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North Korea Test Fires Several Short-Range Projectiles; Trump Contradicts Own Officials on Russia's Interest in Venezuela; Trump Doesn't Warn Putin Against Future Election Meddling; Israeli Officials: Gaza Militants Fire 200 Rockets Toward Israel; NTSB Investigating Boeing 737 Skidding off Runway into River; U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls to Lowest Level Since 1969; U.S. Deficit on Track to Hit $1 Trillion; Trump Says Federal Reserve Should Lower Interest Rates; Prince Harry Cuts Official Trip Spurring New Baby Speculation; Kentucky Derby: "The Most Exciting 2 Minutes in Sports"; "The Redemption Project" Tomorrow at 9:00P Eastern. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 04, 2019 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:02] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera, in New York.

If President Trump is frustrated by news North Korea is back to its old ways, launching projectiles despite two very high-profile summits, well, he is not letting on. In fact, the president today is voicing support for Kim Jong-Un, playing up their relationship on Twitter.

He is also praising another U.S. adversary he could be confronting instead, Russia's Vladimir Putin. During a Friday phone call that lasted more than an hour, we're told, the president said he and President Putin had a good talk and chatted about five or six things, but not about Russia's election meddling.

He also says Putin is not interested in getting involved with Venezuela. Yet today, we learned something that suggests the exact opposite, that Russia's foreign minister will meet with his Venezuelan counterpart in Moscow on Sunday.

CNN's Boris Sanchez is at the White House.

Boris, let's start with the North Korea test launches that the president seems to be downplaying at least publicly.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. Kind of fascinating when you consider that President Trump, in responding to previous North Korean provocations, had said, not that long ago, that the White House would respond with fire and fury, unlike the world had ever seen. This is really a subdued response from the White House. The press secretary, Sarah Sanders, yesterday putting out a short response saying that the administration was monitoring the situation.

And President Trump on Twitter today tried to appeal to his personal relationship with Kim Jong-Un. Take a look at what the president sent out. He writes, quote, "Anything in this very interesting world is possible, but I believe that Kim Jong-Un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea and will do nothing to interfere or end it." Listen to this portion. "He also knows that I am with him and does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen."

A lot to read into there. President Trump saying that he is with Kim Jong-Un. And not exactly sure what that means, possibly, a reference to something that was said between the two leaders during one of their two summits. And the president remaining optimistic despite the recent aggression from North Korea that a nuclear deal will get done -- Ana?

CABRERA: So much in the international affairs arena today, Boris. On Venezuela, the president contradicted some of his own officials about what was happening in that country. Explain for us.

SANCHEZ: That's right. Venezuela was one of the main topics of discussion between President Trump and Vladimir Putin yesterday. And the president repeating something that he says Putin told him during that phone call, that the Russians, in the president's words, are not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela. We know that simply is not true. Russia maintains a strong military presence in Venezuela. And in fact, just a day before this phone with Vladimir Putin, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this, look: "The Russians have people working over there in the hundreds, if not more. These are the folks who are actually controlling the direction of travel for Venezuela."

So yet, again, another instance of President Trump contradicting officials within his own administration and repeating the line coming from Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia -- Ana?

CABRERA: Boris Sanchez, at the White House for us, thank you.

Joining us is Sabrina Siddiqui, White House correspondent for "The Guardian," and Phil Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA counterterrorism official.

Phil, the president tweeted that Kim Jong-Un's realizes North Korea's economic potential and, quote, "will do nothing to interfere or end it." And what does it say to you that a launch like we just saw is being treated by the president as no big deal?

PHIL MUDD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I mean, if you look at what is happening here, the president has created a myth. The myth started when he first met Kim Jong-Un and he got off the aircraft and told us, we are safer now, despite the fact that Kim hadn't destroyed any nuclear stock, hadn't destroyed missile development facilities, and hadn't destroyed missiles, and hadn't told us what he had. At this point, the president is two and a half years in, he staked his reputation, his ego on making a deal with Kim Jong-Un. First, I still think he believes, despite walking away from the last meetings with Kim Jong-Un, that he could cut a deal. And, second, personally, I think the president has shown us he cannot acknowledge weaknesses or mistakes. He can't tell us that he thought Kim Jong-Un was wrong or that the conversations with Kim Jong-Un were misguided. He can't say Russian intervened in an election. I think he is doubling down because his options are to say the deal didn't work, we're not safer and to say that he was wrong in dealing with Kim Jong-Un. I don't see many other options for the president except to create a myth -- Ana?

