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Atlanta Breaks Records For Passengers Screened; Trump And Haley Have Not Spoken In Months; Over 100 Feared Dead After Papua New Guinea Landslide; Gangs Wreak Havoc In Haiti, Force Out Prime Minister; U.S. Man Arrested In Turks And Caicos For Carrying Ammo; Top U.N. Court Orders Israel To Halt Rafah Ops; U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Resumes Duties; Atlantic Hurricane Outlook for 2024; Filmmaker And Former CNN Host Morgan Spurlock Dies; Carlo Acutis Named First Millennial Saint. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired May 25, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Millions of Americans are or have already taken flight or hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. We'll find out if the weather will cooperate. The Atlantic hurricane season looks to be a busy one this year. I'll talk to one meteorologist about what we can expect.
And friends and family are remembering missionaries killed in Haiti. What a father had to say about his daughter's love for the people of the troubled Caribbean nation.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: A record setting number of Americans are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend. Airports on Thursday saw their second busiest travel day ever as nearly 2.9 million passengers were screened at security checkpoints with the holiday weekend in full swing.
CNN caught up with a few travelers at the world's busiest airport here in Atlanta to see how they were faring.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a little scared and excited. So we left super early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was dead set on traveling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The TSA checkout or checkin line was insane. There was just too much going on. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: AAA estimates 44 million Americans will be traveling between Thursday and Monday; 38 million will be traveling by car. The organization expects nearly 2 million travelers to reach their destination by other modes of transit, like buses, cruises and trains. And more than 3.5 million people are expected to fly.
AAA says it hasn't seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years. CNN's Pete Muntean shows us what it's like.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The backups are building here at Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge. This is the gateway to the eastern shore of Maryland, Ocean City beaches, also the beaches in Delaware, like Bethany and Rehoboth. In Maryland, officials say 330,000 cars will pass through here between now and Monday.
Really fits into the theme of this huge weekend for Memorial Day road trips, 38.4 million people expected by AAA to drive 50 miles or more. That's a 4 percent increase over last year, a 2 percent increase over 2019 before the pandemic.
It's bigger than 2005, widely considered to be one of the biggest years for travel after the post 9/11 slump fully recovered, the biggest since 2000. One of the things that's driving this is AAA says gas prices are about the same as what they were last year.
The national average for a gallon of regular $3.61 and AAA's Aixa Diaz says its bubble shows no signs of bursting with people prioritizing spending on travel.
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AIXA DIAZ, AAA SPOKESPERSON: Gas prices, though, have never really been a factor in terms of keeping people home. AAA has always found that people will just budget around gas prices. It's certainly nice that we're not paying some astronomical number right now but it doesn't really hold people back.
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MUNTEAN: The really tricky part now will be finding an escape from the congestion. AAA anticipates that traffic in some spots, major metro areas leaving town and coming back into town after the holiday, could be double the norm -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Annapolis, Maryland.
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BRUNHUBER: Now this holiday weekend is known here in the U.S. as the unofficial start of summer.
But one big wild card is the weather. And severe storms are forecast to threaten many celebrations.
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BRUNHUBER: Sources tell CNN both via prosecution and defense teams in Donald Trump's hush money trial have some reading to fill their holiday weekend. CNN's Brynn Gingras has details and more on what to expect next.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the judge promise to have the finalized jury instructions in lawyers' hands by the end of day on Thursday. We now can confirm that they do have those final jury instructions. Both prosecution and the defense have this long holiday weekend to work on those closing arguments.
Now we know there was a lot of issues that were still up for -- that were being negotiated really in the last day of court. We won't know how the judge decided on these more complex legal issues until those jury instructions are read to the jurors.
Those will not be made public beforehand. But let's walk through exactly what's coming up next. On Tuesday when court resumes, seven men and five women and the six alternates will return back to court. And they will hear closing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense.
Now that can likely bleed into Wednesday. After those are complete, then the jurors will hear the jury instructions from the judge. We expect those to take about an hour. And then deliberations of course, begin. Nobody knows how long deliberations will last.
However, we understand the former president will stay in the courthouse in a sort of separate war room while that is happening. Now when a verdict is rendered, our understanding is that each count, the 34 separate counts, will be read one-by-one, a guilty or not guilty verdict for each.
Now if there are any guilty verdicts, it's going to be up to the judge to make the penalty, the punishment for that. Our understanding though, of course, is you have the first set, a sentencing date, and it's possible he may not set that until after the election.
