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Thousands Rush New Aid Distribution Site In Southern Gaza; Trump, Impatient With Putin, Considers New Russia Sanctions; New Poll Shows Americans Skeptical Of Trump's Tariff And Trade Policy; King Charles Delivers Parliament Address In Canada; King Charles Delivers Parliamentary Address In Canada; North Korea Joins Criticism Of Massive Missile Shield Plan. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired May 28, 2025 - 00:00 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 INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Chaos and desperation at an aid distribution point in Gaza ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They want order, but there will be no order because these are desperate people who want to eat and drink.
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VAUSE: U.S.-Israeli backed private contractors overwhelmed and overrun by thousands of Palestinians in a frenzy for food.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump once again lashing out at Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying that he was, quote, "playing with fire."
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VAUSE: As his frustration with the Russian president grows, will Donald Trump get tougher, or will he walk away from ceasefire talks?
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A typical product of America First, the height of self-righteousness, arrogance.
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VAUSE: And Golden Dome blowback. North Korea and others warn America's proposed space based missile defense system will only make the world a more dangerous place.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Day one for private contractors distributing aid in Gaza was a debacle. Thousands of Palestinians overran an aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah. They tore down security fences, climbed over barriers, ignored warning shots from Israeli soldiers, and stormed the facility operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The group is backed by the United States and Israel, and has been heavily criticized by the U.N., which warned it lacked the experience needed to deliver aid in Gaza and would create security risks, and its lack of independence was a gross violation of humanitarian principles.
A diplomatic official says the chaos Tuesday was a surprise to no one. After 11 week-long Israeli blockade of all humanitarian supplies into Gaza, more than two million Palestinians are inching closer to famine. Small amount of tightly controlled aid deliveries is now being allowed across the border, including assistance provided by the GHF. The United Nations aid chief denounced Israel's restrictions, saying, quote, "We have the supplies plan, will, and networks to deliver massive amounts of lifesaving aid to civilians in Gaza in line with humanitarian principles as the world is demanding. Enough, let us work. No more time to lose."
CNN's Oren Liebermann has more now on how the chaos played out in Rafah.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The flood of people came on a rising tide of hunger, overrunning this aid distribution site within hours.
They want order, but there will be no order because these are desperate people who want to eat and drink, says Shafiq Kadaiya (PH).
On Tuesday the new U.S. and Israeli backed aid mechanism began operating, an effort to keep aid away from Hamas while still helping Gazans. But the scene soon descended into chaos. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the GHF, that runs the mechanism, said its staff fell back to allow what it called a small number of Gazans to take aid safely. But this was not a small crowd.
One million people dream of a piece of bread. It's incredible. We had to come from one place to another for a bag of flour, this man says.
Thousands of people who have endured a complete 11-week Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid swamped the facility in southern Gaza, grabbing boxes of food and carrying them off.
Salim Abu Rabiya (PH) says he walked seven or eight kilometers to pick up food. This war has destroyed families. We want our freedom. Look at the people suffering, he says. Women walk for kilometers for a liter of oil or a kilo of sugar or beans because none of these countries can stop the war.
These men say their friend was shot by Israeli forces. The Israeli military says they fired warning shots outside the compound. The foundation said it handed out 8,000 boxes of meals with basics like oil, flour and pasta, each supposed to feed a family for half a week. [00:05:04]
They say the flow of meals will increase each day, with a goal of 1.2 million people fed by the end of the week. A far cry from the first day. Three distribution sites are crowded in the corner of southern Gaza, where an evacuation order was issued Monday, one more in central Gaza, but none in the north.
We don't want aid in the south, this woman says. We want it here. We want to eat while we are on our land.
Here, like in so much of Gaza, food remains a scarce commodity. In this soup kitchen in Gaza City, no one waits for the boiling food to cool before filling their empty containers. Hunger drives the crowd forward, but not everyone is so lucky.
Look, there are people who got the food and we won't get anything, says young Ibrahim Nasir (PH). Look at this crowd and I've been waiting since the morning.
