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Air National Guardsman Charged Under Espionage Act; Abortion Medication Drug Access Extended While Supreme Court Considers Case; Republican Hopefuls Court Pro-Gun Voters; Japanese Prime Minister Evacuated After Explosion; Macron Enacts New Pension Law; Biden In Ireland; U.S. Credit Card Debt At Record Levels; USDA Tests Vaccine On Poultry; Children Crossing Darien Gap. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired April 15, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we're getting a better look at the case against the Air National Guardsman who is accused of leaking classified Pentagon documents and the charges he's facing.
Republican hopefuls for president climb over each other to show who has the most support for gun rights at the annual NRA convention.
And an explosion leads to the Japanese prime minister being evacuated from the place where he was giving a speech. A look at what was behind the incident.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. government is moving quickly with its prosecution of the suspected leaker of classified documents that included detailed intelligence assessments of allies and adversaries alike; 21 year old Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira has now been formally charged under the Espionage Act.
Jason Carroll has the latest on the charges and the continuing fallout from the leaks.
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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jack Teixeira's family leaving federal court in Boston this afternoon, refusing to answer any questions.
The 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman made his first appearance in front of a federal judge today. He's now charged with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents and/or material.
An unsealed affidavit shows that Teixeira was granted top secret security clearance back in 2021. He had high level access to the nation's most guarded intelligence and other highly classified programs.
The affidavit alleges he began posting classified documents starting in 2022 and then recently, on April 6th, used a government computer to search a database using the word "leak."
Once it was publicly revealed that someone was leaking classified documents --
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is not just about taking home documents. People who sign agreements to be able to receive classified documents acknowledge the importance to the national security of not disclosing those documents.
CARROLL: Teixeira was an I.T. specialist for the Air National Guard, whose job was to help maintain a network where top secret information was held.
According to official U.S. sources, Teixeira is believed to be the leader of a small group of the social media platform, Discord, a site popular with video gamers and where the classified documents had been posted.
The leaked classified documents included a wide range of highly classified information, including eavesdropping on key allies and adversaries and blunt assessments on the state of the Ukraine war.
Investigators ultimately narrowed in on the chat group. According to a U.S. government source familiar with the case, Teixeira was under surveillance for at least a couple of days prior to his arrest.
While President Biden played down the security damage on Thursday, today he released a statement, saying, in part, "I've directed our military and intelligence community to take steps to further secure and limit distribution of sensitive information. And our national security team is closely coordinating with our partners and allies."
But the ultimate national security impact of the leak still to be determined.
GARLAND: The Department of Defense is leading an important effort now to evaluate and review the national security implications.
CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, Boston.
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BRUNHUBER: Restrictions on a key abortion drug that were set to go into effect hours ago have been put on hold but only for a few days. Late Friday U.S. Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito temporarily extended access to mifepristone while the high court considers an emergency appeal filed by the Biden administration and a drug manufacturer.
The case centers on the FDA's authority to regulate the drug. Alito's order pushes back to midweek restrictions that were set to go into effect today. The judges have asked parties in the case to respond by noon Eastern time on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris slammed anti abortion Republicans during a blistering speech in New York on Friday, warning that hard-won personal rights are being eroded. Here she is.
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KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let us clearly understand the moment we are in, a moment in which our hard- won freedoms are under attack. They attack the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body instead of the government.
They attack medication that, for 20 years, the FDA ruled as being safe.
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BRUNHUBER: The Supreme Court's order expires on Wednesday.
Just days after two deadly mass shootings in the U.S., Republican presidential hopefuls attended a gun rights convention to try to court voters. Former president Donald Trump and his ex running mate Mike Pence were among those who rallied supporters at the NRA convention. CNN's Kristin Holmes has the details.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was proud to be the most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment president you've ever had in the White House.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): I will stand with each and every one of you in protection of what we all know is common sense.
