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India Ballot Counting Underway; Pushback from Israel's Far- Right on Ceasefire Proposal; Claudia Sheinbaum Wins Mexico Presidency; Biden to Limit Asylum-Seekers Entering U.S. Illegally; Republican Attack Dr. Anthony Fauci at Hearing on COVID Response. Dr. Fauci Faces Questions about Origins of COVID-19; Weeks of Standing Water Frustrates Residents of Nairobi. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired June 04, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
ENTEN: -- going to be. In fact Diet Coke is even in the top five. So Coca-Cola, look, still number one but we have some real interesting competition, but the fact is, Coke, number one in your heart, number one in your mind, although I wonder how it would taste with a few pickles. Could it maintain its taste? We'll just have to wait and find out, Laura.
COATES: That just sounds like an awful combination of things, although I got to tell you, root beer or Fanta with the pizza is my cup of tea, but that's just me.
Harry Enten, I won't -- but you know what, I've got mine to choose from.
ENTEN: Oh, look at you. I'm so jealous. I got to go down to Washington.
COATES: This is how I stay up at night. I got a show at 11:00 p.m. at night. I need all of them. Thank you so much.
Harry Enten, thank you.
ENTEN: Bye.
COATES: And hey, thank you all for watching. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJIV KUMAR, CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER OF INDIA: We have created a world record of 642 million proud Indian voters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And it's all about Modi. Record numbers vote in an election seen as a referendum on the Indian prime minister and his bid for an historic third term. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, ISRAELI NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER (through translator): If you sign a reckless deal, Jewish power will dissolve the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Netanyahu's dilemma. Far-right extremist in his coalition threatened to bring down the government if he accepts a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT (through translator): We will walk in peace and harmony, to build a fair and more prosperous Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And can a woman succeed where all the men have failed? Mexico's new president promises to govern for all.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Right now they are counting votes in the world's largest democracy. Across India, voting took place over six weeks. More than half a billion people casting their ballot to decide if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will win an historic third consecutive term.
The ruling BJP has secured its first seat of the election in the city of Surat, in Modi's home state of Gujarat, according to the Election Commission of India. Security is tight at counting centers and election officials say more indications of who won and by how much should emerge in the coming hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUMAR: This is a historic moment for all of us, for the nation as a whole. 642 million ever anywhere in the world in any of the electoral societies. That has been the incredible power of the voters of India.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This general election is mostly seen as a referendum on Modi's decade in power, which has led to increased economic inequality. The critics are saying his Hindu first policies have led to hate speech and attacks on minorities especially Muslims.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson live for us this hour in New Delhi.
And Ivan, it took about six weeks to cast 642 million votes. But only a few hours of counting until we get some indication of where the results are heading. That seems to be because this result is pretty much, what, a foregone conclusion? IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, everybody
predicting that this will be a victory for Narendra Modi, and his BJP Party. The question will be by how much, how competitive will this truly end up being.
You know, John, the first votes were cast in this (INAUDIBLE) and it is not until this morning within the last hour and a half that the (INAUDIBLE) counting the ballots has begun. And so the result being published on the election of India Web site. And for instance, they have only declared three so far. That is for BJP Party and --
VAUSE: Ivan, we're going to leave you there. We had some technical problems with your audio, unfortunately, you're breaking up.
Ivan's report there on the early stages of the counting of the election in India. Right now, as we've said, it took six weeks for the vote to happen. The big number that the BJP is looking for is 400. The number of seats in parliament they are hoping to win. If they get that, that will be seen as a success. If they go below that, it will be seen this coalition of opposition groups which was about three dozen opposition parties, which came together to form India, which was the name in this coalition or this alliance, to try and win some votes away from Modi.
But essentially as Ivan was saying there, we heard some of what he was saying, this is now a question of how much Narendra Modi will win by, how big the margin of victory will be for his BJP Party. We'll continue to monitor that. Hopefully we'll get back to Ivan Watson at some point. In the meantime, we move on.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be facing a stark choice. Either agree to a U.S.-announced ceasefire deal with Hamas or refuse and keep his coalition government in power.
