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FBI Says It Has "Zero Leads" On Whereabouts Of Suspect; Thousands Evacuating To Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Amid Fighting; Uman Residents Pay Respects To Victims Of Missile Strike; Democrats, Republicans Argue as Potential Default Looms; New Protests against Pension Reform Expected in France; New Project Aims to Discover Unknown Marine Species; Memorial for Freya the Walrus. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 01, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:27]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, a community in mourning, a killer on the run. We'll have the latest on the intensifying search for the gunman accused of killing five of his neighbors.
A sixth ceasefire doing little to ease fears in Sudan or too slow the frantic rush to leave the country.
And Kyiv teasers along the way to counter offensive against Russia, we'll hear from a military expert about what Ukraine's efforts might look like.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: A small Texas town in mourning and on edge after a deadly shooting in which five people were killed. We're going to show you the man who lost his wife and nine-year-old son in the shooting. You see him there. Meanwhile, more than 200 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are involved in the manhunt for the suspected shooter. Authorities have identified the suspect as 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, a Mexican national. And FBI official told reporters on Sunday they had quote, zeroed leads on the suspect's whereabouts. CNN Ed Lavandera with the latest.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: While the hunt continues for 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza, the man who was accused of shooting five neighbors on Friday night here in the town of Cleveland, Texas. The husband and father of two of the five victims is detailing to us exactly how the night unfolded. Wilson Garcia says he was at home with a group of friends when they asked he and two other men walked over to the home, their neighbor's home, Oropeza had asked him to stop shooting his weapon so close to their property because their baby was trying to sleep. He says they asked him just to shoot the weapons on the other side of their property. It was a very tense exchange. Garcia said they had already called authorities in 911 five times prior to that. And then 10 to 20 minutes later that's when Wilson Garcia says that Francisco Oropeza came back to their house, didn't say anything else and started shooting people.
One of the first die, he said was his wife. He says that the man then started going through the house shooting people in other rooms. Oropeza says one of the women told him to get out of the house as quickly as possible because his wife and son were already dead, and that they didn't want to lose him because his two other children didn't should lose both parents, horrific details that Wilson Garcia is detailing of that night.
In the meantime, investigators continue this manhunt, this -- they have been searching for Francisco Oropeza since Friday night when he was able to flee the scene. But at this point, investigators say they have no idea where he might be.
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JAMES SMITH, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI HOUSTON FIELD OFFICE: Right now we just don't know. Because if we did, we would have him in custody right now. We do not know where he is. We don't have any tips right now to where he may be. And that's why we've come up with this reward so that hopefully somebody out there can call us. I pretty much can guarantee you, he's contacted some of his friends. Right now, we're just -- we're running into dead ends. Right now, we have zero leads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: In hopes of trying to get information on Francisco Oropeza's whereabouts, the State of Texas and various law enforcement agencies have thrown together money for a reward. It is $80,000 for information that leads to the capture of Oropeza. But as I said at this point, investigators say they had lost track of where he was. Saturday they found his cell phone and some clothes discarded in this area. But so far other than that, they have no idea where he might be at this point.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Cleveland, Texas.
HOLMES: The Honduran consulate in Houston is offering support to the families of the victims whose bodies will be repatriated to their native Honduras. CNN spoke with the mother of one of the victims. Rafael Romo with that story.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Francia Guzman says her daughter had a dream, Sonia Guzman left her native Honduras for the United States in 2014, hoping to make enough money to build a house where her mother and her siblings because they didn't have a home they could call their own. We didn't have a house. We didn't have a place to live. We would go from one place to another and she didn't want that for her siblings, she said. The 29-year-old Honduran immigrant is one of the five people murdered Friday night in Cleveland, Texas, in what authorities described as almost execution-style. Everybody was shot above the neck, including Sonia Guzman's nine-year-old son identified as Daniel Enrique Lassa Guzman (ph).