CABRERA: Sabrina, remember when the president said this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a back and forth and then we fell in love, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters and they're great letters. We fell in love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So that being said, short of a missile fired over Kansas, Sabrina, what would Kim Jong-Un have to do to scuttle any further talks?

SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's precisely the challenge here. The president is ignoring the counsel of experts in his administration. He has instead leaned heavily into this personal rapport that he has developed with Kim Jong-Un. And he has held up, as examples of success, two summits that are only historic for the very fact that the American president is sitting down with the leader of North Korea. They have not produced any substantive deal. At no point in time has Pyongyang expressly committed to denuclearization along the Korean peninsula. And they're seeking widespread sanctions relief in exchange for any form of disarmament, which the U.S. has not been willing to concede.

[15:05:37] So the big question is, what exactly is the president seeking in these negotiations. And at what point will he acknowledge that there has not been any tangible progress, as you can see with this latest provocation? It is very clear that, so far, the strategy that his administration has pursued has not been successful. And when is he going to go back to the drawing board and perhaps look into other options?

CABRERA: Right, because previously, signs of progress they pointed to were the fact that there were no new launches, and now, that is not the case anymore.

Meantime, President Trump also talked to Russian President Putin and he did not confront Putin about ongoing election interference. Trump even says Putin smiled when the discussion came to the Russian investigation. Of course, he probably couldn't see that. We're told this was a phone call, not a video call.

Phil, why do you think Trump won't even mention election issues with Putin?

MUDD: Well, we know this, we know that the Russian activity, by the way, is still going on. We heard from Trump's own administration during the midterm elections, the Department of Homeland Security, that there was continuing intervention by Russia.

But there's news reports coming out that acknowledge what we knew all along, Ana, and that is the president looks at the election as a validation of who he is. That is, America's famous businessman, the guy who fired people on TV, a guy who had an historic election victory, still, two and a half years in, despite his historic electoral victory, he's looking at any question that Russia interfered as something that tarnishes his victory. So rather than saying, look, the Department of Justice, the FBI have indicted a dozen Russians, and have evidence that Russian intelligence was involved in that election interference, he chooses to view election interference, obviously, through a lens that says, if you raise it with me, you're suggesting that my election wasn't valid. It's all about what he sees as his electoral victory as opposed to his responsibility as commander-in- chief to look at Putin and say, I've got to protect my people, forget about my image, I've got to protect my people. Going into 2020, what are we going to do about election interference? It is about him, not about us, Ana. That's what I see.

CABRERA: They did not talk about election interference but they did talk about Venezuela, Sabrina. According to Trump, Putin does not want to get involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela, other than he would like to see something positive happen for Venezuela.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Of course, that directly contradicts President Trump's own Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who says Russia is very much involved on the side of the dispute with President Nicolas Maduro. In fact, the Venezuelan foreign minister will be in Moscow tomorrow to meet with his Russian counterpart.

Sabrina, is President Trump taking President Putin's word over his own State Department?

SIDDIQUI: Yes, he absolutely is. And this fits in a broader pattern where the president is contradicting not just officials in his cabinet, in this case, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, but what the U.S. Intelligence Community has known about the Russia's motivations in Venezuela. And frankly, what Moscow is doing very much in the public eye. They have sent troops over to the region, to help prop up Nicolas Maduro. It is very clear that they are squarely on the side of the current regime in Venezuela. On the contrary, the Trump administration has made it very clear that they stand with opposition forces. They've formally recognized Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela. So if anyone thought that perhaps the U.S. and Russia being on opposite sides in Venezuela was going to be the moment where perhaps the president of the United States would, in fact, stand up to Vladimir Putin, clearly that's not the case. So I think, again, he has pursued a very close rapport with someone that he clearly likes personally, even when the country's actions, with respect to Russia, are very much running counter to U.S. interests in the region. Whether or not there's going to be any escalation remains to be seen. And I think a big question on many people's minds, certainly, on the minds of members of Congress, is, if the situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate, what is the U.S. actually planning to do. The Trump administration has said all military options are on the table, including military options. I think they would have a lot of questions on Capitol Hill.

