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Many Feared Dead After Massive Papua New Guinea Landslide; China Launches Military Drills Around Taiwan; Russia Missile Strike in Kharkiv Seven Dead; Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza in Brink of Shutdown, Lack of Aid Entering Gaza; Mexico's Howler Monkeys Dying Because of Heat Wave; Ebrahim Raisi Laid to Rest; White House Rolls Out Red Carpet For Kenyan President; Kenya To Lead U.N.-Backed Multinational Security Mission; U.S. Attorney General: Live Nation's "Monopoly" Illegal. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired May 24, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Kim Brunhuber. We begin with breaking news. We're getting reports of a massive landslide in a remote region of northern Papua New Guinea. CNN's Anna Coren is watching the story from Hong Kong. Anna, what more do we know at this point?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, we know that this is a remote area, that it's happened in the highlands of Enga province, which is 600 kilometers northwest of Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby. It's happened in this isolated village of Kaokalam. And we believe that at around 3:00 this morning, this landslide hit the village.
There are reports that it absolutely flattened every house in this village and that perhaps more than 100 people are dead. Australia's national broadcaster, the ABC, which has a presence in Papua New Guinea, said that dozens of people were looking for their loved ones, trying to find their bodies under the earth, the boulders, the rock. But as you can see, it is just devastating and how deep this earth and rock is.
We're also learning, Kim, that access roads or the only access road to this village has been cut off. There is a gold mine close by. So, we understand emergency vehicles are finding it incredibly difficult to reach this area. We're also learning, Kim, that it's been hit by heavy rainfall, you know, this year, heavy rainfall as well as flooding. And in March, a neighboring province, there was another landslide where dozens of people were killed.
So, you know, sadly, this is a country that is prone to natural disasters. But look, this is a developing story. We understand that more than 100 people are potentially dead in this isolated village in Enga province in Papua New Guinea. As we get more details, we will bring them to you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. All right, we'll stay on top of that. Anna Coren in Hong Kong, thank you so much.
Taiwan's new president is being put to the test as China launches another day of large-scale military drills around the self-ruling island. The Chinese military claims it's testing its ability to, quote, "seize power and occupy key areas" only days after the new Taiwanese 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG WENBIN, SPOKESMAN, CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (through translation): Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. This is both a historical fact and an actual status quo that will never change in the future. Taiwan independence is a dead end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Taiwan is condemning China's drills as an irrational threat to regional stability and has dispatched its own forces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAI CHING-TE, PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN (through translation): I will stand on the front line with all the brothers and sisters from the National Army to defend the national peace 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)
BRUNHUBER: We have more now from CNN's senior international correspondent, Will Ripley, reporting from Taipei.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (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.
[02:04:58]
UNKNOWN: Their military exercise is not helping with the situation around Taiwan street.
RIPLEY (voice-over): 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.
CHING-TE (through translation): 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.
UNKNOWN (through translation): If the Chinese Communist Party does attack Taiwan, it won't be easy. Taiwanese people are not afraid of war.
UNKNOWN (through translation): I believe leaders will prioritize people's happiness. So, 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.
(On camera): So here we are, President Lai Ching-te, less than a week in office, and you have military drills happening around Taiwan, protests in the capital, tension in parliament. It is quite a situation, and the people here say they're not necessarily all supporters of the president, but they are supporters of democracy. And they say Taiwan's democracy is in danger right now, and those drills are enough evidence for the world to see exactly what's happening. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: At least seven people are dead after the latest Russian missile barrage on Ukraine's second largest city. Officials say at least 23 others were injured in strikes on Kharkiv on Thursday, which hit the railway network and a major printing company. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh was in and around Kharkiv in recent days and saw the aftermath of those attacks. This is how he later described the damage.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We were certainly shaken by many of these blasts miles away in a supermarket. In fact, 15 landing, two locations, the seven dead. We think we visited a scene of that. Some craters near a railway track. A printing press seems to have been the target. An entirely civilian area. Firefighters taking cover.
Because of this constant fear now in Kharkiv and other cities that Russia will use a double tap, that's essentially attacking a place with a missile and then following that missile up ten minutes later with another missile to essentially hit the first responders who've rushed to rescue people to essentially inspire fear across the population.
This, not the first time in just a week we've had in the past seeing Kharkiv hit quite so hard. At the weekend on Sunday, a lakeside resort hit, seven dead there too, including a seven-month-pregnant woman. And every night when we were in Kharkiv over the past week, we would hear blasts on the skyline, drones at times.
