Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Evacuates American Diplomats And Their Families; From Dobbs Ruling To Now: A Timeline Of Abortion Rights; Ukrainian Officer: Russians Making Progress In Bakhmut; Attorneys General Request Massive Vehicle Recall; Study Finds Steep Decline In Violence In California Schools. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired April 23, 2023 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:29]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, mass evacuations in Sudan. U.S. diplomats and their families taken out of Khartoum as violence intensifies. We'll have a live report on the very latest.

Plus, school violence. One state is actually seeing a sharp decline in reported incidents. Look at what's working and whether it could prevent school shootings. And CNN Sports Coy Wire joins me live to break down the latest blockbuster clashes in the NBA playoffs.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: France has begun evacuating its diplomatic staff and other European officials from Sudan as more fighting has erupted between rival forces in the capital, Khartoum.

It comes hours after the U.S. also pulled out American diplomats from the country and announced that its embassy in Khartoum has been temporarily closed. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about the situation in the region, saying, "This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. It's unconscionable and it must stop. The belligerent parties must implement immediate and unconditional ceasefire, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and respect the will of the people of Sudan." CNN's Oren Liebermann has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: A successful mission carried out in the dark of night in Sudan to evacuate the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, according to U.S. officials. Three Chinook helicopters took off from Djibouti, some 750 or 800 miles away from Khartoum, flew into the country, landed, secured the embassy and then brought out all of the embassy's staff and their family members. A group of just under a hundred people, according to U.S. officials

who briefed reporters on the operation and what happened around it during the operation and afterwards. They were then brought out to Ethiopia. Again a distance of some 750 or 800 miles. So the operation itself took several hours and consisted of about 100 troops all of them special operations forces with the embassy staff successfully pulled out of the country. It is the temporary closure of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum.

U.S. officials said they do hope there is an opportunity here, a ceasefire that holds a resolution between the two warring parties there and an opportunity to reopen the embassy. But that is an enormous question as the fighting there enters its second week.

The U.S. was looking for a window of opportunity, a ceasefire that holds essentially to be able to evacuate the embassy itself. And the weekend brought that opportunity with the Eid al-Fitr holiday. The two warring parties committed to the ceasefire even though there were reports of violations of that ceasefire. In the end, President Joe Biden made the decision to go ahead with the operation to evacuate the embassy.

Now, a large question what about all the U.S. nationals, the private citizens who remain in the country, and there are thousands of them, many of them dual citizens, Sudanese, American. Right now they have no help at the embassy with the closure of the embassy. But U.S. officials did say they are considering options for land routes there. If that's the way out of the country for any of these citizens.

Defense officials said they are considering surveilling the land routes out and setting up perhaps a naval option, a maritime option at Port Sudan and are looking at creating deconfliction lines so that to assist in the evacuation of U.S. citizens there. Who are trying to make their way out of the country. Again, that under consideration, a very difficult question with the fighting continuing. But as we learned on Saturday night, the successful evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum. Under 100 people there, the diplomatic staff and their family members brought safely out of the country via helicopter. Oren Liebermann, CNN at the Pentagon.

BRUNHUBER: And here's CNN Military Analyst Col. Cedric Leighton weighing in on lessons learned from the U.S. experience in Afghanistan, trying to get embassy personnel out amid the fall of Kabul. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: But I think one of the key things is the timing of this, you know, in -- I think, Leyla (ph), in one of these situations, with the Afghan situation in particular, there was a big delay before people were actually evacuated. Even the evacuation started. This is something that was done. You know, yes, it was a reaction to what was going on the ground, but it was more of a proactive approach to what was happening as opposed to a reactive approach.

[05:05:00]

And that was something that I think was partly due to lessons learned from Afghanistan. And I think also what the Americans wanted to do was avoid the chaos that we saw in Kabul back in August of 2021. They wanted to avoid that as much as possible, extricate the Americans, and then make sure that they were brought to safety before, you know, whatever happens next in the Sudanese conflict takes place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN Stephanie Busari joins us now with more. So, Stephanie, first, more on the U.S. evacuation take us through what happened?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN DIGITAL SUPERVISING EDITOR, AFRICA: Yes. So eyewitnesses are telling CNN, Kim, that six U.S. helicopters landed in the capital Khartoum inside the U.S. embassy at about 01:00 a.m. this morning and causing a lot of heavy dust in the area. And about an hour later, those helicopters took off and successfully evacuated all the diplomats personnel in there and their families.

