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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Dozens Injured During a Liverpool Football Club Parade; Trump Calls Putin Crazy, Also Criticizes Zelenskyy; Speaker Johnson Warns Senate Against Making Changes to Trump's Bill; Federal Workers Struggle with Lost Benefits. Aired 5-6:00p ET
Aired May 26, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
MANU RAJU, CNN HOST & CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks to my panel and thank you for joining us. "The Lead" starts right now.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST & CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper, and we begin with breaking news in our "World Lead." Scenes of chaos and destruction in Liverpool, England. U.K. police say a man has been arrested after driving a car through a crowd full of people. This happened during the Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade.
And in minutes, we expect to get an update from officials on the ground in Liverpool. We're going to bring that to you live. We start things off with CNN's Anna Stewart. Anna, what are we learning about this incident?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: This incident took place around four hours ago. It was just after 6:00 p.m. here in the U.K. And as you say, there was a victory parade to celebrate Liverpool football club winning a Premier League title. There were thousands, hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets, and somehow a car was in the midst of it, and this car rammed into crowds of people.
Merseyside Police have released a statement. They say a 53-year-old white male has been arrested. He is from the Liverpool area. It's interesting we're actually getting this sort of description. It's not necessarily particularly normal to give that level of description. We believe perhaps this is to combat any speculation that this could be terror related, and the police are saying that they're asking people actually not to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
It's unclear what the motive was or, of course, whether this was an accident. Inquiries are ongoing. They're asking people not to circulate disturbing video that we are seeing on social media. Plenty of images and videos of the car ramming into all of these people. And at this stage, we don't know how many injuries there have been or the gravity of those injuries. All that information likely to come, of course, in a press conference that we're going to get from the police in about half an hour.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has posted on X about this incident. He says the scenes in Liverpool are appalling and his thoughts are with all those injured and affected. He wants to thank the police and emergency services for their swift and ongoing response to this shocking incident. He's being kept updated on developments, and he asks that we give the police the space they need to investigate what has happened. So that is all the latest we know, but we should get a lot more information in the next half hour.
MATTINGLY: Anna, you know, this is kind of the peak capstone moment of what had been a week's long celebration since Liverpool clinched the Premier League title. You mentioned, I think, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people. What are witnesses saying about what they saw?
STEWART: So we're seeing a number of reports, and, of course, we're seeing videos as well on social media. One witness speaking to U.K. media agency, PA, Harry Rashid, he said a great people carrier just sort of pulled up out of nowhere. It rammed into people on the side of him. He said it was very fast. He said that they heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.
All the witness reports really have been quite horrific, really quite graphic, as are the videos. And, of course, you can see crowds of people surround the car very quickly after the incident trying to smash through the windows by the looks of it. So a lot happened. Emergency services quick on the ground, and now that is what you see on the ground. Police, ambulance, fire trucks, a huge response, and, of course, the prime minister being updated with all of the developments.
MATTINGLY: And we'll certainly have more developments as we get them. Obviously, that press conference expected, within this hour. Anna Stewart, thanks so much for the reporting.
Turning now to another major story we're following in our "World Lead." President Trump heavily criticizing Vladimir Putin, potentially signaling a drastic turn in Trump's rather friendly relationship with the Russian leader. Trump saying Putin has, quote, "gone absolutely crazy" after Russia launched several deadly overnight drones strikes against Ukraine over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him, but he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. We're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: The president adding more criticism of Putin on social media then turning his anger against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing, quote, "everything out of his mouth causes problems. I don't like it, and its better stop." This as Ukraine says at least 29 people were killed and dozens more were injured, what they say is Russia's largest aerial bombardment since the war began.
Trump says he's absolutely considering more sanctions against Russia, but will his complaints about Putin actually result in any real punishment?
[17:04:59]
Let's go straight to CNN's Kylie Atwood. Kylie, we have been kind of on this roller coaster for the last four and a half, five months trying to read between the lines about what President Trump means when he says anything about president Putin. Behind the scenes here, what do these comments signify?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we really don't know the answer to that question yet, Phil. And the reason for that is a few folds. First of all, this occurred over the weekend. Today's Memorial Day. There haven't been, as far as we know, any high level interagency conversations, regarding Russia's historic aggressions against Ukraine over the weekend following President Trump's remarks. So what we don't know is if his rhetoric, his tone against President Putin is going to translate into any action here.
