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CNN This Morning

Deadly IDF Strikes In Northern, Central, And Southern Gaza; IDF: 300,000 Have Evacuated Rafah To Humanitarian Areas; Report: Egypt Refusing To Coordinate Aid With Israel; Strategic Campaign Stops On Opposite Coasts For Biden, Trump; Trump Makes Strategic Stop In A Blue State; Ex-Trump Fixer Michael Cohen Expected To Testify Monday; House To Vote On Key FAA Safety Bill This Week. Aired 6-7a

Aired May 12, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:47]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, May 12. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, bonus moms and mother figures out there as well. I'm Amara Walker.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Danny Freeman in for Victor Blackwell. Happy Mother's Day to you, Amara.

WALKER: Thank you, Danny. It's good to be with you.

FREEMAN: Here is what working on for you today. New calls from the United Nations overnight for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel- Hamas war. Thousands of people in southern Gaza are forced to flee their homes as the threat of a potential major Israeli assault on Rafah looms large. We have live team coverage straight ahead.

WALKER: And President Trump traded the courtroom for the campaign trail. His comments about the criminal hush money trial playing out in New York City. Plus, our legal analyst breaks down what to expect when Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, takes the stand tomorrow.

FREEMAN: And pro-Palestinian protests on us college campuses collide with commencement ceremony. We have what's some college students who had their high school graduations disrupted by the COVID pandemic in 2020 and now this new unrest have to say about it all.

WALKER: All right. We begin in Gaza this morning where Israel is carrying out airstrikes. And this morning, Palestinians say they have no safe place to go.

Israel is striking targets in northern, central, and southern Gaza, hitting areas they say contain militant infrastructure. Israeli forces dropped leaflets hours before the strikes began telling people to leave. The civil defense in Gaza says an estimated 10,000 bodies are trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza.

FREEMAN: And in the south, the Israeli military says about 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated Rafah to what Israel calls expanded humanitarian areas. But the president of the European Council calls those areas unsafe zones and unacceptable.

Meanwhile, trucks carrying aid meant for Gaza are backed up at the Rafah border crossing. Egypt is refusing to coordinate the shipments with Israel. Israel took control of the Gaza side of the crossing earlier this week.

For more on this, we have Elliott Gotkine joining us now. Elliott, tell us what is the latest on these operations going on across Gaza?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN REPORTER: Danny, the strikes we're seeing taking place in the north are effectively having to take place despite Israel weeks -- months ago saying that it was job done, destroying Hamas in those places. What has happened is that Israeli forces have withdrawn and then Hamas militants have returned. So, that's what has been going up -- going on in the north.

And indeed, we know that residents of Jabalia and other places have been told to move to what Israel says are humanitarian zones. In Rafah, in the south, Israel very pointedly noting that this is, in its word, precise and limited operations. In other words, not the full- blown ground operation that President Biden has been warning against. Yet we seeing with airstrikes on Rafah already over the weekend, 15 people killed according to local hospitals sources. Among them, four children.

And of course, as you also noted in your introduction, Israel has been calling for the evacuation of more than a dozen neighborhoods in Rafah, advising people to move either to Khan Younis, north of Rafah, or to al-Mawasi, which is due west of Khan Younis, which is effectively a barren stretch of beach lacking in all basic infrastructure. So, not particularly good options for those Palestinians being told to move.

What you're also seeing is those living in other neighborhoods of Rafah that haven't been told to evacuate yet. They are also taken the view of, look, we may not have been told to evacuate just yet, but better to do it now because it's only a matter of time. In that way we'll at least be able to get to a relatively safer place before it fills up.

And of course, as all of that is happening, as you noted, Egypt is in control of the border area between Rafah and Egypt. Egypt -- Egyptian officials telling us that it is no longer coordinating with Israel to get humanitarian aid trucks into the Gaza Strip there because it cannot guarantee their safety. And if that will remain the case -- so long as Israeli tanks remain on the ground. And as a result of that, we understand from border crossing authorities in the Hamas-run enclave that not a single aid truck has gone in through Rafah, the main conduit for aid, for the past six days.