NIKKI HALEY (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a concealed weapons permit holder myself. My husband is a hunter. And we value the fact that citizens have the right to protect themselves.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The National Rifle Association convention highlights the sway the NRA still holds with the Republican Party, even amid a rise in mass shootings in the U.S., including those in Kentucky and Tennessee in recent days.
MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know I speak with everyone here when I say that our hearts and our prayers are with all the families that suffered loss and injury in these unspeakable attacks. HOLMES (voice-over): Former Vice President Mike Pence called for mass shooters to be punished more quickly.
PENCE: I believe the time has come to institute a federal death penalty statute with accelerated appeal to ensure that those who engage in mass shootings face execution in months, not years.
HOLMES (voice-over): Several contenders suggested policymakers should focus on expanding mental health resources and armed guards to protect schools.
ASA HUTCHINSON (R-AR), FORMER GOVERNOR: If you're going to protect children, you need to have armed personnel to protect the children.
GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): We know the crux of these issues. It's undiagnosed mental health. It's a lack of opportunity in schools.
HOLMES (voice-over): Former President Trump delivered the closing remarks at the forum promoting his actions to expand gun rights while in the White House.
TRUMP: I fought Obama's unconstitutional effort to ban 3D printed guns. I stood up for our hunters, fishers and sportsmen like no other president has ever done before.
HOLMES (voice-over): Appearing via video, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is seen as Trump's top rival for the nomination touted his efforts to expand gun rights in the Sunshine State.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): As governor, I've resisted calls to take up gun control even when such a stand is superficially unpopular, because I understand that it is precisely at those moments when a right is unpopular that it needs true champions.
HOLMES (voice-over): The conference also marks the first time Trump and Pence have appeared in person at the same event after their public split following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as the two former allies appear on a collision course in a 2024 GOP primary.
HOLMES: And the former president didn't just talk about what he did while he was in the White House. He also talked about what he would do if elected president again in 2024, including calling for national concealed carry reciprocity.
Now that would be something that would be incredibly hard to pass and obviously incredibly controversial -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, Indianapolis, Indiana.
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BRUNHUBER: Brandon Wolf is the press secretary for Equality Florida. He's a gun safety and LGBTQ civil rights advocate. And Brandon was in Orlando's Pulse night club in 2016 when a gunman opened fire, killing 49 people. Well, thank you for coming on. Republicans, especially those
potentially vying for 2024, falling over themselves to prove who could be the most pro gun.
What do you make of it?
BRANDON WOLF, PRESS SECRETARY, EQUALITY FLORIDA: Well, I mean, you know, I have to ask myself, what is the NRA anymore?
Excuse me.
What is the NRA anymore if not simply a failing arm of the right wing hysteria machine?
And you saw a lot of that today. As you said, they were tripping over themselves to see who could be the most pro gun while, at the same time, those positions are wildly out of step with the American people.
It tells you that the politicians that you saw on display today are interested solely in winning a GOP nomination. They're interested in that tiny sliver of the population that Donald Trump has weaponized over the last, you know, six plus years.
And it tells you that they have no interest in actually solving the issues that are plaguing the American people. Keep in mind that gun violence is the number one cause of death for American children. And rather than hearing some common sense solutions, rather than hearing the NRA --
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WOLF: -- which, you know, prides itself on being the organization that represents gun owners across America, rather than talking about common sense solutions that most gun owners agree with, we heard a whole lot of hysteria baiting, from right wing extremist politicians today, including Donald Trump, who suggested that potentially transgender people and marijuana are to blame for gun violence rather than the common denominator, which is the guns.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean, they did offer some solutions; among them, a quicker death penalty for those found guilty of a mass shooting; armed guards for schools, making it easier for teachers to train themselves with guns.
Basically anything but sort of removing guns, obviously, there. But as you say, they're really out of step with what most Americans are saying they want to see, a bit more in terms of gun control.
WOLF: Yes, absolutely. I mean, all of the common sense gun safety reforms that I've advocated for, all of the ones that most, I would say, gun safety advocates are out talking about, are things that are wildly popular, right?