And as you said, he did keep the door open saying that he would absolutely consider new sanctions against Russia. That is significant. The space to watch there is conversations between the White House and the Senate. There is bipartisan legislation in the Senate on the Republican side led by Senator Lindsey Graham with Senate Majority Leader John Thune saying just late last week that Senate is able and willing to move on that if the White House starts working with them if Russia doesn't come to the table and actually engage in negotiations. So that is an area for us to watch.
MATTINGLY: Kylie, one of the striking things about all this, this isn't happening in kind of a static moment, right? There is Ukraine involved here. There are European allies involved here as well. What does this do for the dynamic of those relationships?
ATWOOD: Well, when it comes to Europeans, they have been increasingly concerned about any deal to drive an end to the Ukraine war actually being better for the Russians than for the Ukrainians. So now that they are seeing some of this increased frustrated rhetoric from Trump towards President Putin, there's some hopefulness in the air. You have President Macron saying that he hopes that anger translates into action from The United States.
We also have German Chancellor Mertz saying that Trump is obviously increasingly disillusioned with Putin, and he hopes that that means that America is going to stay on board for Ukraine. So they are hopeful today. We'll have to watch and see how that plays out, of course, as there are questions about what that anger translates into.
MATTINGLY: Kylie Atwood with the latest. Thanks so much. I want to bring in now former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner. Beth, we're talking this before the show came up. Kind of trying to track what this all may mean in terms of action. It was so striking, I think it was last week, two weeks ago, when European, U.K. officials went forward with sanctions without the U.S. along with them. Is that dynamic about to change here? Is the U.S. about to come back in?
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, talk is cheap, and we've been waiting for action. We've seen Marco Rubio warn that something is going to happen. It's days, not weeks, but yet it is weeks and weeks. And now, you know, stronger rhetoric. And that is important, but it's not important unless Trump actually delivers on pressure, right? So, you know, we needed to get Russia to the negotiating table. That is kudos on the Trump administration for getting that. But the other part of this is you've got to pressure the party that is the problem.
And with 900 drones and 90 missiles approximately going into Ukraine and killing multiples, dozens of civilians over the last three days, it's time to actually do something and not just talk about it. And I think Trump clearly -- Putin clearly -- oh, look at that Freudian slip. Sorry. Putin clearly, does not believe Trump is going to fall through.
MATTINGLY: You know, it is -- I actually want to put aside the idea the kind of natural but snarky response of, like, oh, you just realized that maybe he's not in the up and up when it comes to Trump and the Putin relationship.
SANNER: Yeah.
MATTINGLY: And then kind of focus on, alright, well, if he has realized that --
SANNER: It's good.
MATTINGLY: -- what changes here?
SANNER: Yeah.
MATTINGLY: And if it's hard to figure out what changes is, you don't necessarily know what the baseline ever was --
SANNER: Right.
MATTINGLY: -- over the course of the last four months.
SANNER: Right. Well, what changes here is absolutely as Kylie pointed out, this bill in the Senate, and it's not perfect because it's a -- the way that the sanctions work is a little overplayed, but nonetheless, it's an actual thing. They're waiting for the White House to say yes.
MATTINGLY: Eighty-one co-sponsors is the last time I checked.
SANNER: Right.
MATTINGLY: Right.
SANNER: Which means they could do it anytime they wanted, Phil, but they choose not to because Trump doesn't want them to. All he has to do is put the green light on, and then we would see action. That is absolutely what Putin needs to see. What was the Kremlin response to Trump's rhetoric about crazy Putin? The spokesman for President Putin, who absolutely tracks exactly what President Putin wants him to say, called Trump emotional.
MATTINGLY: Right.
SANNER: I don't think that the Kremlin has been to couples therapy. That is not exactly how that works well.
MATTINGLY: It wouldn't be a Trump post about this situation if he didn't also take a shot at Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the same exact time.
SANNER: Yeah.
[17:10:00]
MATTINGLY: Look, I understand his frustration. There was frustration in the last administration with the Zelenskyy team over the course of this process.
ANNER: Right.
MATTINGLY: But what does that do when he does that publicly?
