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Uncle of Victim Joins CNN on 2nd Anniversary of School Massacre; Uvalde Marks 2 Years since Robb Elementary School Massacre. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 24, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Department report came out pointing to this cascade of failures as they put it on the part of the city and law enforcement that day. There are $2 million settlement just announced as I just said with the city of Uvalde for the families, and a huge federal lawsuit filed against nearly 100 officers involved that day. And I will play for everyone I know, you know, but I want to play for everyone with Jackie's father Javier said about these lawsuits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVIER CAZARES, FATHER OF UVALDE SHOOTING VICTIM: No amount of money is worth the children's our lives of our children. Justice and accountability has always been my main concern. We've been (inaudible) so many times, the time has come to do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And in the last year, you also got elected to the Uvalde board ran and got elected to the Uvalde school board since last year. What do all of these changes in the last year mean for you, mean for your family, mean for Jackie's parents?

JESSE RIZO, UNCLE OF UVALDE VICTIM, JACKIE CAZARES: It's, it's very difficult, because you know, no amount of money is mature enough. Javier mentions was going to bring your child back, you know, and only they will understand, you know, just as for example, is as different definitions for different people. And to them, you know, I respect the decision in doing that, you know, it's very tough.

It's a way I guess, to heal, you know, it, it's difficult I can only imagine in their shoes. As far as like the school board election, you know, the people, the community came out of the supported, they sent a strong message that they wanted a voice there. They wanted somebody that could hopefully bring some kind of understanding and healing in, in sort of men things, its difficult as may be, but it's going to hopefully mend that division is within their community.

It's a long journey ahead of us, you know, but I think that we can do that. I think that with compassion and understanding, I think that we can get there.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, I mean, do you feel like you have the answers now, that mean, accountability seems still woefully inadequate?

RIZO: We don't, you know, there's still, there's still so much, you know, what's your bodyguards, who's took the phone call, he basically hangs the phone call. He knows that there's children there. He walks away from the situation and to see him in town to see him in the position that he asked.

There is no accountability there, you know, the sediment basically put some things to rest. But we're hopeful that the district attorney is going to print some kind of charges against him indict them. People like (inaudible) another example. I'm hoping that they're going to do that. But there is no in hearing, you know, hearing how he had his voice, my brother in law, he didn't have his voice.

You know, it just breaks my heart, you know, and it's tough for him as a father to go up there and make that statement. You know, I can only imagine what he deals with at night, you know, as he drives home, as he tries to cemetery today and to be with his daughter is going to be very tough. But to answer your question, there has no there has not been any type of accountability.

There has been little things, for example, significant things, right. But they're small things as well. It's the changes that are coming, you know, the agreement that they had, the work that they're going to be doing with the community. That's, that's hopeful and it's promising.

But ultimately, you would want the people that fill these children and teachers to pay the ultimate price that is to be going through the court system and being held accountable in some way where the public can hear their justification as to why they stood behind their door and didn't even try to open that door. Then try to toggle the doorknob.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Jesse, Jackie, would be 11 years old today. What do you think when you hear that now when you know that, that time, 11 o'clock hour is ticking here.

RIZO: Knowing her and knowing the type of person that she was, probably as most of those innocent children were, you know, I think that she would want the entire world to take a moment at 11:30 at 11:30 this morning, and just embrace each other, moment of silence. Whether it's a stranger on the train, whether it's somebody that your coworker, in hug each other, and tell each other that you love him, and be there for each other.

That's what I would think, you know, I thought about it other way, on the way into town this morning. And I said, what would she want, right? And that's what I think she would want for them to just to be compassionate to show that love that she had towards everybody, strangers, friends, loved ones, relatives. That's what I would think that she would want today.

And just at this time, go to Mass, go to whatever religion you practice, you know, just take a moment out there and just say a little prayer. Hopefully, you know, everybody just for that period of time that they just come together and they just live on each other.

[09:35:00]

BOLDUAN: I wish I could reach out and give you a hug right now. Thanks, Jesse.

RIZO: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

RIZO: You're welcome.

BOLDUAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, ANCHOR, CNN NEWS CENTRAL: We do have breaking news. The United Nations top court, The International Court of Justice has just ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah. Now this is unlikely to have any practical impact. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to address the U.S. Congress. The exact date of that is unknown. But the invitation is divining some Democrats with some planning to boycott the visit.

