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Trump Administration Loses Track of 1500 Immigrant Children; Pilot & Assistant Accused in Plot to Kidnap & Deport Chinese Flight Student; CNN War Correspondent Surfs Near DMZ; "1968" Looks Back at Turbulent Year in U.S. History. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired May 28, 2018 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00] ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "The child becomes the responsibility of his or her parent, guardian or sponsor."
Brooke, the big question is, should the United States do more? Is there a moral obligation here to do more?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Two things to follow up. One, I read that it's -- this didn't start with President Trump. This goes back under President Obama. It goes back to President Bush, W. Bush. Tell me about if it's correct. And two, how is this government going to find them?
FLORES: You know, you are absolutely correct. This is a historic issue. Historically, the U.S. government has had difficulty tracking these children difficulty tracking undocumented people in this country. One of the big concerns is, from a 2016 Senate report, Brooke, that documented the concerns as to what can happen to these children, The Senate subcommittee tracked that there were multiple cases in 2014 where these children ended up in the hands of human traffickers. A big case out of Ohio where they ended up working for hours a day, six to seven days a week, in inhumane conditions and not being paid. That is one of the big concerns here, that, yes, the undocumented community lives in a shadow community. And maybe that's why they can't find these children. What if there's something more dangerous happening here? Does the U.S. have a responsibility to try to find them and make sure that they are safe?
BALDWIN: It seems unacceptable all the way around.
Rosa, thank you for that reporting and shining a lot of these 1500 young people.
Coming up next, a flight school instructor accused of attempting to kidnap and deport one of his students? Those details ahead.
Also, this stunning video. A man scales a building to save a toddler dangling from a balcony. This is the video of the day. We will play the whole rescue for you and show you what happens to the hero afterwards. Look at it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:36:14] BALDWIN: This is the most insane, most incredible video. They're calling this guy the real-life Spiderman. I want you to watch as he rescues this toddler dangling from a balcony. This happened in Paris. Roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The speed at which he did that made it look easy. We all know it wasn't.
The man who rescued this child is a 22-year-old migrant from Mali. He spotted this toddler dangler, scaled four floors in a matter of seconds. You hear the cheers and shouts form down below. He clamors his way up to the child, whisking the boy to safety. And because of his heroic efforts, he's been granted French citizenship by President Emmanuel Macron. As for the child's father, he is facing charges for abandoning his parental responsibilities. He was reportedly out shopping at the time.
Now to a bizarre on developing out of Redding, California, where a flight instructor and his assistant have been arrested and accused of not only trying to kidnap a Chinese flight student but also trying to deport the student back to China.
And there's this audio recording of the incident, but it gets complicated. So let's go to Kyung Lah, who can explain.
What happened, Kyung Lah. Sort this out for me.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're trying to sort this out, as are the police. The Redding Police Department says this came across as a reported kidnapping. These are the two people who are involved, Kelsi Hoser and Jonathan McConkey. The way police say that they first heard about this is that they burst into a student's apartment, a Chinese student, at their flight school, a flight school that employs these two, and that they threaten to deport him back to China. Exactly why police are still trying to figure it out. But the local newspaper, "The Record Searchlight" newspaper, posted this audio of McConkey threatening the Chinese student, who says he would do what they asked because he was so terrified. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
JONATHAN MCCONKEY, FIGHT SCHOOL PILOT & INSTRUCTOR: You're in my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) custody right now. Do you know what that means? I will probably forcibly remove your ass from here. I you want the police to come with guns, I got you on that. Alright? You ass is leaving now. Let's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) go. Take our plan? Hey, listen to me. I've got your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) passport. You're leaving now. Your ass is getting on a plane right now or I'll break your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) arm. You better believe I'm (EXPLETIVE DELETED) threatening you. And the United States government needs you out of this country, right now. You understand?
(END AUDIO FEED)
LAH: CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of that audio.
We can tell you they are not the U.S. government. They did manage to take this Chinese student all the way to the local airport.
How was this all stopped? That student's brother in Shanghai somehow found out. He called the local police.
The irony here, Brooke, is that if you look on the Facebook page of this flight school --
BALDWIN: Yes.