SANNER: So it's so different than the Trump administration. So you have the layers of frustration over you know, we're just not on the same page. But, on some things, like the amount of aggression, fear of the nuclear war threshold, those kinds of things. But for Trump, this is so personal. It dates back to the indictment, and the impeachment trial, which is traced back in Trump's mind directly to that call he made, the perfect call to President Zelenskyy.
He will never forgive President Zelenskyy for that and for not playing ball with him. And so this, you can never separate out. And so if we're expecting President Trump to all of a sudden change his viewpoint and only blame the aggressor here, I'm afraid we're going to be continuously disappointed because we revert always back close to the mean.
MATTINGLY: Yeah. No. It's a really good point. I do want to ask you before I let you go. Our colleague, Fred Pleitgen, got an exclusive interview with a spokesman in Iran who said this. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESMAIL BAGHAEI, SPOKESPERSON, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: If the intention is to make sure that Iran's nuclear program would not be weaponized, I think that's something that we could simply do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: For context, because that was a quick pivot, there is also a very, very high stakes set of negotiations --
SANNER: Right.
MATTINGLY: -- going on with Iran and their nuclear program. What do you make of those particular comments?
SANNER: So important that Iran is saying the right things. They are trying to keep Trump on sides by saying, look, we can do a deal here. We can figure out a way forward. But, nonetheless, they have set a very clear red line, and they are not giving up their ability to enrich uranium, which can be used for civilian purposes, but also could be used for weaponization, right?
And so they're setting that very hard red line, and apparently, during the negotiations, they rejected a freeze on that kind of enrichment. And they said, no, we're not going to do that. And the reason they're not going to do that is because President Trump has no negotiations right now that are going well. They know that Trump wants this deal, so they're going to stick to their red lines. Now it's up to Trump to decide, is he going to compromise on this in order to get the deal? And he's got a lot of hawks [ph] and he's got Iran or Israel breathing down his neck on that.
MATTINGLY: Yeah. This is the difficulty when you have so many balls in the air as they do right now on the foreign policy geopolitical front. Beth Sanner, we covered the waterfront. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
SANNER: Thank you, Phil.
MATTINGLY: Well, the stern warning from House Speaker Mike Johnson if the Senate moves to take up President Trump's budget bill. But is anyone in the other chamber listening? We're learning -- we're also learning stunning new details after a crypto investor was arrested and charged with kidnapping a man in New York City, keeping him locked up for weeks. What the victim is revealing about his alleged captor after managing to escape. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:00]
MATTINGLY: We are standing by for a news conference from U.K. Officials on that disturbing scene today in Liverpool. U.K. police say a man has been arrested after driving a car through a crowd of people. This happened during Liverpool Football Club's Premier League's victory permit -- parade. As I said earlier, this has been kind of a week's long push towards this final capstone celebration. Hundreds of thousands of people were on the streets to celebrate the teams, which is really a global icon, 20th Premier League championship, most all time. It was a peak celebration moment, a moment that was horrifically interrupted.
We have seen the videos. We have heard from witnesses. We are still awaiting more information about what exactly happened here. We will bring that information to you as soon as we know it. As of now, still waiting for that press conference. In the meantime, moving to our "Politics Lead," it's a holiday week.
So members of Congress are sending long distance signals to one another through TV interviews and talk shows. Prime example, House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union," warning Senate Republicans to make as few changes as possible in the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill, that tax and spending package that just squeaked through the House by a single vote last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON, HOUSE SPEAKER: I encourage them, you know, to do their work, of course, as we all anticipate, but to make as few modifications to this package as possible because remembering that we've got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Lawmakers may be back in the district on vacation. CNN's Manu Raju is not. He is in the bureau, which is a nice -- a nice change, keeping track of all of this right now.
RAJU: Yeah.
MATTINGLY: Let's -- we've done this for a long time. Where are we going here?
RAJU: I mean, look. This is going to be a very complicated dance in the United States Senate. And there's this belief among the Republicans that they have to pass something. They have to pass this because their entire agenda really relies on this. The question is, what is this? Because there are so many different opinions within the Senate GOP about what this bill should look like. You have conservatives who are concerned that the bill that came out of the House simply is too weak when it comes to spending cuts.
