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Deadliest Day Yet as Violence Increases in Israel, Gaza; Map Shows Country's Divide Over COVID Vaccination; Bill Gates Conduct Accusations While Navigating Divorce. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired May 17, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman alongside Brianna Keilar. On this NEW DAY, war. Civilians caught in the middle of the worst fighting between Israel and Hamas in nearly a decade, no end in sight. Now dozens in Congress are demanding an end to it.

[05:59:52]

Plus, Americans grappling with when and where to keep their masks as stunning new maps show the divide in America when it comes to vaccines.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And in the fallout of his divorce, new this morning, Bill Gates admitting an affair with an employee that reportedly got him booted from the board of Microsoft.

And as his wingman gets ready to plead guilty this morning and cooperate with the feds, Congressman Matt Gaetz compares the sex trafficking investigating into him to "naughty favors" and earmarks.

BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Monday, May 17, the deadliest day of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict so far.

Overnight Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes in Gaza, targeting home of Hamas commanders and the militant group's network of tunnels. Palestinians say at least 52 people were killed on Sunday.

Five children were rescued from the rubble, including this 6-year-old girl, the father describing what happened from her hospital bed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I looked at him because he was trapped. Then I started to say, God, God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Hamas continues to launch rockets into Israel, one slamming into a synagogue in the city of Ashkelon. Ten people have been killed in Israel.

In the meantime, there is more fallout from Israel's targeting of a Gaza building housing international news outlets. Prime Minister Netanyahu says it contained Hamas military intelligence assets.

Let's get the latest now from CNN's Hadas Gold, who is in Ashdod, Israel, and Nic Robertson, who is near the Israeli/Gaza border.

You guys -- Hadas, starting with you. Please tell us the latest.

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm in Ashdod. This is 15 1/2 miles north of the city. And this city, Brianna, has been -- has had the most number of red alert sirens that -- that the country has thus far experienced, since the conflict began. A siren meaning that you have less than a minute, depending on where you are, to get into a bomb shelter.

All today, we have been regularly hearing jets flying overhead, and we have been hearing explosions. And actually, just in the last few minutes we saw what might be an intercept by the Iron Dome just behind me.

And earlier we also saw a big, thick plume of black smoke above the skyline behind me that could have been a strike in Gaza. The Israeli military saying that it has targeted more than 1,500 militant targets in the Gaza Strip, including the homes of Hamas commanders, which they say were also being used to store weapons.

And also today, they said that they targeted this network of tunnels that they say spreads across the Gaza Strip. They say Hamas militants use those tunnels. They said that they specifically use them in civilian locations near kindergartens, near a mosque.

The Gaza militants continuing to fire rockets into Israel. Thus far, the Israeli military say more than 3,100 rockets have been fired into Israel.

As you noted, though, the death and the destruction on both sides is reaching just horrific levels. The Palestinian health ministry is saying that yesterday was the deadliest day. They say that total so far, 197 Palestinians have been killed, 58 of them children.

The Israeli military says that they have killed 75 militants. In Israel, ten people have been killed, including a child and a soldier.

But we don't seem to be hearing any sort of talk of calm any time soon. Yesterday, in an address to the -- to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the operation will continue despite the heavy price. He said that they want to reach all of their military targets, reach their military objectives, diminish Hamas's capability.

And so far from the international community, we know that there's efforts underway diplomatically to try and reach some sort of ceasefire. We know that Egypt is working on this. Egypt was a key player in 2014 to reach the cessation of fire there.

But so far, based off of what we're hearing here, we still hear these jets. We still hear these explosions. There are still red alert sirens going off in the couth of Israel. I just heard another just now behind me. We don't seem to be nearing any sort of calm any time soon.

KEILAR: And I want to go now to the border. This is -- We have Nic Robertson there. He is near the border with Gaza.

Nic, can you tell us what you are experiencing there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. I guess we're about a mile from the border with Gaza. There are a couple of helicopters hovering in the sky, sort of overwatching the situation. We're quite close to Israel Defense Force positions while we've been on the air here.

