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Venezuelan Government: President Maduro Wins Re-Election; Trump Demands Probe Over Whether FBI Spied On Campaign; Sheriff: Shooting Lasted Four Minutes Before Police Arrived; Cause Of Fatal Crash Under Investigation. Aired 12m-1a ET

Aired May 21, 2018 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:10]

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Cheers of celebration for this man, Nicolas Maduro, as he unsurprisingly wins another term as the president of Venezuela. What will that mean for the future of his country?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And U.S. President Trump lashes out, demanding an investigation over alleged FBI spying on his political campaign.

ALLEN: Plus, the volcano in Hawaii is throwing lava into the air and dangerous clouds of acid steam as the molten rock reaches the Pacific Ocean.

VANIER: Hello, everyone, thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen and CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Thanks again for joining us. Our top story, despite a devasting economic crisis in Venezuela, President Nicholas Maduro criticized for his authoritarian rule, has been declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election.

Officials say he won 68 percent of the vote, securing a second six- year term. The government was hoping for a high turnout, and many polls were kept open late, so more people could vote. But turnout was only around 46 percent, just over half of what it was in the last presidential election in 2015.

VANIER: Now for many Venezuelans, the election was an afterthought. Millions are struggling to get basic necessities like food and medicine. Earlier, Maduro addressed supporters in his victory speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today I am a president with more experience. I am a human being more prepared. I swear to you I will fulfill my promise and dedicate myself entirely to recover the economic growth, to heal our economy, to prosecute criminal mafias. You will see me throughout the country, in the streets, to activate the motors of the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: The main opposition boycotted Sunday's vote calling it a sham, and Maduro's main opponent, Henry Falcon, is calling for a new election, saying that he will not recognize this illegitimate vote.

ALLEN: Let's talk about the election, which has been denounced inside and outside Venezuela. Eric Farnsworth is vice president of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. He joins us from Washington. Eric, thank you for being with us.

ERIC FARNSWORTH, VICE PRESIDENT, AMERICAN SOCIETY AND COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS: Thank you.

ALLEN: Maduro wins again, no surprise there. How is he managing to stay in power when his country is crumbling, his people are starving, is he selling something that people are still buying? Is it manipulation, false promises, what is it?

FARNSWORTH: It's a combination of all of the above. He's selling promises to people and he can't cash the checks that he's trying to give them. But more to the point, he's taken steps that have put the opposition back on its heels. He's jailed opposition leaders.

He has dominated the press and refused to allow the opposition access to it. He has taken steps, which have put the resources of the state at the disposal of his own electoral ambitions.

So, the military and the National Energy Company are all at his service. So, he's not just building support among his base by direct benefits and gift, but he's also doing everything he can to make the life of the opposition very, very difficult. So that combination has at least for the time being kept him in power.

ALLEN: We hear from people who are desperate there, that they're scared to let go of Maduro because it could get worse. You know, they are barely eating. He'd give them a little food, you have to stand in line for about 37 hours to get that. So, the question is though, are people starting now to pull away from him, even poor people? Is his support waning at all?

FARNSWORTH: Yes, the support has clearly been creasing over time, and people are voting not just with their votes but with their feet. We're seeing hundreds of thousands of people leaving Venezuela as refugees across the border to Colombia to Brazil, into the Caribbean islands and seeking asylum as well in the United States and other countries.

So, people are leaving the country. There is a certain desperation that has set in. And the people that depend on the regime, you're right, they feel that if they're going to stay, they really have no alternative but to continue to support the regime, because their livelihoods, their jobs, their access to food and limited medicine may depend on that. And the regime does know who its supporters are, because it's keeping in score by who receives the benefits and who is in their system. So, they know who the people are, and it's become a very, very authoritarian state, and almost dystopian state.

[00:05:03] ALLEN: Right. So, a lot of people left, I think almost 1.5 million. Where does this go? How does this end? If he just continues what he's doing, which is nothing for his people and everything to keep himself in power?

FARNSWORTH: It's hard to see how the economic situation gets any better at all. In fact, Maduro himself has said that he's going to double down on the revolution, he's going to make it even more, you know, take it in the same direction it's been going now the past several years.

