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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Rafah As Ceasefire Deal Falls Short; Xi Urges Macron To Help China to Avoid "New Cold War"; Putin Orders Tactical Nuclear Weapon Drills To Deter The West; Hamas Agreed to Different Ceasefire Proposal Than the One Israel Helped Craft; Columbia Scales Back Commencement over Security Concerns; Trump Org Insiders Testify about Reimbursements for Cohen; Kenya's Flood Disaster; Startup Believes Their Technology Might Restore Sea Ice. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 07, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
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JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We are at a critical stage right now.
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VAUSE: From allspice checks to peace in Gaza appears to be slipping away with IDF airstrikes targeting the border city of Rafah, after Israeli officials say an Hamas ceasefire counteroffer came up short.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In our view, it is the decision about how to use these weapons.
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VAUSE: Putin orders military exercises for deployment of tactical nuclear weapons after Britain and other NATO members have been willing to cross so called red lines in their support of Ukraine.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Our constitution is much more important to jail. It's not even close.
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VAUSE: That is true but that has nothing to do with Donald Trump and possible prison time for repeated violations of a gag order in his New York criminal trial. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: We begin in southern Gaza where explosions have rocked the border city of Rafah for the past few hours. Israel says Hamas infrastructure is now being targeted by limited airstrikes. These images are from the Egyptian side of the border. According to Palestinian officials residential homes have been hit. And there are casualties but precise numbers remain unknown.
On Monday, Israel's war cabinet unanimously agreed to move ahead with a major offensive on Rafah but one which would certainly increase in intensity in order to continue to pressure Hamas, which announced on Monday it actually agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release proposal.
But later word came that what Hamas had agreed to, was not part of the framework negotiated by Israel and Egypt. It was more of a counteroffer. Here's what Hamas did agree to a three phase plan. First, Hamas would release 33 hostages, specifically women, children, the elderly and sick. Israel would gradually withdraw forces from parts of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, halt reconnaissance flights for 10 hours a day and allow increased humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The second phase would include a sustainable period of calm in Gaza. Hamas would release the remaining hostages, including civilian men and IDF male soldiers.
The third phase would involve a three to five-year rebuilding plan for Gaza.
CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has spent decades covering Gaza. He joins us now live from Rome.
So what do you know about these Israeli airstrikes? Are they continuing and what are they hitting?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing right now, John, is that according to residents of Rafah, the Palestinian flag at the crossing between Rafah and Egypt has been replaced with Israeli flags. And according to Palestinian officials working at that crossing, the crossing is now closed to personnel trying to leave or enter the Gaza Strip, as well as humanitarian aid.
Now, the Israelis yesterday issued orders to approximately 100,000 people living in the south eastern corner of Rafah on the border on the southeastern corner of Gaza itself, telling them to leave that area to head to the Mawasi area, which is on the Mediterranean.
And it does appear that the Israelis are coming or doing what they said they would do so far is a limited military operation in the southeastern part of Rafah. So we understand that there have been more than a dozen fatalities as a result of Israeli airstrikes in that area. This according to hospitals in the Rafah area, and it does appear that Israel is conducting this operation so far in a limited manner. The United States administration and others have warned Israel against a major military operation in the area saying that the Israelis simply have not made the necessary preparations in the event that hundreds of thousands of people have to move elsewhere in terms of providing them with adequate shelter, sanitation, and other basic necessities of life. John.
VAUSE: it's about up until now Rafah has been one of the few ways that civilians can actually leave Gaza, very limited number of civilians that are sealed off, no one's getting out, which would sort of indicate this sort of the privilege of a much more expensive military offensive, which could be coming whilst Israel continues to send negotiators to Cairo to continue on with those ceasefire talks. They seem at odds with each other.
[01:05:07]
WEDEMAN: They do. But this has really been the case for quite some time. On the one hand, Israel has said that it wants to continue to work on these negotiations to result in the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza.
On the other hand, it's going ahead with this military operation. And in fact, we heard last week from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that Israel would go ahead with its Rafah offensive with or without a deal.
The problem is, of course, in a deal, the one that sort of the basic broad outlines that had been, you know, the focus of efforts of American, Qatari, Egyptian diplomats for quite some time, a talk about, you know, a deal involves a ceasefire temporary at best. But if Israel goes ahead with a military operation in Rafah, which it is doing right now, then that sort of contradicts that.
So the question is, OK, we know that we understand, John, that Israel is sending a delegation to Cairo to continue negotiations on a deal. The question is, you know, how far are they going to get. Now yesterday, Hamas declared that it accepted an Egyptian modified proposal, the Israeli said that's not the proposal they agreed upon.
And so we're basically in this situation where Israel's continuing its military operations, it seems to have now closed off the Rafah crossing, and we're going to see a continued increase in the number of casualties in Rafah in Gaza. And where this is all going, your guess is as good as mine, John.
