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Extreme Solar Storm Hits Earth In Historic Space Event; Report Questions Israel's Use Of U.S. Weapons; Michael Cohen's High-Stakes Testimony Set For Monday In Trump Case; Powerful Solar Storm Is The First Since October 2003; Students Decry War In Gaza As Colleges Host Commencements. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired May 11, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[10:59:48]

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: So I mean, just so if people get the real sense of it, I mean guitars, violins, metronomes, everything was crushed and you end up with this tiny, thin --

KARA SWISHER, "SWAY" PODCAST HOST: I call Ozempic iPad. Yes.

WALLACE: And you don't think that this was a stunt. And they knew it was going to create a big controversy and they're getting a lot of publicity?

SWISHER: No. Because Apple's really known. Apple's known as a creator- friendly place. And I think a lot of people reacted like that doesn't seem very creative-friendly to crush something.

WALLACE: It was creative though.

SWISHER: It was creative.

WALLACE: I'm going to say. I watched --

SWISHER: I weirdly liked it.

WALLACE: -- creative destruction. I

All right. Gang, thank you all for being here. And thank you for spending part of your day with us. And we'll see you right back here next week.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

This is our special live Hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. "THE AMANPOUR HOUR" returns next Saturday at this time 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

All right.

Happening right now, an extreme geomagnetic storm hitting earth, threatening to cause major disruptions around the globe. A series of solar flares and what are known as coronal mass ejections from the sun are hurtling toward our planet. It's the strongest solar storm to hit earth since 2003.

It sounds really ominous. Experts say it has the potential to cause a real danger. Solar flares can trigger communication, GPS, any electrical device malfunctions. That's the scary stuff.

Starlink says it has already been experiencing degraded service. The White House and several telecom companies are monitoring potential impacts.

But beyond those disruptions, some are really excited about it because much of the U.S. and Canada are being treated to a rare and spectacular show in the sky. That's the good stuff.

Aurora borealis, the northern lights are being seen as far south as Georgia and Alabama. And if you missed it last night, you may get another chance to experience it.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking all the effects.

I mean, we started off with all the ominous, scary stuff, but really people are just enjoying the spectacular lights that some people saw. I didn't see it. I went to bed too early, but a lot of other folks saw it last night.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And truly in places you would never even think of. We have reports that people saw it in the Bahamas.

Fred, when you think about how far -- you know those pictures that you see where snow and palm trees together and there's something about it just doesn't seem right the same.

WHITFIELD: You're right.

CHINCHAR: Look at this scene. Take a look at this image. This is from just south of Jacksonville. You've got the palm tree and the lights in the distance, just something very, very rare, but yes, people in very far south places were able to see these.

But if you were one like Fred who maybe missed the opportunity last night, the good news is there will be another chance to see it? And that's going to be tonight.

Now, we did have the G5. That's the highest level on the scale you can get. The event from yesterday and then also hitting a G5 event today. That's the first time we've done that since October of 2003.

So you're talking it's been 20 years, incredibly rare for these to make it this far south.

Now again, when it comes to, when is that second chance exactly. That's what people want to know. It's going to be tonight, but it's really going to focus on the earlier end of the evening.

So if you can get out right as soon as the sun sets that is going to be your best ideal time. Still available later on, but you can see it gradually decreases as we go later into the overnight hours and especially into tomorrow morning.

So here's what's actually happening. You've got this yellow dot that is the sun. This is earth. These are the solar winds. This is the first wave that came through yesterday evening. That's the first round everybody saw.

And then this is going to be the secondary wave. It will come through tonight. That's when everybody is going to get say, a second chance to really see these again.

In terms of who will have the opportunity. Obviously the farther north you go, the better opportunity you will have. But even these areas down here in yellow still stand a pretty good chance of being able to see it.

So yes, states like Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, even Florida, could see it again today. The caveat will be, do you have clouds because that's really going to be the only thing that would obscure it.

We do have a lot of cloud cover, expected rain here, especially Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, that could cause some problems there. Also into the north, areas of Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont looking at clouds and also the chance of rain.

But elsewhere should be relatively clear skies to be able to really get some good images here. So again, they are being seen farther south than we normally would be. Yes, there's the potential for some of those power outages and communications issues.

