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Israel Pulls Plug On Al Jazeera Operations In Country; Chinese Leader To Meet With Macron, Von Der Leyen; Hours Away: Trump Returns For Another Week Of Court; IDF Urges Palestinians to Evacuate Eastern Rafah; Ceasefire & Hostage Release Talks Stall; Many Cultural Institutions, Landmarks Destroyed in Gaza; Hundreds Rescued Amid Deadly Texas Flooding; Cicadapocalypse in the U.S. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 06, 2024 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:34]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, ceasefire talks for the war in Gaza at an impasse again, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he cannot accept the demands of Hamas.

Authorities in Mexico confirmed the three bodies found in Baja California last week belong to missing foreign tourists, all of them the victims of murder.

And why local elections in the U.K. could spell trouble for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.

HOLMES: Despite the possibility of a Rafah ground invasion looming, ceasefire talks involving Israel and Hamas have stalled. But they're not apparently over yet. In Rafah well over a million Palestinians have taken refuge from the fighting. That's five times the pre-war population of that area. Israeli airstrikes there have already killed many people. But experts fear a ground invasion would result in the deaths of many, many more.

U.S. CIA director William Burns is in Doha and will remain there on Monday. An Egyptian source familiar with the negotiations telling CNN that Hamas negotiators are heading there too. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not accept Hamas's demand to withdraw the IDF from Gaza.

(BACKGROUND VOICE)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We are not willing to accept the situation in which Hamas's battalions leave their tunnels, reestablish control over the strip, rebuild their military industries and go back to threatening the citizens of Israel in the communities near Gaza, the cities of the south and throughout the country. In such a case, the next October 7th would only be a matter of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, a source telling CNN that the Biden administration paused a shipment of U.S. made ammunition meant for Israel, but didn't give a reason for the decision. The source says it's not connected to the potential IDF operation in Russia and does not impact other shipments.

Meanwhile, Israel has closed Al Jazeera's operations in the country, a move the Qatar based news network is calling a criminal act. CNN's Paula Hancocks with more on that move and the ceasefire and hostage release talks.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest rounds of negotiations in the ceasefire hostage deal are over in Cairo. They certainly haven't ended with as positive a push forward as many had hoped. But at the same time, it doesn't appear as though the talks have broken down at this point.

Now, what we've heard from Hamas, the delegation has left Cairo. We heard from the political leader Ismail Haniyeh that they were in depth and serious discussions, and that they have given their response to the proposal that is currently on the table. What we've heard from the Israeli side is through Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said that Hamas has stuck to what he called their extreme positions, the fact that they want a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a complete end to the war.

Two things which Israel is not willing to give, Netanyahu saying that that would effectively leave Hamas intact, to be able to regroup, rearm and then threaten Israel at a later date. We also know that the CIA Director Bill Burns is on his way to work to Doha. That's his next stop where he'll be talking with the Qatar Prime Minister. Qatar obviously another key mediator when it comes to trying to secure this deal.

Also, what we saw on Sunday was the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously to close down the offices of Al Jazeera, the Arabic news channel, accusing Al Jazeera of harming Israel security. Now, they said it's effective immediately. We know that you can no longer see Al Jazeera or read Al Jazeera within Israel. They've also been confiscating camera equipment from their Jerusalem Bureau.

Now, Al Jazeera has rejected the accusations by Israel calling it a criminal act to suppress free speech in order to cover up their crimes. We've also heard further afield as well from the Foreign Press Association. They said it's a dark day for democracy. The U.N. Secretary General condemning this move as well.

And of course it is interesting timing that Israel would do this, considering Al Jazeera is funded by Qatar and Qatar is a key mediator when it comes to this possible hostage deal.

[01:05:01]

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

HOLMES: The United Nations, press organizations and human rights groups are all condemning Israel's decision to ban Al Jazeera from the country, which of course comes while Israel still prevents international media from going into Gaza. The news organizations managing editor says the ban will not alter their editorial decisions.

(BACKGROUND VOICE)

MOHAMED MOAWAD, MANAGING EDITOR, AL JAZEERA'S ARABIC CHANNEL: We will try to pursue all legal battles to counter this. But for now, the coverage will continue, the impartial coverage will continue. We will make sure that we report both sides despite the fact that we have lost the coverage from inside Israel. We are not able to operate there. But we have other kinds of methods to news gathering and we will continue to be committed to the objective coverage that we have been committed to from the beginning of this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The U.N. Human Rights Office issued this statement on social media, quote, we regret the Cabinet decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel, a free and independent media is essential to ensuring transparency and accountability, now even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza. Freedom of expression is a key human right. We urge the government to overturn the ban.