VAUSE: I doubt that then I think your guess will be much better than mine. Thank you, sir, for being with us. We appreciate that. Ben Wedeman, senior national correspondent. We appreciate your time.
Now Monday in Rafah began very differently than the way it ended.
Celebrations in the streets after mass announced it had accepted a ceasefire and hostage release deal. But by only Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes started hitting Rafah after the IDF order for Palestinians to evacuate the city at least some of them. Some Palestinians they say there are no safe places left to go.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Such a whore on the displaced man and Rafah it's been six months now. This war was more disgusting than you can imagine. We're holding our breath after her moss agreed to the ceasefire but unfortunately Israel still wants to go forward and they're delaying their response.
It's a big problem for us because if they stick to their word about the raid in Rafah, we will not find a place to go to all the options are finished for us. There is no safe place to go on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Suze van Meegen, head of the operations for the Norwegian Refugee Council joins us now on the line. Thank you for taking the time.
Can you describe it the last few hours have been like there in Rafah? How long ago did these Israeli airstrikes ramp up? And what are you going through?
SUZE VAN MEEGEN, NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL RAFAH, GAZA: Well, just in the time, I've been waiting to speak to you. I've heard too loud explosion within a kilometer about our building. We were working at 5:30 this morning, very loud airstrikes and increasing sound of artillery, southeast of where we're located, which is very close to the Rafah crossing.
And then I suspect that looking across Rafah, we have hundreds of thousands or more than a million people waking up disappointed and terrified this one.
VAUSE: Yet, we've been told that part of these very objective here in this limited military offensive, if you like is to take control of the Gaza side or the Rafah crossing. Apparently, there is an Israeli flag now flying over the Rafah crossing on the Gaza side. What more do you know about that?
VAN MEEGAN: We don't have a whole lot of visibility from where we are. And I think that's the biggest challenge for civilians. It's a waiting game for many people moving across Rafah. The information we get about what's really happening comes from the news and that's when comes from the news and it comes from the skies when we hear explosions.
I say that when speaking to Palestinians here about the prospect of a limited operation, no one feels the word limited applies to anything anymore. Yesterday we saw thousands of people moving away from their homes or their camps in southeastern Rafah, many on foot, many vehicles or donkey carts that there is a shortage of fuel. And not only is there no way safe to go for many people, there's no way to get there.
VAUSE: So if they're being told to go to safety or relative safety, where is that? And it sounds to me like many just don't really have the means or the will to live where they are thinking it's just not really worth it?
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VAN MEEGEN: Is there a safe areas in Gaza? To know about them, we receive maps we see on social media that the Israeli Defense Forces provide people with guidance on where they can go. But we're yet to see a situation in this war when people know they can go somewhere and keep their family safe.
We have received the map saying that people can move to Al Mawasi area as I as your previous guests identified. It's many kilometers from the southeast to Rafah. As I mentioned, there's no fuel, there's no money, people don't have vehicles. So -- and people want to keep the limited number of belongings they've managed to collect in seven or eight displacements through this war so far.
So for many people, they're paralyzed. They don't know where to go. They don't know how to get there, and they have no idea what to expect in the coming days.
VAUSE: What is really notable here is that earlier on Monday, Hamas announced it was accepting a ceasefire deal. Turns out there was more of a counteroffer, I suppose, they said for the Israelis saying. How's that adding to the confusion and the fear there right now that this Israeli military action has begun?
VAN MEEGEN: Began last night, when we heard that the ceasefire deal had sort of been accepted or had received a positive response from Hamas was one of the most incredible moments in Gaza. There was huge celebration in the streets, we could see the absolute elation on the faces of our colleagues and friends and neighbors here, only to find within half an hour that the bombing increased again.
I think it's adding to the confusion, but also the emotional rollercoaster that people are being dragged along. What we see is that people just can't take any more of the ups and downs and the uncertainty and wondering whether they can protect their kids, the family.
VAUSE: Of course, the theory is that this is just the beginning of what could be a much bigger Israeli military offensive, because they've made it publicly though, that they intend to go after the remaining Hamas infrastructure, which is there in Rafah, regardless of what happens with the ceasefire talks?
VAN MEEGEN: Well, absolutely. And they're the people that we see in refer they're not most of them are not from refer, they've already had to flee homes in Gaza city in the north, from Khan Younis just north of Rafah, people have nowhere left to go, and many that have come to Rafah are now living in deplorable conditions. In makeshift camp without clean water. They don't have any bedding, they have no protection from the elements.
And yet, that's all they have. If they are displaced yet again, people are moving yet again to a situation where they start from scratch. So on top of the grief, the fear the misery, people really hear everything. They don't even have the energy to make a decision about whether to go and where that would be.
VAUSE: What is it eight months now of war has left everyone exhausted I imagine especially those people in Rafah. Suze van Meegen, thank you so much for the update for joining us here is the very latest from Rafah. Thank you.
