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Israel Intensifies Operation In Rafah Despite Biden Warning; Inside Israel's Shadowy Desert Prison; Inside Israel's Shadowy Desert Prison; U.S. Announces $400 Million Military Aid Package For Ukraine; Ex-Trump "Fixer" Michael Cohen Expected To Testify Monday; Judge Directs Michael Cohen To Stop Talking About Trump Trial; NYT/ProPublica Report Trump May Owe $100M Tax Bill For Questionable Tax Break On Chicago Tower; Record-Breaking Heat In Asia "Unbearable". Aired 1-2p ET
Aired May 11, 2024 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:59:58]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. A frightening moment for one of the world's biggest tennis champs. Tennis star, Novak Djokovic was hit in the head with a water bottle after his winning match in Italy on Friday.
According to the event organizers, the Serbian player was signing autographs as you're about to see when a water bottle, now we know, apparently fell out of spectator's backpack.
Officials say his condition is no cause for concern. But Djokovic, well, he's got a sense of humor. He jokes that he has now prepare. See him there, wearing a biking helmet as he showed up for the Italian open today to the cheering crowds, who were all like right in front of him as opposed to being overhead.
The world number one player is scheduled for his next match on Sunday against Chile's Alejandro Tabilo. Good luck.
All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
All right. We're monitoring several new developments in the war in Gaza. Israel's military is ordering immediate evacuations in parts of eastern Rafah in Gaza south. The IDF says about 300,000 people have already fled.
The evacuations happening following deadly overnight airstrikes in northern and central Gaza. Hospitals in the area say the strikes killed at least 47 people, while another 15 were killed in separate strikes in Rafah earlier today.
The IDF seemingly intensifying operations despite this warning from President Biden earlier in the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I made it clear that if they go into Rafah -- they haven't gotten on Rafah yet. If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the city, to deal with that problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And all of this comes on the heels of a new state department report about the war saying, it's "reasonable to assess that American weapons have been used by Israeli forces in Gaza in ways inconsistent with international humanitarian law."
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is traveling with President Biden in Seattle. Priscilla, what more is the Biden administration saying about this report?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this was a high stakes report and a highly anticipated one that marked yet another stark moment in U.S. and Israeli relations.
Now, the report put together by the Biden administration found, "That it's reasonable" to assess that U.S. weapons have been used by Israeli forces in Gaza in ways that are "inconsistent" with international humanitarian law. But it stopped short of saying that Israel was violating that law.
Now, it stems, of course, from that February national security memorandum that required a determination on this matter, but also whether Israel was violating U.S. law in withholding humanitarian aid to Gaza, also, did not find that. But it's all a remarkable moment, because it is the first time the U.S. has assessed Israel since those October 7 attacks.
And it comes as the -- as you heard there from the president, he's issued his warning, if Israel were to move forward with a major ground operation in Rafah, of course that's in a region that has over a million displaced Palestinians. It's been a top concern for the White House if Israel were to move forward. And sit's been the point of discussion multiple times between the president and the prime minister.
And what you heard there in his interview earlier this week with CNN is that he is willing to withhold certain weapons from Israel. If they were to move forward with this operation, though he would continue those defensive weapons for Israel.
But all this to say, and Fred, that this is -- this -- a report that was issued by the state department is a critical one. And while it does not mean that there's going to be any U.S. policy changes as of this moment toward Israel, it does mark another data point.
And Biden administration officials say that it is something that they will raise with Israel, that they will use to assess the behavior of Israel as this moves forward. But still, clearly, underlying tensions between the two countries as Israel continues its war against Hamas. WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez in Seattle. Thank you so much.
All right. The White House is also now calling an exclusive CNN report on alleged abuse at an Israeli prison deeply concerning. Since military operations began in Gaza, a growing number of Palestinians who are being held in the Sde Teiman military detention center.
It's a shadowy facility where reports of widespread abuse are emerging. For the first time, CNN spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers who worked in various capacities at the prison.
They describe a systematic pattern of abuse, including mass detention and stress positions, sensory deprivation, beatings, and torture. And they say, they are speaking out as a matter of conscience.
Matthew Chance has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[13:05:06]
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a place the Israeli military doesn't want us to see.
CHANCE: How many Palestinians are there in there right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me please, now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang on, what is it that you want? My camera or my card?