But essentially what's happening is that that flare comes out. You've got the solar wind and it's going around earth's magnetic field, and that's what's triggering those spectacular colors. Also too noting that the speed at which it's been going, that's what's allowing different colors. So usually when you see this, it's the green color, but because this has been particularly fast and particularly farther south than usual, you're starting to see more of the pink and the red colors come in.

[11:04:55]

CHINCHAR: So even just a little bit different from a normal perspective, yes, again here this from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Again, beautiful images of these colors coming out.

But if you're farther north, you're not just seeing the pinks and the reds, you're getting all of the colors like this image from Seattle. Fred, they've got the greens, the purples the red is basically absolutely every color imaginable.

WHITFIELD: oh, my gosh. And you don't need any special eye gear. I mean, this is what the naked eye people were taking some of these images with their cell phones.

CHINCHAR: Yes. And again, and that's the thing sometimes you can actually see it clearer on the phone than you can with your own eyes, but you can still see it. And that's cool. WHITFIELD: Neat-o. All right. \

I'm going to try it again tonight. I'm staying up, but I understand I don't have to stay up as late.

CHINCHAR: No.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Goody. All right.

Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right. Let's talk more about all of this. I want to bring in Tariq Malik. He is a managing editor for space.com.

Ok, break this down for us earthlings, how difficult is it to predict when one of these geomagnetic storms will actually flare up. I mean, this is a first in 20 years, right?

TARIQ MALIK, MANAGING EDITOR, SPACE.COM: Well, you know, we've had a very active period of solar flares and space weather activity from the sun over the last year or so, because we're kind of at a point that space weather experts called solar maximum. Basically the sun has an 11-year whether cycle just like earth has the daily weather cycle here on the ground.

And scientists have been mapping that over time and we're at a really particular active phase of it. They think about the peak of this 11- year cycle and that's when we're going to see a lot of these active solar flares, these huge events and in fact, the sunspot group that unleashed the flares we're seeing is something like 17 times bigger than our planet. So that's really exciting to see from a space weather perspective.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, it's so exciting. I mean what in the world is it about this year. I mean, we are barely just getting over the whole, you know, total lunar eclipse that we just experienced in awe. And now were lucky enough to experience something like this if only we would stay awake at which is what I'm going to do tonight, you know, to watch something like this.

If you're in an area in which this will be visible to you. I mean -- I mean, how do we make of all this, you know, amazing great fortune in one year.

MALIK: I could tell you it's a really great time to be a solar scientist for just someone that enjoys, you know, tracking space weather and watching eclipses or the northern lights.

I've never had a chance to see one, and that'll tell you I had serious FOMO because it was raining here in an West Orange, New Jersey when everyone else was seeing these amazing northern lights, as far south as Florida, that we got reports and the promise. But earlier it was amazing.

WHITFIELD: So that's all the good stuff now, then what about, you know, the flip side to it where there are real concerns about the interruptions that might come, we're at greater risk for increased radiation from the sun during these kind of solar storms. You know, help us kind of prioritize the risks.

MALIK: Yes, so it's not all like fun and light shows for these events. In fact, as you heard earlier, there are radio blackout events where radio communications Do get disrupted and our satellites and astronauts in orbit are particularly susceptible because if there are accompanying radiation storms that can endanger astronauts that are in orbit.

There's seven on the International Space Station right now, three on China's space station as well. And they would have to go to a particularly shielded portion of their vehicles or even be ready to leave orbit if there was a severe emergency.

I've been tracking NASA since yesterday when the NOAA Space Weather Group did issue some advisories. So far, it doesn't seem like they have any of those radiation concerns yet, but we know that they were talking with NOAA and they were tracking these storms just to be sure.

And they satellite disruptions, GPS and communication satellites, they can be disrupted. We already heard some notes about SpaceX's Starlink system. That will have to be watched over time because we just had two major flares in the last ten hours as well, stronger even than the earlier ones we saw this week.

So it will be lasting throughout the weekend, if not longer.

WHITFIELD: Neat-o.

Ok. So and I guess well, yes, it's neat-o to me.

All right. So last time you were on the show, you know, for the total eclipse. You said you wanted to experience that event with your family. Is this going to be a family experience again for you this weekend.

