music Festival, who managed to escape the festival, get to a place that they thought would be safe, only to have Hamas come and not take them hostage alive, but kill them and then take their bodies back to Gaza.

So, the IDF, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently under a huge amount of pressure to prioritize that they are trying to recover the hostages, not just go after Hamas leaders in the military operations. So, for the IDF, for the Israeli government, this is a very important message to communicate. This will be a priority. They've been -- they've lost a number of IDF soldiers, five in friendly fire earlier this week. A number of others have been injured as well. There is huge pressure on the government to show that this is worth it, and that they're prioritizing the hostages as well. But, this will be just the worst of all news for these three families involved.

SOLOMON: Yeah, for those three families. To your point, Nic, it was also interesting that we heard the spokesperson reiterate the importance of bringing hostages home. He said the intensive war on the strip continues. The mission to bring the hostages back has been the top priority. But, he also said that we will continue to use all the tools we have to bring the hostages back as quickly as we can. So, Nic, in that statement, what I hear is that the mission, according to the IDF, must continue.

ROBERTSON: Yes, and that's the mission that's set by the government, although we know that the Defense Minister has been pressuring the Prime Minister to actually give the soldiers the troops on the ground, the information that they need to shape the battles that they're having, that go beyond the need of just to get the hostages home, but actually to have an end goal of the day after. Who is going to administer Gaza? What's it going to look like? What sort of -- how should the military operations be conducted to fit in with that end picture? That isn't really yet, according to the Defense Minister and others being presented by the Prime Minister.

So, there is something of a struggle going on to define the end goal. There is something of a massive domestic political struggle to have the Prime Minister focus more and put greater priority. This is what the families of hostages want. This is what many people in Israel want, to have a bigger priority put on bringing the hostages home. And of course, the IDF are the ones doing that.

So, I think in these current conditions, the IDF is very keen to show that they're making progress in that area to say that they are prioritizing.

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They are maximizing everything they're doing to bring the hostages home. This is something so keenly felt by everyone in Israel. But, make no mistake, there are big political divisions on this. The divisions are getting bigger, and the ramifications also are getting bigger. SOLOMON: Yeah. And I mean, Nic, to that point, I mean, what's our latest sense from the latest public polling, where Israeli public sentiment stands on this issue of bringing the hostages home, even in the midst of this war that has now gone on for certainly more than six months, about seven months now?

ROBERTSON: Yeah. This sort of came to a bit of a head early last week when Hamas indicated that they were signing up to a deal. It actually wasn't a deal to release the hostages that Israel had been -- was prepared to accept or was aware of. This was a new kind of additional information on a deal. But, what Hamas did was lay out a very clear framework for how many hostages released, how many prisoners they wanted to release, the exact timeframe for it. And that really raised in many people's minds in Israel the possibility that this -- that was an achievable deal.

And the polling at the beginning of last week, I believe, showed that the majority of people supported a deal to get hostages out, over and above, over and above what the IDF is actually doing on the ground now, which is prosecuting an offensive in Rafah and a major offensive ongoing again in the north of Gaza as well. So, the sense that, given a choice, operation in Rafah where the leadership of Hamas was supposed to be hiding out, an operation there to capture or kill them, versus doing a deal to get the hostages out last week, majority of people wanted the deal on the hostages rather than the Rafah operation.

SOLOMON: Wow. Really fascinating. Nic Robertson, we appreciate you hopping on to help us break that down. Thank you.

We'll take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: All right. Back to the breaking news that we're following. The Israeli military says that it has retrieved three bodies of hostages from inside of Gaza. The military says that the hostages were killed by Hamas on October 7th.

We are joined by Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Jeremy, as we just heard in that press conference and we watched it live, these hostages were killed after they tried to escape the famous Nova Music Festival. Their bodies were then taken to Gaza, and they have since been retrieved, brought back to Israel, and the families have been notified. It is obviously the worst news these families could perceive.

DIAMOND: It certainly is. And many of these families have waited with so much uncertainty, even those who were told that their loved ones were dead and that their bodies were still being held in Gaza. I mean, I spoke with he another woman whose son was -- has been confirmed dead by the Israeli government, but whose body is still in Gaza. Until they actually get that body back, until they're able to bury them, it is hard for them to have a sense of closure.

And so, today, at least for some of those families, they will be able to have that sense of closure. But, no less heartbreaking this news that these three individuals, Shani Louk, Amit Bouskila, and Itshak Gelernter, who were killed on October 7, their bodies taken into the Gaza Strip, held as bargaining chips by Hamas, now returned to Israel, thanks to an Israeli military operation that recovered their bodies, and brought them back to Israel, allowing their families to bury them.