Meanwhile, the production of Venezuela's primary commodity, oil, is decreasing by the month and that's because of incompetence in the energy sector and a lack of investment, a lack of skilled capital, people who are leaving.

So, they're going to have less and less resources. So, the people of Venezuela are going to have to make a choice. They can leave, and again, that's what many people are doing, or they can try to find a different way to try to change their circumstances within Venezuela.

Obviously, the vote is now a path that's circumscribe to them that's not going to be available. So, they're going to have to look for something else. And I think what a number of people are beginning to think about is the possibility of additional public protests, additional civil disobedience perhaps, and perhaps violence.

Not that anybody wants that, but that could be something we will see increasingly after this election result concludes fully.

ALLEN: All right. We're out of time. I want to talk to you about what the U.S. and world is doing, but next time we'll discuss that. Thank you so much for coming in and talking with us.

FARNSWORTH: Thank you.

ALLEN: The U.S. president is demanding a Justice Department investigation after unleashing a barrage of criticism of the FBI. His call follows reports the FBI used a confidential source to talk to Trump campaign aides about possible ties to Russia.

VANIER: The president suggested the use of the source was politically motivated and rooted in the Obama administration. Ryan Nobles reports on the Justice Department's response to this.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump busy on Twitter this weekend, taking aim at the Department of Justice and the FBI about their conduct in the lead-up to the investigation into his campaign and whether or not that campaign had any ties to Russia.

The president particularly upset about reports that there was an unknown source who tried to gain access to Trump officials and learn information about the Trump campaign. The president topping his tweet storm off with this tweet, "I hereby demand and will do so officially tomorrow," he's talking about Monday.

"That the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump campaign for political purposes. And if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama administration."

But here's the thing about the president's call for an investigation, there's already one under way. The inspector general for the Attorney General's Office has been looking into whether or not those applications for surveillance of members of the Trump team were done so appropriately.

And they did respond to the president's tweet on Sunday, saying that they're going to expand that investigation to look into whether or not there were any political motivations for asking for those wiretaps.

And the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was, of course, in charge of the Russia investigation put out the following statement saying, quote, if anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action.

So, the president getting results pretty quickly. The question is, is this more about an effort to discredit Robert Mueller and his investigation the president continues to call that a witch hunt and wants to see it come to an end.

Of course, we are now just past the one-year anniversary of the launch of that investigation. At this point, there is no indication when it's going to wrap up. Ryan Nobles, CNN, at the White House.

VANIER: So, the political implications, the legal implications. Let's try and untangle all of this with political analyst, Peter Matthews, and also with criminal defense attorney, Troy Slaton.

Peter, first to you. The president wants an investigation into those who are investigating him. Now, he's concerned that perhaps his campaign was spied on for political reasons. Does he have good reasons to believe that?

PETER MATTHEWS, POLITICAL ANALYST: They don't really know that yet. We're going to have to wait for the investigation that was ordered by him and by Rod Rosenstein for the inspector general to look at it. Then we'll know to more whether or not there's grounds to it.

It's also a political ploy for Trump to divert attention from the fact that his campaign is being investigated and so is he. And so, I think that's a very good possibility as well. We got just wait a little bit more to see what happens tomorrow and the letter that they send out tomorrow (inaudible) would make a lot of difference.

VANIER: About that letter Troy, Donald Trump is going to officially ask the Department of Justice on Monday to begin this new investigation to the investigation. Is he allowed to do that? Can he tell the Department of Justice what to do and what to investigate?

[00:10:12] TROY SLATON, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, if you ascribe to the theory of the unitary executive, then he absolutely does. The Department of Justice is in the executive branch for which the president is the chief of that co-equal branch of government. So, the president, having -- to hire and fire the attorney general, the FBI director, he can essentially, under that theory, direct any investigation.

VANIER: So, it's not interference? Because usually it is said that the Department of Justice needs to be independent, including independent of the president, from the president.

SLATON: Yes. So, for the last 30, 40 years, even a little bit longer, the White House has taken the position that the Department of Justice is to operate independently. However, the president is entitled to be kept abreast of any investigations if he wants to.

VANIER: Peter, Donald Trump wants to know whether the investigation of his campaign was politically motivated. But don't we already have a pretty good idea how that investigation began? I mean, the FBI was informed by foreign diplomats we found out of a conversation that they had with a Trump campaign staffer, and that set off alarm bells for them.

