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U.N. Court Orders Israel To Halt Military Offensive In Rafah; Israel's Defiant Response; Hostage Recovery In Gaza; Murder Of American Missionaries In Haiti; New Lawsuit Against Sean Diddy Combs; Commemoration Of Uvalde School Shooting Victims. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired May 24, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An order from the U.N.'s top court telling Israel to, quote, immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, but with no way to enforce it, will the decision make a difference for the humanitarian crisis that's unfolding? And murder in Haiti. An American missionary couple is robbed and killed by a gang just one month before their deaths. Their mission group warned, quote, it seems the world has turned their back on Haiti.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And new CNN reporting on the Supreme Court. It seems the end of the term can't come soon enough for some tired and testy justices. More on what that might mean for some of the critical cases before the court. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: We're getting some new reaction following a major ruling from the U.N.'s top court. Today, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah, the court warning Israel that the invasion could make the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza even worse.

SANCHEZ: After speaking by phone with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a defiant Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, released this statement saying, quote, the state of Israel is committed to continue fighting to return its hostages and promise the security of its citizens wherever and whenever necessary, including in Rafah, end quote. The Palestinian authority in Hamas, both welcomed the ruling, which is part of an ongoing genocide case brought by South Africa. Let's take you now live to Jerusalem with CNN's Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, how might this ruling potentially impact the operation that's underway in Rafah?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the International Court of Justice's ruling is legally binding, but it has no way to actually enforce this ruling. And the Israeli government, as of now, appears to be casting it aside, showing no signs that this ruling will impact its military operations going forward in Rafah. As we have watched, this Israeli military offensive there stretching now for nearly three weeks. The Israeli National Security Council and foreign ministry in a statement saying that Israel, quote, has not carried out and will not carry out military activity in the Rafah area that creates living conditions that could lead to the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population. That, of course, referring to the fact that this ruling is in response, to South Africa's accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, something that Israel, of course, has strongly rejected. Now, this isn't just a symbolic measure, although it is one that certainly shows that Israel is increasingly isolated, increasingly condemned on the world stage for its actions in Gaza. But it could also result in some countries who are party to the International Court of Justice imposing sanctions on Israel. That is something that we will have to watch for in the days and weeks ahead.

KEILAR: And, Jeremy, we've heard now from the IDF that it's recovered the bodies of three more hostages in Gaza. What can you tell us about this?

DIAMOND: Yeah, twice in two weeks now, the families of Israeli hostages have gotten this devastating news that their family members, who they believed were perhaps alive in Gaza being held hostage, were in fact dead as the Israeli military last night recovered the bodies of three hostages in the Jabalia refugee camp where we've seen the Israeli military conducting military operations there over the course of the last couple of weeks. Two of the individuals were attending the NOVA music festival. One was on his way to recover his granddaughter on the morning of October 7th. Orion Hernandez-Radu, a 30-year-old French-Mexican who was attending the NOVA festival, he was one of the three recovered. Michel Nissenbaum, 59-year-old grandfather who was trying to rescue his granddaughter. And then Hanan Yablonka, a 42- year-old father of two from Tel Aviv, who made a last-minute decision, I'm told, to attend that Nova Music Festival.

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I spoke today with his brother-in-law who told me that for nearly eight months now, his family has hoped and prayed and done everything they could to try and get more information about his whereabouts, about his well-being, hoping that he had been alive this whole time, only to learn this morning from the Israeli military that he had in fact been killed on October 7th and his body now returned to Israel. Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Tragic news there. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much. We want to get some perspective on this ICJ ruling. We're joined now by Mark Esper. He served as the defense secretary under President Trump and he's a CNN global affairs analyst. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us. In your eyes, what is the weight of this ICJ ruling? Because Israel's National Security Council essentially says that it's invalid. What do you think?

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it does put more pressure on Israel to roll back its operations. But as they've said, and I believe they're going to ignore this ruling. It's no surprise that the ICJ did this. There has been an anti-Israel bias by the United Nations and many of its agencies for several years now. So I think Israel will move forward with its operation. They've in some ways gotten the blessing by the administration, which had said that the updated plans that they are using now to move into Rafah to go after the remaining four Hamas battalions meet their standard in terms of addressing civilian casualties. And we also know that four weeks ago or so, there were 1.2, 1.3 million people in Rafah since then, about a million have left. So the numbers of civilians exposed this conflict has been reduced dramatically as well.

SANCHEZ: There are indications and reports by some like Barack Ravid that this decision by the ICJ will likely prompt another effort by the U.N. Security Council. Okay. So we've got another potential vote calling for an immediate ceasefire. How do you think the United States might vote?

ESPER: I think the United States will oppose that. Well, look, it depends on the language. Right. I think the talk of a permanent ceasefire will be opposed. But the problem here is every time these actions are taken, whether it was this action today by the ICJ or a few days by the International Criminal Court to try to arrest the defense minister and the Israeli prime minister, all it does also is jeopardize negotiations between the parties. I mean, Hamas can sit back and say, you know, really not be serious about the negotiations because they see international pressure continue to ramp up against Israel. And in some ways they see a growing divide between Washington and Tel Aviv. So it's bad in terms of really actually forcing both sides to negotiate seriously to return whatever hostages are left alive at this point.