Russian airstrikes bombarded Ukraine's Kharkiv region as people celebrated orthodox Easter on Sunday, at least one person was killed, 24 others wounded in the drone and bomb attacks. Ukrainian officials say residential buildings were also damaged. Ukrainians marked Easter by holding services in damaged churches. One woman saying it's even more important to worship now that her husband is fighting in the east of the country.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers on the frontlines took a brief break from the fighting in order to mark the holiday. Though they say they longed to celebrate with their families. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sending an Easter message to the country saying God is with them.

(BACKGROUND VOICE)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Russia violated all the Commandments, coveted our house and came to kill us. The world sees it. God knows it. And we believe God has a chevron with the Ukrainian flag on his shoulder. So with such an ally, life will definitely win over death.

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HOLMES: Amid the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle, East Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting Europe for the first time in five years. After arriving in Paris, Sunday, he'll meet with the French President Emmanuel Macron and the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in the coming hours. Later on Monday, he'll be honored at a state dinner. Mr. Xi's six day visit to Europe will also include stops in Serbia and Hungary.

Let's talk about all of this with Kristie Lu Stout, joining me now from Hong Kong. Let's talk about Xi's agenda in Paris and generally what he's looking for in Europe.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the stakes are high for the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, as he begins his six day trip to France, Serbia and Hungary. This is his first visit to Europe in some five years. And it comes at a critical time, a time of deep division over trade and over Russia's war against Ukraine. You're looking at footage from Sunday.

Xi Jinping, along with his wife, Peng Liyuan, they were received on the tarmac by the Prime Minister of France. And it is today in Paris, Xi Jinping is going to be meeting with one of his toughest critics. He is set to meet with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen along with the French President Emmanuel Macron. Von der Leyen is the one who called in the E.U. to de risk its supply chains away from China and to probe the influx of cheaper subsidized Chinese E.V.s flooding into the European market.

Now as for Macron, he is seeking investment from China. He is also seeking protection from cheaper Chinese products like those E.V.s, but he's also tried to influence China to use its leverage over Russia. Now this visit by Xi Jinping it mark 60 years of formal diplomatic ties between France and China.

And in a statement that was released just when Xi Jinping arrived in France, the Chinese leader said this, he said quote, I hope our two countries will light up our way forward with the torch of history, open up a brighter future of China-France relations and make new contributions to world peace, stability and development, unquote.

But analysts say that this visit is part of China's strategy to exploit division inside the E.U. This is what we heard from Noah Barkin. He said this, quote, China is seen increasingly as a multifaceted threat in many European capitals. But there are divisions within Europe over how fast and how far to go in addressing concerns about China, both in the economic and security spheres, unquote.

[01:10:03]

After France, Xi Jinping will be visiting Serbia and then Hungary next. And these two countries are both pro Russia, and also big recipients of Chinese investment. So these visits are coming up next are expected to be much less contentious. And it's something that observers say Beijing likely, very much planned on purpose.

HOLMES: And on that point, he's going to be in Serbia just in time for what is a sensitive anniversary?

LU STOUT: That's right. I mean, this is according to the Serbian president's office, we have his calendar that Xi Jinping is expected to be in Serbia on May the 7th, that's tomorrow and May the 8th. And May the 7th this year, will be the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.

So observers say that this timing looks highly intentional. It's designed to play up China's anti-NATO agenda. We know that China has repeated and amplified Russian talking points, blaming NATO for escalating the war in Ukraine. Back to you.

HOLMES: All right, good to see you Kristie. Thanks for that. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

Just hours from now, Donald Trump will be back in a New York courtroom for the start of the fourth week of his historic criminal trial. The former U.S. president has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Daniels is a potential witness for the prosecution, but they've been tight lipped over who they might call to the stand next. CNN's Zachary Cohen with more.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: A new witness will take the stand on Monday when the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump presumes. While it remains unclear who will be called to testify next, we're still waiting to hear from several key witnesses, including the adult actress at the center of the trial Stormy Daniels and Trump's Former Attorney Michael Cohen.

The trial picks back up after Friday's testimony from one of Trump's former key advisors Hope Hicks. Hicks sat feet away from Trump as she described the 2016 fallout from the Access Hollywood tape and the Trump campaigns response to stories about hush money payments.

Testimony from Hicks really set the stage for witnesses who have direct knowledge of Trump's alleged role in this scheme to keep Stormy Daniels quiet ahead of the 2016 election. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from how he allegedly hid the way Michael Cohen was reimbursed for paying $130,000 to Daniels.

