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CNN International: Top U.N. Court Orders Israel To Stop Rafah Operations; IDF Recovers Bodies Of Three Killed By Hamas October 7; Official: U.S. Working To Revive Hostage-Ceasefire Deal. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 24, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Ahead in the CNN Newsroom, the UN's top court rules on South Africa's request for Israel to withdraw from Gaza. This as more bodies of Israeli hostages have been recovered. We're live in Jerusalem and London with the very latest. Plus, with their first head-to-head debate just about a month away, how Joe Biden and Donald Trump are honing their strategies? Our panel will discuss. And it's the unofficial start to summer here in the U.S., Memorial Day weekend. We'll take a look at how busy the roads and the skies are expected to be.
Calling the humanitarian situation there disastrous, the UN's top court is ordering Israel to stop its invasion of Rafah. South Africa filed the case, accusing Israel of committing genocide and using evacuation measures in Rafah to endanger rather than protect civilian life. Israel has denied the allegations.
Meantime, the bodies of three Israelis killed by Hamas have been recovered in northern Gaza. The IDF says they were killed on October 7. Two of them were murdered while attending the Nova Music Festival. One was killed on his way to pick up his granddaughter from an event.
On the diplomatic front, CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to travel to Europe to try to jumpstart stalled talks on a ceasefire and a hostage deal. An Israeli source tells CNN a delegation from Israel will be headed to Paris soon. Those discussions are also likely to include top officials from Egypt and Qatar.
Our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is standing by with more on the court's ruling. But, let's first go to Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Jeremy, what can you tell us about the bodies of the three hostages recovered in an overnight operation?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, for the second time in two weeks, the Israeli military has now recovered the bodies of hostages in underground tunnels in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military carried out an operation overnight to recover those bodies in the Jabalia refugee camp where, of course, the Israeli military has been fighting very intense battles over the course of the last couple of weeks. In this case, they recovered the bodies of three hostages who the Israeli military now says were killed on October 7. Their bodies then taken into the Gaza Strip, where they have been held as hostages over the last seven plus months. Two of those individuals attended the Nova Music Festival on October 7.
Orion Hernandez Radoux, a 30-year-old French Mexican national. He was actually the boyfriend of Shani Louk, whose body was found last week in a similar Israeli military operation. Both of them were killed after they actually escaped the Nova Music festival, and then were taken -- their bodies were taken into Gaza by Hamas.
Hanan Yablonka is the second individual who attended the Nova Music Festival. He was 42-years-old. I've actually been in touch with his family, and they told me that Hanan made a last-minute decision to attend that music festival, rather than another one that was taking place in northern Israel. That tragic, tragic decision, resulting in his death after Hamas terrorists killed him that day.
The third individual was Michel Nisenbaum, a 59-year-old grandfather and father. He was actually from Sderot near the Gaza Strip. He was rushing to try and get his granddaughter who was with her father on a military base, and on his way there he was also killed.
Their three bodies have now been returned to Israel to their families for burial. I know that at least one of them will be buried in Israel on Sunday. And this is, of course, all bringing back attention once again on the plight of these hostages, nearly 130 of whom from October 7 remain inside of Gaza. At least 37 of those, according to the Prime Minister's Office, are dead. But, as we found out today, these three hostages, we did not previously know that they were dead, that they had been killed, and today, their families getting that awful, awful news.
WHITFIELD: Horrible. And Jeremy, what are you hearing about what is happening right now in Gaza?
DIAMOND: Well, inside the Gaza Strip, we're watching the Israeli military continuing its offensive actions in both the southern and the northern part of the strip.
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In northern Gaza, we have seen as Israeli military operations have shut down yet another hospital just this week. Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza, which was the only place providing orthopedic services in the region, has now been shut down, as the Israeli military entered that hospital and directed all of the patients and staff to leave.
The only potential end that we can see to this current war is ultimately going to have to be through negotiations. And we -- there is a sense that those negotiations will be resuming again in Paris over the weekend. Top Israeli officials as well as the CIA Director, Egyptian and Qatari officials as well, likely to be in Paris to try and resume negotiations over a potential ceasefire and hostage deal. Those talks have been stalled for nearly three weeks now since the Egyptians had last put a framework on the table which had Israeli buy- in. Hamas then agreed to a separate and very much changed version of that proposal. And ultimately, the two sides were not able to overcome the differences.