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SHERIFF GREG CAPERS, SAN JACINTO COUNTY, TEXAS: I don't care if he was here, legally. I don't care if he was here illegally. He was in my county. Five people died in my county. And that is where my heart is.
ROMO (voice-over): German Guzman, the boy's uncle and his mother's brother says, everybody living up the house where the shooting happened were members of the same extended family from Honduras. We truly got along very well as siblings and we also truly got along very well with all of them as relatives, he said. I have no words to tell their parents and siblings about what happened because this is very painful.
Sonia Guzman's dream came true. With the money she made in the United States, she was able to help her mother buy a home in the town of La Mision, located in the Honduran province of Comayagua. She never left me alone. It's very difficult to know that I won't hear her voice anymore, her mother says. She left full of excitement and now I'm just hoping she will come back even if it is in a coffin so that I can say goodbye.
(on camera): In the middle of their pain, the family is asking for help to be able to transport the remains of their loved ones back to their native Honduras. Sonia Guzman's mother told CNN that all she wants now is to be able to give their daughter and grandson a proper burial in the land where they were born.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The conflict in Sudan is turning even more dire despite Sudan's army and the paramilitary rapid support forces agreeing to yet another ceasefire. Sudanese doctors are warning the dead bodies in the streets are creating what they call an environmental catastrophe.
Sporadic clashes as you can hear they're reported in and around Khartoum on Sunday, despite a previous truce agreed to by both sides. The new ceasefire is the sixth since fighting began just over two weeks ago. Authorities have also extended the closure of the country's airspace to mid-May.
Sudan is facing a humanitarian disaster as the fighting has left millions trapped in their homes, facing shortages of food, water and power. The United Nations will be sending a high ranking official to Sudan due to the humanitarian crisis. And the first aid shipment organized by the International Red Cross has also arrived in the country, a tons of material, including medical supplies arriving in Port Sudan on Sunday. Medical supplies have run critically low amid the fighting.
An ICRC Regional Director spoke with CNN about what the shipment contains.
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PATRICK YOUSSEF, ICRC REGIONAL DIRECTOR, AFRICA: We managed to deliver more wounded kits but also dressing kits enough to treat over 1,500 weapon wounded and that is, I hope, the beginning of a series of deliveries in accordance and agreement with both parties to the conflict.
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HOLMES: A second group of American evacuees arrived in Port Sudan on Sunday. That convoy organized by the U.S. government traveled overland from Khartoum, mostly heading to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where many foreign nationals have fled amid the chaos.
CNN correspondent Larry Maduro traveled with some international evacuees on a Saudi ship. Here is his report.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 2:00 a.m., and they're finally getting out of Sudan after many anxious days, Saudi soldiers check documents and lead them through a nightmare almost over.
(on camera): Thousands of people have made their over 500 mile journey from the capital Khartoum, to here in Port Sudan. One person told us it took them 36 hours but finally on a boat and eventually to a ship to Jeddah.
(voice-over): A sad final goodbye to Sudan, victims of the stormy waters in Africa's third largest nation.
HAMZA NAVID, PAKISTAN EVACUEE: It's very hard for me and very, very hard and very painful for me because this like a second home my home.
MADOWO (voice-over): CNN joined Saudi forces on an evacuation voyage from Jeddah to Port Sudan and back, bringing more people one step closer to safe shores. But the demand is high, and the military ships can only take so many people at a time. Our round trip was more than 24 hours, but brought back only 52 people across the Red Sea. Sudanese American businessman, Adil Bashir, can finally sleep undisturbed for the first time in two weeks. He says his car dealership in Khartoum was trashed, burnt, and some vehicles stolen so he took the risk of drive to Port Sudan.
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ADIL BASHIR, SUDANESE-AMERICAN EVACUEE: A lot of human body, dead body on the street.
MADOWO (on camera): You say you were detained by men in rapid support forces uniform after you told them you're a U.S. citizen.
BASHIR: Maybe you are a U.S. citizen, you are a spy. I believe they want us to be like a human shield because they were 13 ahead of me.