And then they applied for a FISA warrant so they could wiretap that particular former Trump campaign staffer. So, there are objective elements that sent the FBI looking into this.

MATTHEWS: Absolutely. And those elements were pretty real. You know, this former adviser, he was a foreign policy adviser to President Trump and lots of ties to Russia, for example. Here's the thing about the total unitary executive.

The Justice Department is a cabinet department, but FBI is under the cabinet in the Justice Department. It has to have some independence, or you'll have just a mockery, because it's investigating the president himself and his campaign. How can you have the president in charge of his own investigate?

That's where you're talking about what we call the unitary executive. There has to be some checks and balances within the executive branch itself in that sense.

SLATON: I don't quite agree with unitary executive theory. There is the need for the FBI to be independent or Mr. Mueller to be independent of the president. The president cannot control everything in the executive branch especially if he's being investigated and if he's particular campaign is being investigated.

VANIER: And Troy, I'd like you to cast your lawyer's eyes for me on the deputy attorney general's statement, Rod Rosenstein. He said, if anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action. What does it look like to me -- to you, I mean, because to me it looks very carefully crafted? SLATON: Well, if the Obama administration implanted informants into the campaign of an opposing party, that would be a huge scandal. If they did it for some sort of political gain. So, if there was some sort of evidence that that was occurring, it should certainly be investigated.

The whole purpose of the special counsel investigation is to look at interference in the campaign, whether it be from the Russians. Now we're hearing information that gulf states may have been trying to exert influence.

So, we're trying to figure out what exactly happened. And certainly, if that did happen by the current administration, meaning the Obama administration during the campaign, to look into and try and affect the campaign of the opposing party, that would be a huge scandal and we definitely need to know about it.

VANIER: And Peter, the president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, says he wants to know what the source reveals, what that FBI source revealed in the investigation, because they are convinced it is going to clear Donald Trump. That sounds like A, good lawyering, and B, good politics.

MATTHEWS: It does. And I guess that's what they're grasping on to because other things don't look quite bleak for the president's time of the investigation. I do agree with Troy, though, that it needs to be known whether or not there was any kind of political influence in that particular counterintelligence operation.

So that's very important we get to the bottom of that. However, I think that should not derail the major investigation, which is to see whether or not there was any interference from foreign countries not just Russia.

Now it looks like possibly UAE and Saudi Arabia may have been involved. So that's really a problem. That has to be focused on, and this shouldn't be a distraction. Io believe the rule of law does call for any untoward exposure if it was political. I agree with Troy on that one.

[00:15:11] VANIER: Giuliani also says that Mueller will wrap up the Russia investigation by September 1st provided the president sits down for an interview and answers his questions. Troy, what do you make of that?

SLATON: Well, that is a huge issue swirling around the legal and political front in Washington and all over the country is whether or not the president is going to sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Mueller, and if he refuses to do that, whether or not the special counsel will subpoena him.

And whether or not the special counsel has the power to subpoena him. We're in unchartered territory here. And there is a longstanding Justice Department memo that says a sitting president can't be indicted. So, Rudy Giuliani takes the position that well, if the president can't be indicted, then he can't be subpoenaed to testify before Mueller's grand jury. That will be an ultimate question. And if the president is a subpoenaed and refuses to comply with that subpoena, it's going to go to the Supreme Court, where this is going to go well past September if that's the case.

VANIER: All right. Troy Slaton, Peter Matthews, thank you very much for answering our questions. Of course, we look ahead to Monday to find out how exactly the president is going to word his request to the Department of Justice, that they start looking into the investigation that is itself looking into the president, his campaign, and potential Russian meddling in the election. Thank you very much.

ALLEN: A community in mourning in Texas. New details about the latest school shooting in the United States coming up here and the efforts to heal.

VANIER: Plus, an update on the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. It is still erupting, spreading its fiery tendrils across the neighborhoods, highways and into the ocean. Stay with us.

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[00:21:02]

ALLEN: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. New details are emerging about Friday's school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. The sheriff says the entire incident lasted half an hour, including a 25-minute shootout between the gunman and police.