CABRERA: So the question then is, Phil, how touch does the U.S. get? Because there's support for the U.S. to get tough. But just how tough should the U.S. get?

MUDD: I think the answer is pretty simple here. We learned the answers in Afghanistan and Iraq. We learned the answers in Syria. If an American family is not directly affected by an overseas conflict -- we're affected by Afghanistan. Obviously, that was al Qaeda, that murdered almost 3,000 Americans. We were not directly affected by Syria. You don't commit the lives of American men and women, servicemen, for something in Venezuela that is a human rights issue. I think it is significant. But it doesn't necessarily directly affect an American family. We can have influence. We can provide money. We can support opposition. We can send food. But American troops, I don't think so. And I think a president who is trying to get us out of Syria, by saying that we want to remove the CIA and the Defense Department, is going to have a hard time explaining why we then want to go into Venezuela.

[15:10:36] CABRERA: Phil Mudd, Sabrina Siddiqui, good to have that conversation with you two. Thank you.

SIDDIQUI: Thank you.

CABRERA: We are following some breaking news on this Saturday. An escalation of violence in the Middle East. Gaza militants firing 200 rockets toward Israel. And Israel is responding now with airstrikes. We'll get a live report from that region.

Plus, a 737 skids into a Florida river. Take a look at this. All on board survive. But what went wrong?

And later, we take you overseas where the royal baby watch is on. How Buckingham Palace is addressing rumors that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first child may have already been born.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:49] CABRERA: Escalating attacks between Israel and militants in Gaza have left a Palestinian baby dead. The baby's mother, who is also pregnant, and a third person, also killed. And civilians injured on both sides. Officials say more than 200 rockets were fired by militants in Gaza toward Israel today. The Israeli military responding with a wave of airstrikes.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is near the border in Gaza, near the Gaza border, I should say.

Oren, what is happening now? OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDNET: Ana, a situation

that began deteriorating and escalating some 12 hours ago, right around 10:00 this morning, local time, continues in that direction. Over the course of the past 15 or 20 minutes, we've seen another barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. Another round of interceptions from Israel's Iron Dome Aerial Defense System.

Over the course of today, Israel says militant groups in Gaza, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad, have fired more than 200 rockets from Gaza into Israel. Most have been short-range rockets that have landed near the Gaza periphery, which is not far from where we are standing right now. Some have been more powerful rockets that have gone 20, 25 miles toward some bigger Israeli cities in southern Israel and some Israeli civilians injured from shrapnel from that.

Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes, including artillery fire and tank fire targeting 130 targets the Israeli military says. In the course of the airstrikes, three people have been killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, including a 1-year- old baby girl and her pregnant mother. That's the situation as it stands right now.

Israel says they have targeted one larger building, a building they say belongs to Hamas, for military intelligence and general security services. That is a significant step in terms of where this is heading.

If there are attempts -- and there are attempts -- to try to bring both sides back from the cusp of a larger round of fighting and see if it is possible to restore a ceasefire sometime tonight as we head into the evening hours, as we've seen this situation, Ana, deteriorate and escalate throughout the day here.

CABRERA: And, Oren, we actually had a chance to capture some rockets being fired from Gaza toward Israel while you were reporting live in a previous live shot. We are looking at that video right now. Are you able to see many of the attacks from your vantage point?

LIEBERMANN: We've seen a lot of rocket fire. That is coming from northern Gaza, which roughly where we're positioned right now, getting a view of northern Gaza and I would say central northern Gaza. So we have seen a number of rockets fired. We have seen Israeli airstrikes targeting the buildings inside of Gaza. We've seen partially how this develops. There have, of course, been strikes as well as rockets fired from southern Gaza, so we have had a vantage point. Those lights twinkling in the background behind me, that is Gaza. So we're fairly close to the border and we will see how this goes.

