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United States Schools Scramble After Government Pauses Visa Interviews; 2025 MIT Class President Banned From Graduation Ceremony After Pro-Palestinian Speech Last Week; Polls Close After Voters Cast Ballots For Judges. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired June 02, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:34]
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST: Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programming headquarters in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni
Giokos in for Becky Anderson. Time here is just after 6:00 p.m. Welcome to the show.
Now, a man accused of using a flame thrower to set people on fire at the Jewish community events in Colorado is set to appear in court later.
We're also following an audacious and stunning Ukrainian attack on air bases across Russia from near Moscow all the way to the Amur region, which
is closer to Japan than it is to Ukraine.
And the fallout from the deadly chaos at a Gaza aid site, I'll be speaking to the Secretary General of Medicins Sans Frontieres, whose team was at the
hospital receiving the injured.
Last hour, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators sat down across the table from each other for peace talks after perhaps the most significant Ukrainian
counter attack inside Russia since the war began. The daring mission, codenamed Spider Web involved drones smuggled across the border in wooden
mobile homes.
In this video, you can see one of the drones emerging from its hiding place. These pictures are from eastern Russia, some 4.5 thousand kilometers
from the Ukrainian border, and this was the result. Ukrainian source tells CNN, 40 Russian long range bombers were hit. Russia has acknowledged five
of its bases came under attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is touting it as a major victory, claiming that one of the operations was carried out near an office of
Russia's infamous security services.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The operation was prepared for more than a year and a half planning, all the
details were planned ideally. I can say with confidence that it is an absolutely unique operation. The most interesting part, and now I can talk
about it publicly. The office of our operation on the Russian territory was based close to FSB Department in one of its regions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Not showing just how wide ranging the Ukrainian operation was striking bases across the country.
CNN's Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is back with us this hour. And looking at this map, Nick, it is phenomenal. It
shows the sophistication of this attack, the planning that went into it. Tell us what it took, and I guess the risks here, because we're hearing
about these mobile phone -- homes that were able to infiltrate Russia and then used as a base to basically launch the drones.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, we don't know exactly how these mobile wooden homes ended up near that Belaya
Base in Irkutsk, far across Siberia there. I mean, it is staggering how deep into Russia this occurred.
But it's not a reflection of the long range of these drones. It's just simply a sophistication of this attack and where they were able to find air
bases they could focus their drones upon. 117 of them, Ukraine security service say, they say causing $7 billion worth of damage, damaging 41
aircraft. But it's the size and breadth in which this occurred that's quite so staggering.
Up there the Olenya Airfield near the Murmansk region and on the Arctic Circle, a place, frankly, where you can still find images of what looked
like the same propeller driven Tupolev 95 long range bombers. You can still see them on Google Earth maps. That's how relaxed the Russians were about
having these aircraft what they thought so far out of harm's way.
And again, Ukraine finding some technological or simply advantage of sophistication or cunning to move the drones closer and then allow them to
be piloted by remote, it seems, from far away to hit these particular bombers.
These remarkable images of the first attack drones coming in, seeing what they saw, and then the others that follow it afterwards. And so, that in
itself, I think, a significant damage for Russian pride, quite likely to there is a significant damage to Russia's military capabilities here, the
Tupolev 95, the propeller driven aircraft, the Tupolev 22 that seemed to be the predominant targets of this along with one A-50 early warning aircraft
behind. I think so much of the daily horrors that we see inflicted across Ukraine against its civilians, and the nightly raids, indeed, that we see.
[10:05:05]
So, a lot, I think, which we'll have to see in the weeks ahead, in terms of what this does to Russia's ability to inflict harm on ordinary Ukrainians,
and it may possibly too also slightly influence the calculus of Russia's negotiating team here.
I mean, obviously, it's been clear for some weeks now that Moscow is slow rolling a peace process the Trump administration wants immediate results
from. We have yet to hear of any major, palpable results to emerge from the talks today in Istanbul.
But if you are a Kremlin calculus person, you may be looking at a surprise like this and the damages done to your prized long range bombers, of which
you probably don't have that many, some calculations suggest this could have been maybe about as half of them damaged in some way or another, or
even a third. We're reliant on Ukrainians for these numbers essentially.
Do you feel you can endure that many large surprises like this for an indefinite period of time, or does this make you think that your longer
term ability to be a deterrent around the world is being damaged by this war, and maybe you need some kind of off ramp?
