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CNN International: Scientists Discover Powerful Antibiotic with AI; Sources: Negotiators Closer on Deal to Raise Debt Limit; Beachgoers Urged Stay Vigilant after Spate of Attacks; CNN Investigates Iran's Drone Transfers to Russia; Oath Keepers Founder Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 26, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello, and welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, the deadly Russian strike hits medical facility in Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine. Dozens are injured, including children. Then, terrifying moments in South Korea after the emergency door of a plane open while it was landing, the latest on the investigation.

And scientists use artificial intelligence to discover a powerful new antibiotic that can kill a deadly superbug. We begin them in Ukraine where a regional official says at least two people were killed and more than a dozen wounded after an airstrike on a medical clinic in Dnipro.

At least 23 others were hurt, including a six and a three year old child. Military officials say they down most of Russia's 17 cruise missiles and 31 attack drones. Russia has also reported shelling. Fred Pleitgen in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, take, us through the latest attacks, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Max, what is certainly another devastating attack and some of the video especially in the early stages after that attack, which happened in the morning hours of today really was devastating with people you know, with bloods all over their heads and their bodies trying to evacuate from that building and being helped to out of that building.

And as you were already saying, Max, as of right now, the toll stands at 23 people wounded 21 of them hospitalized and several of them in pretty severe condition and two people so far confirmed dead. Unfortunately, as is so often in the case with strikes like that when you have a lot of debris when you have some pretty heavy ordnance being launched on civilian targets.

Unfortunately, it could be the case that that toll might in fact rise. But you are absolutely correct Max, to point out that this has been a big night of strikes by the Russians on targets here in Ukraine in the capital Kyiv and in Dnipro as well. The Ukrainian so far are saying that they have been pretty successful downing a lot of those cruise missiles. And that's a pretty big deal because those are some very big cruise missiles that the Russian shot over here at Ukrainian targets and also taking down apparently most of those attack drones. Those Iranian supplied showerheads, that as well that were loitering here over the territory of Ukraine.

We did overnight hear the sirens go off here in Kyiv, we heard some of the interceptions that were taking place, and certainly the Ukrainian air defenses have been telling us that they have been getting more proficient at getting that done, the latest information that we have and of course, again, this is still pretty early stages.

Apparently that medical facility that was hit in Dnipro may have been hit by a ballistic missile. So not by a cruise missile, those ballistic missiles are much more difficult to hit and to target and to take down by air defenses than cruise missiles would be. So that might be one of the reasons why that facility was hit.

But of course, once again, a civilian target in an urban area with mass casualties hit during one of these large barrages of Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory, Max.

FOSTER: Fred, thank you. A boat carrying around 500 migrants that was flagged by a non-governmental organization on Tuesday, remains missing in the Mediterranean Sea, the coastguard rescue two other migrant boats on Thursday carrying more than 1000 people.

But an NGO rescue boat went to the location of the last coordinates of the missing migrant vessel and found no trace of that boat. It's complicated. That's the assessment from one Republican negotiator as the White House and GOP lawmakers tried to hammer out a deal to pay the U.S. government's bills, money that has already been spent.

Sources say both sides are moving closer to an agreement, that potential compromise would raise the debt ceiling, but cap federal spending levels for two years. There are less than six days left to prevent a potential default that could trigger a global financial crisis.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us live from the White House with some of the sticking points here. The markets don't seem too worried about this at this point. But they are going to worry, aren't they the closer we get to the deadline?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the closer things get to that potential June 1 deadline, the more precarious of the economy and the political situation here in Washington will become but we do know at this moment that negotiators are really racing against this clock with these next 24 to 48 hours really serving as a critical timeframe.

If they want to get any type of legislation passed up on Capitol Hill by that June 1 deadline. Now, sources have told us that these talks are nowhere near final just yet. But there are some contours of an agreement that are starting to emerge. And that includes raising the debt ceiling for two years and pairing that with spending caps for that same length of time.

Now the spending caps would not apply to defense or Veterans programs. But sources caution that there are still a lot of works and details that need to get hammered out. And one of the key sticking points that remains, in addition to those spending levels in these negotiations is that question of work requirements for some social safety net programs for things like food stamps, and Medicaid.

[08:05:00]

These are all things that negotiators are expected to try to work through over the course of the coming hours. I'm told that they will continue to meet a really by talking about on the phone and zoom. So far no in person meeting scheduled just yet but this really comes as they are facing a very significant time crunch when it comes to try to get legislation actually written and then passed up in the House and Senate.