Now, Saudi Arabia was the first country to start this evacuation process, and they were able to do that over the weekend. And other countries have attempted to evacuate their citizens. This morning, Turkey tried to get their citizens to assemble in a specific area, but however they were hampered -- their evacuation efforts were hampered by the ceasefire because by -- the ceasefire, which has not held it's a very fragile ceasefire, both parties had agreed to a 72 hours period during this Muslim period of Eid. But loud fighting and heavy artillery is being heard in Sudan currently. So Turkey was unable to carry out that evacuation attempt.

Now, hundreds of thousands of citizens are stranded and one Nigerian student has recorded a desperate plea on his mobile phone. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Everyone has been stranded. There is no hope of survival. Everyone is just running, helter skelter, you know, looking for shelter to survive. And this -- this people, they're fighting. It's like they don't value human lives. They don't care about anyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUSARI: Yes, they don't care about anyone. Remember Kim, this is supposed to be a happy period after the Ramadan fasting in Sudan. Many people have planned for this festivities.

They bought new clothes to celebrate with their families. Now they faced it. They're stuck in a war situation that seems unending and they're stuck in homes with no power, no light, no water. And some are actually taking the desperate measures to get on the roads themselves and try to get to neighboring countries safely.

We're hearing of many Sudanese facing a dangerous roads journey of about 1000 southern city of Egypt called Aswan. And some people are reporting being able to get there safely and information circulating around social media of how they've been able to do that.

We're hearing reports of one bus that carries 50 people being around 7 million in local currency. And people are prepared to play these inflated prices. Petrol we're hearing has gone up to $40 a gallon which shows sign of some price gouging.

But people are desperate enough to take these chances and pay whatever it takes to get out of the country. Kim,

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, a dire situation for so many people. Stephanie Busari. Thanks so much.

Abortion rights supporters in the U.S. are nervously anticipating what comes next after the Supreme Court moved to preserve access to a commonly used abortion drug. The ruling allows doctors to continue prescribing mifepristone in states that allow it, but it's not likely to be the final word on regulation of the drug. So how did things reach the point where abortion access is being marginalized by the week? Isabel Rosales has the timeline.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Summer of 2022, Dobbs v. Jackson, the Supreme Court reverses the constitutional right to an abortion upheld for nearly a half century. Across the nation, intense backlash and scrutiny follows.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abortion bans are illegitimate. Forced motherhood is illegitimate.

ROSALES: Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court majority, called the original 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling egregiously wrong. Ripples from the Dobbs decision are felt across the country as so-called trigger laws take effect in about a dozen states banning or severely limiting abortion.

[05:10:08]

In states like Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma, Republican controlled state legislatures race to outlaw the procedure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We won't go back. We won't go back.

ROSALES: Legal fights commence over abortion access. Some state supreme courts, like in South Carolina, step in and block abortion bans. In other states, the highest courts rule the bans comply with their state constitutions.

Meanwhile, others, like South Dakota, widen the scope, passing a law prohibiting the use of telemedicine to administer medication abortion. Midterm elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have to make it a federal right. ROSALES: Voters in many states reject the most extreme versions of

abortion bans. In California, Michigan and Vermont, voters enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions.

State legislatures return to session, some states move forward on more restrictive measures. Just this month, in a first of its kind law, Idaho criminalizes out of state abortions for minors without parental consent, calling it abortion trafficking.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week signed into law a ban against most abortions after six weeks. Opponents argue that's before many women know they're pregnant.

Nearly a year since overturning Roe v. Wade, another major decision on abortion access from the nation's highest court, the conservative majority court protecting access to a widely used abortion drug mifepristone, by freezing lower court rulings that place restrictions on medication abortion. The order means that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of the drug will remain in place while appeals play out, potentially for months to come.

