Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Texas School Shooting; Russia's War on Ukraine; Colombia Votes; Heavy Rains in Brazil Kill Dozens. Aired 12-12:30a ET
Aired May 29, 2022 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello, everyone, and welcome, live from Studio 7 at CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on the program, a row of empty chairs recalls the 21 people killed after a mass shooting at a school in Texas. Outrage, grief, many unanswered questions, all as the U.S. President is set to pay his respects.
On the front lines of Ukraine, we get a firsthand look of what it's like in the trenches of Ukrainian troops.
And celebrations until the wee hours of the morning. Real Madrid, clinching the Champions League title but not without some security issues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: And we begin in Uvalde, in Texas, a community still very much in mourning, beset by grief and outrage, after the massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead at an elementary school.
Now in the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Uvalde, to do something they did just a couple of weeks ago in Buffalo, New York, comfort the victims of gun violence.
There is, of course, grief in Uvalde but also support for the community. On Saturday, a long line of mourners, waiting to lay flowers at a memorial, set up outside Robb Elementary School; 21 empty chairs placed outside a local business, one for each life lost during Tuesday's rampage.
But as the community and the nation reel from yet another mass shooting, outrage grows, as the timeline of events at this particular one. And why a group of law enforcement officers waited so long to rush the gunman.
The shocking, yet all too familiar violence, also reigniting the country's fierce debate over gun reform, which inevitably goes nowhere. On Saturday, U.S. President Kamala Harris was in Buffalo, New York,
attending a funeral for one of the victims of that mass shooting, at a grocery store there. Like in Uvalde, the gunman in Buffalo, used an AR style rifle. Harris is urging action, calling for an assault weapons ban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On the issue of gun violence, I will say, as I've said countless times, we are not sitting around waiting to figure out what the solution looks like. You know, we're not looking for a vaccine. We know what works on this. It includes let's have an assault weapons ban.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is in Uvalde, with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have seen a mix of emotions anger, frustration and disappointment after that 9-1-1 call timeline became more clear. But folks have wrapped their arms around the folks of Uvalde and its community.
I've seen lines like this, if you take a look, for folks waiting to purchase concert tickets or receive free food or other items. But these people are not waiting in line, in the oppressive heat, to get something. They're here to give and show their support.
Many have traveled from near and beyond. I talked to a person from El Paso. Some folks traveled from San Antonio, which is about 85 miles away, to lay flowers, balloons and stuffed animals on the lawn of Robb Elementary School, where those 19 students were killed and their two female teachers.
Parents we spoke to are stunned. They were shocked after they learned more than 80 minutes passed, between the time the initial 9-1-1 call came in and when the shooter was killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER GAITAN, ROBB ELEMENTARY PARENT: They were not concerned about the real trauma that was happening inside.
Honestly I think they did, they waited too long, too long, because I was out here. I was out here and I mean, I'm not the only parent that witnessed it. It's sad that a lot of parents witnessed it. And then to see that they're saying that it was, you know, they had gotten here quick and handled business, that's not -- that is not the way that happened.
ALFRED GARZA, AMERIE JO'S FATHER: Had they gotten in there sooner and somebody would have taken immediate action, we might have more of those children here today, including my daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROADDUS: So not only are parents upset but this entire community is upset and, of course, grieving. On Saturday, family members and friends of one of the victims showed up here to the school. And as they walked away from this overwhelming memorial --
[00:05:00]
BROADDUS: -- one of the relatives kept saying, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God" -- Adrienne Broaddus, CNN, Uvalde, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the oldest person killed earlier this month in that Buffalo shooting was laid to rest on Saturday. During the service for 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, Vice President Kamala Harris condemned what she called "an epidemic of hate" and stressed the need for Americans to come together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I cannot even begin to express our collective pain as a nation for what you are feeling in such an extreme way, to not only lose someone that you love but through an act of extreme violence and hate. And I do believe that our nation right now is experiencing an epidemic of hate.
Enough is enough. We will come together based on what we all know we have in common and we will not let those people who are motivated by hate separate us or make us feel fear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Just before departing Buffalo, the vice president also noted that, so far in 2022, there have been more than 200 mass shootings in the U.S., even though we're still less than halfway through the year.
Turning our attention now to Ukraine, that country's military says some of the most intense fighting of the war is now taking place in the eastern Donbas region. According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian troops are on the outskirts of Sievierodonetsk.
This, as a fierce battle rages at a hotel on the city's northern edge. Ukrainian troops say they are in what they call a tough defensive position, as Russian forces push toward the strategic city from the north.
But Ukrainian forces fight back. The Ukrainian video you're seeing there, purportedly showing a Russian target being hit by Ukraine, in one of the city's northern suburb.