MADOWO (voice-over): As more people escaped from Sudan, another ceasefire was broken over the weekend with fighting in the country entering a third week. The Saudi port city of Jeddah has become the main landing point for thousands fleeing the conflict. The Saudis are throwing everything at this rescue operation.
GENERAL TURKI AL-MALKI, ROYAL SAUDI AIR FORCE: The assets, the capability, military, civilian in Saudi is taking the civilian from Sudan. So as long as it's safe, we will keep doing our role.
MADOWO (voice-over): This large commercial ship brought nearly 2,000 evacuees from Port Sudan, one of the largest arrivals in Jeddah so far, Hanadi Ahmed and her Sudanese American family were among those in the vessel received by U.S. embassy staff. They're relieved to be safe, but heartbroken for those who couldn't get out.
HANADI AHMED, SUDANESE-AMERICAN EVACUEE: Very bad. It's very bad because all my family's I have, my mom, my dad and (inaudible).
MADOWO (on camera): Just cared for them.
AHMED: Yes.
MADOWO: I am so sorry.
AHMED: It's OK. I'm very lucky. I'm very lucky we are out.
MADOWO (voice-over): A few like a dual nationals and foreigners can leave, but most Sudanese people are trapped in a deadly conflict with no end in sight.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: CNN spoke earlier with a Sudanese-American woman trapped in the country and desperate to escape. She left New York in mid-March to visit family in Sudan for Ramadan. And now she doesn't know how she will get home. Polo Sandoval with her story.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are still thousands of U.S. citizens in Sudan that are looking to get out of that country safely among them Myadah Kaila. Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to speak to her by phone. The 28-year-old telling my colleague Nicole Grether and I that she lives in Syracuse, New York, but in mid-March, made the trip back to her native Sudan to spend Ramadan with her family.
And she told me that she had no indication that things would take such a violent and dramatic turn during her trip. And so now here's where she is. We have a map to give you a general idea. She says that she is in Kosti about four and a half hour south of the conflict zone in Khartoum. She told us that she is already registered with the U.S. State Department and now waiting for a chance to begin the dangerous journey with her uncle to Port Sudan to secure passage out of the conflict zone and into Saudi Arabia to eventually make it back home.
She says that over the last several days she has been speaking with her relatives there in Sudan, trying to come up with a plan and to take the right measures to prevent from being robbed or worse during this journey that she estimates can take days to make happen. And making it through that chaos, she told us she knows it won't be easy, and it certainly won't be safe. Here's some of the conversation that we had.
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MYADAH KAILA, SUDANESE-AMERICAN TRAPPED IN SUDAN: I'm definitely nervous about that trip just because of running into RSF military, anything like that. But then also just the injury, just that trip is going to be very draining. It might take two days to get there. It might take longer depending on the conditions during and taking the trip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: A State Department spokesperson says that fewer than 5,000 U.S. citizens have requested more information on how to evacuate in the last two weeks and they added that only a fraction have sought assistance to leave. As for Kaila, she says she is determined to make it back to her family in New York State. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
HOLMES: The United Nations says some 75,000 people inside Sudan have been displaced tens of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries, including at least 20,000 who have arrived at refugee camps in Chad. The agency is increasing resources for those displaced throughout the region. Have a listen to these two Sudanese refugees describing their ordeal.
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BOUSSEYNA MOHAMED ARABI, REFUGEE FROM SUDAN (through translator): They came and attacked our village. And when some of us wanted to get out of their houses, they killed them.
OULMA ARABI, REFUGEE FROM SUDAN (through translator): It all started around, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00 a.m. We took refuge at the local police station. They told us we cannot stay because the fighting had started. I called my children and told them to take my grandchildren and leave and then we fled on foot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Still to come on the program, the people of Uman in Ukraine said goodbye to the ones they lost in a Russian missile strike on Saturday. We'll have a report from the scene.
[01:14:57] Also France braces for May Day protest, why workers still aren't ready to accept the Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms. You're watching CNN Newsroom we'll be right back.