Palestinians here plead every day for the world's attention, finding little comfort in what they say are empty promises of more aid.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Jamil Sawalmeh is country director for ActionAid Palestine. He is with us this hour from Ramallah in the West Bank.
Jamil, thanks so much for taking the time.
JAMIL SAWALMEH, COUNTRY DIRECTOR, ACTIONAID PALESTINE: Hello, John. Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: So the word from the U.S. State Department is that aid is being distributed across Gaza by the Humanitarian Gaza Foundation. Maybe there's been a few issues caused by Hamas, but otherwise all is good. Listen to this.
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TAMMY BRUCE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The real story here, the story is that aid and food is moving into Gaza at a massive scale at this point when you're looking at 8,000 food boxes. Was this going to be like going to the mall or through a drive through? No, it wasn't. This is a complicated environment. And the story is the fact that it's working.
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VAUSE: It's working. What's your response?
SAWALMEH: Well, it's absolutely not working. We have seen clear evidence of the total collapse of this political plan yesterday. We have seen tens of thousands of civilians coming into these sites that are established by the Israeli military. So we know that the three out of the four sites that were announced are actually in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip which are far from the civilian population, since we know that Rafah has been under an intensive military offensive and nearly no civilians are remaining in the Rafah governorate.
So definitely it's not working. Aid is not being allowed into Gaza freely. The amounts of aid that has been entered into Gaza recently are actually a small drop in an ocean of needs. So definitely it's not working. The operational setup is not relevant to the needs of the people or the geography where the people are. We definitely know from the ground that even the aid that was available in the site yesterday was nearly 24,000 packages, which is not enough for a small neighborhood in Gaza, especially in the face of a total starvation of the nearly two million people in Gaza. So this mechanism has been widely criticized and I think it was set to failure from the get-go.
VAUSE: At a U.N. briefing in Geneva, one official laid out the bare minimum of humanitarian aid, which Gaza needs on a daily basis. Listen to this.
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JULIETTE TOUMA, UNRWA COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The needs are 500 to 600 trucks at the minimum, that should go into Gaza loaded with supplies, not only food but also medicines and medical supplies, vaccines for children, fuel, water and other basics for people's survival. And we're very, very, very far from reaching that target.
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VAUSE: So some aid is being allowed in. Do you have any idea how much is actually getting across the border compared to what is actually needed?
SAWALMEH: Well, you know, in the few days before the opening of the new distribution site for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Israel has allowed a few hundred trucks into Gaza. And these trucks were nearly 90 percent flour that was clearly targeted towards bakeries to provide food with some bread. So we know that the aid that has entered into Gaza is, you know, in the four or five days before the opening of the new humanitarian distribution site were not even close to anything that we can call enough or even significant in terms of amounts and in fact as was said in the U.N. briefing, it's not only food that is needed now.
Everything is needed in Gaza in terms of fuel, medical supplies, medical equipment, clean drinking water as well, medications. So the fact of the matter is that there is no clear evidence on the ground that aid is being transported into Gaza in quantities that are, you know, barely enough to feed the starving population.
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We haven't seen any confirmation from the United Nations or any aid agencies operating in Gaza on the amount of aid that was allowed into Gaza. And therefore what is being announced around the aid that is being announced around the aid that is being transported to these humanitarian sites is something that we don't know about. We cannot confirm because it's been transported through a military mechanism in a cooperation with the private company.
VAUSE: As to the chaos that we saw in Rafah on Tuesday, with thousands of Palestinians just so desperate, they overran this site, risking life as well as injury. Here's part of a statement from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. "The GHF team fell back to allow a small number of Gazans to take aid safely and dissipate. That was done in accordance with GHF protocol to avoid casualties."
Could you put this down to maybe just first-day problems, they're just trying to work out the bugs in the system or is this entire thing set up to fail from the get-go?
SAWALMEH: Well, I said that it was set for failure from the get-go because it basically violates, you know, humanitarian principles when it comes to the delivery of humanitarian aid. That's one thing. The other thing is the fact that, at this point in Gaza, in the face of this catastrophe, we need household level distribution. And this new mechanism has no operational capacity, has no logistical setup, has no data, has no expertise in terms of its staff to do that household level distribution.
