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Palestinians Ordered to Evacuate Eastern Rafah; U.N. Condemns Israel's Ban on Al Jazeera; Fourth Week of Trump's Hush Money Trial; Speaker Mike Johnson Facing a Vote to Oust Him; Potential VP Candidates for Trump; Major Floods All Across the Globe; Three Bodies Found in Mexico Identified; Exhibit in New York About the Nova Music Festival; Russia Mars Orthodox Easter In Kharkiv Region With Airstrikes; Hundreds Rescued, Thousands Displaced in Texas Flooding; Hundreds Arrested At Pro-Palestinian Protests Across U.S. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 06, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world and streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, Donald Trump's hush money trial continues today with several key witnesses yet to testify.

Negotiations between Hamas and Israel have stalled. We will speak to a relative of an Israeli hostage about what this might mean for their loved one.

And Mexican officials identify three dead bodies found in a well while investigators search for a motive.

Thanks for joining us. Israel has issued a statement urging people in eastern Rafah to evacuate amid fears of an imminent IDF ground invasion of the southern Gaza city. The statement says those people should evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area at the checkpoints. That area is in al-Mawasi, as you can see on this map. And there are well over a million Palestinians taking refuge in Rafah from the fighting.

That is five times the pre-war population of the area. And experts fear it could result in the deaths of many of them. Israel's defense minister told his troops to expect intense action in Rafah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translation): We identified alarming signs that Hamas actually does not intend to go to any agreement with us. This means we will start military actions in Rafah and the entire Gaza Strip in the very near future.

(END VIDEO CLIP) Meanwhile, the White House has paused an ammunition shipment to Israel. A source did not give CNN a reason for that decision, but says it's not connected to the potential IDF operation in Rafah and does not affect other shipments. Meantime, the ceasefire and hostage release talks appear to have stalled, but they're not over. The U.S. CIA director was scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday but has delayed the trip. For the moment, William Burns is staying in Doha.

An Egyptian source familiar with the negotiations told CNN that Hamas negotiators are heading there too. Hamas says it wants to strike a deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not accept Hamas's demand to withdraw the IDF from Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translation): Capitulating to Hamas's demands would be a terrible defeat for the state of Israel. It would be a great victory for Hamas, Iran and the entire axis of evil. It would demonstrate terrible weakness to our friends and to our enemies. This weakness would only bring closer the next war and it would push off the next peace agreement because alliances are not made with the weak and the defeated. Alliances are made with the strong and the victorious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Michael Levy joins us now from Ganei Tikva in Israel. His brother, Or Levy, is among the hostages Hamas is holding. Thank you so much for talking with us.

MICHAEL LEVY, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE OR LEVY: Thank you.

CHURCH: Your family has been dealing with the anguish of your brother's absence for nearly seven months now and these ceasefire and hostage release talks are stalled but they haven't broken down, which is very important. What is your reaction to news that Hamas says it wants to strike a deal but Prime Minister Netanyahu won't accept their demand to withdraw IDF troops from Gaza?

LEVY: Honestly, I stopped believing anything Hamas is saying. We hear those rumors about a deal pretty much since October 8th. We've seen so many negotiation breakdowns and deals that fall down. At the moment, I try not to deal with it because obviously it's not serious.

CHURCH: And Michael, Israel is now urging Gazans in eastern Rafah to evacuate and says plans for a ground offensive into the city are moving forward. What's your reaction to that and the Israeli airstrikes in Rafah Sunday, given some hostages may be held in that city?

[02:05:00]

LEVY: My brother is in Gaza, so obviously I'm afraid. I trust the army to do what he knows and won't hurt the hostages or any innocent civilians. That's what I'm trying to believe in.

CHURCH: And what do you know about your brother's current condition and what would you like to share with us about your brother, Or?

LEVY: We know that Or is alive and he wasn't injured when he was kidnapped. And Or has a two-and-a-half-year-old child named Almog (ph) who is waiting for him at home. This amazing boy already lost his mother in the horrible attack of Hamas. Or had to witness his wife being murdered before he was kidnapped. And I think this is what's important.