LAH: -- they market themselves as a warm and fuzzy place for Chinese students to come, that it is a home away from home.
BALDWIN: What? What? That's not a warm and fuzzy audio recording.
Quick follow-up. Was the student here illegally? We heard -- he mentioned a passport. Illegally, are other students involved?
[14:39:59] LAH: Well, as far as we know, reportedly, the student had a valid I.D., a valid visa, that is, and he had many months left on it. The passport you're referring to, the school apparently had it. They were holding it. He threatened that that -- the man in that audio, threatened, I have your passport. And if you know anything about human trafficking, that is something you hear again and again in the United States, people threatening the victim here, saying, I have your passport and I will hold on to it, and you will do what I say about.
BALDWIN: Kyung Lah, stay on that for us.
Thank you so much. Totally, totally bizarre.
Ahead here, Chelsea Clinton with some harsh words for President Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, including why she thinks the president has degraded what it means to be an American.
Plus, in one of the most unlikely places on earth, why one of our war correspondents surfed near the DMZ between North and South Korea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:21] BALDWIN: It should come as no surprise, CNN sent correspondent, Ivan Watson, to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. After all, Watson has spent plenty of time in conflict zones. But it's what he did when he got to the DMZ that will surprise you because he's near one of the most intense areas of the world. You know what he did? He surfed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The morning after a big storm is a day for some people --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGAUGE)
WATSON: -- to get up early, wax up their surfboards and head out to the beach.
South Korea is relatively new to surfing. Some here are clearly hooked on the sport. And they're kind enough to share the waves with a beginning from out of town.
(on camera): That's really fun. And the crazy thing, everybody's out here surfing and we're pretty close to North Korea.
(voice-over): We're just a short drive from the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea's border with North Korea. The coastline here dotted with military bases. Long stretches of the beach fortified with razor wire, guard towers and security cameras.
(on camera): This area is heavily militarized to protect against the threat of possible North Korean incursions. But it's also home to some of the best waves in South Korea. So if you want to surf, sometimes you literally have to go through the fence.
(voice-over): This is what surfing looks like near the DMZ. The military and the surf community somehow coexist on the same shores.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LEE HYUNG JOO, SOUTH KOREAN SURFER & SURF CAMP OWNER: Yes, we're just used to it, but a lot of foreigners, they come over, they see the scene, they're like, wow!
WATSON (voice-over): Lee Hyung Joo runs a surf camp on a beach that until a few years ago was off limits to civilians.
JOO: I'm here about 200 meters. About 300 meters is a military base.
WATSON: North Korean trash regularly washes up on the beach here.
JOO: Sometimes you find like North Korean cigarette packs, trash, of course. Also, some water bottles.
WATSON: Lee hopes the current talks between Pyongyang and Seoul may one day lead to real peace with South Korea's northern neighbor.
JOO: If the Korean, North Korean relations get better, I don't think they'll have use for this barbed wire any more. Right? And also the military bases on the beach will give more opportunities for tourists that visit like us.
WATSON: That yearning for peace shared by Kuan Min-Ju and her boyfriend.
(CROSSTALK) KUAN MIN-JU, SOUTH KOREAN SURFER: Yes.
WATSON: Every weekend, the couple drive three hours from Seoul to surf here. One day, they hope they can keep driving through the DMZ.
MIN-JU: I think the area is a good place for surfing.
WATSON (on camera): In North Korea?
MIN-JU: Yes, yes. So maybe we can go there and surf one day.
JAKE MCFADYEN, SURF INSTRUCTOR: You know, I don't think we'll be sneaking through any fences to get into North Korea anytime soon to surf there. But if it's possible, I'd love to check it out.
WATSON (voice-over): For now, people like Canadian Jake McFadyen can only dream of chasing that elusive North Korea wave. Surfers stoked for the day when peace may come to these shores.
Ivan Watson, CNN, at the 38th Parallel Beach in South Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Endless summer in Korea, who knew.