Hicks testified last week that she did not believe the story that Cohen had paid the money on his own. And she said that Trump was glad he did not have to deal with the stories about hush money payments coming out until after the 2016 election.

Now Trump White House aides, Trump Organization employees Daniels and Michael Cohen are all still on deck for prosecutors to call.

Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.

HOLMES: CNN had asked a criminal defense lawyer about the impact Michael Cohen's testimony could have on the trial if he is indeed called to take the stand. Have a listen.

(BACKGROUND VOICE)

DAVID OSCAR MARKUS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER: The defense is salivating for Michael Cohen. That's going to be the big one of course. And, you know, the prosecution is going to be nervous. This is an admitted perjurer, admitted liar and someone who's had a lot of trouble. I mean, even in this case, he promised everybody he'd stopped going on social media, and I mean would that last a couple of hours.

So the defense needs a win at some point in one of these battles, you know, Cinco de Mayo, the French lost that battle to the Mexican army. We -- the defense needs a win this week because it's looking pretty bleak right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, pressure are ramping up for the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as his conservative party suffers heavy losses in regional elections. Also some of the worst flooding southern Brazil has ever seen, dozens dead, many more missing. You're watching CNN Newsroom. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: Welcome back. The losing streak could be far from over for the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after his conservative party suffered heavy losses in local elections. Voters across England cast their ballots on Thursday handing a thumping victory to the Labour Party and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had no choice but to address his party's heavy losses in an outing.

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RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Obviously, it's disappointing to lose good hardworking conservative, councilors and I'm grateful to them for all their service in local government keeping council tax low and delivering services for local people, but we still got lots of results to come as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Current polls predict Labour will win the next national election which must be held by January and could propel party leader for Keir Starmer to power and end more than a decade of conservative rule in Britain.

(BACKGROUND VOICE)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOUR OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER: It is incredible to one buy such a swing, 26 percent swing. That's the fifth swing of over 20 percent for the Labour Party and by elections in recent months and years. It is a fantastic result, a really first class result. And here in Blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the Prime Minister, directly to the Prime Minister because this was a parliamentary vote. This was directly to Rishi Sunak to say we're fed up with your decline, your chaos and your division and we want change.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Joining me now is CNN European Affairs Commentator Dominic Thomas. Always good to see you Dominic. Bruising results for the Conservative Party, not just local councils, either Labour victories in regional and London mayoral contests as well. How much wound leaking is underway for the Tories?

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Pretty serious, Michael. I mean, you know, going all the way back to 2019 was the last general election. And in this particular case, it's clear that the policy agenda that Prime Minister Sunak began to outline in 2022, early 2023 is not coming through. And I think that the voters in these local elections sent a very loud message to the current administration that they plan on holding them accountable moving forward in these upcoming elections.

HOLMES: What do these elections tell us about what's important to voters and what is not? And how much of a barometer are they on the national level?

THOMAS: Now, I think they're a significant barometer. And obviously, when you go into a general election, there are unpredictable elements, it's still potentially several months away. But I think when you go back to 2019, when Boris Johnson won the last general election for this party, it was organized around a single issue and the slogan, get Brexit done. All of that has moved far, far, far into the background now, as has the COVID debate, and so on.

The issues that Rishi Sunak outlined had to do with the NHS and the economy, with immigration. But it was clear in this particular election, that apart from addressing the question of inflation, the other issues has essentially not improved. And people are not concerned about the environmental or the immigration debates in the way that they might have been specially immigration in the past. They're concerned about the cost of living, Michael, the cost of energy, the cost of food and access to healthcare.

And that extra election showed that the pocketbook was really the primary issue here, not those other issues that had previously defined the Conservative Party agenda.

HOLMES: Yes. And when it comes to Rishi Sunak, the -- I was reading the former home secretary and Sunak critic, Suella Braverman, she said this quote, we must not change our leader. Changing leader now won't work. The time to do so came and went the hole to dig us out of is the PMs and it's time for him to start shoveling. I mean what is he meant to do what can he do to win back voters. I saw one analysts say he's a dead man walking.

[01:20:12]

THOMAS: Well, I mean, look, Michael, I mean, the question is really what Braverman saying, I mean, who on earth would want the job at this stage, any person leading the Conservative Party into this general election is going to have to be accountable for the past 14 years. So it's unclear as to who that person would be, who would bring the party together and who could somehow change that particular narrative. So at this stage, they will wait till after the election to see where things are. For Rishi Sunak, I think at the moment, his real only hope is that somehow rather in the next few months, the economy improves, or that he's able to convince people that it's on the correct path forward. But I'm not sure that going down the road of moving towards the far right, sort of playing around and instrumentalizing the immigration question is going to help them at this particular stage.