So, we know that an Israeli delegation is now set to head to Paris this weekend with an expanded mandate for negotiations. But, it's not clear whether or not it can overcome the key stumbling block, which is Hamas' demand that Israel end this war in Gaza altogether in order to get any of those hostages out. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem, thank you so much.
Let's bring in now CNN's Nic Robertson from London, who has more on the International Court of Justice's ruling, calling on Israel to stop its Rafah offensive. So, Nic, what did we hear from the court on this ruling?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. This was a case that the South Africans who have brought original genocide allegations against Israel to the ICC, and of course, a deliberation on that is going to take several years. But, what they wanted was additional measures here, preventative measures, measures that the court had previously said it was important that Palestinians have a right to protection from genocide. This raises the bar and South Africa is hailing this as a groundbreaking move by the court, who they note cannot use the word "ceasefire" for legal reasons. This is according to South African officials.
But, South Africa saying this new ruling essentially amounts to that. Now, the precise words were given by the President of the Court, Judge Nawaf Salam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE NAWAF SALAM, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: Under the Genocide Convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah Governorate which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza, conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, the problem, if you will, for the ICJ is that while its ruling is binding where there can be no appeal against that, it does not have a mechanism to enforce it. And I think at this stage no one expects Israel to down weapons and pull troops out of Rafah. There were other points that the judge made as well specifically that Israel should allow unfettered access of humanitarian aid and basic services for the people of Gaza. It should do that. It should allow the international investigators and people from an inquiry commission to be allowed into Gaza. This is something that Israel hasn't even countenanced thus far, certainly not publicly, and has said Israel should give a written account in a month of the steps that it has taken in, if you will, going along with supporting what the ICJ has ruled they should do. Now, of course, if you go back to the initial sort of early judgment
by the ICJ back in January, Israel then was obliged to allow humanitarian access. And one of the things the judge spoke about was that that humanitarian access hadn't really gotten going, that Israel was obliged to provide monthly written reports on what it was doing. So, I think where this is, it's a legal ruling. No one to enforce it on the ground, and Israel, and certainly what we've heard from Israeli officials, not minded at all to follow what the ICJ is saying.
WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, we'll leave it there for now, from London. Thank you so much.
All right. On to Turks and Caicos now where an American tourist who was found guilty of violating the island's strict ban on guns and ammunition is being sentenced today. Bryan Hagerich is one of five Americans potentially facing 12 years in prison after being arrested in recent months in the British overseas territory.
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CNN's Carlos Suarez is following this for us. Well, has that sentencing hearing happened yet?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, good morning. So, that hearing got underway about an hour ago. And so, we're still waiting on word from the court there on the judge's decision in this case. We know that the sentencing hearing is taking place as the rhetoric coming from officials in Turks and Caicos and U.S. officials here really was heating up.
Yesterday, the country's premier pushed back against these allegations that were made by some U.S. lawmakers that the country was targeting Americans. The premier noted that, in the past six years, 195 people have been convicted of these type of firearm offenses. And he said that, of those 195, only seven of them, just seven of them have been Americans. And so, the premier said, look, at this point, we have to allow the judicial process here to play out. He said that judges on the islands there have the discretion. And he pointed out the fact that no American that's ever been convicted for these type of firearm offenses has ever received the minimum mandatory of 12 years in prison.
Now, Hagerich is from Pennsylvania, and he was arrested back in February. He is one of these five Americans that had been arrested on these ammunition -- possession of ammunition charges in recent months. Now, Hagerich told authorities that there that he forgot that he had the hunting ammunition in his bag when he traveled to the country. And he said that since he has been on the island since February because of his court case, he has missed what he calls very important family events, including several birthdays as well as the graduation of his daughter from kindergarten.
And so, right now, Fred, we're still waiting on word from the courts down there in Turks and Caicos on what the sentence is going to be.
WHITFIELD: And then I wonder, what kind of impact might there be on Turks and Caicos on its tourism economy, given that this is happening?
SUAREZ: Yeah. So, a lot of that could depend on exactly what plays out today, as well as the four other court cases. U.S. officials here, members of Congress, have said that if these Americans are sentenced to 12 years in prison, again, the minimum mandatory for these type of charges, they said that they would be open to calling for a "do not travel" advisory from not only federal officials, but as well as state officials. And so, doing that would no doubt impact the economy of Turks and Caicos, considering just the large number of Americans that visit the Caribbean country every single year.
