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Krystal Steen is Interviewed about the Rush Weather While Onboard a Cruise Ship; U.S. Markets Remain Resilient; Peru Denies Van Der Sloot's Claims; Heat Crush the Celtics. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 30, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:33:44]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Russia's defense ministry is blaming Ukraine for an alleged drone attack on Moscow. Ukraine says it had no involvement in the incident. The alleged attack left at least two people injured, that's according to Russia, and also several buildings with minor damage.

It comes as Russia launched an attack at the Ukrainian capital overnight. Another attack. One woman was killed and more than a dozen others were injured. Russia has engaged in relentless attacks day and night against Kyiv for the last several days.

We're also watching Iowa right now where a new survivor has been rescued from a partially collapsed building in davenport. That brings the number of people pulled from this rubble to nine. City officials are now preparing to demolish the remaining structure. No deaths have been reported. But it is unclear still if any other people remain unaccounted for. The cause for the collapse has yet to be determined.

Rahel.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: A tropical vacation ended with a scare at sea for passengers on board a cruise ship. Passengers on board the Carnival Sunshine were tossed and turned by a powerful storm as they headed back to port. The storm sent water pouring into hallways and damaged rooms throughout the ship. It all happened as the ship was returning to Charleston, South Carolina, from the Bahamas.

Joining us now is Krystal Steen. She's a passenger who was onboard the Sunshine.

[09:35:01]

Krystal, good morning Thanks for being with us today.

KRYSTAL STEEN, PASSENGER ON CARNIVAL SUNSHINE CRUISE HIT BY SEVERE WEATHER: Good morning. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

SOLOMON: So, you were on board with your husband, as I understand it, and your three children. You say you heard an announcement that rougher seas were ahead. At what point did you realize something was seriously wrong here?

STEEN: I would say about three to four hours after the first announcement was made I realized that it was a lot rougher than what was - what I anticipated, I think anybody else anticipated. And then that is what triggered me to get my children and to basically go back to our cabin, which it just intensified terribly after that point.

SOLOMON: And you showed us, you sent us video of water coming into your cabin. How -- walk me through how you're feeling as you see this water - you're with your children -- how are you feeling as all of this is unfolding?

STEEN: Well, actually that -- the image that was sent over was a cabin that was right next to us on our deck. And the water started trickling in all the way towards the center of the ship. And those two individuals were actually with us because they were displaced and they had nowhere to go until I don't even know at what point that they were able to find somewhere else for them to stay safely. But it was terrifying to say the least.

SOLOMON: Yes. And just so you know, we're showing some of that video on screen.

I want to read for you what the company said. Carnival Sunshine's return to Charleston was impacted by the weather and rough seas on Saturday. The weather's prolonged impact on the Charleston area delayed the ship's arrival on Sunday and as a result the next voyage's embarkation was also delayed. We appreciate the patience and understanding of all of our guests. Carnival Sunshine is now sailing on its next cruise.

Have you heard from the company at all?

STEEN: I have not personally heard from the company. And I can also vouch that none of our emergency contacts were contacted at any point during this storm or about the delay that we were - that we were having to go through. And there has been absolutely no communication with anybody on board when we were there, any -- anything about it. It was like it didn't even happen.

SOLOMON: I know you said you're grateful to be here, you're grateful to be here. What do you think the company should have done differently? What do you wish they would are done differently?

STEEN: I think the biggest thing that I wish that they would have done differently is have communication. I think that, in any relationship, I think communication is the most effective thing. And I understand that, you know, we're in the middle of the ocean, it's mother nature, but the chaos that started ensuing because, you know, we could see the stress on the faces of the people that worked there. And that stressed us out. And not having any type of, hey, we're going through this, just like if you're on an airplane and you hit turbulent weather and you hear from a pilot, I mean there was nothing. It was like we were literally just left in the dark.

And I think that also not allowing the next sailing to go out. I mean we were literally coming off the boat and passengers were coming on. And I knew what we had just experienced. And I actually feared for the next amount of people that were going to be on the cruise.

SOLOMON: Krystal Steen, thank you. We appreciate you being with us. I'm glad everyone's OK.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Rahel.

The U.S. markets opened just a few minutes ago. This is the first trading since word of a debt ceiling deal between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy. What direction are the markets going? Do we have it? There we go. The markets down. Down a little bit so far today.

I'm joined now by CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

Look, the markets never truly believed -

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

BERMAN: That, you know, that the economy is going to default -

ROMANS: Exactly.

BERMAN: But what are you hearing from investors this morning?

ROMANS: What I'm hearing is there's a gauntlet of procedure, politics and votes before this is finally done. And there's not a lot of time. So I think markets, investors are reserving a little bit of judgment here.