And I think that the other thing that one has to be attentive to is that in 2019, when Boris Johnson won, it was a different context, that the Labour Party suffered one of its worst defeats in history. And it's but then also an uphill struggle to try and convince people that winning a general election is somehow going to help them is IV their policies and so on. And there's some uncertainty there, of course, Michael.

HOLMES: I was going to ask you about that. I mean, the electorate's dissatisfaction with conservatives is one thing, but is there a love for Sir Keir Starmer in the Labour Party or is it more of a case at the moment of well, they're not the Tories?

THOMAS: Well, you're right. I mean, look, both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party have been dealing with their own divisions over the past decade, if not longer. I think that a lot of this voting here is out of frustration. It's an oppositional vote to the Conservative Party rather than automatically being for Keir Starmer. But having said that, the Labour Party polling at this moment has been consistently very strong and the level of dissatisfaction with the Conservative Party extremely high.

And so the outcome seems quite predictable at this stage. And it's unclear as to whether the policies that the Conservative Party, sort of right wingers, far right wingers are pushing are really going to help them at this particular juncture, when clearly there's local elections demonstrated that there were other issues that the electorate are concerned about and sending a message to Sunak about.

HOLMES: What about the smaller parties? I mean, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, how did they do and what could their role potentially be in the results of a general election?

THOMAS: Yes, well, always. I mean, it's interesting when you look at that sort of opposition or landscape. In the U.K., it's not a coalition system, you either win, or you're in the opposition. And there have been important showings, I mean, all the way back to 2010 between David Cameron and the Lib Dems, there was an attempt at sort of forging a coalition, the Greens have done rather well.

But I think that the smaller parties on the right and the far right are also a concern to the other side of it, which is the leading party the Conservatives as they see the Reform Party, this outgrowth of UKIP and the Brexit party that Nigel Farage had run has encroaching upon their votes and pushing them in a way towards that far right agenda. And paradoxically, that doesn't seem to be helping the Conservative Party as they move forward and get those votes are there for them and a further stripping away the strength of Sunak going into this general election, Michael.

HOLMES: Always such great analysis from you, Dominic. Dominic Thomas, appreciate it as always. Thanks so much.

THOMAS: Thank you, Michael.

HOLMES: Now this just into us here at CNN, the Israeli military has issued a statement urging people in Eastern Rafah to evacuate. The IDF says, quote, residents of Eastern Rafah should quoting again advanced towards the expanded humanitarian era -- area. That area is in Al Mawasi. That's near Khan Younis. There are well over a million Palestinians 1.2, 1.3 million in Rafah. Israeli airstrikes there have already killed many people.

Now Israel is preparing for a potential ground offensive. Experts fear that could result in the death of many, many more Palestinians that says just come out. So we're keeping an eye on that. Is something beginning? We don't know. But Palestinians in that Eastern area of Rafah are being told to get out.

Now, Panama's electoral authority says Jose Raul Mulino is the unofficial winner of the presidential election there based on preliminary results. With most of the votes counted, he's leading by about 10 percentage points. Mulino is a right wing former public servant who moved to the top of the ticket after his running mate was disqualified.

He has controversially vowed to shut down the Darien Gap, that treacherous stretch of jungle that's become a main highway for migrants headed to the U.S. The Central American nation of nearly 4.5 million people whose struggling with many thorny issues including corruption, high inflation and a stagnating economy.

[01:25:08]

And we have a tragic update on the search for those three missing surfers in Mexico. The bodies found in Baja California on Friday have been now confirmed to be the two missing Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their friend, an American, named Jack Carter Road. Their killings have caused an uproar among members of Mexico surfing community, with many calling for more action on safety. Alison Piotrowski from our affiliate 9News in Australia filed this report from Mexico.

ALISON PIOTROWSKI, NINE NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Deborah and Martin Robinson arrived in Tijuana where they met with Baja's Attorney General. The Australian Ambassador to Mexico was also in attendance. They are now here in Encinitas doing something that no parent should have to identify their son's bodies. For new details coming from the autopsy report about how these three men were killed. It was execution style, a gunshot to the head.

Bajas Attorney General is insistent that this was an opportunistic crime that three Mexican nationals seized upon the three men at their remote campsite, but the Aussies pushed back and tried to fight them off as the Mexican nationals were after their white youth and that was how they were shot. The Mexican Attorney General insistent that this was the cause of events.

Local journalists pushing back and saying they are confused as to how they've come to this conclusion so quickly. I'm here and in Ensenada, where locals have been gathering, local surfers, who want to show their solidarity to Australia. Many of them met Callum and Jake last week and went surfing with them. One of them was Patricia (ph).