And in fact, yesterday, the Governor of Oklahoma, one of the Americans that's arrested is from that state, he also said that the U.S. should really go after the country's wallets and called essentially for a boycott. Again, though, the premier, a lot of the officials in Turks and Caicos have said, no American has ever received the 12 years in prison for these types of charges. Let's allow this to play out. They understand that a lot of these were most likely -- the decisions made here were most likely by mistake. And so, they just want folks to take a bit of a breather and allow the court system to handle it.
WHITFIELD: All right. Carlos Suarez in Miami, thanks so much.
All right. Still to come, campaigning hard in New York. Donald Trump makes an appeal to black and Hispanic voters that he is the best man for the President's job. Plus, Joe Biden is turning to a famous New York actor for his campaign. We'll show you the ad voiced by Robert De Niro.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Donald Trump making the most of his time off from the hush money trial. He held a rally in the Bronx in New York on Thursday, hoping to appeal to minority voters. While there, Trump weighed in for the first time on Nikki Haley's surprise announcement that she is voting for him.
CNN's Steve Contorno is joining us now from Washington with more on this. Steve, so, this is quite the change from what Trump has previously said about Nikki Haley. What gives?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: It really is, Fred. When you look back at just a few months ago, he had nicknamed her "Birdbrain" and was using that often. He had assaulted her husband. And look, for her part, she had said that she didn't believe that he was fit to serve another four years in office. But, the animus between these two candidates changed this week when she said that she would vote for Donald Trump. And then, Donald Trump had this to say yesterday about that announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think she is going to be on our team because we have a lot of the same ideas, same thoughts. I appreciated what she said. We had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty. But, she is a very capable person, and I'm sure she is going to be in our team in some form. Absolutely.
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CONTORNO: Trump could certainly use Haley on his team, not only because she has proven to be a prolific fundraiser, but she continues to get support from Republicans in these primary contests long after she dropped out of the race, Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then, let's talk about Trump in the Bronx. The purpose of his stop there?
CONTORNO: Well, look, there is one purpose, which was that he was supposed to be potentially in court yesterday, and the Bronx is not far from the Manhattan courtroom that he was scheduled to appear, before the judge pushed things beyond the holiday weekends. But, there has also been a persistent effort by Trump and his campaign to reach out to black and Latino voters. And this is a continuation of those efforts. They believe that there is room to grow in those communities. Donald Trump made his pitch yesterday, saying why he believes they should vote for him. Here is one of the reasons why.
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TRUMP: Criminal justice reform. I did criminal justice reform at a level that nobody thought was possible to get, and I did that largely for the black and Hispanic community. They're the ones that wanted it. Opportunity is on with Tim Scott. And he was so much in favor of it, and it's probably maybe the best economic development package ever for African Americans, for Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Trump's outreach to an unconventional audience will continue this weekend. He is speaking to the Libertarian convention tomorrow in Washington, D.C., Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Steve Contorno there in Washington, thanks so much.
All right. President Joe Biden is adding some A-list star power to boost his own campaign efforts. Hollywood actor and vocal Trump critic Robert, you looking at me, De Niro is narrating a new ad, taking aim at Trump. Listen.
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ROBERT DE NIRO, AMERICAN ACTOR AND FILLM PRODUCER: From midnight tweets to drinking bleach, to tear-gassing citizens and staging a photo op, we knew Trump was out of control when he was President. Then he lost the 2020 election and snapped, desperately trying to hold on to power. Now, he is running again, this time threatening to be a dictator to terminate the Constitution.
TRUMP: If I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath.
NIRO: Trump wants revenge, and just stop at nothing to get it.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez is at the White House for us. Priscilla, so, what is the goal behind that this ad?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this ad really captures what the Biden campaign has been saying for months now and trying to do, which is reminding voters of what happened during the Donald Trump presidency. For example, you saw there, reminding voters how he handled the Coronavirus pandemic by his comment about drinking bleach, then to noting some of the comments the former President has since made, like threatening to be a dictator, and also casting his entire presidential bid as seeking revenge for the 2020 presidential election and its results.
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Now, one interesting tidbit in that ad is it notes that after the election, the former President snapped. That is something that we've been hearing from President Biden in much of his recent fundraisers, saying that Donald Trump is unhinged and that he snapped after losing the 2020 election. So, clearly, a line that they're trying to build on here. But, really, this is touching on multiple themes that the Biden campaign has tried to emphasize over the last several months and clearly plans to do going into this next phase of the campaign, this time, looking ahead to that June presidential debate that's going to be held by CNN.