You know, the skies here in New Jersey are clear and if that holds there are some dark spots, at least here on our (INAUDIBLE), we can drive. It's not too far away. It would be great to go have dinner and hopefully that light show if the weather holds and these conditions hold.

G5 as you heard, it's been over 20 years since we've seen this level of a geomagnetic storm. And we may not see it again. You know, they're fairly rare.

[11:09:50]

MALIK: And so it would be great to -- if you've got the time, if you've got clear skies, and if you've -- if you've got less, less light pollution, although we've seen a lot of people seeing these with the city lights too.

I think that we could all be in for a treat and a bit of a mother's day night sky show after breakfast here. WHITFIELD: Oh, that's so nice.

All right. Well, I'm staying up tonight as late as I can. I'm looking forward to the show and i2 will be watching it with family.

Tariq Malik, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

MALIK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, Israel is intensifying military action in central Gaza and ordering the evacuation of more neighborhoods in the southern city of Rafah. And this, just hours after the Biden administration report questions the use of U.S. weapons by Israeli forces in Gaza.

[11:10:41]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New this morning, Israel's military says it is intensifying operations in central Gaza and ordering the immediate evacuation of several more neighborhoods in Rafah.

The new evacuation order follows Thursday's approval by Israel's security cabinet to expand the area of operation in Rafah which empowers the war cabinet to make military decisions there without consulting the security cabinet.

All of this comes as the Biden administration is modifying its commitment to supplying certain weapons to Israel with conditions.

We'll have more from the White House in a moment, but first I want to bring in CNN's Scott McLean, who is following the latest developments in Gaza. So Scott, what's happening?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka. Yes, a new round of airstrikes in northern and central Gaza are flooding hospitals with a new wave of victims, including a journalist, his wife and 12-year-old son.

And there may be more dead as people continue to pick through the rubble there with really little more than their bare hands. And when you watch the images of the aftermath of the strikes and the chaos inside the hospitals that are taking in those victims. It is frankly hard to watch.

Many of those victims are children. Some of them are tiny little infants who look like they're just a few months old.

The IDF declined to comment on these overnight strikes other than to say that it follows international law and that it takes measures to mitigate civilian harm.

That is worth noting only because the State Department yesterday just came out with a report suggesting that Israel is -- it is reasonable to assess, in its words, that Israel has not always followed international law.

Now, the IDF, as you mentioned, Fredricka is warning people in parts of northern Gaza and in five districts of Rafah to move to safer areas. Those southern evacuees are supposed to be moving to a humanitarian zone along the coastline where it says that there are some 300,000 people now there.

That is double the estimate that they gave on Thursday. This is an area though where people have pitched tents along the roadway and along the coastline, but there is very little in the way of infrastructure to support that volume of people.

There were also people we know inside of Rafah who are struggling to get out. Some are unwilling to move, others are struggling with the difficulties involved in moving around this active area and also with the cost of it in some cases.

And Israel, as you mentioned, seems pretty undeterred by the American position and the pausing of weapons shipments, not wanting to be involved in this stepped-up assault on the Rafah area.

It says that it has enough weaponry to go it alone. This just as aid to southern Gaza slows to a trickle, if that despite the U.S. and Israel saying that some aid has gotten in, in recent days.

The latest word that we have from the Palestinian side and the World Food Programme is that none got in on either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday of this week, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Scott McLean in Istanbul, thanks so much. We'll touch base with you again.

The Biden administration is acknowledging Israel likely used U.S. weapons in ways that are, and I'm quoting now, inconsistent with international humanitarian law, but stopped short of officially saying Israel violated the law.

The new State Department report comes just days after Biden told CNN's Erin Burnett that if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of Rafah that he would stop sending certain weapons to Israel.

CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez is in Seattle on the campaign trail with President Biden.

Priscilla, good morning to you.

So this report is sharply critical of Israel's military campaign in Gaza. What are you learning from the White House.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is, Fredricka. This was a high-stakes report and a highly-anticipated one that just shows (ph) another stark moment in U.S.-Israeli relations. Now this report put together by the -- by the Biden administration

found that it is reasonable to assess that U.S. weapons have been used by Israeli forces in Gaza in ways that are quote, "inconsistent with international humanitarian law:. But to your point, they stopped short of saying that Israel violated the law.