CHANCE (voice-over): But CNN has gained exclusive evidence of Palestinian prisoner abuse from multiple Israeli whistleblowers.
At the Sde Teiman facility in Southern Israel, we joined human rights activists amid growing public concern for the detainees being held inside.
CHANCE: This is a protest by Israeli citizens outside a detention center close to Gaza, where we know hundreds of Palestinians have been held. You can see it's a closed military facility. It's behind a barbed wire fence. We're not permitted access.
CHANCE (voice-over): And there's hostility from passersby.
CHANCE: We just had somebody drive past in a car and they shouted out to us in Hebrew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHANCE: You're defending murderers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
CHANCE: You're defending -- what do you -- how do you understand this --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. We're defending basic human rights.
CHANCE (voice-over): And eyewitnesses are now speaking out.
Away from the military facility near the beaches of Tel Aviv, one young Israeli army reservist agreed to speak about scores of detainees at Sde Teiman, he says are kept in cages or pens, constantly shackled and blindfolded many for weeks on end. We've hidden his identity and voice to shield him from prosecution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were told they are not allowed to move and must sit upright. They're not allowed to talk or peek under their blindfolds.
CHANCE: And what happened if they -- if they did do that? What kind of punishments were meted out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were allowed to pick out problematic people and punish them, having them stand with their hands above their heads for an unlimited time. If they didn't keep their hands up, we could zip tie them to the fence.
CHANCE (voice-over): The Israeli military says detainees are handcuffed based on their risk level and health status. But the account tallies with photographic evidence obtained by CNN of Palestinian detainees inside Sde Teiman.
And with hand and wrist injuries shown to CNN by dozens of
Palestinians released back into Gaza.
I was zip tied and blindfolded, says this former detainee, and tortured in a way I never imagined. One source telling us the restraints were so tight, they had to amputate a man's hand.
CHANCE: The view that I've heard expressed is that, you know, how do you think Israeli hostages are treated by Hamas?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This sentiment was voiced in the facility, but I think that if Hamas is so abominable, which I agree with, then why use Hamas as a bar? It's a descent into dehumanization.
CHANCE (voice-over): A descent that's accelerated. Since the rampage by Hamas on October 7th last year, the killing and abduction to Gaza of hundreds of Israelis provoked outrage and a brutal response. Amid Israel's wrath, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and thousands detained for interrogation. Transported to facilities like Sde Teiman, where one Israeli guard now tell CNN, prisoners are routinely beaten. We've hidden his identity and voice too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You can take them out and hit them, maybe four or five times with a club. It's not done in the face, so you don't see blood. The detainees lie belly down, being hit and kicked, people screaming and dogs barking at them. It's terrifying. Some detainees are taken away and beaten really hard, so bones and teeth are broken.
CHANCE: So, you saw people who were subject to these beatings, who had their bones broken, and who had their teeth broken?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, it's a practice which commanders know about. They want intelligence, but they also want revenge and punishment for what happened on October 7th.
CHANCE (voice-over): The Israeli military hasn't approved CNN's requests for access to Sde Teiman. But at the gates of the facility, we challenged the Israeli guards.
CHANCE: How many Palestinians are in there right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know -- I prefer not to answer it.
CHANCE: Do you know if they are being handcuffed? Are they being blindfolded?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a facility --
CHANCE (voice-over): As we leave, masked soldiers approach.
CHANCE: Hello. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you stop filming please?
CHANCE: I'm filming this way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot film anything here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a property of the army.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you guys?
CHANCE: We're CNN. Who are you? Are you the police?
CHANCE (voice-over): They tried to take our cameras.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me please, now. Give me please, now.
[13:10:01]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can --
CHANCE: Hang on. What is it that you want? My camera or my card?
CHANCE (voice-over): Then order us to leave.
CHANCE: Well, we're driving now to meet one Israeli with personal experience of the Sde Teiman facility. It's experience that he says has left him shocked at the condition and the medical treatment of Palestinian detainees there. CHANCE (voice-over): He told us he treated Palestinian detainees with gunshot wounds fresh from the war zone in Gaza, but was appalled at the lack of equipment and expertise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is, Gazans who are brought in are labelled as terrorists, and it is very popular opinion over here that terrorists deserve to die, so they do not deserve the same medical care as everyone else.