VAN MEEGEN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well across United States, new tornado warnings and watches are now in effect for the next few hours at least eight states, including parts of Iowa and northern Texas, Nebraska and South Dakota. At least 10 tornadoes have been spotted most in Oklahoma. No reports of injury or damage despite damaging winds and large hail in the forecast.
And emergency is also a big issue for the Northeast and town of Barnsdall after it was hit by a tornado which ripped through that area. And a rare high risk level five watch remains in place officially called a particularly dangerous situation because of the possible explosive thunderstorm development and multiple long lived and strong tornadoes. Forecasters urging anyone in the storm zone to take shelter.
Melissa Beat is an emergency response specialist with the U.S. National Weather Service. She joins me now from Fort Worth in Texas. Thank you for taking the time to be with us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, thank you for having me tonight.
VAUSE: I guess what's the latency we talked about the number of and the intensity of the storms around the region and possible injuries and damage to property? What are we hearing? What do you do?
MELISSA BEAT, EMERGENCY RESPONSE SPECIALIST, U.S. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Well, we have seen several issues of tornadoes causing some damage around the area. The initial reports so far are about 10 tornadoes. But that is going to be changing overnight, as we're still experiencing several storms that could produce more tornadoes this evening, and in the overnight hours.
So we'll have to really be very careful about what we're doing. And make sure that people are staying in their shelters overnight and being prepared for any issues of warnings so that they can maintain that shelter posture.
VAUSE: Explain this to them (ph) particularly dangerous situation. I don't think I've ever heard that being issued before. How often is it used? Have you heard this before? What does it actually mean?
BEAT: Yeah, so particularly dangerous situation is kind of a more rare term that we use. And what it means is that we're expecting long lived and strong tornadoes to be possible in that situation.
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And so because we're looking at the possibilities of EF2, EF3, EF4, EF5 tornadoes, those are particularly dangerous in the ability to cause destruction. And so we tend to take those very much more seriously. And so we try to, you know, give the public an extra kind of heads up on those types of situations when they're going to be expected.
VAUSE: And just in terms of these latest warnings and watches, how long do you think it will be before there's an all clear given and these warnings can be lifted?
BEAT: Well, there are still warnings ongoing right now and the watches are up for several portions of Iowa all the way down to Texas. For the next several hours, the PDS Tornado Watch was extended in time until one o'clock this morning at Central Daylight Time.
And so it's still ongoing for another couple hours yet. And these watches will probably persist in time for several more hours yet this morning, until things kind of calm down. So it could be several more hours before those watches are out and we get the all clear.
VAUSE: Melissa Beat, thank you. Melissa Beat there with very latest from the National Weather Service. Thank you.
BEAT: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: Well, a steak dinner in Paris, personal time and the ponies that he's off to Siberia. Journeys with Xi Jinping in a moment.
Also the White House says led to a Putin reckless saber rattling after the Russian president orders his military to begin tactical nuclear weapons drills. More on that when we come back.
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VAUSE: In India, the world's largest democracy a third round of voting is now underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his ballot a short time ago in his home state of Gujarat. Hugely popular but still deeply polarizing leader is seeking a third consecutive term.
This election began April 19 are expected to last until June 1, nearly a billion people eligible to cast a vote.
Ukraine, Gaza, electric vehicles even cognac all on the agenda during China's President Xi Jingping's first visit to Europe in five years. So one, France, Xi met with the French president and European Commission president Monday, trade frictions were on full display.
But there was also some cooperation with new deals and a state dinner. There's even a rainbow. President Xi called on President Emmanuel Macron to work together to prevent what he said was a possible new Cold War. They should prevent that.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout (INAUDIBLE) all these developments live from Hong Kong. You know, it's not all rainbows and lollipops for Xi. He wraps up this trip and he Siberia and a few hours from now on was a fairly grim anniversary for China and Euro relations. So what are the details there? KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he is heading to Serbia next. And it has been 25 years since the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. And on this sensitive day, Xi Jinping is wrapping up his visit to France, and he will be heading next to that country and later today, in just a few hours, Xi Jinping is going to be again with the French president, but he will be not on the lease a pear -- palace with that beautiful rainbow that was stretched overhead that site that we saw on Monday but he will be in the Pyrenees Mountains, an area close to Macron's heart.
[01:20:10]
And there they expect to have some personal one on one time or informal talks after the very formal, and one could only imagine tough talks that happened in Paris on Monday. In Paris, Xi Jinping was challenged on trade and on the war in Ukraine, the president of the ISI, she really took that expected hardline and she urged Xi to ensure more fair trade, more balanced trade with Europe. And this comes to the backdrop of trade tension rising across the continent over unfair market access, as well as cheap subsidized Chinese exports as a result of overcapacity to lift up the Chinese market and the Chinese economy has been flooding the European market.