(BACKGROUND VOICE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have the opportunity to meet these guys like three days before in San Miguel, we were surfing together. They were super nice persons. They were asking for tacos. And they were looking so happy to be here, to learn about culture. They were asking our traditional music.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PIOTROWSKI: The locals here in Ensenada are incredibly rattled. But they say, if there's anything to come from this case, I hope that it results in some change in their community.

HOLMES: Our thanks to Nine News Correspondent Alison Piotrowski there for that report.

Officials in Kenya say the death toll from weeks of widespread flooding has now risen to at least 228 people, 72 others are still missing. And the danger far from over with more heavy rain forecasts for the country's western and northern regions. Parts of the country received more than half of month's rain in just two days at the start of this month. More than 165,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

Extreme weather also devastating southern Brazil as we've been reporting over the last few days. Officials say 78 people are now dead during to a series of catastrophic floods. More than 100 are missing. Residents and evacuees telling CNN they've seen dead bodies floating in the waters. People likely not yet counted in the death toll. Officials say 780,000 people have been affected by the flooding.

Still to come here on the program, efforts are underway to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages but a potential ground incursion of Rafah looming over those talks.

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[01:30:50]

HOLMES: Welcome back.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes.

As we told you moments ago, the IDF has issued a statement urging people in eastern Rafah to evacuate. The IDF says, quote "residents of eastern Rafah should advance towards the expanded humanitarian area."

Now that area is in al-Mawasi, its near Khan Younis. The advisory coming as Israel is preparing, of course, for a potential ground invasion in Rafah that experts fear could result in the deaths of many Palestinians.

Meanwhile, ceasefire and hostage release talks involving Israel and Hamas have stalled, they're not necessarily broken down, but this latest news advising people to move out of Rafah could be signaling that that could be the case.

Right now, U.S. CIA director William Burns is in Doha. He was scheduled to go to Israel on Monday, but we're now told he's staying on in Qatar.

And Egyptian source familiar with the negotiations, tells CNN that Hamas negotiators are heading there too. Hamas issuing a statement saying it is still keen to reach an agreement. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not accept Hamas' demand to withdraw the IDF from Gaza.

Meanwhile, the White House has reportedly halted an ammunition shipment to Israel.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez with those details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Biden administration has paused a U.S. main ammunition shipment to Israel, according to a source familiar.

Now that source could not disclose why that decision was made. But two important points. One, we're saying that it was not linked to a potential Israeli ground invasion of Rafah. That's in the southern Gaza Strip where more than a million Palestinians have been sheltering.

It's also not going to affect other shipments as of now. That is to say that this is a decision that was made on one particular shipment instead, U.S. officials maintaining that they have the same policy toward Israel. This does not signal a policy change and that security assistance continues to go to the region.

Now, according to a National Security Council spokesperson who said the following, quote, "The United States has surged billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel since the October 7 attacks, passed the largest ever supplemental appropriation for emergency assistance to Israel, led an unprecedented coalition to defend Israel against Iranian attacks and will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Israel can defend itself from the threats it faces.\

Of course, that supplemental that is referenced in the statement is at $26 billion for the Israel-Hamas conflict that was passed by the U.S.. Congress and signed by President Biden last month.

Now of course, all of this though comes as those hostage talks are ongoing. The U.S. dispatching CIA director Bill Burns to the Middle East to continue these talks. He's often dispatched during intensive parts and phases of these negotiations.

And those are all very much ongoing. U.S. officials have said this is a top priority for the White House, but also noted that the talks are fluid and it's not clear when or if a deal is reached.

But a source telling CNN that the CIA director will stay in the region on Monday and perhaps in the days to come.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: For more, I'm joined by Dahlia Scheindlin. She's a political analyst and fellow at the Century Foundation and author of the new book, "The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel". She joins me from Tel Aviv.

Appreciate you doing so.

[01:34:40]

HOLMES: What is your read on the negotiations as they stand? The willingness of each side to make a deal, especially in light of this news just in the last few minutes, that Palestinians are being told by the IDF to move out of Eastern Rafah, which could be the start of something or it could be a negotiating tactic?

DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think we have to look beyond the question of negotiating tactic with relation to Rafah and the hostage negotiation deals.

The threat of Rafah has been hanging over everybody for months now, and it could have conceivably been seen as a negotiating tactic, but Israel has been preparing very, very significantly for an invasion and the governing coalition -- the original governing coalition led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, they've been saying over and over again that this is an absolutely must, building up the case.

And it seems that the government has prioritized going into Rafah. It's the fact that they're beginning it with an evacuation of the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah is probably meant to placate to some level, the panic around the world of what would happen with a full-out invasion.

