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Massive Protests Against Moves for Tighter Lai Scrutiny; Aid Groups: Security Concerns Hampering Deliveries in Gaza; White House Rolls Out Red Carpet for Kenyan President; Ebrahim Raisi Laid to Rest in Holy City of Mashhad; Top Republicans Defend Alito as Calls Increase for His Recusal; Heat Wave Endangers Mexico's Howler Monkeys; U.S. Sues to Split Up Live Nation-Ticketmaster 'Monopoly'. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired May 24, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company, coming to you live from Studio H in Atlanta.
[00:00:43]
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, East Asia on edge after China launches what it calls punishment military drills surrounding Taiwan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To Kenya, for our guest. Cheers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Joe Biden wines and dines Kenya's president at the White House as the U.S. pushes back against growing Chinese influence in Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is time to break it up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And U.S. prosecutors say Ticketmaster's exorbitant fees for concert and sports tickets aren't just annoying. They're also illegal.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: Welcome, everyone. Rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait as China launches another day of large-scale military drills around the self-ruling island.
The Chinese military claims it is testing its ability to, quote, "seize power" and occupy key areas only days after the new Taiwan president took office.
Taiwan says dozens of Chinese aircraft, warships, and other vessels have been detected in and near the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, Beijing says its fighter jets have been conducting mock strikes against, quote, high-value military targets. Earlier, China called the drills a punishment for so-called separatist acts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WANG WENBIN, SPOKESMAN, CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: All separatist acts seeking Taiwan independence will be met with a crushing defeat, dealt by more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. And all separatist forces for Taiwan independence will have their heads bashed bloody in the face of the historical trend of China's complete reunification.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Taiwan is condemning Chinas drills as an irrational threat to regional stability and has dispatched its own forces.
This is the first real test for President Lai Ching-te, who has been president since Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAI CHING-TE, TAIWANESE PRESIDENT (through translator): I will stand on the front line with all the brothers and sisters from the national army to defend the national piece together. And while facing the external challenges and threats, we will continue to defend the values of democracy, protecting regional peace and stability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: China's massive military exercise isn't the only issue Taiwan is grappling with. There are large protests against moves to subject President Lai to tighter scrutiny by those who favor closer relations with China.
CNN's Will Ripley joins me now from outside Taiwan's legislature, where it is a little noisy, it's fair to say. So you've got military drills around Taiwan, protests where you are in the capital, Taipei. The new president seems to have a lot on his plate.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And he hasn't even been in office for a week yet, Michael. This is really an extraordinary moment for this young, vibrant and scrappy democracy that saw fights break out in Parliament one week ago today.
And now outside of Parliament, we have hundreds, perhaps over 1,000 people who've gathered so far, despite some rain here in the Taiwanese capital. These people are supporters of President Lai Ching-te.
They say it's not fair that the opposition considered friendly to China, which currently controls Parliament, is trying to push through legislation that would take away power from the newly elected president. And they say the military drills are further evidence of why Taiwan
should be playing hardball with Beijing and not bowing down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): A chaotic start for Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-te, just days after taking office, China launching large-scale military exercises and protesters taking to the streets of the capital, Taipei.
Operation Joint Sword 2024 A, set to encircle Taiwan over two days. Dozens of Chinese aircraft, warships and coast guard vessels. Beijing describing the drills as a "powerful punishment" for so-called separatist forces in Taiwan, a dramatic increase in military pressure on the island democracy.
WEN-TI SUNG, FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S GLOBAL CHINA HUB: I think Beijing will likely respond with fire fury. That's almost to be expected from Beijing.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Senior security officials in Taipei tell CNN most of the aircraft crossed into Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone, a move the island's defense ministry calls a serious provocation.
SUN LI-FANG, TAIWAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: The military exercise is not helping with the situation around Taiwan's street (ph).
RIPLEY (voiceover): China's military says the exercises are "a direct response to the separatist provocations and external interferences."
They say the motherland "must be reunified and will inevitably be reunified."
In his inauguration speech this week, Lai calling on the communist mainland to stop its military and political intimidation and recognize the sovereignty of democratic Taiwan, using the island's official name, the Republic of China.
LAI (through translator): I hope that China will face the reality of the Republic of China's existence and respect the choices of the people of Taiwan.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Words seen by some as a departure from the cautious tone taken by his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen.
President Lai's first days have been anything but calm. Massive youth protests erupted outside Parliament, demonstrators protesting a push by opposition parties to subject the island's new leader to tighter scrutiny from China-friendly lawmakers.