Xi Jinping did agree that there's trade friction, and it should be addressed through dialogue. On the issue of Ukraine, Xi Jinping, once again told Emmanuel Macron that China won't sell weapons or military parts to Russia.
And Xi also this was an interesting development, he backed Marcon's call for what's being called a global Olympic truce that will take place during the Paris Games this summer. Take a listen to Xi Jinping.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): The world today is far from being calm as a member of the United Nations Security Council. And as a responsible country, China urges with France for a truce in the world during the Paris Olympic Games.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: The details of this have yet to be released. But officials -- French officials hope that this is a sign that China will use. This is what Macron has been asking for as well as many other Western leaders that China will use its leverage and influence over Russia to reach a truce in Ukraine.
Xi Jinping will likely have a less contentious visit as next destination. He'll be going to Serbia next. Serbia which is pro- Russia, which is a recipient of a lot of Chinese investment. And Xi Jinping is expected touchdown in the early evening. So he will be there just in time for that sensitive anniversary once again, the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, John.
VAUSE: Not in Siberia, but in so we have to have those words written down. Jumbled it up.
LU STOUT: It can be a word jumble. Sometimes it's okay. It happens fairly. We all know what you meant.
VAUSE: Thank you. I know that. Thank you very much. Thank you, Kristie. Thank you ver much. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Appreciate it. Thanks for the correction.
Until now, tougher call on possible nuclear war from Putin and other high ranking officials in Russia has been just that talk. But now for the first time Moscow has ordered military drills involving tactical nuclear weapons.
What could be a potentially dangerous escalation by Vladimir Putin. He's often threatened to deploy nukes on the battlefield, but could now be putting Moscow on a path of actually using them.
A government spokesman says the drills were ordered in response to what he called provocative statements and threats from Western officials. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron again would not rule out sending Western troops to Ukraine, warning European security is at stake if Russia wins the war, and on a visit to Kyiv, U.K. Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron says Ukraine can use British supplied weapons however it chooses, including strike, strikes on targets inside Russia.
The U.S. has previously downplayed Putin's veiled nuclear threats, and out seems it's doing the same.
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KIRBY: It's just reckless and irresponsible for the leader of a major nuclear armed power to be saber rattling the way that he is, with respect to potential use for nuclear weapons. I can tell you we've seen nothing, even despite the reckless rhetoric that would cause us to change our strategic deterrent posture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining me now from Los Angeles is Robert English, Director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California, and a former Pentagon policy analyst. It's good to see you, which has been well.
ROBERT ENGLISH, DIR. OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDIES, UNIV. OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Thank you.
VAUSE: So with regards to these upcoming drills, here's part of a statement from Russia's Defense Ministry. During the exercises, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
Usually talk of nuclear annihilation for Putin and his cronies is sort of dismissed as just talk because we've been told there's no obvious change in Russia's nuclear readiness. But CNN reported few months ago, U.S. officials were not certain if they would know if Russia was moving tactical nuclear weapons into place. Unlike strategic nuclear weapons capable of destroying entire cities, tactical battlefield nuclear weapons are small enough to be moved quietly and could be fired from conventional systems already deployed to the Ukrainian battlefield.
So for context here, little boy, the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima with a yield of Hiroshima, the yield 26 million pounds of high explosives that would be considered a tactical nuclear weapon today, right. So in theory, it's entirely possible those weapons could happen and also will be deployed to Russian forces.
ENGLISH: Yes, Russia has tactical nuclear warheads that range from one kiloton to 200 kilotons, right. So it's a wide range.
[01:25:04]
most of them are on the smaller side. But that still is in the range of the Hiroshima Nagasaki size blast. So it's not a small weapon, it would do massive destruction, including to Russia.
VAUSE: So last week, on a visit to Kyiv, U.K. Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron gave Ukraine a green light, essentially to fire pretty supplied missiles into Russian territory. Here he is/
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DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view, it is third decision about how to use these weapons, they're defending their country, they were illegally invaded by Putin, and they must take those steps.
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VAUSE: We also heard from the French president Macron, who was again talking about a deployment of Western troops to Ukraine, he told The Economist, I'm not ruling anything out because we are facing someone who's not really anything out either.
Both are escalations in how NATO has dealt with Moscow so far? And Russia's response has been to call these Russian tactical nuclear drills, which in itself, is appears to be an escalation from Moscow.
ENGLISH: Yes, you know, it's interesting to compare the two that both seemed equally provocative to Moscow. In fact, Macron's threat is really not credible. Right. Other NATO members immediately contradicted Macron, which undercut the force of his, you know, the threat that we could escalate by sending troops.
However, Cameron's permission for the U.K. supplied missiles to be used by Ukraine on targets inside Russia, is already operational. And I think what Putin is worried about is that those weapons which have a range of nearly 500 kilometers could be used to strike refineries and oil and gas storage facilities.