Unlikely I think that that last option will be immediately seized upon. But it's, again, a turn of the unexpected in this war now in its fourth year.
GIOKOS: Absolutely. OK, Nick, stick with me. We've got Michael Bociurkiw standing by, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and he's joining us
from Odesa, Ukraine. I'm curious to see and hear from you in terms of the atmosphere in Odesa after this sophisticated attack.
But then, importantly, the conversations and the negotiations which just wrapped up in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine, only lasted about an
hour. What are you reading into this what Nick had mentioned? Does it change the calculus in terms of how negotiations are going to go?
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Sure. Well, I rarely disagree with Nick Paton Walsh, and I'm not about to start. His analysis is
usually bang on.
And I agree, it's very interesting that it was only an hour and President Zelenskyy did say the most will probably come out of this is a prisoner
exchange swap.
The Russians made it clear from the very start that they're going to stick to their list of demands. And I think after this humiliating attack, what
happened yesterday, the only reason they showed up is so that they can get another pause, so that they can rearm and rebuild. No analyst has disagreed
with me on that.
In terms of atmosphere, look, I just want probably about 20 kilometers since that strike ended yesterday, and I can tell you that what we're
hearing right now here in Odesa on the shores of the Black Sea, are the sounds of peace and freedom.
I heard not air raid sirens in the past 24 hours, no missiles exploding, no drones buzzing overhead. I heard beach volleyball. I heard the sound of
children laughing, playing in the sand on the beach. I heard the guy down the hill pouring charcoal into his barbecue for a summer season.
So, that I'm making this point, because that is what Ukrainians want right now, and it's up to Western allies to help them to preserve that type of
freedom.
One more quick point, and I think this is really important. We just ended the Black Sea security forum here in Odesa the past three days, and there
was a lot of talk about, yes, Russia has pretty strong capabilities in various spheres. What happened yesterday is being celebrated here, but
they're not overdoing it. And the reason why is basically three things.
Number one, China is becoming a much, much stronger ally of Russia, for example, helping it use its own ships, Chinese ships, to cable cut in the
Black Sea. Number two, the Russians have developed incredible capability to move ships from the black -- sorry, from the Baltic Sea to Black Sea using
internal waterways.
And then, thirdly, and this is -- this should be worrying everybody in Europe is that the Russians are believed to now being smuggling many
submarines on ships that are branded a civilian through the Bosphorus Straits into other -- into other waters.
So, a lot going on that still maintains that capability on the water.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, and importantly, the attack was from within Russian territory. There's a lot of questions. Did Ukraine have Russian
collaborators? We've assessed now that this is an embarrassment. This is -- this is a hit to morale. Does it show that the war has come to Moscow?
We've had this conversation before with other attacks, but give me a sense of how significant this is, Michael.
BOCIURKIW: It's pretty significant, but I have to put in parenthesis that there have been other attacks, many, many Kerch Strait Bridge,
assassination of senior military officials, attacks on oil fields and previous attacks on airfields, but Russia has been able to rebuild, and
that's partially because of friends in North Korea and Iran, and as I said, China.
[10:10:11]
I think what this will do, though, will heighten the paranoia of Mr. Putin, you will recall on the victory they celebrations period, he had to declare
a unilateral cease fire, because he was so paranoid the Ukrainians might use fiber optic drones to attack him.
But he brought in a human shield in the form of Xi Jinping, but he will become more paranoid. I suspect heads will roll in the intelligence
services, but it is not -- it is not going to lessen their appetite for war. Not at all.
GIOKOS: All right. Michael Bociurkiw, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for jumping on the story and giving us your insights.
All right, we're following the investigation into what the FBI is calling a targeted terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado against people gathering to
support Israeli hostages in Gaza, take a look.
Officials say at least eight people were injured on Sunday, when a 45-year- old man inside the United States illegally used a makeshift flame thrower and threw an incinerator device into the crowd. Officials say the attacker
was heard yelling, free Palestine as well as anti-Zionist abuse. The suspect is expected to appear in court later today.
I want to bring in John Miller, our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, we've also got Juliette Kayyem CNN National Security Analyst to
break the story down for us. It is fast moving. There have been a lot of developments today.
John, I want you to break down the latest for us about this attack and what you've learned about the suspect.