Really, Russian forces getting a lot closer now, potentially trying to get their artillery in range, and this one, it seems, of the goals of Putin's new offensive. We don't also know if we're seeing here a higher level of Russian missile being used. There seem to be suggestions that these are perhaps S-400, S-300 kind of anti-aircraft missiles being repurposed to hit land targets.
It seems like more air defenses would certainly put a dent in some of the damage that they're doing. But remember, this is the first thing that Kyiv warned about back in December when that $61 billion of U.S. military aid was held up by a ridiculously dysfunctional Republican Congress. Now, we're actually seeing that in effect, Kharkiv particularly on the receiving end here.
And the end goal for Moscow essentially is, even if they perhaps accept that they could never take Ukraine's second city, they got nowhere near it really, and the war started, kept on the outskirts, the idea is potentially to draw Ukrainian forces away from where I am, in the east of the country, on very precarious front lines to yet weaken Ukraine further here and allow Russian advances.
But bear in mind, we are seeing probably the worst moment here for Kyiv, still on its front lines since the war began, a very difficult time, the weapons yet to get into their hands, and Russia trying to seize that opportunity of weakness as hard as they can. Yes, Ukraine are holding them back to some degree, but the pressure is pretty persistent, as is the Russian progress.
[02:05:01] BRUNHUBER: So as his troops attack 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, Alexander Lukashenko. The Kremlin says the discussions will include their strategic partnership and alliance. Belarus allowed Moscow to use its territory as a launch pad to invade Ukraine in 2022. Last year, Russia transferred some of its non- strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus.
A hospital in central Gaza is making an urgent plea for fuel to power its generators. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is currently serving more than 1,200 patients, but officials say they only have a few hours of fuel remaining. A spokesperson blames Israel, which he says is delivering less than one-tenth of the daily necessary fuel supplies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHALIL AL-DAKRAN, SPOKESPERSON, AL-AQSA MARTYRS HOSPITAL (through translation): If the generator stops working within two hours, and we don't receive more fuel at the hospital, all the machines for the patients will stop working inside the departments, including the intensive care department, the cardiac unit, the operating rooms, the maternity department, as well as the dialysis treatments on patients with kidney failure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And the World Food Program is warning of a catastrophe due to the lack of aid entering Gaza through key border crossings, but the U.S. supplies that have been offloaded at that floating pier are now being distributed to civilians. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has details.
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, 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 90 aid trucks per day, but the Israeli military is 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 Jabalia refugee camp, they have now taken control of a hospital in Jabalia. 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.
BRUNHUBER: All right, much more to come here on CNN. When we come back, Central America is suffering under a heat dome, leaving some creatures vulnerable to sweltering conditions.
Plus, more people have been hospitalized following a dramatic stage collapse in Mexico. What Mexico's president had to say about the incident, we'll bring you that coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: At least four people are dead after the roof of a restaurant collapsed on Spain's popular tourist island of Mallorca. People tell CNN 16 others were injured in 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.
The number of people hospitalized after a stage collapse in heavy winds in Mexico has risen to 36. Nine others were killed. It happened during a presidential campaign rally Wednesday night near Monterrey. In total, 189 people suffered some type of injury. Mexico's president offered his condolences to the victims and promised an investigation. Some campaign events have been canceled ahead of elections on June 2.
Severe weather continues to batter the U.S. A few hours ago, a large tornado tore through Jackson County, Oklahoma. There are currently no reported deaths or injuries. There were 18 tornado reports across the U.S. on Thursday and more than 170 storm reports. The severe weather threat continues to move eastward through the Memorial Day holiday weekend from the Great Plains to the Ohio Valley, while the South faces potentially record-breaking heat.
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. U.S. weather officials issued their most ominous forecast yet on Thursday. They say they're expecting between 17 and 25 named storms in 2024. Now, eight to 13 of those storms could develop into hurricanes. Between four and seven could become major hurricanes, Category 3 or stronger.
Now, the prediction comes after much of the South has been pounded by flooding storms in recent weeks. Saturated soil means 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 Valdez takes us inside the efforts to save these endangered primates, and we just want to warn you some viewers might find some of these images disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUSTAVO VALDEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This little monkey is clinging to his life one zip 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 Lorena Ventura, one of the residents of Buenavista, 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 10 monkeys dead.
Some, Ventura says, were falling from the trees. Victor Hugo Murato 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 Moreno 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 dump over the region. Temperatures are 3 to 6 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.
