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Airlines Expect 10 Percent More Passengers This Weekend Than Same Weekend Last Year; Utah Grief Author Accused Of Murdering Husband Speaks; Sean "Diddy" Combs Faces Eight Sexual Assault Lawsuit; Teen To Become Catholic Chruch's First Millennial Saint; Top U.N. Court Orders Israel To Halt Rafah Operations; Mexico's Monkeys Are Dropping Dead Due To Prolonged Heatwaves. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired May 25, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:01:10]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we begin with dangerous weather that could impact your travel this holiday weekend.

More than 70 million people are under a severe weather threat as intense tornadoes, baseball-sized hail and near hurricane force winds hit the central plains and parts of the Midwest.

Let's bring in now, CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa. So, Elisa, what areas are we talking about?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're really keeping an eye on parts of Oklahoma and Kansas. That's where we have the greatest threat for severe weather outbreak today.

You could see it in the red area that's that moderate risk level four and a five, where we could find intense tornadoes, baseball-sized hail, and a string of damaging winds that can be pretty hefty as well.

Notice the risk kind of stretches even into the deep south, including places like Atlanta, Savannah, and then, there is another cluster up in the Northeast. But really what we're watching here is a possibility of some strong, violent, long-lived, and intense tornadoes that are possible from Wichita down to Oklahoma City. We are looking at EF2 tornadoes or greater.

So, again, just incredibly dangerous the magnitude of tornadoes that we can find today.

And this is coming in a season that has been so incredibly busy. Since the beginning of the year, we've had more than 900 tornado reports, when on average today, we would have closer to 700.

Here is a look at the radar right now. Not too much going on in this area. We need the daytime heat and humidity to really cook the atmosphere and get the storms to explode.

We've been watching a line of storms though just south of Atlanta, where there are a few severe thunderstorm warnings right now.

As we go through the day, storms really start to fire up in that area, kind of late this evening. Might not get busy until 5:00 or 6:00 tonight. And then, notice all of these discrete cells. Those could be the violent long track tornadoes, the timestamp, 10:00 p.m.

Nocturnal tornadoes, kill more people because we are sleeping. It's hard to get those emergency alerts while you're sleeping. So, make sure you turn up the volume on your phone tonight.

Those violent storms do congeal into a line. That's where you get a threat of damaging winds across Missouri, as we go into the morning. And then it continues through the Ohio Valley with that threat of damaging winds going into tomorrow.

So, the severe weather threat continues on Sunday. That level three out of five. That orange enhanced risk from St. Louis to Louisville and Nashville, where we can continue to find the string of damaging winds, a couple of tornadoes and large hail.

On top of this, we are also tracking some excessive heat in the south. Texas has some warnings for excessive heat down from Central Texas into our Brownsville, where we could find that heat index up to 117 degrees. So, sweltering heat even for this time of year, where averages along the Gulf Coast are in the upper 80s, but we're looking at highs in the low and middle 90s from Florida into Texas.

And that could, again, pose a risk for heat sickness, you want to check on kids, elderly, and pets.

Now, a lot of this is coming in the midst of the warmest May on record for a lot of these areas. Miami has been sweltering since May 1st. We do know that that's the trend. Spring season there has a nearly three- degree fever. It is just warmer since 1970. We add nearly 30 more warm spring days since 1970 in Miami. So, we're just kind of losing that spring season. The extreme heat starts sooner. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right. Oh, my God. I mean, spring is like that.

RAFFA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So far, in Miami. All right. Thank you so much, Elisa, appreciate it.

All right. Let's talk more about this busy holiday weekend and where everyone is going or where they have arrived. Travel industry expert Henry Harteveldt is with us right now. Henry, great to see you.

HENRY HARTEVELDT, TRAVEL INDUSTRY ANALYST: Hello, Frederica.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, this is known to be a record-breaking holiday weekend, and summer for people trying to go somewhere and, you know, arrive safely. Where is everyone going this holiday weekend?