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, what we've learned is Mohammed Solomon allegedly waited for this March. It's a
weekly March they do in support of the hostages being held in Gaza that as they approached, he used a makeshift flame thrower to spray flames in their
direction and then through molotov cocktails, two people very seriously burned, who are clinging to life at the hospital, others injured.
And then he remained on the scene saying things like free Palestine, we have to end Zionists until police arrived and took him into custody.
Now, what do we know about him? We know he got here in August of 2022 arriving in Los Angeles. That by September, he had applied to the U.S.
government to stay. That in March of 2023 he got a work permit to work while he was here, that expired this March, which means in the time since
then, he's been here unlawfully. We are told that he had applied for a visa in as far back as 2005 and was denied, and that he had applied for asylum
at some point.
So, still sorting through those records, but during the time he's been here, he has been below the radar, hasn't been arrested, hasn't appeared in
any law enforcement holdings as anyone connected with a terrorist group. So they're still going through his materials that they took from his home in
the search warrant last night to see if they can figure out that he, for certain, acted alone, if he was inspired by any outside entity or terrorist
group.
GIOKOS: Yes, and it's really good point, because what has happened in the time since he entered the United States to this point as we're seeing the
rise of anti-Semitism in the United States.
Juliette, I want you to jump in here. The attack incredibly jarring. Frankly, there's a lot of images, which means that there's evidence that
can be used. Take me through the charges that he's facing right now, and what investigators are going to be doing to fill in those gaps in terms of
timeline of him being in the United States.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, so this will be a lead federal investigation, it seems, at least on its face, to satisfy the
requirements of a federal crime. And the FBI will work in coordination with Colorado. Colorado also has a hate crime statute. They will be able to
pursue that as well.
So, we have a variety of ways in which this will be pursued since he's alive, we do not know if he's speaking.
To the images that you're talking about. Those will be assessed, put together, coordinated and cross reference, to get a sense of when he
arrived, what he was doing, how he prepped for this heinous attack. And then, as you -- as you said, things that he said that would go to motive.
Outside of what happened that day. Of course, there's going to be look at his social media or any other digital footprint that would go to a
radicalization process. As John noted, he seemed to not be on the radar, it's -- that's not uncommon. But was he in conversations with people
domestically or abroad or made statements or manifestos in that regard?
[10:15:20]
Finally, just as basically the means this was not -- this is a unique form of terrorism, a molotov cocktail with the fire blower. Just sort of, where
did he get that training if he needed it, and where did he get the supply?
So, all of those are going to go to a totality of why this -- why this incident? But of course, as we've all been saying, that doesn't get to the
bigger issue. Just two weeks ago here in the United States, two Israeli diplomats were assassinated and the anti-Semitism continues here.
GIOKOS: It does, indeed. I want to bring to your attention that we are getting dispatch audio from this attack. Listen in to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1325 Pearl Street, the courthouse, reports that there is a male with a blowtorch setting people on fire. There's multiple mixed
reports about if people are on fire or not we're getting lots of 911 calls.
It looks like we have other RPs saying that there was someone who threw two molotov cocktails. We have multiple injuries. We're sending multiple
ambulances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right. Witnesses, we've just heard -- we've heard the urgency there for police to respond, but witnesses say that it took a long time for
police to respond. So, what do you make of that, John? Are there any signs of law enforcement failure here?
MILLER: Well, I think it's too early to say that, but what -- and we also don't know the times. One thing I can tell you is, if you're on the scene
and you're with people who are injured and you're waiting for police or an ambulance, the seconds can tick by like minutes. What could be a relatively
short time could seem longer.
But we're going to -- we're going to get those response times from the Boulder police. We are told by witnesses that they felt that it was six or
seven minutes before police arrived.
And you know, this is a Sunday afternoon, police were in the area, so we'll get those times and break that down.
But as they arrived, you saw that the suspect was still there. An officer approached him at gunpoint, put him in handcuffs. Another officer was right
behind him, but we're going to need that timeline.
GIOKOS: Juliette, Jewish communities are calling for action, of course, but it comes, as you mentioned, two weeks after the Israeli embassy staffers
were gunned down in D.C. Is there enough federal and state funding to protect Jewish communities to try and fight against anti-Semitism? Because
clearly, there are risks afoot, and many are asking the question, why wasn't this march secured given it's a weekly event?
KAYYEM: That's exactly right. Look, there are dedicated streams of grant funding through the Department of Homeland Security, and maybe even
Colorado has specific ones to support the Jewish community, especially in this time as regards physical structures like synagogues or Jewish
community, places where people meet.