We are hearing from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says that he and his wife Sara are grieving this -- sorry, I'm looking for the statement here, that he and his wife Sara are grieving this great loss, as he calls it. And he says that they will return all of the hostages, both the dead as well as those who are still alive. And he also congratulates our brave forces, he says, who were able to return these individuals to their families.

SOLOMON: Jeremy, I was just talking with Nic Robertson a short time ago from London about sort of where Israeli public sentiment is about returning the hostages. I'm curious, because you are in Israel and you have been for quite some time now, where is Israeli public sentiment on what Israelis would like done, more done, perhaps to bring the rest of the hostages home?

DIAMOND: Well, certainly a majority of the Israeli public at this time, according to the polls, favor a hostage deal over the goals of destroying Hamas, over those goals of the war. And they have made that clear in protest after protest, as we have seen those numbers rising of people calling for a hostage deal. There is also an extreme sense of connectedness here in Israel to this issue of the hostages. And one of the reasons for that is in part events like the Nova Music Festival, which brought together not only people who lived close to the Gaza Strip, like those communities where we saw so much of the death and destruction take place on the 7th, Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Netiv HaAsara, those communities.

But, the Nova Music Festival brought together Israelis from all across the country, from Tel Aviv, from northern Israel, from the southern part of Israel. And so, the result of that is that so many Israelis now know someone who was either killed on October 7th, or who was taken hostage, and that has certainly contributed to a sense of connectedness, a shared sense of pain and of loss, certainly a sentiment that is being felt once again today.

SOLOMON: Jeremy, did we learn anything additional in the press conference about the operation that actually allowed the IDF to retrieve these bodies? Did they give us any more sense of how that all happened?

DIAMOND: They did not. We don't have any additional information from the Israeli military about exactly how they recovered these bodies. We do know, of course, that the Israeli military over the course of the last week and a half has been intensifying its activity in eastern Rafah, and part of that they have said is to discover and to destroy ultimately tunnels that they are finding. And we do know, of course, that many of these hostages have been found in -- have been held, I should say, in tunnels in Gaza. We don't know if that is the case today based on the information provided to us so far by the Israeli military.

SOLOMON: And then, Jeremy, if you might, I mean, some of the names of these hostages have become quite well-known, is of course the days that followed and the weeks and months that followed after this Nova Music Festival. Explain for us again, as I remember it, it was a peace concert. I mean, just explain for us again, why so many young people, why so many people were all together for this event?

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DIAMOND: Yeah. The Nova Music Festival brought together, as I said, Israelis from all across the country, Israelis who believed in peace, who were holding this festival across the border from Gaza for that reason because they wanted to send a message of peace.

And just to take you through some of the individuals here, Shani Louk, for example, was a 23-year-old tattoo artist who was living in Tel Aviv. She was attending that festival. There were images -- there are images of her on that day, enjoying herself with her friends, dancing at this festival. And then. there is a very traumatic and heartbreaking image, which is of her face down in the back of a pickup truck hours later, surrounded by Hamas militants, her lifeless body partially undressed in that image.

And it was actually only weeks after October 7 that her family was notified with certainty that Shani was dead, and that's because a fragment of her skull was actually recovered in Israel and forensic pathologists concluded that without that part of her skull, she could not survive, and that's how her family in late October was informed that she was dead.

Amit Bouskila was 28-years-old. She was also attending this festival as was Itshak Gelernter.

SOLOMON: OK. Jeremy Diamond live for us in Jerusalem. Jeremy, thanks so much.

We're going to take another quick break. We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: All right. Welcome back. Let's take a look at some of the other international headlines we are watching for you today.

Authorities in New Caledonia report the situation is quote "calmer" after France declared a state of emergency. Deadly violence erupted this week when the French Parliament voted in favor of amending New Caledonia's Constitution to grant greater voting rights to French residents who are living on the islands.

Slovakian authorities say the Prime Minister Robert Fico is conscious and speaking again after having surgery today. The country's Interior Minister says that a decision to deny military aid to Ukraine is one of the motives behind the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister. Officials described the suspect as a lone wolf with political motivations.

Well, Donald Trump's ally and former election Attorney John Eastman is being arraigned today. He is expected to face nine counts, including conspiracy and forgery, for his alleged role in the Arizona 2020 election subversion scheme. That scheme called for fake electors to fraudulently vote for Trump in Arizona.