They believe that there should be a significant amount more of cuts. Remember, this would add roughly $3.8 trillion to deficits over the next several years according to the Congressional Budget Office, so they want to go deeper. But if you go too deep, then you lose some of the more moderate members like Senator Lisa Murkowski, who told me last week that the Medicaid work requirements that are part of this bill are too aggressive to be implemented. It can't be implemented, and so she wants changes. So if you go to the middle, you lose the conservatives.
And here's the other issue, the math. Ron Johnson, who was on our air yesterday, told Jake Tapper that he believes that there are enough conservatives who'd bought this bill if more cuts are not added.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[17:20:00]
SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Well, the first goal of our budget reconciliation process should be to reduce the deficit. This actually increases it.
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I think the cuts currently in the bill are wimpy and anemic, but I still would support the bill even with wimpy and anemic cuts if they weren't going to explode the debt. The problem is the math doesn't add up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And here's the other issue is that Rand Paul, he's told me before, he wants the debt limit increased out of this bill. But the debt limit increase is almost essential because we're looking at a first ever potential debt default in the United States by August if Congress does not act. So all these different complicating factors, different factions will be essential for Trump, John Thune, the Majority Leader, to resolve because they can only lose three Republican votes in the United States Senate to get this through, and there are far more than three Republican senators who are either downright opposed or want serious changes.
MATTINGLY: I should note, I did not mean to attack district work period or state work period, which lawmakers are currently on, mostly because staff right now is at work, I presume.
RAJU: Yeah.
MATTINGLY: And will be there all week. They may not be wearing ties all week in the capital, but they're going to try and figure out how to thread the needle here a little bit. What is your sense of what's happening behind the scenes?
RAJU: Yeah, there is a lot of negotiation trying to figure out how exactly to get this ship sailing. But the problem is that no matter how much staff work happens behind the scenes, which is there's ample amount right now, there are still those big disagreements that can only be resolved when these members come back to Washington. So next week is going to be so critical for them to try to get down, hash this out, get this through the Senate.
The administration wants this on Trump's desk by July 4th. That is going to be such an ambitious time frame to get this all done because in the Senate, you have so many issues. You have the long voting process that happens in a bill like this and also the strict budget rules in the Senate because they're using a process to avoid a democratic filibuster, meaning they can pass along straight party lines. They have to adhere to very strict budget rules.
And the Senate parliamentarian says the permanent tax cuts they're seeking to make here don't meet the budget rules, then they got to rewrite the entire tax portion of this bill, which is why there's so many questions about how this ultimately will play out.
MATTINGLY: Through the Senate, back to the House to the president's desk in a month? Ron Johnson is going to take that long to get on board.
RAJU: Yes. Exactly. MATTINGLY: A shot at Wisconsin. Manu Raju, always a pleasure, buddy. Thank you very much. We'll continue on with our "Politics Lead" and the devastating effects rippling across the country in the wake of the federal workforce cuts by President Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. People suddenly and unexpectedly losing jobs and health insurance, but still having to deal with family needs and emergencies.
We're joined now by Virginia Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat whose district encompasses the suburbs and excerpts just west of Washington, D.C. Congressman, I really appreciate your time. I want to ask you about something you posted on X, pictures that you -- from a meeting you had on the U.S. Capitol steps with federal workers that the president and his administration fired. Their stories, what did they tell you?
REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): You know, many of them were -- actually came here as probationary workers, and then they were fired. And then DOGE realized that they were actually very important, so they tried to rehire them. And it's just been chaotic for them. And then there's others who, you know, have 20 years of experience who've done really, really critical work, who have either been fired or been bullied out of their jobs essentially.
And then there's the ones who have stayed, who aren't fired, who even DOGE recognizes are essential, but they get bullied every day by DOGE. And they they're being told that they don't matter, that they don't care about them. And so we're in a situation where we're discouraging people in the federal workforce. It's going to lead to a brain drain in our federal government.
A lot of these probationary employees, for instance, where people that we desperately try to recruit. They're technologists. They have specialized skills. And it's going to hurt every single American in the long term if we continue to treat federal workers like this.
MATTINGLY: You know, something that's been interesting when I'm asked about this from -- by people from outside of D.C., friends of mine, no connection to this whatsoever. There has been a kind of slow evolving recognition that this isn't just a Washington thing. This isn't just your district in the suburbs and exurbs of Washington in the DMV area. You're seeing this be really felt across the nation, that an IRS agent in Atlanta told CNN that even though she was reinstated after being laid off, her health insurance hadn't kicked back in when her son had an asthma attack resulting in a multi-thousand dollar hospital bill.