[00:05:04]
But there is also a door number three. Delay and avoid. Over the weekend Netanyahu denied claims that Israel had agreed to the peace plan and the war in Gaza will continue until Hamas is eliminated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are working in countless ways to return our hostages. I think about them all the time. I think about the women all the time, about their families, about their suffering. Therefore, we have gone the extra mile to bring them back. But during this action, we have maintained the goals of war and primarily the elimination of Hamas. We insist that we complete both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: As supporters of the ceasefire gathered outside the U.S. Diplomatic Commission in Tel Aviv, the Israeli military confirmed the death of four more Israeli hostages. And Israel's Hostage and Missing Families Forum is describing their deaths as a mark of disgrace and are now trying to increase pressure on Netanyahu to accept that ceasefire deal.
Steven Cook is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book is "The End of Ambition: America's Past, Present, and Future' in the Middle East.
Congratulations on the book. Good to see you.
STEVEN COOK, SENIOR FELLOW FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thanks very much, John.
VAUSE: So Israel's national security minister, the far-right anti- Arab, Itamar Ben-Gvir, laid out in stark terms the consequences for the Israeli prime minister if he accepts this ceasefire deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN-GVIR (through translator): I say to the prime minister, if you sign a reckless deal that will bringing to the end of the war without the elimination of Hamas, as the cabinet itself has decided, Jewish power will dissolve the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, it seems Ben-Gvir and the other far-right extremists within the coalition, they haven't staked out this position for political reasons. They're not going to do horse trading here, right? There's not much room for negotiation with ideologues.
COOK: No, there is not. I think this is a red line for Ben-Gvir and his partner Bezalel Smotrich, who together control 14 seats in the Knesset. So his threat to bring down the government is very real and they have from the start held Prime Minister Netanyahu's feet to the fire on the destruction of Hamas. And this deal that the president proposed from their perspective would prevent Israel from doing that.
VAUSE: So is there a wiggle room in the ceasefire itself in the wording? Because the language is ambiguous and it seems both sides could begin phase one of the deal, which was, what, 42 day ceasefire and the release of hostages, and then worry later if the agreement will actually lead to the end of the war.
COOK: Yes, I think the ambiguity, especially in the president's words last week, is very, very important. The administration was at pains to indicate that this was the administration's interpretation of an Israeli proposal. But by going public so they're clearly putting pressure on both the Israelis and Hamas on this, and that ambiguity comes in between phase one, which as you point out is a six-week ceasefire, release of hostages, release of Palestinian prisoners, withdrawal of the IDF from populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
And then moving into phase two, what happens in between phase one and phase two is the ambiguous place. And that's where Netanyahu was able to argue with members of his coalition like the far-right, that during that interim between phase one and phase two Israel can still pursue military operations while they negotiate with Hamas over a more durable ceasefire. That's not what the president said and I think it was done on purpose.
VAUSE: Well, despite the threat to bring down the government by, you know, members of his far-right coalition, the U.S. State Department Monday is still confident that Israel will accept the ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: It was a proposal that they developed in consultation with the United States and Qatar and Egypt, the three countries that have played the mediating role throughout this process. But this was ultimately an Israeli proposal.
The proposal on the table is nearly identical to what Hamas said it would accept just a few weeks ago. And it is now time for them to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is the Biden administration sort of underplaying the threats that Benjamin Netanyahu is facing politically, just saying it's just domestic politics at this stage?
COOK: I think that they are. There is a very real threat that Ben-Gvir and Smotrich leave the government. But a leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, has said that he'll come in and support Netanyahu and the government should the right-wing leave the government as long as there is an actual hostage deal. He won't go any further than that.
That leaves Netanyahu in a very, very difficult position. He can get the hostages out, but once this war finally comes to an end, will once again face legal jeopardy. The deal with the two far-right ministers was that it would essentially shield Netanyahu from the legal problems he has stemming from a longstanding corruption case.
VAUSE: Well, adding to the urgency here for Netanyahu to accept this deal and make the ceasefire work and get the hostages, there's confirmation that four more Israeli hostages are confirmed dead.
[00:10:07]
Families of those still being held in Gaza protested again outside the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem. This is what one relative had to say. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAY DICKMANN, COUSIN HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA: I'm here to support my government in taking this deal, the deal that Netanyahu suggested, our prime minister, that will get all our people back home. We are all here in support for the return of all hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So what's the calculation here for Netanyahu? Accept the ceasefire, lose his coalition, what if he rejects the ceasefire, then what? COOK: Well, if he rejects the ceasefire, the Israel Defense Forces
continues its operations in Rafah and under the theory that military pressure will bring the hostages home. That's what the Israeli government has been saying for months now, and that has not brought the hostages home. So he is on a very, very significant dilemma here and he's trying to make the case that he can bring the hostages home and continue military operations against Hamas. Clearly, his right- wing partners don't believe that and that's where the threat to the government comes from.
