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Slain Hostage's Cousin: Netanyahu Using Their Deaths as a Weapon in His Political Charade; 10,000+ Hotel Workers from Boston to Hawaii Go On Strike; U.S. Seizes Venezuelan President's Plane, Flies It to Florida; Millions Expected to Hit the Roads and Skies for Labor Day Weekend. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 02, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

GIL DICKMANN, COUSIN OF CARMEL GAT, HOSTAGE KILLED IN GAZA: ... to know that after all of this, after 11 months in captivity, she lost her life in such a horrible way. And we missed her by so little, it's just devastating.

And I know that what she would want as someone who spent so much time in captivity is not for us to be sad. And it's not for us to be in grief, not only in grief, but mainly to keep our struggle going to get all the hostages back. Because that's the most important thing, because she knows that she would have wanted us to keep the struggle going and get all the hostages back. I'm sure of that.

And I'm going to do that. I promised it to her. And I promised it to all the hostage families that we're going to keep on pushing to get all the hostages out, even if Netanyahu is willing to sacrifice them.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Gil, I'm so sorry that Carmel was taken from you and your family and her friends, and we will remember her. And I thank you for speaking with us.

DICKMANN: Thank you. Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Gil Dickmann, we appreciate it. And we'll be right back.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: On this Labor Day, one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, a huge strike of hotel workers across America just got even bigger. Today, several hundred people in Baltimore walked off the job. They joined more than 10,000 others on the picket line in 25 different cities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I say fight, you say win! Fight!

CROWD: Win!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fight!

CROWD: Win!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fight!

CROWD: Win!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The strike began Sunday morning against major hotel chains like Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott. The picketers are part of the Unite Here union, with demonstrations spanning from Boston to Hawaii.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino has been following the labor standoff. Gloria, the workers say hotels have recovered from the pandemic, but have left major cost-cutting measures in place.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. That is one critical issue that the union has been focusing on. They say that these workers have not been getting the wages that reflect the recovery that the industry has had in the last few years since the pandemic.

The industry was so affected during that time, and they had to make several cuts. But workers say now that tourists are back, travelers are back, and they have to go to work, and they can't make ends meet. They also say that they don't have enough people on staff to provide the services that guests were accustomed to during -- before the pandemic.

So more than 10,000 workers have joined the picket line, all the way from Baltimore to Connecticut to Seattle. Even in Honolulu, I want you to listen to a housekeeper who talked about why she decided to join the strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELY REINANTE, HOUSEKEEPER, HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE: We're going to do whatever it takes for us to have a better contract, better wages, better work conditions. We're doing this not only for us, but for them too, for the guests, to provide them the better service they deserve, and for our families, for our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Brianna, it is not an accident that they are on strike on Labor Day. Of course, this is a day where we focus on workers and their contributions, also a day where hotels and the tourism industry expect to make significant gains because so many people are traveling. But for now, the strike affecting several hotel chains across several cities.

KEILAR: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you for the latest there -- Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: More now on the union perspective. Joining us now is International President of Unite here, Gwen Mills. Hi, Gwen.

So tell us a little bit more. We heard the reporting from Gloria, but tell us a little bit more about what your members are seeking.

GWEN MILLS, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, UNITE HERE: Absolutely, and thank you, Pam. We have a motto in our union that one job should be enough, and our members believe that they love welcoming guests to cities all across the country, and they would like to be able to provide for their families and live in the same cities that they welcome guests to every day. And so we're looking for a quality of job that allows a person to work one job.

BROWN: And you talk about how hotels are now back to profits after the pandemic that they had kept, you know, that they had pre-pandemic, and then, of course, the pandemic hit them hard. But you say they bounced back, but they had kept those pre-pandemic measures in place. How have that impacted those that are part of your union?

MILLS: Sure. We all went through the pandemic together, the hotel industry, hotel workers, because we all wanted tourism to rebound. And now that it has, things that were cut during that time as cost savings measures, like automatic daily housekeeping or various food and beverage offerings, room service, as those services remain cut, it makes the work harder for the workers that remain, and it makes the hotels less appealing to guests.

So what we're asking for is really that the hotels respect our workers and respect the guests.

BROWN: Unite Here has endorsed Kamala Harris committing to knocking on more than three million doors before Election Day. How confident are you that Harris will get the support of all your rank and file?

MILLS: Our members are, just like any other workers in this country, they're looking for candidates who are going to commit to back them up. And Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have gone on the offense talking about the price of gas, the price of groceries, the price of rent.

It's what working people need to hear that whoever is running for office is going to back them up on the day-to-day living. And with the track record that she's got to prove, I believe our members will be there.

BROWN: Do you have any concerns about picketing as Election Day draws near, and if it could have hurt your candidate?

MILLS: No, not really. I believe that Kamala Harris has been a strong supporter of workers. She wants workers to get what they deserve. That's the kind of country she's looking to lead. And so I think as our members are out there standing up and fighting for themselves, they're also willing to stand up and fight for her. So we have other workers that are out there knocking on doors.

And I just think on this Labor Day with so many people out there fighting for what's right, whether that's for their job or to elect people that we think will back up working people, it can all work together.

BROWN: All right, Gwen Mills, thank you so much for your time.

MILLS: Thank you.

BROWN: Coming up, U.S. authorities seize Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's airplane after determining its purchase violated U.S. sanctions. We're going to have the very latest on that just ahead.

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[15:45:06]

KEILAR: To a developing story that we're following, officials say the U.S. has seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's airplane. We're talking about the country's equivalent of Air Force One.

