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CNN This Morning
Israel Seizes Control Of Rafah Crossing Following Airstrikes; Biden To Give Speech On Holocaust Remembrance Day; Today: Chinese President Xi Continues Visit To France; Severe Storm Threats in Eastern, Central U.S. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 07, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:39]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, May 7th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
Israel captures Gaza's Rafah border crossing, saying the terms of the latest ceasefire proposal are far from its demands.
Plus, President Biden delivering a major speech today at the Holocaust Museum to condemn antisemitism.
And --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you can hear just as sound -- I think that is the gas, like right in front of us. Look at this home, look at this home.
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HUNT: A tornado touching down in Oklahoma, at least one person killed. More than a million people still in harm's way at this hour.
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HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington. A live local Capitol Hill on this Tuesday morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Israel is expected to be at the table for ceasefire talks today in Cairo. This after Israeli officials indicated that a deal that Hamas said it accepted on Monday did not correspond to what Israel had expected. And without the deal Israel decided to quote, exert military pressure on Hamas, end quote.
New overnight, the IDF seizing control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing after conducting a series of airstrikes that have killed at least 15 people. The Rafah crossing is a vital access point for humanitarian aid along the Egyptian border, which has now been shut down.
The U.N. chief appealing to the two sides to reach an agreement quickly.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS: The ground invasion in Rafah would be tolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences, and because of its destabilizing impacts.
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HUNT: All right. CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us live now from Rome with more on this.
Ben, good morning.
A lot of back-and-forth yesterday about this agreement. Can you clarify exactly what Hamas agreed to on Monday and why Israel pushed back and we saw this incursion into Rafah?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we understand, Kasie, is that this is a three-phase proposal that Hamas said it agreed to. In the first phase, which is supposed to last for 42 days or six weeks, 33 hostages would be released. That would include the elderly, women, children, and the sick, and exchange Israel would withdraw from parts of Gaza. There would be halted reconnaissance flights for 10 hours a day over Gaza and hundreds of Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, either prisoners or detainees, would be released.
Now in the second phase of this proposal, there would be a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. All the other hostages would be released and there would be what's been called a sustainable period of calm. In the third phase, they're talking about three to five years, Gaza would be reconstructed.
Now the Israeli say this isn't what they had agreed to before. It's not exactly clear what were the points of disagreement, but we understand the Israelis do not want anything that would indicate essentially an end of the war because Israel continues to insist that in addition to the release of the hostages, Israel wants to completely destroy Hamas. Now the Americans have told them that might not be a realistic goal at this point, but politically, it would be very difficult for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war without achieving that one of its basic goals -- Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Ben Wedeman, live for us in Rome -- Ben, thank you very much for that.
All right. This just in to CNN, a senior White House official telling us that President Biden will highlight or underscore, we should say the atrocities of October 7 when he delivers a speech later this morning on this Holocaust Remembrance Day at the U.S. Holocaust Museum.
The official said the president will also talk about how too many people are downplaying what happened on October 7.
[05:05:03]
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previewed this yesterday.
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KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will touch on how his national strategy to counter antisemitism is putting the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community. He will reaffirm that we respect and protect the fundamental right to free speech. But there's no place on any campus or anywhere for antisemitism.
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HUNT: All right. Joining me now is "Semafor's" Shelby Talcott.
Shelby, good morning. Thanks for being here. So in this preview of this speech, she did talk about, of course, the balance between free speech and making sure that people are protected in terms of the antisemitism that we have seen flare up on these college campuses.
What do you expect in this major address? I mean, this is definitely something away that President Biden often chooses to address major moments.
SHELBY TALCOTT, POLITICS REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yeah, and I think its notable because while he has issued some statements, he did give a brief statement last week, I think as three to five minutes where he sort of condemned the violence that we did see on campus, and that aspect of antisemitism. Most of the comments have been coming from the White House and from his aides on behalf of him.
So this speech today is going to be really notable, just given not only what's going on in Israel and Gaza, but what's going on here in the U.S. and now, across, across the world, we've seen protests breakout in light of this. And so, I anticipate that he's obviously going to talk about antisemitism. But what I'm really curious to see is how he addresses some more of the specifics about the situation with Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu and with humanitarian questions over in Gaza.