VAUSE: Steven Cook, as always, thank you so much. So good to see you.
COOK: Have a good evening.
VAUSE: At least 24 people have been killed in the latest Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling in Gaza, according to hospital officials. The strikes appeared to have targeted Khan Younis, Gaza City and a camp in Central Gaza. Two teenage brothers and a mother and daughter are among the dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOAMMAR ABU SHAMMA, GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): There were children of a family that felt safe here. In the middle of the night they struck them with missiles. The father was sitting here, the children were over there. The missile came and left them torn into parts. We didn't see any militants in the area. There were all children. They hit them without any prior warning. The house fell on them. The whole house fell down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: According to a U.N. analysis of satellite imagery 55 percent of all structures in Gaza, close to 140,000 buildings, have been either damaged or destroyed since the war began.
Ukraine has announced a successful strike on a Russian missile system on Russian soil using Western supplied weapons. The target Ukraine claims to have hit was a Russian S-300, a long-range surface-to-air defense system. Ukraine minister seemed to taunt the Russians saying, quote, "Burns beautifully."
Just days earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden lifted some restrictions on Ukraine, greenlighting the use of U.S. weapons for limited strikes on Russian territory near Kharkiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been urging the United States to loosen restrictions on targeting Russian military sites, especially as Russia continues its bombardment of northeastern Ukraine. Ukrainian military released video of some of the destruction in one town in the Kharkiv region.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Cambodia where he's meeting with the country's defense minister, part of an Indo-Pacific tour to promote regional security. It comes a day after Austin visited Singapore for the string of dialogue, where he spoke about the importance of regional partnerships to combat threats from China and Russia. Austin will later travel to France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
In a moment, the pandemic is over, but U.S. Republicans is still going after a top of infectious disease expert, Dr. Fauci, accusing him of cover-ups and making millions off the pandemic. A takeaway from his contentious hearing on Capitol Hill in a moment. And later a landslide victory in Mexico's presidential election. What the outgoing president is saying about his protege.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:15:54]
VAUSE: Mexico's president-elect is promising a government for all without corruption or impunity. Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide victory to become the country's first female and first Jewish president, and faces a huge challenge with crime and gang violence as well as drug wars, and her coalition appears to be on track for a super majority in the lower house and it's close to one in the Senate.
Many see the vote as a referendum on the policies of her mentor and predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He says Sheinbaum must chart her own course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, OUTGOING MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Of course there must be changes. There will be changes because the transformation continues, but there must be changes. There must be a change of officials. She is the one empowered to make all the decisions. I am not going to influence anything. She is going to choose her team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More now from CNN's Gustavo Valdes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Claudia Sheinbaum has made history as the first woman projected to be the next president of Mexico. The 61-year-old handedly defeated her two opponents with at least 58 percent of the vote, according to the National Electoral Institute.
SHEINBAUM (through translator): Our duty is and always will be to look after each Mexican without distinctions. Although many Mexican women and Mexican men don't agree fully with our project, we will work in peace and harmony to build a fairer and more prosperous Mexico.
VALDES: Besides being the first woman set to become president, she would be the first one of Jewish ancestry. Her grandparents migrated from Eastern Europe, fleeing Nazi persecution, although she rarely mentions her religious background. Her parents were leftist, according to a biography by journalist Arturo Cano, in which Sheinbaum says that she grew up talking about politics all day with her parents. But her first career is academia. She has a PhD in Environmental
Engineering, focused in renewable energy and climate change. Her introduction to politics happened in 2000 when she became Mexico City's Environmental Minister under the head of government Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. She became part of his team during his three presidential campaigns, and in 2018, when he won the presidency, she was elected chief of government of Mexico City.
She pledged to continue the policies of Lopez Obrador with a five- point plan -- increase public safety, free public education, fight poverty through social programs and higher minimum wage, better regulation of water resources, and transition to renewable energies. On foreign affairs, she has pledged to protect Mexico's sovereignty. And while recognizing the importance of their relationship with the United States, she wants to focus on growing ties with Central and South American nations.
The transition of power should be an easy one since she's going to be taking over her friend and mentor on October 1st.
Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce stricter limits on the number of asylum seekers crossing illegally from Mexico.
CNN senior White House correspondent MJ Lee has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The border of course is one of the most politically fraught issues here in Washington and what sources briefed on this executive order tells CNN is that this is announcement that could come from President Biden as early as Tuesday, and that what it would allow the administration to do is effectively shut down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers if the number of daily crossings crosses a certain threshold.