There appears -- we do not know yet whether there was any security or any specific threats against this weekly event, and there's going to be a
review of that was this sort of higher risk. But this raises the question about congregations in public, and how scary it is for the Jewish community
right now if a -- if a beautiful day in Boulder, Colorado with senior citizens, and were reporting -- or at least there's some reporters that one
of them was a Holocaust survivor, can't even get together in a pedestrian area simply to speak what they -- you know, speak about releasing the
hostages, hardly, a controversial issue at this stage.
That is -- that is something that's going to have to be assessed. And I think local and state law enforcement are going to definitely lean in for
these kinds of events, but I am sympathetic, and not a lot of great answers to the Jewish community about the threats that they feel on an individual
and group basis.
GIOKOS: Juliette Kayyem and John Miller, thank you so much for your insights. Great to have you on the show.
And still to come on CNN, Sicily's Mount Etna, a volcano is erupting, sending two groups fleeing for cover.
And after gunfire leaves dozens dead near an aid distribution hub in Gaza, we'll be speaking with the Secretary General of Medicins Sans Frontieres
about the situation in the enclave. We'll bring you those two stories right after this short break. Stay with CNN.
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[10:22:10]
GIOKOS: More details are emerging about Sunday's shooting incident at an aid distribution site in Gaza. Officials say at least 31 Palestinians were
fatally shot as they attempted to receive food aid from the controversial Gaza humanitarian foundation in Rafah.
The head of the U.N. says he's, "Appalled by the deaths." The Palestinian health ministry blames the Israeli military for the deadly shooting. While
the IDF denies firing on civilians near or within that site. CNN's Jeremy Diamond talked to me a short time ago from Tel Aviv, listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well at this point, eyewitnesses on the ground, Palestinian health officials, doctors at these
hospitals, as well as the organization, Doctors Without Borders, are all accusing the Israeli military of being responsible for killing at least 31
people in this pre-dawn attack that seems to have happened on a crowd of thousands of Palestinians who were heading to one of these aid distribution
sites, hoping to be among the first in line to receive aid from this distribution site in Gaza southern city of Rafah.
The Israeli military is denying that it fired upon civilians, "Within or near this aid distribution site." But an Israeli military source has
acknowledged that the military did fire what they described as warning shots at a group of Palestinians who were about one kilometer away from
this aid distribution site.
And we have now geo located a video from the scene of this attack as the gunfire was going off around individuals at the Al-Alam roundabout, which
is located just under one kilometer away from that aid distribution site.
And so, the Israeli military seems to be playing quite a semantics game here, denying, on the one hand, that there was -- that they were involved
in a shooting within or near an air distribution site, while also seemingly acknowledging that they did open fire at individuals who were at the
location of this very same attack.
More than 200 casualties have been reported, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, including 31 people who were killed. This was quite a
hectic scene that unfolded over the course of a couple of hours, between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 in the morning, according to eye witnesses.
And we really heard some very, very disturbing stories from individuals who talked about, you know, crouching down on the ground to try and avoid the
bullets. Some people who stood up to try and flee were then shot in the head or in the chest. Other individuals who came to try and rescue the
wounded were shot themselves.
And in addition to that, the individuals who were finally able to make it to that aid distribution site, some of them arrived to find that there was
no aid left at that site.
[10:25:08]
And obviously we know that this is just one of several very dangerous and deadly incidents that have taken place in the vicinity of these Gaza
humanitarian Foundation distribution sites, which have raised enormous questions about this model of aid distribution and the potential and very
real dangers that we are seeing Palestinians face as they try and make it to these sites.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Survivors told Medicins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, that they were shot from all sides. NSA have said in a statement,
and I quote, "Today's events have shown once again that this new system of aid delivery is dehumanizing, dangerous and severely ineffective."
Joining me now is Christopher Lockyear. He is the Secretary General for Medicins Sans Frontieres and thank you so much so for joining us. The
images are absolutely scary, so too are the eyewitness accounts. But importantly, what are your teams on the ground telling you about this
incident?
CHRISTOPHER LOCKYEAR, SECRETARY GENERAL, MEDICINS SANS FRONTIERES: Well, just that this not only is it scary, it's absolutely horrific and
dehumanizing what's happening at these distribution sites.