People tend to take it into politics and think the hostages are just names or numbers, but they are real people. For me, it's my little brother. For the other 131 hostage families, it's their loved ones. Each one has thousands of people behind him who cares for him. We basically stopped our lives because we are fighting to get them back and this is what's important, not politics or not anything else.

CHURCH: And what do you want all of us to know about your brother?

LEVY: I want you to take a look at his smiling face and understand that it can be anyone in the world. And everyone should take a stand against terrorism and fix it and put more pressure on their government to make Hamas release the hostages. Every day that they are there is a crime against humanity.

CHURCH: And you mentioned that your brother and tragically his late wife have a son, a two-year-old. What do you tell him when he asks where his parents are?

LEVY: We had to tell him that his mom won't come back and that we are looking for his father. I don't know how much of it he can understand, but he feels different when he sees parents coming to take their children from their kindergarten. He sits alone and cries that he misses his father and his mother. That's the real story here.

CHURCH: And it is a heartbreaking story. Michael Levy, thank you so much for talking with us and we hope your brother is returned to you safely soon. Thank you for joining us.

LEVY: Thank you.

CHURCH: The United Nations press organizations and human rights groups are 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 organization's managing editor says the ban will not alter their editorial decisions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMED MOAWAD, MANAGING EDITOR, AL JAZEERA'S ARABIC CHANNEL: We will try to pursue all legal paths 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)

CHURCH: The U.N. Human Rights Office issued this statement on social media. "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."

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.

[02:09:58]

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 have been tight-lipped over who they might call to the stand next. CNN's Zachary Cohen has 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 resumes. 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 campaign's 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 the 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.

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic." He joins us now from Los Angeles. Appreciate you being with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, GOP presumptive nominee for president Donald Trump will be back at his criminal trial in the coming hours and so far, he is gaining rather than losing political support. How likely is it that this trend will continue for him right up to the November elections with most polls currently showing a very tight race between him and Joe Biden?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, you know, it is a very tight race in the national polls. In the key swing state polls, Trump probably has a slight advantage in enough states that you'd have to say he's the favorite overall at this point. Look, I think the impact of this trial we're not going to know until the finish line. It doesn't seem that Americans are riveted enough on the details that individual days of testimony are really going to move the needle much in the presidential election.

But when we get to the finish line, we do have polling suggesting that there are a fair number of voters who understandably would have hesitations about electing to the nation's chief law enforcement office someone who has been a convicted felon.

Now, whether that plays out in the end, whether he is convicted and whether voters will respond if they do, if he is, we don't know. But that I think is more likely to be the impact than kind of movement around the individual days of testimony, as compelling as some of them have been like Hope Hicks last week.

CHURCH: And Ron, far right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is threatening to call a vote this week to oust her party's own House Speaker, Mike Johnson. But it's putting her at odds with some MAGA allies and Democrats are now vowing to step in and save him if she goes ahead with this vote. So, what's the likely political fallout from this on both sides?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, it is just another manifestation of the enormous, really almost unprecedented difficulty Republicans have had running the House. I mean, the House has been -- has become in the modern era, a quasi-parliamentary institution, you know, where, you know, we saw, for example, in the two years that Democrats had unified control, they passed a series of bills with no more than two or three members voting no on some very polarizing controversial issues. There's been nothing like that in these two years.

And I think obviously, as you know, the Democrats are not going to allow her to remove the Speaker, particularly because he kind of stepped up and did what the bipartisan coalition of the Senate had done earlier in terms of aid to Ukraine and Israel and Taiwan. But I think this is just a very clear signal of what might be out there again, if Republicans win another narrow majority in 2025.

Don't forget the last two houses. The majority party has only had a four or five seat majority, historically narrow divisions. And this may be more of a kind of a preview of the future, particularly on the Republican side.

CHURCH: And Ron, in the midst of Trump's search for a vice presidential running mate, one prospective candidate, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem may have crossed a line, even for Trump, by writing about shooting and killing her own puppy and now suggesting that President Biden's dog should also be shot.

