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Israeli Strikes Leave Dozens Dead Across Gaza; 2,000 People Feared Buried Alive In Papua New Guinea Landslide; Closing Arguments Set To Begin Tomorrow In Trump Hush Money Trial. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 27, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Here is what TSA administrator David Pekoske said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PEKOSKE, ADMINISTRATOR, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: This will be the busiest summer travel season we have on record. We expect to see between eight and 10 percent growth over the course of this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The big question now is will the air travel system be able to handle this? The FAA is 3,000 air traffic controllers short at air traffic control facilities nationwide.

Also, the weather is the big x-factor here and, no doubt, it will have an impact on air travel today. A ground stop just put into place by the FAA at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The FAA also warning of ground stops down the East Coast today -- Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., Charlotte, Chicago. Also, San Franciso on the list.

Thunderstorms could have a pretty big impact today. Also, the low cloud ceilings and the low visibility that comes along with that.

Of course, so many people anticipated to drive. AAA anticipated that 38.4 million people would drive the previous five days over this Memorial Day travel period. The worst times to go today, in the afternoon between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. So if you can wait to make your trip until after 7:00 p.m. that is the best time to do it, Bianna.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And also, check in with your local news regarding what the weather situation will be as well.

Pete Muntean, thanks so much -- Rahel.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Bianna, thank you.

Chase Oliver won the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination Sunday after seven rounds of voting at the party's convention in Washington, D.C. The 38-year-old candidate, who has run for Congress multiple times in Georgia, appealed to the voters by focusing on bringing Libertarian values to a broader audience.

Both Donald Trump and Robert K. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the convention over the weekend with Trump facing loud booing throughout this short speech. Now, while Trump attended and he spoke, he did not submit the paperwork to be considered as the nominee when it came time for the party to vote.

Joining me now is Democratic strategist, Chuck Rocha, and former spokesman for President George W. Bush, Pete Seat. Good to see you both.

Pete, let me start with you. Trump usually speaks in front of a warmer audience. He's not used to having his ego bruised like he did.

What does it say about where his campaign is right now that he would go to something like this? What do you think?

PETE SEAT, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSE PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, the bullish way of looking at it is this is a move of confidence. That the Trump campaign feels good about their position in polling and their position moving into the November general election. So they're starting to branch out and reach to different constituencies that he normally -- as you say, normally, speaks to the base, and the Libertarian Party convention not the base.

But the bearish view is that they are afraid of the impact that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might have on this election, and he's got to go scoop up each and every single individual vote that he can get.

So it really just depends on your point of view why he went there.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Chuck, your point -- I mean, do you take the bearish point of view or the bullish point of view? Does it signal that he's worried about RFK Jr.?

CHUCK ROCHA, PRESIDENT, SOLIDARITY STRATEGIES: I think it just shows how close this election is going to be. Those of us who run elections around the country every day are doing focus groups every day. I've been working in campaigns for 34 years. This is the closest I've ever seen.

You really have a solidification of people that on the right and on the left. And what Donald Trump, and I would even say Joe Biden, are doing is any little sliver of support for Joe Biden -- it could be Nikki Haley supporters. For Donald Trump, he's worried about RFK just like Joe Biden is worried about it. Because in these battleground states -- in just these five states, just a miniscule amount of votes are going to make a huge difference when the margins are just so narrow.

SOLOMON: Well, to that point, Pete, let's actually talk about who Trump's VP could be. So, Politico has some new reporting out who Hill Republicans think that Trump should choose. I want to read it for you. So, "Some of them even want him to consider a rival he's publicly

ruled out, Nikki Haley -- who, of course, recently revealed she would be voting for him. And if Haley can't make an improbably comeback, many Republican lawmakers want to see Trump pick one of two other former opponents with the same outside-of-MAGA allure: Sens. Tim Scott or Marco Rubio."

Who is the better pick here? I mean, who gets him to where he needs to be?

SEAT: I think Donald Trump needs to take the vice presidential selection process incredibly seriously. When we talk about those double haters -- the voters who dislike both candidates -- it could very well come down to that vice presidential pick. The person who is a heartbeat away from the presidency. We know that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden are not getting any younger and there's going to be a lot of focus on Kamala Harris or whoever Donald Trump picks.

I think the Nikki Haley pick might actually have the reverse effect and turn voters that voted for her away, and they're going to be angry. Rubio or Tim Scott could actually fit the bill.