SANCHEZ: But to that point, the CIA director is heading back to Europe seeking to revive ceasefire talks and the release of more hostages. What do you think at this point is needed to get talks back on track?

ESPER: You know, I hate to say this, but my sense is and has been all along that Hamas is not serious about a negotiation for a temporary ceasefire, at least, because once they do that, once they return the hostages, they'll lose all their leverage. So my sense is that their demands have consistently been the following. The removal of all Israeli defense forces and personnel from Gaza. And the immediate permanent cessation of all hostilities. And, of course, that would mean that Hamas will return to govern Gaza. All those things are just completely unacceptable to Israel for obvious reasons. So the two sides are very far apart. And I don't see Hamas giving up its leverage. And it's really tragic that today, you know, once again, three of the bodies of three Israelis have been recovered. It's closure for the families. We feel for them. But consider the fact that Hamas has been dragging these bodies around for seven months. They were apparently killed on October 7th. It just speaks to the brutality of this regime that continues to fight and hide out within the population of Palestinians, using them as shields.

SANCHEZ: Secretary, on the negotiations, not to say that you sound pessimistic. I think your description is accurate. There's also another complicating factor, right? There's these reports, sources telling CNN that Egyptian officials actually try to pull a fast one. They changed the terms of the agreement after Israel signed off on a version of it before Hamas reviewed it. They made the terms more favorable to Hamas. If you were being optimistic about the path that these negotiations were on, how do you win back trust after a scenario like that?

ESPER: Yeah, look, it's very hard. There was finger pointing at Egypt and Hamas possibly reinterpreting this.

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I've said for some time now, I thought more pressure should have been put on Egypt early on to open up a sanctuary, a safe space across the border to take care of Palestinian civilians, but they refused that consistently. So I don't know how you return that trust. At this point, look, Israel's well into its operation in Rafah. They've killed a number of Hamas militants. They've reportedly killed another Hamas leader. They're uncovering tunnels. They're going to follow through. They need to follow through. To me the bigger question at this point Boris, it's not necessarily the negotiations. It is Tel Aviv coming up with a plan for the post-military operations governance of Gaza. In other words, who will provide security and policing? Who will provide public services? Who is going to administer Gaza once Israeli forces get out? To me, those are the big questions. And then, of course, there's the long-term question as well about what happens? How do we get to a place where you have two democratic states side by side in peace and security, which has been the grand vision for some time now?

SANCHEZ: Enormous questions that we've yet to see really thorough answers to a conversation, perhaps for another day. Secretary Mark Esper, thanks for being with us.

ESPER: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

KEILAR: Now to Haiti, where two American missionaries have reportedly been shot and killed by gang members there. The family of Davey and Natalie Lloyd say the couple was murdered last night at a home in Port-au-Prince. Davey's parents ran the missionary company the couple worked for, and the group posted, please for help online, while describing scenes of chaos in the hours leading up to their deaths. Quote, Davey and Natalie were in my house using the Starlink internet to call me. They are holed up in there. The gangs have shot all the windows out of the house and continue to shoot. Their lives are in danger. Please pray, the phones have all died and I can't get a hold of anybody. End quote. CNN's international correspondent David Culver recently returned from Haiti, where he witnessed some violence firsthand. David, what's your reaction to this news?

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I was just reading there some of that post that you had, Boris and Brianna. A few hours after that, they confirmed that that couple, along with a third person, according to sources familiar with the situation, was killed. That third person is a Haitian staffer. But this young couple, 23 and 21, according to one source, have been missionaries there for at least the past several months in Haiti in what is an incredibly violent area of Port-au-Prince. That is a city that is occupied basically in total control by the gangs. We're talking about more than 80% of the capital under gang control. So what we know about this situation is that it lasted for several hours, that according to missions in Haiti, the couple there, along with several other children who are part of their caretaking, essentially part of an orphanage that was under this mission, they were leaving a church.

They were ambushed by several gang members, we know at least this is one gang that went after them. And then there seems to have been another gang that got involved and potentially even a third gang. So that adds to the confusion. It adds to what was a very desperate situation for the folks who are part of this mission, including that young couple. And we're told they were barricaded in a home for several hours and ultimately killed. So it shows you just how unsettling the situation is. But it's something, as you guys have mentioned, we have seen firsthand and is only likely to worsen as the gangs continue their grip.

KEILAR: Yeah. And David, around the same time of this attack, you had President Biden hosting Kenya's president for a state dinner. Haiti, of course, was at the top of their list of topics because of the help enlisted from Kenya to deal with the situation. How could this change things?