The U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process put out a statement a short time ago saying the U.N. and Egypt are working between Israel and Hamas to try to restore a ceasefire. We will see if and when they're successful.

CABRERA: OK. Oren Liebermann, thanks for staying on this for us. Do stay safe, my friend. Coming up, more breaking news. A massive explosion at an Illinois

chemical plant. One person dead, others missing in a blast felt as far away as Wisconsin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:35] CABRERA: Right now, in Illinois, at least one person is dead and two others missing after a silicone plant in Waukegan exploded overnight, creating a massive fireball, lighting up the night sky in a blast so intense, it could be felt miles away in Wisconsin. The fire is out now. The search for the missing has been suspended, however, due to dangerous conditions and heavy damage to the structure. Investigators don't know yet what caused this explosion.

NTSB investigators are still on the scene in Jacksonville, Florida, where a charter jet carrying military personnel and their families skidded off the runway and into the St. John's River during a rough landing. The plane is still in the water, though not submerged. Officials say the pilots were trying to land at the nearby naval air station during stormy weather. Passengers escaped onto the plane's wing until rescuers arrived. Thankfully, no one died but several people were injured.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in Jacksonville for us.

And, Rosa, officials say there was plenty of room to land. What do they think happened?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is still very early in the investigation, Ana, but we do know that the NTSB is on-site. We're expected a press conference at 4:00 or 5:00 this afternoon where we are expecting to learn more. But normally, in situations like this, what the NTSB does is they arrive on the scene and they start gathering evidence. We've learned from a tweet from the NTSB that the flight data recorder has already been recovered. So they recover evidence. They investigate not just the aircraft, but also the history and the record of the pilots and the crew, what they've been up to in the last 72 hours. And they also look at the environment. What was the weather like, for example, during that moment in time? We do know that there were reported thunderstorms and lightning.

Now, we're learning about the intense and dramatic moments of this landing from passengers. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED AIRPLANE PASSENGER: As we went down, we had a really hard landing. And then the plane bounced and screeched and bounced some more, and it lifted to the right and then it lifted to the left. And then it sort of swerved, and then it came to a complete, like, a crash stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, it is quite the miracle that all 136 passengers and seven crew survived. We do know that 21 people were transported to the hospital. But they're expected -- they're all expected to be OK.

Now, Ana, of course, everyone wants to know, what happened exactly. Now that the NTSB is on the scene, we know that the preliminary report is expected in about two weeks.

CABRERA: And what about the plane? Where is that now? What's going on at the scene of the accident?

FLORES: As you know, from aerials, from talking to boaters that have been by the scene, we have learned that the aircraft is still in the water. Now, from looking at those pictures closely, and from covering oil spills in Louisiana, I can tell you that what looks like is around this aircraft is something called boom. It is normally used to keep fuel and oil centered in a specific area. And that's what it looks like that the NTSB or authorities here are using. From talking to boaters, I can tell you they are very worried about the environmental impact of this, of course, because this river is used for boating. Right now, there's a race with 90 boats going on, if you can believe it. So they're very concerned about the environment, about this body of water that is used by this community on a day-to-day basis.

[15:25:16] CABRERA: And not to mention, Cinco de Mayo weekend so people are out I'm sure enjoying a little bit of that as well, for that reason.

Thank you, Rosa Flores.

The cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology with a measles patient on board is now back in its home port of Curacao. The "Freewinds" cruise liner had been quarantined in St. Lucia after health officials there confirmed that an infected crew member was on board. The ship was carrying 300 passengers and crew. Curacao health officials say they are working to keep the disease contained and the infected crew member isolated. No one is being allowed off the ship until their immunization status can be assessed.