On this Memorial Day, the president paying tribute to the country's fallen heroes. But as he honors their sacrifices, he's not only stepping up attacks on the Russian investigation, but angering a number of veterans, with a single tweet touting his job performance. Why some critics are calling it ignorant and inappropriate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:53:25] BALDWIN: He's being heralded the hero teacher after stopping an active shooter inside a school in Noblesville, Indiana. Jason Seaman, who also coaches football, was shot while tackling and disarming the shooter in his middle school classroom. And today, the teacher is speaking out publicly for the first time since that shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON SEAMAN, TEACHER THAT SAVED LIVES DURING SCHOOL SHOOTING: As a person who isn't looking for attention, nor entirely comfortable with the situation I'm in, I want to make it clear that my actions on that day and in my mind were the only acceptable actions I could have done given the circumstances. I deeply care for my students and their wellbeing, so that's why I did what I did that day.
Unbelievably, a brave colleague entered my room, was absolutely crucial in keeping Ella alert and calm, as we waited for help to arrive.
I can't say enough how proud of Ella I am and how we all are should be. Her courage and strength at such a young age is nothing short of remarkable. We should all continue to keep her in our minds as she continues to recover.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: No one was killed in Friday's shooting, but a female student was, as the teacher mentioned, was critically injured. The Indiana attack comes a week after a Texas school shooting left 10 dead.
It was a year to find seismic shifts in American politics, social movements and conflicts abroad. Now here we are 50 years later, CNN's new original series, "1968," explores the icons and milestones of that pivotal year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[14:54:59] UNIDENTIFIED NEWS ANCHOR: Downtown Chicago at Balboa and Michigan Avenues, there has been in progress for some time a peace demonstration. The police have come to put it down. The National Guard has been called to help.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Police!
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED NEWS CORRSEPONDENT: Police and demonstrators tussling over this intersection on this, the night of the presidential nominations for the Democratic convention.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a police riot, and I had never seen that before in my life. I had never seen groups of policemen with lead- knuckle gloves and clubs going after civilians. There were pools of blood on Michigan Avenue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: With me now, CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod.
David, that all happened in a city where you live now.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & CNN HOST, "THE AX FILES": Yes.
BALDWIN: I know in 1968, you were a teenager at the time. What was it like watching everything so of devolve the way it did?
AXELROD: I was a teenager in New York City watching on a black-and- white television set in astonishment. The scenes of what was ultimately described as a police riot, but police officers beating protesters. And the bedlam outside of the convention out on the streets of Chicago were matched by the ranker inside the convention. Reporters were being taken into custody.
Mayor Daley and his delegation were shaking their fists at speakers who talked about Gestapo tactics on the streets of Chicago. It was really an extraordinary event. And hanging over all of this, Brooke, was the fact that we had an incumbent Democratic president who could not attend his own convention because he was so controversial in the country and within the Democratic Party. This tainted the candidacy of Hubert Humphrey, his vice president, who emerged as the nominee of a very damaged party.
BALDWIN: There is that old saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
AXELROD: Yes.
BALDWIN: As we watch "1968" here on CNN, 50 years later, what are those lessons that we should be learning?
AXELROD: First of all, racial strife. This was the first election after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. There were candidates, both the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, who more subtly with his law and order campaign took advantage of those divisions, not just black and white, but also because of anti-war protesters, but also George Wallace, who was the segregationist governor of Alabama, who ran as a third-party candidate, and won five states.
The rhetoric he used in that campaign, if you go back and look at it, it's not dissimilar from some of the things our current president has said, both as president and as a candidate, kind of mining the alienation within our country, the agreement, the sense of division within our country. So there's a legacy that hasn't left. Nixon won, and Nixon then went on to Watergate, which we hear a lot about that today and the subversion of our democracy. So there are roots of today's issues that go way back to 1968.
BALDWIN: For those of you hanging on David's words here, please tune in. All new episodes of CNN's original series, "1968," tonight, starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
David Axelrod, thank you.
AXELROD: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: We continue on. Hour two. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks you for joining me here on this Memorial Day Monday as loved ones of our fallen troops spend the day honoring their lives and sacrifices and memories.
The IAVA, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, are encouraging all Americans right now to take one moment to remember someone who died defending the country. It's called "Go Silent." It's this whole campaign. And I just want to honor that request now and invite all of you to join me in one minute of silence.
(SILENCE)