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HOLMES: We're following plenty of developments in Ukraine where officials say Russia launched a new round of missile attacks in recent hours targeting several regions in the east of the country. The Ukrainian Armed Forces says there have been casualties. Earlier Ukrainian official in Kyiv said the country's air defense forces have destroyed Russian missiles in the airspace above the capital. It's all coming just one day after a Russian official said Ukrainian shelling killed four civilians in a village along the border with Ukraine.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for several attacks over the weekend, including shelling in the Russian occupied Donetsk region, where authorities say two people were killed and 12 injured. Meanwhile, funerals were held in the Iranian city of Uman barely a day after a missile strike killed 25 people in an apartment building.
[01:20:02]
The family and residents said farewell to a brother and sister who were killed in the attack. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, the government will do everything it can to hold accountable the people responsible for killing innocent civilians. CNN's Nic Robertson spoke with residents of the community who are paying their respects.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: In the shadow of death, there is love, floral tributes and toys for victims of Russia's strike in Uman, Friday. Anya (ph) 15-years-old is paying respects to her near neighbors. So many innocent children died, she says, I'm so sorry they're not alive anymore.
More than a day after the apartments destroyed, recovery winding down, 25 dead, six of them children. Victoria (ph) points to where her father lived.
(on camera): I think this one with the blue wall here.
(voice-over): She lists all the neighbors who are now dead. On the ninth floor a grandma, her daughter, and two great grandchildren. On the eighth floor a father and son. On the seventh floor, a mother and daughter, my best friend. And on the sixth floor, a young couple both 30. Her father survived. It was a miracle, he says. They rescued me with a ladder. And people gave me clothes. Victoria (ph) shows us documents, a letter to her now dead friend, the photo of another neighbor. She tells us she found them blowing in the wind. They're so important, she says. They're all that's left.
(on camera): The recovery is painstakingly slow. The wait for answers about the missing just as painful. But in all the grief there is humanity. And there is anger. (voice-over): In a nearby school, neighbors sought clothes, a gift for survivors who lost everything.
NATALIE ALEPIKHOVA, VOLUNTEER: We saw all this family, the children they were crying. And I don't know we just felt that something we need to do to help them. We feel some hate for our Russian neighbors, if we can call him like that. But most we are focused on helping just only happen.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Police already documenting the scale of the loss. Boris Bov (ph) telling them his vehicle destroyed. It's not what's been destroyed that matters, he tells us. It's the loss lives. We sent photos of the destruction to our distant relatives in Russia so they can see what their army is doing. They didn't reply, he says.
All around, life is being put back in some sort of order. The broken patched up, but ask anyone about repairing relations with Russia. What do you think about Russia now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Animals.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Imagine that for the next generation. Russia's attack, a life shaping memory.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Uman, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Ukraine is now signaling its much anticipated counter offensive is coming near as preparations come to an end. In comments over the weekend, President Zelenskyy wouldn't give an exact start date for obvious reasons. But one thing is clear. This move will likely mark a pivotal moment in the war. In the country's east near Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops could be seen preparing for military action, with some wondering if the counter offensive will prove as decisive as Ukraine is hoping.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think it will not change things as quickly as everyone wants. For a counter offensive, large forces are needed, a lot of equipment. It will not be easy in one direction. I don't think it will be soon and it won't be so easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now ahead of the counter offensive, Russia's Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev is out. The Ministry of Defense has appointed a new deputy defense minister who will be responsible for the logistics of the Russian Armed Forces. Meanwhile, the head of the Wagner group says his mercenaries are running low on ammunition again in the eastern city of Bakhmut. Now Yevgeny Prigozhin is threatening to withdraw his forces from the city if they don't receive more munitions to continue the fight.
Now, last hour, I spoke with retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan, and I asked him what he thinks the Ukrainian counter offensive might look like. He told me it's likely Ukraine won't make one big push in instead more likely to undertake multiple counter offensives across different areas.