So what that means, voters could be going to the polls with the former president on the ballot as a convicted felon -- Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: The special counsel's office wants the judge in the Trump classified documents case in Florida to impose a gag order on the former president. That would limit Trump's ability to comment about the law enforcement search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
Trump has begun repeatedly and misleadingly criticizing the FBI for having a policy regarding the use of deadly force during the search. Trump has told supporters that the police could have put him in danger.
The Justice Department says the policy is standard practice for FBI searches and limits how agents may use force. CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson calls Trump's claims irresponsible. Here he is.
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JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is troubling for a lot of reasons just in terms of a fact check. I think two things are very significant.
The first is that he was not at the location at the time, Mar-a-Lago, when it was searched, very critical.
Number two, the Secret Service was informed with respect to the actual search. And those things I say because it puts it in context. It's not like he was there and ducking with his family while bullets were flying.
And I think we have to -- everyone needs to understand that language and rhetoric have consequences, right?
And people, if the wrong thing are said, particularly when you have a bully pulpit like he does, where he has many millions of followers, people can take it in the wrong way. When you're talking about law enforcement and what they're not doing, right, he's saying they are doing, trying to assassinate him, it puts people in danger and jeopardy.
Last point and I will continue to say, we saw this as it related to the former Speaker of the House and what happened to her husband. Some deranged person goes and really attacks him, right?
And that's a problem. So to avoid any type of just danger to anybody else, you need to consider a gag order to stop things that are said that are irresponsible.
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BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump plans to be back in front of supporters this weekend. Kristen Holmes reports on what the former president has planned.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former president Donald Trump trading the courtroom for the campaign trail this holiday weekend.
TRUMP: We're going to win so big.
HOLMES (voice-over): As the jury in his criminal hush money trial is poised to begin deliberations in his case next week as he continues to try and make inroads with Black and Hispanic voters.
TRUMP: I did criminal justice reform at a level that nobody thought was possible again and I did that particularly with the Black and Hispanic community.
HOLMES (voice-over): Trump making a campaign stop in the Bronx Thursday night.
TRUMP: The simple fact is Joe Biden is not getting the job done for the Bronx.
HOLMES (voice-over): At that event, Trump weighing in for the first time on his former rival, Nikki Haley's announcement she would vote for him in November.
TRUMP: I appreciated what she said. You know, we had a nasty campaign and it was pretty nasty. But she's a very capable person and I'm sure she's going to be on our team in some form.
HOLMES (voice-over): But despite the public thawing in their rivalry, Trump and Haley still have not spoken since the former South Carolina governor ended her bid for sources, telling CNN their relationship remains chilled after the contentious primary.
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Saturday is likely to see Trump take on another rival.
TRUMP: RFK Jr. is a Democrat plant, a radical left liberal who has been put in place in order to help crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of the United States to get reelected.
HOLMES (voice-over): Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the two addressed the libertarian convention in Washington, D.C., on back-to-back days. Trump and his team have increasingly viewed Kennedy as a potential political problem.
As the independent gained ballot access in states across the country, he gained support in the polls.
TRUMP: A lot of people think that Junior is a conservative. He's not. He's more liberal than anybody running on the Democrat side.
HOLMES (voice-over): Kennedy targeting Trump's record during his speech this afternoon.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I-OK), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With the lockdowns, the mask mandates, the travel restrictions, President Trump presided over the greatest restriction on individual liberties this country has ever known.
HOLMES (voice-over): One item likely missing from the former president's schedule this holiday weekend, debate prep. With less than five weeks until the first general election debate in Atlanta, sources close to the former president say there have been no formal conversations about preparation, confident he can outperform Biden.
TRUMP: If drunken Joe Biden makes it through the debate, which I think he will, they're going to say it was one of the great debate performances in history. HOLMES: Donald Trump's advisers tell me not to expect your typical debate prep. Whether they do any sort of preparation at all will be left to the candidate.
But don't expect to see someone sitting in for Biden, someone grilling him with questions, someone sitting in for the moderators. That's just not how Donald Trump wants to do this.
The other thing I want to point out is that we actually are going to see Donald Trump in a battleground state over the weekend for the first time in quite some time. He won't be campaigning though. He's going to be there for a NASCAR event in North Carolina -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: All right.
After the break, more than 100 are feared dead after a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea, we have the latest.
And later I'll be joined by a meteorologist at the National Weather Service and get her insights on what some forecasters are warning will be a hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season.
Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A deadly and chaotic disaster in a remote area of Papua New Guinea, more than 100 people are feared dead after a landslide buried people while they slept in the middle of the night.
Debris is said to cover an area the size of three to four football fields. One official says around 60 homes have been destroyed.
Earlier, I spoke with the national director for World Vision Papua New Guinea about rescue efforts.
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CHRIS JENSEN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, WORLD VISION PAPUA NEW GUINEA: quite a lot of search and rescue operations ongoing. The local people are doing whatever they can, obviously, to access those who might still be trapped.
But at this stage, with such large amount of debris, I think it's obviously they're looking at the worst-case scenario. We've got large amounts of teams from the provincial authorities as well as national government authorities doing assessments, carrying out analysis on what exactly is required as we then look at responding.
Just to give you an idea that this is area is right up in the center of the Highlands. As you've said, it's a long way from here and Port Moresby and even access in normal circumstances is challenging, quite, quite a long, lengthy drive or flight or to somewhere nearby.
So with the landslide taking out the main highway, extremely challenging circumstances to give assistance.
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BRUNHUBER: We get more details now from CNN's Anna Coren.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Emergency crews in Papua New Guinea are trying to access a remote village in Enga province in the north of the
country, where a landslide is believed to have killed more than a hundred people.
Around 3 A.M. on Friday, Kaokalam Village, situated in the highlands, was hit by an enormous landslide, flattening houses. One eyewitness said that
the entire village was gone. Pictures and video on social media show villagers trying to find survivors in the earth and rubble. Large boulders,
tree trunks and collapsed buildings scatter the earth. One resident said the debris was making it hard to find the bodies.
The highway to the area has been cut off, making it inaccessible for rescue workers to get to the scene of this natural disaster. A Red Cross official
told CNN that a recent earthquake and heavy rainfall in the area may have been responsible for triggering the deadly landslide.
JANET PHILEMON, CARETAKER, NATIONAL TREASURER, PAPUA NEW GUINEA RED CROSS: 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'd possibly get the weakening and then sometimes these landslides in those
circumstances just happen like this one did overnight with seemingly no cause.
COREN: The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, issued a statement saying, we are sending in disaster officials, PNG Defense Force
and the Department of Work and Highways to meet provincial and district officials in Enga and also start relief work, recovery of bodies and
reconstruction of infrastructure. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the landslide disaster.
Now the scale of destruction is enormous and many fear the death toll will rise -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
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BRUNHUBER: Three missionaries, including a married couple from the U.S., have been killed in gang violence in Haiti.
Davy Lloyd, his wife, Natalie, and their coworker, Jude Montis, died on Thursday. Davy's father, who operates the group missions in Haiti along with his wife, says he was on the phone with his son during part of the attack. CNN's David Culver has more.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An outpouring of grief for two young missionaries brutally killed in Haiti's capital. They went to heaven together.
Missouri State Representative Ben Baker posted his daughter, Natalie and her husband, Davy Lloyd, attacked by gangs Thursday night in Port- au- Prince.
The couple, in their early 20s, served as part of missions in Haiti.
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A Christian non-profit organization run for more than two decades by Lloyd's parents. The organization, posting Friday, "They were ambushed by a gang of three trucks full of guys. Davy was taken to the house, tied up and beat. The gang then took our trucks and loaded everything up they wanted and left."
At some point, as the attacks unfolded, Davy Lloyd called his father.
DAVID LLOYD, DAVY LLOYD'S FATHER: He was injured, so he was hurt. And he was very nervous and very scared. Because I asked him why they tied him up. And he's like, well, because you're the only one that's got strength that we have to worry about. And so they wanted to make sure he couldn't put up a fight back.
And then he was begging me to find somebody to get in there to help him. And I did all I could but I couldn't locate anybody.
CULVER (voice-over): Three hours later, the group posted that the couple was shot and killed by the gang. Missions in Haiti says a third person, a Haitian staffer named Jude, was also killed in the attack.
We're told he'd been with the organization for 20 years. The violent incident started as the missionaries were leaving church and lasted for several hours. Davy Lloyd's father says the three died barricaded in the Lloyd family's living quarters on the mission's compound. Haiti has been spiraling into gang fueled chaos, which forced the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in April. The U.N. estimates some 80 percent of the capital city is under gang control.
In recent months, CNN's made multiple trips to Port-au-Prince. We've met victims of the gang's brutality including rape, kidnappings and murder. Hundreds of thousands now refugees in their own cities, as gangs have torched their homes and forced them to flee.