Our teams were in Nasser Hospital yesterday. They supported the mass casualty response. There was over 200 injured people came in for urgent
treatment. 90 of them were critical, and our surgeons treated people with some severe gunshot wounds.
And so, they're really describing a situation which is, in addition to the deplorable rate of casualties that we've seen in this horrific war, more
than 50,000 people killed now, over 18,000 children. On top of the children coming to the hospitals with third degree burns due to the air strikes that
are continuing. On top of the growing rates of malnutrition, we now have an influx of men, and it is mainly men of who have been shot or injured in
this horrific, catastrophic militarization and weaponization of aid that we're seeing in the Gaza Strip at the moment.
GIOKOS: Yes, well, the IDF denies that it shot at civilians, but says that it did fire warning shots, and so it just brings into question just how
chaotic, how difficult a distribution has been since the blockade was lifted.
How would you characterize the way that aid is being distributed right now? The United Nations says that Gaza is being drip fed aid.
LOCKYEAR: Well, I certainly wouldn't describe these distribution sites as anything like humanitarian. Humanitarian organizations like our own, like
MSF, work to a set of principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence.
And there's a reason we do that. We do that so we can take aid as close as possible to the people who need it, so that we can distribute it fairly and
that we can do it in a professional and specialized manner.
And what we're seeing here is militarization, weaponization of humanitarian assistance, or a so called humanitarian assistance, in a way which is not
only dehumanizing, but in itself is clearly extremely dangerous.
This is more about displacing people from, for example, the north of Gaza to the south of Gaza in higher and higher concentrations. It's more about
forced displacement than distribution of aid.
So, what is happening is absolutely deplorable and contributing to the ethnic cleansing of large parts of the Gaza Strip.
GIOKOS: I want to talk about access to medical aid and what your reality is, because you spoke about Nasser Hospital, you've got blood shortages.
Give me a glimpse into what it's like for doctors trying to work do the work on the ground.
LOCKYEAR: Well, you're absolutely right, and just over the last 24 hours, several of our staff have had to donate blood to be able to treat the
wounded. Our -- this is our staff who are also trying to work and treat patients. This is our staff, who are also themselves starving, as they are
reducing to eating just one meal a day, sharing their food with their family.
So, doctors and nurses and our support teams are working whilst hungry and clearly getting thinner by the day, and they too are displaced, and they
too are part of being squeezed into a smaller and smaller part of the Gaza Strip.
There's something like only 20 percent of the Gaza Strip with the displacement orders and the buffer zones, which is housing people at the
moment. And so, it was really a vicious circle of catastrophe on catastrophe that the population of Gaza and our staff are facing on a daily
basis.
[10:30:00]
GIOKOS: Christopher Lockyear, thank you so much for your insights and good luck to you and your teams on the ground. Much appreciated.
LOCKYEAR: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg is among several activists on their way to Gaza. They're aboard a ship called the Madeleine operated by a
group called Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
Organizers say the voyage is aimed at, "breaking Israel's siege" on the devastated territory. Experts have warned that Gaza is at risk of famine if
more aid is not bought in. The ship set sail from Southern Italy on Sunday, it is expected to reach Gaza in seven days, if it's not stopped during the
voyage.
I want to get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister is accusing Israel of, "extremism and a rejection of peace". His comments came in Amman, Jordan after Israel
blocked an Arab delegation's planned visit to the West Bank to meet with the Palestinian Authority.
Israel said it was preventing a provocative meeting. The Saudi foreign minister also stopped in Damascus on the weekend during his first visit to
Syria since the fall of the Assad regime.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan called for all international sanctions against Syria to be lifted to help the country recover for more than a decade of
war.
Iran has been accused of carrying out secret nuclear activities since the early 2000s. That's one of the findings of a confidential report from the
U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Tehran, has rejected that report, saying it's politically motivated.
And still ahead on the show, schools in the United States are forced into a rethink after the Trump White House puts a major obstacle in the way of
enrolling foreign students. We'll have a report on that coming up next.
And today, Harvard is expected to lay out the most detailed account of the impact of President Trump's crusade against the school. We'll have a live
report. That's coming up just ahead.
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GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. These are your headlines.
Eight people were wounded in what officials are calling a targeted act of terrorism in Boulder, Colorado. Authorities say a man used a makeshift
flame thrower to attack a Jewish community group at an event for Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The 45-year-old suspect, who authorities say, had overstayed a tourist visa is in custody and expected to appear in court later today.
