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CNN International: Miami Mayor Suarez Officially Launches 2024 Bid; Questions Surround Deaths of Tourists in Mexico; Chinese Media: Xi Jinping Meets with Bill Gates; Pope Francis Released From Hospital in Rome. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 16, 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]

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fighting on the streets of Sudan is relentless. Ceasefire after ceasefire has not held. The RSF's key ally, the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner, has been sustaining their fight and providing the impetus to slaughter innocent people by supplying arms. We're going to show you how.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: FOSTER: You can see Nima's full report will be playing out today in the afternoon in the U.K. and 4:00 p.m. in Khartoum. Right here on CNN

Now still ahead, the already crowded field of U.S. Republican presidential candidates is getting even bigger. We'll take a look at Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. He is the latest into the fray.

Plus, two American tourists mysteriously died at a Mexican resort this week. What autopsies have revealed about their deaths.

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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 our top stories this hour.

The town of Perryton, Texas took a direct hit from a dangerous tornado on Thursday causing tremendous damage. At least three people were killed and we're told up to 100 others are hospitalized.

And the judge presiding over the Trump classified documents trial has issued her first order. Aileen Cannon has given attorneys five days to comply with all required security clearances and provide an update on their progress.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama is calling on Republican presidential candidates to present, quote, an honest accounting of our past and present regarding racial inequality. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If somebody is not proposing, both acknowledging and proposing elements that say, no, we can't just ignore all that and pretend as if everything is equal and fair, we actually have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

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If they're not doing that, then I think people are rightly skeptical.

There may come a time where there's somebody in the Republican Party that is more serious about actually addressing some of the deep inequality that still exists in our society that tracks race and is a consequence of our racial history, and if that happens, I think that would be fantastic. I haven't yet seen it.

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FOSTER: Obama was responding to a question by Democratic political consultant, David Axelrod, about comments by GOP presidential candidate, Tim Scott, who recently suggested that racial inequality is a thing of the past.

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SEN. TIM SCOTT, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every kid today can look -- just change the stations and see how much progress has been made in this country. ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, CNN, Fox News all have African American and Hispanic hosts. So what I'm suggesting is that the yesterday's exception is today's rule.

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FOSTER: Another presidential hopeful has officially thrown their hat into the ring for the Republican nomination. The Mayor of Miami, Florida, Francis Suarez, kicked off his campaign Thursday with a speech at the Reagan Library in California. CNN's Kyung Lah reports on what sets him apart from his rivals.

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FRANCIS SUAREZ, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): America's so-called leaders confuse being loud, with actual leading. All Washington wants to do is fight with each other, instead of fighting for the people, that put them in office.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The office Mayor Frances Suarez wants next is a major step beyond the city of Miami.

SUAREZ: I'm going to run for president, I'm going to run for your children in mine.

LAH (voice-over): The mayor is pitching himself as a problem solver. At age 45, representing a generational change for a party that's made inroads with Latino voters. The son of a former mayor of Miami, Suarez is a late entry into the race. He's the first major Latino candidate to enter the ever-growing Republican field, an underdog, not just among the more unknown national figures, but also against his fellow Floridians. Governor Ron DeSantis, and former President Donald Trump, are resident of nearby Palm Beach.

But don't immediately discount Miami's mayor, says Republican Scott Jennings.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Who was Pete Buttigieg before launching, you know, a long shot campaign for president? Virtually nobody knew who the guy was. Now he's kind of a household name. You get to see that kind of talent in Suarez.

SUAREZ: I will continue to follow Department of Health protocol and remain isolated while I lead our government remotely.

LAH (voice-over): Suarez has managed to snag national attention before, publicly tracking his COVID diagnosis in the early days of the pandemic on social media and cable news.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Mayor Suarez.

LAH (voice-over): He's also butted heads at times with DeSantis and Trump.

Asked this morning about Trump's indictment.

SUAREZ: Yeah, look, it's not what I would have done. I would've turned over the documents.

LAH (voice-over): Suarez repeatedly evaded the question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think it was reckless? Do you think it was legal?

SUAREZ: Like I said before, you know, I'm not a, you know, an expert on these kinds of matters. But I do want to say this, that this conversation is not a healthy conversation for the country. We should be talking about the issues that Americans care about. We shouldn't be talking about, you know, candidates being indicted.

LAH (voice-over): As a national candidate, Jennings says Suarez will have to talk about Trump, the pacesetter in the primary.

JENNINGS: You know, a large field benefits Donald Trump, if all the players stay in through all of the voting. So if you go to Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina, and everybody's in the race and nobody blinks and nobody wants to get out, that benefits Donald Trump because he's got the highest floor right now of anybody in the race.