[09:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): It's a terrible idea no, I won't go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Bernie Sanders right there. With us now is Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks from New York, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, if Netanyahu addresses Congress, do you intend to go?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Well, I think I have the responsibility to be there as the ranking member. But I'm very upset with Speaker Johnson because of his snub of President Ruto last night. He's the first African Head of State to be here in almost 18 years or since anyone has had been able to address the full session of Congress. And to have him snubbed in the way that he was just shows disrespect, I think, of an African nation, as you see that all of us that have come have been honored with reference to being at a joint session of Congress.

So for the speaker to make this announcement, even while President Ruto is here and snubbed him, just seems to me that speaker Johnson is just playing political games here.

BERMAN: If I'm not mistaken, you did skip the 2015 address by Netanyahu to Congress. So you did not go to that one. But you would go to this one?

MEEKS: I did not go to that one, because I was in actually the Honduras within Vice President Biden. So I was traveling with the Vice President at that particular time. And so at this one, you know, though I disagree with many of the things and some of the things that Prime Minister Netanyahu has said and done, that being, for example, having a two state solution and start talking about the end result, as many members of his own war cabinet have said recently.

But I think, I have the responsibility to listen to hear what he has to say, although I know the intent of speaker Johnson is just simply to try to divide and use Israel as a political tool, as opposed to doing what we've done for my entire tenure in Congress. We've United Democrats and Republicans coming together to make sure because, we have no stronger ally, then in the middle east, then Israel, and we've stood by them all of the way.

And the president continues to stand by them. He's done what no other president has done. He sent military troops in the air when was attacked by Iran, something that no president has advised for a speaker to play politics in this way, simply is I think, uncomfortable.

BERMAN: I don't know if you've just heard, but the International Court of Justice at the United Nations has ordered Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah. Based on what you have seen as the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in your opinion, has Israel crossed the line, where the United States should stop sending offensive weapons to Israel because of the operation in Rafah?

MEEKS: As of right now, no, they have not. What my concern had been, as it has been for a while and it's as is the president's concern, the dropping of 2000 pound bombs into Rafah in these densely areas that would cause substantial, innocent civilian deaths. And thus far in Rafah we have not seen that kind of bombing.

There's been the kind of attacks that Secretary Blinken just testified before our committee a couple of days ago, where it's on the ground, it's targeted. It's focused at getting at the four brigades of Hamas terrorists that are in Rafah in various tunnels, and it minimizes that up (inaudible).

BERMAN: Can I shift gears here to you (inaudible)? I'm not sure you've had much time to think about this. But the NCAA settled a class action lawsuit overnight, that may ultimately lead or will ultimately lead to athletes in college, being paid directly by the schools for the time being.

One of the possibilities going forward, though, is that Congress could give the NCAA and sports an anti-trust exemption. And that might allow schools to get out of paying the athletes or change the atmosphere. Have you thought about how you might vote on that? Or were you on that subject?

MEEKS: Yeah, I probably would vote against that. I've for years thought that, that the athletes, student athletes, you know, people are making millions of dollars, billions of dollars to some degree off of them. And, and many of them will be -- were being suspended just for trying

to get some aid, lot of these are young people who coming from poor homes, and there's a great need for their families, and they've been penalized by the NCAA for any aid that they've been able to get. So I think that you know, we've got to work out all of the rules. And I think that's got to be carefully thought out and done.

[09:45:00]

But I think that they find a way that a student athlete could get paid for, you know, and I think you have to look at what it does, how much money it makes for the school, et cetera. That coach is getting, you know, millions and millions of dollars to do it. So we should find a way for some student athletes to receive some compensation.

BERMAN: This coach Jim Harbaugh at the other end of the line for you right there sending you a note. Listen, Congressman Gregory Meeks, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate your time this morning.

MEEKS: Thank you for having me.

BERMAN: Amara?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Sean Diddy Combs hit with a seventh lawsuit directly accusing him of sexual assault, while we're learning about the latest accusation. And officials are predicting the most active hurricane season ever recorded. What's fueling the ominous warning?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:00]

BOLDUAN: Sean Diddy Combs is now facing a seventh sexual assault lawsuit, his second lawsuit just this week. According to the new complaint filed yesterday in New York, which included some of these photos that we're showing you here, April Lambros met Combs in the 90s and expressed her desire to work in the fashion industry.