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MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN, AUSTRALIAN ARMY (RET.): And the Ukrainians will be wanting to confuse, to deceive, to surprise the Russians about where their main effort might be, but also around where their logistics, their firepower and all these things that are supporting their offensives are located.
HOLMES: You and I discussed at the beginning of the conflict and have a since as well that taking territory is different to holding territory. Given that, what then do you would be the main benchmarks of success, and I know there's more than one.
RYAN: Yes, certainly, I think we need to have a clear view of what will look like a successful offensive. Firstly, the Ukrainians do need to take back their territory, they want to liberate their citizens and take back the sovereign territory. But they're also going to have to capture or destroy Russian forces to ensure the Russians can undertake counter attacks or pose a future threat for the rest of this year.
Finally, the Ukrainians will have to ensure that their own people but also politicians, and citizens in the West see a successful offensive. So they're going to have to communicate what's going on and communicate a successful offensive in that reality.
HOLMES: Yes, to keep up that all important Western support, if nothing else. Russia has known this was coming, of course, and they spent a lot of time bolstering defenses, an array of barriers, there are these huge trench networks we've seen, particularly along the southern front, they've been rearming, and so on. How then is the Russian posture looking in terms of defending this counter offensive?
RYAN: Well, the one thing about all these defensive works they've been undertaking is they're static. They're easy to pick up. And they're easy to target with precision munitions, and they're only as good as the troops who are manning them if they're watching the obstacles and covering them with direct and indirect fire. That will be the case for some of them. But I think to the Russians will also have mobile reserves, which the Ukrainians will probably be wanting to target before the offensives, and that may be some of these explosions we're seeing over the past week.
HOLMES: Yes, it's interesting, you mentioned at the beginning there, and let's talk more about it, you know, despite the Russian defenses, which are impressive. I mean, it's only fair to say they're as good as the troops holding those positions and the officers commanding them ability wise, but also morale wise, which you've talked about before. And these are areas in which Russia has regularly failed during the war. RYAN: Yes, they certainly have and they haven't got any better as the war gone on. I mean, mobilized troops are a lower quality of many of those who initially invaded Ukraine. And these troops know, they're not defending their own homeland. They're not defending their own people or their own towns. They're defending territory that's been captured illegally. So, you know, their motivation for staying and fighting will be under question and it will be interesting to see how long it is before the Russian defenses breaks before this rain of fire and steel that's coming at them from the Ukrainians.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, thanks to Mick Ryan for his perspective there.
Now Pope Francis says the Vatican is part of a mission to end the war. His comments coming after the pontiff three-day trip to Hungary, where he met with the Prime Minister and a representative from the Russian Orthodox Church. He said the focus is on peace.
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POPE FRANCIS: Everyone is interested in the road to peace. I am willing to do everything that has to be done. There is a mission in course now, but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now in the U.S., parts of Virginia Beach are reeling at this hour after a powerful storm carved a path of destruction through the area Sunday afternoon. You see some of it right there. The National Weather Service has confirmed the storm was a tornado.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That surf rider.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado getting ready to hit their island.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not even kidding, this is real.
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HOLMES: One man even managed to capture the gathering clouds just moment before the storm hit the restaurant he was at. Local officials say no one was hurt but more than a dozen homes were damaged in the storm. Meanwhile, I want to show you the scene in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where an EF-2 tornado touchdown on Saturday with winds up to 130 miles per hour that's nearly 210 kilometers an hour.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
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HOLMES: Yes, I don't know if you caught that. There you see it again in replay the wind so powerful. They flipped a car multiple times on the highway. So far, no serious injuries reported pretty lucky if you're in that car.
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The deadline is looming. The stalemate however goes on. I'll get you up to date on the debt ceiling crisis in Washington and why Democrats and Republicans are seemingly stuck over how to resolve it. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: Even with the economic doomsday clock ticking towards a potential U.S. government default, Republicans and Democrats argued some more on Sunday but didn't make any progress, of course, towards resolving the debt ceiling crisis.