[07:35:07]

SOLOMON: Chuck, I mean, what do you think? I mean, we continue to see in these primaries -- I mean, Nikki Haley is polling not insignificant numbers. In some places, she's still polling 20 percent of votes. I mean, what do you think?

ROCHA: You know, to Pete's point, normally, the vice president candidate -- the vice presidential pick means nothing. Nobody goes to the ballot box to vote for the vice president. It's been looked at over years. People are like, well, we need to get a VP from Ohio or Florida so we can deliver those states. That's just not the case in a multimedia world that we're living in today.

So, Donald Trump is looking for something that he is not. He wants to pick somebody like a person of color, like Rep. Donalds or Mr. Marco Rubio, or somebody in that vein so he can maybe get a little more African American vote or a few more Latino votes.

Another place where he can expand the electorate is what he's looking for because like what Pete said, the double haters are looking for an alternative. What is something that will draw them to them instead of just voting for something that's not the other person?

SOLOMON: Let me ask you both to weigh in here. Obviously, the jury is going to have closing arguments in the Trump hush money case in New York and they could have this case in their hands. They could have this in their hands as early as Wednesday.

Regardless of what the verdict is, what's the Trump campaign's strategy? Pete, let me start with you.

SEAT: Donald Trump is going to declare himself the victor no matter what happens. If he is convicted, that will be validation of everything he has said about this trial being a sham and the judge being conflicted. And if he's acquitted, that would be vindication. And he's going to put a dark cloud above all the other indictments and cases that he is currently facing.

So expect that no matter what happens, he will not hang his head in shame. He will declare victory.

SOLOMON: Chuck, validation or vindication? What do you think?

ROCHA: I think it's going to be monetization. I think that people are going to make money off of this in both campaigns and use it to try to get to their base to raise money around either their victories or their losses, or to try to scare folks into saying now, see what happened? The justice system is rigged. Or others saying justice was finally serviced.

Because right now, as we get into the doldrums of summer, folks -- your great reporting a while ago about everybody that's traveling for the Memorial Day weekend, do you think that they're really turned into politics? Well, they're not right now but they will be soon. And some of them, like us on this TV -- us watching this morning -- we're following this closely. But the American people are just now -- when they get back from summer vacation -- going to be tuning into what's happening as we lead into the fall.

SOLOMON: Fascination. Well, we shall see -- validation, vindication, or monetization.

Pete Seat, Chuck Rocha, thank you both -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: This morning, U.N. refugee officials telling CNN that no place in Gaza is safe. Medical sources say overnight strikes by Israel have killed at least 20 Palestinians across Gaza. This, after at least 45 people were killed when a camp for displaced Gazans in Rafah was hit by an Israel strike, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. It says most of the victims were women and children.

The IDF reporting that the strike killed two senior Hamas officials.

CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now with more. What more are we learning about this overnight strike, Nada? The IDF says that they are currently investigating it.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, Bianna. The IDF says they will be carrying out a review. But, of course, as you just mentioned, we have had an updated death toll from the Health Ministry in Gaza. At least 45 people have been killed and more than 240 people injured in the incident last night.

And, of course, we've seen that dramatic footage -- horrifying footage emerging from the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah last night. Tents engulfed in flames. We have seen video emerging being sent by our colleagues on the ground that is simply too graphic to show on air. The charred bodies of civilians, including children, being pulled out from these shelters. And, of course, this is an area which was known to be housing thousands of civilians who had been displaced -- pushed toward the southern city. And, in fact, the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood was not amongst those which were issued with an evacuation order by the Israeli military over the last month. This was supposed to be a safe zone for civilians. Clearly, that is not the case.

Now, of course, the Israeli military has said that it was targeting what it has described as a Hamas compound. That two Hamas officials were killed in the strike. But, of course, the civilian impact is immense to say the least. And we have seen widespread criticism not only from U.N. agencies but also from other humanitarian organizations. There has been mounting concern around the potential humanitarian impact from an attack on Rafah -- of course, an area more than a million civilians are now currently concentrated.

We've heard from President Biden describing any attempt to go into Rafah on the ground as a red line for the U.S. when it comes to further military support for the Israeli military. Whether or not this kind of incident -- whether these kinds of strike targeting civilian areas in Rafah will be a red line for President Biden, of course, remains to be seen.

