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Plans Unveiled to Combat Shortage of Air Traffic Controllers; Trump to Deliver Graduation Speech at University of Alabama; 100 Men Versus 1 Gorilla: Who Would Win. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 01, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

KEVIN O'LEARY, SHARK TANK INVESTOR: ... So everybody hang on. I think we'll have China resolved by Christmas. I'll tell you why. Not because of China. Because it's too close to the midterm elections for Trump. That's why.

And so there's a time bomb on Trump too. He can't let down his entire, you know -- I mean, he's got a lot of people hoping they're going to march into pre-marketing the midterms with a lot of good news, including a China deal and a big, beautiful bill and tax extensions and all the rest of the stuff. This administration, and I will admit, it's unique in this sense.

It's not like Trump 1.0. Trump 2.0, every sausage is being watched on television. Every sausage is being made. I mean, it's almost exhausting. It's so volatile. But that's what he's doing. He's saying, look, I'm going to let you watch it being made.

And if the toys are going to be, you know, two toys instead of three, I'm going to tell you that. I get it. You've got to be careful with Trump. You've got to look for the signal and leave out the noise. There's a ton of noise.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yes, there's there definitely is there. Kevin O'Leary, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

O'LEARY: Take care.

KEILAR: I want to be on your Christmas list.

All right, we'll be right back.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The Department of Transportation is hoping that financial incentives, cold hard cash, can help attract and retain more air traffic controllers. Secretary Sean Duffy says that right now there's a shortage of about 3,000 workers. A series of recent high-profile aviation incidents have highlighted the scarcity and the workload of exhausted controllers. CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is here with us. Pete, this is welcome news, I think, to any traveler. Walk us through this announcement.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, especially if you have a summer trip planned. And this is a pretty simple problem that's pretty hard to fix. You know, the big thing here is that the FAA is facing a shortage of 3,000 air traffic controllers.

In fact, it's been particularly acute this week for passengers going to and from the major airport in Newark, New Jersey. The Biden administration started to tackle this. Now the Trump administration's really having to carry the ball.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy already announced in February that he was going to supercharge air traffic controller hiring. Now he's throwing in cash incentives to reward new hires. These are the bonuses.

Notably, the biggest bonus is to keep existing controllers from retiring. Controllers face a mandatory retirement age of 56 years old, and many take retirement early. Now they can get a 20 percent bonus for each year they're eligible to retire but stay on the job.

I asked Duffy how quickly this will make a dent in the shortage, and he said it will not be overnight, but hopefully will not be a problem left to the next administration. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: You're starting to see cracks in the system, and you can see them in different locations. And it's our job, all of us working together, to not wait until there's a disaster. It's our job to actually see over the horizon what the issues are and fix it before there is an incident that we will seriously regret.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: I mentioned the delays and cancellations this week in Newark, a huge hub for United Airlines. And earlier today, delays were averaging five hours due to staffing shortages and runway construction there. On Monday, equipment problems and then a controller staffing shortage contributed to about a third of all flights there being delayed.

United Airlines tells me it had to divert 37 flights in total on Monday. Some flights made it a third of the way across the country but had to turn back. Obviously, this is so frustrating for passengers as we're right on the threshold of the summer travel season.

And this really begins to get interesting when this staffing shortage really intermixes with all of the bad weather that comes with summertime travel. This could be really bad.

KEILAR: I canceled a flight to Newark today. As it were. I'll be driving.

MUNTEAN: Sara Sidner sent me the text she got from United Airlines, and so many people are caught up in this right now.

KEILAR: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you so much. And stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In just a few hours, President Trump is set to give a special commencement speech at the University of Alabama. The event kicks off the school's graduation weekend. And the university says that attendance at tonight's event is optional.

Jacob Ritondo is the managing editor of the school newspaper, The Crimson White, and he joins us now live. Jacob, thanks so much for being with us. How is the campus preparing for the president's speech in Tuscaloosa?