[02:15:03] Another possible VP for Trump, Senator Tim Scott, won't commit to accepting the 2024 election results. Now, they're just two of his possible choices. So, who will Trump likely select, do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, there's one interesting aspect of this that I thought didn't get enough attention in that interview that Trump did last week with "Time Magazine," in which he laid out a lot of ominous authoritarian sounding ideas like using the military to deport people or firing U.S. attorneys who would not prosecute anyone that he asked. Along the way, he said that he did intend to adhere to the 22nd Amendment and not seek re-election a third time or election a third time if he wins in November.

And that means into his consciousness, I think has to be the awareness that he is picking the person who would be the front runner to succeed him, you know, whether or not he wins in 2024. And I have to imagine that might change the calculation a little bit. You know, and there aren't that many choices that give him an enormous electoral advantage, maybe Marco Rubio, or Tim Scott to help him with the inroads he's already achieved in early polling among non-white men.

But if he's thinking about -- if he's, in fact, committing to only running for one term, and you know, of course, we would see if he wins, that might lead him more to figures like say, JD Vance, who has been, you know, in a state that he should win -- Trump should be able to win on his own, but who he might feel more comfortable as a designee for the next generation of MAGA.

So, we'll see where he goes. But I thought that was an intriguing, perhaps indication of some of the considerations that he may be pondering as he as he weighs this decision.

CHURCH: And we'll watch to see who he does select in the end. Ron Brownstein, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And when we come back, deadly floods are devastating cities across the globes of merging homes and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to find shelter.

Plus, authorities confirmed the three bodies found in Mexico last week are the missing surfers, two Australian brothers and their American friend. We will have the latest on the investigation.

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[02:20:00]

CHURCH: -- hovered from the floodwaters in Texas as search and rescue team statewide continue to scour areas inundated by days of heavy rainfall. The five-year-old boy is the first report of fatality in the state, which is coping with widespread flooding that has displaced thousands of people. Hundreds have been rescued from flooded homes and vehicles and disaster declarations have been made in more than a third of this state's counties. We will have more coverage on this for our North American audience later in the program.

Officials in Kenya say the death toll from weeks of widespread flooding has now risen to at least 228 people, 72 are still missing. And the danger is far from over with more heavy rain forecasts for the country's western and northern regions. Parts of the country received more than half a month's worth of 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 is also devastating southern Brazil. Officials say at least 78 people have been killed in a series of catastrophic floods. More than 100 others are missing. Residents and evacuees tell CNN they have seen dead bodies floating in the water. People likely not yet counted in the death toll. Officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the flooding.

A tragic update on the search for three missing surfers in Mexico. The bodies found in Baja California Friday have been confirmed to be the two missing Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their friend American Jack Carter Rhoad. Their killings have caused an uproar among members of Mexico's surfing community with many calling for more action to improve safety. Alison Piotrowski from our affiliate Nine News 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 Ensenada doing something that no parent should have to do, identify their son's bodies.

Three new details coming from the autopsy report about how these three men were killed. It was execution style, a gunshot to the head. Baja's attorney general is insistent that this was an opportunistic crime that three Mexican nationals seized upon the three men at their remote campsite that the Aussies pushed back and tried to fight them off as the Mexican nationals were after their white ute and in fact was how they were shot.

The Mexican attorney general insisted 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 in Ensenada where locals have been gathering, local surfers who want to show their solidarity to Australia. Many of them met Callum and Jakey last week and went surfing with them. One of them was Patrizia (ph).

UNKNOWN: I had 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 our culture. They were asking about our traditional music.

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

CHURCH: Our thanks to Nine News correspondent Alison Piotrowski for that report.

Coming up next, we will go inside an immersive new exhibit that gives visitors a sense of what it was like when Hamas's gunmen attacked the Nova Music Festival on October 7.

[02:25:00]

Plus, Ukraine's Orthodox Easter celebrations were disrupted by deadly Russian airstrikes. We'll have details for you after a short break.

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CHURCH: Nearly seven months after the Hamas attacks sparked the war in Gaza, a new exhibit on display in lower Manhattan is giving visitors an immersive look at the events of October 7. Our Polo Sandoval takes us inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You may not notice this nondescript building when walking down Wall Street, but inside you'll find a glimpse into the events of October 7. That's when thousands of music lovers gathered in southern Israel for the Nova Music Festival. Milet Bechheim (ph) remembers it well.

