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Netanyahu Vows To Move Gaza Residents To The South; Trump Administration Offering To Pay Undocumented Migrants To Self-Deport; Traveling Through Disputed Territory In Kashmir; Air Traffic Controllers Lost Contact With Newark Planes; Sean 'Diddy' Combs Appears In Court As Jury Selection Begins. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired May 06, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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M.J. LEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm M.J. Lee in Washington, D.C.
Ahead for us this hour, Israel plans to conquer Gaza in a new war operation. But this time, it says it won't leave the enclave.
Disputed territory. With tensions high between India and Pakistan, CNN goes inside Pakistan controlled Kashmir.
Plus, I don't know where you are. Air traffic controllers left in the dark without radar or guidance systems leading to a week of delays at a major U.S. airport.
We begin this hour with new developments in the Middle East including Israel's latest plans for Gaza and retaliation against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthi run Ministry of Health reports that Israeli airstrikes have killed at least one person and injured 35 others. It's the first time Israel has struck Houthi targets in months, and it comes one day after a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis landed in the vicinity of Israel's main airport.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will have the population of Gaza moved to the southern part of the territory for their own safety. The Israeli Security Cabinet approved an expanded military operation in Gaza on Sunday called Gideon's Chariots.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Israel is preparing to conquer and occupy large swaths of the Gaza Strip. That's according to an Israeli official speaking after the Israeli Security Cabinet approved expanding Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, something that will likely happen in a matter of weeks.
The Israeli military is now beginning to mobilize tens of thousands of additional reservists in order to carry out these expanded military operations, and the Israeli prime minister is indeed confirming that Israel has decided to intensify this operation and making clear that Israel, unlike in the past, Israeli forces will not just enter and exit areas inside of Gaza, but rather the opposite, he said, that those Israeli forces will remain in the area even after Israeli forces believe that they have routed Hamas from those portions of Gaza.
The Israeli prime minister also saying that this will involve the, quote, "movement of the population to protect them." But what he is talking about there is the mass displacement of Palestinians likely from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, perhaps the center of the Gaza Strip, as well. Moving that population, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, towards the southern part of Gaza.
What we understand is that this will be a gradual expansion of this ground offensive, as Israeli officials say that they want to give some more time and space to see whether the announcement of this operation and eventually the expansion of these military operations will result in more leverage to pressure Hamas into agreeing to a new ceasefire and hostage release deal on terms more favorable to Israel.
Israel and the United States are also exploring a new mechanism for the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. But clearly this would be a very tightly controlled mechanism that would allow Israel to determine where that aid actually goes to in Gaza. And something that could potentially be used as a way to lure Gaza's population away from certain areas of the strip and towards other parts of Gaza, facilitating that displacement of Palestinians that Israeli officials are now talking about.
And that seems to be part of the reason why the United Nations and other humanitarian groups involved in the distribution of aid have said that they are not inclined to participate in this mechanism, instead calling for the crossings to be opened as we are now reaching more than two months since any aid has gotten into Gaza because of this ongoing Israeli blockade.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Monday night carrying out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen in retaliation for that ballistic missile attack that landed just next to Israel's International Ben Gurion Airport, shutting down that airport for about an hour. Israeli fighter jets carried out these strikes about 2,000 kilometers away from Israeli soil, striking Yemen's Port of Hodeida, which the Israeli military says has been used to import Iranian weapons and other military equipment.
The Israeli military also said that they went after economic targets inside of Yemen as well. The question now, whether Israel will also carry out retaliation against Iran, whom Israel has accused of ultimately funding and being responsible for these ongoing Houthi attacks against Israel.
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Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: Alon Pinkas is the former Israeli consul general in New York. He joins me now from Tel Aviv.
It is great to have you here. Let's begin with Prime Minister Netanyahu's latest warning of an intensive escalation in Gaza. He says he is not talking about some in-and-out operation. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): One thing will be clear. There will be no in and out. We'll call in reserves to come hold territory. We're not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterwards. That's not the plan. The intention is the opposite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: So my question to you, for starters, is, you know, do we have any reason to think that the prime minister doesn't intend to follow through with what he is talking about here?
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL NEW YORK: Well, a lot of it, M.J., depends on whether or not he will be subject to American pressure not to do so. But I doubt that President Trump cares enough to actually exert that kind of pressure. So the prime minister seems to be destined to do this.
Now, why he is doing this is unclear. Is it viable? Very unclear. Are there coherent and well defined military objectives? Not clear. Could this succeed? Absolutely not clear. What is the plan for after this operation supposedly succeeds? Not clear at all. So we're looking at a very, very murky and uncertain situation and very dynamic situation here.