OK. Now to one of the other top stories we're following this morning. The world's number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler, is back on the course after being detained by police this morning. An ESPN reporter actually filmed the arrest, and says that Scheffler was handcuffed after he tried to drive past a police officer into the Kentucky golf club. Now, since then, the Masters champion has been released from jail. He is now at the Valhalla Golf Club for the second round of the PGA Championship. And as our Andy Scholes said a little earlier, apparently, he is playing well, remarkably, considering the type of mourning he has had.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is speaking right now at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. It's part of his appeal and his push to try to appeal to black voters.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- staff who runs this are doing an incredible job. Together, the NAACP and this museum are monuments to the power of black history, and black history is American history. It's American. It's really important thing to continue to -- we have a whole group of people out there trying to rewrite history, trying to erase history.

[11:45:00]

It's a tribute to heroes, known and unknown, who pursued our nation's North Star. We're unique among all nations in the world and I mean that. Every other nation is based on ethnicity, based on religion and other things. We were the only one based on our idea. We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, and should be treated equally their whole lives, throughout their life.

We've never fully lived up to that idea, to state the obvious, but we've never walked away from it either because of so many of you in this room and so many more. 70 years ago, when the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education, racial segregation in public schools as unconstitutional, a prayer was answered, a long struggle for freedom. Yesterday, I welcomed the family of plaintiffs of that landmark case to the White House, to the Oval Office, their office. Once upon a time, they were excluded from certain classrooms. But, 70 years later, they're inside the most important rooms of all, the Oval Office, where they belong.

Well, let me remind you that once upon a time, it wasn't that long ago, and all the progress we've made. We still have more to do. And there are still groups that are trying to erase it. One of the cases that led to the landmark decision was in my home state of Delaware, black mother from Hockessin, Delaware, joined by parents and many other students who claim on, a town I moved to when work ran out in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and we moved back in third grade, moved here to Delaware in third grade. All in Claremont.

They would just want a simple proposition. They want their kids to be able to attend school, be treated with dignity and respect. They asked the man who I looked up to and really admired and helped me out as a young public defender, Louis L Redding. He was the first man, the first black man ever admitted to the practice of law in the state of Delaware, to say, and that -- think about that. Here is the first man. This guy was brilliant. And he didn't get admitted till after the 50s in Delaware.

I mean, well, he enlisted a young Jewish lawyer from NAACP named Jack Greenberg to help him devise a legal strategy to get rid of racial segregation in Delaware schools. In 1952, in Delaware, for the first time in our country's history, in Bulah v. Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart -- by the way, any Delawareans here today? All right. First time ever, segregated white public schools are ordered to admit black children. Louis L Redding's argument in those early Delaware case laid the legal framework for Brown v. The Board. His story, a timeless truth about America.

When we make real the promise America for all Americans, the nation changes for the better, everything from the economy to everything grows, everything grows. After Brown v. Board decision, the public schools gradually and often much too slowly were integrated. Graduation rates for black and Latino students increased significantly, though. The Brown decision proves a simple idea, we learn better when we learn together. That's why my administration increasing funding for schools to bring together students from different backgrounds.

My Department of Education is investing $300 million, including another 20 million announced today, to support diversity in our schools. We're also funding efforts to increase diversity in teaching professionals, because as the President said, black students but young black men react to black teachers. These are students who have -- black teachers are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college. It makes a difference and it matters.

My Department of Education provided additional almost $0.5 billion, $450 million, to ensure teachers in our school reflect the diversity in our country. We're just getting started. This money is going to go toward training the next generation of teachers at HBCUs, tribal colleges and minority serving institutions. By the way, not because I'm married to one, but we need to give teachers a raise. I mean it. Nonetheless, from Brown is that every child deserves the quality education. How can we think -- in simple terms, how can we have the strongest economy in the world without the best education in the world? And it's not possible. That taps into the full talents of our entire nation.

And the answer starts with childhood, early childhood education, because of the nation's legacy of discrimination to black children start school with an average of seven months behind their white peers in reading.

[11:50:00] But, one year of universal high-quality pre-K could eliminate 98 percent of that gap, just one year. And children who go to preschool are nearly 50 percent more likely to finish high school and go on to earn a two-year, four-year degree, no matter what their background is. That's why my administration is working to support black children. And as soon as I came to office, I signed the American Rescue Plan. And I'm going to be political. I just say this because we're having problems. Not one Republican voted for it, not one. But, the American Rescue Plan expanded childcare tax credits, delivered monthly checks to working families to cut black child poverty in half. My Republican friends said it expired. Well, I'm going to keep fighting to reestablish and we're going to get it reestablished.