You think about, you know, universal background checks that has, you know, 95 plus percent support in the United States of America. You think about things like extreme risk protection orders or red flag laws. Those enjoy 60 plus percent support in the United States.
And even banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines enjoys majority support in this country. And so again, I think it's easy for us to say that these right wing politicians are wildly out of step with where the American people are.
Because the American people have said over and over again that we can do more around gun violence, that we can respect the Second Amendment, we can respect responsible gun owners and we can also put some common sense guardrails around, you know, gun -- guns in this country so that we can actually make some meaningful progress on pushing back against the gun violence crisis that is not only plaguing this country but is unique only to this country.
We are the only country on planet Earth that is experiencing this kind of epidemic. We also are the most heavily armed civilian population on planet Earth. And so again, we've got to put those two links together.
The American people agree and you've got the NRA and these right wing politicians, who are wildly out of step with that.
BRUNHUBER: If you take guns off the table, obviously, the extremes on the Right won't agree with any sort of gun control.
But is there somewhere where maybe the two parties can agree, something like mental health, more help for mental health, for instance?
WOLF: Well, listen, I mean, you know, first of all, I'm never going to take guns off the table because I do think we have to have a conversation about easy access to firearms in this country. We know that's the common denominator in our gun violence issue.
But I do think we need to talk about some of the other things that are happening in society. We need to talk about the root causes of violence in general.
I do think we need to be careful about stigmatizing people living with mental illness, because those with mental health crises are far more likely to be the victims of violence rather than the perpetrators.
But listen, if right wing Republicans want to come to the table and talk about expanding access to health care, including mental health resources in this country, I say let's have a conversation about that.
BRUNHUBER: Brandon Wolf with Equality Florida, thank you so much for joining us, really appreciate it.
WOLF: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: We're getting our first glimpse into Donald Trump's post presidency finances. He filed his 100 page personal disclosure report Friday. It shows more than $5 million in income from speaking engagements and up to $1 million from the sale of his digital trading cards.
It's the first such report Trump has filed since announcing his intention to run for president again in 2024. Trump's former secretary of state Mike Pompeo says he won't throw his hat into the 2024 U.S. presidential race after weeks spent fueling speculation.
Pompeo told FOX News on Friday that this is not his moment and that he won't be running, calling it a deeply personal decision for him and his family.
President Biden says he plans to seek reelection and he may make a formal announcement soon. Biden just concluded a four day trip to Ireland before boarding Air Force One for his return trip home. He spoke with reporters who asked about his intentions.
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QUESTION: Can you tell us whether the last few days, you have changed their calculus on when you make an announcement on your plans for 2024?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, no, no. I -- I've already made that calculus. We'll announce it relatively soon.
But the trip here just reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done.
QUESTION: So you've made a decision, you just have to announce it?
BIDEN: I told you, my plan is to run again.
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BRUNHUBER: And we'll have more on Biden's trip to Ireland a little later in the hour.
Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida has returned to the campaign trail after he was evacuated from a venue when an explosion went off.
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BRUNHUBER: The blast occurred as he was set to give a speech to supporters. Police arrested the man suspected of throwing a device at the scene. Public broadcaster NHK reports that the prime minister wasn't harmed. CNN's Marc Stewart joins us now from Tokyo with more.
So Marc, what more are we learning?
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kim. A big part of this investigation is now going to focus on this 24 year old man, who has been identified as a suspect.
I'm sure investigators have a long list of questions, including intention. But for the moment they are going to have to wait. According to Japan's national broadcaster NHK, this man will not speak until his attorney arrives. Let's turn the clock the clock back around 7, 5 hours or so, around
noon time here in Japan. The prime minister was at a political event when witnesses in this crowd say they saw a silver cylinder-like object flying through the air.
Shortly after this, there was an explosion. That is when attention focused on the crowd. And this man, this 24 year old man, is basically tackled to the ground. He was described as wearing glasses, a mask. He had a gray backpack. He was taken away.