Ukraine has been doing that already with our homegrown weapons. And this inflicted some significant economic damage on Russia, you know, exports have gone down 10, 12 percent, which is starting to hurt Russia's budget.
If they were to use the Storm Shadow long range cruise missiles, for example, that could double the economic impact. And that may be what's really scaring Putin into this counter threat of using tactical nuclear weapons.
VAUSE: And in the past, when they've held these drills, it's always been on the quiet side. They've never publicized it, right?
ENGLISH: That's correct. They have practice before and this time they're doing it openly, you know, to saber rattle. You know, as we say, however, it still doesn't make sense to use them. It's not so much just that we don't think Putin is crazy irrational that this could spark a third world war. It could.
It's also that we can't see how would have any utility. Right, John. You started out correctly pointing to the massive damage that a Hiroshima size warhead would do on the battlefield. It would blow fallout all over the place, including on Russian troops onto Russian soil. And what would it achieve? Right, the war we're watching there is very dispersed, no concentration of armor, no concentration of troops, that would be wiped out in one blow.
You know, it would do minimal military good and massive economic and political destruction. To deploy a tactical nuclear weapon, it just doesn't make sense, except as a saber rattling tactic.
VAUSE: Although in a few short hours, Putin will be sworn into office for another six years. How does that play into all of this, you know, when you're playing nuclear chicken, with a man who's about to switch to another six years of power?
ENGLISH: Well, I think the U.S. administration is correctly as your leading segment showed is not taking this seriously is staying calm and cool. Dismissing the threats is irresponsible. But that doesn't mean they're not taking them seriously and exercising restraint.
Notice that the U.S., right, is not involved in this ratcheting up rhetoric that we're seeing from the British or the French, or even the polls for that matter. Another important threat came from the Polish president who said Poland would be happy to house American nuclear missiles right there along the border with Russia.
Biden and U.S. administration did not take the pulse up on that offer, because they probably saw that as too provocative. So they're being careful. But they'll watch Putin's inauguration. They'll watch, you know, his consolidation of power at home, and his celebration of the small gains he's been making at enormous cost, and go on about trying to resupply the Ukrainians what really matters is helping them hold the line with this new $60 billion worth of weapons.
And so the tactical nuclear threats and the saber rattling are kind of a sideshow, no one's going to use them on the battlefield. They don't make sense to be used, unless in some extreme crisis, which we're not near. And what really matters is bolstering the weaknesses on the Ukrainian side with Western help. VAUSE: It's a good point to finish on and that helped me to get there sooner rather than later. It does seem to be taking some time much longer than expected. Robert, good to have you with us, sir. Thank you.
ENGLISH: You're welcome.
[01:30:02]
VAUSE: Prominent human rights activist and Kremlin critic currently jailed in Russia has won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary written from his prison cell.
Vladimir Kara-Murza was honored for his passionate columns, which were published by "The Washington Post. In April 2022, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for publicly criticizing Moscow's war in Ukraine. the sentence widely condemned as draconian and politically motivated.
Still ahead here on CNN, just what did Hamas agree to which prompted celebrations in Gaza because Israel says it wasn't their framework negotiated in Cairo. We'll explain the confusion in a moment.
Also Donald Trump, former president, four times indicted, twice- impeached is closer than ever to being sent to jail.
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VAUSE: Welcome back everyone.
I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The latest now from Gaza. At least 15 people have been killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on Rafah, according to Palestinian medical officials. For months, Israel has warned a major military offensive on Rafah was inevitable to destroy the last Hamas infrastructure and fighting brigade.
On Monday, 100,000 Palestinians in the eastern part of Rafah received evacuation orders from Israel to leave.
Israeli negotiators though are still expected to join hostage and ceasefire talks in Cairo Tuesday after rejecting a proposal agreed to by Hamas. The news of a deal brought celebrations to the streets of Rafah Monday. But senior U.S. and Israeli officials say the Hamas- approved deal is not the same as the one Israel helped craft with Egypt.
Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv police arrested protesters blocking a major highway. The demonstrators are demanding the Netanyahu government agree to a ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining hostages.
More details now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting in from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first question we had when we saw this news that Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire proposal was which proposal are they talking about? Because for the last week or so, we've been talking about an Egyptian framework, which the Israeli government helped craft and had effectively tacitly agreed to.
But this latest proposal, which Hamas is apparently agreed to, according to a senior Israeli and a senior American official is not that same Egyptian framework proposal. Instead, it is a new proposal updated from that Egyptian framework, which Hamas worked on with the key mediators involved, but it differs from that original proposal in several key respects.
[01:34:48]
DIAMOND: The most important of which is the fact that it calls for an end to the war in Gaza altogether. And that has really been a red line for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
And so, what we're hearing is that the Israeli prime minister's office is saying this proposal does not meet their core demands. And clearly, those celebrations in Gaza that we were seeing, sadly have been premature.