Now, there are some moments that the campaign is looking towards just before that debate at the end of June. That includes, for example, the anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, as well as the anniversary of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub, hitting there on abortion and on gun rights. So, all of this packaged together just shows you that the campaign is moving toward their next phase of the campaign where they're trying to remind voters of who Donald Trump is, and what they should be afraid of, as the November presidential election comes around the corner.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then, Priscilla, you had a lot of stars out for a big dinner at the White House in honor of the President of Kenya. But then, there was one really big star there. Tell us about them.
ALVAREZ: It's a familiar face. Another big star was former President Barack Obama. You see images of him there. Now, remember, as the former President's father was born in Kenya. During his presidency in 2015, he also visited the country. Now, he made a brief appearance at the state dinner yesterday evening. He did not stay for the student portion. But, officials tell us that he had earlier met with the Kenyan President in what they described as a, quote, "productive conversation". Now, of course, this was a momentous occasion here at the White House, the first state visit of an African leader since 2008.
And there was a day where the two leaders discussed a broad range of issues, going from economic cooperation to the importance of democracy and private sector investments in the region, as well as, and this was a big issue in the course of their news conference, the handling of the situation in Haiti and trying to stabilize the situation there.
So, a breadth of issues that were discussed over the visit of the Kenyan President. But, it was marked at the end with this state dinner, which was really a moment for the two to underscore their 60- year relationship between the U.S. and Kenya, and an opportunity for celebrities to come out on the red carpet, as well as entertainment headlined by Brad Paisley as well as the Howard Gospel Choir, both a nod to the interests of the Kenyan President who, it turns out, likes country music and gospel music.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, then that was quite fitting that Paisley would be there. All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.
All right. Let's bring in our panel now. Joining the show from Washington, CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist, Shermichael Singleton, and Democratic Strategist Mark Longabaugh. And he worked on the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign. Good to see both of you, gentlemen.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, & REPUBLICAN STRAEGIST: Good to see you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Shermichael, you first, your reaction to Robert De Niro's message in that Biden video, pretty hard hitting.
SINGLETON: It is pretty hard hitting. And while I think this is important to a lot of voters, Fred, I think the number one question pertains and is still a persistent one for the Biden reelect campaign, and that is, how are you going to improve our lives financially? What is the strategy to improve the crisis at the border? And also, there appears to be a lot of concern among some voters according to survey data about foreign policy, whether it's Ukraine, whether it's the Middle East, or even some of the recent developments in China and what they may potentially do in Taiwan this summer.
WHITFIELD: And so, Mark, as you heard yesterday, we saw Donald Trump. He was out campaigning in New York. He usually likes star power too. But, there is an interesting, I guess, dynamic behind why he would be in a Democratic stronghold like Bronx. It's his way of trying to appeal to black and Hispanic voters. But, listen to what he said.
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TRUMP: African Americans are getting slaughtered. Hispanic Americans are getting slaughtered. And these millions and millions of people that are coming into our country, the biggest impact, and the biggest negative impact is against our black population and our Hispanic population.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHIFIELD: So, Mark, is this effective?
MARK LONGABAUGH, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, & FORMER SENIOR STRATEGIST, BERNIE SANDERS 2016 CAMPAIGN: Well, listen, I think you have to give him credit for going to the Bronx. I think it's a smart move, just politically. Whether it succeeds at the end of the day or not, I think is a whole another question. I mean, it was classic Trump in the Bronx, little hyperbole and exaggeration.
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So, substantively, I don't know whether he gained a lot out of it. But, from the theater of it, it was probably a smart move. I mean, political campaigns these days, especially one that is this close, they're won on the margins. So, it's not as if he has to win a large number of African Americans. He just has to win a percentage that lowers Biden's total. And so, from that standpoint, I thought politically it was a smart move on his part.
WHITFIELD: OK. Shermichael, let's talk about that upcoming CNN presidential debate, June 27, right around the corner. We're hearing about preparations both sides are making. The two are very different men with very different approaches.
And I want to flag a cnn.com analysis written by Edward-Isaac Dovere and Kristen Holmes, which says, I will bring it right here, "Biden aides have plans for extensive prep sessions that will likely include a sequestered stretch, possibly at Camp David. Trump's advisors, however, insists that there have been no formal conversations about preparation for next month's debate." And the article goes on to talk about Donald Trump being preoccupied by the hush money trial and his own campaigning.