So, Israel has been getting some aid in through Kerem Shalom to the south, its border with the Gaza Strip, some 200,000 liters of fuel and also flour as well. But there wasn't enough aid getting in before this current situation.

[06:05:01] And now that aid isn't getting through the Rafah crossing either, the situation is becoming even more dire. Danny, Amara.

WALKER: And, Elliott, the hostage negotiations, obviously, at an impasse right now. And as a result, you have these protests across Israel happening. They're angry about the status of this negotiations. And of course, also at Prime Minister Netanyahu. Tell us more.

GOTKINE: They are indeed. These talks are at an impasse. Delegation -- Israel's delegation has come back from Cairo so they are on pause for now. And as a result of that, we are seeing these protests growing. They're happening, week in, week out. And they had added poignancy this weekend as it comes on the eve of Memorial Day in Israel, Yom HaZikaron. The people protesting -- calling not just, of course, for the living hostages to be brought back to Israel, but the dead bodies as well so that they can receive a dignified burial.

These protests, mainly, designed to put pressure on the Netanyahu government to do a deal with Hamas, but also now calls for fresh elections and for Prime Minister Netanyahu to resign as well. We heard from President Biden, of course, over the weekend at a fundraiser in -- just outside Seattle, telling people there that if Hamas agreed to a hostage deal that there would be a ceasefire tomorrow. Amara, Danny.

WALKER: All right. Elliott Gotkine, thank you so much for your reporting.

Let's bring in David Sanger now, CNN political and national security analyst. He's also the author of "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West." David, it's always good to see you.

I just want to get your take on what's unfolding right now in Gaza as we're seeing these stepped-up military operations all around Gaza also in the southern part, in Rafah. Are we seeing this Rafah offensive actually happening just in sector by sector as opposed to a full-scale invasion all at once?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Amara, happy, happy Mother's Day.

WALKER: Thank you.

SANGER: And thanks for having me on. Yes, I think, that's what's happening. The Israelis have decided that this is better to do in stages. You saw the beginnings of it last week. You're seeing the next part of the operation now.

But even if it is unfolding slowly, what's happening here, essentially, is exactly what the Biden administration had feared, which is that once you start dropping large-scale ordinance, and you see from those pictures that's what's happening, you're going to jump up the casualty count in an area that the Israelis had told the Palestinians to go to in the south. And now we're telling them to leave. We think about 300,000 people have left the area in the past two days. But there was an estimate -- pretty reliable estimates from the U.N. that the whole Rafah general area had more than a million people in it now. So, that leaves a lot of people who have been displaced from the north and who may now be struck again in the south.

WALKER: And so many people there, the Palestinian saying there's just no safe place to go. The area -- the IDF spokesperson on Saturday tweeted out, or posted on X, I should say, said that, people in Rafah and the neighboring camp should move northwest to, as you see it there on the map, to the expanded humanitarian area of al-Mawasi. Is it truly an expanded humanitarian area, David?

SANGER: Well, expanded in that presumably the Israeli saying that will not be bombed. But as early as January, the Biden administration was asking the Israelis if they were going to go into Rafah to provide them with a detailed plan of how they plan to go take care of the refugees. And to my understanding that plan has still not really been put together.

There are some tents there. There have been some things set up. But as you just heard in the earlier report from Elliott, you're also seeing a cutoff of fuel and other aid coming in through the gates that are closest to Rafah. So, it's not clear once they get to that expanded area, that there's going to be very much food or fuel around to go take care of them.

And this has really been at the core of the argument between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, which is to say that President Biden has been unconvinced that there is a serious plan for how you take care of the Palestinians, much less a serious plan for how you would govern Gaza, even if they were successful at their goal which, of course, is to wipe out Hamas, and the U.S. supports that goal just not in this way.

WALKER: Yes, I guess, the other question is, you know, what will Netanyahu's next move be, and then Biden's response.

[06:10:00]

Will he move to withhold more weapons? But we're going to have to leave the conversation there. David Sanger, good to have you this morning. Thanks.