[07:40:09]

And this comes just days after the International Court of Justice ordered the Israeli military not to carry out an offensive in Rafah. Of course, the signals at this point clearly show that is being ignored and there are fears that civilian death toll will only continue to rise.

GOLODRYGA: And we'll wait and see what, if anything, we hear from the White House in response to this particular strike in Rafah overnight.

Nada Bashir, thank you so much -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right. This morning, the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea appears even worse than initially feared. The country's National Disaster Center says that as many as 2,000 people may have been buried alive when the landslide hit a remote mountainous area on Friday. More than 150 homes in one village were swallowed up.

CNN's Ivan Watson joins us this morning with the latest on the search and the rescue efforts. Ivan, what more are you learning? What more can you share with us?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, part of what's so tragic about this is that the landslide took place at around 3:00 in the morning local time, which is when the residents of these rural villages would have been fast asleep in their homes.

And it has taken days, really, for the authorities to come to grips with the scale of the damage -- the true potential death toll. Now, in a letter to aid organizations and the United Nations, the Papua New Guinea government saying they fear more than 2,000 people were buried alive under this just cascade of mud and rocks that came down. The entire side of a -- of a mountain that collapsed.

So listen to one grieving survivor of this terrible disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVIT KAMBU, LOST 18 FAMILY MEMBERS IN DEADLY LANDSLIDE (through translator): I have 18 of my family members buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village that I cannot count. I am the landowner here. Thank you to all those who have come to help us, but I cannot retrieve the bodies so I'm standing here helplessly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, it is hard to reach this devastated area. The main road to the collection of villages has been cut off by the landslide. The ground is said to be very unstable still. People are having to dig and work through the rubble with pickaxes and shovels, and their bare hands. It may be dangerous to put heavy machinery in place because the ground could shift.

And there's an additional complication, Rahel, and that is that along the road from the capital to this area there's been deadly fighting over the weekend between two rival tribes that have been involved in deadly clashes in the past. So that puts aid convoys at risk.

Put it all together and it's just been an absolute nightmare for this farming community -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Clearly, very tragic.

Ivan Watson live for us there. Ivan, thank you.

All right. Still ahead, a passenger describes it as the worst 15 seconds of their life. The latest extreme turbulence episode injuring 12 passengers.

And new data confirms moms are incredible. A new study revealing the amount of calories that pregnancy burns. What doctors are now recommending for pregnant meal planning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:47:52]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

And live pictures this morning of the World War II Memorial on the National Mall -- an observance of Memorial Day.

This morning, President Joe Biden will honor the country's fallen military members at Arlington National Cemetery. He'll take part in the presidential Armed Forces full honor wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Vice Presidential Kamala Harris will join him in this solemn observance.

Cruise ships set sail out of the Port of Baltimore -- out of the Port of Baltimore this weekend for the first time since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Sea set sail Saturday, and Carnival Cruise Lines resumed operations out of the port on Sunday. The port is expected to be fully operational by the end of this week.

"The worst 15 seconds of my life." That is how one passenger who was on board a Qatar Airways flight described extreme turbulence. Six passengers and six crew members were injured Sunday on the flight from Doha to Dublin. Officials say that the flight experienced rough air while flying over Turkey. Of the 12 people who were hurt, eight were taken to a hospital -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Closing arguments are set to begin tomorrow in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial. Defense attorneys will present their arguments first, followed by the prosecution.

Joining us now, criminal defense attorney, William Brennan; and defense attorney and former prosecutor, Randy Zelin.

Randy, since you're here with me first, let me ask you about what we can expect to hear from the prosecution, which will be presenting its closing arguments second. But your thoughts on what you think they should say and what they will say.

RANDY ZELIN, DEFENSE ATORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, what they should say -- and let's take a step back. Closing arguments are taking the story that you have been presenting to the jury throughout and now bringing it all together. Because ultimately, a trial is about two stories. Whose story is more credible? Whose story makes more sense?

The prosecution will attempt -- and I think unsuccessfully -- to convince the jury that their story makes more sense. That, come on, how could the former president not have known that these false entries were being made in his books and records in order to conceal or further the crime of election interference? How could he not have intended that? He wanted to be President of the United States.