BROWN: The seizure happened in the Dominican Republic, and officials flew it to Florida, landing in Fort Lauderdale today. CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood is here with details. So, Kylie, what do officials say prompted this new escalation?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, they made the determination that the acquisition of this plane was in violation of U.S. sanctions. And so then they tried to figure out how they could get their hands on the plane. How this all came to fruition was that the plane was in the Dominican Republic.

According to officials from the Dominican Republic, it was there getting some maintenance that it needed to get. And the U.S. worked with officials in that country to come up with this plan to seize the plane. That happened, and then today it was flown to Florida.

And the U.S. has been going after corruption within the Venezuelan government for years now. They've been trying to prevent goods and money from getting into the country, and specifically, of course, ending up in the hands of the president, Nicolas Maduro. They have seized, you know, things like luxury cars.

But this is a major escalation. I mean, imagine another country seizing Air Force One. That is effectively what happened today.

And so U.S. officials are saying that this demonstrates that they're going to go after anyone who is in violation of U.S. sanctions, even if, of course, it is someone who is at the top of the chain and a foreign government.

KEILAR: So how did the Maduro government get the plane?

ATWOOD: OK, that's fascinating. It came from the United States. This plane was actually in the southern, you know, an area in southern Florida.

And the Maduro regime set up a company, a front company that was based in the Caribbean. They did that at the end of 2022. And then in April of 2023, they used that front company to purchase this plane. So it was purchased from this company in southern Florida. It went through the Caribbean and then it ended up in Venezuela. It's only been there now for just over a year, but it's really remarkable that it was actually a U.S. plane that ended up in Venezuela. And now, of course, is back in the hands of U.S. authorities who are able to investigate what's on the plane. We saw folks heading into the plane today, right when it landed with recording devices and the like, to try and figure out anything they can about, you know, the meetings that Maduro was having on the plane and all that.

KEILAR: Very interesting story.

BROWN: It's fascinating story.

ATWOOD: It really is.

KEILAR: Kylie, thank you so much for that. If you are traveling home this Labor Day, pack your patience because

the TSA expects this holiday weekend will be the busiest on record. We're going to go live to Reagan National Airport.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Now a look at Labor Day travel. Pack your patience.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Millions of Americans are starting their journey home from their holiday weekend, mostly by road or by plane.

KEILAR: The TSA is expecting this long holiday weekend to be the busiest on record with up to 17 million travelers through airports by Wednesday. We have CNN's Pete Muntean at Reagan National Airport for us. How many millions have you seen today, Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Probably not millions here. In fact, they were anticipating about 40,000 here at Reagan National Airport alone. But it is a huge day for air travel nonetheless. A really big finish for what has been a huge summer for air travel. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the TSA has screened about 250 million people at airports nationwide. A quarter billion people. They're averaging about 2.6 million people a day.

And Friday, the start of this travel rush was actually bigger than that average number. They were anticipating about 2.8 million people to be screened at airports nationwide. That number was actually closer to 2.9 million. So a 6 percent increase over the same time last year fits in the theme that air travel just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's not just the pent-up demand of the post-COVID era. It's not just because of the Eras tour and so many people traveling for Taylor Swift. There is something different that is happening here.

Today will be about closer to average. It's about 2.66 million people. That's what they're anticipating. The good news here is that the cancellations and delays have been relatively low. They really peaked on Thursday when bad weather swept through the mid-Atlantic. The FAA was warning of potential ground stops in Texas and Florida today.

The big thing, though, now is there is a ground stop for Newark Liberty International Airport, one of the biggest airports of the New York metro area. That is because of an equipment outage there. The FAA says they're investigating the possibility of a radar outage there. That could be significant and drive up the cancellations and delays as the day goes on.

The equipment that is working, though, that's something that's new, is here at Reagan National Airport and about 80 airports nationwide. Started out as a small pilot program for facial recognition and security checkpoints. You walk up to the machine.

You put your ID in the machine. The camera matches your photo live. And they say that is more accurate and speeds things a lot -- along a lot quicker here at Reagan National Airport and at airports all over the place. In fact, the wait time here right now, only about five minutes to get through TSA pre-check and standard screening.

[15:55:00]

KEILAR: Yes, it is fast and also creepy, if I'm being honest. Pete Muntean, thank you very much for that report from Reagan. We appreciate it.

A four-year-old boy goes back to the museum where he accidentally broke a rare 3,500-year-old vase. How this time museum officials are hoping to turn a disaster into a teachable moment next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now, you might think the kid who knocked over an ancient artifact in a museum might be banned, but quite the opposite just happened. He and his family were invited back.

BROWN: I love this. Last week, the four-year-old, well, he accidentally, he broke this rare bronze-era jar dating back 3,500 years. It was on display, we should note, without a glass barrier at the Hecht Museum in Haifa, Israel. Now, at the time, the boy's dad said his son pulled at the jar to see what was inside. That's when it hit the ground and shattered.

KEILAR: Makes sense to me. I mean, what's inside? Check it out.

OK, well, experts are now using 3D technology and high-resolution video to restore the jar, which could be back on display as soon as next week.

[16:00:00]

The museum's director says they'll use the restoration process as a learning lesson, and they actually want the family to be a part of it. And this is pretty cute, as a gift, the boy gave the staff a clay jar of his own. His little gift to them. BROWN: That should go on display.

KEILAR: I think so. Maybe not in the same place.

BROWN: Maybe if it got a barrier.

KEILAR: It needs a glass barrier.

BROWN: It needs a glass barrier, exactly.

KEILAR: Protect the ancient artifact.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.