LAH: Suarez is stressing that he's the kind of Republican who won't shout. That he is the Republican of the future. The question though is, number one, does the Republican Party even want that? And also, he is facing a ticking clock in order to qualify for the August debate stage.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Simi Valley, California.

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FOSTER: Authorities in Mexico are investigating the deaths of two tourists from California. Relatives of the couple who spoke to them earlier this week, said the two thought they had food poisoning. But days later they were dead. CNN's Josh Campbell has the latest.

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JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Authorities in Mexico are investigating the death of two American citizens. A man any woman who were found dead Tuesday at a hotel in the resort village of El Pescadero.

Now authorities in Mexico say that they had been in the hotel likely dead for about 10 to 11 hours. An autopsy that was done indicated that the cause of death was some type of poison. Authorities didn't indicate if we were talking about drugs, possible carbon monoxide exposure. We know in recent years there have been high profile incidents of American families dying in carbon monoxide poisoning incidents.

Now as that investigation continues, the hotel issued a statement saying: Local authorities are still actively investigating the situation and the safety and securities of our guests and colleagues remains a top priority as always. We can confirm there was no evidence of violence related to the situation and we are not aware of any threat to guest safety or well-being.

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Now the U.S. State Department confirmed on Thursday that these were American citizens. I spoke to a law enforcement source who said at this point the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, they have not yet gotten involved. It appears at this time there is no indication of any kind of foul play. But of course, the investigation in Mexico continues.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

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FOSTER: We are following a developing story out of Beijing where Chinese state media reports that President Xi Jinping has meet with Microsoft founder Bill Gates. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is live this hour in Hong Kong with the details. He's not actively involved in the company, is he, day to day now, so what was this about do you think?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well Bill Gates is in China to discuss global health issues with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and he secured a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that happened earlier today. This is Xi's first meeting with a western business figure in years. And according to Chinese State media, Xi called Gates the first

American friend he has seen this year. He also said that the foundation of China/U.S. relations is, quote, in the people. And according to the state-run broadcaster CCTV, this is what Xi Jinping told Bill Gates. Let's bring it up for you.

Quote: In today's word situation, we can carry out all kinds of activities that will benefit our two countries, our two peoples, and humanity as a whole. Let's all be facilitators in this regard. Unquote.

On Thursday, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation renewed its collaboration with the Beijing government, as well as Tsinghua University, to develop innovative therapies for infectious diseases all around the world. And on Wednesday, Gates announced that he was in China. He announced this on Twitter. His first time in China in some five years. And this is his tweet.

He said, quote: Solving problems like climate change, health inequity, food insecurity, requires innovation from developing malaria drugs to investing in climate adaptation. China has a lot of experience in that. We need to unlock that kind of progress for more people around the world. Unquote.

Back in 2020, that was when Gates step down from the Microsoft board to focus on global philanthropy. But you know, several business leaders have been visiting China after in recent months, ever since China reopened after years of zero COVID measures. Those leaders include Elon Musk at Tesla, Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan, Tim Cook of Apple, the list goes on.

And while Beijing has been rolling out the red carpet for these leaders, tensions are high between the U.S. and China -- diplomatically speaking. In fact, America's top diplomat Antony Blinken will visit China this weekend as he and the United States look to reset relations. This was a trip originally scheduled in February. It was postponed because of the Chinese balloon incident. Xi met -- he met with Bill Gates today, but it's an open question whether Blinken will have a meeting with Xi Jinping -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, thank you.

Now after more than a week in hospital, Pope Francis has been discharged and has returned to the Vatican. Coming up, a live report from Rome on the pontiff's recovery.

Plus, thousands are in the dark as a deadly cyclone hammers parts of India and Pakistan. Now they're at risk of flooding.

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FOSTER: At least nine people have died and 23 have been injured so far as a tropical cyclone bears down on northwest India and parts of Pakistan. Biparjoy has torn roofs off houses, uprooted trees, brought down power lines, leaving nearly 1,000 villages in the dark. The cyclone made landfall late Thursday evening local time in India's Gujarat state, not far from the border of Pakistan. Biparjoy will continue to weaken as it moves further inland.

Pope Francis has been released from hospital in Rome where he was greeted by throngs of well-wishers. The pontiff had been recovering from last week's abdominal surgery. And he had a busy schedule planned for this summer. Let's get more now from CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau. So, have his plans changed after this vulnerability, if I can call it, was exposed?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, Max, we were told from the get-go here that this wasn't an emergency surgery, that this was a surgery in order to alleviate lingering and worsening pain that came from a previous abdominal surgery when he had the part of his colon removed about two years ago. So you know, we can expect that he is going to take it easy. But we're told that he is expected to deliver this Sunday Angelus this Sunday just two days out. Just two days after getting out of the hospital.