VANIER: The teenage suspect eventually gave himself up after allegedly killing eight students and two teachers.

ALLEN: Earlier on Sunday, a memorial service was held for the victims, as it began a rainbow appeared above the church. CNN's Rosa Flores has more from Santa Fe.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are finally learning more details about what happened inside Santa Fe High School during the shooting. Now, here is what we know from the Galveston County sheriff. He says that the shooting lasted for about 30 minutes.

Four minutes into the shooting, he said, that's when officers engaged with the accused shooter. Then he says that there was a 25-minute gun battle. So, process this with me for a moment. Inside Santa Fe High School, in the area where the shooting happened, which he says happened in the art lab section of the school, there was a gun battle with cross fire between the shooter and police.

Now the obvious question here is, were all ten people who died shot by the accused shooter? When we asked the sheriff that question, he said that we would not know the answer to that question until the medical examiner completed and finalized all of the autopsies.

Now from the probable cause document, we know that the shooter surrendered after that, and he told officers that he spared some students because he liked them, and he was hoping that they would tell his story. Rosa Flores, CNN, Santa Fe, Texas.

ALLEN: Funerals have begun in Cuba for some of the 110 people killed in Friday's plane crash. As families grieve, authorities are still investigating what caused it.

VANIER: They have the cockpit voice recorder, but the plane's other black box, the flight data recorder hasn't been found. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more from Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just seconds after takeoff in Havana, an explosion. A Cubana Airline with 113 passengers and crew aboard crashed in a field next to the Jose Martini International Airport. Rescuers were greeted by scenes of total chaos. Passengers belongings littered the ground.

The Boeing 737 split into several pieces. The plane's burned out tail coming to rest near a tree. This mother knew her son was traveling that day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

OPPMANN: Daniel did not survive, one of 110 people who died in the crash. Miraculously, seemingly against all odds, three people, all Cuban, all women, survived. Cuban officials cautioned the survivors have traumatic brain injuries, broken bones and severe burns and that their recovery is far from certain.

"These patients have highly complicated injuries," he said, "it has taken an extraordinary effort to stabilize them." Friday's accident was the worst aviation disaster Cuba has suffered in nearly three decades and comes as the island's communist-run government recently canceled flights and pulled aircraft experiencing mechanical problems from service.

The plane Friday had been rented from Mexican airline and had a Mexican crew. Cuban officials are still investigation what caused the plane to crash.

(on camera): This is the terminal where the plane left from. It was supposed to take off from here and fly most of the way down the island. Instead, it crashed just after takeoff.

[00:25:06] (voice-over): While some funerals have begun to take place, many of the relatives of the victims wait at the Havana morgue and hope to soon bury their loved ones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).

OPPMANN: Cuban officials say they have now recovered the remains of all the victims, but the process of identifying the dead could take weeks. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: The U.S. and China have come to an agreement on trade. We'll have the details and look at what it means for the economies of both countries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

VANIER: And I'm Cyril Vanier. Let's remind ourselves of the headlines this hour. As expected, Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has been declared the winner of Sunday's presidential election.

Earlier, the government announced that he won a second term with 68 percent of the vote. However, voter turnout was low, about 46 percent. Maduro's main opponent, Henry Falcon, says that he will not recognize the vote because it was not legitimate.

ALLEN: Muqtada al-Sadr is signaling Iraq's next government will be inclusive. The Shiite cleric met over the weekend with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidir al-Abadi to discuss forming a new government. Al- Sadr's coalition won Iraq's recent parliamentary election. He once led a powerful militia blamed for sectarian violence.

VANIER: Health officials are set to begin thousands of ebola vaccinations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 46 cases of the deadly virus have been reported since earlier this month. The World Health Organization says the situation can be controlled, but it is not yet an international emergency.

Remember a few weeks ago when we were worrying about a possible trade war between the US and China, well, they have agreed not to engage in a trade war, at least for now.

In a joint statement, the two countries announced China would significantly increase its purchases of US goods and services.

ALLEN: This comes after two days of trade talks in Washington with Chinese officials, the US plans to send a team to China to hammer out the details which the US Treasury Secretary spoke about.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MNUCHIN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY: We are putting the trade war on hold. So right now, we have agreed to put the tariffs on hold while we try to execute the framework.