[11:19:49]

ALVAREZ: Now, this stems from a February national security memorandum that required the determination on this matter, but also whether Israel withheld humanitarian aid from Gaza in violation of U.S. law.

Now, this is also the first time the U.S. has made such an assessment since those October 7 attacks in Israel.

Now, to your point, it is critical, but it is also not going to change the actions by Israel or doesn't trigger policy changes. All of this according to the report.

Rather, the way that it has been talked about by senior administration officials is that it is a tool in their conversations with Israel to change behaviors or raise issues that they are seeing and have determined are not in compliance with international law.

But this, of course, comes against the backdrop of President Biden saying that he would withhold some weapons shipments to Israel, either as a major ground invasion in Rafah. Rafah, of course, being that region that has over a million displaced Palestinians.

Now in his interview with CNN, the first time that he said this, he also noted that he will continue defensive weapons to Israel, but what calls into question is whether he would continue those offensive weapons depending on whether they move into Rafah.

Of course, Rafah, a huge point of concern for the United States who does not see an operation there as tenable, just given the number of civilians that are in that region and have been displaced in that region.

But all of this Fredricka goes to show the continuing underlying tensions between the U.S. and Israel as Israel wages its war against Hamas.

WHITFIELD: And Priscilla, what's been the reaction from critics of the report who say that the Biden administration is not going far enough to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for what's happening.

ALVAREZ: We've heard from Democratic senators who, while they may agree with what is found in the report, the fact that it will provoke some type of change in policy or the way that the U.S. is giving weapons to Israel, is a major point of tension.

Humanitarian aid organizations also taking issue with some of the findings because they themselves say that they have seen humanitarian aid not be able to get into Gaza and that it isn't in compliance with U.S. law.

So there's certainly some pushback here. But generally speaking, it was a big moment for this report to come out in the big question is going to be what, if anything, changes moving forward now that this is another data point of the Biden ministration has in its ongoing discussions with Israel.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Priscilla Alvarez, traveling with the president in Seattle, thanks so much.

All right. Straight ahead, prosecutors in Donald Trump's hush money trial are expected to call their star witness Monday. What to expect when Michael Cohen takes the stand next.

[11:22:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Donald Trump's high-stakes hush money trial, his former fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen, is expected to take the stand Monday coming face-to-face with his former boss and testify to his role in negotiating the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf and how Trump reimbursed him. That will be at the crux of his testimony.

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.

CNN's Kara Scannell has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prosecutor star witness Michael Cohen is expected to testify on Monday in former president Donald Trump's hush money trial. Cohen, Trump's former attorney and fixer, is at the crux of the criminal case against him.

Prosecutors say Cohen paid off adult film star Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf to kill her story of an alleged affair before the 2016 election. Trump denies the affair.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody paid a lawyer, and in paying the lawyer, so it was a legal expense, that somebody happened to be me. I didn't do the bookkeeping. I didn't even know about it. This is what the case is about.

SCANNELL: Cohen told his "Political Beatdown" podcast co-host on Thursday that he looks forward to testifying.

MICHAEL COHEN, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: The sooner this thing starts, the sooner this thing finishes. SCANNELL: After a defense request, Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors he wants Cohen to keep quiet about the case before he takes the stand, but he can't issue a gag order on a witness, something Trump expressed frustration about as he left court today.

TRUMP: There is no gag order to Michael Cohen. What the judge did was amazing, actually. It was amazing. Everybody can say whatever they want. They can say whatever they want.

But I'm not allowed to say anything about anybody. It's a disgrace.

SCANNELL: Prosecutors called witnesses to the stand to help lay the groundwork for Cohen's upcoming testimony. An AT&T analyst introduced Cohen's phone records. And back on the stand, Trump's former White House aide, Madeleine Westerhout, testified about Trump's reaction to the release of Daniels' story in 2018.

Westerhout testified Trump was upset by it, and her understanding was that it would be hurtful to his family. She later clarified Trump did not specifically speak about his family in that conversation.

Trump's lawyer suggested he made the $130, 000 hush money payoff to Daniels in order to protect his family.

Meanwhile, prosecutors argue he did it to influence the 2016 election, which was two weeks away, and came on the heels of the Access Hollywood tape damaging his campaign.