But it does seem that that is taking precedence over the kinds of concessions that would be needed to be made to finalize the hostage deal. And it seems that we've seen these rounds of negotiations for a hostage deal that has collapsed every time.

Hamas also bears responsibility, of course, because Hamas has not accepted what the Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said were very generous terms that Israel has agreed to over time with the hostage negotiations. And the two sides are barricaded into their positions.

HOLMES: Yes. And to that point, I mean, do you think Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to ceasefire before going into Rafah because there are some even in Israeli who think he doesn't and certainly he has members of his own government who think a Rafah is more important than a deal. Do you think that he was always going to do that?

SCHEINDLIN: Well, there's no way to divine what's going on inside Mr. Netanyahu's head in fact, because we're not there.

However, put it this way, there was very -- there was a very clear threat on the part of his far-right ultra nationalist coalition partners to leave the government if Israel did not go into Rafah and they were haranguing the government all the time, including through tweets saying that the kinds of deal that seemed to be shaping up with Hamas would represent a capitulation and that they would leave the government that would most likely lead to new elections.

And Netanyahu of course, does want to stay in power, that's the circumstantial evidence for the sense that Netanyahu would prefer to continue with the Rafah operation rather than reach a hostage deal.

We can't be inside his head, but there's another problem and that's that the Israeli public view -- excuse me -- Mr. Netanyahu's decision- making as highly influenced by those personal political considerations about keeping his coalition together and keeping himself in power.

And that's a significant problem when the population doesn't trust his motivations.

HOLMES: Dig into that a little deeper because I was going to ask you about that next anyway. We see the demonstrations in Israel calling for a deal. What, what -- give us the sense of a broader Israeli public opinion on deals, ceasefire?

What compromises should or should not be made?

SCHEINDLIN: Well, the Israeli public is not in the position of being the negotiator.

And I think that it's true that there are some people who would say complete end to the war is too high a price to pay, but those aside, the majority of Israelis are desperate to see a hostage release agreement. And that is compounded by what has always been a lack of trust in Netanyahu since the beginning of this war.

His ratings and his governments ratings have plunged and what we're seeing over recent weeks is a very striking rise in surveys and the portion of people who don't believe what Mr. Netanyahu has been promising, this slogan of a total victory over 60 percent in one survey by the public broadcaster commissioned by the public broadcaster Khan News (ph). Nearly two-thirds of Israelis don't believe that there can -- that Israel is one, just one step away from total victory.

HOLMES: Wow.

SCHEINDLIN: So I think the total picture is that Israelis want the hostages back. They no longer believe that any one move, including the Rafah operation will lead to this total victory. They are well aware that without an alternative to Hamas or longer-term political horizon at least -- at the very least, for the day after the war, there is no particular endpoint to the war and all the time the hostages are probably certainly suffering and probably dying in Hamas captivity.

And so more of the public would prioritize hostage release at this point. But the government is not capitulating, first and foremost to the Israeli public on this.

HOLMES: You raise a good point there in terms of the what next. They're still been so little discussion on any official level about that. What happens when this is over. I mean the U.S. still talks about a two-state solution. Netanyahu has explicitly said that's not happening on his watch.

Settlements are growing. Land occupied, and the positions taken by the government is a viable contiguous Palestinian state, even possible especially given what Israel has always called, you know, facts on the ground.

SCHEINDLIN: I think anybody who lives in this region, and has been observing closely the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israel's occupation and de facto annexation over time has come to the conclusion long before this war began.

[01:39:52]

SCHEINLIN: That the two-state solution in the sense of an independent sovereign contiguous Palestinian state would be extremely hard to achieve. And of course, it has only gotten more so.

It's not entirely impossible, although I personally do think that the nature of those two states would need to be reconstituted for a different kind of two states in an open more confederated relationship, because there's no way to have complete separation at this point.

But any sort of agreed political resolution right now is extremely difficult to achieve under this Israeli government. They don't want anything that the Palestinians would agree to.

Now, that doesn't mean it's entirely impossible, but it will require massive, I think a perfect storm of international involvement, including both incentives and pressure at probably from Western allies and Middle Eastern countries.

And those -- those countries will have to come together with a policy. Right now, I think the international community has been talking sternly and maybe even in an impassioned way about getting back to the two-state solution.

Although even that was in the first few months of the war, not so much recently. But this kind of talk can't rest on rhetoric, it has to be backed by policy, ideally coordinated policies that will involve some sort of political intervention. And you know, there's talk of some sort of participation of other countries in security intervention as well in the long-term, but those have to be part of a comprehensive vision.