Ukraine carried out a massive drone operation across Russia on Sunday. A Ukrainian source tells CNN, over 40 Russian bombers were hit in the attacks
that involved smuggling the drones into Russia, hidden inside wooden mobile homes.
[10:35:06]
Russia has confirmed five military bases were hit.
The attacks came ahead of peace talks in Istanbul today that wrapped up in a little over an hour.
More details are emerging about Sunday's deadly chaos at an aid distribution site in Gaza. Officials there say, at least, 31 Palestinians
were fatally shot as they attempted to receive food from a controversial Gaza humanitarian foundation.
The Palestinian health ministry blames the Israeli military for the shooting. The IDF denies firing on civilians near or within that site.
Universities in the United States are scrambling to find a way to help respective foreign students who wish to study in the U.S. This, after the
Trump administration put a pause on new international student visa, interviews, and it's an ongoing story. We've got Sunlen Serfaty joining us
from Washington.
When this pause was first brought up, Sunlen, we heard the timing could not be worse for international students wanting to attend schools in the United
States this fall. Take us through what we've seen and how things could change.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Schools are certainly, right now, feeling an incredible amount of anxiety, and that is because
there are students who have recently been admitted. Those international students are coming to them and asking them questions about what this pause
means for them, what it potentially changes for their fall semester, and if they're able to come here and study in the United States.
We reached out to 50 colleges and universities in the United States talk about this pause, and we heard from all of them that uncertainty that they
are feeling in this moment talking about their international students.
One of the schools that we spoke to, Mount Holyoke in Massachusetts, for example, they have admitted 140 international students for the upcoming
academic year. Of that 140, only 50 of those students have so far secured their visas, and our school rep tells us that it's really uncertain and
puts everyone else in limbo, because they don't know if they are going to be able to get visa appointments over the summer.
And if they are, if they will actually be able to get their visas, this professor told us, in part. "This is supposed to be a celebratory time
where they are looking forward to coming to the United States, going here for their education, and suddenly all of that has been thrown up in the
air."
And she goes on to say that there is so much uncertainty, of course, around those visa appointments.
But beyond the short-term implications for what this means for students in the next year, schools are also massively concerned about the impact it
will have on them going forward, long term.
Their ability to recruit top talent, their competitiveness in the global education system, and certainly, their notes about the financial impacts,
depending on the length of this pause.
Now, the state department have we -- as we've talked about, is it defended this move, saying that every visa education is a national security
decision, and they say that more guidance will be released soon in the coming days. But of course, colleges and universities and of course
international students waiting to hear the results.
GIOKOS: And so, I just want to drill into the financial implications, because international students pay a very high price tag to study in the
United States. Out of state students also play slightly higher price on that. Take me through what it's going to mean from a financial perspective
for educational institutions in the U.S.
SERFATY: Yes, it's a real concern. And this, notably, is happening right at the point an administrator told me that schools are defining their budgets
for the next calendar year. So, they are right in the middle of that.
And so, these decisions, whether they are going to have these tuition fees from international students, that plays into their budget concerns.
So, there, that's decisions and everything from a professor that they could take on or hiring more janitors for the schools. So, schools are left in
limbo for the short term. But in the long term, they say the reputation of their institutions could get devalued if they are not able to take on more
international students that are a huge and important part of this student community, and that's going to really devalue the strength and the
reputation of their institution.
So, there is a real concern that many schools will take a hit reputationally, and then, they will take a hit financially, too.
And that's something that this uncertainty, the state of limbo, is really feeling a lot more anxiety than just the short-term implications through
the summer that these school administrators saying that behind the scenes, they are really in panic mode, trying to figure out how long this pause
will be? If it will be permanent, what's going to happen? What will their fall look like, and what will the falls in the next couple of years look
like as well?
[10:40:01]
GIOKOS: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much.
We are also tracking a court deadline for -- set for today in Harvard University's lawsuit against the Trump administration over its sweeping
funding freeze. Harvard says the move is an unconstitutional attempt to control the university and how it operates.
CNN's crime and justice correspondent, Katelyn Polantz, joins us now from Washington, D.C. Katelyn, always good to have you with us.
And Katelyn, I want to clarify here. This is separate from the court battle over Harvard's International Student Program. So, what are we expecting to
see today?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this still is a crucial and potentially very revealing day for this ongoing
fight of Harvard versus the Trump administration.