JACOB RITONDO, MANAGING EDITOR, THE CRIMSON WHITE: Well, you know, reactions are just really divided here at the university. You know, we've seen throughout the past week a number of statements be put out in support and, you know, against the president hosting his commencement address. And I know tonight, you know, a lot of students are planning on actually protesting the event.

SANCHEZ: Yes, to that point, last month there was this Iranian doctoral student. He was studying mechanical engineering. He was reportedly detained by ICE and was recently denied bond. I had read about some rumblings that students might demonstrate to show support for him.

I wonder what you're hearing about that and what the university has said about a response to any demonstrations during the speech.

RITONDO: Well, on that first point, yes, many students are, you know, very upset with the university over, you know, this Iranian student being detained. Many students feel that the university didn't have, you know, an adequate response and that the university didn't come out, you know, in full enough support of this student.

So, yes, you know, many students, I think that's part of the reason why they're protesting tonight. They feel that maybe, you know, the university is in effect, you know, endorsing the president by having him as a commencement speaker. And they feel that that's, you know, perhaps wrong considering that, you know, the Trump administration did detain one of our own students.

And I know that the university has set up specific zones for protesters outside of Coleman Coliseum where the commencement address will be held.

[15:45:00]

As well, they have specific zones for counter protesters, for protesters who actually are in support of the president.

And I know as well that inside the arena, they're kind of trying to crack down on any, you know, major protests inside.

SANCHEZ: Have they put out any specific warnings about how they might do that?

RITONDO: Yes, so inside there's a number of items you can't bring in. You can't bring in signs, placards, flags, things like that. They said, you know, no heckling the president during his speech.

And they threatened to, you know, discipline any students who break those rules. To get a ticket in, you had to agree to not do any of those things. And so they threatened discipline, possibly up to, you know, expulsion, suspension, arrest, campus ban. They also threatened to hold students' diplomas if it gets, you know, too rowdy.

SANCHEZ: Jacob, I wonder if you have any idea what message you expect President Trump to share with students on campus. What are you anticipating from his speech?

RITONDO: You know, it can be hard to tell sometimes. I think the president's known to kind of, you know, go off and say whatever comes to his mind. I would expect that he, you know, will talk about graduation.

But personally, I would expect as well that he might, you know, somehow put politics into it. But it remains to be seen, you know, exactly how he would do that.

SANCHEZ: We'll certainly be monitoring the president's remarks later tonight in Tuscaloosa. Jacob Ritondo, thank you so much for being with us.

RITONDO: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, we delve into the question that is consuming social media right now. Can 100 men beat a gorilla in a fight? We've got a gorilla expert to weigh in. Don't go anywhere.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It's a question that has seemingly everyone talking. Who would win in a fight between a 100 men and one gorilla? That hypothetical was revived in a post on X after the question was initially raised on Reddit five years ago. The latest post has more than 270 million views, and the debate has gone far beyond the confines of social media, with Elon Musk and Mr. Beast and Montana Senator Tim Sheehy weighing in as well.

Let's get the truth from our own expert, Ron Magill, the communications director at Zoo Miami. Ron, great to see you. As always, who would win in a fight, Ron? 100 men or one gorilla? RON MAGILL, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, ZOO MIAMI: Well, Boris, there's a lot of things you've got to take into consideration here. First of all, let's say it's 100 men in their 20s or 30s, so 100 healthy men. They've got to be committed, because if they go in, they've got to go in all at once.

It's not like a couple goes in one at a time because the gorilla's going to win that. But if they go in all at once, there really is no way a gorilla's going to win that. A gorilla's a very powerful animal, but keep in mind, this is a gentle giant.

The only way a gorilla's going to become aggressive is to protect his family. These are vegetarians. They're herbivores. They don't eat meat. They don't kill to feed. They just fight to defend their families.