[13:05:01] HARTEVELDT: Well, you know, they are going to the beaches, they are going to the mountains, lakes big cities like New York and small towns. They are going everywhere. But the challenge is they may want to be going there, but as we just heard, getting there is not going to be easy.

This weekend, we had bad weather yesterday, affecting a lot of airport hubs. There is bad weather today, and of course, the roads are being affected too.

So, it's not an easy Memorial Day weekend from a travel perspective.

WHITFIELD: OK. And you know what, traveling is very expensive, too. If you're trying to buy a plane tickets, or if you've already purchased them, you have really been met with a lot of sticker shop. But that doesn't seem to be deterring people. Is that the case? I mean, consumers are feeling like they were pent up for a very long time, and they are willing to pay the price in order to fly or even drive.

HARTEVELDT: They are. So, what's interesting is that the rear pass what we called, revenge travel, the immediate wave of travel after the COVID pandemic waned.

Now, it's just people who want to travel and are doing what they can 43 percent of travelers in our U.S. travel research study of more than 5,000 travelers say, they prioritize saving for travel, when they are building their budgets each year.

But only five percent of people say it's easier to save for travel this year compared to last.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, what's your advice to folks? Because they are going to be met with a lot of crowds in the airports on the roads, what's your advice to everybody, as they, you know, buckle in.

(CROSSTALK)

HARTEVELDT: Right. So -- Absolutely. So, first, if you're travelling this weekend, give yourself extra time. If you are flying, check the weather reports, check with your airlines, subscribe to the text alerts so that you can stay on top of things.

If you're driving, give yourself extra time, make sure you've got gas and everything. Your tires are in good shape, and so on.

If you're planning a summer vacation, don't wait. If you find flights or hotels that meet your budget, booked them, because they are not going to get cheaper, in most cases. There is a lot going on this summer.

In Europe, you've got Taylor Swift concerts, you've got the Olympics going on. You've got the 40 -- I'm sorry, the 85th anniversary of D- Day coming up in France.

Here in the U.S., there are all sorts of festivals. And airlines and hotels are doing everything they can to push up the prices. airlines don't have as many planes as they expected. So, they' are going to do everything they can to jack up the fares and get as much money as they are able to.

WHITFIELD: All right. Henry, great to see you. Happy traveling to everybody out there. Thanks for the advice too.

HARTEVELDT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Henry Harteveldt, thank you.

All right, a Utah grief author turned murder suspect, speaks out for the first time since being charged with her husband's murder. Prosecutors say Kouri Richins, killed her husband, Eric with a fatal dose of fentanyl back in 2022. And then, published a children's book about how to deal with grief.

CNN's Camila Bernal Joining me now from Los Angeles with more on this.

Camila, what is a Kouri Richins saying these days?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, well, she is saying that it is time to speak up. She says that she is anxious to go to trial, and also said that she is ready to give this, in her words, one heck of a fight.

And this is, as you mentioned, the first time we hear from her after she actually went on local television to promote her book about grief. Now, she spoke to two different news outlets and detailed the fact that like, I mentioned she is ready to go on trial. That she is ready to defend herself.

And all of this comes just a week after her attorneys, the ones that have been representing her during this entire process now withdrew from the case, saying that this there was an incident that is irreconcilable and that it is non waivable here. There are not a lot of details as to what exactly happened for these attorneys to withdraw from the case. And it is unclear when these audios were recorded.

We've reached out to her new appointed attorneys and have yet to hear from them. But I do want you to take a listen to part of that audio and what she told ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOURI RICHINS, GRIEF BOOK AUTHOR: What I've really done is protect Eric at all costs. What I really didn't do is murder my husband. I could not and would not ever do that to Eric or anyone for that matter. I will not give up. I will not give in. Please just give me a chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now, let's take a step back. Kouri Richins is accused of killing her husband by giving him this cocktail, a Moscow Mule that was laced with fentanyl. And the toxicology report later revealed that he had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his body at the time of his death.