Coming up, jobs, jobs, jobs. President Trump touting an unemployment rate now close to a 50-year low. But are all Americans reaping the benefits? We'll break down the numbers. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Just a slew of great economic headlines for the president this week. The unemployment rate is at the lowest rate since 1969, at 3.6 percent. The economy added another 263,000 jobs last month. A record 103 straight months of job growth. And Trump received his highest economic approval rating in any CNN poll, 56 percent. In other words, the economy is roaring and people know it.

[15:30:05] Let's discuss. Catherine Rampell is an opinion columnist for the "Washington Post" and a CNN political commentator, and, Mark Zandi is chief economist for Moody's Analytics.

Catherine, we laid out all of these number. What kind of person is winning right now? Who is experiencing the kind of success in their personal life reflective of these numbers? CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So the benefits are pretty

widespread at this point. I mean, we've seen a pickup in wage gains, particularly at the lower end of the income ladder, which is certainly something to celebrate. So there's a lot of good news to go around. Of course, the question is how sustainable some of these numbers are, given that, as you pointed out, we are pretty long in the tooth in terms of where we are in the expansion. We are about to break a record for longest expansion actually in history, in recorded history. And you know, the question is, what happens when the effects of the tax cuts stimulus wear off. I mean, maybe we will be able to keep this going for a while. Australia hasn't had a recession in a very long time. So maybe we will break records, and it will be easy enough. But it does seem like some of these numbers could be unsustainable, at least given past history.

CABRERA: So credit where credit is due. The economy is great.

And yet, Mark, an unemployment like this, 3.6 percent, it used to very indicative of an economy booming to the point of full employment. And yet, I keep hearing from people who say they are still struggling economically. Has our expectation of what it means to have a job changed, so that today's unemployment rate, at nearly 50-year lows, simply doesn't mean what it used to?

MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: Well, you know, I think the issue is the fact that we have only been this strong as an economy, with this kind of low unemployment, briefly, for two, three times in the last 30 years. So the fact that we're here is great. This is real progress. And it is helping lots of people, as Catherine articulated. But you have to put this in the broad historical context. It has been 30 years of basically high unemployment and high under-employment. Lots of people are doing better but still digging out from under. Some of the statistics are jaw-dropping. So, for example, this is according to the Federal Reserve survey, about 40 percent of households have no savings whatsoever. So if there's any kind of unexpected expense or emergency, they just don't have the cash to pay it. So, yes, we're doing better. But you know, this has been a long road, and we need to stay here. And as Catherine pointed out, the question is, how sustainable is this. Can we sustain this for very long? And if we don't, these households will have a very, very difficult time. And lots of financial stress out there.

CABRERA: We have the government shutdown, Catherine, and we still -- you just mentioned wage growth is still going up. We have the GDP at much higher rates, you know, in the last quarter than expected. Is this because of Trump tax cuts? And is the effect that we're seeing now perhaps proving critics wrong about what it was all about?

RAMPELL: So I think that most people, including people who are critical of the tax cut, would argue that it was going -- no matter what, it was going to stimulate the economy in the near term. The real debate was over whether it was going to have a sustainable long- term effect, right? If, in fact, you borrow $2 trillion and disburse that to the American people, if you don't have any effect in the near- term, then probably something is pretty broke within the economy. So of course, there's going to be some juicing of the economy, you know, last year, this year, potentially, next year as well. The real question is, you know, what happens several years from now, when potentially the cost of that higher debt starts to weigh on growth.

CABRERA: Speaking of that, I mean the deficit right now is not good, Mark. It is on track to reach $1 trillion this year.

ZANDI: Yes, that's right. And that's about 4 percent of the GDP. So that is really, really bad. You know, you don't see these kind of deficit numbers, except in the very worst of economic downturns and recessions. In fact, it is happening now, with unemployment at 3.6 percent, it is very disconcerting. And here is the other thing. If we don't stay policy and we stay on the same course, this is according to the Congressional Budget Office, the folks who do this for a living, the budget deficits will continue to grow. We will be over a trillion in deficit per annum forever going forward. And I do think this is a very severe problem.

Now the problem with this, politically, is you know, it is not easy to connect the dots between the deficits and debt and back to economic growth because the deficits and debt are like a corrosive on the economy. It is something that wears down the economy a little bit every year. And when you look back over a decade or a generation, you will see it. But in any given year, it is pretty touch to see.