We've also met with the leader of one prominent gang, he and others demanding a say in Haiti's future. A future that may again be shaped by foreign forces.
President Biden hosted Kenya's President William Ruto for a state dinner in Washington Thursday, around the same time that the deadly attack on Davy and Natalie Lloyd was taking place.
Top of the two leaders' agenda, Haiti.
WILLIAM RUTO, PRESIDENT OF KENYA: We are going to take up that responsibility alongside the Haitian police.
CULVER (voice-over): Kenya plans to lead a U.N.-backed multinational support mission to Haiti with at least 1,000 Kenyan police officers set to deploy. President Biden stating Thursday the U.S. will not send troops but is providing equipment and intel.
The White House reacting to the killings in a statement on Friday. "Our hearts go out to the families of those killed as they experience unimaginable grief." Missions in Haiti, among many others, has been warning Haiti is on the brink of collapse.
A group posting last month, "It seems the world has turned their backs on Haiti and it's going to be left in complete gang control." Now three of their members just the latest victims of that unrelenting gang violence -- David Culver, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Now there have been conflicting reports about how the missionaries were killed. The missions in Haiti group on Thursday described the victims as being shot and killed. On Friday, a source close to the investigation told CNN that, at this point, the bodies of the American missionaries do not appear to have gunshot wounds.
An investigation into the incident is continuing.
And Missouri state representative Ben Baker is remembering his daughter, Natalie Lloyd, as loving and determined. Lloyd's parents spoke with CNN's Kaitlan Collins about the work their daughter was doing in Haiti and why she and her husband stayed, despite the danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BEN BAKER, FATHER OF NATALIE LLOYD: Doing something for people, putting others in front of you, is so important. And they lived that out, in what they did there.
I don't think you could find a better example of people, who truly had a deep love for the people of Haiti and had a vision to help them in any way that they could. And it made such an impact there, among the different ministries that they were involved in.
Of course, it was dangerous. It was something that, being there, just the way that unfortunately, Haiti operates and the situation there is just, it's awful. But they made the decision to remain, even when it got worse, because they felt like if they left, then those kids would have nowhere to go.
They had more than 30 kids that they're caring for there, that some of them truly orphans and many of them, just their parents in situations that couldn't take care of them or unable to.
And so they felt responsible for those kids. And so they decided to stay. And I commend their bravery and their willingness to do so even though it was very difficult for us. But they did it out of love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A statement from Ben Baker's family that was posted on social media says they're working to retrieve the bodies of Natalie and Davy Lloyd to bring them home.
An American man charged with possession of ammunition in Turks and Caicos has returned to the U.S. Bryan Hagerich tells CNN affiliate WTAE he's absolutely elated to hold his children again.
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As you can see there, (INAUDIBLE) has released Hagerich was handed a suspended 52 week sentence and a $6,700 fine. In the islands, possession of firearms or ammunition carries a minimum 12 year sentence, though the law allows reduced sentences under exceptional circumstances.
Officials say four other Americans facing a similar charge are out on bail as they await their court dates.
The International Court of Justice is ordering Israel to stop its Rafah offensive. What the Israeli government is saying about it next on CNN NEWSROOM, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
The United Nations' top court is ordering Israel to immediately halt its Rafah offensive. It's part of the growing pressure on Israel to end the operation.
On Friday, The International Court of Justice said it considers the humanitarian situation in Rafah to be disastrous and that it's expected to get even worse. Israel started a limited ground offensive in Rafah on May 7th.
Before then, more than 1 million Palestinians were taking shelter there. But now around 800,000 have been displaced.
Palestinians inside Gaza are praising the court's order and say the war needs to end.
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SALWA AL MASRI, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN (through translator): They want these decisions to be implemented on the ground in reality, to stop the war and not just say what they did in Rafah. They have committed genocide. They have committed massacres.
We want all the Arabs to stand with us and for the whole world to stand with us and to stop the war and the massacres that are being committed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost every-- everything here in Gaza was completely destroyed. So the decision won the Palestinian need is immediately stopped what we don't need declaration. We need application.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has Israel's reaction to the order and the impact it could have on the country.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, since the beginning of its military operations in Gaza, Israel has maintained that it is going after Hamas. Hamas is hiding behind civilian population.
They say, the Israeli government says that they are using precise intelligence and precise targeting. Despite that, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed inside Gaza so far.