More chaos inside Taiwan's fiercely divided Parliament. A massive brawl broke out last week over those legislative reform bills.
In the Taiwanese capital, confidence in the government and the military.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If the Chinese Communist Party does attack Taiwan, it won't be easy. Taiwanese people are not afraid of war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I believe leaders will prioritize people's happiness. I'm not worried. I think peace will be maintained.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A fragile peace in tumultuous times for President Lai. Military threats across the Taiwan Strait and deep divisions at home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: So right after I spoke at the beginning, Michael, one of the protesters, who I want to bring in here quickly, just came up to me.
You said I got it a little bit wrong. You said you're not all supporters of President Lai, but why are you here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are the supporters of the democracy, because those congressmen like from the KMT and the TPP have taken away the voices of the PPP's to Congress. People and that's their first step. So what are they going to do if they pass the role for the next step is taking away our voices. That's why we are here.
RIPLEY: The KMT and the TPP are the opposition parties that are seen as friendlier to China.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are for China. They are for communist -- China's Communist Party.
RIPLEY: And the concern in the crowd here is that, if these parties, which control Parliament, are given too much power, Michael, that they might enact policies that could put Taiwan's entire democracy in -- danger.
We're going to be talking to him and others out here in the coming hours, and we'll be bringing you more throughout the day here on CNN.
Back to you, Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Will Ripley there in Taipei. Appreciate the coverage there, Will. Thanks.
Ukraine is reeling from the latest barrage of Russian missile strikes on its second largest city. Regional officials say seven people were killed, at least 23 others wounded in attacks on Kharkiv on Thursday.
The targets included a major printing company that publishes newspapers and about a third of books released in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country still lacks enough air defenses to fight back, and he's urging some Western allies to allow Ukraine to use weapons provided by them to strike across the Russian border to defend itself.
Kharkiv came under fire as Russia is trying to push ahead with its new cross-border offensive North of that city.
As his troops attacked Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is propping up his relationship with a country that helped his invasion. He arrived in Belarus on Thursday for talks with his counterpart there, Alexander Lukashenko.
The Kremlin says the discussions will include their strategic partnership and alliance.
Belarus allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launchpad to invade Ukraine in 2022. Last year, Russia transferred some of its non- strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus.
A U.S. official telling CNN, CIA Director Bill Burns will head to Europe in the coming days to try to get hostage and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas back on track.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid for Gaza offloaded at that floating U.S. pier is now being distributed, but getting the aid in and moved around is still problematic.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond with details.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, humanitarian aid groups say that they are still struggling to get the proper amount of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip that is needed.
[00:10:05]
A lot of that having to do with ongoing security conditions in Gaza, the difficulty to get aid in, and the difficulty of ramping up some of those alternative methods of getting that aid in, notably that floating pier that the U.S. military anchored off the coast of Gaza's shoreline last week.
It was supposed to ramp up already to some 98 trucks per day, but the Israeli military saying that on Wednesday, only 27 aid trucks actually got into Gaza via that floating pier.
They also say that 281 aid trucks in that same period came through the Kerem Shalom and Erez Crossing into Northern Gaza. But those figures are disputed by some of the humanitarian aid groups, who say that while those trucks may be coming in through those security checkpoints and into Gaza, they're not able to actually collect them and bring them to their warehouses, and ultimately distribute them through the Gaza Strip because of the increased military activity around those crossings.
The difficulty of distributing that aid, of course, to the areas that need it the most. And this is all happening at a time when nearly a million Gazans have been displaced over the course of just the last couple of weeks, really skyrocketing the need for more aid to get in.
And that Rafah crossing has now been closed for three weeks now.
Meanwhile, as all of this is happening in Northern Gaza, where the Israeli military has been going deeper into that Jabalya refugee camp. They have now taken control of a hospital in Jabalya. The Al-Awda Hospital has now been evacuated, under the control of Israeli forces, according to doctors at that hospital.
For four days, they say that the Israeli military surrounded that hospital, and now they have ordered its evacuation, something that doctors there say is going to have tremendous impact on the ability to provide medical services in Northern Gaza.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Pomp and circumstance were on full display at the White House Thursday as the Bidens welcomed Kenya's president for an official state visit.
The U.S. first couple made a grand entrance at the state dinner with William Ruto and his wife, Rachel. This is the first time an American president has hosted an African leader for his state visit since 2008.