And I see that there is a big controversy there with this new suggested mechanism because why do we need to establish a parallel system when we had a fully functional and operational humanitarian system with an experience of organizations, including U.N. agencies, that have been present in Gaza for many, many years and that have the data and have the capacity and have the staff, the setup, the sites and the logistical capabilities to do that household level distribution. Because people in Gaza have been pushed from corner -- from one corner to another due to the evacuation orders and the announcement of the expansion of the military offensive in Gaza.
Therefore, assigning one side for that humanitarian aid distribution, where people have to walk significant distances and especially that significant amount of the population will not be able to walk that distance. We're talking about pregnant women, we're talking about injured people. We're talking about people with disabilities, children who have been left alone. So that is a mechanism that suggests that every person in the population in Gaza is actually able to go to these sites and, you know, get the aid that was assigned to them.
In addition to, of course, what we've been hearing from the ground that there are security checks, there will be profiling of the civilian populations before delivering aid to them. And therefore, I don't think that this new setup will be able to respond to any kind of needs in Gaza. And we've seen clearly, you know, the evidence of that from the images that came from Gaza yesterday.
VAUSE: It's a good question. Why was there a need for a parallel shadow system, if you like, when there was one that was already operating quite successfully and effectively?
Jamil, thanks so much for being with us. Really appreciate your time. SAWALMEH: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Donald Trump appears to be growing increasingly impatient, perhaps frustrated with Vladimir Putin, as the Russian leader shows no sign of a truce with Ukraine, despite what he told the U.S. president. Trump posted this on his social media platform. "What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia. And I mean really bad. He's playing with fire."
And sources say President Trump is now considering slapping new sanctions on Russia in the coming days. This more than a week after the U.S. says Mr. Putin promised he would send a so-called memorandum of peace that would lay out requirements for a ceasefire with Ukraine. The White House continues to wait for that document. Moscow says it's working on it.
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MARIA ZAKHAROVA, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Russia continues to work on a draft memorandum on a future peace treaty, defining a number of positions, such as principles of settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement and a potential ceasefire for a certain amount of time if appropriate agreements are reached.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's Kristen Holmes has more now reporting in from the White House.
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HOLMES: President Donald Trump once again lashing out at Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that he was, quote, "playing with fire." Now we have learned a little bit of background here as to why exactly the president has shifted his tone with the Russian president. It is in part because of those escalated attacks, particularly that these escalated attacks from Putin on Ukraine happened after the two leaders had the conversation.
But there's another reason as well. Sources telling us that in that phone call that Donald Trump held with Vladimir Putin just a week ago, that Putin did promise to draft and send what he called a memorandum of peace, which would essentially lay out the Russian requirements for a Ukrainian war ceasefire.
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He said that he would send it to both the U.S. and Ukraine in coming days. We have learned that even though that call happened over a week ago, that no parties have received this memorandum, which has added to the frustration of the president and of the Trump administration.
Now, one other thing we learned about that conversation is that Donald Trump instructed Putin to work directly with Ukraine. He said that Europe and the United States would help, that they might serve as intermediaries, but that the two countries had to have these conversations themselves. He also then reiterated that to Zelenskyy and to the Ukrainians after the conversation with Putin. But obviously, as we are seeing here, Donald Trump really escalating when it comes to that rhetoric around the Russian president. As one U.S. official said to me, he's trying to turn up the heat on Vladimir Putin.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
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VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, the U.S. hits pause on visas for foreign students. We'll explain why and what the impact has been by this latest move by the White House.
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VAUSE: The U.S. State Department has ordered a pause in issuing new student visas. According to a diplomatic cable seen by CNN the reason for the hold is to establish new guidelines for screening social media postings of all applicants. The Trump administration has already revoked scores of student visas. The diplomatic cable says appointments that have already been scheduled will still take place.
President Trump's decision to delay 50 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union sent Wall Street soaring Tuesday. The Dow gained 740 points. The S&P and the Nasdaq both finished more than 2 percent higher. Donald Trump says the E.U. has called to quickly set up trade negotiations.