[13:10:00]

You know, she, as we mentioned, then wrote a book about grief, and talked about her children and the family, essentially, processing that grief. And her attorneys, essentially, saying that there is no proof that she purchased that fentanyl. This is her previous attorneys, whereas, the prosecution is saying not only did she purchase the fentanyl, but they also say that she withdrew money from her husband's account saying she changed the life insurance policy and saying that they have evidence, things that she searched on her phone, things like what is the lethal dose of fentanyl?

All of this is what Prosecutors say they have. Now, these new attorneys will have to figure out how they are going to fight this case. And representative, a spokesperson for the family of Eric Richens. put out a statement after hearing the audio.

And this is what the family had to say. They said, "We are never surprised by the rantings of this derange woman. What she did to her children's father is unforgivable and her complete lack of compassion or empathy for them is deplorable."

Now, after this audio was released, and she changed her attorneys, there is a lot of questions as to when exactly this is going to move forward. There is a hearing scheduled for June 18th. But because these attorneys are dealing with a completely new case for them, they are asking the judge for time.

So, we now know there is a scheduling hearing for June 21st. But we'll have to wait and see what the judge decides, and whether or not he will give these new attorneys more time to figure out this case. Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, Camila, it's not unusual, you know that a team of attorneys might change in the middle of a case. But is there kind of more insight as to why it happened here?

BERNAL: Yes. So, it is related to the civil cases. She is facing a number of other civil cases related to her husband's death here, and she did get into a little bit more detail when she spoke to Dateline. Again, these were audios that we do not know exactly when they were recorded or when she released it to Dateline.

But she specified that she did not want to get rid of her attorneys. Take a listen to what she told Dateline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHINS: My defense team has been forced to withdraw off with my case. Represented or not, we all know and should understand there is only so much I can say. But what I will say is this withdrawal was not my choice, and it was not a personal choice of any counsel on my defense team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And again, in these audios, she just says that she is ready to fight, ready to go to trial, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right. Camila Bernal, thanks for keeping us updated.

All right. Still ahead this afternoon, the judge in the Hunter Biden case makes a decision about what evidence will be allowed during that upcoming trial.

Plus, actor Alec Baldwin, wants a judge to dismiss the charge he faces in connection with the fatal shooting of a cinematographer. on a movie set. The judge's answer straight ahead.

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[13:17:45]

WHITFIELD: Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking a federal judge to place a gag order on former President Donald Trump. The Friday court ruling is an attempt to limit Trump's comments about law enforcement that searched his Florida home. The move comes after Trump falsely claimed in a campaign e-mail that President Biden was, "locked and loaded and ready to take me out."

The reality is, the policy a standard protocol for FBI searches and limits how officers may use force in those operations. The same protocol was used in the search of President Biden's homes and offices during a separate classified documents investigation.

The federal judge in Hunter Biden's gun charges case issued a series of key rulings on Friday ahead of his upcoming trial on June 3rd. CNN is Marshall Cohen breaks it all down.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Hunter Biden was at the state dinner at the White House on Thursday. But Friday, he was in a courthouse right behind me in Wilmington, Delaware, and that's because we're just about one week away from his criminal trial on felony gun charges.

Special Counsel David Weiss has indicted Hunter Biden, the president's son on three felony counts, stemming from his purchase and possession of a revolver back in 2018.

The alleged crime is that he was addicted to drugs when he bought the gun, which is a violation of federal law. So, there was a hearing Friday, several hours here in Wilmington, where the judge in this case issued several critical rulings about what evidence can come in and which arguments need to be kept out.

She did issue an important decision on the scope of the law in question. She gave prosecutors a victory, allowing them to broadly argue that Hunter Biden was using drugs around the time when he bought that gun, and not necessarily on the exact day that he bought the gun. That might make it easier for them to win a conviction.

But it wasn't all good news for the prosecutors. The judge in this case, narrowed a bit the amount of evidence from Hunter Biden's infamous laptop that will be allowed to be introduced, and said that the defense team if they want to can challenge the authenticity of key messages.

[13:20:03]

Prosecutors have said that they want to use those text messages to demonstrate that Hunter Biden was addicted to and using illegal drugs, specifically, crack cocaine, when he bought that gun in 2018.