But if you get 100 men coming at them, the reality is the gorilla would have no chance. He'd probably create some tremendous collateral damage. You might lose a few of those men. It'd be a kamikaze mission for the first ones to get to the gorilla. But at the end of the day, if everybody remains committed and united, they wrap themselves around the gorilla like a big straitjacket, they can inflict some serious injury through abdominal trauma. There's all kinds of trauma and just asphyxiating the gorilla.

It's a no question to me.

SANCHEZ: So you think the men win. Obviously, depending on technique, right? I do wonder when you say there's going to be some folks that might be badly injured if not lost in this attempt, how strong is a gorilla? Like how many -- compared to how many men as you said in their 20s or 30s, how strong? Has the strength of how many men?

MAGILL: Between four to seven men of that size, easily. You know, they have fast twitch muscles. Listen, I've seen a gorilla take a coconut in his hand and break it. I've seen him take a 300 pound boulder and flip it like it's made out of Styrofoam.

But again, keep in mind, these are not naturally aggressive animals. The whole concept of this, you know, who would win thing is absolutely ridiculous.

These gorillas are not King Kong. They're not grabbing planes off of buildings. They're not that kind of powerful animal, that kind of aggressive animal.

So, you know, I'm playing along the game here just to look at the logistics of it. But at the bottom line, this would never happen. A gorilla would run away if it saw 100 men.

SANCHEZ: We appreciate you doing that. Also, it's important nobody should actually try to do this, right? It's a terrible idea.

MAGILL: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: I wonder is there an animal out there in the animal kingdom that could take on 100 men if it's not a gorilla?

MAGILL: Sure. An elephant could do it. You know, assuming the men have no weapons, a rhino could do it.

I bet you a hippo could probably do it, too. Any of the big pachyderms. These are massively powerful animals.

And assuming the men only have their hands, you're not going to really be able to penetrate that skin. There's not a real soft spot on places, you know, except at the risk of seeing a little graphic, the genitalia. If it's a male, you know, big primates will actually go at each other's genitalia. That's actually a strategy that they have when they fight each other. So that could be a breaking point, so to speak.

But generally speaking, I think none of the pachyderms, 100 men would have a hard time with any elephant.

SANCHEZ: I'll keep that in mind if I ever confront a primate in the wild and it wants to attack me. But Ron, hippos, they do harm a lot of people, right? Like hippos, like sharks. I love sharks. They get a bad rap.

MAGILL: You're right.

[15:55:00]

SANCHEZ: They don't really do that much damage to humans. But hippos, they're dangerous, right? People should know this.

MAGILL: More people are killed in Africa, killed and injured in Africa, more by hippos than any other animal. More than elephants, more than lions, more than any leopards. Hippos injure and kill more people in Africa than any other animal.

They're incredibly fast. And again, this isn't an herbivore. But if you get between a hippo and water, they're very protective of that route into the water, that escape route.

I've seen a hippo take a 12, 14 foot crocodile and kill it without a problem, which is pretty incredible.

SANCHEZ: I think we're going to have to start thinking of new hypotheticals here. Maybe hippos against gorillas, maybe 100 gorillas and a hippo. We'll see.

Ron Magill, appreciate you entertaining the conversation. Thanks so much, man.

MAGILL: Always a pleasure, Boris, take care.

SANCHEZ: Cheers.

Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: We end with a rare doubleheader that's drawing in customers at one California pet store. A lot of animals this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Look at this.

[16:00:00]

Angel and Zeke, who share one body, fused at the spine. This two- headed California kingsnake was hatched at the East Bay Vivarium about seven months ago, and while they may be stuck on each other, each head does try to get its own way, according to staffers. They say Angel often wins out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGEL HAMILTON, EAST BAY VIVARIUM EMPLOYEE: You can see they're both thinking different things. You know, sometimes you see them fight, like, wants to go right, wants to go left.

ALEX BLANCHERD, EAST BAY VIVARIUM OWNER: A typical kingsnake's lifespan can be anywhere from 20 to 30 years. We think these guys will be here just as long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This rare reptile occurs only once in 100,000 snake births.

Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END