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IDF Denies Israeli Munitions Alone Caused Deadly Rafah Fire; Closing Arguments Wrap Up in Historic Criminal Case Leading to Jury Deliberations; Pope Francis Apologizes for Using Anti-Gay Slur; Pier Built to Transport Gaza Aid Damaged in Heavy Seas; OpenAI Announces New Safety Board Amid Employee Revolt. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 29, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:30]

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: I want to repeat it, our ammunition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: From tragic mistake to passing the buck. Israel now says Sunday's airstrike on Rafah may have triggered a secondary explosion, which ignited that deadly inferno.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP JUNIOR, SON OF FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT TRUMP: If there was a GOAT of liars, it is Michael Cohen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Oh, irony is not dead. Inside and outside a New York City courtroom, Team Trump tries to destroy the credibility of their once loyal bagman turned star witness for the prosecution, Michael Cohen.

And the last days of bullfighting in Colombia after lawmakers overwhelmingly vote in favor to ban a cruel, inhumane and barbaric spectacle.

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

VAUSE: In just two days, Israel has gone from admitting to a tragic error in Rafah where 45 people, many of them women and children, were burned to death after an Israeli airstrike. Now, raising the possibility a secondary blast from an unknown source spark the inferno at a camp for displaced Palestinians. And despite global condemnation, Israel's military operation continues in Southern Gaza. Israeli tanks seen for the first time rolling into Rafah City.

And Israeli forces, once again, targeted camps for those displaced by war. Two were hit overnight according to Gaza officials. At least eight people were killed at the Tel al-Sultan Camp in Western Rafah just 150 meters away from the camp, which was hit by Israel on Sunday. A second attack Tuesday in Gaza South where 21 people dead at al- Mawasi camp, an area which Israel designated as a safe zone.

The IDF insists it did not strike the area. Israel insists it's carrying out limited operations along the Gaza-Egypt border and says investigations into Sunday's airstrike and inferno are ongoing. A CNN analysis of video from the scene shows two U.S.-made GBU-39 precision bombs were used in the attack. And for now, U.S. Military assistance for Israel will continue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does this not violate the red line the president laid out?

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: We don't want to see a major ground operation. We haven't seen that at this point. As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to. It just happened. The Israelis are going to investigate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond and a warning his report contains graphic video.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Makeshift shelters housing displaced Palestinians engulfed in flames. The screams of women pierce the smoke-filled air as bodies are pulled from the blaze.

The Israeli military says it did not expect carnage on this scale when it dropped two small precision guided munitions here, targeting two senior Hamas militants.

HAGARI: Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size. I want to repeat it. Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size.

DIAMOND: The Israeli military says it is still investigating what else could have ignited the inferno. Floating the possibility of a secondary explosion caused by ammunition stored nearby. It provided no verifiable evidence to back up that theory. What is clear, how close the strike was to container like shelters housing hundreds of displaced Palestinian civilians.

These two container-like structures were targeted in the attack, according to this Israeli drone footage. At least three people can be seen on the road outside those structures moments before the strike. These are the two structures identified as targets by the Israeli military, as seen in satellite imagery. Adjacent structures were also destroyed in the explosion or the subsequent fire. Displaced civilians were living in some or all of these structures. At least 45 people were killed according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Amid growing international outrage and condemnation, the Israeli

military isn't slowing down its Rafah offensive, with tanks spotted in Central Rafah for the first time. As the Israeli military investigates one strike, it is carrying out others, also in camps for displaced Palestinians.

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Just 500 feet from Sunday night's strike, Hamza (PH) holds a piece of the projectile that killed his sister overnight in the Tel al-Sultan. She was sleeping when shrapnel hit her in the face, he says. One of eight people killed in the same strike. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

The walls of the U.N. warehouse next door are now scarred with shrapnel, a sign to many in this camp that the area is no longer safe. Hundreds are now packing up what little they can still claim as their own, and fleeing once again, desperate for a refuge from the violence that surrounds them.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining us now from Sydney, Australia is Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst of Defense Strategy and Capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Welcome back, Malcolm. Good to see you.