One of the questions I have, you mentioned kind of the back and forth chaos that we've seen because of court cases, because some people being brought back after they've been fired. Is there anything lawmakers can do right now?
SUBRAMANYAM: You know, right now, what we're trying to do is take the stories that people bring to us about the, you know, the DMV, but also all across the country. And we share them, we make them famous, and we put pressure on this administration to try to reverse course. And it's been very successful, actually. There's been a lot of instances where, you know, people, you know, blew the whistle to us, and then we went to the public. We went to the media.
[17:24:59]
We started posting on X and other places, and people either got their jobs backs or there was changes or DOGE admitted there was a mistake. And so I always tell people, especially in the federal workforce or contractors, speak out. This is not a time to be afraid. This is a time to make your voice heard and let us know at least what's going on so we can help.
MATTINGLY: You know, to that point and I think it's a strategy that throughout the course of at least my 15, 16 years in D.C. has been an effective one for a minority party. It's also one that I think you hear some of your party say, it's not enough. You got to be doing more. There's got to be more. I think there was -- I was reading in local newspaper, Rappahannock News. Someone at one of your town halls recently said, you guys don't seem to get it. You're in a knife fight. You're not in a stately diplomatic process anymore. What do you say to folks who raise that to you?
SUBRAMANYAM: I say I agree with that. I think we should be using every tool at our disposal and then thinking outside the box. And so, you know, you're starting to see protests on the steps of the capital. You're starting to see, you know, us trying to do things. I do everything from TikTok videos to speaking out every day on the House floor, using every tool possible. So they're right, and that frustration is real.
And I think we have to do everything possible right now, but it's a real frustration. But I will say also we should recognize when we're being successful and use that -- those tactics that work best, not the tactics that feel best.
MATTINGLY: Do you think those tactics could potentially sink the beautiful bill as the president calls it, I believe it's actually the official legislative title, on the House bill as its kind of is in the midst of this process right now?
SUBRAMANYAM: I think we have to try. I mean, what we did this past week, we pulled two all-nighters. We ended up having a vote at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, and two Republicans supposedly slept through the bill because they were so tired. I mean, just doing little things like that, add up. We had 500 plus amendments.
And I know viewers may not understand how that impacts it, but I think every little bit adds up, and we certainly have to tell the story of what's happening in Washington, D.C. and how it's affecting people, not just federal workers, but all across the country, like Medicaid recipients, how this is going to hurt every single American. And right now, we need to do a better job of that. But I think this past week, we did everything we could, and we have to continue to do that. And, certainly, the Senate has to do that now.
MATTINGLY: Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, appreciate your time, sir. Thanks so much.
SUBRAMANYAM: Thank you.
MATTINGLY: Well, also in our "Politics Lead," former New York democratic congressman Charles Rangel died today, a few weeks short of his 95th birthday. He was certainly one of a kind, stylishly dressed, raspy voice, smiling. Rangel served 23 terms from his election in 1970 to his retirement in 2017, representing a district that took in New York's -- New York City's Harlem neighborhood.
Now, over the years, he co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus, became the first black chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He also got in trouble more than once and was censured by his colleagues for violating house rules. Today, though, his fellow Democrats are pointing to his many accomplishments. House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, described Rangel as a patriot, hero, statesman, leader, trailblazer, change agent, and champion for justice.
Well, any moment we expect to get an update from officials in Liverpool, England after a man was arrested for driving through a parade crowd. We're going to bring that to you live.
Plus, we expect to get an update on the measles outbreak in the Southern U.S. at some point tomorrow. What are officials seeing on the ground? Is the outbreak slowing? I'll ask one of them next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:29:59]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: We are standing by for a news conference from U.K. officials on that awful scene today in Liverpool. U.K. police say a man has been arrested after driving a car through a crowd full of people. This happened during Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade. We'll bring you that update live as soon as it begins.
For now, in our Health Lead, at least 1,077 measles cases have been reported in the U.S. this year, according to a CNN tally of state health department data. Nearly 900 of those cases stemmed from an outbreak in West Texas. Still, some experts are saying those numbers could be underreported.
Joining me now, Katherine Wells, the director of public health for the city of Lubbock, Texas. Really appreciate your time. Catherine, how many active measles cases are you currently monitoring in your area right now?