CHANCE (voice-over): Satellite imagery obtained by CNN shows how the Sde Teiman facility was expanded after the October 7th attacks, with detention
facilities and makeshift medical bays being added after public hospitals in Israel refused to treat injured Gazan suspects.
Eyewitness accounts describe a field hospital with 15 to 20 patients virtually naked and blindfolded, with hands and feet shackled to their beds and wearing diapers. One eyewitness told CNN; painful procedures were carried out by underqualified medics. Treatment, the medical worker told us amounts to punishment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In my view, it's the idea of total vulnerability. If you imagine being unable to move, being unable to see what's going on, that's something that borders, if not crosses, into psychological torture.
CHANCE (voice-over): The Israeli military says prisoners are stripped for security checks and that investigations are opened when there's suspicion of misconduct. Still, accounts from Israelis and Palestinians inside and the shocking images paint a disturbing picture.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:16:49]
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. If you look to the sky tonight, get your camera ready because solar activity is causing some dazzling auroras. Some we're seeing as far south as Florida, in fact, last night, it's a strongest solar storm to hit Earth since 2003, and it could disrupt the power grid and communications -- that's the downside. But we like to look at the upside. Because the aurora is expected to last three nights.
So, if you missed it last night, the northern lights show, there is another opportunity tonight. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is back with us. This is exciting.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is because when you think about so many of these places. I mean, especially if you live in the southern U.S., you usually have to travel. You have to go to Iceland, Norway, Canada, somewhere to actually go see them. (CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Right. Now, you just go to your backyard, maybe.
CHINCHAR: Exactly. So, it's fantastic. And we always talk about those interesting images.
Say for example, you know, the ones where you see palm trees and snow in the same shot. It's unusual. What's the same thing here, take a look, this palm tree, taken from just south of Jacksonville, Florida. And look at all of that pink and red color that you see in the background there. Again, stunning, especially, considering how far south has made it.
Now, again, as we mentioned, if you missed your opportunity last night, you will have another opportunity again this evening to take a look, as we've got that other -- still looking at conditions to be favorable tonight.
Now, the last observation, we did hit a G5. That's the highest level you can possibly be. We hit that yesterday, and we had another one again today. The first time we've had those five -- level fives since October of 2003. So, again, you're talking more than 20 years.
But if you're looking for that opportunity to get out tonight, time will make a difference. OK? So, the earlier you can do it, the better.
Now, notice here it kind of says 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. really kind of being the peak. I'm aware that at 5:00 p.m., the sun is still out. Essentially what this is saying is, this is just when that peak activity is going to take place. So, the best opportunity is as soon as that sunset happens, go outside, go take a look. Take your cameras with you. That's going to be the ideal time.
Yes, you can look at it later if that's not an ideal time for you. But notice that it does start to decrease in availability as we will go through the remainder of the evening.
Now, for the where, you'll see from this map, obviously the greatest chance of viewing is going to be the farther north that you will live. But even some of these areas, Southern California, Alabama, Georgia, even Florida, yes, having the possibility to see those as we go through the evening and overnight hours tonight.
The caveat to that will be cloud cover. You can see here we do anticipate a pretty significant amount of clouds over Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and also some clouds and yes, even some rain showers for areas of Pennsylvania, upstate New York and quite a bit of cloud cover for Vermont and New Hampshire as well. So, that's likely going to hinder and limit the availability to see them.
Here is what it is the background of this, if you will. This yellow dot represents the Sun. This is Earth. This is the solar wind. So, what you're seeing here, that was the first wave that came in yesterday. This right here, that's the second wave that we anticipate seeing later on this evening and into the overnight hours, and it's those amazing colors that we anticipate seeing overnight tonight.
The purples, the reds, the greens, the blues, all of those beautiful colors, Fred. A lot more people are going to be able to enjoy this than you normally would be able to see.
[13:20:07]
WHITFIELD: I mean these pictures look like water paint -- watercolor paintings, they are so pretty and vibrant.
CHINCHAR: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. I'm looking forward to it tonight. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar.
All right. Let's talk more on this kind of global light show. And I'm joined by none other than Bill Nye the Science Guy. He is the CEO of the Planetary Society. Hi. And author of Great Big World of Science. Bill, great to see you.
BILL NYE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PLANETARY SOCIETY: So good to be here.
WHITFIELD: Wonderful. This is so exciting. I feel like it's an unexpected surprise. But for scientists like yourself, you knew it was coming. So, walk us through why this is happening. And what we should be looking forward to.