The Israeli government says it is sending a working level delegation to meet with the mediators to see if a path forward can be achieved to reach a deal. But as of now, that remains very, very unclear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Columbia University is canceling this year's main commencement ceremony because of security concerns after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
Instead, there'll be a smaller event and school level ceremonies with plenty of festive events next week for students to celebrate the graduation. Some students though are not happy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALIA BONNANO, COLUMBIA STUDENT: I think that it's a bit ridiculous considering that their entire justification for shutting down the encampment or everything else they've done on campus was so that they could hold a commencement or so they can hold graduation as normal.
TAYLOR JOHNSON, COLUMBIA STUDENT: I think its deeply saddening and honestly, I'm very angry. You know I'm a senior and for my high school graduation that was canceled too because of COVID. So now you come this next milestone in your life and you don't get to celebrate that either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Harvard University and MIT are both warning of serious consequences for students who refuse to leave anti-war encampments at those schools. Harvard says its students could face involuntary leave, which means they won't be allowed on campus at all.
MIT gave protesters a Monday afternoon deadline to clear away. Those who did not could be suspended and banned from classes as well as well as final exams and graduation events.
At UCLA all classes have been moved online for the rest of this week after protesters -- protests rather reignited Monday.
CNN's Camila Bernal has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More people detained here at UCLA according to the pro-Palestinian organizers here on campus. We also learned that some of these protesters decided to have a sit-in at the building right here behind me and eventually were forced to exit the building by authorities in riot gear.
They also held a march around campus where they were chanting their demands, the demands that we have been hearing for weeks which include divestment, and transparencies from the university.
After this march and the protests around campus, the university did announce that classes would be moved to remote classes. And so of course, a lot of the organized there say that's exactly what they wanted to see.
They called it disruption and that's what they wanted from the university. This obviously all comes after Thursday when authorities essentially cleaned up the encampment that had been here on campus for about a week.
And that morning we did see the chaos and the violence and more than 200 people arrested. After that cleanup I spoke to some of the pro- Palestinian organizers who told me that this wasn't over for them. And that's exactly what we saw.
I spoke to one of the students that participated in the sit-in and here's what she said.
ALICIA VERDUGO, UCLA STUDENT: I just know that we're going to keep showing up like be a word of mouth that we found out that something's happening, but we will be there. We are an educated and mobilized belies student body. The students here know that the illegal occupation of Palestine has to end.
The students here know where their fees are going, where their tuition is being directed. And so we are more empowered than ever to take back our university and to make our presence known for Palestine.
BERNAL: And for now, UCLA has not announced any changes to their commencement ceremony. but we have seen other colleges and universities around the nation say that they are changing or canceling plans for commencement ceremonies. so among them, the university of southern California and Columbia University saying that they're going to give out their degrees IN smaller ceremonies. Also, the University of Southern California saying they've already started a disciplinary process for the people that were arrested and affiliated with the university.
So we are seeing some repercussions around the country and not just here in California.
Camila Bernal, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Similar anti-war protests are playing out across Europe, pro- Palestinian encampments showed up at Oxford and Cambridge in the U.K., (INAUDIBLE) University in Spain, as well as the University of Ghent in Belgium. Several faculty members signed an open letter supporting the student protesters.
Donald Trump's hush money payment to a porn star trial began with a 10th finding of contempt of court for violating a gag order. The judge warned the former president, just one more violation, he's going to jail.
After that the big focus was on the paper trail and how former fixer Michael Cohen was reimbursed after paying off Stormy Daniels, alleged porn star.
CNN's Kara Scannell explains.
[01:39:55]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Insiders at the Trump Organization on the stand, walked through key payments at the center of the case against former President Donald Trump as the first criminal trial of a former president begins its fourth week.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a ridiculous case. I did nothing wrong.
SCANNELL: Jeffrey McConney, a former executive at the company, testified Trump used his personal account to reimburse his former attorney, Michael Cohen. Prosecutors alleged the payments were reimbursement for a hush money payment Cohen made just before the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels to quiet her story of an alleged affair with Trump.
Trump denies the affair. McConney said the reimbursements came in $35,000 monthly increments through 2017.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER DONALD TRUMP ATTORNEY: It was actually 11 checks because one of the checks, January and February, were combined.
SCANNELL: Prosecutors aim to prove Trump's business records of the payments were falsified, and the money was not for a retainer agreement as stated on Cohen's invoices, but instead, payback for the hush money to Daniels.
Prosecutors asked McConney if this was all happening above his head.
"Yes," he replied. McConney testified former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was the one who told him they had to reimburse Cohen.
Weisselberg, who is currently serving five months in jail on perjury charges in Trump's civil fraud case, had sketched out the payment to Cohen on a bank statement that showed Cohen transferred the $130,000 payment to Daniels' attorney.