So, Shermichael, I mean, it's not unusual to prepare for a debate. We heard about, remember how Hillary Clinton and her camp were preparing for Donald Trump. This might be a very different dynamic. These people have been in this -- these two men have been in the arena together before. Can you prepare for the unexpected that their debate would bring?
SINGLETON: I mean, you definitely do the best you can for it. I mean, if you remember, President Barack Obama and his first debate with Mitt Romney, who I worked for at the time, President Obama didn't do as well. And so, history has sort of set a precedent there with presidents being used to individuals showing deference to them, and all of a sudden, they find themselves on the debate stage being asked very targeted, tough questions that they have to then respond to. You sort of lose that reflective skill.
And so, this is an opportunity, I would argue, for Donald Trump to be very surgical and precise on some of those key and core kitchen table issues that the American voters are looking for, from either of the two individuals. And so, my hope is that the former President takes a little bit of preparation time to prepare for this, and then we'll see how it ultimately plays out. But, I got to say quickly here, Fred, this is the rematch (ph), and I don't think anyone is looking forward to.
WHITFIELD: Really? Not looking forward to? I don't' know. Get the popcorn. I think people are really ready and looking forward to it.
But, Mark, here is something else that's going to be very different. While it may be a familiar setting to see the two men in the same arena, there will be no audience, no studio audience, and Donald Trump likes to play to an audience. And one has to wonder if that dynamic is going to kind of reshape the approach and the performance of these two candidates.
LONGABAUGH: Well, I mean, I think the Biden folk were smart to negotiate the rules as they did, and I think they really -- they got the debates that they want. I will also say that I think Joe Biden is always underestimated. He was underestimated going into the State of the Union. He gave an outstanding performance. He was a little bit underestimated in the 2020 debates, both in the primaries and in the general. I think he did very, very well in all of those debates. So, I think his team is really smart. He has got some great debate prep folks that are surrounding him, including Ron Klain, who was former Chief of Staff. I think he is going to be ready for this debate.
WHITFIELD: And Shermichael, let's finish this up with what Donald Trump just said about Nikki Haley, after she announced that she will actually vote for him. So, to recap, Trump said that he thinks she will be on the Trump team in some form. What kind of form are you seeing? VP?
SINGLETON: That's the million dollar question for it. What does that mean? I don't think she is going to be the VP. But, I do expect her to at some point eventually join the former President on the campaign trail. We continue to see that a decent percent of her supporters continue to vote for her even though she isn't on the ballot. Now, when you look at some of the data, many of them also voted for President Biden in 2020. I suspect many will do the same this November. But, I do think, Fred, there is about a third of them who are somewhat on the fence. They're waiting to see if Donald Trump will make those appeals. And if he does so surgically and he is successful with Nikki Haley saying, look, we got to win this thing in November, they will eventually come home. So, I think that was a smart play about the former President.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. OK. We're all at the edge of our seats to see what's going to happen next because anything goes. All right. Shermichael Singleton, Mark Longabaugh, good to see you both. Thank you so much.
SINGLETON: Good to see you, Fred. Thank you.
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LONGABAUGH: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. And in just a few hours, Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear in a federal court in Delaware. This is a pretrial hearing related to a gun case. The charges relate to a gun he purchased in 2018, and they include making false statements on a federal firearms form and possession of a firearm while using illegal drugs. The trial is expected to begin June 3. Attorneys for the President's son are expected to highlight some issues with the proposed jury instructions. A court filing also indicates that attorneys will question whether Hunter Biden believed he was a drug user or addict at the time of purchase and possession of a firearm.
All right. Still to come, for the second day in a row, Taiwan is surrounded by China's war planes and ships. Why Beijing says it's ramping up its military drills, straight ahead? Plus, Singapore Airlines reacts after a deadly in-flight incident. We'll discuss the new measures with an analyst, straight ahead.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. You're watching the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are some international headlines that we're watching today.
More than 100 people are feared dead after a devastating landslide struck a remote village in Papua New Guinea. The International Organization for Migration says the disaster covers an area the size of quote "approximately three to four football fields". Rescue efforts are underway, though officials say large amounts of debris are blocking a key highway and making it difficult to access the village.
And money from frozen Russian assets in Europe will soon start flowing to Ukraine, as it struggles to counter Moscow's ongoing advance. $282 billion worth of funds were frozen after the start of the full-scale invasion. And now, G7 finance ministers are meeting in Italy to work out how the proceeds from those funds can be used to help take financial pressure off Ukraine, now in its third year of war.