TRUMP: And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

[11:29:45]

SCANNELL: Trump's lawyer, Susan Necheles, asked Westerhout about the process of Trump signing checks. Westerhout said Trump would sign them while multitasking, doing things like talking on the phone or meeting with people. She described FedExing the signed checks back to the Trump Organization.

Prosecutors used Westerhout to show the chain of command of checks, like the one sent to Cohen to reimburse him for the hush money. Cohen testified before Congress about the allegations in 2019.

FMR. REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D-MD): Donald Trump wrote you a check out of his personal account while he was serving as president of the United States of America to reimburse you for hush money payments?

COHEN: Yes, Mr. Chairman.

SCANNELL: Another witness, a paralegal at the district attorney's office, read one of Trump's tweets about the monthly payments to Cohen, which Trump called a retainer. Trump said, "Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign."

The tweet came around the time his former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told Fox News Host Sean Hannity that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the hush money, that Cohen paid for it out of his own pocket.

RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP'S FORMER ATTORNEY: Having something to do with paying some Stormy Daniels woman $130,000. I mean, which is going to turn out to be perfectly legal. That money was not campaign money.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: They funneled it through the law firm.

GIULIANI: Funneled through the law firm, and the president repaid it.

SCANNELL: Now this capped a week were the jury saw the documents that prosecutors say were falsified in this case -- the invoices, the general ledger entries, and the checks. It also heard from the woman Stormy Daniels, that's at the center of the hush money payment.

Next week, it will be Michael Cohen squaring off against the man he said he would once take a bullet for. Prosecutors say they could rest their case by the end of the week.

Kara Scannell, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me right now to talk more about the case is Jeff Swartz. He is a former Florida judge. Judge, great to see you.

JEFF SWARTZ, FORMER FLORIDA JUDGE: Nice to see you, too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, it's hard to believe it that this could be wrapping up by the end of the week. I mean, it seems like it's gone by so fast.

So let's zero in on this star witness, Michael Cohen. He's made it pretty clear that he despises Donald Trump and we heard that from Stormy Daniels too in her testimony.

So how will prosecutors try to keep Cohen on track with the chronology of the money trail, record-keeping without the personal acrimony upstaging things?

SWARTZ: That's going to be hard to do because Michael is rather explosive at times. So the real -- the real test in this direct examination is, can they keep him on track?

And then when he goes to cross, can he hold his temper as they try to do things to bring about a change of his attitude. He can win the day if he in fact, keeps it calm and professional. If he loses his temper, start shouting, starts making accusations using words that are pejorative that's going to be a problem.

But the prosecutors should start and do everything in a chronological order. Starting with when he first started working for Donald Trump. And working his way through all the way to when he finally was charged and had to plead guilty.

They should be bringing out all of the bad stuff that the defense attorney is going to try to bring out, like you've been convicted of a crime. You're a convicted liar. All those things that would be asked by the defense before the defense can do it so that the jury knows that the state is not trying to hide anything. That's the important part.

WHITFIELD: Wow, very important. So credibility -- does Cohen have a credibility problem because he went to jail for perjury or because of him admitting to making things up, and that too was part of his job while representing Trump.

SWARTZ: Well, that's part of the problem. Part of the problem first is to bring out the lies that he told on behalf of Donald Trump. That'll be part of the chronological order that they'll go through.

The second thing is that when in fact, when we -- when prosecutors have witnesses that are involved in the crimes that were committed they need those people, especially in conspiracies, because the only people who know who was in the conspiracy are the conspirators.

So they find their witnesses as they are. They can't go out and find someone who looks better and say, ok, now you're a witness in a case. You have to take the witnesses who know things and so that happens in a lot of cases, you have bad people.

As bad as Michael is, there's been a lot worse that have taken the stand and been believed because of the corroboration around them. And that's what the state has done here. They have surrounded Donald Trump with all kinds of circumstantial evidence and some direct evidence of his involvement. And now Michael is going to put it all together and show that the head of the snake was in fact Donald Trump.

[11:34:49]

WHITFIELD: So it's the cross-examination, typically right, which is so crucial. And the cross-examination of Cohen, you know, might be rather brutal. I mean we saw that with Stormy Daniels in terms of the technique, you know, how the defense attorneys are likely to come at him.