FREEMAN: President Biden and former President Donald Trump are taking a break today after a busy day on the campaign trail. Biden woo donors at a private fundraiser in Seattle. He called his predecessor, unhinged, saying something snapped in Trump after he lost the 2020 election. Well, today the president is back on the East Coast and we'll have a live report with CNN's Kevin Liptak from Delaware just ahead at 7:00.

WALKER: All right. Meanwhile, Trump stopped in a Wildwood in south New Jersey, which is his third campaign rally since the start of his criminal trial in New York, a month ago. He is also pushing back on reports that former rival, Nikki Haley, could be his VP choice. He denied the reports on Truth Social.

Now, with limited days off from court, a campaign stop in a historically blue state may seem like an odd choice for Trump.

FREEMAN: But CNN's Alayna Treene explains why his campaign may have chosen that spot.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Former President Donald Trump traded the courtroom for the Jersey Shore this weekend where he delivered a speech to thousands of rally goers in Wildwood, New Jersey. And look, Amara and Danny, New Jersey isn't exactly a critical battleground state. It's something his advisers acknowledged to me. And Donald Trump lost New Jersey to Joe Biden in 2020 by roughly 16 points.

However, Donald Trump, on Saturday, claimed that he thinks he could be competitive in this state in November and said, I think we can win it. And so, that's something, I think, we're going to continue to hear the former president claim in the weeks ahead.

Now, I also just want to bring your attention to what I found really interesting was his comments on the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. Trump made it clear in some of his most explicit language yet that he supports their military presence in Gaza. Take a listen to how he put that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I support Israel's right to win its war on terror. I don't know if that's good or bad politically. I don't care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Amara and Danny, Donald Trump also spoke more generally about his trials and even at one point spoke specifically about his hush money case in New York, and baselessly claimed that President Joe Biden and Democrats are behind that indictment.

But look, he did not go anywhere near violating the gag order, something I think people were wondering if he would maybe be tempted to do after that explosive testimony from Stormy Daniels last week, and of course, ahead of Michael Cohen's testimony on Monday, he did not do that. And so, I guess, we'll wait and see how he responds in court next week.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Wildwood, New Jersey.

FREEMAN: Alayna, thank you very much. All right. Coming up, a major showdown is brewing in a New York courtroom tomorrow. Former President Trump is set to come face-to-face with his former fixer, Michael Cohen, in the criminal hush money trial. Our legal analyst checks in next with what to expect when Cohen takes the stand.

WALKER: Also, a new FAA re-authorization bill aiming to keep the tarmac and sky safer could pass the House this week. What it means for passengers.

FREEMAN: And let's call it like it is, after laying an egg in front of their home team crowd, the Boston Celtics respond on the road to a rocking crowd in Cleveland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:59]

FREEMAN: Former Trump attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, is expected to take the stand tomorrow in Donald Trump's hush money trial. As the prosecution wraps up their case, Cohen will likely be the last key witness to testify for the prosecution. Cohen is at the center of the hush money payment and is expected to implicate Trump in covering up reimbursement checks to Cohen for paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Joining me now to break down all of this is CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. All right. Joey, let's start here, if that's all right. If everything goes right for the prosecution, what is the best-case scenario for Michael Cohen's testimony?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Danny, good morning to you. Listen, great question. Here's the answer. I think everyone is waiting for the cross-examination of Michael Cohen, right? I think that we certainly know what he's going to say, that is Michael Cohen.

Think about it this way. To date, all the witnesses that the prosecution had, right, are around this issue of conspiracy and cover up, that's their theory, and Michael Cohen will bring it home. And so, if all goes right, that theory, that there was a conspiracy and cover up with respect to what -- with respect to this whole catch and kill scheme, not in and of itself illegal, but with regard to concealing it and covering it up by invoices that were phony, by other types of business records like ledgers, like checks that were meant to reimburse, not for purposes of retainer fees or anything legally -- services that were provided, but as a bonus, and of course as repayment for Michael Cohen's covering this up to boost election prospects of Donald Trump.