NYE: Well, a couple of things. Before we start, everybody has been talking about watching tonight.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
NYE: And that is a worthy, wonderful thing to do. But if you still have your eclipse glasses from a few weeks ago --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Yes. Great to use again?
NYE: Look at the Sun right now safely.
WHITFIELD: OK.
NYE: Look at the sun right now. And I looked at it a few minutes ago here in Southern California. And it looked to me like the sun -- the sunspot was about the two o'clock position. Now, I looked quickly. And there's a little bit of wispy haze leftover from the marine layer. And so, I think that's how it looked to me.
But you guys, young people with better eyes have a look. During the day, you can see which is part of the --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: But with the glasses. Yes. NYE: With -- yes. With the sunspot, which is part of this effect where you get a solar flare, this zap of photons, and then the coronal mass ejection where you get some of the corona the outer layer of the Sun ejected into space and these charged particles, protons, electrons, and so on come shooting towards the Earth. And they disrupt they interact with the Earth's magnetic field.
And I just like to remind everybody that the Earth is spinning. Thank you, Bill. The Earth is spinning. I met some people recently who really asked me if the earth might be flat, they really did ask me that.
WHITFIELD: No, no, people come on, OK, go ahead.
NYE: And then, in the Earth, because the Earth is -- has metal that's spinning inside, it creates this magnetic field. And the magnetic field, I don't know how familiar you are with magnets, but humans have decided to call one in the North Pole and one in the South Pole. But what is interesting to me, is what we call have ended up calling the north and south pole of a bar magnet or a compass are actually reversed in the Earth. The South Pole of the magnet is at the North Pole of the Earth.
Anyway, all this in mind, it's the interaction of these moving charged particles, electrically charged particles, when you have moving electricity, you get a magnetic field, it's that magnetic field interacting with Earth's magnetic field that's creating these crazy effects in the atmosphere, where electrons jump to a higher energy level fall down and release a photon, which we see as light.
And then, this has the possibility of interacting with our extensive communication systems all over the world. You know, people talk about what's happened happening 20 years?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
NYE: True enough, but we have way more electrical infrastructure now than we did even 20 years ago.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So, the activity --
NYE: And it's fun to talk about --
WHITFIELD: Right. So, there is more activity as a result.
NYE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Because I was going to say 20 years ago, well, I don't remember this conversation at all 20 years ago about this kind of, you know, solar storm or these auroras like this. This seems like, I mean, just something that's been elevated tremendously since what could have happened 20 years ago?
NYE: Well, proud to know you, as we like to say, you guys have done so much coverage of this. And we, in science education are very appreciative. Thank you. You know, I did six shows about what would be a world ending disaster.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Yes.
NYE: Because we're all fascinated with the apocalyptic view of the future. So much fun, of course. But the disaster that I really worry about, I mean, I've worried about a meteorite or comet impact, asteroid impact, real thing. I worry about draining the aquifers in the Midwest, so we can't raise food on farms. I do worry about that.
But the one that I really do worry about is this zapping of all our electrical systems, especially the transformers. Those cans you see hanging on utility poles. If we were to ruin a large fraction of those, and also ruin the factory or factories where they're manufactured, this could really -- and this could be a big dug on problem for many, many of us.
[13:25:05]
I mean, an extraordinary number of us.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
NYE: And so, we can plan for this, we can prepare for this, but it's going to take investment. And the example I give everybody is the Texas electrical grid in 2021.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: That will remember.
NYE: It got cold, but not extraordinarily amazingly never heard of cold.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
NYE: And the whole place shut down.
WHITFIELD: That was a mess.
NYE: So, we got to be careful, everybody, we can do this. But instead, I mean, well, with that in mind, enjoy the light show tonight, and if you these, take a look today,
WHITFIELD: Yes, I love that idea. When I get off work, I'm going to dig those up. And we'll be looking at that with the kids and then waiting for the light show this evening, because I missed it last night. I went to bed a little early.
All right, Bill Nye, the Science Guy. Great to see you. Always a pleasure. Thanks so much.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:30:17] WHITFIELD: Hundreds of civilians are evacuating northern Ukraine as Russia intensifies its attacks in the Kharkiv region.