MALCOLM DAVIS, MILITARY ANALYST: Good to see you, too.

VAUSE: OK. So an Israeli investigation into that weekend airstrike on Rafah and the deadly fire which followed now casting some doubt over what may have sparked that fire. The chief spokesperson for the IDF suggested something in the area unknown to the Israeli military had exploded and that secondary explosion ignited the inferno.

Here's more. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAGARI: The fire that broke out was unexpected and unintended. The strike was conducted using two munitions with small warheads suited for this targeted strike. This is the smallest munition that our jets can use.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: They say an investigation is ongoing, but be it Israel, the U.S., Britain, Australia, any internal investigation into a military mishap in the middle of a war is questionable at best. So even if this assessment, that these small munitions, there was a secondary explosion turns out to be true, does it simply reinforce the reality that there is no way to fight a major offensive in a place like Rafah without killing a lot of people? DAVIS: Well, you may have the technical ability using these small

precision munitions, the GBU-39s to strike with high precision on a specific target, even an individual. But if there are civilians in the area, you have to follow the laws of armed conflict which is -- includes necessity, proportionality and discrimination.

And I think that, yes, the Israelis may not have expected ammunition to be there and it's quite possible that when they struck those targets, the ammunition then exploded, creating the fires which have killed all these people, but I think that under the laws of armed conflict, that necessity, proportionality and discrimination aspect the Israelis would have been, I think, hesitant about using even these small bombs to strike at those targets.

So I do think that the investigation needs to happen but really this structure would never have happened in the first place given the proximity of those civilians.

VAUSE: Let's talk about the munitions which were used because the Israelis have gone to great lengths to say that these were -- are the smallest bombs which their jets can actually carry and a CNN analysis of video from the scene has found the tail of the U.S. made GBU-39, small diameter bomb, SDB, visible at the scene. It's manufactured by Boeing. As you say, it's a high-precision munition. That means it doesn't come without any risk when you use it in an area like Rafah.

But how does this then impact what the White House is saying with regards to Israel not crossing a line and the ongoing supply of U.S. weapons to the Israelis?

DAVIS: Well, I think the simple fact is that if the Israelis are determined to carry out this offensive, and I do think that the Israelis do need to defeat decisively Hamas, they can't afford to allow Hamas to emerge victorious or even prevail in this conflict, then the risks are that they'll be doing this in a highly populated, urbanized environment, full of civilians. And what they need to do is adjust their tactics so that those civilians are less at risk and I think that if they do that, then the U.S. supply of weapons and intelligence and various (INAUDIBLE) army services should continue.

If they don't adjust their tactics, if they continue to use bombs, essentially, even these precision bombs in a manner that basically puts civilians at close proximity at risk, then I think you could see the White House start to second guess the wisdom of continuing to support Israel. But of course that would then have serious implications in domestic political terms for the Biden administration.

VAUSE: With regards to the Israeli military operation, which is ongoing not just in Rafah but across Gaza, there are Israeli tanks right now in downtown Rafah, one of the main roundabouts looking into the city there. It's the first time tanks have rolled into the city. And yet, you know, the Americans are still saying this is not a major ground offensive, it hasn't crossed any kind of red lines.

But the other problem that we're having for the Israelis is that they're not having to rocket fire come from parts of Gaza which were meant to have been cleared earlier in this war are once again being used by Hamas, which tends to suggest that even if you had this offensive on Rafah and it goes ahead and despite the huge loss of life, this military operation will continue against Hamas because once they clear an area, they leave and then Hamas takes it back.

[00:10:19]

This just seems to be sort of game of whack-a-mole with no end in sight.