I've heard a couple of very heavy explosions coming from the direction of Gaza in this direction and another couple in that direction. So, you know, from the position that we're in here, absolutely there are continuing Israeli Defense Force strikes on Gaza.

We've been to a number of different Israeli Defense Force positions around the edge of Gaza. And over the past couple of days, we've been able to locate ourselves there either with artillery positions or positions with infantry troops and tanks.

Today is different. Today we're not able to do that. And I think it's indicative of the sort of temper. There was a sense over the weekend that might have been getting closer to a cessation of hostility situations.

Today, it feels different. Today I've seen more artillery pieces in places where they -- in gun positions where they weren't previously, where they'd been pulled back, but they're now in forward position.

So it does -- you do get the sense here that this is very much an ongoing operation. The helicopters are clearly watching for targets in Gaza. It's been the tunnels, the weapons, the rocket fire. And all in the communities around here. There are a lot of small communities scattered in the area where the sirens have been going off for them to take cover and we've seen the Iron Dome intercepts in the sky over here, as well. It is exactly -- exactly as Hadas is saying from her position, this is very much ongoing.

KEILAR: Is there anything, Hadas, that is going to tap the breaks on what we are seeing? This obviously is described by you and Nic, is very much full-blown at this moment in time. You say there doesn't appear to be any cessation on the horizon, but is there any effort to try to slow what we're seeing?

GOLD: Well, there's plenty of efforts. We know that the U.S. State Department has dispatched one of their top Middle East envoys to the region, and he is in discussion with the leaders, likely as we speak. We also know that the Egyptians, the Qataris are also involved.

Egypt played a very important role in 2014 in the cessation of fire then. And we do know that the foreign minister has had extensive conversations with both sides. There are reports that an Egyptian delegation has offered or tried to offer a one-year truce. And we do know that the -- that President Biden has been speaking with both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. But we so far have not seen that really taking any effect to try to calm the situation.

And I think the key thing here is what are we going to see from the Americans. What are we going to see from President Joe Biden? Are we going to hear greater pressure on the Israelis, greater pressure on both sides here to calm things down.

Because what we heard from President Biden was he made the comment that he thinks things will calm down soon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling the Israelis yesterday that the operation will continue for some time, until they feel they have reached all of their military objectives. So will we hear more from the international community and, more importantly, more from Joe Biden, from the president, about trying to pressure both sides, pressure the Israelis to stop the fighting and to stop the violence?

KEILAR: Yes. There's definitely a gulf in that rhetoric between Netanyahu and Biden. Hadas, Nic, thank you so much to both of you. Stay safe, please.

BERMAN: Joining us now, Robin Wright, a columnist for "The New Yorker," a distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center. She's covered every major conflict in the Middle East since the early 1970s. Robin, Brianna was talking about the Biden administration. How would you describe President Biden's approach to the current conflict?

ROBIN WRIGHT, COLUMNIST, "THE NEW YORKER": Well, first of all, he doesn't have the kind of relationship with the prime minister of Israel that President Trump did.

There's been tension and a sense that he can't ask the Israelis to take dramatic action with a great deal of effect. Remember that the political environment surrounding this crisis is really almost as volatile as the conflict itself.

The Israelis have gone through four elections. The Palestinians are divided among themselves between the West Bank and Gaza, and there was a hope for an election, the first one since 2006.

So the real tragedy about this is that, even if you could get what President Biden calls a sustainable calm, there is no process into which to plug the tensions so that there would prevent yet another round any time soon or that would eventually lead to a broader Arab/Israeli peace.

There's -- you know, this is -- having covered the Middle East since the 1973 war, I can't remember a time where there was less interest by the international community and less of a process defined about how to get beyond the violence, and so much of the world wants to turn to Asia. This crisis was unexpected. And I think a lot of countries were unprepared for it.

BERMAN: I'm really glad you brought this up. Because talking to experts like yourself over the last few days. What I've heard is that the conflict this time is particularly perilous. It's different than ones that you lived through. In some ways, it's because both sides are so rudderless in terms of their goals.