And so, if everyone else puts Donald Trump in the room, certainly, Michael Cohen puts Donald Trump at the table because he could speak to the issues of how this all came about, what the grand scheme was all about, how Allen Weisselberg, who's serving time in prison, who was the chief financial officer of the Trump organization was involved. He's not testifying, by the way. So, that is going to be the prosecution's wish that he just brings it home. He is -- and Michael Cohen, who established this conspiracy, its cover up, and to otherwise established Trump's guilt.

[06:20:07]

That's the best-case scenario. But again, Danny, everyone is waiting for the cross examination of Michael Cohen.

FREEMAN: Well, let's talk about it, Joey. Because I know you've been talking about this for several weeks now. The main problem that Michael Cohen faces is this big question of credibility. He has been convicted of perjury, which he says he did, you know, for the former president.

But I guess -- especially after seeing the cross-examination of Stormy Daniels last week, does the defense do you think need to beat up Michael Cohen on this credibility issue or just leave it at you can't trust anything this guy says and walk away?

JACKSON: So, I think there's a couple of imperatives, right? There's what -- the right thing to do legally to establish your case from a defense perspective. And then there's what their boss Donald Trump wants to see.

You mentioned Stormy Daniels. What was the essence of the cross- examination on the second day of Stormy Daniels? You got this -- everything out the first day that you want to argue when you're closing, that she hates the president, couldn't be -- she couldn't be trusted, and she knows nothing about the records.

But Trump says, get in there, humiliate her. And I think that -- and answer to your question is, what we're going to see as it relates to Michael Cohen. Trump wants him to be really annihilated. And so, we're going to hear about your perjurer. Is that right, sir?

Nothing that comes out of your mouth we can trust. And, in fact, you've made a living off of, right, savaging the president. You were wearing a shirt that had him in jail, right? That was on your podcast, right?

We're going to hear all about that. You wanted to go to the White House. He wouldn't take it in White House. So, all of those things are going to happen.

The issue with me, Danny, is whether that matters. Why do I say that? Because so many of the other witnesses already said what Michael Cohen is going to say. As I noted, the other witnesses in tandem have Trump involved in this whole entire deal to really conceal and cover up, et cetera. They just -- again, put him in the room. They just don't put him at the table. And that's what Michael Cohen is going to do by saying, we have these face-to-face meetings. There was this Oval Office meeting where we talked about the whole reimbursement, that's where we said how we would do the deal so that no one would know.

But guess what? Everyone found out. And the issue now is going to be, what, if any, involvement Trump had? I think other witnesses would otherwise suggest he had a lot of involvement, but Michael Cohen will tell everybody about the specific nature of that involvement and that's the open question.

FREEMAN: Last thing, Joey, just before we go. I'm curious your perspective because I think that we actually saw a lot of restraint when it came to the former president and Truth Socialing everything after the Stormy Daniels week. Just quickly, do you think this actually may be the hardest week for former President Trump to not violate the gag order? JACKSON: I think every day is a hard day, Danny, and answer to your question in terms of violating the gag order. But I do think that he has gotten it under control. I think the judge has said, listen, I'll fine you for now. I don't want to put you in jail. But if I have to, I will.

I think there's been contingency plans underway with respect to whether that happens. Hopefully, the president will continue to message other things. It's the Biden prosecution, Biden not involved. You know, the D.A. of Manhattan is doing this off of political reasons, attacking the judge is corrupt. If he sticks to that, which is permissible, it will be OK.

If he starts attacking witnesses, then it becomes problematic. And of course, we know there is no love loss as it relates to Michael Cohen. So yes, it will be very difficult for the president.

FREEMAN: Joey Jackson --

JACKSON: Former president.

FREEMAN: Joey Jackson, thank you so much as always. Really appreciate it.