[02:19:58]
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. Pain humans feel too. Gustavo Valdez, CNN, Atlanta.
BRUNHUBER: Ahead, a new diplomatic status for Kenya during an opulent state visit. The White House gives its longtime ally a red-carpet reception. Then, why Kenya is leading a security mission to Haiti. We'll ask an expert about the situation there right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." 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 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)
FREDERIK 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.
(On camera): 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.
(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.
[02:24:55]
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 Qasem 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 prayers 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)
BRUNHUBER: Now, returning to our top story, we have reports of a massive landslide in a remote region of northern Papua New Guinea. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it hit around 3:00 a.m. local time in the dark of night in an area about 600 kilometers northwest of the capital, Port Moresby. The death toll isn't yet known, but residents say many people are feared dead.
Bodies are being recovered as residents assess the damage and we're hearing that access to the area is limited at best. Joining us now is Janet Philemon, the caretaker and national treasurer for the Papua New Guinea Red Cross. Thank you so much for being here with us. It sounds like a devastating catastrophe. What more can you tell us about what we know at this hour?
JANET PHILEMON, CARETAKER AND NATIONAL TREASURER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA RED CROSS: It's sketchy what's coming through. We're in Port Moresby, and the disaster site is an airline flight away plus a number of hours' drive, and there's no access. Currently, we've just had notice that the Provincial Disaster Office with health team, police, PNG Defense Force, international agencies such as the International Organization of Migration and UNDP have headed to the disaster site.
However, access is limited due to a landslide over the main highway leading into the community. Community themselves are responding, trying to bring out and uncover those that have been buried under the landslide, and we're seeing photos in the local, you know, social media from people in the area posting. It looks quite devastating.
Currently, there's numbers between 500 and -- 100 and 500 considered lost or under the landslide, but these figures are very, very fluid and yet to be confirmed.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and that means, just so we're clear, dead or missing right now, and as you say, those figures are fluid, but tragically, those figures could go a lot higher. Is that right?
PHILEMON: It's uncertain. We're trying to get more information from the local area in regard to local information from number of houses lost under the landslide. That way, we are able to do a calculation in regard to possibilities.
BRUNHUBER: Can you --
PHILEMON: -- the number of people in that community that may have been lost.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Can you describe the area for us? I understand it is remote, but just describe the area and whether it has a history of landslides.
PHILEMON: No, it doesn't, to my knowledge. It's in our highlands, but it's quite -- unlike many of the highlands that have very sharp mountains and deep valleys, the Enga province is a highlands plateau, mainly. There are mountains, but as a mountain for Papua New Guinea, this particular mountain is quite small. You'd almost call it a hill.
[02:29:55]
But there is a large gold mine close by, which is Porgera, but it's mothballed currently. And we've done some background research and we believe that we've seen on websites that there was a 4.5 earthquake in the area about four days ago. So that could have shaken things up a bit, opened up some cracks. If rain followed, you possibly get the weakening and then it sometimes these landslides in those circumstances just happened like this one did overnight with seemingly no cause.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah. Really tragic accident that wasn't foreseen, I guess. You talked about how remote this area is.
PHILEMON: Yes.
BRUNHUBER: So what happens next? In terms of trying to bring in rescuers and I presume heavy equipment that would be needed to try and get those people out.
PHILEMON: Well, obviously, the local community are trying the best they can with whatever tools they have at their disposal. The provincial government, with their team that I mentioned, are trying also to get in but between the community and where the land and the land -- the land slides across the main highway and the communities on the other side.
So they've got to clear that land, slide off the highway to get through. So that's a constraint that they have but they've got that team there and they're doing the best they can, really just trying to keep in touch with what's going on to hear what it is we could possibly support them in.
But until they get into the area, the only other access likely is a helicopter.
BRUNHUBER: It sounds like its a monumental task ahead and we certainly wish all the rescue as the best of luck as they try to help with the recovery,
Janet Philemon, thank you so much for speaking to us. Really appreciate it.
PHILEMON: Thank you for having us.
BRUNHUBER: All right. And we'll be right back after a short break.
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BRUNHUNBER: White House has welcomed Kenya's president to Washington with a lavish state visit and splashy state dinner. William Ruto is the first African leader and 16 years to be honored in this manner. White House is trying to shore up relations with Kenya and other key African allies to counter China's charm campaign on the continent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back and the sunshine warming down your face and may the rains fall softly on your fields. Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
[02:35:01] To Kenya, to our guest, cheers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Earlier, President Biden said Kenya would become the first major non-NATO ally in sub-Saharan Africa, praising its efforts to fight back against local terror groups.