Now we are told that unaccompanied children are expected to be exempt from all of this, but that would be worrisome to a lot of immigration advocates who say that that could actually have the result of incentivizing and encouraging some families from sending children to the border on their own.
[00:20:03]
Now President Biden would be using an authority that's called the 212(f) authority. This was a regulation that was actually used by former president Donald Trump during his administration and he received a lot of criticism, including from many Democrats at the time. So it's not hard to President Biden getting criticized for hypocrisy for leaning on this authority himself.
And of course very hard to ignore the politics that are at play here given that border security is one where President Biden and Democrats have gotten so much criticism for, and really a lot of pressure to do more to get a better handle on the border. The timing of course is really significant as well given that we are just a couple of weeks away from that first presidential debate between President Biden and former president Donald Trump.
Now, the White House is not confirming this forthcoming announcement that we expect again on Tuesday, but a White House spokesperson said this in a statement to CNN. They said, "As we have said before, the administration continues to explore a series of policy options and we remain committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system."
Now, the big caveat here, of course, is that there could still be some final changes that are made to the final text of this executive order. But when it does come, it will be sweeping. It will be a significant political announcement and Present Biden is certainly hoping that it is something that could strengthen his political hand before November.
MJ Lee, CNN, at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, for the first time in three months because of gang violence, the World Food Programme has delivered truckloads of food and other aid to Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince since it also has access to Haiti's international airport for humanitarian passenger and cargo flights. The agency says many Haitians are suffering from severe catastrophic hunger, which will only get worse without continued access to those in need.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-MARTIN BAUER, HAITI COUNTRY DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: The port has been closed for a long time. It was looted. And the airport was closed. So effectively Port-au-Prince for the past few months has been an island. So it's really important for WFP and other humanitarians to be able to bring supplies into the city to run the essential programs. So the essential services that people rely on, good health care, water and sanitation, food. They require the free movement of goods and people, and right now we just haven't had that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: When we come back, the torrential rain ended weeks ago in Kenya but in some communities the floodwaters continue to rise and still there. Residents believe the corrupt government has let the crisis last for too long.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:25:04]
VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, he was known as America's doctor. Calm, reassuring presence amid an unprecedented medical crisis. But to House Republicans Dr. Anthony Fauci plays a central role in their unproven conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic. And so it was when he was called to testify once again on Capitol Hill Monday.
This was perhaps Dr. Anthony Fauci's final showdown with Republicans over mandates, vaccines, the origins of the pandemic, and even though he is now retired, Dr. Fauci says he and his family still receive credible death threats to this day.
CNN's Meg Tirrell has details on what was a heated testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in his first public testimony since leaving the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases at the end of 2022, Dr. Fauci was asked about the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Also about some COVID-era policies like vaccine mandates, travel restrictions, masking, and social distancing.
Really though, folks expected going into this hearing today that it probably was going to be more political than really regulatory from a scientific perspective. And that's likely the takeaways that came from it. Dr. Fauci in his own opening statements anticipated that this would be the tenor of the hearing today, focusing in on an accusation that he says he heard that he influenced scientists by bribing them with government grants, which he called, quote, "absolutely false" and simply preposterous.
He also talked about how he had kept an open mind about the origins of the virus, whether it leaked from a lab which was a theory that a lot of Republicans were talking about here at the hearing today, versus a natural spillover event from an animal, which a lot of people in the scientific community think is the likely route.
He also was pressed a lot and addressed in his opening statements his relationship with a staff member at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, David Morens. He had the title of an adviser to the director. He said that instead this colleague's role really was to help him writing scientific papers, not to advise him on institute policies. Fauci was also asked a lot about his use of any personal e- mail to do government business. He said to the best of his knowledge he never did that.
There was one exchange where Dr. Fauci actually got emotional. Whereas there had been a lot of previous heated exchanges with some congresspeople, Dr. Fauci got emotional when talking with Representative Debbie Dingell, who asked him about threats that had been made to his family. Here's that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There have been credible death threats leading to the arrests of two individuals and credible death threats means someone who clearly was on their way to kill me, and it's required my having protective services essentially all the time.
It is very troublesome to me. It is much more troublesome because they involved my wife and my three daughters.
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): At this moment, how do you feel?