House members have left for the weekend that they've been put on notice that they would have to return within 24 hours once they've been notified of a potential deal. But there are still big questions that are remaining about whether they can get enough support for an agreement to actually pass that type of legislation.

You have a both sides Republicans and Democrats who are concerned that each of their negotiators is giving up too much in these negotiations. So that will be one of the difficult tasks at hand for the White House and Capitol Hill to try to get enough support to get this across the finish line.

But look, bottom line here they are facing an incredibly significant time crunch as that potential June 1 date is quickly approaching. A bit earlier today, the Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on CNN that one of the options some Democrats have been pushing the President to use the 14th amendment to just unilaterally raise the debt limit.

He said that that's a no go. That is not something that's going to happen in this moment. The President has been stressing that it is time for Congress to act question is whether they'll be able to get some type of agreement over the course of today and potentially the weekend.

FOSTER: Arlette, thank you for joining us from there. Now, Japanese farmers under arrest following a brutal rampage in the Central City of Nakano, the 31 year old man allegedly stabbed a woman on Thursday then fatally shot two police officers when they arrived on the scene.

Authorities say he then barricaded himself inside a home for a fourth victim was found on Friday. Firearms are hard to obtain in Japan so police wants to know how we obtained -- was motive was as well. Now terrifying situation for passenger's border packed plane preparing to land in South Korea.

Airline Officials say a man on the Asiana flight appeared to open a plane door whilst it was still hundreds of meters in the air. Video circulating on social media showed strong gushes of wind blowing in the airplane cabin with a jet managed to land safely. I want to bring in Paula Hancock standing by for us in Seoul because the one question I keep being asked, Paula, is why open the door? Have we any idea?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point we don't, Max. And that's certainly what both the government and police are investigating at this point. What we've heard from Asiana. He was a man in his 30s he was sitting in the emergency seat. And as the plane was two to three minutes before landing as it was about 700 feet just over 200 meters from the ground.

He then opened the door. Now at this point they're investigating exactly why he would have done that we heard from one policeman saying it was very difficult to get information from him at this point as he was not in a good state mentally and was unable to stay upright when they arrested him.

They said they he has confessed to opening the door but at this point has not given a reason. But what many aviation experts are asking the question they're asking is how this is even technically possible to open an emergency door while the plane is still flying?

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GEOFFREY THOMAS, AVIATION EXPERT: It seems implausible that the door could be open in the first place and then against the air stream. Technically impossible but somehow rather it has happened possibly some malfunction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now we've so spoken to Airbus that this was an Airbus plane they said quote we are looking into circumstances of this incident aircraft doors can usually only be opened upon touch down. So there are many questions as to why this happened and how it was able to happen?

Now we do know that 12 people were treated for hyperventilation. Nine of those were treated in hospital but officials say that all of those injuries were minor so really does seem quite a benign outcome for what could have been a terrifying and was a terrifying ordeal for those on board.

You can see from the pictures just how strong those gusts of wind were. And people holding on to the armrests in the cabin as the plane touched down. Asiana, the government Airbus everybody looking into what happened and how, Max.

FOSTER: Paula, thank you. Authorities are urging beachgoers to stay vigilant in the water after a spate of shark attacks over the past month. Recent attacks have been reported in New Jersey, Florida and Hawaii. Just this week a 12 foot great white shark spotted off the coast of South Carolina.

This warning comes ahead of what is expected to be a busy Memorial Day weekend when people flock to local beaches. Joining me now on this is a Senior Correspondent Miguel Marquez is at Rockaway Beach in New York. What's your advice there, Miguel?

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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think people are enjoying the beach and there's going to be a lot more enjoyment of the beach very soon across the entire country. Shark attacks in the last couple of years had been up across the U.S. You mentioned some of them recently. One of the more concerning ones that has just happened is down to the Turks and Caicos.

This was a couple that was on a private tour. They were on a boat they were snorkeling off the reef, so a little farther out. And a shark took off one of the limbs of the woman who was in very serious condition right now. There was also a young woman who was bit down on the New Jersey coast.

She was surfing and then down in Florida, there was a young woman who was just sitting in the water near Fort Pierce, and she was bit. Both of those individuals were not bit as bad as the woman in Turks and Caicos, but here in New York, the Governor has ordered more drones in the air more boats in the water as the summer season gets going to make sure that people are safe from sharks.

And a few words of advice as well. If you see schools of fish if you see seals, don't go swimming with them because sometimes the sharks mistake you for lunch or dinner, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Miguel, stay safe there in New York, thank you. India's efforts to reintroduce Cheetahs to the country are suffering a major setback three of four cubs born in late March have now died. Their mother was relocated from Namibia to a National Park in India last September, but temperatures in the region have been around 46 degrees Celsius.