Harvard has been alleging all along, in a couple different court fights, that the Trump administration, the Trump White House and several federal
agencies, are retaliating against Harvard unfairly, wanting to gain control of their academic decision making in a way that Harvard believes is not in
line with the U.S. Constitution.
There was that fight over student visas that the court put a stop to pretty quickly.
It fell flat, and everything is paused there. International students are able to come to Harvard University, and the Trump administration so far has
not been able to revoke that student visa program, they were trying to do very abruptly at Harvard.
Set that aside, this is a different battle. This is over money. It's over a grant funding. And where this case is, is it's moving very fast to the
point where Harvard wants a ruling from a judge this summer.
So, in the coming weeks, that says up or down, whether this action by the university is constitutional or not. So, none of these like little
piecemeal rulings from judges like we've seen in other cases. This is the big one they are asking for.
The filing today, it's going to lay out what we expected to say is how Harvard has felt the impact of the grant funding cuts. Funding that has
come from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the departments of agriculture, energy, defense, housing and
urban development.
All of those grants are the types of grants that provide research for Harvard. For Harvard researchers, faculty to do. It's funded by those
federal agencies, and it does things like support Harvard's research into cancer, infectious disease, neurological diseases like Parkinson's and
multiple sclerosis.
And then, there is a lot of research that Harvard also does around the battlefield, around military, national security, anesthetics for wounded
service members, biotechnology, other national security technologies for wartime usage. The sort of thing that the federal government is funding,
but Harvard is doing the research.
In all, Harvard has had more than $2.2 billion of federal funds frozen that they were expecting to go to that research. And so, today, we learn more
about that, and we also see what may have gone on inside the Trump administration, including at the White House, in determining how they were
going to go about freezing this funding and why? What those internal communications are like.
We're going to hear from the Trump administration later in the coming days, but this is a big filing expected from Harvard University and their legal
team today in a very significant ongoing battle with the American government.
GIOKOS: Yes. Absolutely, it's playing out that way. So, Katelyn Polantz, it's great to have you with us, and thank you so much for that analysis.
Now, the 2025 class president at Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT, tells CNN that she was barred from attending her graduation ceremony
on Friday, following a speech she made denouncing the war in Gaza at a commencement ceremony the day before.
This is a part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGHA VEMURI, 2025 CLASS PRESIDENT, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: You stood in solidarity with the pro-Palestine activists on campus. You
face threats, intimidation, and suppression coming from all directions, especially your own university officials. But you prevail, because the MIT
community that I know would never tolerate a genocide.
Right now, while we prepare to graduate and move forward with our lives, there are no universities left in Gaza. We are watching Israel try to wipe
Palestine off the face of the earth, and it's a shame that MIT is a part of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, she said this after that she was banned. I want to quote. "Gazan students did not get to walk because Israel murdered them, displaced
them from their homes, and destroyed their schools. I see no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this
genocide."
An MIT spokesperson says she will receive her degree.
And still to come on CNN, Mexicans go to the polls and the country's first ever judicial elections. Why critics say the move will bring more
corruption? We are live in Mexico City with the latest.
[10:45:00]
Plus, Sicily's Mount Etna erupting again, sending ash and rock several kilometers into the sky. We'll bring you an update on that in just a bit.
Stay with CNN.
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GIOKOS: Polls are now closed in Mexico after the country's first ever judicial elections. Hundreds of federal positions and almost 2000 local
posts were up for elections. Switching to a popular vote for judicial roles has been controversial. While supporters argue, it makes the courts
democratic, critics have warned it could usher in disruption.
CNN's Valeria Leon is Mexico City for us.
Valeria, great to have you with us. Why with these elections held, and what were some of the concerns around having them?
VALERIA LEON, CNN EN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Well, although most Mexicans agree that their justice system is broken, just 13 percent of eligible
voters cast ballots in the election to redesign the court system.
President Claudia Sheinbaum proclaimed that the election will make Mexico more democratic. But critics accuse her party, Morena, of seeking to take
control of the judiciary. While analysts have argued that the vetting process for the candidates has been poor, allowing individuals with little
experience on the bench or even those with criminal records to run. And with candidates restricted from using public or private resources for their
campaigns, many have been forced to use their own money.