WALKER: The House vote on the critical FAA bill is this week. Coming up, how this legislation could increase passenger safety and help you get a refund if your flight is delayed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:13]

FREEMAN: The House is set to vote on key legislation this week that would reauthorize federal aviation programs for the next five years. That would provide new safety measures and protections for passengers and airline workers. And of course, this all comes at a time of intense scrutiny for air travel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The Senate passed the $105 billion bill last week, and also approved a one-week stopgap extension for the FAA, allowing time for the House to clear the longer-term package this upcoming week. CNN's Melanie Zanona has more.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Good morning, Danny and Amara. So, Congress is on track to pass a key federal aviation bill this week, but they haven't quite landed the plane yet. After being stalled in the Senate for weeks, the bill finally did pass on Thursday in a big bipartisan vote. And now it will head to the House where it is expected to pass this week. But one of the main sticking points that had really been holding things up was this provision to add more flight slots to Ronald Reagan National Airport here in Washington, D.C. That was something that lawmakers from D.C., Virginia, and Maryland had really pushed back on. Warning that it could overwhelm an already overwhelmed system. And warning, it could lead to even more flight delays and cancellations. So, they had tried to strip that language out and ultimately, they were not successful.

Now, other than that provision, most of the other provisions in the bill are non-controversial and really designed to improve safety. I want to read you some of the provisions in the bill. This bill would increase the number of air traffic controllers, provide more safety inspectors at manufacturing facilities, and require the FAA to use new technology designed to prevent collisions between planes on runways. Now, the initial deadline to get this done was on May 10th, but the Senate also did pass on Thursday a one-week extension to give the House more time to act.

[06:30:03]

So, now they have this until this upcoming Friday, which is May 17th, to get this done. And again, we are expecting that to happen. Danny and Amara?

WALKER: All right, Melanie Zanona, thank you.

Joining me now with CNN Safety Analyst and former safety inspector for the FAA, David Soucie. David, good morning. Thanks so much for being with us. So, let's talk about just different parts of this bipartisan bill. And first, the increasing the number of the air traffic controllers, it's -- the goal is to close a gap of 3,000 vacancies.

And we've heard so much about these shortages and the fatigue that the traffic controllers have been facing as we've been watching a lot of these you know near collisions or close calls on the runways happen a lot more than -- more than we want to see. How quickly. David, do you think we'll see some of these shortages alleviated?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: It take quite some time. I mean, selecting to get 3,000 people, they're going to have to go through about 9,000 candidates. The wash-out rate for air traffic controllers is about 30 percent, or excuse me, more like 60 percent. And so, it's not easy to find that many people to fill those positions.

WALKER: OK. And what about this technology to prevent collisions? There's additional runway technology that will be installed by the FAA. What can you tell us about this technology and how it helps prevent collisions?

SOUCIE: Well, the idea is that it's more autonomous, that it's going to watch these things automatically which is long overdue. That should have been done a long time ago but it's -- it has to get passed by Congress to get paid for because it's not cheap. It's something that we talked about a long time putting in place. Even the trains, if we talk about the positive train control, you --

Congress issued that mandate to do -- to put these controls on to make sure the trains don't crash around a corner. It's similar to that. We -- you say let's put it in place. But are you willing to fund it? Are you willing to actually put it in place? And it's really means a lot the fact that this bill adds the funding that's necessary to put that into place. I'm very excited that they passed it.

WALKER: Yes, whatever, you know, that needs to be done to increase, you know, safety and more eyes on what happens on the runway. You know, I remember back in February listening to the FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker testified at Congress. And you know, he talked about the current system not working because he said it's not delivering safe aircraft. And he was referring to, you know, the oversight the FAA -- excuse me, the way that employees of aircraft manufacturers were inspecting their own planes.

Do you expect that oversight to be overhauled or changed where you don't have, let's say, Boeing employees inspecting their own planes?

SOUCIE: Well, they're still going to continue that. You have to clarify this a little bit because what we're asking them to do is to have more oversight over those people who do work in the -- in the facilities. So, for example, the organization DAR is someone who is given the authority to say this is what we have to do in the inspection. What do we have to look at? Do we have double oversight? Do we have the required inspection items looked at? That's what these people on site are going to be looking at.