DAVIS: It is. Yes, it is. And unfortunately, they are dealing with an adversary that is elusive, that can blend into the local civilian population, that can use civilians as human shields, and can move their, you know, weapons, including these rocket launchers around fairly quickly. They, Hamas will continue to fire rockets at Israel. Hamas are not going to give up. So the Israelis do have to defeat them and defeat them decisively.

That means routing them. But the problem is how do you route Hamas without firstly causing a large number of civilian casualties in the process? And then secondly, how do you do that without actually generating some future threat because of the remnants of Hamas regenerating at some future point?

VAUSE: Malcolm, thank you so much for being with us. Malcolm David there in Sydney. We appreciate your time as always, sir. Thank you.

DAVIS: Thank you.

VAUSE: Make no mistake, the end result of Israel's airstrike on Rafah on Sunday, be it a tragic mistake or military negligence is truly horrific. At least 45 people, many women and children, burned to death or asphyxiated as the plastic sheets they used to shelter melted as an inferno swept through their makeshift camps. But there have been countless horrific moments in this war without end.

Here's James Elder from UNICEF.

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JAMES ELDER, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: We heard this called a tragic mishap, a mistake. I guess the question is, what then to call the ferocious attacks that killed thousands and thousands of children? How do we describe the actions that have pushed the entire population to starvation? What do we say to, as your question, John, what do we say of those countless children who've had arms and legs amputated, or the thousands who have been orphaned?

What is the language used to describe the unprecedented devastation to homes and schools, to the uncharted territory of trauma of children? I think then surely the question that needs to be asked is, how many more mistakes is the world going to tolerate?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: After 21 days in court, testimony from nearly two dozen mostly prosecution witnesses, lurid details of alleged sexual encounter between Donald Trump and former adult film star Stormy Daniels, 10 counts of contempt of court by Trump for violating a gag order, the never-ending baseless whining by Trump about a witch hunt and the court's bias, New York jury will soon begin deliberations in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

Did Donald Trump knowingly take part in a scheme to cover up hush money payments to Daniels with the intention of trying to mislead voters before the 2016 election?

CNN's Paula Reid has more now on closing arguments.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a dark day in America. We have rigged court case that should have never been brought.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's hush money trial entering its final phase with closing arguments. Trump attorney Todd Blanche telling the jury the district attorney has not met their burden of proof, period, maintaining Trump's innocence, saying it's a paper case, not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago that Trump has unequivocally and repeatedly denied.

Blanche saying the hush money payments were not illegal, and Trump was unaware. There's no evidence at all, not even a little bit of evidence that President Trump knew anything about these false filings. Zeroing in on the prosecution's key witness, Michael Cohen, sharply saying, Cohen lied to you. He's literally like an MVP of liars, Blanche remarked, telling the jury, he lied to you, make no mistake about it, and later calling Cohen the GLOAT, greatest liar of all time.

Blanche claiming Cohen was the human embodiment of reasonable doubt, and that the jury should not convict based on his testimony. Blanche concluded his argument by telling the jury, you cannot send someone to prison. You cannot convict somebody based on the words of Michael Cohen.

But that comment angered Judge Juan Merchan, who immediately admonished that comment as outrageous and highly inappropriate, later instructing the jury to disregard it, saying they could not discuss, consider, or even speculate as to matters related to sentence or punishment. That is a job for the judge.

Then prosecutors kicked off their closing arguments, playing clean up. We didn't choose Michael Cohen to be our witness. We didn't pick him up at the witness store, Joshua Steinglass told the jury. Mr. Trump chose Mr. Cohen for the same qualities that his attorneys now urge you to reject his testimony, insisting it's a deflection for the defense to make the case about Cohen.

[00:15:04]

Steinglass explained Cohen's role was just to be a tour guide through the physical evidence but those documents don't lie and they don't forget. The prosecution then accused Trump and the publisher of the "National Enquirer" of trying to pull the wool over voters' eyes in a coordinated fashion. They didn't use the term catch-and-kill, but that's exactly what it was, Steinglass said. And that's the illegal part because once money starts changing hands on behalf of the campaign, that's federal election campaign finance violations. This is not normal legitimate press functions, Steinglass remarked, calling it overt election fraud.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID (on-camera): The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday, and former President Trump is actually required to be inside the courthouse during those deliberations. He can't leave. Now, this is something that will likely make him unhappy as he has made it clear he does not like this courthouse and of course, he does not like this case. It's unclear, though, how long it will take the jury to reach their verdict.