So, this trial is supposed to kick off right here in Delaware on June 3rd, and the both party said it should probably last about two weeks. And, of course, this is the very first time in our nation's history that the son of the sitting president will stand trial for federal charges.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

WHITFIELD: New Mexico judge has denied Alec Baldwin's motion to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter indictment against him. After the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The actor's attorneys accused prosecutors of misconduct during the grand jury process and tried to get the case dismissed. The judge denied their claim, saying that proper procedures had been followed.

Members of Baldwins legal team tell CNN, I'm quoting now, "We look forward to our day in court."

Defense attorney Misty Marris, joining me right now, Misty, great to see you.

MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Great to see you.

WHITFIELD: So, the defense claimed the prosecution presented false testimony withheld evidence from the grand jury and gave them improper instructions.

Would that be enough that those set of claims to get these charges dismissed?

MARRIS: Yes, if it were verified, prosecutorial misconduct would be enough to overturn a grand jury proceeding.

Keep in mind, though, the grand jury proceeding itself is a prosecutorial process. And that's what the judge have ultimately determined in this particular case. That there was actually no misconduct, what was presented to the grand jury was proper, and that the grand jury returned with an indictment, which is going to stand.

So, the arguments that were raised are very valid arguments. However, the judge ultimately found that they didn't have veracity in this case. Keep in mind, Fredricka, judges do not want to overturn Grand Jury indictments, it's up to the people on that jury to make that determination. So, it is a very high standard to scrap that process.

WHITFIELD: OK. The film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for firearm safety, storage, you know, on the movie set. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March, and she was sentenced to 18 months in prison and is now appealing. How might that case impact Alec Baldwin's?

MARRIS: Well, first of all, we saw during the sentencing hearing that the judge was really not having any sympathy for Hannah Gutierrez- Reed, ultimately siding with the prosecution and sentencing her to 18 months.

So, that could signal the way the judge might rule on a sentencing if Alec Baldwin is to be found guilty.

Now, before that can happen, of course, you go through the whole trial, the guilt phase of the trial. A lot of the evidence that we saw in Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's trial will also be relevant to Alec Baldwin. And I would expect the defense to focus very, very strongly on Hannah Gutierrez read the fact that she was the armorer, and argue that Alec Baldwin had no reason to believe there would be a live bullet in that gun.

Now, prosecutors are going to use some of that evidence and say this set was a total disastrous mess. And we've heard that part of the argument is going to be that Alec Baldwin was often rushing through -- rushing through his set his segments, and also, you know, putting pressure on everybody to get things done, which ultimately led to negligence.

And so, a lot of what we saw on that trial, it's absolutely going to be relevant to Alec Baldwin.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, let's turn to another case. This involving Sean Diddy Combs, you know, who's facing yet another sexual assault lawsuit. It's the second this week and the seventh since November that directly accuses him of sexual assault.

You know, people were aghast when they saw the surveillance video that was -- that CNN exclusively obtained and was released for all to see showing him, you know, kicking and beating Cassie Ventura.

Do you see a connection that will be made of seeing that kind of video, and now, other allegations involving other people?

MARRIS: So, the video itself is so horrifying to watch. It's really difficult to watch. And it was actually rang very true to the allegations that were raised by Cassie and her lawsuit, which was ultimately settled.

But keep in mind, now that, that video is public, it verified some of what she said in her complaint. And although her case is settled, many of the other allegations in the other lawsuits also stemmed from domestic violence and violent type acts.

[13:25:06]

So, certainly, that video would ultimately be used to show a pattern of conduct that could ultimately come in to any of these civil trials or ultimately be a part of any further federal investigation, which we know his homes are raided by Homeland Security. So, the video itself is not actionable because the statute of limitations is over. However, it will certainly be relevant to the -- to the -- to these other cases.

WHITFIELD: And then, what about, you know, Combs's I guess, on -- in Instagram? It was an apology or an acknowledgement. I mean, see it however you'd like to, there were -- there it was how might that play a role might there be, you know, an admission or attorney saying there was an admission here? Or draw some similarities to other allegations?