But Americans remain skeptical of the president's economic policies, as CNN's Harry Enten reports.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: When it comes to President Trump and his tariff wars, the American people are asking, what the heck is going on out there? Indeed let's take a look at a recent CBS News- YouGov poll. Does Donald Trump have a clear plan for tariffs and trade? Guess what, the majority of Americans say no, he does not. 55 percent, compared to just 45 percent who say yes.
Of course, in the American public, the independent vote is so important. 64 percent of independents say that Donald Trump does not have a clear plan when it comes to tariffs and trade. And there's a good reason why the American people are confused. We can see this in this metric, that is the Trade Policy Uncertainty Index. Get this. At this point compared to a year ago, the uncertainty index up 846 percent, through the roof.
My goodness gracious. In fact, the Trade Policy Uncertainty Index is higher now than in any month prior to 2025. And this index goes all the way back since 1960. It just seems like every single month this index is showing a new record high because of Donald Trump's policies. Now, of course, we're thinking about the European Union, right? Will
there or will there not be a 50 percent additional tariff on the European Union? And why is that so important in America? Well, I want you to take a look here. What is number one in America? Who is the number one trade partner with the United States? Well, when you put the European Union together, they are number one. We're talking 4.9 percent of U.S. GDP in 2024. My goodness gracious. A very large part of the economy.
You'll also notice over here what else is number one. What's the number one smartphone? It's the iPhone in America. Why is that so important? Because Donald Trump of course is threatening additional tariffs on Apple for their iPhone. And that is the number one smartphone with 155 million active units. My goodness gracious. So if Donald Trump decides to put in these additional tariffs on either Apple for their iPhone or in the European Union as a trading partner, that could have a massive impact not just on the economy abroad, but on the United States as well.
Of course, at this particular point, who the heck knows what Donald Trump is going to do? And that is why the American people believe he has no clear plan when it comes to trade policy and tariffs.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Thank you, Harry.
Still to come here on CNN, an historic moment as King Charles III addresses Canada's parliament, highlighting Canadian sovereignty and freedom.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The first day of aid distribution for private contractors in southern Gaza devolved into chaos as thousands of Palestinians storming the site Tuesday. It's operated by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the United States and Israel. The United Nations has criticized the group, saying it lacks experience to distribute aid safely.
Sources say U.S. President Donald Trump is considering new sanctions on Russia in the coming days, following its attack on Ukraine over the weekend. President Trump has previously raised the notion of new sanctions on Russia's banking sector and secondary sanctions on buyers of Russian energy products. But it's not clear what specific steps Mr. Trump is considering.
And the White House is directing federal agencies to cancel all remaining contracts with Harvard University, worth about $100 million in all. This comes on top of more than $2.5 billion in recent federal cuts to Harvard after the university rejected multiple demands from the Trump administration.
Well, context matters, which is why an address to Canada's parliament by Britain's King Charles was both an historic moment, he is, after all, the Canadian head of state, and a significant one. Amid ongoing threats by the neighbor to the south of annexation, Charles emphasized Canada's self-determination and sovereignty.
More now from CNN's Paula Newton.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a bold invitation on the part of Canada and Prime Minister Mark Carney and this was in fact a bold speech, very audacious in terms of its ambition for Canada. And King Charles, the king of Canada, definitely delivered on the royal ceremony.
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He and Queen Camilla arrived on an absolutely spectacular day in the horse drawn carriage, accompanied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It was extraordinary and preceded the speech was by a 21-gun salute.
NEWTON (voice-over): After that, he got down to the substance. And a reminder here that it is the Canadian government, Mark Carney's government, that actually writes the speech and Charles delivers it.
Now, in the beginning, he did have some personal words saying that every time he comes to Canada, he feels more certainly of Canada going into his --
NEWTON: -- bloodstream and right to his heart.
But after that, there were several comments about Canada's independence and its sovereignty. Listen.
KING CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: Some (ph) reminds us the true North is indeed strong and free.