Paula Reid, CNN, New York.

VAUSE: Norm Eisen is a CNN legal analyst, as well as the former House Judiciary special counsel in Trump's first of two impeachment trials, and for the past few weeks, he's been our eyes and ears in courtroom 1530 in Manhattan Supreme Court.

As always, good to see you, Norm.

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Great to be back with you, John.

VAUSE: OK. So the defense lawyers mostly focused on trying to discredit Trump's former lawyer turned star witness for the prosecution, Michael Cohen, and outside the courtroom, Donald Trump Junior was repeating major lines which they're using inside the courtroom. Here's Don Junior.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP JUNIOR: Well, guys this is amazing. I think Todd Blanche summed it up best. If there was an MVP, if there were a GOAT of liars, it is Michael Cohen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The prosecution, though, spent hours rehashing evidence to prove that Cohen's testimony isn't crucial for a guilty verdict, and about halfway through all of this, Trump posted on social media, "Boring."

So what are your thoughts on closing arguments here? Was it boring? More importantly, did it seem like the jurors found it boring?

EISEN: It was anything but boring. It was long. But the reason it was long is, as Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass explained to the jury, there is a mountain of evidence that corroborates Michael Cohen. And the jury, the judge, and all of us in the courtroom climbed that mountain with Steinglass today, John. And you don't have to take Michael Cohen's word for things because

each of the critical meetings and calls and events are corroborated by other witnesses, including witnesses from inside Trump's orbit. And over 200 documents, exhibits that the defense tried to challenge today but I don't think it worked. There's too much corroboration of Mr. Cohen.

VAUSE: And when defense lawyer Todd Blanche suggested during his closing that Trump could do prison time and he shouldn't base on testimony from someone like Michael Cohen, he received a reprimand from the judge, who said that was outrageous, Mr. Blanche. Someone who's been a prosecutor as long as you have, someone who's been an attorney as long as you have, know that is highly inappropriate.

I guess there's an old saying when the law is on your side, argue the law, when the facts are on your side, argue the facts, if neither then bang the table or in this case, what, drop an inappropriate remark to try and influence the jury?

EISEN: You're never supposed to talk about the sentence that a defendant can get when you're arguing to the jury because it's not the jury's job to meet out that sentence. It's the judge's job, and it can influence a jury not to look at the facts and the law, but to shape their deliberations because a defendant might go to jail.

It really is criminal law 101, John, you never do that. But I will say I was watching Blanche closely. I was just a few rows away. I think it was one of those inexplicable slips. I don't think he was doing it on purpose. He stopped himself that kind of was a hiccup. He moved in a jerky way after he said it. I think he realized it was on his mind and he went too far by letting it out.

But it doesn't matter. The judge gave a curative instruction. The judge told the jury when they came back from lunch that they should disregard that. It has no place in their deliberations.

VAUSE: That's why you're in court for us, and that's why you give us this analysis so that's good to know. For a guilty verdict, the jury has to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that false business records were created with the intention of a cover-up to help Trump's 2016 campaign for the White House and that Trump was involved in the conspiracy which intended to defraud voters.

[00:20:03]

CNN's Paula Reid also reporting the Trump team continues to believe the best likely outcome for Trump is a mistrial, according to a source familiar with the team. However, they are worried about the impact of a potential Allen charge could -- the impact that could have on a deadlocked jury. So what is an Allen charge and what happens if the jury is in fact deadlocked?