HUNT: Right. And, of course, we're looking at some footage from college campuses because this is what, or at least I believe that's what were looking at. This was in Wisconsin, in Madison, Wisconsin earlier this month. This -- these are the scenes that are putting so much pressure on the president.
And our Ron Brownstein is a columnist here at CNN, in addition to his role at "The Atlantic", put it this way in terms of the pressure on Biden and the way he sits inside the Democratic Party.
Quote: Through the -- though the vast majority of Democratic officeholders show no penchant to fundamentally break with Israel, Biden could be the last Democratic president for the foreseeable future who aligns so unreservedly with the nation.
Do you see that being -- I mean, Biden clearly, he's -- let's be honest, reaching the end of a very long political career, that he's had here in Washington, shaped very much by this particular issue, but younger generations seem to view it very differently.
TALCOTT: Absolutely. And there are still a lot of Democrats in office who are pretty staunchly pro-Israel. But you're right, were seeing that younger generation have a shift in mentality where it comes to Israel, where they're not as an avowedly pro-Israel, or at times they believe that the situation needs to drastically change. And so I think that's a fair argument.
We're seeing this change -- this not just on college campuses, but even with younger generations of people in Congress and people running -- running for Congress. And so, there is the possibility that in the long term, perhaps the stance with the U.S. and Israel does change particularly if the Democratic Party.
HUNT: Yeah. How do you see the fight for independent and swing voters right now? Because obviously Donald Trump is trying to it put more focus on the campus protesters as evidenced that there's a lack of law and order, for example.
TALCOTT: Yeah, Donald Trump has been basically using these campus protests to make the broader argument that Joe Biden is bad at foreign policy, right? We've seen Donald Trump talk for months on the campaign trail about the Afghanistan withdrawal, about the Ukraine-Russia war, and about this. And so the campus protests sort of just add onto that argument.
In terms of swing voters, it's interesting because when I talked to the Biden campaign, they're not convinced that this specific incident is the situation is actually going to move the needle because yes, while there are a number of young voters who are concerned about this, they point out that young voters are more concerned about things like the economy, which at the same time still doesn't bode great for Joe Biden at this point.
But certainly, this is going to be a topic regardless of whether it ends up persuading people to one side or another.
HUNT: Well, that's why the focus on getting a ceasefire in Gaza is so absolutely critical for them.
All right. Shelby Talcott, Shelby, thank you very much for starting us off today. I appreciate it.
[05:10:00]
All right. Up next, what if they held on inauguration and no one came? Next, the long list of countries boycotting Vladimir Putin's big event.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It smells like gas out here.
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HUNT: Tornado is tearing through parts of Oklahoma and the threat may not be over.
Plus, a U.S. soldier detained in Russia. We'll bring you those details in our morning round up, ahead.
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[05:14:52]
HUNT: Welcome back.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both on the international stage this morning as Xi is continuing his tour of France.
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It's his first trip to Europe in five years. Meanwhile, Russia's war in Ukraine was a main topic during bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday. Macron saying that she reiterated that China will not send weapons or military parts to Russia.
Then there's this, happening now in Moscow, Putin's fifth presidential inauguration ceremony is underway. This comes a day after he ordered Russian forces to rehearse deploying tactical nuclear weapons, as part of military drills to respond to what he calls threats from the West.
Joining me now from London is CNN international anchor Max Foster.
Max, good morning. Always wonderful to have you.
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kasie.
HUNT: Let's start with Xi. It's a pretty rare visit for him. What is he hoping to accomplish and how is this tour being received, especially among NATO members?
FOSTER: Well, it's interesting, isn't it? I think the message here is one to Europe, but the wider west and probably particularly America. It's pretty clear that he's -- there's some level of intention here to show some divide within the West.
So he's chosen countries to visit which appear to be leaning towards China. I'm not saying the moving away from the U.S., but countries like France or certainly embracing the opportunities that Chinas been offering, that's partly why they've been chosen Serbia where he's going onto next, you know, has a tense relationship obviously with NATO, and it's exposing the tensions within NATO.
And there are certain countries he could have gone to, which are particularly close to the U.S., like the UK. He didn't go there. So I think a lot of the messaging here is that it's about that new world order, how China's trying to step into it, show some leadership, show it has support within Europe. And also how the Western alliance isn't necessarily a strong as the West likes to think it is.