We're also learning from intelligence officials that Russia is seizing on a window of opportunity to ramp up its attacks while newly approved military aid from the U.S. Congress makes its way to Ukrainian forces.
Let's bring in now Frida Ghitis. She is a CNN global affairs columnist, a contributing columnist for "The Washington Post" and "World Politics Review."
Great to see you, Frida.
So the U.S. announced another $400 million in military aid for Ukraine just yesterday. But new assessments from Western intelligence says that Russia is looking to exploit what it sees as a window of opportunity before the aid actually gets there.
What do you expect Russia is doing here?
FRIDA GHITIS, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COLUMNIST: Well, just in the last 24 hours, Russia has launched the new -- a new offensive in the northern part of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region.
Russia is rushing to take advantage of this brief period since the approval of the new aid from the United States -- that $61 billion package that was delayed for such a long time -- Russia seeks to make advances ahead of the arrival of the bulk of that, those military supplies.
And it's been expected for a long time that Russia was going to launch a major, major offensive sometime in the late spring, early summer, which is basically very soon.
But the approval of this new aid is giving new urgency to the Russian advances. And Russia has been making progress. You know, we had the six-month period where Republicans in the U.S. Congress were blocking the aid package that the Biden administration was -- was trying to implement.
And only one in April -- it was initially proposed in October, and only in April, just a couple of weeks ago, it was approved.
During that time, the disadvantage that the disparity in military supplies between Russia and Ukraine became really, really dramatic. And in some cases, Ukrainian soldiers were saying that they were -- they had a 20-to-1 disadvantage in shells and ammunition supplies.
So Russia really, really took advantage of that time. And now that window is actually closing. So it's a critical time for Russia and for Ukraine.
WHITFIELD: And what do you expect to happen once that military aid does begin to fully flow into Ukraine? GHITIS: Well, you know what the experts -- the military experts tell
us and what Ukrainian military personnel say is that, this year, this entire 2024 is going to have Ukraine on the defensive, that the most they can hope for is to hold the line.
This is not a year when they -- they think they will make -- they will be able to retake much territory.
And, you know, when we think about this war, this war has really confounded the experts. Remember that when it started, the top military experts said that Russia was going to win in a matter of a few days and that did not happen.
Then, suddenly, you crank, turn the tables, and it was pushing the Russians out. As recently as last summer, Russia was in so much trouble that Putin was facing a potential coup, as you remember.
So things change very fast. But the Ukrainians have had the -- the emotional intensity. I mean, Ukraine is defending its sovereignty. It's defending its land.
The Russians are playing in this geopolitical game that President Putin came up with. But it's not their land. So they have less of an incentive to fight than the Ukrainian do.
But the Russians do have a huge advantage in manpower. The Ukrainians have very short of manpower right now. Russia has a huge advantage in industrial capacity. They have stepped up their production of weaponry.
They're also getting -- getting weapons from Iran, that's giving them all these deadly, deadly drones that have become such a big part of this war. North Korea is helping Russia.
So there's a huge imbalance. And this six-month period, when the United States, which is the pipeline of military supplies, when that pipeline was stopped up, it was -- it was really devastating for Ukraine.
And you know, I have a feeling that part of their manpower problems had to do with that demoralizing effect of falling so far behind in ammunition that must have been really so difficult for Ukrainian soldiers to fight.
So some things are going to change. Sometime this summer, Ukraine is going to start receiving, in addition to this aid from the United States, they're going to start receiving F-16 fighter jets from European countries.
They're going to be a lot of really important technical pieces, not armaments pieces in this war. It's going to be -- the coming months are going to be really, really crucial. And the whole outcome of the war is not going to be seen for a while.
[13:35:10] And one more important point. We have elections in the United States. And former President Donald Trump has made it very clear that his approach to this war is going to be very different from Joe Biden.
So this is something that obviously President Putin knows. And so he's going to try to have a strong a hand as he can ahead of the November elections, hoping that there will be a new president in Washington and that the diplomatic and political reality will change in Russia's favor.
WHITFIELD: Yes, that's Putin's wish.
All right, Frida Ghitis, thank you so much.
I say that because that's not Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wish, as we know.
All right, Frida, thank you so much.
All right, Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail this weekend as his former fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen, prepares to take the stand in Trump's criminal hush money trial on Monday. What to look for in next week's testimony.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:40:49]
WHITFIELD: All right, the stage is now set for a high-stakes showdown in Donald Trump's hush money trial. On Monday, his former fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen, is expected to take the stand.