Experts are monitoring the mother remaining cub at a local hospital a total of six Namibian Cheetahs have died in two months. Voters in Turkey are preparing for the second round of presidential elections there this Sunday. Neither the incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan know his challenger have received more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round forcing the run off.

Viewers outside of the United States are sure to watch CNN special live coverage of Turkey elections hosted by Becky Anderson that is on Sunday 8 pm in Ankara, 9 pm in Abu Dhabi, right here on CNN. Now still to come, you and I or AI repose an uncomfortable question. As we ask about the role artificial intelligence can play in human health.

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FOSTER: A two words rarely put together human history until now and that's artificial intelligence. And yet in 2023, we must ask a new question and that is can AI help us specifically, can artificial intelligence discover an antibiotic? Researchers using AI say they found an antibiotic that works against bacteria that can be almost impossible to treat. The compound was so precise that it could target the problem pathogen and leave beneficial bacteria in place. [08:15:00]

Let's get more on this incredible story actually from CNN Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, why are researchers hoping to combat these bacteria and how does the AI help to achieve that?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Max, this bacteria called the Acinetobacter Baumannii, it is really quite terrible because it's so smart, it's managed over the years to outwit nearly all or sometimes even all of the antibiotics that we can throw at it, it's seen those antibiotics, and it has managed to learn how to outwit them.

So people are also trying to use intelligence now, to outwit the bacteria. The way that this usually happens is that you try out this drug and see if it works, try out that drug. But that is relatively slow, and there's no time to waste and here's why. So these bacteria, it really preys on people in hospital settings.

And so the most vulnerable people who would prey on it can cause infections in the blood, and the urinary tract can cause lung infections. In other words, it can cause pneumonia, and it clings to surfaces. And that's really why this is such a villain is that even if you're very, very good at cleaning, there, it is possible that you could miss it.

So artificial intelligence can do this much more quickly, it can try out this different drug, that different drug, that different drug, you can try out hundreds of millions of drugs or even a billion drugs. Whereas when you're doing it sort of the old fashioned way, maybe you can do like a million drugs.

So what these folks did, these are scientists in the United States is they took a mouse, they gave it a wound with this bacteria. And then they gave them this gave the mouse this antibiotic. And not only did he kill the bacteria, but it didn't hurt good bacteria. That's one of the things you look for an antibiotic, he wanted to keep the good bacteria and kill the bad bacteria.

Now, I will say, Max, that we shouldn't think this is going to be on the market anytime soon. This is a great day, if you're a wounded mouse, this is not a great day, if you're a wounded person like today, we'll have to wait to make sure that this drug doesn't, you know, we'll have to try it out as a cause other problems for human beings.

Can we get a pharmaceutical company to see that this is profitable? Those two things are challenging, and they will take years at least, Max.

FOSTER: So is this potentially a way to tailor antibiotics to other drug resistant pathogens?

COHEN: Yes, absolutely. I mean, this is really a proof of principle that AI it just manages to do the job faster. It doesn't do anything humans can't do necessarily. It just does the job faster. That's been the real problem with antibiotic development, Max, over the years is that it just takes decades and decades and hopefully AI can cut that time down.

FOSTER: OK, Elizabeth, thank you so much for your insight fascinating. Now coming up Iranian Military drones keep arrived in Russia despite international sanctions on Moscow. Ahead, CNN investigates the murky web that allows them to go largely undetected.

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FOSTER: Ukraine says Russia has used about 1200 Iranian drones since the war began. But just how are those weapons finding their way to Russia? Salma Abdelaziz reports. Some ships and planes have a way of making deliveries and going largely unnoticed.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These calm waters are home to a secret Russia doesn't want you to know. Experts say Iran is quietly sending weapons on ships like this one across the Caspian Sea to replenish arms for Moscow's war on Ukraine. Concealing movement at sea is considered nefarious and potentially a violation of international law.

But in the Caspian Sea, there are a growing number of gaps in vessels tracking data known as AIS, with a more than 50 percent increase in ships hiding their movement between August and September of 2022. According to maritime trafficking data, most of the vessels going dark are Iranian or Russian flag tankers.

The timing is suspicious too, this practice picking up the last summer, just as White House officials revealed that Russia had purchased hundreds of drones from Iran. So why would these ships want to hide their movements? Maritime Security Analysts Martin Kelly tells us it is likely because of what these vessels are carrying.