(On camera): And this abortion medication case is with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and they're fast tracking this case. They're sent to get those first briefs by next week and then by mid-May start to listen to those oral arguments. It'll likely take weeks to months for a decision to come, and we're also expecting that case to end up right back with the Supreme Court. Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: So, as we heard the mifepristone case goes before the Fifth Circuit Court for an appeal on May 17, we talked with CNN Political Analyst Seung Min Kim about the significance of that court and where things could go from here. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We know that the Fifth Circuit is actually the most conservative appeals court in the United States. There is a reason why this abortion case originated in Texas set to go to the circuit court. So, I mean, we could see this as a very long legal battle that could make itself back up to the Supreme Court. Because you recall when we saw this initial ruling from Judge Kacsmaryk in that federal district court, in Texas we actually got a near simultaneous ruling from a federal judge in Washington State that allowed mifepristone to be continued to be sold and kind of pushed back these attempts to limit this abortion pill. So when you have two conflicting rulings like that, oftentimes they do end up back to the Supreme Court on its merits.

So I think we're in for a very long legal battle ahead. It just doesn't stop with the brief stay at the Supreme Court yesterday. This is going to be something that we're going to be watching for months to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: That ruling was undermines of at least some of the declared and potential Republican candidates of the gathering in Iowa Saturday, the Faith and Freedom Coalition's spring kickoff his way to court evangelical voters, among those attending was former Vice President Mike Pence, who said he wants to ban medication, abortion. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, (R) FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I think that chemical abortions, that mail order abortions that the Biden administration is now allowed should be banned. And I would support that view. But I also hope the Supreme Court will make the FDA do its job, a job it did not do 20 years ago and actually seriously examined this medicine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And Pence's former boss Donald Trump addressed the gathering remotely, he touted the hundreds of antiabortion rights federal judges confirmed during his administration, not to mention three Supreme Court justices Nikki Haley, who has declared her candidacy, and Ron DeSantis, who hasn't weren't there.

Russian troops reportedly gained some ground on one battlefield in Ukraine, still ahead, will get the latest on the fight for Bakhmut. Plus, workers in Argentina are struggling to deal with an inflation rate that's over 100%. Now, they're wondering who will lead the country out of its economic crisis.

Plus, as gun violence surges across the U.S. a new study finds a steady and steep decline in school violence across California. What's leading to the decrease? While we'll get details ahead, coming up. Stay with us.

[05:18:48]

BRUNHUBER: We're getting reports of new overnight strikes across Ukraine. Officials say they stretch from Kharkiv to the north to the southern port of Odessa. At least one person was injured in the Zaporizhzhia region which took more than 70 hits.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says its forces are holding their ground in two hot spots in the east despite relentless Russian attacks. A military spokesperson says about two dozen infantry attacks ran into a wall near the towns of Avdiivka and Marinka on Friday. But in nearby Bakhmut, the Russian offensive is reportedly gaining some traction.

The Ukrainian commander says Russian troops went all out to take the rest of the city and they made some progress. Ben Wedeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The battle for Bakhmut appears to have entered a critical phase, with one Ukrainian commander acknowledging that in his words, the line is not stable. Russian forces supported by intense airstrikes have made gains claiming to have seized 300 and city blocks. This monthslong battle has been the bloodiest since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

The Ukrainians nonetheless insist that they are inflicting punishing losses on Russian forces as Ukraine continues to prepare for its much- anticipated spring offensive bolstered by hardware provided by its backers.

[05:20:14]

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Friday that the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, composed of 54 countries, including the 31 NATO member countries, has in recent months provided Ukraine with more than 230 tanks and in excess of 1550 armed vehicles. The Ukrainians continue to press for more advanced warplanes, but the offensive doesn't depend on weapons alone. The weather is also key and recent heavy rains in eastern Ukraine have turned potential battlefields into seas of mud. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: More than 3000 people in the Russian city of Belgorod are returning home after a second bomb scare in a matter of days. State media says they were evacuated on Saturday after the discovery of an unexploded bomb. Officials say it's now been removed, but there's no word on how it ended up there. But it was found in the same area that was rattled by this explosion Thursday night. State media say it was caused by another bomb that was dropped by a Russian fighter jet during a midair emergency.

In Israel, tens of thousands of people turned out to protest for a 16th consecutive week against the government's plan to overhaul the judicial system. Carrying flags and banners, they vented their opposition to the plan, which they see as an attack on democracy. The weekly protests have continued across Israel despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing a pause on the reforms last month. Saturday's demonstrations come just before Israel marks its Memorial Day and Independence Day this week.

Demonstrators took to the streets in Bogota, Colombia on Saturday to protest social and economic changes proposed by President Gustavo Petro, among the proposals reducing the work week from 48 hours to 42 hours, a guaranteed monthly income for the poor, and a centralized healthcare payment system. Critics say the changes will hurt job creation, capital markets and public finances. The reforms are currently under review by Colombia's Congress.