The Republican-controlled House last week passed a bill to enable the U.S. to continue borrowing so it could pay its bills but it included poison pills -- deep program cuts President Biden has made it clear he will not be approving.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders told CNN on Sunday Democrats are willing to discuss budget cuts, but Republicans first have to pay for programs Congress already passed.
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SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): The president is right. What we need is a clean debt ceiling bill. You pay your bills, and then you can sit down and negotiate what a sensible budget is.
I think we can start negotiating tomorrow. But you cannot be holding the American people and the world economy hostage. What the Republicans have got to say is absolutely, we are going to make sure that we pay our debts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Republicans are having none of that. They are demanding President Biden sit down and negotiate.
And CNN's Alayna Treene explains from Washington it is not at all clear how or when there might be some breakthrough.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accomplished a major feat this week in pushing that bill through the House.
[01:34:52] TREENE: But here is a much bigger challenge ahead in navigating how to avoid a default. And it doesn't really look like this bill has changed the dynamic here in Washington.
The White House and Democrats are slamming this bill as an un-serious proposal that is dead on arrival in the Senate. They are also digging in on their refusal to negotiate any spending cuts that are tied to the debt ceiling. And that really leaves Congress stuck in a dangerous stalemate over how to move forward.
So the key question now is what is next. Republicans argue it's time for President Biden to come to the negotiating table and start hashing out a deal.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer reiterated that position on CNN this morning. Here's what he had to say.
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REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): The White House since this Congress began has had no ideas whatsoever except jacking up taxes and spending even more money. We've got to get this right, Dana.
And the Senate -- the Schumer Senate, they have no ideas either. Our recommendation is we pass it through the House. Take it up in the Senate and pass it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So Emmer argues that the Senate should take this up and pass it. But in reality that is not just going to happen. The votes aren't there. Most Democrats are even refusing to consider this bill as a jumping off point for a future deal.
But it is worth noting that we are beginning to see some cracks in that position. Emmer mentioned Senator Joe Manchin. He's one of a growing number of Democrats pressuring Joe Biden to start negotiations.
And really the bottom line here is that Congress is running out of time. Current estimates for the deadline for when a deal must be reached at some point in July.
And the House isn't even in this week. They are on recess. So it is unlikely we will see them move the ball forward in the coming days. And with the deadline right around the corner, every week counts.
Alayna Treene, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)\
HOLMES: While Congress wrangles in Washington, a key player, Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy is in Israel on his first trip abroad as speaker of the House. He met Sunday with his Israeli counterpart and in the next couple of hours, McCarthy is expected to lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Then he is set to address the Israeli parliament or Knesset, the first House speaker to do so since 1998.
Earlier on Sunday, McCarthy stopped at Western Wall, a sacred place of prayer for the Jewish people.
French workers are expected to protest in the coming hours as the world mass (ph) May Day. They've staged strikes and mass demonstrations for months against an increase in the retirement age. But now it is law and labor unions are not yet ready to give up the fight.
CNN Paris correspondent Melissa Bell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: A winter of discontent in France. What began on January 19th with more than a million people in the streets, public and private sectors brought to a standstill has dragged on.
One poll suggesting that after months of marches, 62 percent of the French are still opposed to raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
It was the government's decision to force the reforms through parliament bypassing a second vote that sparked fury in the streets. With hundreds of police officers injured and hundreds of protesters detained in one single bloody day and night.
Amid accusations the government was ignoring the will of the people, weekly clashes between police and pockets of protesters became the norm.
With the unions dominating the streets, marches have been mostly peaceful although comparisons have been drawn with the Yellow Vest Movement whose anger consumed France for more than a year.
Marcel, a volunteer medic, has tended to protesters through years of protests dealing with blunt force trauma, burn wounds, and the consequences of the tear gas. He spoke to CNN under an assumed name for fear of professional retribution.
MARCEL, STREET MEDIC: Compared to the Yellow Vest Movement, maybe a bit less grenade because tear gas -- because the police and the government they do not have the support of the majority of the population. So it is still very violent.