FAUCI: Terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIRRELL: Fauci said in conversation with the representative after this exchange that he was concerned that very good scientists may not want to go into public service anymore after seeing the kinds of threats that have been made to Dr. Fauci and others.
Now, there were a lot of questions, of course, about the origins of the virus, but not a lot of answers, and a lot of experts we've talked with note how difficult it is to find the answers to these questions, and given the tensions that we've seen with China, Dr. Fauci he said this in testimony behind closed doors back in January ahead of today's hearing that unfortunately answers may never come.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Los Angeles is Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, a bio researcher, board certified internal medicine specialist, and one of our constant companions and voice of reasons during the COVID pandemic.
It is good to see you again.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, BOARD CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Good to see you, John. S
VAUSE: OK. So putting what happened on Capitol Hill Monday to one side, how much could be gained by a serious review of how we dealt with the COVID pandemic, the effectiveness of school closures and lockdowns, as well as masks and social distancing, what worked and what did not work?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think it's important that we do that. We can gain everything that we need to know. I think one of the biggest things -- one of the truest things that Anthony Fauci said is the fact that we have not really moved forward much in the preparedness for the next pandemic. We need to know when it's coming. We need to be able to raise red flags as opposed to acting when it's here. We need to communicate equally between states, between counties.
That's one thing, John, if you remember years ago when we were talking about this that was one of my greatest issues. The virus knows no boundaries and yet we're acting differently in different parts of this country and the world. So how much is there to gain? Everything that's what we have to gain. Everything.
[00:30:15] VAUSE: And instead of that, we've got stuff like this on Monday on Capitol Hill from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): As director of the NIH, you did sign off on these so-called scientific experiments.
And as a dog lover, I want to tell you this is disgusting. And evil, what you signed off on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Fauci questioned that has to do with the COVID pandemic. You know, and I hate medical testing on animals, as well, but that's not the point. Was there anything of significance which came out of this hearing?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know what? The hearing was political theater and a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking, as we say here in the United States. What came out of it is, I think, a lot of people were feeding red meat to their base.
There is already an unjustified dislike and distrust of Dr. Fauci and of institutions. So I think those people that basically just fed their base the fact that they were against Fauci, they gained something.
I don't think scientifically there was much that was gained. What I did get is the fact that Fauci never really said, you know, that the virus did not come from some sort of laboratory in China. He's going to leave his mind open and -- to any of the possibilities. So I thought that was interesting.
VAUSE: In the past year or so, Republicans on this committee, in particular, have accused Dr. Fauci of cashing in on the pandemic, making millions of dollars. They've also accused him of using taxpayer dollars to suppress the lab-leak theory you just mentioned. They've also just accused of an outright cover-up.
None of it is true, but none of it's also harmless.
Fauci and his family, as we've heard, have received death threats, which is absurd that, you know, that should happen to someone who has 54 years in public service, who led this country through an unprecedented global health crisis. You know, he wasn't God. He didn't get everything right, but he has earned a degree of respect.
And all this -- you touched on this -- is part of the politicization of public health. What sort of harm is that doing, you know, in the big picture here?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, it's doing immense harm. People -- you know, first of all, we saw how science happened, you know, how the sausage was being made. Usually when you find out data, medical information, it' s been decades of trial and error. So the harm is that it makes people not trust medicine, science, and institutions and to their own detriment. Because if we had this way of thinking, way back when polio was happening, we would have tens of millions of people dead today. That's the harm that it's doing.
VAUSE: Yes, well, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who believes in Jewish space lasers orbiting the planet, she sort of questioned Dr. Fauci's credentials. Clear this up for us. He does have a medical degree, right? He is a doctor?
RODRIGUEZ: Dr. Fauci is a medical doctor. Dr. Fauci is one of the most respected researchers in the world and has been so for the last 40 or 50 years since the beginning of the HIV epidemic. Those are his credentials. I don't know hers.
VAUSE: Good point to finish on.
Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, as always, sir, it's good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
RODRIGUEZ: Likewise.
VAUSE: Well, opening statements are set to begin in the trial of Hunter Biden in the coming hours. The son of the U.S. president is facing felony gun charges for allegedly purchasing a handgun while he was addicted to drugs.
Jury selection happened Monday in Wilmington, Delaware. Six men, six women, were sworn in, including a woman who says she lost many friends to drug addiction, and a gun owner who believes people who smoke marijuana should still be allowed to own firearms.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges, although he has been open about his struggle with alcohol and crack cocaine addiction. This is the first time in history that the child of a sitting U.S. president has gone on trial.