People in Argentina are coping with a deepening economic crisis in one of the highest inflation rates in the world. On Friday, they learned that President Alberto Fernandez won't seek reelection, leaving the next leader to salvage Argentina's struggling economy. CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Holding torches and banners, they march down some of the most iconic streets of downtown Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The march, organized by worker unions, is the latest in a series of antigovernment protests.

Workers like Sylvia Sarabia (ph) say the government is not doing enough to alleviate a galloping yearly inflation that reached 104%, the second highest in Latin America after Venezuela's 501%. Those who have a formal job get wages under the poverty line, she says. That's why these protests are so big.

Workers say the government of Argentina is taking money from the working class to pay the International Monetary Fund. President Alberto Fernandez admitted there are problems to be solved, but pointed to 30 months of job growth in the country.

Last month, Argentina reworked a $44 billion loan with the IMF, obtaining nearly 10 billion in fresh cash in exchange for measures to strengthen public finances and start reducing persistently high inflation.

President Fernandez is calling for unity, asking his fellow Argentines to please look towards the future. He says his finance minister is working on the issues and blamed some of the problems on the country's drought.

But for many people in Argentina, it's hard to have that kind of optimism when they don't even know if the next paycheck is going to allow them to make ends meet.

For example, in my case, I have zero capacity to save any money, This worker says. The inflation we're living today in Argentina is terrible. It feels like never before. According to government figures, Argentina's yearly inflation rate rose past 100% in February for the first time since 1991.

The black-market pace a weakened to 438 per U.S. dollar, a drop of 4%, according to an analysis by Reuters. That's double the official rate of 218 per dollar. The government was already struggling to rein in rising prices.

Antonio Aracre, President Fernandez's Chief Adviser, announced his resignation Tuesday amid the financial turmoil. The failing state of the economy and inflation will have an impact beyond the pockets of regular people later this year.

[05:25:09]

President Fernandez announced Friday he will not seek reelection, but whoever hopes to replace him at Casa Rosada, Argentina's presidential palace, will have to convince voters in October that he or she has what it takes to tackle the enormous challenge of stabilizing the economy. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead, more on the diplomatic and civilian evacuations from Sudan, how troops pulled out dozens of people amid fierce clashes in the region. Plus, why 17 states want the federal government to order a mandatory recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles. That's coming up, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

I want to get back to our lead story this hour. The U.S. and other countries have carried out evacuations from Sudan as fighting between rival forces stretches into a second week. Officials say the U.S. military pulled out diplomats, their families and a small number of professionals from other countries as a result of the evacuations. Washington has decided to temporarily close its embassy in the capital, Khartoum.

Now, all this comes as more clashes are being reported. Despite a 72 hours ceasefire. Sudan's paramilitary fighters have accused the armed forces of violating the truce and launching airstrikes around the capitol. The defense department official says the U.S. evacuated fewer than 100 people early Sunday morning in what he called a fast and clean operation. CNN's Kevin Liptak has the details.

[05:30:07]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: We did hear from John Kirby yesterday, who said that if something like this were to happen, if the U.S. were to evacuate diplomatic personnel from Khartoum, it would come at President Biden's order. So we can safely say that this was ordered by President Biden. And you have seen him take steps the last several days to prepare for this eventuality, including pre- positioning, military assets, resources, equipment in Djibouti. The U.S. Has a large military base there.

But you've also seen this effort in Khartoum to consolidate the American personnel who are working there into the American diplomatic compound, into the embassy. That's been described to me as a fortress like structure. It has taken some time to get all of the personnel into that facility. The roads in Khartoum are extremely unsafe. And so that was sort of a process that took place over the last several days.

But we did hear from the State Department earlier today that all American personnel were accounted for and were in a safe location. We also did hear from an official with the National Security Council earlier today that said that they had made clear to both sides of this conflict, both of the warring factions, that they are responsible for ensuring protection of civilians and non-combatants.

So certainly everything was sort of building up to this moment. But we should be clear, the U.S. says -- has said that those preparations were for American diplomatic personnel, people who worked for the American government, government only. This does not include private citizens, private American citizens who remain in Khartoum. And the U.S. has said that they has given ample warning to private citizens who may remain in Sudan that it is not safe, but that it does not have the resources at the moment to facilitate a broad scale military evacuation of private citizens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: As water levels continue to rise on the Mississippi River, officials in the riverside city of McGregor, Iowa, are urging residents to reduce water consumption until floodwaters recede.