Washington is keen to strengthen ties with key players in Africa like Kenya, to counter China's growing influence on the continent.
President Biden designated Kenya a major non-NATO ally, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, as he celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The presidents announced what they're calling a Nairobi-Washington vision focused on sustainable development. And they touted their shared democratic values.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: An accelerating drift towards regimes indifferent to democratic values is a deep concern to us. And I believe it is time the U.S., working with Kenya, deploys its capabilities and rally like-minded democratic countries to set up the course for democracy.
BIDEN: These are responsibilities Kenya and America must meet in the years ahead, to meet them together as partners for security, for prosperity, for innovation and, most importantly, for democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Joining me now is Cameron Hudson. He's a senior fellow in the African Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It's good to see again, Cameron. What did you make of this visit, the meetings in the context of U.S.-Kenya relations. I mean, given that visits like this from African leaders isn't common, why was it important for Biden?
CAMERON HUDSON, SENIOR FELLOW, AFRICAN PROGRAM, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, I think for a couple of reasons. The president has said repeatedly that he values the relationship with Africa, that he's trying to elevate the relationship and strategic importance.
And so absent him taking a trip to Africa to articulate all these things in person, he -- you know, it's very important that he have an African head of state here.
I think that this cements Kenya as really having a privileged bilateral relationship among 54 other countries with the United States. Clearly, from security to trade, to development, health, climate, you name it, this is a very broad-ranging bilateral relationship that Kenya has developed with the United States.
HOLMES: At the same time, Kenya is part of China's Belt and Road initiative, which -- which begs the question, you know, why are so many African nations turning not just away from the U.S., but towards Russia and China? What's the motivation?
HUDSON: Well, I think that what Africans would say is they're not turning away from Washington. They're just embracing a multitude of partners.
And I think for -- for many African countries, Kenya included, they see real benefit in not having to choose between Washington and Beijing. They want to choose both. They don't want to make an either- or choice, because they don't see any conflict in having a security partner in Washington, a development partner in Beijing, and a trade partner in Moscow.
[00:15:06]
For Africans, that's a win-win-win.
HOLMES: Yes. Have African countries which have turned to Russia and China economically or militarily done better economically or security- wise after making that decision?
HUDSON: Well, I think what Africans would say is that a diversity of partners is going to benefit them. And so, whether it's Turkey or the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia, or Beijing, or Moscow, the more partners they can get, the more competitive they can become, and the more they will benefit their economies and their people.
So it's really about diversifying, not just being in a sort of cold war camp of the United States and the Soviet Union or Europe, you know, the former colonial power, and China. They want to have an abundance of choices to benefit them.
HOLMES: When it comes to the military considerations. I mean, what -- what is the impact on U.S. national security considerations when African nations turn away from the U.S., as we've seen several do, particularly the impact on counterterrorism operations. I mean, if Washington is increasingly blind to the planning of jihadi groups, there are risks there in that.
HUDSON: Sure. And I think that that's one of the challenges we face in a place like Niger, where Washington has been asked to leave, and we've had to close a drone base there.
I think what Washington wants to avoid in the future, these zero-sum choices. And so I think increasingly, what you're going to find is when countries choose to engage Moscow militarily, Washington is going to have to find a way to coexist and to cohabitate within those same countries, also providing, perhaps, military assistance to a country that's also receiving military assistance from Moscow.
We're going to have to find a way to work in the same space. Otherwise, we risk running -- being run out of town, and that doesn't help anybody's strategic interests.
HOLMES: Yes, great point. And you know -- and I guess with a lot of these nations, if they go Russia or China, they're not going to get lectures on democracy or human rights they might get from the West.
So then -- then how does the U.S. and the West, more broadly for that matter, win back trust on the continent?
HUDSON: Well, I think the No. 1 thing that the United States needs to do is to demonstrate that it's a reliable partner. I think one of the accusations levied against Washington is that we're a fair-weather friend, that when times are tough in these countries, whether it's a political crisis, an economic crisis, a security crisis, that Washington cuts and runs, right?
We have legislation that says if there's a coup, we have to suspend our relationships, suspend our security systems. And that's when these Africans are saying that's when we need you the most. We need you to help get us out of this situation that we've found ourselves in through this crisis. That's when we need you the most, and you're not there.
So Washington needs to find a way to become a much more steady and reliable partner if it wants to win back the trust of so many African partners.
HOLMES: Always great to get your analysis. Cameron Hudson, thanks so much as always.