In a moment, volcano alert in Hawaii. Kilauea, erupting once again. Stunning images of glowing lava flows. More when we come back.
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VAUSE: Israeli passport holders will not be allowed to enter the Maldives over Israel's war with Hamas. The president of the Indian Ocean island says he's following a recommendation from cabinet members and will set up a fundraiser with UNRWA to assist Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry recommended Israelis avoid traveling to the Maldives and encourage those staying there to leave, as it would be, quote, "difficult to help them" if they're there.
Parts of Kenya remain under underwater weeks after the devastating floods killed hundreds of people, left more than 200,000 homeless. Not even the area's richest neighborhood to spared. And some residents say the government is either unable or unwilling to properly address the crisis.
Details from CNN's Larry Madowo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is not a river. This is a family's courtyard in Runda, one of Nairobi's wealthiest suburbs. More than a month after record rains and floods hit Kenya, their home is still submerged.
Jonathan Dass says they haven't even started quantifying how much his family is lost. Nothing is left untouched after two meters of floodwaters moved in.
These are rally cars (ph).
JONATHAN DASS, NAIROBI RESIDENT: A lot of people are moving into the city. We've got people coming from abroad who want to live in these, you know, luxurious, leafy areas.
And there's a lot of demand for that. At the same time, we're not moving fast enough to be able to plan properly and understand what needs to be done to accommodate all these people coming in.
MADOWO: Runda has a reputation for being very well-planned because of the diplomatic quarter. The U.N. is here. The U.S. embassy's here.
DASS: I don't know what to say, Larry. It's not -- it's not well- planned. If it was well-planned, we wouldn't be sitting here in a boat.
MADOWO (voice-over): All this water in Rwanda has nowhere to go because the drainage of this water pan is blocked. The residents blame it on corruption and impunity.
DANIELA BLATTLER, RUNDA NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: There is someone who is backfilling slowly, but surely. So the dam is becoming smaller and smaller and there is not an outlet to send the water that arrived to somewhere else.
MADOWO (voice-over): Sean Blachekey (ph) can only navigate his backyard with a paddle board, a far cry from the playground and garden it was before the rains.
MADOWO: Is that fish here?
SEAN BLACHEKEY (PH), RESIDENT: There is actually quite, quite a bit. This is practically a fish farm at the moment.
MADOWO: Did you always have catch fish before?
BLACHEKEY (ph): Nope, nope. This is fairly new. A perk of living on Lake Runda.
MADOWO (voice-over): Some of the Runda residents whose homes remain underwater have lived here for decades without drainage issues until now.
MADOWO: Do you believe this is a man-made disaster?
DAVID DASS, RUNDA NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: It's -- we've had a lot of rain, but the magnitude of the disaster created by greedy grabbing.
MADOWO (voice-over): Across town from Runda in Nairobi's oldest slum, Mathare, bulldozers have brought down everything standing within 30 meters of a river. Many had just 24 hours' notice.
MADOWO: This used to be somebody's house. In fact, I stood on top of this exact same house in late April after some of the worst flooding Kenya has seen claimed some lives in this informal settlement?
The government then ordered them out, forcibly evicted thousands of families from this area and demolished their homes. Nairobi's poorest have suffered the most from the flooding and the evictions that have left so many homeless.
RACHAEL MWIKALI, MATHARE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER: What we have seen is that the rich are enjoying their rights. But as the poor, we are fighting to get the rights that's supposed to be our rights, which is not fair.
MADOWO (voice-over): The Kenyan government maintains that the mandatory evacuations were for the sake of public safety after flooding killed more than 300 people.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: After being dormant for three months, Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has rumbled back to life and started spewing lava in the middle of the night.
[00:40:08]
U.S. Geological Survey reports the eruption has since paused but is warning the activity in the region could change quickly.
The volcano is the youngest and most active on the Hawaiian island.
Around the world, pride celebrations are underway with a month of festivals, parades, and a lot of color. One of the world's largest marches celebrating LGBTQ+ culture and riots took place in Sao Paolo this weekend, filling the streets with Brazil's national colors, yellow and green.
Celebrations, too, in the U.S. In West Hollywood, singer Cyndi Lauper was the parade marshal, accompanied by go-go dancers, drag queens and even politicians.
Pride celebrations filled the streets in cities like Thailand, South Korea, Poland. Next hour we hope to show you what the video looked like. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause, back at the top
of the hour with video and more CNN NEWSROOM. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. See you soon.
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