Heavy rain and rapid snowmelt across the Upper Midwest has caused nine river gauges to hit major flood stage. The river is expected to rise almost three feet above that level by next week. Authorities across the region say they're preparing for high water. McGregor officials say crews have put flood walls in place, plugged manholes and activated all pumps. And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to request a major disaster declaration for the floods that devastated Southeast Florida 10 days ago.

He declared a state of emergency in Broward County via executive order on April 13 if the White House approves the request, it would provide federal assistance for public infrastructure and also funds for more than 1000 homes damaged by the flooding.

And dozens of residents of a South Florida condo have until Tuesday to evacuate because the building isn't structurally safe. An inspection found the building has sagging floors, termite damage and a partially collapsed ceiling. About 55 people live in the Majestic Isle Condominium. Residents will be allowed in their units for a complete move out at a later date. The mayor of North Bay Village says help is available for those who need it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT LATHAM, MAYOR, NORTH BAY VILLAGE, FLORIDA: There is a loan for owners of apartments to be able to pay assessments without interest. There are also relocation resources in terms of finding places for residents to go to rent either short term or long term. And then we've been working directly with our friends over at Best Western for a safety net option for those who have no other option to be able to go to the Best Western Hotel for the short-term until they can find other options.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Well, it was a startling scene in Utah as two houses slid from their foundations and off a cliff. The homes had been empty for several months, a Facebook post from the City of Draper, Utah said the buildings were deemed unfit for human habitation in October because of shifting of the ground below, caused cracks in the foundation and two adjacent homes have been evacuated and the rest of the neighborhood will be evaluated for safety concerns.

17 states and the District of Columbia are demanding the recall of millions of Hyundai and Kia vehicles. It's because the models with turnkey ignitions are too easy to steal. Polo Sandoval is in New York with more on the massive recall effort.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the coalition of attorneys general turning to the federal government asking that they issue a federal recall for certain kinds of Hyundai and Kia vehicles, saying that the companies that manufacture those vehicles have failed to address what's been noted to be alarming rate of car thefts.

California's AG leading the coalition of 17 states and D.C. in a letter that they wrote to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The coalition requesting a recall of unsafe Hyundai and Kia vehicles manufactured between 2011 and 2022 whose easily bypass ignition switches and lack of engine immobilizers make them particularly vulnerable to theft. Vehicles such as the Hyundai, Santa Fe and Tucson, as well as the Kia, Forte and Sportage.

[05:35:16]

When equipped with turnkey ignitions, they say they're roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of similar age. As for the federal government, the NH TSA responding that it is not the sort of thing that really falls in their wheelhouse, that they typically would not issue a recall in these circumstances, saying that this falls within the purview of law enforcement.

Both lawmakers, they're offering free software patches they say will fix the problem. In a statement Friday, Hyundai is saying that these vehicles are fully compliant with federal anti-theft requirements. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead, new study finds a steady and steep decline in school violence in California over an 18-year period. I'll talk to an expert about what the results mean, coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: A new study finds steady and steep decreases in California school violence over the last 18 years. The study found that during the two decades prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a reduction in serious forms of violence, including bullying and weapon related behaviors across California's middle and high school campuses.

The report documented a 56% reduction in physical fights, a 70% reduction in reports of carrying a gun onto school grounds, a 68% reduction in reports of other weapons at school, and a 59% reduction in being threatened by a weapon on school grounds.

Victimization reported by black and Latino students, which includes instances of being bullied or assaulted, saw larger declines than victimization reported by white students.

Rami Benbenishty is a Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and he also co-authored this new study. And he joins me now live from Modi'in, Israel.

[05:40:08]

Thanks so much for being here with us. So given all the headlines about school violence, many people would probably be surprised to hear about this drop in violence. Did the results of your study surprise you?

RAMI BENBENISHTY, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: Well, not really. What I'm not surprised is by the surprise of many people that actually always think that violence is on the rise. And I had my own experiences of presenting data and doing I feel a nice job of presenting declines. And at the end I would ask for show of hands how many think that there was a rise and almost everybody thought there was a rise. So there is a very strong sentiment in the public that things are getting worse all the time.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, definitely. I mean, some of the reductions that you reported were pretty drastic, as I mentioned, 70% fewer guns and other weapons, for instance. But you're relying on student surveys. So how reliable is the data, do you think?