Cohen will come face-to-face with his former boss in a New York courtroom and testify to his role in negotiating the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf, and how Trump reimbursed him and how it may have led to falsifying of business records.
On Friday, the judge asked prosecutors to tell Michael Cohen to stop talking about Trump after defense attorneys told the judge of a recent TikTok video in which Cohen was wearing a shirt with a picture of Trump behind bars, as you see there.
CNN's Brynn Gingras has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CHEERING)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The prosecution continuing to build its case against Donald Trump today, teeing up Michael Cohen's key testimony. Cohen expected to be called to the stand on Monday.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was a lawyer. He's not a fixer. He was a lawyer.
There is no crime. And they failed to show a crime.
GINGRAS: Earlier in the day, Madeleine Westerhout, Trump's former director of Oval Office operations, cross-examined by the defense.
Trump attorney, Susan Necheles, asked, "Would you see him signing checks without reviewing them?" "Yes," Westerhout replied, confirming Trump would sign checks sometimes while on the phone or in a meeting.
Westerhout exchanged smiles with her former boss as she left the stand.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP LAWYER: Your next president of the United States of America!
(CHEERING)
GINGRAS: A flurry of other witnesses taking the stand, too, helping the prosecution lay the groundwork for Cohen.
COHEN: Kind of looking forward to it. Sooner this thing starts, the sooner this thing finishes. And that way I can -- yes, this too shall pass.
GINGRAS: Analysts from Verizon and AT&T sharing phone records as Trump's attorneys already attempting to sow seeds of doubt.
Emil Bove asked, "You're familiar with the concept of a pocket dial. These records don't reflect the content of these calls?" "Correct," an AT&T analyst answered.
Employees from the district attorney's office also introduced text messages, business vouchers, and several tweets from Trump about Cohen, including this one from 2018, the day after Cohen pled guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance violations:
"If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen," Trump wrote.
TRUMP: Hello, how are you?
GINGRAS: Also revealed, call logs relating to this September 2016 conversation with Trump that Cohen recorded.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
TRUMP: What financing?
COHEN: Well, I'll have to pay something.
TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) pay with cash.
COHEN: No, no, no, no, no. I got it. No, no, no.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: -- check. (END AUDIO FEED)
GINGRAS: Cohen claiming the call was referencing another hush money payment for Playboy Model Karen McDougal's alleged affair with Trump.
Trump not paying close attention to the testimony from later witnesses. And was seen using a highlighter and flipping through possible news clippings.
TRUMP: This trial is a scam. It's something that should have never happened.
GINGRAS (on camera): Aside from Cohen, prosecutors say they have one more witness to call before they rest their case, possibly by the end of next week.
And then, of course, it's the defense's turn. And the big question remains, will Donald Trump take the stand?
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me to talk more about all of this is Michael Zeldin. He is a former federal prosecutor.
Michael, great to see you.
MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Hi, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, is the prosecution expecting that Michael Cohen's testimony will help tie all the loose ends as it pertains to Trump allegedly orchestrating any falsifying of records?
ZELDIN: That's their hope. Their hope is that their case, which has been presented pretty much circumstantially -- all of the witnesses pretty much have said what the prosecutor's theory of the case is.
That there was hush money paid to impact the election and that those were falsely recorded on the books. There's not a witness who really has deviated from that narrative.
(CROSSTALK)
ZELDIN: -- in direct. I'm sorry. But Cohen is the one who has the direct knowledge of it from the mouth of Trump. So that's where he distinguishes himself from all the other circumstantial witnesses.
[13:44:56]
WHITFIELD: Believability is everything, isn't it? We just saw, especially in the cross-examination of Stormy Daniels, the defense attorneys really tried to undermine her, tried to poke holes in her stories, or even try to lead jurors to think that she was confused about the sequence of events. One imagines that the defense attorney are going to try to do the same
thing with Michael Cohen. And also talk about the fact that his credibility may be on the line because he's convicted of perjury. He did his time.
But then Cohen has been able to say over and over again that a lot of his lying was for his boss. So how central to the defense's strategy do you think that's going to be?
ZELDIN: Well, I think they have to be aggressive with Cohen, but they have to also be careful.
Michael Cohen, in some sense, is a fragile person. He was a guy who was working with Donald Trump for all these years and who, in the end, ends up going to jail for him for the lies that he told and the things that he did.
