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CNN International: Historic Axiom Space Mission Takes First Saudi Woman to Space; Outer Bands of Typhoon Mawar Hitting Guam; Imran Khan: There is No Rule of Law in Pakistan. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired May 22, 2023 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... things to watch all of a sudden. Now that we know this high-profile case is indeed headed towards trial.
Mike Valerio, CNN, Los Angeles.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: In Kansas City, Missouri, three people are dead and two more are injured following a shooting at a nightclub early on Sunday. Police say all five victims are believed to be adults. The two people injured remain hospitalized, one in critical condition, the other stable. Police are asking anyone with information to come forward. They are offering a reward of up to $25,000.
Authorities in New York are working to identify the cause of death for two boys. These bodies were found in two different rivers in Manhattan late last week. Police believe 11-year-old Alfa Barrie and 13-year-old Garrett Warren were friends. They were last seen walking together in Harlem sometime between May the 12th and May the 13th. They were each reported missing just a day or two later, the bodies were found more than two miles away from one another.
At least 230 people have been arrested at an annual Jeep gathering in Texas. Authorities say most of those arrested face misdemeanor charges. Large crowds flock to the Crystal Beach event every year in Jeeps and other vehicles to drink and to party. Police say things have been more or less under control this year.
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MAJ. RAY NOLEN, GALVESTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Overall, it's been a successful event. We've had, you know, about the same number of arrests that we had last year. And we feel like we've got a pretty good handle on the overall safety of it. And we're just trying to get through today and tomorrow and get everybody home safe.
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FOSTER: Still to come, another all-private crew of astronauts launches into space. After the break, we'll tell you which member of the Axiom 2 mission makes history there. Also ahead, a typhoon is growing stronger in the Western Pacific. Our
meteorologist Britley Ritz is tracking where the storm is heading.
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BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And the latest model rounds are already starting to come in and there has been a slight shift. I'll tell you what that means for Guam with the impacts in terms of rain and wind -- here in just a few minutes.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster, if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with the top stories in this hour.
In the coming hours, the U.S. president will hold another round of talks on the U.S. debt limit with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. There are only ten days left before the June 1 deadline when the U.S. government could default on its debt.
And Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students is set to appear in court later today. He was indicted last week on four counts of murder and one count of burglary. He's expected to enter a plea for those charges.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, engines full power. And liftoff, Falcon 9. Go, Axiom.
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FOSTER: A successful launch for AX-2. The latest all-private spaceflight from Axiom Space. The craft will soon dock with the International Space Station carrying four private astronauts. Among them the first Saudi woman in space. Stem cell researcher, Rayyanah Barnawi will spend the next eight days conducting breast cancer research before returning to earth with the three other crew members. CNN's Carlos Suarez has more on Sunday's launch.
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CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The mission commander called it a phenomenal ride into space. The Axiom-2 mission is on its way to the International Space Station after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday. According to Axiom Space it'll take the four-member crew 16 hours to get to the ISS where the crew will spend about eight days.
The stage 1 rocket booster successfully landed at Kennedy Space Center some eight minutes after liftoff. A sonic boom was heard as the rocket landed. Two Americans and two Saudis make up the Axiom-2 crew. Commander Peggy
Whitson is a former NASA astronaut who has spent 665 days in space and served as commander of the International Space Station. She's joined by mission pilot John Shoffner, Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, our mission specialist. Barnawi made history on Sunday, becoming the first Saudi woman in space.
Carlos Suarez, CNN, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
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FOSTER: From a historic flight to one that didn't go smoothly, a passenger on a Frontier Airlines flight that was preparing to leave Denver was cited for assault a flight attendant after being asked to leave the plane. It's unclear why the woman was asked to get off but the airlines say she struck the flight attendant with an intercom phone. The are deal cause the plane to take off nearly 4 hours late, according to Flight Aware tracking data. Police say the passenger had to book another flight home.
Typhoon Mawar is again gaining strength in the Western Pacific. And it's also slowing down as it heads for Guam. The outer bands are already starting to impact the U.S. island territory. The typhoon is currently the equivalent to a category 2 Atlantic hurricane. Heavy rainfall, flooding, damaging winds and high surf are possible as the storm moves ashore in the days ahead. Meteorologist Britley Ritz is at the CNN Weather Center with the latest on the typhoon in his current path -- Britley.