BENBENISHTY: Well, I believe it is very reliable, and I'll tell you why. First, we are doing these kind of studies in several countries around the world, and I can share with you that soon we'll have a paper out showing that in Israel the reductions are quite similar.

The point is that if you are doing something for so many years and you ask students that are always very different students, because every year there are other students in schools around the U.S. or California, and you keep getting the same structure of the data and you keep getting data that is very similar, but the declines are really very gradual.

Then you believe that we are -- yeah, we're talking about something very real, because if they were just making up things, the numbers wouldn't have made sense over time. But again and again, it's always as a researcher, it's amazing and surprising. You open up the data and it looks very similar in patterns to previous years in other places. So there is something --

BRUNHUBER: So I want to -- I want to jump in because I want -- I really want to get at what is important here, which is what's happening. Do we know what's behind this?

BENBENISHTY: Well, you know, we have a -- we have hypothesis. It's very difficult to know causality in these kind of studies because we don't have good control. But I think there is very strong, many strong reasons to believe that we are doing something right in school violence and across places that actually invested in it and put it as a priority and work with it. We can see differences.

I can tell you that that's something that I can see in schools that we are working with. You can see a school changing almost overnight when the focus is on preventing school violence, on having teachers' pay attention to it, attend to it, try to help students in trouble. So I do believe these are real trends that show the effects of efforts around that. BRUNHUBER: So is this just California, do you think, or are you seeing

that trend in other states as well?

BENBENISHTY: This is a very good question, because we are screening the literature, and some of the findings are confusing because of different instruments, different timescales and so on. And so I cannot tell you, you know, globally, unfortunately, we don't have that. But I can tell you that our work in Israel and in Chile has shown reductions, not increases. So I do believe this is a real trend, at least in the places that we studied, that are actually taken seriously and put energy and efforts and resources into making a difference.

BRUNHUBER: So basically, yeah, if you invest in reduction, in counseling and prevention, things like that, you will see decreases. Tragically, one thing that has increased is school shootings. So are there lessons from -- from the violence reduction strategies that you're talking about there that can be used to prevent those types of horrific incidents?

BENBENISHTY: That's again, a very good question. I'm not sure, I'm not sure. I believe we are talking about a different phenomena that have some things in common, but many differences. So I don't believe that just investing in attention and working with students and so on would have prevented us this horrific tragedies because they are so focused on very small number of students that it's very difficult to actually prevent it.

And I'm not sure that the efforts made by having shooting drills and issues like that or fortifying schools are not causing more damage than are helping.

[05:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that's certainly part of the debate. I'm wondering if one of the nuances here, I mean, bullying remained fairly, fairly flat over the years, especially recently. I'm wondering if there's something specific about that bullying and so on that is hard to erase, that might be leading to some of these school shootings that can make it hard to reduce.

BENBENISHTY: Well, I think one of the issues, and I'm not going to go into details, is that the word bullying is very confusing. And everybody sees in that world word some very different issues. And definitely when you talk to different people in different countries so the word bullying itself is not extremely helpful.

It's more helpful to talk about different types of victimization physical, relational, sexual and cyberbullying. And cyber victimization. Then you can actually identify specific ways of addressing different issues. So the word bullying, from my perspective, is not very helpful in understanding trends. And I think, if I may, it's very important to have the data. We are having this discussion because we are not talking about one case and we're not talking about one survey. We're talking about an effort over time systematically studying this issue and asking students over the years and over the places. Only by having this kind of system, and we have that in Israel, you

can actually put your finger and say, this is increasing, this is decreasing, or this is a group that doesn't change. And we have to focus our energy on and this group is actually making major strides. So without data and organized and well documented, we can't really help ourselves continue moving ahead.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it's important to know, you know, that all these investments eventually do pay off, really appreciate your insights, Professor Rami Benbenishty, thanks so much for being with us.

BENBENISHTY: Thank you very much for having me.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, celebrations across Los Angeles as the Lakers take a two one lead in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Coy Wire will be here with the highlights, coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:51:08]

BRUNHUBER: The NBA playoffs are heating up, with the Los Angeles Lakers seizing control of their first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies. So with me now is CNN Sports Coy Wire with some props here.