[07:5008]

GOLODRYGA: So, Bill, let me get to that with you because it begs credulity and I'm sure that's what we're going to be hearing from the defense when they're up first. But how can these jurors be excepted to believe given everything that they've learned over these past five weeks that somebody like Allen Weisselberg, the CFO of the Trump Corporation or Michael Cohen wouldn't have told or run any of this past Donald Trump as they were writing these checks and going along with these processes?

WILLIAM BRENNAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, good morning, Bianna. Good morning, Randy. I think that it's important to remember that this particular jury hasn't heard from Mr. Weisselberg. He is a no-show at the trial. They've heard references to him. So they'd really have to kind of impute what he may say. It all falls on the word of Michael Cohen. And, you know, oftentimes in criminal cases -- let's say in a drug conspiracy -- people cooperate and they get up and they tell the jury look, I was a drug dealer for a long time. I did a lot of bad things selling drugs. And the jurors put that aside and they take the testimony.

But this is a little different. This particular star witness is a convicted perjurer -- one who lies under oath. He's lied about the lies he's told and he admitted to this jury stealing from his own client. So I think jurors take that type of cooperating witness a little differently. So if it all hinges on the word of Michael Cohen, who went out and took a mortgage on his own home without telling his wife --

GOLODRYGA: Um-hum.

BRENNAN: -- did this deal ostensibly and really -- you could say it with a straight face to this jury -- in a rogue fashion, I don't know that they can get there.

GOLODRYGA: No doubt, Randy, that Michael Cohen is a flawed witness and that is something not only the defense was focused on, but the prosecution also set that up, too, knowing that that's what they'd hear likely from the defense.

We've heard from people like Eli Cohen who have said that they're actually -- Elie Honig, I'm sorry -- have said that there had to have been a process that this prosecution that said regardless of what you think about Michael Cohen, the documents speak for themselves.

Did they establish that enough, in your view?

ZELIN: They did not. And Elie raises a good point having been a former federal prosecutor -- someone who I actually tried a case against. This would have been handled differently by a federal prosecutor. Because what you do with a cooperator is simply I'm a bad guy. Bad guys do things with bad guys. Bad guys don't bring in good guys to do things. So you may not like me, you may not want to hang out with me, but I know what happened because I was there.

What we didn't see here was the ability to actually put the former president in the room knowing and intending. I could have a plumber come to my house to fix my pipes. I could be home. I don't know how the plumber does it.

Michael Cohen is the fixer. Michael Cohen wanted to be chief of staff. Michael Cohen did this. I didn't know what he was doing.

GOLODRYGA: And you say that the prosecution, in your view, didn't do enough to establish the documents themselves?

ZELIN: To Mr. Brennan's point, where was Allen Weisselberg? Where was Keith Schiller? Suddenly, Michael Cohen didn't know. Well, did I speak to the former president and let him know what was going on or maybe I spoke to Keith Schiller about a 14-year-old that was driving me crazy. Built-in reasonable doubt. GOLODRYGA: Bill, let me ask about the possibility of a hung jury because all we know -- we know that all we need is one of these jurors to not believe that Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. What's the likelihood you think we'll see that?

BRENNAN: Well, it's kind of a balancing test in my mind. I spent eight weeks in that particular courtroom in front of Judge Merchan with a lot of these same prosecutors in front of a Manhattan jury -- because you only pick from the island of Manhattan. And at least it's been my experience that's not a favorable forum for the former president.

And having said that, I agree with Randy. There's so much left unsaid by the prosecution in this case. That you only need one, Bianna, and if one juror can't get beyond a reasonable doubt, this case will then be declared a mistrial as a result of a hung jury.

GOLODRYGA: It will also be interesting to watch, in this particular case, Judge Merchan's orders and directives to the jurors as well as they take and consider this case.

William Brennan and Randi Zelin, thank you so much. We appreciate your time -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right, Bianna.

Scientists have now calculated just how much energy it actually takes for pregnant women to carry a baby for nine months, and it turns out it's a lot -- like, a lot. It takes nearly 50,000 calories to grow a baby. Apparently, that's 164 Snickers candy bars.

Let's bring in CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard, who joins us for more on this, this morning. So, Jacqueline, talk to us a little bit more about this study. Where do those calories go?

[07:55:07]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel, it's a big number. And what's also surprising, the majority of those calories -- about 96 percent -- go towards the mother. Only four percent go towards the growing fetus. But the majority of the energy is needed to fuel the mother's body and to really support her during those nine months of pregnancy.