UNKNOWN: The atmosphere was so unique because there's so many good people and it's so pure. We were genuinely happy. I was just myself. I was very -- and I felt so safe.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): What was supposed to be a desert grave celebrating life turned into a frenzied massacre at sunrise. Hamas's gunmen stormed the festival grounds, killing and kidnapping as they advanced into Israel from Gaza.

[02:29:58]

Traces of that terror attack now make up this exhibit. Nearly everything on display here, according to organizers, was abandoned in the chaos. The items, from tents to charred vehicles and bullet hole riddled toilets that were curated and staged to recreate a semblance of the mayhem.

Loud audio from witness videos adds to the chilling weights of the experience. That's intentional explains his 28-year-old survivor.

MILLET BEN HAIM, NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL ATTACK SURVIVOR: When you see the chaos, you understand how scared we were, how helpless we were, how not prepared and you can -- and you can see the actual items, you can understand that these are people such as you.

SANDOVAL: Visitors walk under the same vibrant tarps that covered the nova dance floor.

BEN HAIM: When I look at it, and I know how I stood under it, dancing and then also stood out -- not stood but run for my life under this canopy, it's -- I have all the memories going through my mind and, you know, all different emotions. It's -- and it's so beautiful.

SANDOVAL: And then there's the hunting lost and found with more than 260 bodies recovered at the festival. Many of these personal effects will never be reclaimed.

While looking over these relics, Ben Haim came upon her favorite sweatshirt.

BEN HAIM: We lost so many things and we lost so many loved ones. And there is something about getting that just this one thing and it's -- it means the world to me.

SANDOVAL: These are some of the images captured by Ben Haim that day. One moment she danced with her friends. The next, they huddled in the brush waiting for rescue. Reflecting on that day is difficult says Ben Haim, but she does it to share this message amid a war that's only deepening divisions.

BEN HAIM: You can try and twist it and make it about politics. But actually, this is a story about innocent people who came to dance and celebrate life. And this is what happened.

SANDOVAL: The nova music festival founders are partially behind this exhibit donations from it will go to the nova healing journey and initiative supporting mental health treatment for victims and their families according toward organizers, but its also a traveling tribute honoring those who are yet to come home and those who fell while dancing in the desert.

BEN HAIM: The most beautiful souls danced, here and now there they will dance forever in the sky in one day will be reunited with them.

(END VIDEOTAE)

SANDOVAL: Ben Haim shared with me that she initially struggled to even get out of bed after the attack. Well, nearly seven months later, he or she is traveling sharing the story of her Nova Community. I asked if she plans to attend a music festival in the future. She vowed that she will dance again.

The exhibit will continue here in New York for a few more weeks, initially premiered in Tel Aviv.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up, a Ukrainian woman is dedicating her life to finding her father, a civilian who was arrested by Russian officials more than two years ago. And he is just one of thousands of missing Ukrainians.

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[02:36:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NATALIA AVILOVA-PATRIKEYEVA, KHARKIV RESIDENT (voice-over): At that times it can hit my house, why did it hit here? Who was here with such a holy day? I cannot grasp it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: A resident of northeastern Ukraine expresses her shock after Russia bombarded the region on orthodox Easter. At least one person was killed and 24 others injured in the drone and bomb attacks on the city of Kharkiv and the surrounding area.

Ukrainian officials say residential buildings were also damaged. Ukrainians marked Easter by holding services and damage churches with one woman saying, its even more important to worship now that her husband is fighting in the east.

Turning now to a less visible tragedy of the war in Ukraine. Officials in Kyiv and human rights officers believed thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being detained in prisons deep inside Russian territory some family members are doing what they can to find answers and bring their loved ones.

CNN investigative producer Katie Polglase brings us the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YULIA KHRYP, CO-FOUNDER, CIVILIANS IN CAPTIVITY (translated): On February 22, before the full-scale invasion, he went to work. He was supposed to stay there for a week, but he hasn't returned from there yet, because he is now in captivity.