SOLOMON: All right. We've just been listening to U.S. President Joe Biden there, deliver a message, I believe, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It is part of a weekend of events for the President, as he makes his pitch and appeals to black voters.

No person better to talk to about this than Michael Smerconish, the host of "Smerconish", of course, Saturdays here on CNN. Michael, good to see you again. So, let me just ask, I mean, he is obviously in front of a warm environment. You hear the claps. It will likely be not as warm for commencement on Sunday at Morehouse. What are your thoughts or reactions to what we just heard from the President?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH", & CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: My thoughts are that this is a very important constituency for President Biden. You'll recall, Rahel, that in the 2020 cycle, he was on the losing end of a number of primaries, and what turned it around for him, the African American vote in South Carolina. He owes his presidency, I think, to the support that he received among folks of color. Donald Trump, in that cycle, won only eight percent of the black vote, but is now running at about 20 percent. That would be a historic high for a Republican candidate. Trump can't lose. If Trump should garner 20 percent of the black vote, that's why all this focus both today and on Sunday.

SOLOMON: So, it seems like Biden certainly understands and appreciates that fact, Michael. Well, what does he need to do differently, and what is Trump doing, you think, that suddenly has him making these inroads with black Americans?

SMERCONISH: Rahel, there are a lot of theories, and one of them is in terms of what is Trump doing. He is being indicted. One of the theories is that African Americans having been treated so unjustly in so many years, in so many different situations, by the criminal justice system, are looking at him in part and wondering, if Donald Trump being indicted four times isn't political, at least in some contexts, people will dispute that. I'm sure you're going to get a lot of reaction even for me verbalizing it.

But, I can tell you, sitting here behind a microphone and hosting a talk radio program for hours on end every week, I hear that. Beyond that, you'll hear people talk about Biden not delivering on promises relative to voting rights, and raising on the socioeconomic level or a ladder the situation of folks of color among us. But, I think you have to at least give consideration to Trump being entangled and the legal system being a factor.

SOLOMON: Yeah. It's an interesting point, Michael, because it's certainly something we have heard from Trump. But, you're right. It is very controversial. And some believe it's an actual -- I mean, it is offensive. It's an offensive sort of implication. But, you're right, that it is a part of the conversation. I do want to know, the NAACP President sort of pushed back or dismissed some of the polling. That suggests that Trump is making these inroads with black voters. But, I wonder, Michael, I mean, you're talking to voters, you're talking to viewers every day, should they sort of pay attention to these polls? Is it the right choice to dismiss them as they've been wrong before, they'll be wrong again?

SMERCONISH: I think that the White House is alarmed by the polls, not just for folks of color, but for all Americans and registered voters, in particular. I think that the Times/Siena College poll that landed earlier in the week and showed that Joe Biden is trailing in each of the battleground states, except one, was a wake-up call for the campaign. And I happen to think that it's the reason that President Biden then sort of laid down the challenge about debates and was able to very quickly conclude a debate deal with Donald Trump.

I think they believe they need to right the ship, because, Rahel, voting is going to begin in like three months. This is no longer, hey, what's going to happen in November? As you well know, more and more Americans every cycle vote by mail, and that commences just after Labor Day weekend.

SOLOMON: Yeah, maybe part of the reason why both Trump and Biden are debating in June right here on CNN. Smerconish, let me ask about the debates. At this point, at least, it appears it is just going to be Biden and Trump, no JFK, and also no crowd. Is Biden going into this with the upper hand?

SMERCONISH: Yes. And he is going into it with an upper hand, not only for the reasons that you reference, but also because of the expectation games.

[11:55:00]

So often, we determine who we think won a debate by what we thought going into it. And I think Trump is making a mistake. He is setting that bar so low for Biden that if President Biden shows up and has a performance like he did at the State of the Union address, I think people will turn around and say, well, geez, you know, not so bad. He did pretty well.

SOLOMON: And then, really quickly, Michael, before we let you go, and unfortunately, we only have 15 seconds left. Can debates be a game changer? Have we seen that in history before?

SMERCONISH: I think that they can in this cycle where it is so darn close, and this year, there'll be apparently only two of them, sooner than we've ever had before. It's a cycle unlike anything we've ever seen.

SOLOMON: That is an understatement, Michael Smerconish. We appreciate you being here. Thank you so much.

SMERCONISH: You too.

SOLOMON: And of course, you can catch Smerconish every Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on CNN. That is 2 p.m. in London. Good to see you.

All right. Good to have you as well. We know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.

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