We are immediately going to follow this up with Secretary Ross going there with very hard commitments in agriculture where we expect to see a very big increase, 35% to 40% increases in agriculture this year alone.

In energy, doubling the energy purchases. I think that you could see $50 billion, $60 billion a year of energy purchases over the next three to five years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Let's talk more about it with our Matt Rivers, he is in Beijing for us. So the details will be addressed in the next meeting, but Mnuchin right there was kind of giving an inkling of what China may agree to purchase and how much, it sounds significant.

MATT RIVERS, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, I mean, it's certainly will likely be significant when this final deal is reached. What we don't know really is too much about the specifics. You heard the Treasury Secretary there talk about agricultural exports. He is going to talk about energy exports. We heard Economic Adviser, Larry Kudlow on ABC talking about manufacturing. You can be talking about increase orders of Boeing airplanes for example.

But really, when it comes down to the details, this agreement has a lot -- or this framework of an agreement has a lot more things that we don't know. It's much more vague than things that we do.

So, when we talk about significantly increasing the purchase of American imports, well, by how much? What's the number? How much does that reduce the deficit? He also went on to say that China agreed to certain protections about technology, that China agreed to make structural changes to its economy. Those are promises that we have heard before. They are extremely vague. What's the timeframe? What does it mean?

So, those are the answers that we will probably get once the next US delegation comes back here to Beijing to try and hammer out those details.

ALLEN: Yes, and we also heard the Treasury Secretary indicate that the Trump administration's tariffs imposed on China might be put on hold. Is that what helped get this agreement between the two countries, how important would that be to Beijing?

RIVERS: I mean, it's very important to China. A trade war doesn't help anybody, either side really. And tariffs would certainly hurt Chinese exports to the United States, this economy relies on exporting goods to the United States and we know that these tariffs have at least temporarily been put on hold. It kind of follows what has been optimistic talk from both sides.

Let's play you a little bit of sound with Liu He, the top Chinese Economic Negotiator during these talks.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

LIU HE, CHINESE ECONOMIC NEGOTIATOR: (Through an interpreter). This round of talks have been pragmatic, fruitful and efficient. We reached many agreements. We resolved some of our misunderstandings from the past. These meetings will not just help bilateral economic and trade relations and build overall ties. It's good for people in both countries. It's also sending a positive signal to the whole world. (END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: So, that statement is just as vague as the -- as all the details given in that joint statement. Yes, this is positive. Yes, the tariffs aren't going to effect immediately. No, it doesn't look like a trade war is imminent, but really when we get down to the brass tacks of it all, what is this agreement going to look like? We are not going to know that until Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross leads an American delegation here to Beijing to hammer out the details of exactly what this framework is going to look like.

ALLEN: All right, and we will continue to follow of course. Matt Rivers in Beijing, thanks, Matt.

VANIER: Once again, new dangers from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano, coming up. Why geologists in Hawaii are urging people to stay away from parts of the ocean now.

ALLEN: And if you're still having a hard time coming down from Royal Wedding fever, (inaudible). We've got more. We've got some scoop on the reception that's coming up, too.

[00:35:00]

ALLEN: Kilauea is still not giving up. Check this out. This enormous cloud is what forms when molten lava meets the ocean. It is happening now in the East Coast of Hawaii's big island where rivers of lava are dumping into the Pacific Ocean.

VANIER: Geologists call that giant cloud, laze, a combination of lava and a unique kind of haze, and they are making a dire warning that laze clouds are extremely dangerous because of what's in it.

Stephanie Elam explains.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Two heads of lava that were flowing to the ocean came together as one and then broke apart and they did enter to the ocean, but the US Coast Guard is asking people to stay away by about 1,000 feet in a 360-degree radius.

And the reason why is because of something called laze, and that is when that lava hits the ocean, it creates hydrochloric acid and also little small particles of glass that can cause irritation to the eyes, to the lungs, to the skin. And so they're asking people to stay away.

But I want to show people what that lava looks like here on land. Take a look at this lava fountain that has been bubbling nonstop here. And we can see that from there, it oozes down into this black sea of lava that goes down towards the ocean.