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE PRODUCER (voice-over): Yulia is one of many people in Ukraine desperately seeking information about their relatives. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of the country, thousands of civilians are believed to have been taken and held in detention.

The Ukrainian government says Yulia's father Serhii is one of them.

KHRYP: I know that where he worked, on that territory, there were Russian rear servicemen. On March 24, at about ten o'clock, he called me and told me that there were two new cars driving around the village and that he didn't know these servicemen.

I asked him if everything was okay. He said, yes, we are sitting. I told him to stay, don't come out. He said, "fine". It seems to me that at that moment he already know that he would be taken away. That was our last conversation we had.

POLGLASE: Yulia's father is now thought to be held in a detention facility in Kamensk Shakhtinsky. But due to legal black holes, the chances of his release are slim.

KHRYP: From the very beginning, the answers were just a set of words, a set of laws that were completely irrelevant. From the very beginning, they had no understanding of civilian hostages and that someone could enquire about them.

POLGLASE: International laws prohibit warring parties from detaining civilians unless there is a serious security reason for it. Ukraine's human rights commissioner says that Russia is pressuring Ukraine to recognize detained civilian as prisoners of war and exchange them for captured Russian soldiers.

[02:40:00]

This is not something Ukraine is willing to do because it would put more Ukrainians in occupied areas at risk.

Russian authorities have not responded to CNN's requests for comment.

Yulia and another relative of a detainees decided to set up a civic organization to raise awareness about the issue and to help them get better access to officials. Now, they hold regular meetings with the coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war and the ombudsman's office. In the face of uncertainty, memories of her father helped Yulia stay strong.

KHRYP: It was evening, and my father came home and brought Darla, the cat. Of course, she reminds (me of my father).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: 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 will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the coming hours. Later 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.

And I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church.

For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is coming up next. And for those of you here in the United States and in Canada, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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[02:45:33]

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers here in North America. I'm Rosemary Church.

Texas has endured days of heavy rain and flooding, prompting evacuations and hundreds of rescues from homes and vehicles. Now, there's more rain in the forecast and parts of the central U.S. are under a severe weather threat.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Obviously, the weather story here is still the flooding in parts of southern and southeastern Texas, but we (VIDEO GAP) our attention to really what's going to happen today. We still have eight gauges in major flood category, though that number was 12. (VIDEO GAP) is going down but this number is going up.

Just in the past 11 days, 224 reports of tornadoes. And today could be a very violent day. In fact, we have the level four out of five for a moderate risk of severe weather. There's only one higher risk and that's high risk. But everywhere that you see a color here, you need to pay attention.

There's going to be a lot of sunshine during the day. That's going to warm up the atmosphere. We're going to bubble the clouds and then all of a sudden, those clouds are going to (AUDIO GAP). Some of those will begin to rotate and a rotating thunderstorm has the potential to make a tornado with it. Now, with this, it will still welcome to potential for severe hail, maybe baseball-sized hail damaging wind gusts outside of the tornado itself.

So today is a day to keep your NOAA weather radio on. If you have any of the colors here in your states, it's a day to pay attention for sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Disaster declarations have been made in more than a third of the counties in Texas. And on Sunday, the flooding turned deadly with the body of a five-year-old boy recovered near Fort Worth.

More now from CNN's Rosa Flores.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 911 call came in at about 2:00 a.m. this morning local time, about a man and a woman and a child stock 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 color witness, the occupants get out of the vehicle and attempt to get to 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 but some of the dangers. I mean, we were on this air, but we were going over fences, over mailboxes. The stop signs were at eye level and the first response ponders explain 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 visuals deny that help.

They say that they wanted 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 talk to the lieutenant about this, and here's what he had to say about several 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, it's 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. 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 we have it for you and you can see that the water level is at about the roof.

[02:50:03]

So that gives you a sense of the comparison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN's Rosa Flores reporting from just outside Houston.

NASA says two of its astronauts are about to make history as the first pilots to fly a Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station. The Starliner spacecraft has taken two unmanned test flights to the ISS before Boeing is banking on this mission being a success, the company is dealing with several controversies with its airplanes after some deadly crashes and other high-profile incidents.