CULVER: I think this is potentially going to do two things. One is it could add pressure for this multinational security support mission to get down there quicker. It's already been delayed several months and it was supposed to even have some 200 police officers from Kenya on the ground this week. But that is not the case. Could be delayed at least another week. And the other thing it could do, Brianna, is it could fracture further these gangs alliance. So the miscommunication potentially that we're hearing could have happened between some of these gangs. Some of the conflict amongst them could then say to these gangs that they maybe are not as cohesive of a unit as they like to portray, as certainly one of the gang leaders himself has told us. And then that could suggest a weakening of these gangs alliance. Allow maybe this international force to have some serious impact in regaining control.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly. We'll be looking to see how that does impact things. David Culver, thank you for that report. Ahead this hour on CNN News Central, another woman filing a lawsuit against Sean Diddy Combs claiming the rap mogul sexually assaulted her on four separate occasions. We'll have details after this. Plus, stores are doing more than just locking up high value items as organized crime has branched out into shoplifting, retailers are running high-tech security command centers. We're going to take you behind the scenes.

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SANCHEZ: And high drama in the nation's highest court. Our Supreme Court reporter says that relations between the justices appear to be at an all time low. We're talking about rolling eyes and pained expressions. That story and many more still ahead.

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[14:20:09] KEILAR: Sexual abuse are piling up even higher for rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs. He's now facing a seventh lawsuit directly accusing him of sexual assault. Combs' latest accuser is April Lamprose. She's alleging four instances of sexual assault that occurred between 1995 and 2001. I want to bring in trial attorney Kelly Hyman. Kelly, what stands out to you in this new lawsuit?

KELLY HYMAN, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Another nail in the coffin for P. Diddy. So when we look at this lawsuit, what stands out to me are the allegations that are made. And these are serious allegations that occurred over 20 years ago. And this happened because New York changed its statute of limitations. Statute of limitations is a time period in which you can bring a lawsuit that allowed incidents that happened a while back to be brought. But in this case, there's serious allegations of abuse. There's serious allegations of drugs. And those are some of the things that stand out in this complaint.

KEILAR: Yeah, talk about that a little bit because the drug allegation, I mean, we've looked at previous and it was a suit that was filed and ultimately there was a settlement between Cassie Ventura and Diddy. But there were also allegations there of use of drugs going hand in hand with sort of this sexual aggression. So what parallels are you seeing here?

HYMAN: There appears to be a pattern. There appears to be a pattern of the sexual aggression. There's a pattern of the fact that drugs are used and then that the women don't remember exactly what happened and these type of drugs. And then they wake up and they're somewhere else and they don't recall what exactly happened. In this specific complaint that was recently filed in April, April states the fact that she woke up and she was in a taxi and that she didn't know what was going on. Initially, it was a good relationship and things were going well. And then it got very volatile. And that seemed to be an overriding theme in all these cases.

KEILAR: What do you think about, you know, this dynamic where it starts to pile up and you're seeing suit after suit after suit? What are you seeing between all of these suits together?

HYMAN: Well, when we look at these suits, it's important to remember that these are civil lawsuits. These are not criminal lawsuits. And so when you think, what is the difference between the civil lawsuit and the criminal lawsuit? The civil lawsuit in regards to damage. The damages are compensation to make someone whole. So you can't think of battery, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and you see the same type of pattern throughout these different civil lawsuits (technical difficulty).

KEILAR: Is he at risk of any criminal charges?

HYMAN: In regards to criminal charges, there are certain statute limitations that can run. Now, it depends on what type of crime it is and where it occurred. According to the video, that you guys showed up with Cassie that the prosecutor in that case could not bring criminal charges in that case because of the statute of limitations. But we also have to remember that P. Diddy's house was raided and potentially there are criminal charges in regards to human trafficking, which is federal law and other charges as well. So there potentially could be additional charges, criminal charges that happen.

KEILAR: Yeah, multiple properties raided in that federal case and obviously a lot more to come out of that. Kelly Hyman, great to get your perspective. Thank you so much.

HYMAN: Great to see you.

KEILAR: So next today marks two years since Uzi Garcia was killed, among 20 others at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. His father has been fighting for answers ever since. He's going to join us next.

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SANCHEZ: Today, we remember the 19 children and two teachers who were killed on this date two years ago when a gunman stormed Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, one of the worst school shootings in our nation's history. This week, the families of those victims announced they were suing 92 Texas Department of Public Safety officials and troopers, along with the school district, over the botched response. They allege multiple failures that day when law enforcement waited 77 minutes before confronting the shooter. Brett Cross, whose beloved son, Uzi Garcia, was among those killed on that day two years ago, joins us now. Brett, I know this has to be a difficult day for you. I'm wondering how you're feeling, how you're spending the day.

BRETT CROSS, SON KILLED IN UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING: Man, I'm just trying to get through it, to be honest. You know, it hurts all the time, but it's even worse today. So we're just trying to get through the day.

SANCHEZ: We appreciate you joining us to share your story. And previous times that we've spoken, you've mentioned to me that there's an odd relationship between, at times, you and members of the community. They don't necessarily seem eager to hear, at times, what you have to say. I'm wondering today how you're feeling about the way that Uvalde is handling this tragic date.