WRIGHT: That's the perfect word, "rudderless." And the sense that, even if they agree -- if the Egyptians particularly, as they did in 2014, get them to stop firing, either because the Israelis have managed to get what they wanted militarily or Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have run out of missiles to launch their attacks on Israel that -- what does it mean? Where does it -- where does it go? Where does it lead to?

And that's where there's a sense of real emptiness. And can the leaders actually hold to their word or we're likely to see more of this small scale, even larger scale down the road because of that lack of sense of what do we do about it to prevent it again.

BERMAN: Let's talk about President Biden a little bit more here. And obviously, he doesn't, as you say, have the relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who for better or for worse, than President Trump did.

Biden also was getting pressure from his own party. The Democrats are split here in the United States as to what they want to see, and their support for Israel may not be quite the same as it once was.

WRIGHT: I think that's true, and I think what's striking is that Secretary of State Tony Blinken was en route to Denmark tomorrow, and he's going to Iceland beyond that.

The Middle East is just not on the agenda of the Biden administration. And President Biden was out playing golf yesterday. There's not the sense of urgency, people huddling in the sick room, trying to figure out what to do.

The president did make calls on Saturday to the prime minister of Israel and the president of the Palestinian Authority but with no impact. And there's a lot of words, but in many ways they're the same old words we've heard over and over and over. And there isn't the kind of dynamism yet. And the official they've sent is a very capable man. He's a low-level official within the State Department. There are not the kind of heavy guns out there sending a message that this time is up. We've got to -- we've got to -- this fighting has to end.

BERMAN: You know, foreign policy, you don't always get to choose what's on your map in terms of where your focus will be. Robin Wright, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thanks so much for helping us understand what's going on.

WRIGHT: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: A new map shows the nation is further apart than realized when it comes to COVID vaccinations.

KEILAR: Plus, Bill Gates admits to an affair with a staffer, but despite a new report, he claims this affair was unrelated to his ouster at Microsoft. We have more ahead on that.

And as his wingman gets ready to plead guilty and cooperate with the feds, Congressman Matt Gaetz compares the trafficking investigation against him to "naughty favors."

This is NEW DAY.

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[06:16:41]

BERMAN: As of this morning, nearly 50 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, but progress varies widely state by state, and we're seeing two Americans emerge, parts of the country that are quickly to vaccinate and those who are not.

Joining me now, Harry Enten, CNN senior political writer and analyst. And Harry, this map is something to behold.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: It is, and it looks awfully familiar in some ways, right? Look here. We have the map here of the United States.

New England doing very, very well on the vaccinations. Maine, 58 percent; Vermont, 64 percent. People partially vaccinated as a percentage of the population.

Then look down in the southern United States, the southeast. Just 32 percent of Mississippi, 34 percent in Alabama. And then on the West Coast again, a little bit higher here, 52 percent in California and then mountain west right there, 54 in New Mexico versus just 40 percent down in Texas.

BERMAN: To be clear, it's the darker shades that are more vaccinated. And when I look at this map, those states with the darker shades look an awful lot like the electoral map that you're looking at.

ENTEN: Yes, they look awfully familiar, don't they? So what do we see here? You know, in the states -- in the top 25 of adults with at least one vaccination, look at this. Twenty-one of those top 25 are won by Joe Biden in 2020, including all in the top 20. Just four were won by Donald Trump in 2020. So we're seeing this red versus blue divide on that first map very clearly shown right here in the numbers.

BERMAN: Now, one of the things that proved crucial in the last election, whites with college degrees swinging perhaps more toward the Democrats than the Republicans in the past. What story are they telling us in terms of vaccinations?

ENTEN: That's exactly right. You know, again, the political divide that we're used to seeing in the political elections showing themselves in the vaccinations.

Again, states in the top -- top 25 of adults with at least one plus vaccine, 20 of them have above average whites with a college degree. Only five of them below average whites with a college degree. And so this, again, is this illustration of a divided America that we saw in the political season back in 2020, very much illustrating itself here in terms of vaccination.

BERMAN: What are we seeing in terms of an urban/rural split?

ENTEN: Again, remember, back in 2020 what we saw was the urban areas went for Joe Biden. The rural areas went for Donald Trump. So again, states in the top 25 of adults with at least one vaccine, look at that. Seventeen of them have above average urban percentage. Just eight of them have below average urban percentage.