The prime minister was obviously taken away and is now safe. As you mentioned, the prime minister then resumed his political duties, if you will. During this campaign stop, he gave a speech, in which he acknowledged the explosion. He acknowledged some of the chaos that happened and apologized for that but was very adamant on keeping the focus on this political event and his political message for this particular candidate.
But again it is important to stress that the Japanese prime minister is indeed safe.
BRUNHUBER: Marc, I mean, this frightening incident, of course, you immediately have to think back a few months to the assassination of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe.
STEWART: Yes, I think everyone here in Japan who has been reporting on this story thought back to that case. And as soon as that happened, a lot of questions were raised about security and some changes were made. At least one person resigned.
Here in Japan, though, which is different from the United States, politicians and the public are able to get close to each other. But that is now going to be under review even further. This case is certainly going to prompt more questions and it will be interesting to see how that discussion unfolds.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. All right. We'll follow along on that case, Marc Stewart, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
France has a new pension reform law but people who oppose the changes aren't giving up the fight. A live report from Paris after the break.
And weeks after an American journalist was detained in Russia, the U.S. says it still doesn't know what Moscow wants for his release. Ahead, the U.S. hostage envoy speaks out about the case. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: In the past few hours, French president Emmanuel Macron's plan to change the pension system has become the law of the land in France. But the anger against Macron and his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is stronger than ever.
Some protesters lit flares after the nation's highest constitutional court approved the reform on Friday. There were reports of fires and arrests. And hours later, Macron signed the pension reform into law.
Union leaders are vowing to continue the fight on this, calling for historic protests on May 1st, a day usually marked by big labor demonstrations. All right, let's bring in CNN's Nada Bashir, live for us in Paris.
So after all those weeks of protests, it's a done deal. Take us through what happened.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. We've seen weeks of demonstrations and, of course, weeks of deliberation by France's constitutional council. Of course, yesterday, they did announce their final decision, giving the green light to the core of this constitutional reform, essentially raising the pension age from 62 to 64.
However, they did strike down six minor measures included in this legislation. But this is, of course, a major win for president Emmanuel Macron. This has been the subject of debate for weeks.
Now we've seen 12 rounds of mass demonstrations across France, not just in Paris. And of course, significant anger being directed toward president Emmanuel Macron not only over this proposal now signed into law but also over the way in which the president chose to enforce this legislation, bypassing the lower house of parliament, where president Emmanuel Macron's party, crucially, does not have an outright majority and bypassing a final vote.
We've spoken to some of those protesters who have been taking to the streets over the last few weeks, many feeling angry toward the president. They say he has undermined the democratic principles here in France by choosing to use those executive powers to force this legislation through.
Of course, we have seen those protests over the last few weeks. And while they remain significant in number, they have waned somewhat. On Thursday we saw another weekly demonstration for 380,000 people taking to the streets across France and 42,000 here in Paris.
And there were once again some pockets of violence and the anticipation now is that we could continue to see demonstrations in response to the council's decision.
BRUNHUBER: Well, yes, that's exactly what I want to ask. I mean, the union leaders say the fight will go on.
So what does happen next?
BASHIR: Well, that is the message that we're hearing from the larger unions here in France. They want to continue to protest against this legislation. We know that president Emmanuel Macron has invited union heads to the Elysee next Tuesday for talks. We've seen attempts in the past by the government to hold talks with
the union heads. They have failed on all fronts, the government refusing to move from its position. And we've heard from the head of one of France's largest unions say that they would not participate in these talks next Tuesday, unless there is the potential for this to not go into law, of course.
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BASHIR: That ship has well and truly sailed, of course. President Emmanuel Macron wasting no time signing this legislation into law in the early hours of today. Now, of course, we are expecting those further demonstrations on May 1st. This is Labor Day. Traditionally we would see the unions taking to the streets in large scale protests.
The heads of the larger unions here in France are calling for a historic day of protest and many of the demonstrators that we've been speaking to on the streets have told us they will continue to fight against this legislation -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, appreciate it. Nada Bashir in Paris, thanks so much.