MARRIS: I actually thought that video was a disaster. I'm sure that any lawyer would say don't do it. It's likely that, that was something more for P.R. But to me, it fell flat. And here is the legal risk. As you said, number one, it's an admission of that type of conduct. But his feet were to the fire, right? It's on video. We all watched it with our own eyes.

Keep in mind, when Cassie filed her lawsuit, he said everything in this lawsuit is a fabricated, this is a total money grab. Well, wow, his credibility is certainly in question now that he's come out and made this public statement about how he has tried to correct this type of behavior in the past.

So, yes, Fred, this is going to be something that not only impugns his credibility, but also could potentially come into play in any of these lawsuits where you see similar types of allegations. It comes in as what's called a prior bad act and shows a pattern of conduct.

WHITFIELD: All right. Misty Marris, thank you so much. Good to see you.

And if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, there is help. Visit thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-SAFE.

An Italian teenager could make history, set to become the first millennial saint. We'll tell you all about the boy known as God's influencer.

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[13:31:47]

WHITFIELD: All right, Louisiana became the first state to classify abortion drugs as controlled dangerous substances Friday. The new law places the drugs in the same category as narcotics and depressants.

Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed the controversial new bill into law, which makes it a crime to possess the medication without a prescription.

Proponents say it will protect expectant mothers, but hundreds of health care providers have come out against the move, saying it would prevent people from accessing necessary care.

Anyone found in possession of the medication without a prescription could face a felony charge, punishable by up to five years in prison. An Italian teenager, who used his computer skills to promote the

Catholic faith, is on his way to becoming the Catholic Church's first Millennial saint.

Carlo Acutis, who has gained the nickname "God's Influencer," passed away in 2006 when he was just 15.

Vatican correspondent, Christopher Lamb, explains how a second miracle attributed to him has just been recognized by Pope Francis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's become known as God's Influencer. Carlos Acutis, a teenage gamer and computer programmer, is set to be declared the Catholic Church's first Millennial saint.

Almost 18 years after he died from leukemia, age 15, Pope Francis has recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis paving the way for him to be canonized.

The London-born Italian teenager was a computer prodigy. He used his technological skills to spread awareness of the Catholic faith, including a Web site which documented reports of miracles.

Since his death, Acutis' following among Catholics has grown. He's widely seen as a saintly figure who is truly relatable to today's youth.

His mother, Antonia Salzano, continues to share the message of her son's life.

ANTONIA SALZANO, MOTHER OF CARLO ACUTIS: And these are a sign of hope because he -- he told us, as I did, you too can become holy. Never less all the media, they technologies. It seems that fact that holiness is something that belonged to the past. Instead, holiness is also nowadays in these modern times.

LAMB: Acutis grew up in Milan. And like other kids, his age enjoyed video games, sports, and making funny films about his family dogs.

To declare someone a saint, the Catholic Church normally requires proof of two miracles. The latest miracle attributed to Acutis was the healing of a woman from Costa Rica who suffered a head trauma after falling from her bicycle in Florence in Italy.

According to Vatican News, she was cured after her mother prayed at the tomb of Acutis.

(MUSIC)

LAMB: Acutis was verified and declared blessed after his first miracle in 2020 with the Vatican approving the miraculous healing of a Brazilian boy who had a birth defect in his pancreas that made them unable to eat normally. The next step now is for the pope to hold a meeting of cardinals to

sign off on Acutis' sainthood. Then they will pick a date for the canonization.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here to discuss is Katie McGrady, host of the "Katie McGrady Show" on Sirius XM.

[13:35:03]

Great to see you, Katie.

KATIE MCGRADY, HOST OF THE "KATIE MCGRADY SHOW" ON SIRIUS XM: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. So now that the pope has recognized two miracles attributed to Carlo Acutis, what qualifies as a miracle? How do they get formerly recognized by the pope?

MCGRADY: Well, it's a pretty intense research process. They don't just rubber stamp things because we want more saints. We certainly do want more saints. God is very clearly still making saints.