They can't be sort of piecemeal policy for the day after without thinking about the entire picture on the long term.

HOLMES: Yes. And there has to be a willingness. Always great to get your analysis. Dahlia Scheindlin, thank you so much.

SCHEINDLIN: Thank you for having me.

HOLMES: Well, as the war drags on and the death toll climbs, Palestinians in Gaza are not only losing their homes; cultural institutions and landmarks, some of them centuries old have also been destroyed, much of them irreplaceable.

For example, this is what the Church of Saint Porphyrius used to look like, but now one of the oldest churches in the world lays in ruins after it was hit by an Israeli air strike back in October.

Earlier, I spoke with Jehad Abusalim, the executive director of The Jerusalem Fund, and asked him just how much culture and history has been lost in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEHAD ABUSALIM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JERUSALEM FUND: Over the past six months, more than 200 heritage sites in the Gaza Strip have been either partially or completely bombed and destroyed by Israel.

Among these are historic mosques, churches, schools, museums, ancient houses, theaters, libraries, and archives, including the al-Omari Mosque, and the Pasha Palace and Museum in the heart of Gaza's old city.

HOLMES: Yes, truly historical places.

Now you've said that this is a war, in your words, targeting the foundations of society and that it's no accident that Israel is trying to stop Palestinians from re-establishing life as they knew it.

You really believe that? That it is a deliberate thing?

ABUSALIM: Absolutely. It's an act of erasure that aims not just to obliterate physical structures, but to wipe out the collective memory and intellectual heritage that bind a people together.

I mean the strategy here is clear. Israel's strategy is to undermine the essence of Palestinian identity by making the very foundation of Palestinians' history and identity inaccessible.

HOLMES: Yes. Of course, now we've got to say this, you know, Israel says it strikes places where Hamas is or places it uses militarily.

It's not targeting civilians or cultural heritage. What do you say to that?

ABUSALIM: I mean, we -- we've all seen the footage of the great Omari mosque in the heart of Gaza's old city. This is perhaps the second oldest mosque in Palestine after Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

And the mosque, which is a treasure in every sense of the word, has been completely or most of it has been destroyed, while many of the surrounding buildings are standing intact.

So there is no justification for this kind of behavior, except that this is a deliberate targeting of an ancient historic site. And that means a lot to Palestinians and is at the very heart of what it means to be Palestinian in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That was Jehad Abusalim with the Jerusalem Fund. Our full interview is posted on my Instagram @HolmesCNN.

Meanwhile, much more to come on CNN NEWSROOM, including a look at the widespread flooding in Texas. A young child has died and hundreds of people have been rescued from swamped homes and vehicles across the state.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[01:44:52]

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HOLMES: The widespread flooding in Texas has turned deadly. The body of a five-year-old boy recovered from floodwaters near fort worth on Sunday as search and rescue teams statewide continued to patrol areas inundated by days of heavy rain.

Hundreds have been rescued from flooded homes and vehicles and disaster declarations have been made in more than a third of the state's counties.

More now from CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 9-1-1 call came in at about 2:00 a.m. this morning local time, about a man and a woman and a child stuck inside a car in the rising waters. And then of course, first responders went to their rescue. But here is what the Johnson County official said. That that 911 caller witnessed the occupants get out of the vehicle and attempt to get too dry ground on foot when all were swept into the floodwaters.

The adults were rescued at about 5:00 a.m. this morning. The body of the five-year-old boy was recovered after 7:00 a.m. this morning.

This is what we have been hearing from officials in multiple counties and they're asking adults not to drive through rising waters. If water has swallowed the road, they are asking people not to drive through it. They're asking people not to move barricades and drive through rising water. They're also asking people to evacuate if they are in mandatory evacuation zones. Now, we hopped on an air boat with the Harris County sheriff's office

we have video of this. They were assessing an area that's right behind me. It was not accessible other than by boat.

And they showed us some of the dangers. I mean, we were on this air boat we were going over fences, over mailboxes. The stop signs were at eye level. And the first responders explained some of the challenges sometimes they stretch their arms towards individuals, telling them that they can rescue them, they can take them to higher ground and to safety. And a lot of the times, individuals deny that help they say that they want to stay in their homes. And of course, first responders can drag people out of their homes, out of their private property.

And so that's some of the difficulties. We talked to the lieutenant about this and here's what he had to say about some of those challenges. Take a listen.

LT. DAVID JASPER, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We've been evacuating people since last Wednesday, and all day yesterday in this area here. And there are still some people that they don't want to leave for whatever reasons.

We do have mandatory evacuations. As you can see, its extremely flooded here. And unfortunately, were getting more rain.