EISEN: If a jury can't reach deliberations the judge tells them again and again -- they can't reach a verdict in their deliberations, the judge tells them again and again go back, try again, try again, and then if after several efforts that doesn't work, he instructs them, nobody knows these facts better than you do. It's your job to try to decide. I want you to go back there and judges do with different degrees of firmness, but orders them to attempt to reach a verdict.

And very often when you have a deadlocked jury that instruction from the judge will help them overcome their differences, often reach a compromise verdict. If that should happen here, for example, there's nine checks Trump signed. That might be a natural way out of the 34 false documents to compromise.

The challenge with hung juries, John, they're rare. 5 percent or 6 percent of all cases end up in a hung jury where you have one juror or more commonly two jurors who see the case differently than the others. If it's just one the peer pressure gets to him, so that is a long shot strategy. But given the weight of the evidence and the forcefulness of the law, that's what Trump is left hoping for. Acquittal is a bridge too far.

VAUSE: Wow. Norm, as always, thank you so much for being with us.

Norm Eisen there in New York. It's been great having you with us every day on this trial so far. So thank you very much.

EISEN: It's my pleasure, John. Thanks for having me back.

VAUSE: But, in Trump's classified documents trial, another setback for prosecutors. The Trump-appointed judge, Aileen Cannon, denied a request from special counsel to impose a gag order on the former U.S. president. Cannon dismissed the motion saying it was wholly lacking in substance and also lacked professional courtesy for failing to give Trump's lawyers enough time to respond.

The special counsel will have plenty of time to resubmit the request. Judge Cannon has indefinitely postponed the trial. She did that earlier this month. Trump has been criminally charged for removing classified material from the White House after leaving office and for resisting in government attempts to retrieve those documents, which were stored at his Florida country club in Mar-a-Lago.

A rift among NATO allies of how Ukraine can use Western supplied weapons. German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz and French President Emmanuel Macron say Ukraine is well within its rights to strike Russian targets deep inside Russian territory using Western missiles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainian soil is being attacked from bases in Russia. So how do we explain to the Ukrainians they were going to have to protect these towns and basically everything we're seeing around Kharkiv at the moment, if we tell them you are not allowed to hit the point from which the missiles are fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: On Tuesday, the U.S. reiterated its weapons should not be used by Ukraine to strike inside Russia, a position similar to Moscow. Georgia's parliament has voted to override the president's veto

against the Moscow-styled foreign agents bill clearing the way for it to be signed into law. The law requires organizations receiving more than 20 percent of funding from abroad to register as foreign agents or face massive fines. A similar law in Russia has been used to stifle dissent and crack down on civil society. The E.U. and the United States have both condemned the Georgia bill. Its introduction more than a year ago led to massive protests, which continue to this day.

Still ahead here on CNN, a mea culpa from Pope Francis, please forgive me. What the Vatican is saying about his reported use of an anti-gay slur.

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VAUSE: A former prime minister of Haiti has been chosen to help lead the country out of months of chaos and violence brought on by criminal gangs. The transitional council has tapped Garry Conille who briefly served as prime minister more than a decade ago. He'll now step down from his current role as UNICEF regional director. Conille and the council will now select a cabinet and look ahead to new elections.

Since there are gangs who've taken over the capital Port-au-Prince the violence shut down the airport, seaport, which disrupted vital supplies of food and humanitarian aid. Nearly five million Haitians suffering from food insecurity.

Polls open next hour in South Africa for a general election that might just upend a 30-rule of the once powerful African National Congress. The party of late President Nelson Mandela is facing some serious challenges. The country is suffering from years of corruption, stark inequality, and violent crime. President Cyril Ramaphosa is promising his party will, quote, "do better if reelected," but he's facing competition from a number of new parties. And if the ANC gets less than 50 percent of the vote, it will be forced to enter into a coalition government.

Pope Francis is asking for forgiveness after reports that he used a homophobic language slur during a meeting with Italian bishops.