Now he's been portrayed as a guy who breaks things, then tries to fix them, and is not easy to get along with. But if he could present himself in direct examination as sort of being sympathetic, a schmuck almost in a way.
Then if you have a prosecutor who goes after him and belittles him in the same way that they did, which I think backfired, on Stormy Daniels, then I think he could become a more sympathetic witness, which makes him a little bit more believable.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then, of course, prosecutors, they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
But you say -- part of your strategy has been, as an attorney sometimes in your closing arguments, you're going to be challenging the jurors to think, isn't it reasonable that XYZ may have happened, even if of the direct evidence isn't there?
Do you see that happening here?
ZELDIN: Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly. I think that, in closing arguments, you want to tell a story and you want to have sort of a verse and a chorus. And
I think the chorus here is, is it credible, is it believable that Donald Trump didn't know about the payments to Stormy Daniels when the following facts happened?
Is it believable that Donald Trump didn't know how they'd be recorded on the books and his records when we have the following evidence? Is it believable, on and on and on?
I think that's the theme where either prosecutor wants to say to the jury, use your common sense. In the face of all of this evidence, corroborative evidence, in documents, circumstantial evidence, and Weisselberg and Davidson and Hope Hicks and all these people, and then the Trump direct conversations with Michael Cohen.
Is it believable that he didn't know and that he -- and that therefore is no basis for reasonable doubt?
WHITFIELD: OK. And then let me also shift gears, if you don't mind, and ask you about this new report from "The New York Times" and "ProPublica."
And the article says former President Trump used a dubious accounting maneuver to claim improper tax breaks from his troubled Chicago Tower.
And according to an Internal Revenue Service inquiry, uncovered by "The New York Times" and "ProPublica," a years-long audit battle over the claim could mean a Trump tax bill of more than $100 million.
Do you see that potentially impacting in any way these current proceedings against Trump in New York?
ZELDIN: Well, they shouldn't because the jury is supposed to not be reading the newspapers and anything about Trump.
But if they were and they saw a story that says this fellow is violating -- is accused by IRS of violating tax laws, and one of the intents here -- remember, he engaged in business fraud, so the prosecutors say, with the intent to interfere with the election and also to violate New York State tax laws.
So one of the intents here is tax violations, too. And so if you have an article, which says the IRS thinks of him as a tax violator, then you'd think, if he was that tax violator, maybe he's this tax violator.
But hopefully, they're listening to the judge and they're not reading these stories. And this'll stand separate and apart from this trial.
WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Zeldin, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much.
ZELDIN: Thanks, Fredricka.
[13:49:31]
WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It can get so hot that it feels like your skin is burning. That's a quote from an 11-year-old student in Cambodia about the record-breaking heat across Asia that sent him and his classmates home from school.
Here's CNN's Marc Stewart.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across South and Southeast Asia, the summer sun is bearing down with new ferocity, from the Philippines to Vietnam, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Experts say climate change is driving the mercury higher and higher.
And El Nino, a natural climate variation, is boosting temperatures further.
Hundreds of millions of children are sweltering, in danger of heatstroke in school where they should be safest.
In India, a classroom flooded to create a pool for children to beat the heat.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
[13:55:02]
STEWART: "We bathed in the pool and felt very good," this student says. "We enjoyed it a lot. And threw water on each other."
As the climate crisis grips our world, South Asian countries like Bangladesh are among the places most at risk. The country has seen stronger and frequent extreme weather events. And the current heatwave is deadly.
Life in this refugee camp on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border is hard enough. The heat is making survival all the more difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
STEWART: "The heat is unbearable," this man says, "especially in our tarp-made homes. During the daytime, it has been difficult to stay inside as the tarp soaks in the heat."
For many working people, staying indoors is not an option. In Vietnam, local farmers blame the heat for this mass fish die off. Livelihoods and food sources destroyed. Removing the fish seemed like an insurmountable task.
In many parts of Asia, it's the most vulnerable people who are suffering the most from the climate crisis, a challenge posed by rapid use of fossil fuels around the world. Man-made greenhouse gas pollution that is making extreme weather events like this the norm.
Marc Stewart, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All weekend long, a geomagnetic storm could paint the night sky with northern lights, even in the south of this country. How to witness this historic solar event.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