NEWTON: You know, when the king and the queen were out and about, there was less than a 24-hour visit --
NEWTON (voice-over): -- you could see him even speaking to people, the gratitude. There were spontaneous cheers, spontaneous singing of "O Canada" and "God Save the King."
And after Charles's speech --
NEWTON: -- Mark Carney sat down with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. And in that interview, he underscored the kind of message he wanted King Charles to send to Canadians. Listen.
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are seeing the danger of overreliance on the United States. We will cooperate where necessary when it's in both of our interests, very clearly, but we won't necessarily cooperate.
NEWTON: In that last little bit from him, you will hear about the substance of what Canada expects from the United States and its allies going forward.
Again, as I say, this was a bold move on the -- on the part of Mark Carney. But in policy terms, both at home and abroad, he must now live up to those expectations.
Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
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VAUSE: In a moment here on CNN, why North Korea is unhappy with the U.S. president and his Golden Dome missile shield.
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VAUSE: It's hardly surprising that North Korea has joined China and Russia to condemn President Trump's plan for a space-based missile defense system.
In North Korean state media, the Golden Dome, as it's called, has been described as very dangerous and threatening.
But could the criticism be a little premature, given the lack of detail on when the system will be built, how it will work? And then there's the huge cost. More now from CNN's Will Ripley.
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RIPLEY (voice-over): The friendly handshakes feel like a distant memory.
North Korea is blasting President Donald Trump's planned Golden Dome space shield, calling it an "outer space nuclear war scenario supporting the U.S. strategy for unipolar domination. A typical product of 'America first,' the height of self-righteousness, arrogance."
Harsh words not just from Pyongyang. Also China, amid its own rapid military buildup. Beijing warns the Golden Dome would violate the principle of peaceful use of outer space, igniting a dangerous space arms race.
MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): This has a strong offensive nature. It will exacerbate the militarization of outer space.
RIPLEY (voice-over): From China and North Korea to Russia, and perhaps someday, Iran. The list of America's nuclear-armed adversaries is growing, and so are their missile arsenals.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I promised the American people that I would build a cutting-edge missile defense shield.
RIPLEY (voice-over): President Trump's Golden Dome would be the most ambitious and expensive space weapons system ever: $175 billion.
Israel's Iron Dome defends cities from short-range rockets in a country about the size of New Jersey.
Golden Dome would try to shield the entire U.S., shooting down nuclear missiles in orbit before they reach Earth. But experts say the technology to pull it off doesn't exist, at least not yet.
It's been described as hitting a bullet with a bullet.
Missile defense company Lockheed Martin says, "We will bring in the best and brightest of American innovation to rapidly develop game- changing tech like space-based interceptors and hypersonic defenses that will ensure America's Golden Dome stays well ahead of adversary threats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And destroys the ICBM warhead by force of impact.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Despite hundreds of billions of dollars for research and development going back more than four decades to President Ronald Reagan in 1983.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I know this is a formidable technical task, one that may not be accomplished before the end of this century.
RIPLEY (voice-over): No U.S. missile defense system has ever been proven effective against a realistic, large-scale intercontinental ballistic missile attack, especially one involving modern ICBMs with decoys, multiple warheads, or countermeasures.
ANDREW REDDIE, ASSOCIATE RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, U.C. BERKELEY: There is a historical precursor to what we're seeing now, and it is Star Wars during the Reagan administration. And there are echoes of that program in what's being proposed.
RIPLEY (voice-over): President Trump's Golden Dome is a bold promise.
TRUMP: We'll have it done in about three years, and we will have the best system ever built.
But critics warn it may also be a perilous pipe dream, escalating tensions with U.S. adversaries not just on Earth, but in space.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Sometimes it seems stuff just goes wrong. And so, it was Tuesday, the ninth test flight for Elon Musk's Spacex most powerful rocket.
The Starship spacecraft traveled further into its flight path than previous test flights, but failed to deploy mock satellites or ignite its engines upon reentry.
SpaceX lost contact with Starship, which likely broke up apart over the Indian Ocean after losing control on reentry.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But in the meantime, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break.
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