HUDSON: Thank you.
HOLMES: Hundreds of thousands of Iranians packed the streets as the late President Ebrahim Raisi is laid to rest. We'll look at what comes next for the Islamic republic.
Also, more people have been hospitalized following a dramatic stage collapse in Mexico. We'll hear from the country's president after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:20:36]
HOLMES: Iran's late president has been laid to rest after days of massive funeral ceremonies across the country.
He and eight others were killed in a helicopter crash, you'll remember, on Sunday.
And now elections to pick Ebrahim Raisi's replacement are just over a month away. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The streets of Mashhad jam-packed with people mourning the late President Ebrahim Raisi as a truck with his casket made its way to the Imam Reza shrine, one of the most important holy sites in Iran.
PLEITGEN: Hundreds of thousands of people have come out here on the streets of Mashhad. This is really very much the political and the spiritual homeland of Ebrahim Raisi. And the people here say, while they're in great sorrow, they hope that Iran continues down that conservative trajectory that was common for Ebrahim Raisi's administration.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): In power for three years, Ebrahim Raisi was a conservative hardliner, overseeing a crackdown on protests against Iran's strict hijab laws in 2022, but also the first ever strikes against Israel from Iranian soil, in retaliation for the bombing of Iran's embassy compound in Syria.
Crowds at the funeral screaming "Death to Israel" and "Death to America," vowing to remain loyal to Raisi's hardline agenda.
"One hundred percent, 100 percent," this man says. "These are all Raisi's, and they will continue."
And this woman says, "We have come here to say, if they took Raisi from us, we still have our supreme leader, and we back him. And we'll never leave him alone."
"We have always expressed our position towards the U.S.," this man says, "just like the policy of the president and the martyr Qassem Soleimani to struggle against arrogance. We won't allow the arm of arrogance to go around the world. We'll cut it down."
After Raisi; Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian; and several others were killed in a chopper crash in Northern Iran on Sunday, Tehran says, a new president will be elected in late June.
But this week has been one of mourning, culminating in the funeral pairs for Raisi inside the Imam Reza shrine.
As the body of Ebrahim Raisi was brought to its final resting place, Iran is looking ahead. One of the U.S.'s toughest adversaries soon to decide its political future. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Mashhad, Iran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: At least four people are dead after the roof of a restaurant collapsed on Spain's popular tourist island of Mallorca. Police tell CNN that 16 others were injured during Thursday's incident.
Rescuers continue to work at the scene, searching for more people stuck under the rubble.
Spain's prime minister says the government is prepared to send all necessary resources to the island.
And the number of people hospitalized after a stage collapsed in heavy winds in Mexico has risen to 36. Nine others were killed.
It happened during a presidential campaign rally on Wednesday night near Monterey. In total, 189 people suffered some type of injury.
Mexico's president offered his condolences to the victims and promised an investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We know that the Citizens Movement Party is not to blame. They do their actions like everyone else, now that there are campaigns. In any case, the authorities have to investigate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Officials announced financial compensation for families of the deceased and to those injured. Some campaign events are being canceled ahead of elections on June the second.
Some top Republican senators are defending U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito amid fallout over controversial flags flown at his private properties: an upside-down American flag and pine tree flag used by election deniers and supporters of former President Donald Trump.
CNN's Brian Todd with the latest on the flag fallout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's physical bearing didn't change Thursday morning when the court announced some opinions. His usual rigid, serious expression on display, as is typical, the justice betraying no signs of the controversy surrounding him.
[00:25:09]
"The New York Times" has reported that a flag that was on display among rioters at the Capitol on January 6 was flown at Justice Alito's New Jersey vacation residence at least four times last summer.
According to "The Times," that flag with a green pine tree and the words "An appeal to heaven" on it was flown at Alito's summer home two years after an upside-down American flag, a symbol used by Donald Trump's supporters who challenged the results of the 2020 election, was flown at Alito's house in Northern Virginia. That flag on display in 2021, just after the January 6 attack.
Top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee openly concerned about the conservative justice's displays.
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): You start to wonder, is this just a chance indiscretion, or is it a conscious declaration of his MAGA loyalty?
SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): I think the question is, how many MAGA battle flags does a Supreme Court justice have to fly until the rest of the court takes it seriously?
TODD (voice-over): A prominent Republican senator defends Alito.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I just think Democrats are determined to harass members of the Supreme Court. Obviously, they don't like Justice Alito or the decisions he makes.