How do you think those defense attorneys are planning this weekend on how to cross-examine Cohen?

SWARTZ: Ok. We've got to start with the idea that the cross- examination that was done by Ms. Necheles with Stormy Daniels to me was kind of sophomoric in the basis that she kept asking questions expecting to get answers like saying this is all a lie.

Well the witness isn't going to say yes, it's all a lie. I admit it. This isn't "Perry Mason". Those things don't happen. And her cross- examination could have been done by a first-year law student who's seen too much "Law and Order".

I don't think that's what you're going to see in the cross-examination of Michael. They're going to go at him with what they know he has done wrong, try to highlight the fact that he has lied, that he has in fact been convicted of a crime and say, you know, we don't understand this. We don't understand that. The key here is never asked a question you don't already know the answer to, or at least you know what the answer isn't.

And that's the way you do a good cross-examination. You get up, you make specific points, you go at someone on a specific matter and you sit down. You never give the witness an opportunity to keep repeating their story over and over again because the more you say it the more the truth it is to the jury.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ouch. If Necheles was listening, by the way.

SWARTZ: Yes well, I'm sorry I was a little tough.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: That was tough. Ok, hey, you're calling it like you see it?

SWARTZ: It came across.

WHITFIELD: I get it. All right.

SWARTZ: I call it like I see it.

WHITFIELD: Jeff Swartz, that's why we love you.

SWARTZ: -- heard out loud.

WHITFIELD: That's why we love to have you.

All right. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend.

SWARTZ: Have a great day.

WHITFIELD: All right. You too.

SWARTZ: Bye-bye Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right.

A powerful solar storm is lighting up the U.S. skies with northern lights visible as far south as Alabama and as far west and north as northern California.

But this increased solar activity could affect the power grid satellites, and radio communications.

All of that next.

[11:37:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's the most powerful solar storm to hit the earth since 2003. A series of solar activity has created dazzling auroras that were seen as far south as Florida. But these flares can also disrupt communications on earth over the weekend. Though forecasters are working with operators to minimize the impact, the storm could affect the power grid as well as satellite and high frequency radio communications.

A White House official said the Biden administration is monitoring the possibility of impacts.

The aurora is expected to last three nights. So if you missed it last night, you might get another chance tonight.

CNN's Kristin Fisher explains what's happening with these dazzling phenomenon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: It's called a coronal mass ejection and those highly charged particles have been barreling towards earth at 500 miles per second ever since. The first particles began striking earth's magnetic field Friday afternoon.

HAKEEM OLUSEYI, ASTROPHYSICIST: Just think of gazillions of protons coming toward earth at the same time. There's also electrons in there. There's also magnetic fields. And when they hit the earth's magnetic field, or any other planet's magnetic field they interact with that field.

And those changes generate currents which can damage power grids, satellites, anything that has an electrical conductor involved.

FISHER: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is describing this storm as an extraordinary and very rare event. One that also has them a little concerned.

The biggest threats are the satellites and the global power grids. NOAA says it notified critical infrastructure operators and that mitigation efforts have been taken.

But it's still warning of possible widespread voltage control problems.

OLUSEYI: The last time we had a big power outage due to a geomagnetic storm, was in the 80s. Have we fixed things since then? We're going to find out.

Satellites will also be tested.

Most can go into a safe mode during a solar storm, but just two years ago, SpaceX lost 40 of its Starlink Internet satellites during a geomagnetic storm that wasn't as strong as this one. And then there's the threat to people in space.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Jamestown (INAUDIBLE) astronauts. We've got a solar storm coming in and it's a hot one.

FISHER: Apple TVs "For All Mankind" envisioned astronauts on the moon running for cover to dodge the incoming radiation during a strong solar storm. In reality, it's the astronauts currently onboard the International Space Station that may need to shelter in more protected portions of the orbiting outpost.

OLUSEYI: Strafe (ph) radiation is a known phenomenon that is dangerous to biology, whether it's during a geomagnetic storm, or just the general tryst into outer space.

FISHER: But despite the potential danger, a solar storm also rewards us with some of the most spectacular auroras. And this time, over a wider area extending as far south as Alabama.

[11:44:53]

OLUSEYI: The beauty of a nice coronal mass ejection is that we get to have an astronomical event basically come to us from space that's visible to the naked eye.