We haven't seen much of him since his surgery last Wednesday. He underwent a three-hour procedure. And yesterday, Thursday, you know, out of the blue we get these wonderful pictures of him visiting the pediatric cancer ward, visiting with other patients. And we were told he's coming home today early. And he left this hospital shortly before 9:00 a.m. local time.

He looked well, he had color in his face. He was in a wheelchair, which is not uncommon, but certainly common when leaving the hospital. But he was met with these hordes of people, well wishers, you know, patients that had been in the hospital looking out of their windows, people were visiting other people in the hospital, maybe had medical appointments. But there were also people who knew he was getting out today, who came to try to make sure they could try to get a glimpse of him. Heavy, heavy security, obviously, he's a head of state. But he was wheeled down to thunderous applause and left in his little white Fiat 500 and back to the Vatican.

Before reaching the Vatican though, he stopped at St. Mary Major Church. Now this is a cathedral in Rome where he always stops to pray before he goes on a trip abroad and when he comes home from a trip abroad. So, you know, he goes there as a matter of, you know, convenience, I guess. It's convenient, it's easy to get to for him on the way the Vatican. But it's an important place for him to pray to the Virgin Mary there. So this is a common thing from him. We've seen some lovely pictures of him there.

Then he went back into the Vatican and we're expecting that he will rest until Sunday and then we expect to see him Sunday. He's keeping his private appointments next week but he already canceled his Wednesday audience. That they told us is to just safe guard him, you know, keep his recovery. Because he has these big trips planned for August. First to Portugal for the World Youth Day and then at the end of the month to Mongolia. So the whole idea here is to keep him rested and fit and get him back in shape so he can make these two super important trips in August -- Max. FOSTER: OK, Barbie, thank you for joining us from Rome.

Now for most people after winning the NBA finals, MVP trophy, you wouldn't let it out of your sight. But Nikola Jokic is not like most people. And the Denver Nuggets star seemed to have misplaced his award.

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FOSTER: After leading the Denver Nuggets to the franchise's first NBA title, superstar Nikola Jokic deservedly won the finals MVP trophy. But what happened afterwards, he's not quite sure. In an interview with ESPN, the Serbian center revealed he misplaced the award the day after the final game. When asked where it was, he said he left it in the team's equipment manager's office but it wasn't there anymore. ESPN reporter later tweeted that the trophy was found in say fans and ready for team's parade through Denver which was held yesterday. So that's a relief.

Lionel Messi is coming to America but not before few more mesmerizing appearances for Argentina. On Thursday he scored the fastest goal of his career, just 79 seconds into the from frenzy against Australia. According to the sports data group Gracenote, Messi has scored in every minute of a football match except the opening 60 seconds.

In the middle of the match a boy jumped from the stands at Workers' Stadium in Beijing. He ran into the pitch and hugged the superstar. Security led the fan away, but he was back in the crowd soon apologizing for his behavior. Argentina went on to win to beat the Socceroos 2-0.

NASA astronauts, Woody Hoburg and Stephen -- Steve Bowen took a walk- in space to install new solar panels to power the International Space Station. The spacewalk took just over 5 1/2 hours.

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The new array is much smaller but generates more electricity than the old array. The walk was the second for Hoburg and the tenth for Bowen tying him the most spacewalks by a U.S. astronaut.

Now if you're an animal lover with travel anxiety and happens to be passing through San Francisco International Airport, be on the lookout for Duke Ellington Morris. The tuxedo cat in pilot uniform has just joined the airport's Wag Brigade. A team of certified stress relief animals. Do is a 14-year-old rescued cat and the first feline in the group. According to the airport the Wag Brigade helps make travel more enjoyable and less stressful.

In Florida security caught up with one unwelcome visitor. A black bear was spotted on the ground at a Tampa airport. Wildlife officials were called in to capture the bear. He was taken and released in the forest in central Florida. It's believed the bear scaled a fence to get into the airport property. Now we're getting reports of at least one explosion in the Ukrainian

capital. The mayor of Kyiv posted on social media a short while ago that missiles are still flying in the city. It's unclear if the explosion was caused by missiles hitting the ground or by air defenses. That happened after a group of African leaders actually arrived in Ukraine to promote their peace initiatives.

We'll have more on that as we get details confirmed.

Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is next right here on CNN.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Right now on "EARLY START,".