TODD (voice-over): Alito so far has not explained the "Appeal to heaven" flag. He said the upside-down flag was raised by his wife in response to a dispute with neighbors.
Scholars say the "Appeal to heaven" flag was first flown during the Revolutionary War as a symbol against British tyranny, but now some believe it means something different.
LESLIE HAHNER, CO-AUTHOR, "MAKE AMERICA MEME AGAIN: THE RHETORIC OF THE ALT-RIGHT": Now, the flag symbolizes both that the nation that we live in should be a Christian nation, but also that the steal of the 2020 election should be stopped.
TODD (voice-over): Alito's flags are drawing concern, because there are multiple cases before the Supreme Court involving the 2020 election and January 6th, including the pivotal question of whether Trump can claim immunity on election subversion charges.
A critic of the Supreme Court says Alito should recuse himself from those cases, and --
GABE ROTH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FIX THE COURT: There should be investigations in both the House and the Senate, not only about the flags, but the extent to which Justice Alito, his family, and possibly even his clerks are aligning themselves with these dark movements within American politics.
TODD (voice-over): There's no indication that Alito will take himself off the January 6 cases or that fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas will, even though Thomas's wife Ginni engaged in efforts to reverse the 2020 election results in Trump's favor and attended Trump's Stop the Steal rally on January 6. ROTH: I think we are in the middle of an ethics crisis at the Supreme
Court.
TODD: Justice Alito and the Supreme Court did not respond to CNN's request for comment about the flag controversy.
While some Republican lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, have defended Alito and his integrity, other top Republicans on Capitol Hill, like Senators John Thune and Lindsey Graham, have criticized Alito, at least for the upside-down flag at his Virginia residence.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And when we come back here on the program, Central America is suffering under a heat dome, and sweltering temperatures are affecting animals and humans alike.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:30:40]
HOLMES: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, Michael Holmes.
Now another night of violent weather in the central United States. Just hours ago, a large dangerous tornado tore through Jackson County in Oklahoma. There are currently no reported deaths or injuries.
More than 1 million people across the Midwest were under severe storm watches on Thursday, and the severe weather threat continues through the weekend, from the Plains to the Ohio Valley.
This year's Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be an active one, and it could put the U.S. Gulf Coast at particular risk.
Weather officials say they're expecting between 17 and 25 named storms in 2024, half of which could strengthen into hurricanes, and up to seven could become Category 3 or stronger.
At a press conference on Thursday, one administrator stressed that this is the organization's most ominous forecast yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SPINRAD, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION: The forecast for named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes is the highest NOAA has ever issued for the May outlook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The prediction comes after much of the South has been pounded by flooding storms in recent weeks, saturated soil meaning it takes less time for heavy rain to trigger flooding.
As Central America grapples with record high temperatures, Mexico's howler monkeys are feeling the heat. CNN's Gustavo Valdes takes us inside the effort to save these endangered primates.
A warning: viewers might find some of the images disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This little monkey is clinging to his life, one sip at a time. It's one of many howler monkeys suffering from extreme dehydration in Mexico's jungle, officials say.
"The little monkey held our hand. We could see tears coming out of his eyes. It was like he was begging us not to leave him," says Lara Ventura (ph), one of the residents of Buena Vista, Tabasco, in Southern Mexico, who helped nourish the monkey with water and food.
But they could not save them all. Her group found at least ten monkeys dead. Some, Ventura (ph) says, were falling from the trees.
Victor Ugamoratu (ph) is a veterinarian who treated the rescued monkeys. He said blood samples revealed severe dehydration and parasitic infection. He said it broke his heart to see the small creatures in such bad condition.
The Yucatan Black Howlers are an endangered species found in Southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. Under normal circumstances, their howl can be heard over four kilometers away, but now they lay silent, saving their energy to stay alive.
Environmentalist Alejandro Morena (ph) says the high temperatures in the region are affecting the monkeys, who have lost access to water and food due to deforestation, drought, and climate change.
Mexico and Central America are experiencing record high temperatures because of a prolonged heat dome over the region. Temperatures are three to six degrees Celsius higher than normal, exceeding 45 degrees in some areas.
Most of Honduras is under a cloud of smoke from the more than 2,600 fires reported by federal authorities.
Many cities have canceled school and declared a health emergency. And the president ordered public employees to work from home because of the bad air quality.
They hope the rainy season starts on time in late May to help extinguish the fires and clear the air.