Most of them turned to social media, and this is what one of the voters told me about the way he got to know the candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I did it by looking at social media. I recognized some of them, and that's how I made my choices. I
watched some YouTubers and did my homework, like figuring out a bit of what they are like, who they are, and reading a little bit about them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEON: And voters needed at least 15 minutes to learn about the candidates' positions, and that's one of the reasons we saw such a low turnout at the
ballot boxes yesterday.
Only 13 million out of 100 Mexicans voted. An electoral authorities reported that in the Mexican state of Chiapas, 131,000 ballots were stolen,
a case that's under investigation, and protesters took to the streets in Mexico City to express their concern about the way judges are elected now,
complaining that the candidates with political experience and better resources have unfair advantages in funding their own campaigns.
This is the first time that Mexicans are electing judges, and this is a result of a 2024 constitutional reform launched by former President Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador, who, with his party, Morena, holding a majority in Congress, claim that this reform was necessary to root out corrupt judges.
[10:50:06]
But the results of this election won't be known until June 15th. And three months later, in September, the winning candidates will take power
radically reconfiguring the judiciary in Mexico.
GIOKOS: Valeria Leon, thank you so much.
And ahead on CNN, Sicily's Mount Etna volcano erupting and spewing hot ash and lava once again. A look at who may be under threat. We'll bring you
that story right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Italy's Mount Etna, started erupting again earlier today, sending panic tourists running for safety. Take a look at these images.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Officials say, the eruption sent a plume of ash and rock several kilometers high into the sky. You can see those images there, those
tourists running and producing explosions that could be heard up to 50 kilometers or 30 miles away.
The Sicilian Civil Protection agency is warning all aircraft to avoid the area. CNN's Barbie Nadeau is following the story for us from Rome. I mean,
these images are, I have to say, pretty scary, and you can see the tourists reacting, trying to run away.
Do we know anything about evacuations at this point in terms of danger that it could pose to neighboring villages?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know these villages that are up and down the flanks of Mount Etna are used to this kind of activity, and so,
you know they are -- they are not easily terrified from the mountain, from the erupting mountain, but they will have to evacuate them if there is
intense activity that's continuing.
And the observatory that keeps a close eye on this said that they feel that the activity is intensifying, and they can't be sure when it will calm
down.
But they did evacuate, you know, 10s of tourists, all these groups of tourists. We talked to one tour operator who had 40 people up there, and
they were able to get all of them off, and there are maybe a dozen tour operators, we were told, running operations at the time.
Also important to note, this is a long holiday weekend. Today is a national holiday here. So, there would have been even more people and kids up there
too. But, you know, they got everyone to safety off the mountain, but no one who was up there was expecting this sort of intense explosion.
Usually, what you -- we see from Etna is the more fiery lava flows, and we've been seeing an intensity of that over the last couple of months too.
So, this was a surprise to everyone, and it was heard, you know, so far away. They haven't had to close the airport in Catania yet because the wind
is favorable.
But the minute, or if that wind switches direction, I'll have to close the airport, because that plume of smoke so many kilometers up is really
hazardous to aircraft. Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, the reality is that Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. And it's -- I mean, it's such a show, right?
If you're a tourist. I saw some people taking videos and photos, but it is dangerous, and there's a real process in terms of monitoring and ensuring
that its activity is under control in some way.
NADEAU: Yes, you know, and there is also a lot of seismic activity, or these earthquakes. You know, I've been up Etna, many, many, many times over
the to last 10-15, years.
[10:55:01]
And it is always a magical experience. It is just amazing. And you can take some of these tours that take you very close to the -- to the top, where
you have to wear special shoes because the ground is so hot.
But it is really, really dangerous. And I think, you know, there are so many tour groups that bring people up because they just want to get close
to this incredible, you know, force of nature.
But, you know, we're so constantly reminded that it's very unpredictable. And you know, they've been watching the seismic activity. What's
interesting, though, there wasn't an increase of seismic activity in terms of earthquakes where we had seen there were some eruptions in January that
led to these incredible lava sprays, and there had been more earthquakes and seismic activity ahead of those.
So, you know, people are looking at, at the data, trying to understand what the projections are, but you know, you can't predict an eruption of an
earthquake or an eruption of a volcano, or the intensity or when an earthquake will happen.
So, all of this is really up to looking at trends and studying the data and hoping that they are making the right future calls.
GIOKOS: Absolutely. Barbie Nadeau, thank you so very much for that update. Interesting pictures there from Sicily, Mount Etna erupting.
Well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD is up next.
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