They're not going to be out there looking at every single part of every single airplane. That's not what the intent is. The intent is to have better oversight over those people who determine what is safe and what is not which had been -- which again is long overdue. That should have been done quite a while ago probably after the Max 8 accidents, that's when this should have been put in place. But to get the money together to put the people in place to do it, that's what I'm excited about now. They actually have the authority to go ahead and hire the people that need to be on site and looking at those things that were not looked at before.

WALKER: And lastly, before we let you go, the sticking point that Melanie Zanona mentioned about a provision that would allow I think an additional 10 flights a day at Reagan National Airport. And it seems like, you know, there was a lot of disagreement between lawmakers, between airlines. You know, and some of the lawmakers saying that look, Reagan National is already too busy, it's too restricted to add more flights. What are your thoughts on that?

SOUCIE: Well, Reagan National, what we have to understand is that they've been under a restriction ever since 9/11. So, they put a lot of restrictions on that airport. So, I think that the airport is capable of handling those extra flights. I'm not sure really what the push back is here because they have enough capacity to handle it. They're just -- I think it's more of a political reason for the fact that these Congress -- that Congress does not want to be responsible for adding stress to a system that's already there. So, it's kind of strange to me that that's even in this bill, but I

don't see any problem with having it in there. I'm not sure what the push is yet. It must be a political push more than a technical push.

WALKER: Right. Got it. Well, David Soucie, I really appreciate your time on this. Thanks so much. Good to see you.

[06:35:02]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, still to come, the Northern Lights. Look at that. It lit up the sky for a second day on Saturday turning the sky brilliant shades of pink, purple, and green. Of course, I did not see it. But we'll take a look at where these magnificent colors were visible right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: A portion of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is set to be removed from the cargo ship Dali today. The Key Bridge response unified command said in a news release that workers will use controlled explosives to break apart a massive chunk of the bridge that's been sitting on top of the cargo ship for six weeks.

According to reports from the Baltimore Sun and CNN affiliate WBAL the ship could be refloated and returned to the Port of Baltimore as soon as early next week. You might remember, on March 26th, the 213 million pound Dali cargo ship veered off course and plowed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Six construction workers were killed, the bridge was destroyed, and the economy at the Port of Baltimore was brought to a halt.

[06:40:38]

WALKER: Police in Somerville, Massachusetts are instigating an illegal at-home liposuction procedure after a death that may be linked to the operation. Now, this is according to CNN affiliate WCVB. Authorities say the procedure happened at a home in Somerville and that the person was immediately rushed to the hospital where they later died.

FREEMAN: Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow in the corruption trial of Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez. Prosecutors said Menendez and his wife took bribes from foreign governments to fund their lavish lifestyle. The Senator's wife has also been charged but will be tried separately.

Now, during the trial, prosecutors will try to prove that Menendez and his codefendants, two businessmen, engaged in a wide-ranging corruption scheme to help the Egyptian and Qatari governments in exchange for lucrative bribes. All three men have pleaded not guilty.

WALKER: All right, right now, there is a threat of severe weather for more than 35 million people across the South where some states are facing five inches of rainfall and risks of flooding.

FREEMAN: CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here to track it all. And she has the latest on the geomagnetic storm leading to stunning Northern Lights in places that frankly don't typically see them.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, yes. Now, we are going to see an end to the rare places like the South. But the lights themselves are not over. We will still be able to enjoy them just more in the typical places you would see, you know, Canada, Scandinavia, places like that. But yes, we do still have some options if you were planning to maybe go out one last night.

If you live in that extreme northern tier of the U.S. and Canada, it's still going to be pretty good viewing for tonight. We've just not really going to see much in the southern tier like we have the last few days. One thing that could curb that, however, is going to be some cloud cover. You can see we've got a little bit of it in the Midwest. Same thing into the northeast. But really, the bulk of the clouds, take a look at this, it's all in the Southeast.

And that's coming from the next round of what we expect to be severe storms later on today. Right now, you've got a couple of showers and thunderstorms right now across Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana, but that is really going to ramp up once we get into the afternoon and especially into the evening hours tonight. The focus for today again, really kind of that Southeastern portion of Texas as well as areas of Louisiana, though it does stretch back north into Oklahoma.