So again, this political divide that we saw in 2020 is two Americas, New England and northeast, into the Midwest, and out on the West Coast, much higher vaccinations. It's showing itself in the urban. It's showing itself in the education, and again, it's showing itself in the political divide with the number of vaccines.

BERMAN: Would the vaccines help more Democrats or Republican?

ENTEN: They help no one more. Everyone should go out there and get their vaccine. It's very important this has become divided along political lines, because the vaccines, they save lives.

BERMAN: I couldn't say it better. Thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, sir.

BERMAN: Brianna.

KEILAR: I like his call to action there.

Bill Gates admitting to an affair with a staffer, but despite a new report, he claims this affair was unrelated to his ouster at Microsoft. We'll have the details next.

Plus, that missing tiger in Houston, it is no longer on the lam. India the tiger and Carole Baskin join us live.

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[06:24:21]

KEILAR: Developing this morning, a new "Wall Street Journal" report says Bill Gates' 2020 resignation from Microsoft's board of directors coincided with the board investigating a romantic relationship that he had with a Microsoft employee.

CNN's Christine Romans is joining us. This is, you know, quite a bombshell. What's happening here?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. Good morning, Brianna. You know, earlier this month, Bill and Melinda Gates announced they would be divorcing. That was news that rocked the world of philanthropy.

Bill Gates in the headlines again this morning. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): Microsoft founder Bill Gates facing misconduct accusations for a relationship he had with a Microsoft engineer starting in 2000. That's according to the "Wall Street Journal."

The paper found that his March 2020 resignation from the tech company's board of directors followed an investigation into the affair by an outside law firm hired by the board. The Microsoft board became aware of the affair in 2019 after the employee sent a letter detailing the relationship, "The Journal" reports.

During the probe, some board members though it was no longer fitting for Gates to continue his role with the company, "The Journal" said, citing people familiar with the matter.

A spokesperson for Microsoft telling CNN a committee of the board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern.

A spokesperson for Gates admitted to the relationship, telling "The Journal," quote, "There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably. [His] decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter."

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CO-FOUNDER: Because you have to go some distance. You can't get it nearby.

ROMANS: At the time, Gates acknowledged his resignation, he said it was out of a desire to focus on his philanthropic work.

In another report, "The New York Times" reported that Gates developed a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings, adding that "On at least a few occasions, Mr. Gates pursued women who worked for him at Microsoft and at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." "The Times" citing people with direct knowledge of the overtures.

Gates' spokesperson denied any mistreatment of employees to "The Times" and said, "It is extremely disappointing that there have been so many untruths published about the cause, the circumstances, and the time line of Bill Gates' divorce."

These revelations come just weeks after Gates and his wife, Melinda, announced they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage.

B. GATES: In the case of Melinda, it's a -- you know, truly equal partner.

ROMANS: The couple met in 1987 while she was working at Microsoft.

MELINDA GATES, DIVORCING MICROSOFT FOUNDER BILL GATES: I was new to Microsoft. There were a lot of men there. And you know, you're still looking around. You know, you're still figuring it out.

B. GATES: But after about a year of that, sort of you know, to their surprise, certainly my surprise, you know, we said, Hey, I love you and she said she loved me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: So these headlines come after "The Wall Street Journal" reported Melinda Gates was meeting with divorce lawyers back in 2019 after revelations about her husband's connection with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein emerged.

Sources told "The Journal" that Gates' concerns about her husband's relationship with Epstein dated all the way back to 2013, especially because Melinda Gates is a global advocate for women and girls.

CNN has not confirmed this or any allegations cited by "The Journal" and "The Times" -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Christine, thank you so much for that.

BERMAN: All right. Congressman Matt Gaetz downplaying the sex trafficking allegations against him as "naughty favors" as his wingman prepares to plead guilty. How concerned should Gaetz be this morning?

KEILAR: Plus, no love lost between Liz Cheney and the GOP. Cheney calling out her fellow Republicans and taking swings at Trump as a new poll shows a majority of Republicans support her removal.

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