And you're right, if you look at markets this year, they're mostly up. The Dow flat on the year. With all that recession watch, a Dow that is flat, the S&P 500 is up almost 10 percent and the Nasdaq, whose tech stocks have been really going gangbusters. So, you've got stock investors who've already had a pretty good first half of the year here, even with all of these headwinds, like politics in Washington, recession fears, has the Fed gone too far, has the Fed not gone far enough. So, it's a very odd and quirky economy right now. And for investors to have made money the first half of the year I think is kind of remarkable.

BERMAN: Yes. There may not be a huge bounce even if this bill gets signed into law.

ROMANS: No. Exactly.

BERMAN: Because there wasn't a big drop in advance of the discussions.

ROMANS: Right. Exactly.

BERMAN: All right, part of this deal is to pair down funding for the IRSs. The IRS was supposed to get, what, like $80 billion.

ROMANS: Yes. BERMAN: Now they will get $60 billion.

ROMANS: That's right.

BERMAN: How significant is that $20 billion?

ROMANS: So, let me rewind a little bit.

[09:40:01]

In the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a piece of legislation that a lot of Republicans despise, there was $80 billion for important modernization and hiring new workers at the IRS because a lot of retirements and age demographics, they just didn't have enough people. We had really long waits to get your taxes processed and long lines on the phone. They wanted to fix that.

Now they're going to roll back some of that money. It's $1.4 billion right away and then $10 billion next year and $10 billion the year after that. That's something that Republicans really want to see.

Now, the White House is saying it's still going to be able to modernize the IRS and still be able to enforce taxes - enforce tax cheats.

And, look, a lot of that money on the - the right-wing conspiracy is there was an army of armed agents going to come after everyday Americans trying to get your money. That's not what any of that is for. It is to enforce high net worth tax cheats, right? So, every dollar at the IRS is going to bring even more revenue. So, that's the funny part of this. If you really are serious about debt and deficits, you really want the IRS to be able to do its job.

BERMAN: Right, the $80 billion was actually going to reduce the debt, so says the CBO.

ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly. So we'll watch the space.

BERMAN: And, again, no one had told the IRS how and when it had to spend that money exactly.

ROMANS: Right.

BERMAN: So, it may be that that $20 billion isn't felt for some time.

ROMANS: And the wait times are down. So, the money that they have deployed so far, wait times at the IRS are down, and that's something that helps all taxpayers.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, great to see you.

ROMANS: You too.

BERMAN: Thank you very much.

Kate. BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, the suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance says that he was beaten in prison and now Peruvian authorities are denying that that happened. We'll have the latest on that coming up.

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[09:45:59]

BOLDUAN: Checking with some of the stories we're tracking at this hour.

At least 34 NATO peacekeepers have been injured in violent clashes that broke out in northern Kosovo. Tensions flared when ethnic Serbs tried to force their way into a town hall on Monday but they were blocked as police fired off tear gas. They've been protesting the results of last month's elections which allowed ethnic Albanians to take control of local councils despite a large Serbian majority in that region.

Now, this week, two journalists are on trial in Iran, being prosecuted for reporting on the funeral and massive protests after the death of Mahsa Amini this past fall. Iran accuses the two female journalists of, quote, colluding with hostile powers for their coverage of Amini's death. The charges they face could carry the death penalty.

We're also learning more about the victims of a fatal boat incident on a northern Italian lake in - on Sunday. Two victims were identified as Italian secret service agents. The houseboat was over capacity when it apparently was hit by a wave and capsized during a birthday celebration. An investigation is underway to see if the captain is culpable for these deaths.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: This morning, Peruvian prison officials are denying a report from ABC News that the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway was beaten in prison. Joran van der Sloot's attorney is petitioning for his client to be moved to another facility claiming that he was, quote, severely beaten. This comes as van der Sloot is set to be extradited to the U.S. on charges of extortion and fraud allegedly committed against Holloway's mother.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following this for us.

So, Jean, what else are you learning here?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is interesting timing because the extradition paperwork has begun, CNN has learned. And so just as you're saying, Maximo Altez, he is the lawyer for Joran van der Sloot, he was the attorney from the very beginning, knows him well. And at Challapalca Prison, which is a maximum security prison in a very remote area of Peru, he's telling CNN that Joran was severely beaten. Not just beaten but severely beaten and he is in the medic area of that prison.

Well, CNN contacted Peru's National Penitentiary Institute. They are saying he was not beaten, he was not attacked at all.

But let's look at a quote from the attorney for Joran van der Sloot. He says that he doesn't believe the beating was related to the upcoming extradition. It may, however, be connected to gang rules inside Challapalca Prison, where he is being held.