(CROSSTALK)

ZANDI: But if we don't change courses, it will be quite significant.

CABRERA: And we hear the president saying, we should lower interest rates, right now. Does that make sense to you?

[15:34:59] ZANDI: It makes no sense whatsoever to me. I mean, in fact, if we did that, then this expansion would come to an end pretty quickly. It would overheat. We would see inflationary pressures develop and interest rates rise. The Federal Reserve would have to respond by raising interest rates. And it would raise the probability that the economy would slow and maybe experience a recession next year. It doesn't make economic sense. And I'm not sure about the politics either. It could certainly --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: I'm glad you brought up the politics, because famed Democratic strategist, James Carville, once said, it's the economy, stupid. That was when Carville was leading then-Governor Bill Clinton to an upset victory over the elder President Bush. But Carville was referring to an economy facing a recession.

And the majority of Americans are approving of the way Trump is handling the economy. But there's also other issues, foreign affairs and race relations and health care policy, where Trump has a 42 percent approval or below.

Catherine, is a strong economy enough for voters?

RAMPELL: I think I would answer that question this way. One, is that if Trump could stay on message and talk about how good the economy is rather than Diamond or Silk or the Deep State, or you know, caravans of rapists and murderers, whatever, I think that would serve him well. Because rightly or wrongly, the voters do attribute the state of the economy to president. The president gets too much credit when it is good and too much when it is bad, even though presidents don't actually control what's going on it the economy. So certainly, it would help him if could make that his message. That said, if you look at his poll numbers, they are surprisingly low, given how good the economy is. And remember, his party got trounced at the polls last November, despite the fact that the economy is doing well. So clearly, it is helping him. But it is not enough to offset all of the other concerns that many voters continue to have about this administration and how, and its stewardship of the overall country, not just the economy.

CABRERA: Catherine Rampell, Mark Zandi, thank you both.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

CABRERA: Keep calm and carry on, royal watchers. Buckingham Palace denying rumors about the birth of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's first child. Did the prince himself give us a big clue?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:10] CABRERA: Do we have a clue about the royal baby? Prince Harry was supposed to travel to the Netherlands next week but now that trip is on hold as rumors swirl about Meghan Markle's due date. Once the baby is born, don't expect the couple to follow typical royal tradition.

CNN's Max Foster explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: The new royal heir of the United Kingdom.

(CHEERING)

MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Duchess of Cambridge emerged from hospital with her first baby, Prince George, in 2013, she amazed everyone waiting outside, including royal reporter, Emily Nash.

EMILY NASH, ROYAL REPORTER, HELLO MAGAZINE: She looked every inch the princess. As to myself, I found it incredible that she was looking so fresh.

FOSTER: Then, Kate did it again, with baby number two, Charlotte. And again, with number three, Louis.

NASH: Most women who have given birth are not remotely thinking of putting themselves on display in front of the world's media within several hours of that happening, so it is quite a feat for anyone to endure. FOSTER: The tradition of royals appearing outside hospital shortly

after giving birth only go back a generation to most famously Princess Diana.

DICKIE ARBITER, FORMER ROYAL PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, it would have been difficult, but she put on a brave face and she smiled and she did what she thought was expected in front of the cameras. Difficult to do straight after birth. But it was something that she felt had to be done. And it was done.

FOSTER: The Duchess of Sussex isn't having any of it though. She hasn't even revealed where she's having her baby. And she will only appear before the cameras after the family's had time to celebrate privately, in the words of the palace.

BONNIE GREER, CNN COMMENTATOR: She is saying to her staff, her baby, even those babies born into a very public family, one of the most public in the world, is not a public baby. "This is our baby and we will show you this baby when we're ready to show you, if we show you."

FOSTER: And then there's the example that sets for other new mothers.

GREER: Women won't feel the pressure to look like they're ready for the cover of "Vogue" after they've given birth. And I think Meghan is leading the way with that, and I think that is great.