We all just recently experienced this with the total solar eclipse that happened in April. So now, seeing the northern lights. That is another extraordinary astronomical event.

Kristin fisher, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up graduation commencements are in full swing and several colleges and universities are holding smaller ceremonies after protests of the Israel-Hamas conflict rocked campuses across the U.S.

That is next.

[11:45:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right.

Many college campuses are scaling back commencement across the U.S. this weekend. The graduating class of 2024 says they have mixed feelings over the altered ceremonies.

Today, six campuses are under heightened security after on-campus protests over the war in Gaza.

CNN National Correspondent Camila Bernal joining me now from USC's campus. Camila, you covered a commencement there this week. And what did students tell you?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. Students are disappointed and they're sad because no matter what side of this conflict you fall on or really what you believe in commencement is very meaningful for a lot of these students.

They've worked so hard for years waiting for this moment and, you know, many universities around the country have changed their plans. A lot of them adding additional security to their commencement ceremonies.

But others like here at USC, deciding to cancel altogether this big, massive traditional commencement ceremony. And that's where you get a lot of that frustration from students.

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LOGAN BARTH, GRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: there are so many students that are frustrated right now. No matter what side of the conflict you are on.

BERNAL: It was a celebration but it wasn't a traditional commencement.

BARTH: It's a joke that's going around our class. It's kind of funny, but it's kind of sad. Our last normal graduation was eighth grade.

BERNAL: Much of the class of 2024 impacted by the pandemic in high school.

BARTH: And I barely had a graduation. It was six feet apart, masks, couldn't have guests beyond your immediate family. So it was not normal.

BERNAL: And now college graduation also not normal for Logan Barth and many others graduating this year.

A number of colleges and universities around the country changing, adjusting, or even canceling commencement ceremonies citing safety concerns after campus protests.

At Columbia University, the school says they decided to make class days and school-level ceremonies the centerpiece of commencement. And a similar focus across the country at USC.

The university said, the intensity of feelings fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East created substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.

ANNA KRYLOV, ASSOCIATES CHAIR IN NATURAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHRN CALIFORNIA: They handled it correctly by closing the campus and by cleaning -- calling police to clean the encampment, then arresting some people.

BERNAL: And they were trying to avoid this. At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted the university's commencement ceremony.

ABEEHRA SIDDIQUI, GRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I think I was less concerned with the protests and the encampment impacting graduation. I was more disappointed in the university's response to everything and how they handled things.

BERNAL: At USC graduation events went on without any apparent disruption. But it still wasn't what many hoped for or expected.

SIDDIQUI: It definitely would have been nice to have like a traditional commencement ceremony, especially for a class who was already impacted four years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL: And what we saw this week and what we're seeing today is those individual school ceremonies where these students are getting their diplomas.

And as you're seeing behind me, just so many people walking around with their cap and gowns and taking pictures. It is an exciting day. People are happy about these individual celebrations. But they definitely miss out on the big traditional commencement.

And so that's sort of the feeling around here. It has been calm. We have not seen anything or any disruption in the last couple of days or today.

And we do have a team keeping track of colleges and universities all over the nation and really, it appears that things have been calm throughout the day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And so Camila, what did parents, family members, think or say about these kind of scaled-down commencements.

BERNAL: You know, it's been tough because a lot of these parents are coming from different states, from all over the country and they were planning on attending that big commencement ceremony. And that's not what they're getting.

So what you saw this week here for at UCLA was that family celebration with the fireworks and the drone show.

And Logan, the student that I talked to told me, look, it was beautiful and I appreciate what the university was trying to do to essentially make up for not having this big traditional commencement.

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BERNAL: But he told me I kept thinking about it over and over again and I kept thinking about the fact that I was missing out on that tradition. And his entire family did not come.

There are people who were planning on coming here to California to watch him graduate. But because of the possibility of protests and disruptions, some people just decided not to come and thought that was the better option, Fred.

WHITFIELD: I got you.

All right. Well, through it all congratulations to the class of 2024.

All right. Camila Bernal in Los Angeles. Thanks so much.

All right. A quick programming note. Next Saturday, join us for an intimate look at the pioneers inspired to help humanity and transform society for the best. "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE" next Saturday at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

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