BELL: That anger in the street goes beyond just pension reform, as the French vent their fury at President Emmanuel Macron's bullish approach to governing.
DAVID DUFRESNE, WRITER AND FILMMAKER: We live a very different moment. Democracy is not only ok. Each five years or each four years I vote and that is it. No, the democracy by the streets is back again in the debate.
BELL: The pensions reform is finally law but protesters turning to the (INAUDIBLE) are still making themselves heard -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not the pot and pens that will move France
forward.
BELL: -- as they taunt Macron and his ministers around the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your generation today if we do not do this reform, it won't not have a pensions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We completely disagree with that.
[01:39:53]
BELL: And while protests numbers in recent weeks have dropped, May the 1st, a traditional day of labor marches in France, will be a good barometer of the anger and resentment that still burn in France.
Melissa Bell, CNN -- Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Turkey's president says his country's intelligence forces have killed the leader of ISIS in Syria just six months after the previous leader of the terror group was killed. In a national address on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, quote, "Our national intelligence organization has been tracking the so-called leader of Daesh for a long time. This person was neutralized in the operation carried out by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization on Saturday.
All right. Still ahead, scientists are planning an ocean sensor to better understand the marine ecosystem. I'm going to discuss with an expert what they hope to discover and how big a job this is.
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HOLMES: A new effort is underway to discover and record marine life hidden in the world's oceans. The Ocean Census aims to identify 100,000 unknown species in the next ten years.
Scientists hope it will help them better understand and protect the deep sea ecosystem. It is estimated there are more than 2 million species in the deep, but only about 240,000 have been categorized.
Jyotika Virmani is the executive director of the Schmidt Ocean Institute and key partner of the Ocean Census, she joins me now from Los Angeles. Doctor, good to see you.
First of all, briefly, what is the aim of the census? What do you hope to achieve with this?
DR. JYOTIKA VIRMANI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SCHMIDT OCEAN INSTITUTE: As you said, the aim is to find 100,000 new marine species in the next decade. And it's really to help to transform our knowledge of life on earth and to work out where and what needs protection.
[01:45:02] HOLMES: The Ocean Census Web site is fascinating. It's got a really telling headline on the landing page. It says we've only discovered 10 percent of ocean life. We can't protect what we don't know exists. I'm sure most people wouldn't have a clue about those numbers. What could those undiscovered species potentially tell us?
VIRMANI: Well, they can tell us a number of things. First of all, they can give us insight into life both on this planet but also on other planets.
Marine life is also giving us new medicines, for example, remdesivir which is one of the antiviral drugs used to tackle COVID-19 is actually derived from sea sponge. And there are other drugs that treat HIV, cancer, heart disease. So there is a number of things that, you know, discovering marine life really helps us with.
HOLMES: Yes. Because those of us who live on land, obviously we see what we can see, but give us a sense of how diverse and complex the world is under the ocean's surface and how important it is.
VIRMANI: Well, the ocean covers about 70 percent of the surface area of our planet. But it contains about 97 percent of the world's living space. So it's a huge environment. It's really difficult to access. It's deep, it's dark, it's got high pressure. And this is really challenging.
The Species identification -- this is right now on average, it takes 21 years to identify a new species. We really need to speed that up.
So in order to find these creatures we need sophisticated technologies and tools such as Schmidt Ocean Institute's new research vessel Falkor (too), which has on board an underwater robot R/V Sebastian, and that can go down to 4,500 meters below the sea surface. And it's got high resolution 4k camera systems on board. So you can capture amazing imagery from that.
HOLMES: That's important equipment. The Ocean Census (INAUDIBLE) have said it was a race against time. How urgent is the project?
VIRMANI: It's pretty urgent, actually. We really don't have a good understanding of what is in the ocean but we know the environment is changing. So we really need to speed up our ability to discover these new species before they are lost forever, before we even knew they existed.