FOSTER: Max Foster, CNN, Windsor, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Joining us now is Victoria Arbiter, CNN royal commentator and all things expert on Harry and Meghan. And we saw her dad, Dickie, in the piece there.

Victoria, so much speculation when the baby will be born and even some speculation that the baby is already born and we just don't know. How likely is it?

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: The conspiracy theorists are having a field day with this one. Because Meghan did say, on an engagement earlier in the year, she was due end of April, beginning of May. But I think people feel like this is stretching way too far into May. But it's just the beginning of May. But because Harry announced this trip to Netherlands next week, there was this sudden jump that the baby has already been born. But we have to bring it back to the facts. And the fact is Buckingham Palace announced in early April that they would let us know when she was in labor and Buckingham Palace is not in the way of misleading people. If they did, it would be incredibly awkward because then how could we ever believe anything else they say. The royals don't do anything by accident. Everything is by strategic, well-orchestrated. I'm afraid the conspiracy theorists are not right on this occasion. And we're very much still playing a waiting game.

CABRERA: What do you read into the fact that Harry's trip to the Netherlands was postponed? ARBITER: Well, it's only been one day so far. So actually, there is

rhyme and reason to that as well. Although, everybody jumped on the fact the Wednesday was canceled because that must mean the baby is on the way. But actually, it was cancelled because Charles and Camilla are going to be on a four-day trip to Germany then. It is a very important trip on behalf of the British government, given the Brexit- weary climate in the U.K., this meeting in Germany with the German chancellor. It's important. And if Harry was in the Netherlands at the same time, and William and Kate in Wales on that Wednesday as well, the press is simply just pulled too short. So it was for logistical reasons, not because of baby reasons.

[15:45:18] CABRERA: The press, of course, would be rushing to the hospital at any moment when they're going. But I understand she may elect a home birth. They're planning that. Is that what you're hearing?

ARBITER: Yes. At the moment, we've been led to believe that Meghan is very much in favor of a home birth. And, of course, she will listen to whatever it is her doctors recommend. But it means that the press are all congregating in Windsor. There's a magazine writer for one of the French magazine, she's been there since April 22 waiting for the baby to be born. But nobody wants to miss the big event as and when it happens. They need to be on location. So we've had every story from pregnancy to interviewing the fans. Yesterday, the journalists were even interviewing each other. That's how long the wait has extended. It continues but it should be any day now.

CABRERA: The guessing game is about so many different things. As I was watching that piece, I was looking at how she was carrying the baby. Because we don't know the sex. The old wives' tales about carrying higher, a girl, and lower, a boy. We don't know. What about baby names? Anything on the name?

ARBITER: Well, baby names always -- some jumped to Allegra last week. Apparently Allegra was a name that Princess Diana loved very much. But I think we'll see something that is traditional in terms of the royal family tree but something that works on this side of the pond. So a good example is Eleanor of Aquitaine, was a 12th century queen. She was highly influential in her day, very well respected. And Eleanor Roosevelt fought for political, social and racial justice in this country, a very well-respected woman in her own right. So Elle, Lady Elle, how cute is that? And we have Alexandra. That's the queen's middle name. Queen Alexandra, married to Edward VII, was one of the prolific leaders in terms of charitable work. Alice. Alice Walker wrote "The Color Purple." Alice was a daughter of Queen Victoria. She fought for women's rights in hospital and education. So there are a lot of strong girl names.

When we look at boys, Alexander is the male equivalent of Alexandra. Alexander Hamilton was one of the U.S.'s founding fathers.

So I think we've got names that work on both sides of the pond.

CABRERA: Well, any day now, you should be able to break some news this weekend. ARBITER: I hope so.

CABRERA: I can only hope.

Thank you --

ARBITER: Thank you.

CABRERA: -- so much, Victoria. Good to see you.

All right, menstruation is an essential fact of life, but in many parts of the world, it is considered taboo. Now this not only makes monthly periods extremely stressful for girls, it limits what they can achieve. This week's "CNN Hero" is ensuring females stay in power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN HERO: In Ethiopia, most women and girl do not have access to sanitary pads. Many girls stay at home during their period. They're scared and ashamed. Half of the population is dealing with this issue but no one is willing to talk about it.