Tomorrow, shifting ever so slightly to the east where we'll start to see it spread out a little bit more towards Shreveport, New Orleans, and even into Jackson, Mississippi. So, here's that first round this afternoon and evening. Again, you can see it's really starting to focus there across Eastern Texas and spreading east. Then the second round really begins to form right there by late Monday afternoon and continuing to slide along the Gulf Coast region and spreading eastward into Tuesday.

The other threat is going to be flooding. Remember the terrible flooding we had just north of Houston last week, all of that area is expected to get additional rainfall yet again today. That's why we've got flood watches in effect and continuing to watch a lot of the river gauges that are there, many of which are still at flood stage.

WALKER: You know, all we need to do is look at your clothing and know what is about to happen with the weather. You see the lightning. I love it. I love the choice. All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

Pro-Palestinian protests continued at universities across the country during weekend commencement ceremonies. We'll have more on the disruptions after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:10]

WALKER: Well, students are disrupting college graduation ceremonies across the U.S. protesting the war in Gaza. This weekend, dozens of students walked out of the commencement ceremony of VCU during Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's speech. FREEMAN: And at U.C. Berkeley, the graduation was interrupted several

times with people in the crowd shouting pro-Palestinian chants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY LEE, DEAN OF STUDENTS, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I ask that you allow the program to continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Here's CNN's Camila Bernal reporting from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOGAN BARTH, GRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: There are so many students that are frustrated right now no matter what side of the conflict you are on.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It was a celebration but it wasn't a traditional commencement.

BARTH: It's a joke that's going around our class. It's kind of funny but it's kind of sad. Our last normal graduation was 8th grade.

BERNAL (voiceover): Much of the class of 2024 impacted by the pandemic in high school.

BARTH: And I barely had a graduation. It was, you know, six feet apart mass, couldn't have guests beyond your immediate family, so it was not normal.

BERNAL (voiceover): And now, college graduation also not normal for Logan Barth and many others graduating this year. A number of colleges and universities around the country changing, adjusting, or even cancelling commencement ceremonies citing safety concerns after campus protests.

At Columbia University, the school says they decided to make class days and school level ceremonies the centerpiece of commencement. And a similar focus across the country at USC. The university said the intensity of feelings fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East created substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.

[06:50:04]

ANNA KRYLOV, ASSOCIATES CHAIR IN NATURAL SCIENCES AND PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: They handled it correctly by closing the campus and by cleaning -- calling police to clean the encampment and arresting some people.

BERNAL (voiceover): And they were trying to avoid this.

GROUP OF PROTESTERS: How many chance did you get today?

BERNAL (voiceover): At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, pro- Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted the University's Commencement ceremony.

ABEERAH SIDDIQUI, GRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I think I was less concerned with the protest and the encampment impacting graduation. I was more disappointed in the University's response to everything and how they handled things.

BERNAL (voiceover): At USC, graduation events went on without any apparent disruption, but it still wasn't what many hoped for or expected.

SIDDIQUI: It definitely would have been nice to have like a traditional commencement ceremony especially for a class who was already impacted four years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL (on camera): And in terms of protests, we did see at least a dozen students walking out of Virginia Commonwealth University's commencement event. This was after the governor of Virginia began his address to students. Here in California at U.C. Berkeley, the commencement ceremony briefly stopped after protests and chanting and the dean of students telling those protesters to leave and saying that they could speak to her after the event.

Eventually these protesters did leave voluntarily and no one was arrested. Of course, that's the type of thing that universities like USC that cancelled their main commencement ceremony wanted to avoid. What we saw here was a focus in the school graduations. That happened from Wednesday all the way up until Saturday. Danny, Amara?

FREEMAN: Camila Bernal, thank you very much. All right, we got a lot of sports coming up next. Coy Wire is here. Coy, tell us what do you got?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: We have a whole lot of awesome. NBA playoffs, Stanley Cup playoff action, and why is world's number one Novak Djokovic wearing a helmet at the Italian Open. Jokes on you if you think it's because he rode his bike. More on Djoker staying safe from fans coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:27]

FREEMAN: All right, the Celtics' two superstars stepped up and they are now out back in control of their playoff series against the Cavs. I feel like we were expecting that to eventually happen. But yes, that's good news for Boston folks.