FLORES: This weather event has been compared to Hurricane Harvey because of the water levels of the San Jacinto River.

[01:49:48]

FLORES: I want to show you a comparison because take a look at the restaurant that's behind me. It's at a distance. You can see that it is blue. It has a roof.

There was a local man here who took a picture of this building during Hurricane Harvey and we have it for you. And you can see that the water level is at about the roof. So that gives you a sense of the comparison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Rosa Flores there reporting from just outside Houston.

All right. Up next, a whole lot of buzz about one of the world's most recognizable insects. If you're squeamish, look away because there's billions of these little critters emerging from below ground in the U.S.

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HOLMES: Lando Norris (INAUDIBLE) to his first victory in the Miami Grand Prix. The 24-year-old McLaren drivers starting fifth on the grid.

But (INAUDIBLE) through the field to finish more than seven seconds ahead of perennial winner Red Bull's Max Verstappen with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc coming in third place. It's the first time Norris has taken top spot with the British driver admitting it had been a long time coming.

He'll be hoping to emulate the win when the F1 roadshow heads to Italy in just a couple of weeks.

It's almost time for the world's most famous night in fashion. On Monday, the steps of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art will host a bevy of A-listers hitting the red carpet in their most eye-popping ensembles. The theme for this year's MET Gala is "The Garden of Time", a reference to the sci-fi short story written in 1962 by J.G. Ballard.

The co-chairs for the event include the superstars Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, and Bad Bunny.

Now a rare phenomenon is affecting more than a dozen U.S. states and the chances are if you're in those states, you'll hear it before you see it.

As CNN's Whitney Wild reports, billions of cicadas are beginning to emerge above ground.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you live in several Midwest or southern states this spring neighbors you likely didn't know were there, will make their presence known by the billions.

Two broods of cyclical cicadas will emerge, brood 19 and brood 13 have been living underground for 13 and 17 years each, well before Abby Warren (ph) and Persia Arcillas (ph) were born.

Are you excited for the cicadas?

ABBY WARREN: Yes.

PERSIA ARCILLAS: Yes.

WILD: How come you're excited, Abby.

WARREN: Because I love how they're really loud and they got (INAUDIBLE).

WILD: The two broods, haven't crawled above ground at the same time since 1803. Back then, Thomas Jefferson was president and Illinois wasn't a state yet. Fast-forward to 2024 and teenage cicadas are set to crawl in every corner of the Prairie State.

Major metro areas like Nashville, Atlanta and St. Louis will also see their share of what's been dubbed cicada-geddon.

Three groups of males get together. They're mating call will be impossible to ignore. The volume of the buzz can rival a dump truck.

How many cicadas do you think are going to emerge?

ALLEN LAWRENCE, PEGGY NOTEBAERT NATURE MUSEUM, CHICAGO: Across the entire eastern U.S. we probably are going to see trillions.

WILD: Trillions?

Allen Lawrence studies insects at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago And can't wait for this year super bowl of superbugs.

[01:54:51]

LAWRENCE: This means a chance to just be fully immersed and just a really unique and magical phenomenon. This really only happens in the U.S.

WILD: Here swarms have pestered the press and politicians alike.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Watch out for the cicadas. I just got one. He got me.

WILD: They have also inspired artists like Anthony Hall, who created a t-shirt and a mascot for the moment.

Ok. What's the inspiration behind the Chicago cicada?

ANTHONY HALL, ARTIST: So I've always been a huge fan of vintage sports mascots.

WILD: So how many orders do you have so far?

HALL: Oh, hundreds.

WILD: Hundreds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm most excited about the opportunity to communicate and to educate.

WILD: At the Insect Asylum in Chicago, Nina Salem says their call for artists to paint plaster cicadas to raise funds echoed farther than she imagined.

Look at that just like the real thing when it comes out of the shell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For some people, this is, you know, it's fine, it's a chance to showcase their artistry. But for other people, it's a really heartfelt moment.

WILD: Wonder what it is you find so fascinating and so enthralling about them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all go through periods of growth and the cicada goes through significant growth.

WILD: Whitney Wild, CNN -- Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Bakers in France have risen to the occasion to take back the record for the world's largest baguette. A crew of French bread makers baked the 140-meter baguette in a suburb

of Paris. They began shaping the dough and use the specially-built oven on wheels to feed it through.

The previous record for longest baguette was held by Italy for a 132- meter baguette back in 1920 -- sorry, 2019. Part of this loaf was cut and shares it with the public. The rest was designated for the area's homeless residents.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, spending part of your day with me.

I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Instagram and Threads @HolmesCNN.

Stick around the news continues with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church next.

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