And starting Monday, the Georgian parliament will begin a process to override the President's veto of a controversial "foreign agents" law. That's according to Russia state media. Tens of thousands have been protesting the bill in the capital city of Tbilisi. Critics warn that it mirrors a foreign agents law already passed in Russia and could jeopardize Georgia's bid to join the European Union.
And for a second day in a row, China launched another round of large- scale military drills around Taiwan. The Chinese military says it's testing its ability to quote "seize power".
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It comes just days after the self-ruling island swore in a new President who called on Beijing to cease its intimidation tactics. Will Ripley has a closer look.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Day two of China's military exercises encircling Taiwan, and new claims from Beijing that this was a test of their power seizure capabilities, essentially simulating an attack and potential occupation of Taiwan. This is something that China has been hanging over Taiwan's head for decades, and in recent years, they've really stepped up these military exercises, which Taiwan, along with the United States and others, view as reckless and provocative, escalating regional tensions. Exercise is seen as coercion. The United States saying they're committed to supporting Taiwan's defense under the Taiwan Relations Act in Taiwan, investing billions to bolster their own self-defense capabilities.
In the Taiwanese capital, there have been protests, protests because of actions in parliament that some members of the public say are potentially putting Taiwan's democracy in danger. Some lawmakers in the opposition party are trying to pass legislation that would take power away from the newly elected President of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te. And these members of the public say that if they did that, these lawmakers, who are seen as friendly to China, would have power to potentially trade some aspects of Taiwan's freedom in exchange for economic benefit from Beijing, and that is something that they say they just won't stand for, including a man who I met who flew all the way here from California where he has lived for the last four years, even though he was born here in Taiwan.
RIPLEY: Why did you come all the way here?
LI HONG-CHENG, PROTESTOR: Because I support democracy. I believe democracy is -- it's a freedom that people should exercise and freedom come with very, very hard price.
RIPLEY: Those protests were followed by a brawl inside parliament last Friday when lawmakers actually got physical with each other, arguing over these proposed legislative reforms. It is a sign of just how divided and polarized Taiwan has become even with these Chinese military drills happening just miles off the coast.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Singapore Airlines says it's adopting a more cautious approach to handling in-flight turbulence. This comes after an incident that left one man dead and dozens of people injured when a flight from London to Singapore encountered severe turbulence on Tuesday. A hospital in Thailand, where the flight was diverted, says 22 of the victims suffered spinal injuries. The changes include suspending meal service when the seatbelt sign is on, and ensuring that cabin crew secure loose items during poor weather.
CNN Transportation Analyst Mary Schiavo is joining me right now. Good to see you, Mary. So, would these procedures have helped if they were used in the situation of the turbulence?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST, & FMR. INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. TRANSPORTATION DEPT.: I think without a doubt, they would have helped. I mean, it's clearly documented that people, not just this flight, in many other instances in the past, had been injured by service items by carts rolling down the aisle, by not being secured and hitting a cabin roof. So, absolutely, these measures would have helped. Sure. WHITFIELD: All right. So, how does this proposed change, how does this
differ from what other airlines acts such as major U.S. carriers what they already have in place?
SCHIAVO: So, the big difference, and already it has set off a firestorm in travel chat rooms, pilot chat rooms, you name it, because it's largely at the discretion of the pilot. And already, passengers are suspicious of their airlines. Airlines not singling out this one. But, airlines who have been accused basically using the seatbelt light to punish passengers or to not deny service, etc., already, the firestorm is set off. So, right now, the pilots put the seatbelt light on for any kind of turbulence, even mild turbulence. It's the discretion of the pilot. But, they usually don't suspend service as we've all been on flights where it gets pretty rough and the pilot will come on and say, I'm instructing the flight crew to sit down.
So, the issue is, at what point does it become necessary to suspend all service, stop all services, etc.? And that's largely going to be in the discretion of the pilot who is in command of the flight after all. But, it also has broad consequences because turbulence is a huge debate. I don't want to get in the global warming debate, but there is a huge debate about turbulence and it is up. Without a doubt, turbulence is up. So, we can look for longer flights with more suspended service and more seatbelt usage. And until we figure this all out, it's probably a good idea, but it will be misused.
WHITFIELD: OK. So, this severe turbulence that we saw this week, it was related to storms in the area, but clear air pops up --
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SCHIAVO: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- unexpectedly. So, what happens in that situation?