He also commemorated 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and announced new Nairobi and Washington vision.
Another key area of U.S.-Kenya cooperation is providing security for Haiti. Kenya has agreed to lead the U.N.-backed mission and deploy 1,000 paramilitary police officers to Haiti to help quell the violence. Now, it's not exactly clear when the mission will start. President Ruto said that the multinational force will work with Haitian police to break the backs of gangs and criminals.
And he explained why Kenya is taking active role in peacemaking operations. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Kenya believes that the responsibility of peace and security anywhere in the world, including in Haiti, is the collective responsibility of all nations and all peoples who believe in freedom, self-determination, democracy, and justice. And it is the reason why cannot took up these responsibility because we have been participating in peacemaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Diego Da Rin is an expert on Haiti at the International Crisis Group when he is with us from Paris.
Thank you so much for being here.
So, this Kenyan deployment has been beset with delays.
What do you make of CNN's reporting that the Kenyan deployment might be further delayed? I mean, the situation so desperate, surely, patients cant wait any longer.
DIEGO DA RIN, HAITI EXPERT AT INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Yeah. Well, it has been delayed allegedly by a lack of some equipment, mainly of helicopters to evacuate possible casualties of the foreign force and for lack of armored vehicles, too, for the troops.
But we might think that we are not very far away from the deployment and that even if has been delayed for some days or weeks, it's the first contingent of the force will be landing in Haiti, quite soon.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Soon is the key. It's so important that they get there because the situation right now is so desperate.
What is the latest that you're hearing on the ground in Haiti? DA RIN: Well, the situation has worsened a lot since the end of February when the gangs, rival gangs that were fighting for each other for years in the capital to impose a military hegemony, they united their forces and created a united front to combat -- well, to try to derail the plans of the multinational mission.
They have been targeting critical infrastructure, state buildings, but for some time now. There have been launching indiscriminate attacks against -- well, everything to sow chaos in the capital, and other parts of the country.
BRUNHUBER: Now, this has been going on for such a long time. I've been there to (INAUDIBLE), been on tours with U.N. soldiers, the aim was, as it is now, to try and ensure peace. But years later, I mean, it's more dangerous than ever.
Will things be different this time around do you think?
DA RIN: Well, this will shortly be a very challenging mission for the multinational force. Gangs have never controlled so much territory and they have greatly expanded their ranks and their arsenals in these last years. They have also created this united front that allows them to launch attacks in simultaneous places at the same time.
But the gangs is still lack a clear command and control and most gang members, even if they are very willing to fight during combat, they are not really well-trained. They don't work, for example, protective year, as bullet proof vest, and until now, the gangs have been facing and understaffed and underfunded police. If the police has the backing of really well-trained and sufficiently equipped foreign personnel, these could help them to regain the upper hand and start regaining some territory.
BRUNHUBER: Now the idea of foreigners coming to Haiti to do this isn't universally welcome. I mean, certainly, Haitians have plenty of mistrust when it comes to foreign soldiers. I've talked to some who've said the soldiers are there to protect them, but they wonder, who will protect them from the soldiers?
Will there be more safeguards do you think then there has been in deployments past?
DA RIN: Yes. Of course. There better memories among the Haitian population of past foreign interventions.
[02:40:07]
For example, about the many sexual abusers, cases that were registered from past peacekeepers in the country, also about the introduction of cholera by peacekeepers in 2010. So this time, the Security Council that authorized the mission had in the resolution authorizing dimension provided for many safeguards to be shorted warranty that this time, the peacekeepers will be adopting a way of operating that is adequate in very responsible of humanitarian law, and also requested them to adopt appropriate wastewater management to prevent an introduction or spread of diseases. And this time, it -- well, the countries that having planning the
mission are really aware that the mistakes from the past, from as interventions can be repeated this time.
BRUNHUBER: Let's hope for their sake, that's true.
Thank you so much. We'll have to leave it there. Diego Da Rin, really appreciate it.
DA RIN: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. government says it's looking to protect music fans from sky-high ticket prices by appending an alleged monopoly in the live concerts industry.
The Justice Department and 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.
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MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: 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)
BRUNHUBER: Live Nation dismissed the allegations as baseless and went on to say, quote, calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment.
All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in 15 minutes with more news.
"WORLD SPORT" is next.
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