LEE: Yes. And the prime minister is talking about all Gazans being displaced, pushed down to the southern part of the strip. I mean, we have seen this before. And you couple that with the pause in humanitarian aid entering Gaza that's been in place for weeks and weeks now. I mean, talk to us for a second about the humanitarian impact here.
PINKAS: Well, it's catastrophic. We're talking about 2.3 million people in the most dense swath of land, you know, on this planet who are being moved back and forth from the northern part of the Gaza Strip to the southern part of the Gaza Strip. And again, for the better part of the last 18 months. But if you look at it, sorry, if you look at it, M.J., from a slightly broader perspective, whatever happens, you know, you're talking about the humanitarian aid and that's obviously the most important thing, but there's a political dimension to this.
Mr. Netanyahu is, for all intents and purposes, occupying the Gaza Strip. He may not call it an occupation. He may say that at some point when Hamas is removed from power and maintains no residual power, Israel will leave, but effectively, Israel is occupying the Gaza Strip.
Now, if you occupy the Gaza Strip, you own the Gaza Strip. And that begins with humanitarian aid and begins with the -- and I'm sorry, and continues with reconstruction and food and potable water and health services and crime and law and order and crime prevention, et cetera, et cetera. So Israel is basically in this -- I can't find a better term than this new chapter in the march of folly is going, you know, blindly, with its eyes wide open into Gaza. And it's going to end with an occupation and a humanitarian catastrophe. There's no way around that.
LEE: And let me just return to something you mentioned before, and that is the Trump of it all. You know, you talk about American pressure.
PINKAS: Yes.
LEE: I mean, even well before he was sworn in for a second term, President Trump made very clear he wants this conflict to be over. Fair to say, we are not any closer to this conflict coming to an end than a few months ago. You seem to think that we are not in a situation where President Trump is likely to exert a lot of pressure on the Israelis to not take these actions.
What makes you say that?
PINKAS: Because I think he has other priorities. However, let me let me try and balance that, M.J., since you asked. Trump came in, President Trump came in saying he can end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, and finally put in place a peace in Gaza. He then went on in early February to come up with this fantastical idea about turning Gaza into a riviera and what have you, and casinos and -- OK, that's great. That hasn't happened. And he moved on to other things.
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Now, you look at Ukraine and you look at Gaza, he's nowhere near anything else, but, but, for the benefit of balancing the possibilities, he's going to Saudi Arabia, he is going to Qatar, and he's going to meet the -- he's going to the Emirates, the best of my understanding. These three countries have a pretty significant sway on him thanks to investments, arms, acquisitions and purchases and so on.
They will probably press him to go back into active mediation. If you notice, M.J., in the last month, the U.S. toned down significantly and visibly the level of its mediation efforts in Gaza. It's nowhere near what you saw in January and February. And so if he emerges from his Mideast trip after being pressured or being convinced or persuaded by the Saudis particularly to be more active, then we can could see him weigh in and exert pressure on Israel.
Right now, it looks as if he just doesn't care. This is not a big deal. He's going to say, look, sort it out. Israel said no to every American idea about post-war Gaza. Israel keeps on saying for 18 months, Benjamin Netanyahu that is, keeps on saying for 18 months total victory, eradication of Hamas. That's all great. We haven't done that. We haven't achieved that. And so the only way is the inevitable occupation of Gaza. And Trump is going to say, hey, guys, you know, this is not my problem. I have other things on my plate. LEE: All right. Yes. That trip by President Trump to the Middle East
next week is going to be very closely watched with all of this as the backdrop.
Alon Pinkas in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.
PINKAS: Thank you, M.J..
LEE: The U.S. Homeland Security Department has unveiled a new plan promising to pay undocumented migrants who return to their countries of origin voluntarily. President Trump says those who don't take the offer and who are detained and deported will, quote, "never get a path to come back in."
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration on Monday announcing a new program, one intended to have undocumented immigrants in the United States self-deport. Now, according to the Department of Homeland Security, this would include a one-way airline ticket and also a $1,000 stipend. According to senior Trump officials, this would still be more cost effective. They say that arresting an individual, detaining them, and deporting them can cost the administration around $17,000, and a ticket and a stipend would be less than that.
They also teased incentives down the road, saying that it's possible that someone who is undocumented now and leaves voluntarily may have a chance of returning in the future. Now immigration attorneys say it's more complicated than that, and many cases are unique. There's also the question of travel documents and what would happen for someone who doesn't have one, even if they want to return to their home country.