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BRUNHUBER: The death toll from Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Slovyansk has written -- risen to at least nine. Ukrainian officials announced the new number this morning, a day after missiles rained down on the city that hit seven separate locations, including this residential building, leaving 21 other people wounded.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has decimated Russia's clandestine special forces known as Spetsnaz. That's according to "The Washington Post," citing some of the U.S. intelligence documents recently leaked online.
They estimate that one Spetsnaz unit sent 900 troops to Ukraine. Only about 125 are still active. Now CNN is unable to independently verify the report.
A U.S. hostage envoy says Russia has not indicated what it wants for the release of American journalist Evan Gershkovich. "The Wall Street Journal" reporter was detained last month on allegations of espionage, which he denies. He's one of two Americans the U.S. has designated as being wrongfully detained in Russia.
The other is former Marine Paul Whelan. On Thursday, his sister demanded more action from the White House to secure his release. The U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs says America is doing all it can but acknowledges there's been little progress in the case.
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ROGER CARSTENS, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS: Negotiations I've had in the past, not with the Russians, where the other side is actually, throughout secret channels, said we're doing something and, by the way, here's what we want to get out of this.
In this case, there have been no discussions of that sort. And we don't yet know.
We're not taking our foot off the gas. We're going to find a way to bring Paul and Evan home. But I want you to know that Evans and Paul -- and I'm going to say, Paul, because I've been working on this case for so long, they're front and center in our mind. We are going to find a way to get this done.
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BRUNHUBER: Supporters of jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny fear he's being poisoned again. Navalny was in court for two hearings on Friday. His team says prison officials were forced to call an ambulance last week to treat him for severe stomach pain that he was in. And he's been losing weight.
Navalny was poisoned with a possible nerve agent back in 2020. His allies fear he's been poisoned again, gradually, in small doses.
Parts of the U.S. are facing an increasing severe weather threat. Today we'll have details on what to expect after the break.
And President Biden is back home after wrapping up his trip to Ireland highlights from his visit after the break, including a moment of personal serendipity. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the states, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We're looking at some potentially severe weather across parts of the U.S. today. The greatest threat is large hail and damaging winds in Missouri, southward through Arkansas and into northern Louisiana. There's also a threat of tornadoes.
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, life is gradually returning to normal after monumental rains and flooding this week. Cleanup efforts are already underway but it's a huge task, as CNN's Leyla Santiago reports.
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LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Folks here in south Florida returning to some sense of normalcy, the airport back open, flights coming and going, water receding. But the damage here has been done for many of these communities. I spoke to one gentleman who, at the time, didn't have water, called
this a disaster, said in eight years of living in his home, he's never seen anything like this. Remember we're talking about historic numbers.
The National Weather Service, saying that on Thursday three feet of flooding observed in areas. And that was enough to force people to leave their cars immediately, leave their homes immediately, kept rescue crews very busy overnight as they tried to get to vulnerable people trying to get out of flooded homes.
And hundreds of people had to turn to emergency shelters as well.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a significant flooding event. I would say this is the second most catastrophic flooding event that I've seen in my tenure as an emergency manager in public safety over the last 33 years.
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SANTIAGO: So again the words we heard to describe what many of these communities felt, nightmare, disaster, things they've never seen before. And yet the cleanup effort, it's still far from over -- Leyla Santiago, CNN, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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BRUNHUBER: President Biden is back in the U.S. this hour after a four day tour of Ireland. His joy at seeing his family's ancestral homeland was on full display throughout his visit and seems Ireland was equally fond of him. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan has more.
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BARRA MULLIGAN, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S 5TH COUSIN: I don't know sometimes if Joe Biden's Irish or if we're all American.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ta me sa bhaile.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Ta me sa bhaile," Gaelic for "I'm at home."
BIDEN: Only wish I could stay longer.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Biden may be facing crises, including a major intelligence leak in the United States. But here in Ireland he's received a hero's welcome.