MARTIN KELLY, LEAD INTELLIGENCE ANALYST OF EOS RISK GROUP: There's a correlation between Russia requesting drones from Iran, dark port calls in the Caspian Sea and an increase in dark AIS activity. And that to me was a key indicator of these three aspects combined. That something was going on probably the export of Iranian drones to Russia.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): This heat map from Lloyd's list shows were most of those gaps in AIS are concentrated mostly near Iran's Amirabad port and Russia's Astrakhan port, where ships appear to be turning off their data on approach and going dark for extended periods of time.

Now, using data like this and expert analysis, CNN was able to identify eight vessels that exhibited suspicious behavior in the Caspian Sea. This is one such vessel. It's a Russian flag tanker that was seen in early January, leaving Iran's Amirabad port making its way across the Caspian Sea to Russia's Astrakhan port.

Now, we cannot independently verify what this tanker was carrying. But experts tell us the shipment was likely linked to the arms trade. ABDELAZIZ (voice over): And there are signs that Tehran could be air mailing arms too. The U.S. and Ukraine both accused Tehran of sending supplies to Russia by plane. CNN analyzed the tracking data of four Iranian cargo planes flagged by the U.S. Commerce Department for potentially carrying drone shipments.

Collectively, the aircraft made at least 85 trips to Moscow airports between May 2022 and March 2023. Iran has admitted that it sold a small number of drones to Russia, but it says the sale was a few months prior to the war in Ukraine. CNN has reached out to Iran and Russia for comment, but has yet to receive a response.

But given the much larger volume cargo ships can carry the Caspian Sea corridor is likely the primary conduit and experts say it is the new frontier for weapons trade between Moscow and Tehran tucked away from Western interference. It provides an easy avenue for sanctions evasion, Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi says.

ANISEH BASSIRI TABRIZI, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW AT RUSI: I think the perception in Moscow is that Iran can teach a lot to Moscow about how to go and how to still have a significant economy, even when sanctions are imposed.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): And there is very little the U.S. and its allies can do to stop it. And more could be on the way. Intelligence officials warned in November, Iran plans to send ballistic missiles, ammunition and more sophisticated drones to Moscow. A bustling corridor potentially providing a much needed Arsenal critical to Russia's land grab in Ukraine. Salma Abdelaziz CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: More than two years after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol to convict really ringleaders of the Insurrection were hand is stiff prison sentences on Thursday. But Oath keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes, who played a central role on the January 6, was unrepentant declaring himself a political prisoner. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has those details.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Stewart Rhodes, the Founder of the Oath keepers was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on Thursday. That is a sentence the largest among any January 6 capitol riots defendant and the reason Rhodes receiving that much time is because the judge decided he was the reason.

The members of the Oath keepers came to Washington D.C. on January 6, and decided to move into the Capitol in their riot gear in military ask gear as a unit.

[08:25:00]

Now, Rhodes, spoke to the judge today and said that he had no remorse at all that he still believed that the election of 2020 was illegal that this was an illegitimate government governing the United States. And so the judge responded to that quite harshly, telling Rhodes that his crimes of seditious conspiracy and other crimes amounted to domestic terrorism in his sentencing.

And also that he believed Rhodes poses a continuing ongoing threat to the American Republic to American democracy. There was another person sentenced today too, a deputy who was working with Rhodes on January 6, man named Kelly Meggs from Florida. Meggs was a very different defendant, in that he did express remorse.

He said he was sorry to be involved in an event that put such a black eye on the country. But the judge also gave him quite a significant sentence believing it too amounted to a crime of domestic terrorism seditious conspiracy and the judge gave him 12 years. Kelly Meggs whenever he was receiving his sentence was crying.

But the judge also took a step back and told him quite certainly, that violence was not the answer, and is not the answer for people who disagree with the political process in the United States. Judge Amit Mehta he also said we have a process it is called an election. You don't take to the streets with rifles.

You don't hope that the President invokes the Insurrection Act. So you can start a war in the streets. You don't rush into the U.S. Capitol with the hope to stop the electoral vote count. We will slowly but surely descend into chaos, if we do. More sentences for Oath keepers are to come. But these were the most significant sentences so far in the January 6 seditious conspiracy cases. Katelyn Polantz CNN, Washington.

FOSTER: Finally for climbing the world's tallest mountain was hard try doing it 28 times, that's exactly what this man did. 53 year old Sherpa Kami Rita was greeted with a hero's welcome in Nepal's capital after reaching the 8849 meter summit of Mount Everest in just one week after scaling the mountain for a record breaking 28 times he believe.

But he says that's it he's not done yet, amazing. Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" with Andy Scholes is up next.

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