I knew that I have to make a product that helps these women and girls to get on with their lives.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

All I want is al girls to have dignity, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: You can see how the factory is empowering women, or to nominate a "CNN Hero," go to CNN hero.com.

Coming up, grab your hat, place your bets, and pour yourself a mint julep. It is Derby Day at Churchill Downs, and this year's race is wide open.

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[15:52:03] CABRERA: Are you ready for the most exciting two minutes in sports? Today, 19 horses will enter the starting gate at Churchill Downs. It's the 145th Kentucky Derby, the first jewel in the Triple Crown.

CNN's Coy Wire has more on this.

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COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Ana, and all of our CNN friends.

Talk Derby to me. It's almost time for one of America's greatest sporting traditions. The Kentucky Derby dates back to 1875. Everybody flashing the fashion with the fancy hats, the fascinators. About 160,000 people will be a Churchill Downs today. And over 616 million watched it on TV last year. It's an epic juxtaposition of classy and a bit of rowdy. You can get a hat for about 20 bucks but some cost thousands. One of the best traditions, the drink, the mint julep, made with good old Kentucky Bourbon, water, mint and sugar. About 120,000 are sold at the track.

Here are some horses you might want to cheer for. The favorite is Maximum Security. Great name. Entered the gate at 9-2 odds to win it all. If you like cheering for a dark horse, maybe Cutting Humor is for you with 21-1 odds. The jockey, the legendary, Mike Smith, who won the Triple Crown last year, switched to Cutting Humor earlier this week when the previous favorite, Omaha Beach, had to have a surgery.

Ana, every year, we do the Derby name generator. If you're a Derby horse, what would your name be? Mine? Vanilla Goat. No bad, but, Ana, I could never bet against you, not with a name like Lit Derby Hat. A hat tip to the "Louisville Courier Journal" for this. Post time today, 6:50 eastern.

What would your Derby name be? We'll post the link. Let us know. She's @anacabrera. I'm @corywire.

To you, Ana, and everyone out there, Happy Derby Day.

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CABRERA: Happy Derby Day, Coy Wire.

Burger King wanted to know if it's OK to be grumpy.

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(SINGING)

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CABRERA: The fast-food chain is rolling out a new line of real meals to reflect real moods. A nod to McDonald's Happy Meal. These meals come in boxes that say, "Feeling your way is just as important as ordering your way." But there's more to it. The fast-food chain is trying to raise awareness about mental health, combatting social media pressure to be happy all the time.

[15:54:33] Coming up, the streak continues. Champion James Holzhauer making "Jeopardy" must-see TV. There's a lot of talk about how his Vegas-style strategy is changing the game. Could he break the record for highest-earning contestant? We'll talk to the current recordholder about it.

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CABRERA: In his new show, "THE REDEMPTION PROJECT," Van Jones is bringing people together, offenders and their victims, for an opportunity to talk, heal, and maybe even forgive. This week, Van introduces us to a family whose teenage daughter's life was destroyed by a drunk driver and shows us what happened as they prepared to sit down with the woman behind the wheel on that fateful day. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & CNN HOST, "THE VAN JONES SHOW": You're somebody who's actually got a 30-year history in this and doing some extraordinary stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Virtually all of my training has come from working with victims, working, and coming to kno perpetrators and their families.

JONES: How do you feel about this particular gathering? It's a whole family. How do you think about something like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will be honest, I've never done a circle with someone who's had a traumatic brain injury.

JONES: How does it impact, the whole impact on the president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It shows, in ways that words can't, just how profoundly her life has changed. But we had to make the conscious decision to ask that we do part of the circle without their daughter being present. Each of them will turn their entire attention to Ashley (ph) when Ashley (ph) is in the room.

JONES: In some ways, you have a young woman who wasn't doing anything wrong, her life gets sacrificed, and the woman who was doing things wrong ended up with a life much better than it might have been. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem just.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what the answer to, what is fair, is. But I know this, the reality is the crash happened and now it's time to talk about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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