CNN's Vatican correspond Christopher Lamb has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: The Vatican says the Pope has apologized for feelings of offense following reports he used an anti-gay slur. Two Italian newspapers say Pope Francis made the remarks while meeting bishops in a closed-door meeting last week. The Pope has instructed bishops not to accept gay men for the priesthood, and this is the context in which he was making his reported remarks. But in a new statement, the Vatican insists the church welcomes everyone.

The Pope's remarks have caused a real stir because of the use of an anti- gay slang word, something that he used whilst discussing with Italian bishops whether to admit gay men to the priesthood. But the Vatican in a statement stressed the Pope never intended to express himself in homophobic terms and said Francis apologizes for any offense.

It also says that the Pope has repeatedly stated that the church must welcome everyone, including, quote, "everyone as they are." Now, of course, this has been the Pope's consistent message during his pontificate when it comes to LGBTQ Plus Catholics. Pope Francis is the Pope who said who am I to judge at the beginning of his pontificate when asked about gay priests. He's also opened the possibility for same-sex couples to receive blessings.

So the Pope's remarks as they report in the media caused surprise. It's also been suggested that Pope was not fully aware of how offensive the term he used was, and the statement that the Vatican has issued is clearly saying that Francis did not intend for it to be homophobic. Francis is a pope who apologizes for his mistakes and he clearly felt it was necessary to rectify the situation given this story and these reports were threatening to damage or undermine the work that he's done to welcome gay Catholics.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Cumbria, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Over 11,000 business owners in Cuba will now be allowed to use U.S.-based online payments systems, part of a policy change announced by the Biden administration two years ago. U.S. officials say the move will allow Cuban entrepreneurs to import food, equipment and other goods, making it easier to send money from the United States to the island, possibly reduce the flow of illegal migration to Florida. It comes less than six months before the U.S. presidential election. Could carry political implications for Joe Biden, who lost Florida and some Cuban American votes to Donald Trump in 2020.

When we come back, a temporary pier constructed by the U.S. Military just off Gaza breaks apart. We'll have more on the impact it will have on humanitarian efforts in just a moment.

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[00:32:34]

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

Well, protests broke out in major cities across Europe Tuesday as anger mounts over that deadly Israeli airstrike and inferno at a camp housing displaced people in Rafah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- on your hands! Blood on your hands!

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: In London, a large crowd gathered outside Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's home, calling on his government to stop arming Israel.

And in Italy, at least 1,000 protesters gathered at a main train station in the city of Bolognia, causing delays across the region.

A huge demonstration was also held in Paris.

A temporary pier constructed by the U.S. military to transport much needed aid into Gaza, has broken apart and sustained damage in heavy seas.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has details, reporting in from the Pentagon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): a key part of the U.S.'s military's floating pier off the coast of Gaza that was meant to serve as a launching point to get humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave is now not operational after being damaged in heavy seas over the weekend.

It is being moved back to the port of Ashdod in Israel, where it is going to be undergoing repairs that are going to take at least a week, according to the Pentagon deputy press secretary.

Now, this pier project has been really beset with issues since it became operational just over a week ago. It was originally delayed because of bad weather conditions. And then last weekend, Army vessels that were attached to the pier were actually also impacted by heavy seas and bad weather conditions and were beached along the coast of Israel and Gaza.

And so this has been a very complex mission, one that involved over a thousand U.S. troops constructing it over the last two plus months off the coast of Gaza. And it only became operational a little over a week ago.

And in the span of a short amount of time, really, the Pentagon insists that they did manage to get over 1,000 tons of aid into Gaza, something that they say made the project worth it alone.

But still, this is a very, very expensive mission, costing over $320 million. And of course, very risky one involving this 1,000-plus U.S. troops right there off the coast of Gaza and potentially in harm's way.

So it remains to be seen just when this pier is going to be back up and running. But the Pentagon says they do expect to put it right back where it was over the last week and hope that it becomes fully operational again within the next several days, if not about a week from now.

[00:35:08]

But again, you know, this is a mission that aid groups were deeply skeptical of. They want to see those land routes open rather than just this maritime corridor.