BIDEN: It's incredible.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): The country's weather not dampening President Biden's spirits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think of the weather, Mr. President? BIDEN: It's fine. It's fine. It feels wonderful. Feels like I'm coming home.
PETER MCGUIGAN, LOUTH RESIDENT: Cupcakes are all bake for him. And it's a big welcome for Joe, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): First, the President visited County Louth on Ireland's East Coast, where his great, great grandfather immigrated from more than 170 years ago.
O'SULLIVAN: Why do the Irish love American president so much?
What is it about it?
MCGUIGAN: America is our second country. During the famine times and the bad times that we had with our neighbors, all our people immigrants went to America. They were welcomed with open arms, as you were yourself, Donie.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): In Ireland Biden seems to have cousins everywhere.
O'SULLIVAN: So let me just get this straight. So your great, great, great --
MULLIGAN: Grandfather was Joe Biden's great grandfather's cousin.
O'SULLIVAN: Very good.
MULLIGAN: I think that's the best --
O'SULLIVAN: You like that?
MULLIGAN: Oh, yes, yes.
O'SULLIVAN: First cousin, second cousin.
LAUREN & EMILY BLEWITT, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S FOURTH COUSINS: Fourth, I think.
O'SULLIVAN: Fourth cousin?
L. BLEWITT: Yes, yes.
O'SULLIVAN: That's pretty close.
L. BLEWITT: Because my dad is third.
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O'SULLIVAN: Yes.
L. BLEWITT: Yes. O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): In Ballina, on Ireland's Atlantic coast, we meet two of the President's youngest cousins, Lauren and Emily Blewitt.
E. BLEWITT: The town is so excited. It's such a buzz.
CHRISTINA FORDE, BALLINA RESIDENT: Welcome home. Welcome. You've been gone too long. Come on in, Joe, and close the door.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Locals here say Biden's great-great-great grandfather Edward Blewitt sold bricks for the construction of the town's cathedral in the 19th century. And then he used that money to move to America.
O'SULLIVAN: So this here is -- would have been the fireplace, basically.
ERNIE CAFFREY, BALLINA RESIDENT: Fireplace, yes.
O'SULLIVAN: Wow.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): More bricks. Ernie Caffrey says this is what remains of Biden's ancestral home here in Ballina. Ernie runs Caffrey's Gallery. In the front window, a Biden portrait.
O'SULLIVAN: You painted this?
HILARY LYONS, BALLINA RESIDENT: Yes. I am friendly with the owner of this premises and I was passing down on Saturday, last Saturday and was popping in to say hello. I got a notion Saturday afternoon. I said, I'm going to go home and I'm going to do a painting of Joe. So I did.
O'SULLIVAN: What does this mean to the community, though?
MICHAEL CARR, OWNER, PADDY MAC'S: It means a huge thing to Ballina, a huge thing to me. All people have become it for years to see where did he come from, where did he go.
O'SULLIVAN: This speech brings a close to President Biden's trip to Ireland here in Ballina, our County Mayo, the town where his ancestors left from almost 200 years ago -- Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Mayo, Ireland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The White House says Biden spoke to a crowd of some 27,000 during that address in County Mayo and that would be one of the largest rallies of his entire political career. In his address, he fought back tears as he described a moment of personal serendipity at the Catholic shrine.
Biden said he unexpectedly encountered the priest, who delivered last rites to his late son, Beau, who died in 2015.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary says the economy can still dodge a recession despite the recent banking crisis. Two U.S. banks collapsed last month, raising fears they could push the economy over the edge. It happened as the Feds started to dial down its interest rate hikes, designed to tame inflation.
Earlier this week, the wholesale inflation dropped to its lowest level in more than two years. In an exclusive interview, Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN's Fareed Zakaria she's cautiously optimistic. Here she is.
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JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What people call a soft landing is possible. So I do think there's a path to bring down inflation while maintaining what I think all of us would regard as a strong labor market. And the evidence that I'm seeing suggests we are on that path.
Now are there risks?
Of course. I don't want to downplay the possibility that there are risks here but I do think that's possible.