HUNT: And, of course, this ties in with what Vladimir Putin is doing and the way he is conducting his war in Ukraine. And also these military drills around tack tactical nukes and what's that in response to? My understanding is that it relates to some actions being taken in Europe is something of a warning sign?
FOSTER: Well, there's -- you know, if we go back to Emmanuel Macron in France, he's been talking about how potentially there could be European troops fighting in Ukraine. He's not saying its going to happen, but he's not saying it wont either.
There's various comments have been made recently which really antagonized Moscow and off the back of that hearing, reports that they may test tactical nuclear weapons, these smaller nuclear weapons that would be used in a in a war zone.
It's been publicized, has been leaked, so we were meant to hear about it that could be the intention here. That's certainly what the Americans are suggesting. But the very idea of nuclear weapons being in a battlefield is frightening, isn't it? Because, you know, even if they're not used, they could there could be some misuse of them or it could there could be some level of escalation, where were they, you know, are misjudgment where they use when they shouldn't be used.
It's just a frightening the idea that they could actually make it into a battlefield, but it could just be messaging as it often is, Russia.
HUNT: All right. Max Foster for us in London -- Max, always grateful to have you. Thank you so much for being here.
FOSTER: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here, a deadly tornado overnight in Oklahoma as dangerous storms rage across the central U.S.
And why the next tirade from Donald Trump could land him in jail?
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[05:22:43]
HUNT: All right. Twenty-two minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
And American soldier detained in Russia. Gordon Black arrested there last week and accused of stealing. Black were stationed in South Korea and he traveled to Russia reportedly to visit a woman while he was on leave.
Miss USA surrendering her crown. She says resigning from her role is in the best interest of her mental health, and she hopes to inspire others to prioritize their own mental well-being.
Federal officials opening a new investigation into Boeing. They are trying to determine whether employees fail to perform quality inspections on 787 Dreamliner jets and then falsified records.
All right. Time now for weather. Nearly 100 million people in the Eastern and Central U.S. are facing severe storm threats today as residents of Barnsdall, Oklahoma, which is northwest of Tulsa, tried to recover from a tornado that touched down late last night. Official say at least one person has died in Osage County. And rescues continue this morning.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all knew it was coming, but -- I mean, for a lot of us, we were just -- I mean, all we could do is just now take cover.
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HUNT: All right. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam tracking all of it for us this morning.
Derek, good morning. What are you seeing?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, Kasie, just reviewing some of this really astounding nighttime visit visual is coming out of Barnsdall, Oklahoma, and we can see some the trees here completely stripped of their foliage. Look at the lightening still striking in the background, but this is all tell-tale signs of a very powerful tornado. I mean, were thinking EF2, EF3 strength.
Of course, that needs to be on the ground with National Weather Service to confirm that. But nonetheless, tornado moving through that region, there were 16 tornadoes in all and guess what, the severe weather threat is not done because that same line of storms that produce those 16 tornadoes continues to advance eastward.
Here's our tornado watch boxes that are underway, parts of Arkansas and Missouri and western sections of Illinois. Let's focus in on St. Louis because you're about to get just pounded with a strong line of storms, National Weather Service here talking about 60 mile per hour wind gusts.
Look at that. That is a newly issued tornado, just to the north and west of downtown St. Louis, so we're going to look out for some potential spin ups as this line.
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We call this an MCS. That moves into the region. You can see that warning box right north of the Wildwood area in O'Fallon, and the northwestern suburbs of St. Louis. So this is part of a larger storm system, hundreds of lightning strikes advancing eastward. It will propagate into the Ohio River Valley, weaken, then the sun comes up behind it and we get another secondary round of thunderstorms that will form later this afternoon and evening.
So this is the area we're concerned about. This is roughly 100 million Americans. We're talking nearly a third of our population. A few tornadoes, large hail, Chicago, Indianapolis to Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis. And this is the area that they've hatched for the greatest potential of EF2 tornadoes or stronger.
Remember that's 111 miles per hour. And by the way, Wednesday, we have an enhanced risk and then the threat moves to the Deep South and the East Coast by Thursday. A wild week -- Kasie.
HUNT: Indeed.
All right. Derek Van Dam for us, Derek, thanks very much. We'll see you next hour.
Coming up next here, the latest delay tactic being deployed by Donald Trump's lawyers.
Plus, Gaza ceasefire talks, hanging by a thread with Israel set to return to the negotiating table in Cairo.
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