KATHERINE WELLS, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, CITY OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS: We don't have a lot of active measles cases. We've seen over 700 in our area and probably have a handful or so under current investigation.
MATTINGLY: Why do you think many of these cases go underreported or unreported? WELLS: You know, I think there's nothing that requires you to get tested for measles. So in, you know, families that have been exposed know what's going on. And if the children don't need, you know, medical care from a physician, then there's really no reason to test. This is also a very insular community where this outbreak started, and they tend not to seek as much health care as kind of regular or traditional Americans.
MATTINGLY: The vast majority of these cases were in unvaccinated individuals. The CDC, of course, recommends two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is the best defense against measles. Have you seen an increase in vaccinations at all the past few months?
WELLS: Yes, we've seen a huge spike of MMR vaccines in our community. We usually give about 1,500 vaccines kind of between February and April. This last time we've seen an additional 2,500 vaccines given beyond that normal amount.
[17:35:09]
MATTINGLY: What is your message to parents who are still that's clearly an uptick, but those who are still unsure about the vaccination?
WELLS: I mean, as public health, we're going to be talking about, you know, the importance of getting vaccines. The reason we haven't had an outbreak of measles in this part of the country in over 20 years is because of high vaccination rates. We're going to be talking to those parents one on one, encouraging that vaccination, answering any of their questions and really, you know, trying to get them to either get that vaccination early or at least get -- getting their kids caught up.
MATTINGLY: As we head into the summer months, obviously kids, everyone's kids, mine included, trying to figure that part out right now are about to be out of school. What advice do you have for parents to keep their kids safe, healthy overall in the summer months?
WELLS: I mean, the summertime is a great time to come go get those vaccines because you don't have to pull children out of school. You know, vaccines are important anytime we're in group settings, whether or not that's school or now we're looking at kids being in summer camp. So really, those same vaccine recommendations apply during the summertime, just as they do at school. And it's important to, you know, stay up to date as much as you can.
MATTINGLY: Katherine Wells, always appreciate your time and your perspective. Thanks so much.
WELLS: Thank you so much. Bye-bye.
MATTINGLY: Well, imagine climbing Mount Everest to get a weather report. Next, we'll meet a team who did just that and learn exactly what they were hoping to accomplish here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:41:12]
MATTINGLY: At any moment, we're expecting a news conference from U.K. officials on that awful scene today during Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade. U.K. police say a man has been arrested after driving a car through the crowd. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as it begins.
In our world, a new quest for climate change data takes a team of scientists to the top of the world. Dr. Baker Perry and his team are building weather stations in extreme locations all over the world, including on Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest. CNN's Derek Van Dam caught up with Dr. Perry to learn more about his mission to study how climate change impacts glaciers and water resources that affect nearly a quarter of the world's population.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. BAKER PERRY, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER: I'm back on Everest for my fourth expedition.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): It's an ambitious scientific project that has taken this team of researchers to the most extreme environments on Earth.
PERRY: We set up a network of weather stations from 12,500 feet all the way up to 27,000 feet.
Hi, everyone.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Tasked with a single objective, to study the impacts of a rapidly changing environment from the world's highest locations.
VAN DAM: Explain to me just the ultimate goal of what you are trying to achieve up there.
PERRY: Our weather station network is -- is really well poised to monitor and provide valuable data to make better projections of how the glaciers will respond to climate change.
VAN DAM (voice-over): I spoke with National Geographic explorer and Nevada State climatologist, Dr. Baker Perry, during his most recent expedition back to Mount Everest.
PERRY: We know more about the weather on Mars than we do on the highest peaks of the Himalaya here on our planet.
It's critical to have a station here on the glacier.
VAN DAM (voice-over): It's a mission that began in 2019, documented by the National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition.
PERRY: This is critical in the context of climate change and water resources and the fact that we've got hundreds of millions of people that live downstream from these water towers that -- that sustain the communities.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Vital too for other environmentally stressed regions across the globe, including Argentina, where in February, Dr. Perry led researchers on a similar mission in the Andes to Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas.
The WIWA project, an international collaboration between the U.S., Argentina, and multiple research institutions, installed weather stations along the mountain glaciers to monitor conditions and added a crucial link in collecting meteorological information around the world.