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BRUNHUBER: So can inflation be tamed without triggering a recession, as Yellen suggests?
I put that question to Ryan Patel, an economist at Claremont Graduate University. Here he is.
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RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: I'm sorry, Kim. You know, I come on here and try to be hopeful. And you know, I know Janet Yellen is trying to be.
But when I hear her and the IMF talk about how they're not including potential bank turmoil only led me to believe that there's something there. And I'm not saying that there is something there but that we are on pins and needles because it's the variables, Kim.
Because at the end of the day, the U.S. economy can control what it has.
But when you think about, like we said, inflation, IMF to come out, that inflation is going to be more in other countries, you don't think that's going to have an impact to the U.S.?
The question becomes, as Janet Yellen mentioned, is it?
How much is that?
And I just feel like we're a little bit in a fragile mode. As of right now, maybe in two months it's a different conversation. But imagine there's another bank turmoil somewhere else in a different country or to that degree. I can see a scenario here in the U.S. where it has some impact and the
Fed chooses to keep interest rates a little bit higher, like I can see them play with that because they don't want to go in the other way.
And that's what worries me, is that there is this rhetoric of, oh, we don't know but we kind of know what may happen. And if it occurs, they're going to be prepared to tighten the fiscal policy.
So I have to be honest that that this is a real possibility, should it go that way.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, gosh, the other alarm bells that are ringing, credit card debt has reached a record.
What is it, $986 billion?
What's going on here?
How worried should we be?
That doesn't seem sustainable.
PATEL: Yes, it's not sustainable. I mean, the financial -- I mean, I'm -- you know, I'm being careful what financial crisis means, like it's different from '07-'08. I think the debt crisis.
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PATEL: And you think about how people are spending and continue to take cheaper money, that eventually is going to catch up. You know, because you eventually have to pay it back.
And when you can't pay it back to that degree, you know, it'll affect how when you think about that aspect, even for the government with this debt ceiling as well, right?
I mean, these are the conversations as a whole, when you look at your balance sheet, has to be something that eventually you're going to come to the crossroads. And it's going to affect the economy because you have to have cash to be able to get these levels down.
And it's healthier for the U.S. economy for spending power purposes to have less debt as an individual when they can be more freely to invest in other aspects and actually grow their wealth at the same time.
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BRUNHUBER: You can see my full interview with Ryan Patel in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
And you can watch Fareed Zakaria's interview with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tomorrow at 10:00 am in New York. That's 3:00 in the afternoon in London, only here on CNN.
Shares of Boeing fell more than 5.5 percent Friday after the company said it's found a new issue with their 737 MAX jets. But the airline manufacturer says it's not an immediate safety issue. CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean has the details.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is another bad look for Boeing as it struggles to deal with quality control and rebuild the reputation of the 737 MAX, Boeing's best selling plane right now.
Failures at Boeing and with systems inside each plane led to those two crashes abroad that killed nearly 350 people. This new issue is different, though. Boeing is coming clean about a defect in the manufacturing of the jet itself.
The issue, Boeing says, is with a fitting in the rear part of the fuselage of some MAXes. It's manufactured by a third party. Boeing has not said exactly how many MAXes are defective, though there are about 1,000 flying worldwide, more than 300 flying in the U.S.
In a statement, Boeing says this is not an immediate safety of flight issue and the in-service fleet can continue operating safely. The Federal Aviation Administration, it came down hard on Boeing after the investigations into those crashes, says it has validated what Boeing says is true and is monitoring next steps.
The contractor responsible for building these parts is a company called Spirit Aerosystems. And I said on Friday it's still working on an inspection and repair for affected airplanes.
For now, this is not impacting travelers but mostly airlines waiting on new airplanes to be delivered and they are waiting on a fix -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Brazil's president calls for countries to move away from the U.S. dollar as he meets with president Xi in China. And he says it's time for the dollar's dominance to come to an end. That's coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Now to a developing story. Witnesses tell Reuters they have heard heavy gunfire south of Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. The source of the gunfire wasn't immediately known.