Now at the southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine condemning the arrival of a Russian ship at that recently captured port. According to Russian state media, the ship will load up thousands of tons of Ukrainian metal and take it to Russia, an act Ukraine condemns as looting. Local Ukrainian officials say Russian shelling on Saturday killed at
least one person in a residential area of Mykolaiv. That city lies near the southern end of the front lines. CNN's Sara Sidner visited one Ukrainian unit, facing off against the Russian advance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're driving toward the front lines and you can see there is nowhere to take cover here. We have just seen an outgoing rocket that is headed toward the Russian position. But you always have to worry about what's coming back.
SIDNER (voice-over): We passed the remnants of a Russian army truck, blown to smithereens. Deputy Commander Nazar of the Ukrainian Army's 63rd Mechanized Brigade jumps out.
DEPUTY COMMANDER NAZAR, 63RD MECHANIZED BRIGADE, UKRAINIAN ARMY (through translator): This is what happens to Russians when they step on my dear Ukrainian soil.
SIDNER (voice-over): We move to the troop positions. We are told to hurry. This landscape is unforgiving. It looks like we're in a forest but this is what this part of Ukraine's Mykolaiv district looks like from a drone, a razor-thin line of trees, the only cover around.
SIDNER: We're now in the trench. The Russians are just past this camera, just past this area on the other side of a huge field.
SIDNER (voice-over): At this moment, he tells us, we're just two kilometers away, less than 1.5 miles from Russian forces.
NAZAR (through translator): Along this tree line, there are Russian positions.
SIDNER: The enemy is there. He is pointing to where their positions are.
SIDNER (voice-over): The soldiers are always watching from the ground. And sometimes, from their drone in the air, when they see the Russian target, they strike.
A direct hit to a Russian vehicle, then a second explosion from whatever catches fire inside it. But Russia has its artillery and drones, too. The faintest sound of one sends the deputy commander and his soldier back undercover.
SIDNER: How brutal has this fight been on this front line?
NAZAR (through translator): The Russians are using artillery, conventional artillery, missile artillery. They work over the trenches with my units. They hit settlements and civilians, too. We didn't do anything to them.
SIDNER: What has your worst day been like in these trenches?
NAZAR (through translator): A direct hit, four soldiers dead in one strike.
SIDNER (voice-over): His troops have been battling here for a long time. But how long is classified.
[00:10:00]
SIDNER (voice-over): What are you hearing and dealing with every day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Almost every day, we have some incoming.
SIDNER (voice-over): But 26-year-old Pavel (ph) says at least he's with family, literally. This is his 59-year-old father, Yaroslav, and his 34-year-old brother, Nazar.
SIDNER: You are a father. You have your two boys here with you, your two sons.
What's it's like fighting together?
YAROSLAV, NAZAR'S FATHER (through translator): Very simple. Very easy and simple.
SIDNER (voice-over): For them, trench life is easier, because they're fighting for each other.
SIDNER: What does their mother say about you all fighting together here in this most dangerous place?
NAZAR (through translator): Mother surely worries about us. She is nervous. Also, our wives and our children worry.
SIDNER (voice-over): She has plenty to worry about. A soldier shares his video of recent incoming Russian fire. The naked eye can easily spot where it landed.
When you are just over a mile from the front line --
SIDNER: Whenever we're out in the open, so we're out in the open, we have to run.
SIDNER (voice-over): Here, you're close enough to be killed by gunfire, not just shelling from a tank -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Mykolaiv district, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now Russia's war in Ukraine has impacted just about everything in Europe, including football. St. Petersburg was originally chosen to host Saturday's Champions League final. But it was moved to Paris after the invasion of Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): What you're looking at there is thousands of Real Madrid fans, celebrating late into the night in the Spanish capital, after the team won its 14th Champions League title, beating Liverpool 1-0.
Not everyone felt like celebrating, though. Some people took to the streets of Madrid and fought with riot police.
And in France, the match was marred by pregame clashes between police and Liverpool fans, outside of the stadium.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(SPORTS)
HOLMES: Anger and grief in the West Bank, following the killing of another Palestinian teenager by Israeli troops. Crowd bidding farewell to him on Saturday. We'll have that, plus the final moments of that young life, coming up.
Also, voters in Colombia, now set to pick a new president amid turbulent times. We'll show you what's at stake and who is leading the polls.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:15:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Tensions are rising in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, after Israel's military killed a 14-year-old Palestinian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): An angry crowd chanting at his funeral on Saturday, the day after the teen was shot. But as Atika Shubert reports, there are two different storylines about how the teenager was killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Zaid Ghuneim had just finished dinner here at his parents' house when he stepped outside and started to walk to his grandparents' house, about half a kilometer away from here.