She says he started mentoring her, but that the relationships she alleges quickly turned abusive and coercive. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister is tracking all of this for us. It's more and more to be tracking here, Elizabeth, what are you learning?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate, as you said this is the seventh lawsuit directly accusing Sean Diddy Combs of sexual assault, the eighth lawsuit, though, over all. Now, April Lampros as you said, she was a student working in fashion in New York. She first met Diddy in 1994. And in this new lawsuit that came out yesterday filed in New York, she claims that there were four separate incidents of sexual assault.

She claims that she was sexually assaulted and battered by the Mogul. She also claims that she was drugged. Now I have obtained a statement from April lampposts. This is what she tells us here at CNN, Kate. She says, quote, I'm confident that justice will prevail, and the veil will be removed, so no other woman will have to wonder what I did.

Now I have reached out to Diddy's team. I have not heard back yet. This is the second lawsuit Kate, just to come this week of course, following the exclusive surveillance footage that we released here at CNN last week. So we all know that Diddy release that apology video after the surveillance footage came out. But since then, and since these two new lawsuits have come out, both accusing him of very graphic sexual assault.

Now he has been silent, I have followed up with his team many times. But this is now continuing as you hit on at the top of this conversation, Kate. This is continuing a pattern of alleged abuse against Diddy. The lawsuits just keep on coming and these allegations are all very similar.

BOLDUAN: Elizabeth, thank you very much for your continued important reporting on this, appreciate it, Amara?

WALKER: (inaudible) and it is going to be hyper active, the impacts of climate change at play as warmer water of course favors these kinds of storms, causing hurricanes to become even more powerful and dangerous. CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir is here with me with more on this. Hello, Bill.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, hello, yeah.

WALKER: So this season, I mean, we're almost at the start this season as of June 1st.

WEIR: It's right.

WALKER: What's it looking like?

WEIR: Buckle up, is what they're telling us. This is the most bullish forecast ever. The last time NOAA put out a forecast this extreme 2005, the year that brought us hurricanes Katrina and Rita. You can look at the charts. Colorado State also has a very esteemed Tropical Storm program there. So they put up productions as well.

But no one is calling between 17 to 25 named storms, that means they're going to run out of names. They have the names we start with Alberto through William, the 21 names could blow past there. They're predicting eight to 13 hurricanes, four to seven major, that's category three or above, Colorado State a little more conservative with five major storms.

But still, it means that we need to prepare, it means that coastal communities up and down and especially in the Gulf Coast, along the Atlantic coast of Florida, especially, it could be a rough year.

WALKER: Well, I know you've been talking about this, you know, climate change, obviously warming the waters. And obviously, hurricanes in these storms love the warm waters and they gave their energy from it. But there's also El Nino --

WEIR: Exactly. So there's two things happening. There's the natural cycle of a cooling Pacific. When the Pacific gets cooler, the odds for hurricanes go up in the Atlantic, oddly enough because of this wind shear phenomenon. But El Nino is cycling into La Nina cooler in the Pacific. That means more prime for the Jetstream conditions to create and birth those hurricanes down in the Atlantic.

But really it comes down to sea surface temperatures, which are off the charts. It's hard to even describe, you talk to marine ecologist about these sorts of things. Look at this line chart comparing sea surface temperatures today and even last year to historical trends where almost a full degree above look at all the gray spaghetti at the bottom.

That is our lifetime, the average sea surface temperature that that line in the middle there was last year. We're already exceeding it right now. This means horrible conditions for coral reefs which are bleaching marine life, just can't adapt fast enough.

[09:55:00]

We're heading to an ocean where jellyfish is the only thing that can really thrive in this. But again, that is Hurricane fuel. It kicks up these storms makes them bigger, makes them last longer. And here we are. So it's the combination, global warming, and a natural trend.

WALKER: Like you said, buckle up.

WEIR: That's right. Knowledge is power. We got to prepare for these sorts of things. Right friends?

BOLDUAN: Jellyfish and nothing else.

WEIR: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: I mean, the ocean, which is a terrifying.

WEIR: It is terrifying. It is terrifying. And every 100th of a degree we avoid from doing that would be fantastic. Ironically, the DeSantis Administration in Florida just stripped the words climate change out of legislative language going forward. So there's the human nature, and then there's nature and we got to figure out how to survive both.

WALKER: Thanks so much, Bill Weir.

WEIR: You bet. Thank you.

BERMAN: Thank you, Amara Walker for being here with us.

WALKER: Thank you.

BERMAN: Great to have you on board. Thank you all for joining us, have a --

BOLDUAN: Thank you. No, thank you.

WEIR: I'm very grateful.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Have a great holiday weekend, everyone, make good choices, mostly.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.