If they are gone before we knew they even existed we may lose a cure for cancer or another disease. So it's really urgent that we tackle this as fast as possible.
HOLMES: That's interesting, as you are embarking on this, you know, it came out just this last week that average ocean surface temperatures around the globe spiked since early march. That excludes polar regions. They are about two tenths of a degree Celsius warmer than scientists have ever observed this time of year.
What impact are those warming oceans, climate change, having on our ocean species (INAUDIBLE) and how does that impact the urgency of the progress?
VIRMANI: Yes, as you just said, you know, temperatures are rising. Carbon dioxide is being absorbed by the ocean, it is causing an acidic (ph) ocean. And actually in some parts of the ocean, oxygen is decreasing.
And so these are causing changes to creatures that this is already (INAUDIBLE), you know, Ocean acidification.
It's kind of like of osteoporosis in the ocean. It is changing and it is having an impact on those species.
HOLMES: It is a massive project, wish you well, it is vital. I can't stress how important what is going on in our oceans is.
Jyotika Virmani, thank you so much. Good luck with the project.
VIRMANI: Thank you so much for having me..
HOLMES: Quick break here on the program, when we come back, a bronze sculpture to honor the famous Freya, the walrus now laying in one of her favorites sunbathing spots, detail on the , memorial, after the break.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six, five, four, three, two, one. Engines full power. And lift off --
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HOLMES: After several delays due to weather and technical issues, SpaceX was finally able to launch its Falcon heavy rocket from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Sunday. It's sixth launch ever.
It's carrying three satellites into orbit. The main payload is ViaSat- 3 Americans, weighing 14,000 pounds SpaceX says it's the world's highest capacity satellite and has the largest all electric satellite ever launched.
A fitting tribute meanwhile to a huge global star is being unveiled in Norway. Freya the enormous walrus who captured the hearts of locals, tourists, and fans around the world is being remembered with a life sized bronze statue after she was very controversially euthanized last year. Take a look.
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HOLMES: Almost a year after her death, Freya at the walrus is once again lying in the sun. A memorial unveiled over the weekend in Oslo to honor the famous creature who loved to sunbathe, often in inconvenient places for humans. The ceremony took place on a clear day overlooking the water not far
from where Freya used to bask in the sun and where she was controversial euthanized.
Eric Holm organized an online campaign to build the statue, which cost $25,000 but he says it is the least people can do.
ERIC HOLM, ORGANIZER (through translator): I was very provoked by the way Freya was treated, and how her life ended. People were a little too curious and a little too close and of course, how the authorities chose to enter life.
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HOLMES: Freya was a charming nuisance in Oslo, wriggling under docks and boats, sagging under her weight to get some raise. A simple pleasure that made her a global star, but that attention would be her downfall.
Last August, Norwegian officials said despite warnings, people were getting too close to the 600-kilogram walrus. So she was euthanized.
The decision sparked both anger and sadness with some critics saying it was too rushed. But the government said it would have been too complicated to sedate and move such a large animal. Some people say it is a cautionary tale for humans who get too close to wildlife.
PER EIDSPE, SPECTATOR (through translator): I think that people should show a little more respect for such large animals and not play with them in the water.
HOLMES: A crossing of boundaries that ultimately cost Freya her life, but at least now she has been given a chance to rest in peace.
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HOLMES: And finally this hour if you are an animal lover and comfortable in a costume, the Blackpool Zoo might have a job for you. The animal sanctuary in Lancashire in England needs a seagull deterrent to keep the birds away from food, visitors, and other animals. An I really reading this?
And you can see there how they are asking you to do it. Dress up as a giant bird to chase the pesky seagulls away. They want to hire up to five people for this job -- are you serious? They even sent out a tweet out to James Corden. He hosted his final episode of "THE LATE, LATE SHOW" on Thursday so the zoo says this new job really will suit him.
Rosemary Church could do that.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN.
Do stick around. Rosemary Church will have more news in just a moment. Now I fired her up. [01:56:50]
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