PERRY: The weather station network is critical for improving our understanding of climate change.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DAM: Phil, it was absolutely incredible to speak to Dr. Perry and his team as they were on top of Everest doing one of their installations and maintaining of the many weather observation networks that they have installed.
I mean, look at this footage. We actually have real-time data that's being, near real-time data that's being -- near real-time data that's being transmitted from their latest expedition to Argentina. All these blue dots are actual weather observation stations that they installed, and it's getting that data.
And we can't show you what's happening on the top of Everest because winds in January of 2020 gusted to near 150 miles per hour and the temperature dropped to negative 40 Fahrenheit, enough to destroy the sensors. Phil, it's amazing how little we know about the weather and climate at the roof of the world.
MATTINGLY: Amazing indeed. Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.
[17:45:00]
Well, it's the video taking social media by storm. Hear how the French president is reacting today after this video appears to show his wife shoving his face away as they landed in Asia for an official tour.
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MATTINGLY: We are still standing by for an update from U.K. officials. A man was arrested after driving a car through a crowd at Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade. We're going to bring that to you live.
Well, in our Law and Justice Lead, a cryptocurrency investor has been arrested and charged with kidnapping a man and torturing him for weeks in a Manhattan apartment. All so he could take the man's Bitcoin. CNN's Gloria Pazmino is here with more. Gloria, you have new information about a second person involved.
[17:50:09] GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Phil, the details are honestly just quite bizarre and disturbing and we're actually getting some brand new information in the last hour. A police source confirms to me that there is a second person who is expected to surrender to police this week. The person is a man and he is wanted in connection with this incident.
They want to speak to him. It's not yet clear whether or not this person will be charged, but this is in addition to another person, a woman who was initially detained after the incident, but prosecutors decided not to charge her pending the ongoing investigation.
Now, Phil, let me tell you what happened here. This all started last Friday. That's when John Woeltz, originally from Kentucky, 37 years old, a cryptocurrency investor, was taken into custody by police officers here in New York City after a victim that claims he was being held inside an apartment against his will for the past several days managed to -- to escape.
Now, here's what we know. The victim arrived in New York City early in May, May 6th, and he was lured, according to prosecutors, to this Manhattan apartment, a luxury apartment in Lower Manhattan in the SoHo area. He was kept inside that apartment against his will, and prosecutors say that John Woeltz proceeded to essentially torture him, demanding that he give up his Bitcoin password.
Now, over several days, the victim said that he was at one point shocked while his feet were in water, he was tied up with wire, he was dangled over a railing for not giving up his password, and they told him that if he did not give up this password, his family would be killed.
Now, last Friday, he believed that he was going to be shot and killed, so he actually gave up the password, which then made John Woeltz, according to prosecutors, go into another room of the apartment to retrieve a laptop. That gave the victim a small window of time in which he managed to run out of the apartment and flag down a traffic officer who was able to get him some help. John Woeltz was arrested shortly after that.
He's been charged with kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment, criminal possession of a firearm. Now, one thing we do not know yet, Phil, is what the relationship between these two men were. Were they business partners? Did they know each other?
MATTINGLY: Officials -- the breaking news, officials in Liverpool are now giving an update on the parade crash. Let's listen in.
JENNY SIMS, ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE, MERSEYSIDE POLICE: -- and all of those affected by the terrible tragedy that has taken place today. I want to thank all of the emergency services, partner agencies and members of the public who came to the assistance of the injured following this evening's shocking incidents, which we declared a major incident.
This had been a joyous day in Liverpool, with hundreds of thousands of people lining the streets to celebrate Liverpool Football Club's victory parade. Sadly, at 6 o'clock this evening, as the parade was drawing to a close, we received reports that a car had been in a collision with a number of pedestrians on Water Street in Liverpool City Centre. A number of people have been injured and were taken to hospital.
In addition, a large number of people of all ages were treated at the scene but did not require hospital treatment. Specialist officers have been put in place to support the injured and their families. Our emergency service colleagues from the North West Ambulance Service and Mersey Fire and Rescue Service also attended the scene and will be able to provide further updates.
The car stopped at the scene and a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area was arrested. We believe him to be the driver of the vehicle. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances leading up to the collision, and it is vital that people do not speculate or spread misinformation on social media.