Back in the Mexican jungle, volunteers and government workers are doing what they can to ease the pain of their animal neighbors.
A pain humans feel, too.
Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come this hour, a groundbreaking antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. could give concert goers something to sing about. We'll bring you the details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:36:52]
HOLMES: A deceased Italian teenager known as God's Influence is closer to becoming the first saint of the millennial generation.
Carlo Acutis used his computer skills to spread the Catholic faith and took care of his parish website. He died of leukemia when he was 15 back in 2006.
The Vatican says he cured a Brazilian boy with a rare pancreatic disorder several years ago. And on Thursday, the pope recognized a second miracle: healing a young woman who was near death after a bicycle accident.
It's unclear when he would be canonized.
The U.S. government says it is looking to protect live music fans from sky-high ticket prices by upending an alleged monopoly in the live events industry.
The Justice Department, along with dozens of states, sued the country's biggest ticketing website and concert promoter on Thursday. The suit claims that Live Nation, the company behind the Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket sales debacle, masterminded a plan to stifle competition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARLAND: We allege that Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long. It is time to break it up.
It is time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation's monopoly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Live Nation dismissed the allegations as baseless and went on to say, quote, "Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a P.R. win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court, because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment."
Jeffrey Jacobovitz is a former attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. He joins me now from Washington to discuss. First of all, what -- what is at the core of this action?
JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, FORMER ATTORNEY, FTC: Well, this -- this was an action brought by the Department of Justice. It's under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. It's a monopolization case.
And Michael, just so you know, to be a monopolist is not illegal. It's if you willfully maintain it in an illegal fashion, it becomes illegal. And what the Department of Justice is alleging here, is that they act life, Live Nation acted illegally. What they did was they had exclusive dealing contracts that were illegal. They had tying arrangements.
They used their market power. They were excluding competitors, and it's a very lengthy complaint. And 30 states joined in the complaint.
HOLMES: Yes. That was a lot. So if the DOJ is successful, what -- what potentially could change in the ticketing industry?
JACOBOVITZ: Well, what they're trying to do is split up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. And they're trying to reduce their market power considerably and, hopefully, generate more competition and less fees.
HOLMES: Live Nation calls the DOJ's allegations, quote, "baseless." What -- what sorts of legal arguments do you expect them to make?
[00:40:04]
JACOBOVITZ: Well, I think Live Nation will make the argument that, in fact, they do not have market power or monopoly power, that -- that there are competitors, that some of the fees are being charged by the venues, not them.
And Michael, what happens in these kind of cases is it becomes a battle of the economic experts. The government will have (AUDIO GAP) alleging that they have significant market power. Live Nation will hire an expert who will testify that they do not.
And -- and what we have here is a jury, which is very unusual for the Department of Justice, and a jury will have to decide.
HOLMES: Yes. Yes. Yes. It is unusual. They don't normally do that. I mean, it was interesting listening to Merrick Garland, and I think he probably spoke for a lot of customers. He rattled off a list, a long list of fees, Ticketmaster charges. I mean, there were ticketing fees, and service fees, and convenience fees. There was something called platinum phase, whatever that is, and on and on.
I mean, how do those sorts of fees hit the bottom line for consumers, and -- and is that part of the complaint here?
JACOBOVITZ: Well, it's definitely part of the complaint. It hits their bottom line, because it increases the price for consumers to purchase tickets.
And -- and by the way, the DOJ is alleging control over artists, as well, and influencing artists.
But what it does is it influences the bottom line. And that, I think, is one of the reasons why we have a jury here. You know, we have the state attorney generals who joined in, and they have claims. And they were entitled to a jury.
And the jury, because the jury in New York, which is where the case is located, probably is very well aware of playing -- paying extra fees on tickets and what the DOJ is hoping is that they will not accept it.
HOLMES: Yes. I mean, you touched on this, and I think it's important, too. Consumers are one thing, but you know, how does Ticketmaster impact performers in terms of their choices, their control over their product and reach and profitability? That's a big part of it, too.
JACOBOVITZ: Sure. Well, it's limiting venues where performance could -- could, you know, take the stage. And if they're limiting venues, and its costing more for customers, it limits where performers could perform and -- and sing.
HOLMES: It's going to be a fascinating case. I've got to leave it there, unfortunately. Jeffrey Jacobovitz, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.
JACOBOVITZ: Thank you, Michael.
HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But WORLD SPORT after the break.
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