And, you know, in Peruvian prisons, there are many good things about Peruvian prisons because they really have rehabilitation inside there. But you can wear street clothes. And when I was at Castro Castro Prison, what I saw was that because the street clothes have - they have pockets and they can wear jackets and coats, you can hide weapons. And I saw weapons. And you can really violently attack someone.

You know, when you look at Joran van der Sloot, he is a violent offender because he is serving a murder sentence for Stephanie Flores, a young girl in Peru. And I found my notes from being in Peru, and she had lacerations all over her body, there was blood all over the bedroom, the bathroom, the bed. They were at her apartment. She had cranial fractures, hemorrhaging to the brain. So, obviously, this was an extremely violent murder. And now this.

And another question is that, since he is high profile, the case is becoming high profile. He was in solitary confinement for a long time in Peru because there was so much high profile aspect tot his. And he was the one that ultimately asked to be in general population. Why was he not in some type of protective custody right now as that paperwork is being done.

SOLOMON: Yes, lots of questions. But, Jean, really great to have your insights and perspectives, having been there before.

Jean Casarez, thank you.

John.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, two inmates escaped from a detention center, the very same facility that saw four escapees and a huge manhunt just a few weeks ago.

[09:50:05]

So, how does this keep happening?

And somewhere this morning Derek Jeter is crying. The Miami Heat do not end up blowing a 3-0 series lead. They crushed the Celtics in game seven, earning a ticket to the NBA finals.

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BERMAN: This morning, the Miami Heat headed to the NBA finals, dashing the Boston Celtics' dreams of making history by coming all the way back from a 3-0 series deficit, meaning that Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees have to live in fairly lonely shame for being one of the only teams to blow a 3-0 lead.

Andy Scholes is with us this morning.

All right, Yankees aside, I have to say, if you watched these series, maybe the Celtics had more talent, but there's just no question this morning that the Heat played better basketball and were a better team.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, you got to give it to the Miami Heat, John. You know, Jimmy Butler, after that heartbreaking loss in game six said, you know, he believes in life that you are always going to get the same test until you pass it.

[09:55:06]

And, you know, despite losing three in a row, Butler believed that his Mami Heat were going to win this series.

Now, Boston fans were just ecstatic that they got this game seven at home. They were just the fourth team ever to force a game seven after being down 0-3, first team to ever have that game seven at home. But they just didn't show up. You see Jayson Tatum here. He actually hurt his ankle in the first play of the game. He still played, but the Celtics could not make a shot at all in game seven. They went nine for 42 from three.

Buter, meanwhile, was solid. He scored 28. And then Caleb Martin, undrafted Caleb Martin, who as just fantastic this entire series, he scored 26. The game was never close in the second half, as the Heat would win 103-84. Eighty-four, the lowest points that the Boston Celtics have scored this entire season. Not a good time for that to happen.

Here is Jimmy Butler afterwards with the big win.

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JIMMY BUTLER, MIAMI HEAT FORWARD: I'm just confident. I know the work that we all put into it. So I know what we're capable of. But nobody's satisfied. We haven't done anything. We don't play just to win the Eastern Conference, we play to win the whole thing. Everybody's confidence is so high. We've got to believe that we can do something incredibly special. So, we're going to hit the ground running when we get to Denver, and I like our chances.

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SCHOLES: Yes, game one of the NBA finals is going to be Thursday night in Denver of course. The Nuggets, heavy favorites, but it's hard to count out this Miami Heat team, John. Just the second eighth seed to ever make it to the NBA finals. First team ever to have to get out of the play-in tournament, and then make it to the NBA finals. We'll, of course, see what happens.

But I wanted to ask Boston Celtics' fan John Berman, would you have rather have just gotten swept than what we saw happen yesterday and just a devastating not showing up for a game seven? BERMAN: The - no, the three-zero comeback to tie it 3-3 was pretty

interesting for a few minutes until the game started last night, in which case it ceased to be interesting at all. Like, there was never a moment last night when you felt as if the Celtics were going to win. It was - it was ugly. But now you know everyone gets the dream matchup they were hoping for all season, the Miami Heat/Denver Nuggets NBA final. But I digress.

Andy Scholes, great to see you. Thank you very much for that.

SCHOLES: All right.

BOLDUAN: How do you really feel about it, John?

BERMAN: I'm - I'm wounded. I'm very, very hurt.

BOLDUAN: I will say this, though, it has made me moderately interested in watching NBA basketball. So -

BERMAN: There's some very good players there (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: Real good. It actually has been good to watch.

All right, we'll have much more on that ahead.

Also this coming up for us on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a mass shooting on a busy Florida boardwalk. Nine people injured. What police are saying started it all. The very latest.

We'll be right back.

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