The total paid to Cohen, $420,000, allegedly included reimbursing Cohen for the money he paid to Daniels' attorney to kill her story, cash owed for other expenses, and a hefty bonus for Cohen. It was marked on the books as a legal expense.
McConney suggested Trump kept a tight reign over his account, but Trump attorney Emil Bove, in rapid-fire questioning, tried to show Trump was not involved in accounting at the company in 2017 when these payments were made.
Bove asked McConney whether he talked to Trump about these payments, "I did not," McConney testified. Bove pressed him further, if Trump ever asked him to do any of the things he described. "He did not," McConney testified.
Also testifying on Monday, Deborah Tarasoff, a Trump Organization accounts employee who cut the checks to Cohen. Tarasoff said that Trump was the only one who signed the checks for his personal account. "Only Mr. Trump," she testified, adding, "If he didn't want to sign it, he didn't sign it."
COHEN: It certainly goes well past the Stormy Daniels hush money payments.
SCANNELL: Monday morning before the witnesses took the stand, the judge found Trump in contempt for again violating a gag order preventing him from discussing witnesses or jurors in the case. This time criticizing the makeup of the jury in an interview with the outlet "Real America's Voice".
TRUMP (via phone): That jury was picked so fast, 95 percent Democrats. The area's mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a -- just a purely Democrat area. It's a very unfair situation, that I can tell you.
SCANNELL: Judge Juan Merchan said, "The magnitude of this decision is not lost on me, but at the end of the day, I have a job to do. So as much as I don't want to impose a jail sanction, I want you to understand that I will, if necessary and appropriate."
TRUMP: So this judge is giving me a gag order, and so you'll go to jail if you violate it. SCANNELL: Now, it's because Trump has violated the gag order in this case that prosecutors say they won't publicly identify the next witness that they will call, but one prosecutor said in court that they have about two weeks left of this case. That's about eight days based on the court schedule.
And among the witnesses yet that they have not called, Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen.
Kara Scannell, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Donald Trump's weekend visit to the Miami Grand Prix didn't go exactly as planned. The former president spent time at the McLaren garage ahead of the race for a meeting with Formula One officials but his organizers blocked plans though for $250,000 ticket fundraiser.
Now after the race, Trump congratulated McLaren's clarence Lando Norris who won his first Formula One race.
Trump posted on social media, he'd endorsed the winning car. McLaren issued a statement though about the controversial visit saying "McLaren is a non-political organization. However, we recognize and respect the office of the president of the United States so when the request was made to visit our garage on race day, we accepted."
When we come back a warning for Kenya from climate experts, when these floodwaters recede and the misery is over, the dangers will continue. More on that in a moment.
[01:44:18]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back.
Over the past few days, more than a thousand people have been rescued in flood-ravaged western Kenya. Red Cross says many more though are still stranded at some of the worst affected regions.
But some say the real disaster is more than just what's happening right now. Warning it's part of the larger climate crisis, which will only get worse.
Here's CNN's Larry Madowo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Floodwaters drenching many parts of Kenya after weeks of relentless rain. Riverbanks are overflowing, homes are flooded, and entire communities destroyed.
These are the immediate impacts of an unprecedented rainy season, and experts say the long-term prognosis is even worse. HUSSEIN SEID ENDRIS, CLIMATE MONITORING EXPERT, IGAD CLIMATE PROTECTION AND APPLICATIONS CENTER: We are going to see even more extreme events in the future under a changing climate.
MADOWO: Can you say definitively that all this heavy rainfall and flooding is because of climate change?
SEID ENDRIS: Ok, so we cannot attribute a particular event with climate change, but climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extremes in our region.
MADOWO: Kenya is caught in a cycle of extreme droughts and intense rainfall, with the El Nino weather phenomenon and climate change exacerbating this year's wet season, leaving more than 200 people dead and thousands of people displaced from their homes.
Runda is one of Nairobi's wealthiest neighborhoods, but they have not been spared. In fact, their multimillion-dollar homes back there under the water.
This is a wall that was swept away. Part of the reason is because these expensive homes were built on riparian land, on riverbanks against government advice.
Kenya's president said the current crisis is a, quote, "direct consequence of a failure to protect the environment".
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Scientific evidence indicates that restoring our natural habitats is our best defense against escalating weather extremes.
MADOWO: His government plans to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, but the emissions threat is global.
Countries like Kenya contribute very little to global greenhouse gas emissions, but we're seeing the worst effects here.
SEID ENDRIS: Absolutely, that is what the developing countries are experiencing. So they don't have capacity to mitigate these climate extremes.
MADOWO: And the floods are hitting Kenya's poorest communities the hardest.
GEOFFREY MBOYA, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: It's very appalling just to see the very dire effects that have strongly hit urban poor communities. These are people living in makeshift tents, and so you have water sweeping away their houses.