And we've learned that flights have been suspended, inbound and outbound, from the airport in Khartoum and heavy fighting is reported around the presidential palace and army headquarters. This comes after days of tension between the army and a paramilitary group. We will bring you the latest details as this develops. Fresh off a three-day state visit to China, the Brazilian president,
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will next tour the United Arab Emirates. While in Beijing, Mr. Lula da Silva met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and vowed to strengthen ties. Stefano Pozzebon reports on the agreements the two signed.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wrapped up a three-day visit to China on Friday by holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Following the meeting, the two leaders assigned two joint statements, circling for deeper integration in economics as well as a strong concerted action to address climate change.
China is Brazil's main trading partner and Lula said that he intends to favor strategic partnerships with tech and infrastructure companies from China.
During the trip, which took place roughly two months after Lula attended another bilateral meeting with the U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in February, the Latin American leader took aim at the U.S. dollar's dominance over international trade.
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LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Every night I ax (sic) myself, why should every country have to be tied by the dollar for trade?
Why can't we trade in our own currency?
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POZZEBON: On the environment, both leaders vowed to cooperate strongly against the global warming. But China steps short of contributing to an international fund to protect the Amazon rainforest.
Brazil says it's key to reach emission targets all around the world. Xi and Lula also discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying that they hope for a peaceful solution to be found for the conflict in Europe. And Brazil reiterated that it supports China's sovereignty claim over the island of Taiwan.
And Lula will conduct another official visit to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday before going back to Brazil over the weekend -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, a first of its kind mission. A spacecraft from the European Space Agency is on its way to Jupiter to study three of its largest moons. Details on what makes this mission unlike any other, that's coming up.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has started testing bird flu vaccines on poultry. The government says the results should be available later this spring. Experts say this is believed to be the worst bird flu outbreak in history in the U.S.
Between January of 2022 and April of this year, nearly 59 million birds have been infected globally. And there's only been a handful of cases of avian flu in humans, mostly as a result of direct contact with infected poultry.
A European spacecraft is on its way for a historic mission to explore Jupiter and three of its most intriguing moons. The European Space Agency launched the spacecraft on Friday. It's called the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission or Juice for short.
Its spacecraft will spend about 3.5 years studying the gas giant and three of its largest moons. One goal, to see if they could harbor life. Juice is expected to become the first spacecraft to ever orbit the moon in the outer solar system. But it will take years for the exploration to begin. Juice isn't expected to arrive at Jupiter until July 2031.
All right. We want to introduce you to a new program that will make you see immigration issues in a whole new light. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh travels with a group of migrants trying to reach the U.S. as they make the arduous trek on foot through the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama. Have a look.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): The football shirts are porters, each numbered, charging to carry bags, even children uphill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Hey my kings, my queens. Whoever feels tired, I'm here.
WALSH (voice-over): But it doesn't always work out.
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WALSH (voice-over): Wilson (ph) is separated from his parents. Their porter raced off ahead.
WALSH (from captions): My name is Nick. Nice to meet you. You are here all by yourself? Yes. You're waiting for your parents? Where are they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): They are behind.
WALSH (from captions): Are you going to America? Where are you going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): To Miami.
WALSH (from captions): To Miami. What do you like about Miami?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Daddy is going to build a swimming pool.
WALSH (from captions): He will build a pool for you? What do you want to be when you grow up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): To work.
WALSH (from captions): What work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): School work. And my sister has chosen nurse.
WALSH (voice-over): Nearly a thousand unaccompanied children were found on the route last year, the U.N. have said.
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BRUNHUBER: And you can tune in to see the full report from Nick Paton Walsh on" The Trek: A Migrant Trail to America" and it will be featured on the premiere episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," airing first on Sunday night at 8:00 pm Eastern time.
You can also see it on Monday at 4:00 in the afternoon Eastern time. That's 9:00 in the evening in London.
All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber and I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Please do stick around.