But they have to investigate. They have to gather evidence. I mean, this process has been going on since Carlo passed away. There's a five-year waiting period. So it is rather quick.

But I think there's something going on here. And its evidence that the Vatican wants us to know that holiness is very much still possible, that Carlo is very clearly advocating for people in Heaven.

So they do a research process. There's investigations. There's conversations with doctors. Sometimes that phrase "the devil's advocate" is used where they try to poke holes in things. That's not a formal position anymore.

But it's certainly a detailed research process to ensure this is real. It was because of Blessed Carlo's intersession and therefore we can confirm the veracity of this miracle.

WHITFIELD: I mean, Carlo's mom said her son used his computer skills to spread the message of Jesus Christ, not to earn money or become famous. Do you think Carlo will be an example for younger generations?

MCGRADY: I think so. I mean, I -- I have long often called "Blessed Carlo, my buddy in Heaven." He's very much a Heavenly friend.

And it's really kind of amusing because I had no idea that a contemporary across the world was working and building a Web site when -- you know, we were the same age. He was born in '91. I was born in '89. So were very much on the same experiences when it comes to growing up in the '90s, the Internet of the early 2000s. I think, for Millennials, especially, we're in our 30s, we're raising kids, we're trying to live our faith. We can look to Carlo and see, OK, holiness is attainable. Holiness is attainable even on the Internet.

Holiness is something that is not just for people who levitate or people who speak in tongues or people who can bilocate, which is sometimes the stories of the saints. And those are incredible.

But holiness is something that we can find in the ordinary. And we find it because of our sacramental life.

Carlo went to daily Mass. Carlo was kind to people he met on the street who suffered from homelessness. Carlo was a good guy. And as a good guy, it was because of his faith. And so we can look up to that example and it's moving, it's challenging.

I can tell you, I told my daughter -- she's six years old -- the other day that Blessed Carlo is on the path. He's a little closer to canonization. And she got all excited. She knows his story. We've talked about it before.

Because Blessed Carlo loved Pokemon. And she immediately said, I can't wait to tell my friends. And she starts listing off all her friends who like Pokemon.

So here's a six-year-old who's preparing for First Communion --

(CROSSTALK)

MCGRADY: -- who knows the story of the saint.

(CROSSTALK)

MCGRADY: Yes, it is definitely an inspiration.

WHITFIELD: So then, if he does, indeed, become a saint, what do you think people might pray to him for?

MCGRADY: Well, so I'll give you my teacher to go on. We ask a saint to pray for us. So I think a lot of people will ask Blessed Carlo to pray for us to navigate media, especially social media well.

Sometimes I play a little game with, well, what would Carlo post? Would Carlo say that on Twitter? Would he post on Facebook? Would he repost this thing on Instagram? Because he navigated the Internet really well.

So I think he'll be a great intercessor for how to use the Internet in a life-giving and truthful way.

WHITFIELD: All right. Katie McGrady, we'll continue to listen to you on Sirius XM.

MCGRADY: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much for coming on TV with this.

MCGRADY: Absolutely.

[13:38:54]

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, the latest round of Gaza ceasefire talks just ended. We'll go live to Tel Aviv for the latest on what happens now.

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[13:43:44]

WHITFIELD: CIA Director Bill Burns has left ceasefire talks in Paris saying some progress was made, but no further talks are scheduled. The end of the talks come as the world reacts to a ruling from the U.N.'s top court ordering Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah.

Israeli officials are condemning the ruling. The White House, so far, has been silent on the ruling, except to say that its position on Rafah has been clear and consistent.

CNN's Elliott Gotkine is in Tel Aviv for us.

Elliott, good to see you.

So Israel essentially is -- you know, is not respecting that ruling. So now what?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN JOURNALIST: Fredricka, the ICJ, the International Court of Justice, rulings are legally binding. But as you say, it can't actually doesn't actually have the power to enforce those rulings.

So it's unclear that there's going to be little, if any practical impact from a military perspective on Israels operations in Rafah. Israel saying it has to go so in there because that is the last readout.