Now, it's also, in many ways, a concession of how difficult it is to deport undocumented immigrants. That has been true for multiple administrations, as the federal government deals with limited resources and personnel. The administration, intent on trying to see through President Trump's mass deportation pledge, now offering another way for undocumented immigrants to leave the United States.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: The head of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons says the agency will pursue all avenues to reopen Alcatraz. This comes after President Trump posted on social media that the former prison should be used to house violent offenders. Alcatraz was shut down in 1963 because of its high operating costs and crumbling infrastructure. It's now a popular tourist destination. The White House border czar also supports the president's idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: We need detention place, and I think that's an appropriate place for the significant public safety threats, national security threats, why not?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But do you have an idea how expensive it'd be?
HOMAN: I have no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: And according to the prison bureau, Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than other federal prisons and it only housed a few hundred inmates at a time. Still, the president is undeterred.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Rare access to disputed territories.
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CNN goes inside Pakistan controlled Kashmir, where a standoff with India could escalate into a full blown conflict.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEE: Two weeks after the deadly massacre in Kashmir, tensions between India and Pakistan are reaching dangerous new levels. Pakistan reportedly carried out a second missile test on Monday. India ordering new security drills. And multiple major airlines have stopped flying over Pakistan. The U.N. secretary-general urging both sides to show restraint, warning, quote, "a military solution is no solution."
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CNN's Nic Robertson received rare access to Pakistan controlled Kashmir and has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): High in the Himalayas, Pakistan's army is taking us deep into disputed Kashmir, toward the line of control, the de facto border with India. And one of the most militarized conflicts in the world.
Tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbors rising since a terror attack killed 26 civilians, mostly Indian, almost two weeks ago. Militaries on both sides readying for possible escalation, as India blamed Pakistan and Pakistan denied responsibility. It's a war of words. Civilians on both sides of these rugged mountains
fear, not for the first time, will be victims of events way beyond their sway. Control of the towering peaks unresolved for 75 years.
Just driving through the mountains here, it's easy to understand why Kashmir is still a disputed area. So hard to fight a decisive war in this rugged terrain.
(Voice-over): The other thing you see here is poverty. Meager villages clinging to the hillside. People here say the spiking tensions making it harder to eke a living, as were about to find out. On foot now, the village we're heading to, a few hundred feet from the line of control.
And just look over there. You can see how close the front lines are. That's the last Pakistani position there. The Indian army position a few hundred meters away. And those trees, that's the line of control.
(Voice-over): When we arrive, most villagers clustered around one house, some hiding in the dark inside. Children peeking from unglazed windows.
This villager telling us they live in fear now. Elderly children and women are incredibly scared, he says. We want to take our livestock out to pasture, but the Indians are right there in front of us, and we're very concerned.
Their fears may be well-founded. This 17-year-old says Indian troops killed his father, Malik Farouk.
He had gone to the line of control to chase our cattle, he says. The Indians shot him and accused him of being a terrorist. He is not. He is a good man.
The day after the massacre in Indian administered Kashmir, the Indian government announced it had foiled a terror plot, killing two Pakistanis.
Malik's brother denies the allegations, too, says he was just a herder like me. Believes India wants their land before breaking down in tears.
It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.
(Voice-over): India has done a great cruelty to us, he says. If they want me to leave, put a bullet in my head. That's the only way I'll go.
With no end in sight on both sides of the border, civilians as ever the losers in this decades old conflict.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Sarjiwar, on the line of control in Pakistan administered Kashmir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: And with that decades long conflict showing no signs of resolution, there's no shortage of grievances and accusations being levied on both sides of the border. Officials in India have long accused Pakistan of backing armed groups and separatist forces inside the Indian administered portion of Kashmir. Pakistan says this was true in the past but is not happening now.
With the killings of 26 civilians still fresh in the minds of many across the border, and calls for revenge, it's no surprise that global powers, including the U.S. and China, have stepped in to urge restraint in this tense standoff.
U.S. officials are warning that the nightmare at one of the busiest airports in the country isn't over yet. Just ahead, air traffic control audio reveals the issues that have caused massive delays at Newark Liberty Airport.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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LEE: One of the busiest airports in the U.S. Newark Liberty continues to be plagued by widespread delays more than a week after a communication outage led to staffing shortages. Air traffic control audio recorded by the Web site LiveATC.net and obtained by CNN reveals the tense moments authorities say prompted some controllers to take trauma leave.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you do not have a bravo clearance. We lost our radar. And it is not working correctly. Radar service terminates. Squawk VFR. Change approved. If you want a bravo clearance, you can just call the towers when you get closer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I'll wait for that frequency from you. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. No. The Squawk VFR. Look up the tower frequencies. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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LEE: The Federal Aviation Administration acknowledged Monday that the agency's antiquated air traffic control system is affecting its workforce. And now lawmakers are demanding an investigation.
CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The FAA is now essentially confirming our new reporting on this saga. This paints the best picture yet --
MUNTEAN (voice-over): -- of why delays at Newark have been going on for days. It all goes back to an incident last Monday at the key radar facility
responsible for Newark flights, and a source familiar with the incident tells me controllers there lost both radio and radar systems for an undisclosed amount of time.
That meant controllers were essentially doing their jobs blind, which led to at least five controllers taking what's called trauma leave, something they're legally allowed to do.
They're now off for the next 45 days.
This is a huge development. And the FAA has been investigating the cause of the equipment outage that triggered these staffing shortages.
MUNTEAN: But now Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer is calling for the Department of Transportation inspector general to launch a probe immediately. This is what he said about the cause of the outage at the Newark radar facility. Listen.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The technology is old and must be updated. It was one of the things that -- one of the things that happened at Newark is a copper wire burnt.
Why are we using copper wire in 2025? Have they heard of fiber?
MUNTEAN: Schumer also called out last year's move of the Newark radar facility from Long Island, New York, to Philadelphia.
The goal there was to shore up staffing issues, but Schumer says it actually made problems worse.
The FAA is not detailing a fix in the near term. Controllers do jobs that are location specific, meaning they cannot be pulled from one area and dropped into another.
Pete Muntean CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEE: The federal trial of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has begun in New York. Still ahead, what Combs told the judge on the first day of jury selection.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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LEE: And this just in from Sudan. Reuters is reporting that multiple explosions and fires have been heard and seen in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
The cause is not clear at this point, but as you can see there, smoke could be seen in the vicinity of the main port infrastructure, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are located.
Sudan, of course, has been wracked by fighting between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. We will bring you more of those details as they come in.
Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs appeared in court on Monday as jury selection began in his federal criminal trial. Combs has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including sex trafficking.
CNN's Kara Scannell lays out the events leading up to the trial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a bombshell. Sean "Diddy" Combs's former longtime girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, filing a lawsuit in November 2023, accusing the music mogul of beating her and forcing her to have sex with male prostitutes while he watched.
The allegations shattered Combs's image as a hip-hop icon. The founder of Bad Boy Records.
SEAN "DIDDY" COMBS, HIP-HOP MOGUL: I have a lot of potential.
SCANNELL (voice-over): And a tabloid fixture for his star-studded white parties had been awarded a key to New York City just two months earlier.
COMBS: I want to thank you all for this honor and just recognizing me.
SCANNELL (voice-over): But the explosive allegations caught the attention of federal prosecutors, who opened a criminal investigation.
Federal agents searched Combs's homes in Miami and Los Angeles in March of 2024, seizing items including his phones, three AR-15s with the serial number scratched off, and over 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.
Then, in September 2024, Combs was arrested and charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.
DAMIAN WILLIAMS, THEN-U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Combs abused, threatened, and coerced victims to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Prosecutors allege multiple women were given drugs and coerced into having sex with male prostitutes in arrangements known as freak-offs.
WILLIAMS: The freak-offs sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics such as ketamine, ecstasy, and GHB, which Combs distributed to the victims to keep them obedient and compliant.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Authorities allege Combs dangled one woman off a balcony and violently beat others, including Ventura.
This hotel surveillance footage obtained by CNN, shows Combs throwing Ventura to the ground, kicking and dragging her, leading Combs to apologize in this Instagram video.
COMBS: My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I'm so sorry.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Ventura and three other accusers are expected to testify against him.
Combs has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers insist all of Combs's sexual encounters have been consensual.
MARC AGNIFILO, LAWYER FOR COMBS: The spirits are good. He's confident. He is dealing with this head on, the way he's dealt with every challenge in his life. And he's -- he's not guilty. He's innocent of these charges.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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LEE: Fashion's biggest night out did not disappoint. On Monday, A-list stars and fashion icons donned their boldest, boundary-pushing looks for the Met Gala in New York.
This year's theme, Tailored for You, was inspired by the Costume Institute's exhibition, Superfine, tailoring black style, which explores the history of black sartorialism and dandyism.
Many of the head-turning looks were inspired by menswear, as well as black fashion icons dating back to the 18th Century.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm M.J. Lee. I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour. WORLD SPORT is next.
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