SCHIAVO: Well -- and that's exactly right. Clear air turbulence, unless you have reports from other pilots, right now, there isn't equipment that can adequately predict it. And the aviation nations of the world are working on that. Clear air turbulence, which is turbulence that you can't see on your radar. You can't predict. You rely on other pilots flying ahead of you to report it and then you try to avoid it. That has increased depending upon who you ask. And again, not getting into the big controversy on what's causing it. It's up as much as 40 percent in the United States, which does have some reliable data, and 55 percent over the ocean. And they have measured at the jet stream level. That's where the airlines like to fly up there in the rarefied air. It's up about 15 percent since 1979.
So, we know it's increasing. We don't know if it's El Nino, La Nina. They've warned a terrible hurricane season in the U.S. We don't know if it's transitional yet. But, for now, it seems like a good idea to keep an eye out, keep the seatbelt restrictions throughout the bad weather and then see what happens. But, we really need reliable data. That's what we need.
WHITFIELD: Right. Right. OK. And if it appears as though turbulence is upcoming, crew members are also going to be returning to their seats, securing items. Isn't that already happening, though, universally?
SCHIAVO: Yes. But -- yes, it is. But, this was a little different than it said whenever there is weather. So, right now, I mean, we all fly around and we've kind of gotten used to weather and those tough flight attendants, they still get our snacks or drinks out even when there is storms etc. Now, what this seems to indicate is in any weather, everything is going to be locked down. The carts will be secured, etcetera. And like I said, people on various passenger and pilot chat rooms are already at war, saying, well, this is just going to be used to further curtail passenger service.
Right now, given a lot of reports of unstable air and bad weather, at least seasonally right now, it's probably a good idea. But, like everything, when it's left in discretion, it can be abused. We'll just have to see how it works out.
WHITFIELD: All right. CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo, Great to see you. Thank you.
All right. It's been two years since a gunman opened fire in a Texas elementary school, murdering 19 children and two teachers. Uvalde, Texas, is marking that somber day with events throughout the community, including a candlelight vigil later on tonight. The victim's families recently agreed to a $2 million settlement with the city. And they just filed a new lawsuit against the school district, its employees and 92 officers who were involved in the botched response to the massacre. We'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Millions of passengers are packing U.S. airports for the long Memorial Day weekend. The Transportation Security Administration reports it had its second busiest day ever, screening nearly three million passengers on Thursday, just as the U.S. marks its unofficial start to summer. But, not everyone is flying the friendly skies. Most of the people taking trips this weekend are on the road. AAA predicted some 38 million Americans would travel by car between Thursday and Monday. Have patience, no matter which way you go.
Ryan Young, always very patient, and he gets through that Atlanta- Hartsfield International Airport out a lot. All right. So, how different does it look today?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's such a conversation, because you think about it. You got to drive to get to the airport, and the roads are already packed. The parking lots are already full here. We know that's going to have a ripple effect all across the country, 3.5 million people are going to be headed to the airport. They're saying that's going to be the most people heading to the airport since 2019. So, forget that whole time of the pandemic. They're even -- some people calling this revenge travel. But, let's take a look behind me. This is where it's been packed all
day long. They're already setting records here. Just today, they've had over 40,000 people pass through the gates here and go through TSA. Yesterday, they set a record, beating their NFL numbers of 111 passengers through the TSA on Thursday. And the reason why I brought up the NFL is because after the Super Bowl that was held here a few years ago, they had 109,000 travelers come through here. But, nine percent overall across the country, there'll be more travel for this Memorial Day weekend. We talked to people talking about how much money they were going to have to spend. Some people said they wanted to spend the money because they want to get out of town. Take a listen to some of these travelers.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our son Ethan's first trip. So, I got him and his grandma right here, pushing them through, and we're excited to go to visit his 92-year-old grandparent in Texas.
YOUNG: It's going to be the busiest travel day since 2019. Did you go (inaudible), or are you OK with that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I was a little scared and excited. So, we left super early.
YOUNG: Fantastic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we're used to Atlanta traffic. We know you got to leave early. One of the parking decks was close. So, we're good now once we get through TSA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Hey, Fred. You live here. You know how it is to deal with --
WHITFIELD: Crazy.
YOUNG: -- the world's busiest airport. I love this place. Look, it's pretty efficient. You move through it. But, it is crazy. And the lines can stretch extra long. All the TSA lines are opening. They've been flowing pretty well. They even brought in live music here.
WHITFIELD: Oh nice.
YOUNG: Now, we've talked to people who've flown through New York, through D.C., through Chicago. They just started a lot of music, as we were talking.