We know that there were a couple of structures that were taken out by this flow, as well as this has been bubbling up, it's been raining here all day, and that has no effect whatsoever on the lava that is flowing here. And beyond that, on the other side of me, there is a fissure which sometimes you may be able to hear in the background from where I am. It's about a mile away, and from fissure, when the volcanic gases come erupting out of there sometimes it feels like it is a jet engine right next to you, or a plane taking off, other times it sounds like a cannon.

One was so loud, and I happened to be standing there where I could see it. It shot up rock and debris several hundred feet into the air. That is another concern as we know one man was hit by a lava bomb as he was on his balcony. We understand that his leg is shattered.

So they're asking residents here to be very vigilant as this is a very active eruption and it doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

Back to you.

ALLEN: I've never heard man injured by lava bomb on our air ever. Pedram Javarheri is with us. Talk more about it, to that end, laze and all of this going into the ocean.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, METEOROLOGIST, CNN: Yes, you know, it's such a multidimensional threat, right, all of these elements. We have talked about fog, we have talked about laze, of course, the fissures that have popped in places across this region as well, and really, if you put all of these together, it is a dangerous place to be.

The level, the threat here is certainly not going to be diminishing any time soon, and the photographs really stunning as well. We know these sulfur dioxide levels have been -- we talked about weeks ago, right, but this has tripled across this region.

Of course, you put that into place, you bring rainfall into the picture, then you're talking about acid rain being a concern. That has remained high across this region, that concern and of course, you look at the levels mainly across the southern tier of the big island where we've had the major increase in the last several days, and photos like this of the Kapoho Village area where folks lining up just an eerie perspective out of your, say ports, looking out towards what is happening just a few meters from where you're standing from.

But really, the before and after scale. Looking from space, the community is in this region back in May of 2017 as the lava flows coming right now and worked their way towards the ocean. Essentially...

[00:40:16]

JAVAHERI: ... disintegrating what is in their path her and really incinerating what is in the path as well, and you look at three to five kilometers, stretch three miles or five kilometer stretch. Right now, we know the lava has reached the ocean. That's where the laze is beginning to form and that's a major concern for the immediate local area.

This is what looks like across that region. In fact, if you've ever had your mouth on a nine-volt battery, you get that acidic flavor in your mouth, well the sharp irritating smell and that's the sort of pattern across this region. When you talk about hydrochloric acid, that's actually found in batteries, it's used also to process steel, a very dangerous gas that is in place across this region, also very highly corrosive as well.

So, unlike acid rain which could have environmental impacts, but not necessarily corrosive, this particular aspect of laze, it is very corrosive and very dangerous and of course, you take a look at an eruption, a large case one that had an explosive one in place that was in 1924, boulders like this were lofted into the atmosphere, so all of these still a high threat in this region, guys.

VANIER: All right, Pedram Javaheri joining us from the CNN weather center, thanks for all your expertise. We appreciate it. We will continue to monitor this. Thank you.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

VANIER: And now, one of our last opportunities for this. You know, we're not going to see it that too many times again. The new Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan are settling in to married life after their Royal Wedding celebrations in Windsor, England on Saturday.

The evening reception, the bride reportedly broke with tradition and gave a speech. The best man, Prince William also gave a toast that a British newspaper described as naughty.

ALLEN: Well, there's always someone who is going to stand out and say things, all to embarrass his brother.

Well, the couple's first dance was reportedly this kind of an interesting choice, to Whitney Houston's, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," how about that one.

Well, the party is over now, and the work begins for the newly-weds. No honeymoon yet. Here is Anna Stewart with more about it.

ANNA STEWART, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: The Royal Wedding ended, but the party kept going long into Sunday where the street party here just over the bridge from Windsor Castle is now wrapping up.

But, it was the perfect way for everyone to share their favorite moments of the Royal Wedding and over a British green tea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had Americans around us. We had French, Italians around us.

STEWART: It was a real international affair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Totally, which I think has been wonderful.

STEWART: And Jill, for you, what was your favorite part?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wedding was wonderful in the chapel, but I thoroughly enjoyed the music as well, which was absolute delightful.

STEWART: (Inaudible) for that comment of sort of British thing, it was very un-British.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The choir were wonderful and also the cellist.