And the researchers say this, Rahel, which I think is really interesting. "Reproduction is one of the biggest energy investments that an animal will make."

So, for their study, they looked at pregnancies across different animal species. They really took a close look at mammals. And for a human pregnancy, they came to that finding that it takes nearly 50,000 dietary calories to help support that pregnancy through nine months. That's a lot of energy and it really puts in perspective what your body goes through and what your body needs during pregnancy, Rahel.

SOLOMON: And to that point, Jacqueline, did the doctors say anything -- or the scientists say anything about what the body needs and what moms should be eating in terms of the right foods for the appropriate amount of calories and nutrients? I mean, what do they say here?

HOWARD: Exactly. Well, you need a lot of protein. You need healthy fruits and vegetables. You need whole grains.

And it is recommended starting in the second trimester to start consuming an extra 340 calories each day. So, 340 calories is equivalent to about a glass of skim milk and half of a sandwich. So a lot of people think during pregnancy oh, I'm eating for two, so I need -- I need twice as much in a day.

Well, starting that second trimester, you need those additional 340 calories. So instead of thinking twice as much, think I'm going to eat twice as healthy. I'm going to get that protein, get those fruits and vegetables. I'm going to talk to my doctor about what prenatal vitamin they recommend for me. And that's the way to approach it, Rahel.

SOLOMON: OK. So think about protein. Maybe not as many Snicker bars as we talked about in this intro, but you want to make sure --

HOWARD: Right.

SOLOMON: -- you're getting the right nutrients.

Jacqueline Howard, thank you -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Appreciate the study but, listen, all you have to do is have children or be a mother, like myself, to know that you burn a lot of calories.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: And at times, we need to remind ourselves that we are, indeed, superheroes.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

GOLODRYGA: Thanks.

Well, 19 years ago, during the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, twins A'Mari and J'Mari Reynolds were rescued by Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. Their mother had run out of formula and was desperately seeking help. The general and his team quickly took in the dehydrated babies. This chance encounter would set in motion a journey that would bring the family to a milestone nearly two decades later.

CNN's Stephanie Elam has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORREPONDENT (voice-over): From hurricane evacuees --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations, class of 2024. ELAM (voice-over): -- to high school graduates. For twins J'Mari and A'Mari Reynolds, this is a moment that seemed improbable at the beginning of their lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, Hurricane Katrina looks like --

ELAM (voice-over): In the summer of 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, defeating many of the levees surrounding the city, flooding its streets, and killing nearly 1,400 people. Survivors fought challenging circumstances to stay alive.

ALEXANDRIA WHEELER, MOTHER OF THE TWINS: We hadn't eaten in maybe six days.

ELAM (voice-over): Alexandria Wheeler, knowing she needed to find help for 6 1/2-month-old sons, waded through the water. Her feet encountering unspeakable horrors in the turbid waters.

WHEELER: There was two bodies collided like this.

ELAM (voice-over): When the trio finally made it to the convention center-turned makeshift shelter in the muggy heat, they were starving and dehydrated. The infants nearly limp.

That's when Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the decorated commander who led the military response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, came to their aid.

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Folks in Washington -- they were looking at calendars and we were looking at a clock.

ELAM (voice-over): It was a moment CNN caught on camera.

WHEELER: He was like God's angel. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here today.

ELAM (voice-over): For years, Wheeler says she tried to get in contact with Honore to thank him for his kindness. But it would take another storm, Hurricane Harvey, threatening their new home in Houston in 2017, to bring them together again.

HONORE: I understand there's some (INAUDIBLE) boys over here.

ELAM (voice-over): Wheeler sent Honore a message on social media and he responded.

WHEELER: We don't even have words to put into our mouths to thank you enough or to repay back what you did.

ELAM (voice-over): Now, nearly 19 years after their life-altering encounter, Honore took time to celebrate the boys' achievement.

HONORE: We affectionately refer to you as the Katrina twins because the world got to meet you that day.

ELAM (voice-over): But, J'Mari and A'Mari, after a lifetime made possible by the man in uniform, are honoring Honore each in his own way.

First, A'Mari.

A'MARI REYNOLDS, TWIN RESCUED IN AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA: And thanks to you, I'll be a future addition to the United States Marine Corps.

HONORE: Hoorah! I allowed to say that word hoorah.