And right after the ICJ ruling today, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with his cabinet, had a phone call at least with his cabinet. It involved the head of the National Security Council, who issued a statement right after that phone call, saying that this is false, outrageous and disgusting allegations by South Africa about genocide. Saying that there was nothing that Israel is doing inside of Rafah
that would amount to the destruction of the Palestinian people as a population, as a people. The definition of genocide, if you will, which is the allegations that South Africa is alleging against Israel.
It seems that Israel absolutely is not going to be swayed at this moment by the judgment, that their military operations in Rafah will continue as they are in other parts of Gaza.
But over time, there is a sense, certainly in the international community, that this will have an impact on Israel.
And additional international pressure mounting on top of others that have already been coming, that will pressure it, perhaps through sanctions further down the road, that -- international sanctions, pressure it to cease its military operations in Gaza.
But for right now, that absolutely doesn't look like happening at all -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: All right.
Now to diplomatic efforts aimed at a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a U.S. official tells CNN, CIA director Bill Burns met with Israel's Mossad director and the prime minister of Qatar in Paris on Friday. Egypt had threatened to withdraw from its role as mediator in the ceasefire and hostage talks.
So it's not clear whether the head of Egyptian intelligence took park in those talks.
Also in Paris, French president Emmanuel Macron met with the foreign ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to discuss potential ways to reopen all land crossings into Gaza.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy took a first-hand look at the aftermath of Russia's deadly barrage on Kharkiv. He went to Ukraine's second largest city on Friday, a day after missile attacks killed at least seven people and wounded more than 20 others.
In Washington, the U.S. is sending more military aid to help Ukraine fight off a Russian offensive north of Kharkiv. The new aid package, worth $275 million, includes ammunition for the HIMARS rocket systems along with anti-tank missiles and armored vehicles.
And in Belarus, Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to be trying to play the peacemaker. Reuters reported that he's ready for a ceasefire along the existing front lines.
Ukraine shot down the idea as an attempt to derail an upcoming peace talk in Switzerland. The Russian leader, whose own election process was questioned, also appeared to question the legitimacy of Zelenskyy, whose term has expired, although Ukraine's constitution doesn't allow for elections in wartime.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): I proceed on the fact that these negotiations should be resumed, that they shouldn't be based on ultimatums but rather on common sense.
If it comes to this, we, of course, need to understand with whom we can and should deal in order to reach the signing of legally binding documents. Then we must be completely sure that we are dealing with legitimate authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has resumed his duties following a successful medical procedure Friday night. That's according to the Pentagon, which described the procedure as non- surgical and minimally invasive. Officials said it's related to an issue he developed after his recent surgery for prostate cancer.
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Austin's duties were temporarily transferred to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks. The Defense Secretary faced criticism for not disclosing two surgeries in December and January. He later apologized.
The Atlantic hurricane season is almost here and U.S. federal forecasters warn it's likely to be a hyperactive one. Just ahead, I'll speak to a meteorologist about what we can expect. That's coming up, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Summer fun is kicking off with a record number of Americans traveling this Memorial Day weekend.
Transportation officials say they expect to screen more than 18 million airline passengers from May 23 to May 29, a 6.5 percent increase from last year.
And on the roads, AAA say they expect more than 38 million people to travel by car this weekend, the highest number in almost 25 years.
But Mother Nature isn't taking a holiday, with storms set to put a damper on many festivities across the country. Nearly 70 million people are at risk for severe weather Saturday, 77 million on Sunday.
Damaging winds, hail and even tornadoes are expected to unfold in parts of the central, southern and eastern U.S. More strong tornadoes are possible on Saturday in parts of the Midwest.
Now the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season is almost here. And with extreme record-breaking ocean heat this year, the forecast so far doesn't bode well for those in the U.S. living along the Gulf and southern East Coasts.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center released the most aggressive preseason outlook in its history on Thursday. The center says we can expect between 17 to 25 named storms, with eight to 13 of those being hurricanes. And of those hurricanes, four to seven could be category 3 or higher.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- or NOAA, as it's known -- says there's an 85 percent chance of an above average season and only a 5 percent chance the season will be below average.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, any major hurricane that hits the U.S. is usually compared to Katrina, the devastating storm that hit Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005.
Katrina became synonymous with catastrophe and trauma but also survival and resilience. CNN's Stephanie Elam reports now on two thriving young survivors who reunited with the military leader who helped save them years ago.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Hurricane evacuees --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations class of 2024.