STEWART: Right, and also, the Archbishop, the American Bishop, sorry, Curry, what did you think of him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he was really interesting. He was very much into love, and love making people happy. That's got to be a good thing.

STEWART: And kids, what was your favorite part? The dress? The carriage?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dress.

STEWART: It's all over now, but the conversation about the Royal Wedding will carry on for months to come. Anna Stewart, CNN, Windsor.

ALLEN: And if you want to get an even closer look at the Royal Wedding procession, you can zoom into our Gigapixel at cnn.com. Look at us go, and see just about everything, even that yellow kangaroo. Yes, we can get to those as close as you can get to actually having been there.

VANIER: I think you can actually spot some royals in the background.

ALLEN: Thanks for watching, I am Natalie Allen.

VANIER: I'm Cyril Vanier. World Sports is up next. We're back in 15 minutes.

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KATE RILEY, ANCHOR, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hello and welcome "CNN World Sport," I am Kate Riley at CNN. We are going to start with an extraordinary story at the National Hockey League where in their very first season, the Vegas Golden Knights have clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup final. They did it by sealing the Western Conference, by beating the Winnipeg Jets, four against one, Knights forward, Alex Tuch rammed (inaudible) goals just over five minutes in. It was tied at one in the second period. One of the (inaudible) goals from Ryan Reed gave the night a 2-1 lead and that's exactly how it would end.

Vegas were written off as 500-1 long (inaudible) over the start of the season, but could now become the first expansion team ever to win the Stanley Cup at the very first attempt. Well, earlier, CNN's hockey contributor, Dan Kamal told me why the story of this expansion team's meteoric rise to the title series is more than just about the sport.

DAN KAMAL, HOCKEY CONTRIBUTOR, CNN: This is a story that really had its roots and opportunity for the players who were exposed in the expansion draft by other teams, basically told we don't need you or want you anymore for whatever reasons. That's part of the story.

Part of the story is a brand new franchise for a major city like Las Vegas, but there's also a pawn that's connected this team and this city that was initiated from tragedy. It's got its roots from the most unspeakable tragedy when that shooting massacre took place in early October.

A week and a half later, this team played its first home game, scored four goals in the first period, just like in a football game in Europe, four goals in the first 15 minutes normally does not happen. But that's a tone for what this team meant to this fan base and vice versa.

I think there's a synergy that's been created here that is palpable. There is a karma that really, I think transcends this whole narrative.

RILEY: Yes, and Dan, you mentioned the bond there between these players. Is it that bond that can see this team go all the way and lift the Stanley Cup?

KAMAL: I think it is, Kate. I have broken this down into four parts. Number one, I mean, these guys were exposed. They were cast offs. Now the NHL Part 2 did give the Las Vegas Golden Knights a bit of an edge. They changed the expansion process to make it a little more conducive for teams to have a better chance to win.

Some of these guys were young veterans who were good already, but because of salary caps, that's the third part of the equation, they were exposed by other teams who are trying to fit all of their pieces into a budget, but the fourth and foremost to me is that I think these players are afraid to let these fans down.

I think they believe they are part of the healing process in Las Vegas. I think, as I mentioned there's a karma there between player and fan, team and fan base that we can't begin to describe and I think it's interwoven into this entire narrative and I think it is going to propel them to the Stanley Cup, and I hope it helps this town, even in a small way, heal from that unspeakable tragedy some seven months ago.

KILEY: Yes, and thanks, Dan for that report earlier. All right, in the NBA, the focus returned to the Western Conference on Sunday which was delicately poised at one all between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have built a team they think can topple the Warriors in game two. They were great in game one, not so much -- and in game three, really not so much.

Their two stars, Chris Paul and James Harden within close range shots, but they are very competent to making it really hurt the other side, much to their coach's pleasure. Now, the Warriors, they are in lead by 11 at the half, but that all changed in the second half. Kevin Durant got it started with (inaudible) and then it was his running, Steph Curry who got really hard. Eighteen points in the third quarter using 11 of his final 13 shots on (inaudible), he loves it and he really should. The Warriors go on to completely dismantle the Rockets, 126-85.

They take it two games to one lead in the Western Conference Finals heading to game number 4 Tuesday night in Oakland, Monday night see game four of the Eastern Finals.