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Let's go.

BRUNHUBER: LeBron was so unstoppable early. I mean, the only way they could slow him down was, you know, go below the belt.

WIRE: Yeah, literally and figuratively. Memphis' Dillon Brooks, you know, he's -- after game two, after they won, he called LeBron old. He said he likes to poke the bear. So you just knew that LeBron was going to come out ready to prove a point. Look at the two having a nice little civilized chat before the game, 20th season in the league, LeBron comes out on fire. Within three minutes, he had three buckets and an assist, and before you know it, the Lakers were up 35-9. The 26-point margin tying the biggest lead after a first quarter in NBA postseason history.

But look at this third quarter, yeah, taking it to another level. A lower level is Dillon Brooks hitting LeBron where it counts. He said he likes to poke the bear. Maybe that's what he was talking about. Brooks was ejected for that.

And LeBron responds the only way knows how, rising to the occasion at 38 years old. Look at that reverse dog. Incredible.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, scored 15 points in the third, finishing with a team high 31 as LA cruises 111, 101. And they take a 2-1 series lead.

Now, Phoenix versus the other LA, the Clippers Kevin Durant dropping a team high 31 points for the Suns and young stud Devin Brooker dropping 30 as well. Phoenix was up five entering the fourth when Chris Paul takes over, accounting for 19 of the 29 points in their final frame. He was so in his own, Kim, that he didn't even realize the shot clock had reset here, so he thought he had to throw up, basically. A Hail Mary fade away. He still nailed it. The Suns pull away, winning 112- 100, taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.

James Harden in the 76ers first team to reach round two. They pull off a clean sweep of the nets and they didn't even need their MVP candidate, Joel Embiid, to do it. Total team effort led by the Swiss Army Knife, so to speak, A-K-A Tobias Harris. 25 points, 12 rebounds for him in a 96-88 win. This means Embiid is going to get about a week's rest for that right knee sprain that he has. Philadelphia plays the winner of the Celtics Hawks series.

You have to see this NHL playoffs. Scary moment early in the third. Toronto's Ryan O'Reilly shoving Tampa's Brayden Point into the wall. Kim, there was no penalty call. Well, if this start flying, even their two biggest stars in this game, Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos. They're dropping the gloves and going at it. The leaves, they would end up rising in overtime, rallying to take a 2-1 series lead.

All right, Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney they bought struggling Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC two seasons ago. There's a show about them called welcome to Wrexham. Well, spoiler alert Season 2 is going to have a very happy ending. Wrexham becoming a ted lasso like story. A momentous win Saturday meaning a promotion up to League Two. Fans were all over the field rushing. It celebrating after languishing in the sports fifth-tier for 15 years before their Hollywood takeover. Their owners are in tears knowing just how much this means to the community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN REYNOLDS, ACTOR & CO-OWNER OF WREXHAM AFC: I'm not sure it can actually process what happened tonight. I'm still a little speechless, know that one thing that's running through my head over and over again as people said at the beginning, why Wrexham? Why Wrexham? This exactly why Wrexham happening right now is why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've put so much into this project how does it feel when it finally feels like it's paying off?

ROB MCELHENNEY, ACTOR & CO-OWNER OF WREXHAM AFC: Well, I think we can hear how it feels to the town and that's what's most important to us. I think this is a moment of catharsis for them and celebration and for us to be welcomed into their community and to be welcomed into this experience has been the honor of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:55:07]

WIRE: Injected a bunch of money and a whole bunch of love and energy into that club, and look what has happened. They're unbeaten in national league play going back to May of 2022.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, listen, I'm still on some of the early, you know, first season of that show, but you can tell how much it just means to that community to see this successful, this team, incredible stuff. Amazing story.

WIRE: Yeah.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much sports Corey Wire. I appreciate it.

Before we go U.S. Gymnastics Star and Olympic Gold Medalist Simone Biles is now married to NFL player Jonathan Owens. The couple shared these pictures on social media on Saturday, announcing their wedding. Biles captioned them, "I do officially, Owens." The announcement comes up just days after the two posted a picture with what appeared to be a Texas marriage license. And they met online just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can follow me on Twitter @Kimbrunhuber. For viewers in North America, CNN THIS MORNING is next. The rest of the world, it's Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Now we can play some ball.

WIRE: Let's go, baby. I got games.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I do not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)