WHITFIELD: That was the queue.
YOUNG: In Chicago, and they said that TSA lines -- exactly. We're just as long. So, you get it. But, I think some people will be surprised because this feels like pre-pandemic levels travel, and that sometimes catches people off guard because you're not used to being in the large crowds like we used to. The good news is, so far, everything is good. And the weather is cooperating so far. So, maybe you know how the pack is much patient so far. The delay list, all green right now.
WHITFIELD: Oh, thank goodness.
YOUNG: Nothing has been delayed or canceled on the big screen. So, that's always good news.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's good. Yeah.
YOUNG: Fred.
WHITFIELD: Nobody wants a damper (ph) being put on their holiday travel. It's enough to stand in those long lines there for TSA, required, important, but folks just want to get on to where they're trying to go in a happy place. I like the tunes behind you.
YOUNG: Especially at these prices, right?
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
YOUNG: Especially at these prices.
WHITFIELD: That's right. It's very expensive to travel these days. All right. Ryan Young, good to see you. Thanks so much.
All right. Even though staying home this Memorial Day weekend, we'll want to keep an eye on the skies, as more than 80 million people are at risk of severe weather, and this could include high winds, large hail, and possibly tornadoes stretching from Texas to Michigan. The strongest threat is in place for parts of Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas, including Dallas.
Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to tell us more about it. There has always got to be some kind of system going on somewhere.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. It just hasn't stopped. It's been a relentless tornado season this year.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
DAM: And -- right. I mean, you just -- you look away from the screen for five minutes, and all of a sudden the new tornado warning pops up. That was our experience this morning. What we have going on right now is the first of two severe threats for the day today, and this was -- it's fortunately starting to kind of peter up, losing a bit of its punch as it moves eastward. So, it's just approaching the western suburbs of Chicago. So, in the next 45 minutes to an hour or so, you'll be impacted by this line that let's say three hours ago was producing tornadoes across eastern sections of Iowa. Fortunately, the radar returns not as impressive as what they were earlier this morning.
But, needless to say, we still have a severe thunderstorm watch that's valid through about 1 p.m. Central Time.
[11:50:00] And there have been a few intermittent severe thunderstorm warnings that have popped up across Central Illinois, not the major concern right now, because once we get this system to move eastward, then we start to poke through the cloud cover. The sunshine comes out. And what that does is it destabilizes the atmosphere. So, it doesn't take much for that rising motion to create more bubbly-type cumulonimbus clouds, thunderstorm clouds. And yeah, another round of severe thunderstorms possible later today. This is all part of the broader system that has brought, get this, over 85 tornado reports since Sunday.
So, beginning this week, the Storm Prediction Center has this enhanced risk of severe storms across Northwestern Illinois today, and then you can also see that enhanced risk that stretches across portions of Oklahoma and Texas. Slight Risk. That's a level two of five for over 80 million Americans, extending all the way into southern portions of Michigan. But, this is our greatest probability of tornado threat today. That area highlighted near the Chicago region.
And when we talk about how many tornadoes we've had to date, well, we have eclipsed the average year-to-date for the end of May. Just incredible to see what's happening. And again, this is going to continue right into the Memorial weekend. So, we talked to Ryan a moment ago. The airlines could be impacted by this. Certainly, the roadways. If we have rough weather, we start spawning off tornadoes. That's your threat for the day tomorrow. And then, for the day on Sunday, continuing through the extended holiday weekend.
Look at this, Fredricka, an enhanced risk of severe storms across the lower Mississippi River Valley and into the Ohio River Valley. Once again, here is the storms firing up later this afternoon and then for the day tomorrow. This is that multi-day severe storm threat just worn in.
WHITFIELD: Oh my god, that swath only grows. That is terrible.
DAM: I know.
WHITFIELD: All right. Derek Van Dam, thanks for the warnings. Appreciate it.
DAM: OK.
WHITFIELD: All right. And now this update on the case of an American tourist found guilty of violating Turks and Caicos' strict ban on guns and ammunition. Bryan Hagerich has been handed down a sentence of 52 weeks and will have to pay a $6,700 fine for bringing ammunition into the country. That's according to the "Bring Our Families Home". The judge suspended the sentence. Hagerich is expected to be released shortly. We'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: A deceased Italian teenager known as "God's influencer" is closer to becoming the first saint of the millennial generation.
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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 just 15-years-old 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.
And we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending time with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Stick with CNN.
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