I know that people will understandably be concerned by what has happened tonight. What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it. The incident is not being treated as terrorism. We would ask that people refrain from sharing distressing footage from the incident online, and please share any information directly with our investigation team.
[17:55:01]
Information, including video footage, can be passed on via the Merseyside Major Incident Police Portable. Detail can be found on the Merseyside Police website. In the lead-up to this event, we have been working closely with event organizers and a robust traffic management plan was put in place for the parade, which included a number of road closures throughout the route and the City Centre. We will provide further updates as soon as we have them.
I'll now hand over to my colleague, Dave Kitchin, from the North West Ambulance Service.
DAVID KITCHIN, HEAD OF SERVICE, NORTH WEST AMBULANCE SERVICE: Thank you. Good evening, I'm Dave Kitchin, Head of Service for the Cheshire Merseyside area of NWAS. All of us at North West Ambulance Service are horrified and saddened that a day of celebration for the people of Liverpool could end in such terrible circumstances. Our thoughts are with everyone who witnessed the incident and those who have been injured.
As large crowds were expected in the City Centre today to celebrate Liverpool Football Club's victory, we thankfully had a substantial presence already in place close to the route, as we would do for any event of this type.
Our ambulances, hazardous area response team, merit doctors, North West Air Ambulance colleagues and senior clinicians were very quickly on scene to offer aid and treatment. St. John Ambulance also had clinical teams present to support us throughout the day and were quick to respond and our thanks go to them for their assistance. Our emergency ambulances took patients to our NHS colleagues at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Alder Hey, Arrow Park and Aintree Hospitals.
Sadly, four of the injured were children who were enjoying the day with their friends and their families. We can confirm that our teams treated 20 patients at the scene for minor injuries and these did not need hospital treatment, 27 patients in total were taken to hospital by ambulance and we believe two of those, including one of the children, have sustained serious injuries.
Our cyclist paramedic, who was on scene, was also unfortunately struck by the vehicle but I'm pleased to report that no injuries were sustained. We also know that some patients have self-presented at local hospitals following the incident. We're working closely with our partners at Merseyside Police and share their appeal for calm.
This is indeed an appalling incident and we understand that people will be deeply upset. The people of Liverpool have shown many times before that you're a strong community and you support one another. All of us at North West Ambulance Service share with you the frustration that this wonderful day has ended like this and we hope that those who have been injured make a speedy recovery.
We'd also like to extend our thanks to Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Merseyside Police, both of whom assisted in the tendering to the injured in a very rapid sequence, as did many of the supporters in the City Centre. As well as our NHS colleagues who will continue the treatment, everybody has played their part today.
At this point I'd just like to pass over to Nick Searle, the Chief Fire Officer. Thank you.
NICK SEARLE, CHIEF FIRE OFFICER, MERSEYSIDE FIRE AND RESCUE: Good evening. Firstly, our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by the incident this evening. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service were informed at 18.07 hours we immediately mobilized three fire engines to Water Street and were in attendance in four minutes.
On arrival, the crews were met with numerous injured people and four persons trapped under a vehicle. Our crews rapidly lifted the vehicle, removed three adults and one child from beneath and passed them to our ambulance service colleagues. We then worked with emergency service partners to ensure casualties receive medical treatment and transport to hospital as quickly as possible. My five crews will maintain a visible and reassuring presence in the coming days and weeks.
I'll hand you over to Liam Robinson from Liverpool City Council.
LIAM ROBINSON, LIVER CITY COUNCIL: Thank you. I'd like to start by saying on behalf of everyone here in Liverpool, how much our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this appalling incident in the City Centre today. It's cast a very dark shadow over what had been a joyous day for the city and the finale to a fabulous bank holiday weekend. I'd particularly like to pay tribute to the emergency services who responded to help those who were hurt and to our NHS staff treating them in hospital. We are working very closely with Merseyside Police to support their investigation and with other relevant organizations to make sure those affected get the appropriate support.
[18:00:04]
I would appeal for people, please do not share the horrifying footage of the -- of the incident on social media. Please, if you have any information, forward it to Merseyside Police to help them with their investigation. We won't be commenting any further but we will provide relevant updates as and when we know more and it's appropriate to do so. Once again our hearts go out to all of those affected.
Liverpool is a city that has a proud history of coming together and supporting each other during challenging times. I have no doubt that will again be the case over the coming days and weeks. Thank you.