Now according to his brother, the 14-year old was not aware that there were clashes happening with Israeli soldiers near that area. We spoke to several eyewitnesses there. They tell us that he was chased into a nearby garage. And that's where he was shot once in each leg, twice in the back and once in the neck.
That is according to Palestinian medics who arrived on the scene. Now we asked the Israeli military for a response to explain what happened. They told us in a statement that Israeli soldiers were in the area, conducting quote, "routine security activity," when they came under attack with rocks and Molotov cocktails, quote, "endangering their lives."
And that is when Israeli soldiers responded with live fire, injuring one person. Now according to that statement, Israeli soldiers also performed first aid.
But according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, once Zaid Ghuneim was brought to the hospital, he was pronounced dead. Unfortunately, this is the second minor in a week that has been shot and killed by Israeli forces. They are the latest victims in a surge of violence across Israel and the West Bank -- Atika Shubert, for CNN, near Bethlehem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Iran is trying to show off what it describes as a top secret drone base that's never been seen before by the public. State media broadcasting this footage, saying it shows dozens of drones and missiles in a secret underground base.
Iran claims its drones are domestically produced. But Tehran does have a history of making dubious claims about military advancements, including this stealth fighter jet that was revealed nine years ago, an alleged stealth fighter jet.
Multiple aviation bloggers and experts said the plane was likely a mockup that couldn't even get off the ground.
In the coming hours, millions of voters will head to the polls in the first round of Colombia's presidential election, six candidates vying to lead the country. The front-runner is left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla fighter and mayor of Bogota.
Right wing candidate Federico Gutierrez, the former mayor of Medellin, has been running second in opinion polls.
[00:20:00]
HOLMES: Now Colombia has been plagued by economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest and a deteriorating security situation. As Stefano Pozzebon reports, the winner of this election will enter office at one of the most turbulent times in Colombia's modern history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like millions in our generation, Valentina Jimenez believes Colombia should change the way the country is run. She will vote for Gustavo Petro, a left-wing politician, who is leading polls in the Sunday presidential election on a message of fundamental change.
But that won't be easy, she tells me. Her own family is worried he may be a step too far. So we asked her to introduce us to her family. And in front of a platter of empanadas, Jimenez and her grandfather lay out who they think should be the next president. VALENTINA JIMENEZ, PETRO SUPPORTER (through translator): My focus
here is the education, the future. I respect this generation. But I want to tell them that, now, it's our time to run the country. And we might do things a little different.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Petro proposes large-scale public investment to combat inequality and boost the country's recovery from the impact of the pandemic.
GUSTAVO PETRO, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): My pledge here is to really change Colombia toward an economy of production and a society based on rights.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Like other countries in South America, inflation is hitting Colombia hard this year. And that disproportionally affects the working class. But before being a reformist, Petro himself waged war on the state, as a left-wing guerilla.
POZZEBON: Petro's past as a guerilla fighter is what worries you the most.
LUCIANO YARA, VALENTINA'S GRANDFATHER (through translator): Yes, I was in the army. And I had to fight in the jungle. It was hard. You were sent in and didn't know if you would come back.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Colombia spent decades fighting rebel insurgents from both the Left and the Right, the longest civil conflict in the Western Hemisphere. While a historic peace deal ended the conflict in 2016, Petro's main rival from the Right, Federico Gutierrez, believes order and security should be the priority for the next president.
FEDERICO GUTIERREZ, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (through translator): We need to restore security. People can't go out and ride their bikes in fear of being killed by robbers.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Apart from Petro and Gutierrez, the third candidate leading in the polls is Rodolfo Hernandez, a 77-year-old populist entrepreneur, who mounted a campaign on social media and has been compared to former U.S. President Donald Trump.
If none of the candidates wins a majority of the votes, the two best placed will pass to a second round in June.
POZZEBON: It's telling that Gustavo Petro chose to hold the largest political rally of his campaign in front of a supreme court building that was assaulted by leftist guerrillas. On the ballot this Sunday will not just be how the country should be run over the next four years but also whether Colombia can come to terms with its past -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Parts of southwestern Mexico are bracing for the first hurricane from the eastern Pacific of the season. We'll get the latest details from CNN Weather Center, coming up.
[00:25:00]
HOLMES: More than 30 people have been killed in the northeastern part of Brazil, in landslides and flooding, triggered by heavy rains. Officials say most of the deaths were reported in just the last 24 hours. And hundreds of people are being forced to leave their homes.
So much rain has fallen that officials are urging residents in landslide prone areas to get out to safer areas. Some places have had more rain in a day than in the month of May.
And a hurricane watch is in effect for Mexico, as tropical storm Agatha forms in the eastern Pacific. This storm is expected to make landfall on the country's southern coast on Monday. Agatha was the first storm in the region for this year's hurricane season.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. "LIVING GOLF" is next. I'll see you in 30 minutes.
[00:30:00]