RITZ: Yes, we do have strengthening, and winds are now at 105 miles per hour as the center low continues to deepen. You can tell by the convection, all of that deep red, and the outer bands already starting to move into Guam today. At 125 miles per hour gusts moving north- northwest at 7 miles per hour. So, yes, it slowed down and is taking on this warm ocean water. We're talking about sea surface temperatures that are nearly in the mid-80s Fahrenheit. And that's just fuel for the system to really take hold.
And typhoon warnings for Rota and Guam, in tropical storm warnings for the Northern Islands where winds are already starting to pick up and even more so through the next 24 hours. Winds of 115 miles per hour expected to be a major typhoon just before landfall. Further threatening as it moves back out to sea as it passes the islands within the next 120 hours. We can have winds of 150 miles per hour that will make it a category 4 storm if it comes to that fruition.
Notice the model runs, the latest coming in pushing it further south. The European now starting to differ a bit from the GFS -- the American model. If this is the case for the European, it would make a direct impact to Guam.
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The last time that would have happened which would have been back in 2018 would be Maria. And that would push in all of the wind and the water causing storm surge. Four to six feet of storm surge for the islands. And not only that, but heavy, heavy rain. And the island of Guam, bringing in roughly about 10 to 12 inches of rain when it is all said and done. So, the rain really doesn't start to taper back until we move in into the weekend.
So, here's your rainfall totals over the next five days. Notice the purples, that is again, 10 to 15 inches of rain. Folks, we have had quite a few storms since 1945, 27 in the month of May, for the West Pac. Again, this type of Mawar, would be the first landfall in several, several years. So, we can expect that, Max, here in the upcoming 24 hours.
FOSTER: Indeed, Britley, thank you so much for that.
Now after cutting short her trip to Japan for the G7 Summit, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has returned home and visited the flood ravaged northern region. On Sunday, residents there are cleaning up the damage from the flooding and the mudslides which killed at least 14 people. More than 36,000 have been evacuated though during the storms, and by Sunday evening, about a third of them were able to go back home.
A massive fire has gutted the historic Manila Central Post Office in the Philippines capital. The fire broke out late on Sunday and teams of firefighters battled it for more than seven hours overnight before finally getting it under control. The post office was first built in 1926, then rebuilt in 1946, after it was badly damaged in World War II. It sits near other tourist landmarks. No word on the cause of the fire or any injuries.
Still ahead, Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks to CNN on his ongoing standoff with the military and concerns about his safety.
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IMRAN KHAN, FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: Everything is being done to disband the democracy. 80 percent chances are that I will be arrested. So, right now, there's no rule of law.
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FOSTER: Germany's chancellor has called on North Korea to end its ballistic missile test tests saying they're a threat to peace and security in the region. Chancellor Olaf Scholz made the remarks on Sunday after visiting the Korean Demilitarized Zone that separates the north from the south. He later met in with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul where both nations announced upcoming agreements boost to defense cooperation.
The U.S. State Department says it's deeply troubled by an order by Israel allowing its citizens to establish a permanent presence on private Palestinian land in the West Bank. In a statement on Sunday, the spokesperson says the move is inconsistent with the Israeli government's commitments to the Biden administration.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestine men during an incursion in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. Israel Army radio reported they were killed in an exchange of fire with Israel Defense Forces. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade has claimed the three as fighters.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan is lashing out at the law- and-order situation in his country. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, Khan says there is, quote no rule of law and the Pakistani government is violating the constitution and its rights -- and his right. Khan has been involved in a tense standoff with the country's military for months leading to violent protests. For more on this, let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks who joining us live from Seoul in South Korea -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, Imran Khan was speaking to Fareed Zakaria on CNN this weekend. And he said that what is happening to his country at the moment is an attempt to dismantle democracy. Now he has been criticizing the current government heavily. Also criticizing the army chief.
Imran khan was deposed in April of last year in a no confidence vote. And he has consistently said that he believes the army chief was behind it. He wasn't pained so not to say he was against the military itself. The military is very powerful in Pakistan. And he just wanted to point out that the army chief was the one who was behind trying to get him out of power.