The launch is scheduled for just after 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time. If it goes on schedule and according to plan, it will give Elon Musk Space X a competitor in commercial spaceflight.

American universities held graduation ceremonies this weekend amid more arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters. The University of Southern California has reopened its main campus to students and faculty members after weeks of demonstrations, but the university says valid IDs are required to get on campus. On Sunday, police cleared an anti- war and cabinet at the school for the second time. USC's president says protesters broke the law, but no arrests were made.

However, hundreds of protesters have been arrested at about 45 colleges and universities in the U.S.

CNN's Camila Bernal spoke to some students and faculty members about their decision to protest and how it's impacting campuses across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SABRINA ELLIS, UCLA STUDENT: It's really heavy emotionally. We're hearing the stun grenades. You're hearing shots fired from the rubber bullets and you don't know what's happening.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the moments UCLA students Sabrina Ellis is still trying to process.

ELLIS: I was just trying to go minute by minute, and my feet were hurting from standing up for so long. I do think that the message of the encampment and the protest was important enough that I felt the risk was worth it.

BERNAL: While Sabrina is not facing charges. The consequences for some protesters around the nation be serious and include detainment, misdemeanors, school suspensions, and expulsions.

And in the case of Michael Allen, a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, paid administrative leave.

MICHAEL ALLEN, LECTURER, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS: I was arrested within three minutes of the police decision to push into the encampment.

BERNAL: He says he was not part of the encampment, but was there to protest.

ALLEN: Just faculty member concerned about my students getting arrested.

BERNAL: That was a moment of his arrest. He says he's not facing criminal charges, but the detainment and suspension mean he's not allowed to set foot on the university pending an investigation.

He says he was told by the university that he cannot finish the semester, have contact with students or attend commencement.

ALLEN: What the university in effect is doing has actually impacting a lot more people than just those of us who were on campus on April 27.

BERNAL: The university said they don't comment on personnel matters, but said that of the 100 people arrested, 23 were Washington University students.

It's reflected the board authorities have announced around the country, of the more than 2,100 arrested during the clearing of encampments. Not all have been students.

At the University of Southern California, school officials say of the 93 arrested 51 were students.

Officials have said they, too, have started a disciplinary process for campus members who have violated their policies and the law some California legislators calling for even harsher punishments.

JAMES GALLAGHER, CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY: There does need to be accountability yet, and I think some people need to be fired.

BERNAL: They point to harassment, antisemitism, and unsafe campuses, and say that those convicted should be punished, through the state budgeting process, losing funding for the university or grants.

GALLAGHER: People doing this should have been arrested. They should be suspended, but there should also be other accountability for this action.

BERNAL: But some of the students that were in the encampment and part of the more than 200 detained at UCLA say that while they wont reveal future plans, this is far from over.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Lando Norris stormed to his first victory in the Miami Grand Prix. The 24-year-old McLaren driver started fifth on the grid, but cut through the field to finish more than seven seconds ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

It is the first time Norris has taken top spot, with the British driver admitting it had been a long time coming.

[02:55:03]

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

Almost 266,000 people don their sneakers for a common cause Sunday, uniting in what's been dubbed the largest running event in the world. Runners, walkers, and wheelchair users in 169 countries joined the 11th wings for life world run. They raised nearly $9 million to fund the search for a cure for spinal cord injuries. The average distance was a very respectable 11 and-a-half kilometers with the men's winner topping 70 kilometers and the female champ clocking 55.

Music icon Madonna turned up the star power with a spectacular constant in Brazil.

The queen of pop dazzled fans at a free show in Rio Janeiro. It was the last stop on her Celebration World Tour. She performed legendary hits like "Vogue", "Express Yourself" and "Like a Prayer". An estimated 1.6 million fans brave the heat to catch the material girl's performance. They fill the area around Copacabana Beach for several blocks.

Well, 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-list is hitting the red carpet in their most eye popping ensembles for the Met Gala. This years theme is the garden of time, a reference to the sci-fi short story written in 1962 by J.G. Ballard. Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Zendaya, and Chris Hemsworth serving as co- chairs for the gala.

I want to thank you for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stay with us.