This is where the last few battalions of Hamas are present. And Israel needs to destroy them or to certainly decimate them in order to prevent Hamas visiting another atrocity on the scale of October 7th on Israel.

So that's number one, the ICJ doesn't have the power of enforcement.

[13:44:59]

Now, in theory, U.N. Security Council members could table resolutions to take action against Israel if it seemed to be not abiding by this ruling. But that would invariably be vetoed by the United States.

And then finally, I think, is it Israel says that it has no intention and hasn't been in the past, to use the words of the ICJ ruling, doing anything to bring about the physical destruction in whole or in part of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip.

So that's from a military perspective. But, of course, diplomatically, this simply seems to just add to the drumbeat of increased isolation being heaped upon Israel over the last few weeks.

Including, of course, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

We've also got other countries are recognizing a Palestinian state are saying that they will do so much to the chagrin of Israel.

Well, domestically, I don't think it's going to add to any pressure because across the political spectrum, there is a lot of disdain and anger at this ruling from the ICJ.

But of course, there are still protests going on, as I speak, just a couple of miles away here in Tel Aviv against Prime Minister Netanyahu, demanding that he do more, do everything that he can to try to bring those hostages back into Israel.

Around 120-plus hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip, about a quarter of whom are believed to be dead. They want them back in Israel. And they're also calling for fresh elections as well.

WHITFIELD: CIA Director and former Middle East Diplomat Bill Burns has left the latest talks and there's nothing new on the schedule. Have these talks all but broken down at this point?

GOTKINE: They seem to have broken down, what, the other week. And according to CNN reporting, this was because the Egyptians effectively got agreement, got sign-off from Israel, and then changed what Israel had agreed to and presented it to Hamas.

So Hamas came out as we will remember, saying that they'd accepted this deal. There were celebrations on the streets of Gaza, only for those hopes for a ceasefire and the release of some of those hostages to be dashed because it seems that both sides were agreeing to different agreements.

So where we are right now is they are trying to resurrect these talks. There are reports, I should say, in the Israeli media, which I can't confirm, saying that talks will resume this week.

But certainly, we know that Bill Burns, CIA director, meeting with his counterparts from Israel and also the Qataris and Egyptians as well. They were having talks in Paris. They say that progress was made, but no new talks were scheduled.

I think even if these talks do get back on track, it will take some time before an agreement can be reached. And as we've seen so many times in the past few months, whenever there is hope that an agreement is about to be reached, those come to nothing, unfortunately.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elliott Gotkin, in Tel Aviv, thanks so much.

All right. A deadly heatwave is hitting Mexico. A heat emergency is so bad that monkeys are falling out of the trees and dying.

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[13:52:43]

WHITFIELD: All right, millions of Texas residents are bracing for potentially record-breaking heat this Memorial Day weekend. Right now, nearly eight million people are under heat alerts, mainly across south Texas.

By Sunday, the heat index values could top 115 degrees in Laredo, 106 in Austin, and 102 in Houston. Temperatures across south Texas will be 10 to 15 degrees above normal.

Extreme heat in Mexico and Central America is causing major concerns not only for people but wildlife as well.

CNN's Gustavo Valdes has details on the impact the heat is having on threatened howler monkeys.

And we do want to warn you, some of the video you're about to see is very graphic and disturbing.

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GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN 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 jungles, officials say.

LORENA VENTURA, BUENAVISTA TABASCO RESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALDES: "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. So, Ventura says, they're falling from the trees.

VICTOR HUGO MORATO (ph), VETERINARIAN: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALDES: Victor Hugo Morato (ph) is the veterinarian who treated the rescue monkeys. He said blood samples reveal 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.

ALEJANDRO MORENO, ENVIRONMENTALIST: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) VALDES: 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 dome over the region. Temperatures are three to six degrees Celsius higher than normal, exceeding 45 degrees in some areas.

[13:55:11]

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.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALDES: A pain humans feel, too.

Gustave Valdes, CNN, Atlanta.

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WHITFIELD: And at least two people are dead after Ukrainian officials say a shopping center is targeted by Russian bombs. We're alive in Ukraine with the very latest.

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