But the Biden administration, for its part, insisting that this maritime aspect of this humanitarian mission was always meant to be supplemental to those lenders and not replace them entirely.

And as of right now, they say it is working, at least partially, to get much-needed humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, at the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, it sparked days of protest and heated debate. Lawmakers in Taiwan have passed a controversial bill which increases oversight of the new president and his administration.

Supporters say it's necessary to improve government accountability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the floor of the legislature during the debate. Opponents of the bill call it anti-democratic and say it will increase Chinese influence in Taiwan.

When we come back, an employee revolt, a dismantled team, and now a new committee. How OpenAI plans to tackle safety and security in the years ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back.

Colombia's congress has approved a nationwide ban on bullfighting, a significant victory for animal rights activists.

Ninety-three congressmen voted in favor of the ban Tuesday. Only two voted against it. The bill will now be sent to Colombia President Gustavo Petro to be signed into law. There'll be a three-year transition, allowing bullfighting families to adjust to the new reality.

On X, the president celebrated the move to make death no longer a show.

Colombia is one of eight countries which still allows bullfighting to happen. Soon, it'll be seven.

OpenAI has announced a new safety and security committee weeks after a shock coup which saw the high-profile exit of security executive Jan Leike, as well as the departure of a co-founder.

The new committee will be led by CEO Sam Altman, as well as company board chairman Bret Taylor, and board member Nicole Seligman.

CNN's Clare Duffy has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A string of employees have resigned, and some of them, including Leike, have raised public concerns that the company is prioritizing commercializing artificial intelligence over some of these long-term safety risks that come with this really powerful technology.

So now we have the company saying it will set up this new safety committee led by OpenAI's CEO, as well as a number of the board of directors. And it will also include some internal employees working on the technology and security, including its head of security and its new chief scientist.

But you do have to wonder just how effective it will be to have this safety committee made up of, first of all, of the the CEO whose job it is also to develop and scale this technology, as well as all other internal employees.

[00:40:05]

There is a long history of tech companies failing to effectively self- regulate. And this comes just two days after two former OpenAI board members who were ousted in November as part of the then-leadership shakeup wrote an op-ed saying that they don't believe that A.I. companies should be allowed to self-regulate.

Now, OpenAI does say that it will consult outside experts, including former cybersecurity officials as part of this new safety committee. But it's not clear just how much say or control they would actually have over this group.

The next thing that we'll be watching for is this report that we're expecting the committee to release in the next 90 days where it's going to review the company's existing safety and security practices.

And so I think it'll be a big question of just how transparent they are in that upcoming report and whether the company decides to make any changes based on that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thanks to Clare Duffy for that report.

Melinda French Gates speaking out about resigning from the Gates Foundation. She says she'll now focus her work on American women's reproductive freedom.

In a Tuesday op-ed in "The New York Times," he attributes the decision to the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling to reverse the constitutional right to an abortion, calling America's high maternal mortality rate unconscionable. She writes this: "I now feel compelled to support reproductive rights

here at home. For too long, a lack of money has forced organizations fighting for women's rights into a defensive posture while the enemies of progress play offense. I want to help even the match."

She says she'll donate $1 billion through 2026 to advance women's rights.

French Gates, who co-led the -- the foundation with her former husband, Bill Gates, announced her resignation from the foundation earlier this year.

A lost Caravaggio painting, which has almost mistakenly auctioned at a bargain price, is now on display at the museum in Madrid after being rescued and then restored.

The "Ecce Homo," painted by the Italian master in the early 17th Century, is one on about 1,600 Caravaggio works in existence, according to the museum.

The work was once part of King Philip IV's art collection. It changed hands over the years and apparently went unnoticed until surfacing at an auction house as the work of an unknown painter with a starting price of just $1,600.

Experts caught the mistake and prevented it from being sold.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause, back with more news at the top of the hour. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. See you back here in 18 minutes.

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