MADOWO: Geoffrey Mboya is a climate activist from the underserved Nairobi neighborhood of Mukuru Kwa Njenga. He says leaders aren't doing enough to wind down the use of fossil fuels or help vulnerable communities adapt.
MBOYA: It's about time that the government and other stakeholders come up with adaptive measures to enable us to live with these conditions. Tomorrow, I'm turning 24. In 2030, I'll be 30. And seeing all these
effects now really puts me in a scary moment for my future and for my generation.
MADOWO: Larry Madowo, CNN -- Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:49:49]
VAUSE: The husband of an American woman reported missing in Spain is in custody in south Florida. The FBI says he was arrested at Miami International Airport for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of his wife. The woman went missing in February. Her brother Told CNN, she was meant to take a train from Madrid to Barcelona with a friend but never showed up at the station.
A hypothetical question on social media is sparking an online conversation about violence against women. On TikTok, Instagram, and X, women were asked, would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or with a bear.
The answer was not unanimous, but most said they actually prefer the bear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you rather be stuck in a forest with a man or bear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bear. Man is scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a bear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I've heard about bears. They don't always attack you, right unlike you like (EXPLETIVE DELETED) with them. So maybe a bear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Depends what man, but probably a bear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 100 percent a bear, which is like terrifying to say but --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely a bear. Some men are very scary out there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A bear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say I would say a man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So when asked why the bear, most women gave a version of the same answer. They know what the dangers are.
The discussion focusing on renewed attention on violence against women around the globe. The data for the U.N. show nearly 89,000 women and girls intentionally killed worldwide in 2022 for no other reason because they're all female.
One in three women across the world have experienced intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. That does not include sexual harassment or other situations which could put a woman in fear of her life. Something to think about.
Coming up. NASA and Boeing Starliner launch was called off at the last minute. We'll tell you why.
Also for years, climate experts have been warning about the dangers of melting arctic sea ice. One company says they may have a solution.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The first crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has been delayed for at least another day. It was set to take off Monday night with two NASA astronauts on board for a week-long trip to the International Space Station.
The mission though was scrapped just two hours before launch due to technical issues with the Atlas 5 rocket. The (INAUDIBLE) had nothing to do with the Starliner capsule and the crew might make a second take off attempt Tuesday night.
A start up in the U.K. believes they can restore the melting arctic sea ice with the help of technology.
Ivana Scatola (ph) has more now on how they're hoping this new technology will help protect this vital ecosystem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANA SCATOLA, CNN PRODUCER: Can you refreeze melting arctic ice?
This startup says it's developing a way to do so.
ANDREA CECCOLINI, REAL ICE: We were in Alaska, we got submersible pump, we made that hole in the ice. We pumped water. Within hours it was solid frozen.
It is as simple as that.
SCATOLA: Well, study says, the arctic could be free of sea ice during the month of September by the 2030s, about a decade earlier than previous projection. This would have dire ripple effects, right around the world.
Since the 1980s, the amount of sea ice that's more than a year old has roughly fallen by half. We're currently losing about six centimeters every year.
CECCOLINI: So if you re-ice, you can add an extra 70 centimeters of thickness. It's as simple like pumping water on top of existing ice.
[01:54:50]
CECCOLINI: Basically, you expose the seawater to the cold temperature of the atmosphere and it will freeze very, very quickly. We know that works.
SCATOLA: U.K.-based company Real Ice plans to use automated underwater vehicles powered by green hydrogen. They use small pumps to bring water from below the ice to the top, creating a lake that freezes, thickening the ice sheet.
CECCOLINI: Why would we do it through under the water as it seems complicate. The reality operating underwater is actually making many things simpler and more controlled.
If you think the opposite operating on top of the sea ice in the middle of the Arctic that you're facing very, very cold temperatures, high winds all sorts of precipitations from the sky.
SCATOLA: The project is currently in the early testing stages.
They aim to be working with underwater prototypes in 2024 and they're planning to test Re-icing on an arctic bay in 2027.
CECCOLINI: This is a preservation of a habitat exactly like a tropical forest or coral reef.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, New York City's most exclusive event took place Monday night. The Metropolitan Museum of Art rolled out the red carpet for A- list celebrities attending the Met Gala.
Stars once again, brought their own style to this year's theme, "The Garden of Time".
The red carpet showed an array of colors including a handful who interpreted the year's theme in black ensembles.
Jennifer Lopez who also served as co-chair, wore a nude illusion Schiaparelli gown. Kendall Jenner also paid homage to the theme who looked reminiscent of a queen from a fantasy series. Jenner shared she was the first person ever to wear the dress even though it was made in 1999.
So it's old.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.
Hope to see you back here tomorrow.
[01:56:41]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and everyone streaming us on CNN Max.