Well, the Boston Celtics lead two games to one despite being blown out in Cleveland in game 3, and blowouts has been the norm early in these two conference finals. The closest games have been fairly comfortable...

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RILEY: ... 13-point margin and three of the games have been complete blowouts, the margins ranging from 22 to 30 and now, the largest 41 points. Overall, the series are competitive, but the games themselves not so much. All right then, coming up on the show, one legends of the beautiful game bows out greatly. How his stellar career came to an end in Spain on Sunday.

Welcome back to the show, Barcelona's long time captain Andres Iniesta waved goodbye to his beloved club on Sunday, capping off a brilliant career by celebrating yet another La Liga title. An emotional Iniesta took to the captain's pitch being cheered on by his adoring fans, Philippe Coutinho is the player seen by many as the one to see many of Iniesta's responsibilities next season and he got the only goal of the game and one-no winner over Real Sociedad, and when Iniesta was substituted off, eight minutes from time, that was the moment he knew he wouldn't play in front of the camp's new crowd again.

Iniesta is one of the best players in the world, but his club teammate, Lionel Messi who tends to command the spotlight, we should take a moment though to celebrate everything he has achieved. The staggering haul of 34 trophies, the club and country. He has won nine La Liga titles and he's been a Champions League winner on four occasions. Those are the highlights of the period where Barcelona has been a trophy factory and he was also at the heart of Spain's dominant run from 2008 to 2012 when he won the World Cup and two European championships.

Meanwhile, in Italy, Juventus have been celebrating another wonderful domestic season, Juve's players took to the streets to cheer in on Saturday to parade their fourth consecutive League and Cup double at the heart of -- Juve's legendary goal keeper Gigi Buffon who played his final game for Juve on Friday night.

He has probably lost count of the number times that he has been embraced like this, but we're pretty sure he will never forget this one.

And for most football players, your season ends with the last game. If you win something, it ends in a parade like we have just seen and the bus safely back in the garage, but for Red Star Belgrade this week, their season ended when their bus became an inferno. This really is quite an extraordinary story.

They were celebrating a record 28 Serbian league titles, one more than their archrival Partizan, but to say that things got out of hand will be an understatement. A flare reportedly landed inside the bus and the whole thing was soon ablaze and just look at the way the fans were leaving the scene. It's like no big deal. It's as if this kind of thing happens all the time. Well, this independent Red Star Twitter account summarized it nicely. "The celebrations didn't get to 100% according to plan because the open top bus caught fire. Nobody got injured which was the most important thing. How very rock and roll."

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RILEY: Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Glasgow Celtic is celebrating another trouble winning season. The Hoops beat Motherwell in the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday, but the clip you might have seen isn't the one on the golden set, it is of the referee to (inaudible) touch line now that's the sort of thing that could really be humiliating, but this guy does have a sense of humor.

So, on Sunday, he tweeted this, "Yesterday marked eight years since I went on my first date with my wife. That day I fell head over heels for her. Yesterday, in a highly choreographed and skillful reenactment, I proved, I can remember our anniversaries. That's my story (inaudible) and I am sticking to it." Yes, we believe you, mate.

Now, to tennis, where Rafael Nadal has continued his reputation for being the king of play. The man from Majorca beat Alexander Zverev to win a record eight Italian Open, the young German took the second set but Rafa turned the match around after a fairly long delay due to rain. In the end, it was a 6-1-1, 6-6-3 victory meaning Nadal will regain the World Number one ranking ahead of the start of the French Open. That starts next Sunday in fact, and that's now the 78th ATP top titles for Nadal, which means, he is top on the list of the most men's titles won in the open area.

All right, we've started the show with hockey news and the Stanley Cup playoffs, not the only story in that sport. There's also big hockey news going on across the Atlantic as the Hockey World Championships had a thrilling conclusion on Sunday, reigning champs Sweden and Switzerland have the gold medals decided in a shootout.

Swedish star, Filip Forsberg broke a one-all deadlock for the shootout with a slapshot and the goalie Anders Nilsson came up big when he had two securing the Swiss 11th world championship title and third in five years, heartbreak for the Swiss which upset Canada in the semis and were seeking their first world title.

All right, that's it from us. Thank you so much for watching. Stay with CNN, the news is next.

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