WALKER: And good news for us because Coy Wire is here. It's been a minute. So, Boston admitted they needed a jolt to refocus.

WIRE: Yes, they did. And so, after they got blown out at home by 24, Jaylen Brown their star said to his teammates that -- during pregame, he's telling the guys, we don't come to Cleveland for the weather, so let's go. And boy, did they go in game three last night. Already up nine at halftime, Boston started the third quarter on a 14-

nothing run. Jaylen Brown not just talking the talk, he was walking, finished with 28. Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, he had a game high 33, 13 rebounds, six assists. Check out this sweet move right here. Yes, take it. Celtics continuing their dominance, a 106-93 win, taking that 2-1 series lead.

All right, meanwhile, the Mavericks showing they are not just a one- man band or even dynamic duo. They are the full ensemble. For a second straight game, P.J. Washington leads Dallas hitting five three- pointers, scoring 27. And here comes that high-flying Dereck Lively soaring in scoring. He had 12 points off the bench. Yes, sir.

The game is intense though. Dallas up three with a minute 30 to go. Look at the huge collision. Their star, Luka Doncic already with a bad knee and sore ankle. Now, he has a stiff back, falling hard to the floor after hitting Lu Dort going for that loose ball. Luka finish with 22. But Kyrie Irving for Dallas had 22 as well. And in the final minute, he put the game away. That floater there sealed the deal. Mavs got out the 105-101 win. They go up two games to one over the top seated Thunder.

On the ice, the Hurricanes down but not out in their series against the Rangers facing an 0-3 deficit, then blowing a 3-1 lead in this game. Brady Skjei making it look like Tom Brady, coming up clutch, ripping the one-timer the eventual game-winner. That was just over three minutes to go. Carolina keeping the series alive with a 4-3 win.

Finally, Novak Djokovic devised a plan after being a attacked by a water bottle at the Italian Open. This was the scene after his match Friday, huge water bottle hitting him right in the head. Fortunately, no stitches, just a bump. And then the tournament organizers released this video. You can see it was an accident. It just slipped out of some fan's backpack right on Djoker's head.

Well, now, he's making sure he's protecting his noggin. Yesterday, the world number one turns up the practice wearing a bike helmet. He posted today, I came prepared. That's a smart man right there and a good sport.

WALKER: Yes.

WIRE: Oh, my. Hey, Happy Mother's Day, Amara and to all the mamas out there.

WALKER: Oh, thank you.

WIRE: Mom, Claire, my wife, mother-in-law, Diane. I can't forget about her either. I mean, gosh, what an awesome day. Happy Sunday, y'all.

WALKER: Happy Sunday. It's so nice to have you.

WIRE: Good to be here. Good to be here.

FREEMAN: It's a treat. Thanks, Coy.

WALKER: Thanks, Coy.

Well, the debate around transgender athletes particularly transgendered women and their participation in sports has evoked vigorous discussions amongst policymakers. Well, tonight on "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper, we will meet athletes like Meghan who must weigh the emotional toll of competing as a transgender woman on the men's team. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lane four for Ramapo, it would be Cortez-Fields.

MEGHAN CORTEZ-FIELDS, TRANSGENDER ATHLETE: Wearing a men's suit, having to tape my breast, even just competing against men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cortez-Fields separating himself.

CORTEZ-FIELDS: And it starts to hurt more because it feels like a part of me is dying and wilting away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cortez-Fields looking to finish strong.

CORTEZ-FIELDS: I believe that you need to sacrifice being trans in order to swim. I was like -- I just -- I have to but like I just couldn't anymore. I want to want to switch teams and my goal is to compete on the women's team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: All right, the Playing Field, The Battle Over Transgender Athletes airs on "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Another hour of CNN THIS MORNING starting right now.

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