ELAM (voice-over): To high school graduates. For twins Jamari and A'Mari Reynolds, this is a moment that seemed improbable at the beginning of their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now Hurricane Katrina --
ELAM (voice-over): In the summer of 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, defeating many of the levees surrounding the city, flooding its streets and killing nearly 1,400 people. Survivors fought challenging circumstances to stay alive.
ALEXANDRA WHEELER, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: We hadn't eaten in maybe six days.
ELAM (voice-over): Alexandria Wheeler knowing she needed to find help for her six.5 month old son's waded through the water, her feet encountering unspeakable horrors in the turbid waters.
WHEELER: It was two bodies collided like this.
ELAM (voice-over): When the trio finally made it to the convention center turned makeshift shelter in the muggy heat, they were starving and dehydrated. The infants nearly limp. That's when Lieutenant General Russel Honore, the decorated commander who led the military response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita came to their aid.
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), U.S. ARMY LEADER OF JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: Folks in Washington, they were looking at calendars and we were looking at a clock.
ELAM (voice-over): It was a moment CNN caught on camera.
WHEELER: He was like God's angel. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here today.
ELAM (voice-over): For years, Wheeler says she tried to get in contact with Honore to thank him for his kindness. But it would take another storm Hurricane Harvey, threatening their new home in Houston in 2017 to bring them together again.
HONORE: Is that some who that boy is over here.
ELAM (voice-over): Wheeler sent Honore a message on social media. And he responded.
WHEELER: We don't even have words to put into our mouths to thank you enough. Auto repeat back what you did.
ELAM (voice-over): Now nearly 19 years after their life altering encounter, Honore took time to celebrate the boys' achievement.
HONORE: Well, we affectionately referred you as the Katrina twins because the world got to meet you that day.
ELAM (voice-over): But Jamari and A'Mari after a lifetime made possible by the man in uniform, are honoring Honore each in his own way. First, A'Mari.
A'MARI REYNOLDS, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: And things see you I'll be a future addition to the United States Marine Corps.
HONORE: Oorah. You got to know how to say that word Oorah.
REYNOLDS: I chose to be in the Marines because I watched over the video and I kept watching and inspired me to want to help people a lot more.
ELAM (voice-over): Then Jamari.
JAMARI REYNOLDS, HURRICAN KATRINA SURIVOR: I would like thank you so much for your bravery, your help that I was able to survive. I'm going to college to do automotive engineering.
ELAM: How do you feel hearing that these two young men are pursuing these careers that have been inspired in part by you?
HONORE: I feel so grateful. I mean, there's no greater service than the service to others, the engineer that will change your world and the marine that's going to help protect a freedom in our democracy.
ELAM (voice-over): The twins now thriving after surviving hell and high water thanks to an undeterred mother.
HONORE: Yes, here today because of you and your tenacity.
ELAM (voice-over): And a compassionate commander.
HONORE: That these young men will be game changers. I'm so proud of you.
ELAM: And now that they're done with high school, this is the first time that the twins will be living apart.
But they said that they're going to remain close and keep those lessons that they learned from the lieutenant general close to their hearts and continue to help others --back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: What a great story.
He was just 15 when he died and the Catholic Church is set to bestow a rare status on this Millennial computer prodigy. Just ahead, why he's called God's influencer. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The entertainment world is mourning the death of a filmmaker who sparked a conversation about the risks of fast food.
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BRUNHUBER: Morgan Spurlock was best known for the stunt that drove his film, "Super Size Me." He ate McDonalds food for a month, gaining 25 pounds and earning an Oscar nomination.
He also made a documentary about Osama bin Laden and hosted a CNN series. But they couldn't equal his take on fast food, which made people rethink their diets at least a little while. His family says Morgan Spurlock died of complications from cancer at age 53.
An Italian teenager who died in 2006 could soon be declared a saint after the Catholic Church attributed two miracles to him. CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb tells us Carlo Acutis was deeply religious, loved computers and gaming and would be the first saint of the Millennial generation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's become known
as God's influencer. Carlo 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, used his technological skills to spread awareness of the Catholic faith, including a website which documented reports of miracles.
Since his death, Acutis' following among Catholics has grown.
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He is 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.
And these great sign of hope are because he told us, as I did, you, too, can become holy, nevertheless all the media, they cannot. technologies.
It seems that holiness is something that belongs to the past. Instead, holiness is also nowadays in these modern time acute as grew up in Milan.
And like other kids of 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.
Acutis was beatified and declared after his first miracle in 2020, with the Vatican approving as miraculous the healing of the Brazilian boy who had a birth defect in his pancreas that made him 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.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