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KHAN: All I know is that the last six months he just worked to remove my government and he's -- he's openly afterwards in an interview claimed that he decided that I was too dangerous for the country and so my government was ousted.
Since then, all I have said is that the solution to Pakistan's problems are free and fair elections. Because that's the only thing that will bring political stability in this country.
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HANCOCKS: And those elections at this point are pegged for October. Now, Imran also talked about the fact there were thousands. He said 10,000 workers who had been arrested -- this is in the past couple of weeks with the unrest and protesters against his arrest. And then he was subsequently let out on bail. He says at the moment, he's in Lahore, in his house that is surrounded by police.
And tomorrow, on Tuesday, he is expected to go to Islamabad to face another court case, and to deal with bail in the city. And he said there is an 80 percent chance he believes that he will be rearrested. Now of course, the concern about that is what the protest will look like. He has tremendous support in Pakistan and there are likely to be many that come out on the street if he is rearrested -- Max.
FOSTER: OK. Paula Hancocks in Seoul, thank you.
Next on CNN NEWSROOM, Miami is turning up the heat on the Boston Celtics. Highlights of a crucial game three in the NBA playoffs.
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FOSTER: The Boston Celtics are clearly feeling the Heat. Now just one loss away from being swept in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. Before a packed hometown crowd, the Miami Heat dominated Boston, winning game three of their series by 26 points. The final, the Heat, 128, the Celtics, 102. Miami now leads Boston three games to none in the best of seven series. Game four is set for Tuesday night in Miami.
In the National Hockey League, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in game two of the Western Conference finals on Sunday. The game was once again decided by an overtime goal, this one scored by Vegas's Chandler Stephenson. The Knights now lead two games to nothing. Game three is scheduled in Dallas on Tuesday
It's been quite a year for American golfer Brooks Koepka. He captured his third career PGA championship on Sunday just a month after finishing his runner-up at the Masters. This is Koepka's fifth major overall. He's now the fifth golfer to win a Major while playing in the breakaway LIV golf series. And he's done it all whilst battling back from knee and wrist injuries in recent years.
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BROOKS KOEPKA, 2023 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER: I've given away a few Majors as well along the way. But I think I've learned so much from '19 to now, I feel like a different person, right? Going to be a dad. Going to be going through all of the stuff that I've been through I think it's changed me and humanized me a little bit more.
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FOSTER: And this is now l how Manchester City celebrated their latest Premier League title, a 1-nil victory over Chelsea with that call by Julian Alvarez.
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The mood was festive, with City already been crowned champions following Arsenal's loss to Nottingham Foreston Saturday. This is Manchester City's fifth Premier League title in six years -- can you believe it?
And finally, the stories in the spotlight at this hour. Climate activists in Rome gave the phrase "dying for attention" a whole new meaning. On Sunday, they dumped black coloring into the water at Trevi Fountain, trying to draw attention to the hazards of fossil fuels. Authorities arrested protesters calling them, quote, eco vandals.
Mega pop star Lizzo got emotional at her concert in Nebraska this weekend. It was because of the recently passed state bill -- we mentioned earlier this hour -- that would restrict abortion and access to gender-affirming care. During her show in Omaha on Friday night, the Grammy and Emmy winner celebrated the diversity of her fans and took a swing at the new legislation, have a look.
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LIZZO, SINGER: I'm not here to tell you who -- who you not to are -- who you are. OK? I see you and I value you. You deserve to be heard. How do you feel? You can sing that to tune. He's never -- he don't get it on what's real.
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FOSTER: And finally, when a Taylor Swift fan missed out on tickets to the singer's popular U.S. tour, he went outside the box to attend.
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DAVIS PERRIGO, TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: I actually got reprimanded by Taylor's security saying that I was going too hard and I needed to take it down a notch. It really was a blessing that I didn't get tickets.
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FOSTER: That is Davis Perrigo, accountant from Tennessee. He got a job as a security guard at a concert venue where the singer performed. Whilst he was working, he started singing along to the music and videos of him have really gone viral. He said swift's concert was louder than any sporting event he's been to.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. EARLY START with Christine Romans is next here on CNN.
