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Atlanta Breaks Records For Passengers Screened; Special Counsel Asks Judge For Gag Order On Trump; Over 100 Feared Dead After Papua New Guinea Landslide; Gangs Wreak Havoc In Haiti, Force Out Prime Minister; Diddy Combs Faces Eighth Sexual Assault Lawsuit; U.S. And Qatari Officials Meet To Restart Cease-Fire Talks; U.S. Sending $275 Million In Aid To Help In Kharkiv; New FCC Rules Require Political Ads To Disclose AI Content; U.S. Sports. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired May 25, 2024 - 05:00 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 of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Tens of millions of Americans face the risk of severe weather, even as we see record numbers hit the roads and the skies this Memorial Day weekend.
A new gag order request for the former president, we will look at why the special counsel wants to stop Donald Trump from talking about law enforcement involved in the search of Mar-a-Lago.
And a dire situation in Papua New Guinea where more than 100 people are feared dead following a landslide. We'll have the latest on the rescue and recovery efforts.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: It's Memorial Day weekend here in the United States and a record number of Americans are planning to mark it by hitting the roads or the airports. Although one big wild card, even for those staying put this weekend, is the weather. Parts of the U.S. have already been devastated by unrelenting severe weather lately. And severe storms could threaten many celebrations this weekend.
There were more than 300 storm reports yesterday and it's not over yet. Nearly 70 million people are at risk for severe weather today. The U.S. Storm Prediction Center warns a large portion of the Great Plains could see violent tornadoes, extreme hail and corridors of widespread damage.
Some 77 million are at risk for severe weather on Sunday as the system moves east. And that could, with the running of the famed Indianapolis 500 in jeopardy. Now the weather doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent for people wanting to get out of town any more than high gas or airline prices.
This Memorial Day, travelers are expected to come out in record- setting droves across all methods of transportation. AAA is projecting nearly 44 million people traveling. CNN's Ryan Young is at the airport here in Atlanta.
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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Across the country, Americans have returned to the airport. They want to see the friendly skies once again in crushing numbers. In fact, on Thursday, 2.9 million people went through TSA checkpoints.
You look behind me here at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and you know the numbers have been very high here at the world's busiest airport. In fact, they broke a record here with over 111,000 people going through the TSA checkpoints on Thursday.
On Friday, they were getting ready to break that once again. We've talked to travelers who were thinking about the economy and how they were going to spend their money and whether or not they're going to travel and deal with all these situations. And they say they were ready to deal with the issues.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you got a hustle on -- I'm old school. So if you want to hustle, you can get paid.
YOUNG: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this economy thing. I think it's overblown in my opinion.
YOUNG: So you're willing to spend and do what you have to do to get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Absolutely. It helps the economy.
Show me a business that says, they're not making money because people aren't spending. And I'll tell you they're not telling the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a little scared and excited. So we left super early.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The TSA checkout or checkin line was insane. There was just too much going on.
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YOUNG: Yes, so far across america, TSA says they've been making sure that the areas that they have with the security checkpoints, they could be fully open so they can get travelers in and out. Here at Hartsfield-Jackson International, the longest lines have been
about 20 minutes, but obviously there are smaller airports all across the country.
They're going to have to deal with the same kind of influx of people. They believe about 9 percent increase overall from last year. On top of that, weather has been holding across the country. But of course, that could change at any point -- Ryan Young, CNN, Atlanta.
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BRUNHUBER: The special counsel in Donald Trump's federal classified documents case is now asking for a gag order on the former president. It would limit what he could say about law enforcement agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago resort two years ago.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the FBI for its policy around the use of deadly force during the search. Just this week, he sent a fundraising email claiming that FBI agents were quote, "locked and loaded" and that he nearly escaped death.
But his claims or misleading since the policy is standard protocol for FBI searches. CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers spoke to Laura Coates earlier about why Trump's rhetoric is so concerning.
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JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's one thing for the former president to, you know, say things that aren't true about what the different special counsel cases are doing and so forth.
But this is saying FBI agents were effectively coming to assassinate me.
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I mean, it's ridiculous and that you can see some of his followers kind of take that as an invitation to go out and do some violence of their own, possibly against law enforcement.
So I think that's why everyone is so concerned about this. And they want to really tamp down on it as soon as possible.
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BRUNHUBER: At Trump's hush money trial in New York, jurors are expected to start deliberations next week and decide whether to convict or acquit the former president. CNN's Brynn Gingras has more.
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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: There's new information about who might be on the ballot as Trump's vice presidential candidate in November. "The New York Times" reports that Arkansas Republican senator Tom Cotton is at or near the top of the list. Cotton is a staunchly conservative Harvard educated Army veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
"The Times" says a number of people are also in the running for the VP spot, including three other senators: Florida's Marco Rubio, South Carolina's Tim Scott and JD Vance of Ohio.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has resumed his duties following a successful medical procedure last 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. Austin's duties were temporarily transferred to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks. The Defense Secretary faced criticism for not disclosing two surgeries in January and December and he later apologized.
All right. After the break, more than 100 people are feared dead after a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea. WE'll have the latest.
Plus gang violence in Port-au-Prince claims the lives of two young American missionaries and their Haitian co-worker. I'll tell you what we know after the break.
And another person comes forward to accuse rapper Sean Diddy Combs of sexual assault. We will have the details on the latest lawsuit filed against the music mogul. That's all coming up.
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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 be up to 26 feet deep and covering an area the size of three to four football fields.
Search and rescue teams are working to secure the area. But the village's remoteness and debris blocking the area's main highway or hampering those efforts.
Now, earlier I spoke with the national director for World Vision Papua New Guinea on the latest we're hearing from the disaster zone. Here he is.
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CHRIS JENSEN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, WORLD VISION PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The information coming in is that where there's approximately 60 households that have been impacted by a significant landslide. This happened 3:00 in the morning only two nights ago.
And I struggle to consider what that would be like just in the middle of the night, literally a mountain coming down upon your home. Just tragic and devastating events.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, the fact that what happened when so many people were sleeping must contribute to the fact that it could potentially be so deadly.
Listen, you're about 600 kilometers away but you're in touch with people in the area, I assume?
What are they telling you?
JENSEN: Yes. And what were hearing is there's a 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.
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BRUNHUBER: A Missouri state representative is remembering his 21 year- old daughter, Natalie Lloyd, as loving and determined after she her husband, Davy, and coworker Jude Montis were killed in gang violence in Port-au-Prince on Thursday. 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.
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The couple, in their early 20s, served as part of missions in Haiti, 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.
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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 ongoing.
People gathered in Uvalde, Texas, Friday for a candlelight vigil honoring the 21 children and teachers who lost their lives two years ago in a shooting at Robb Elementary School.
The community spent the day holding prayer services, special events and demonstrations. It comes after some of the victims' families reached a $2 million settlement with the city earlier this week.
But they say Uvalde officials haven't done enough for the children or families impacted.
A New Mexico judge has denied Alec Baldwin's motion to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter indictment in the "Rust" fatal shooting case. Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty, was holding the gun that discharged a live round on the "Rust" movie set in 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin's lawyers had asked for a dismissal because of misconduct by
prosecutors but the judge didn't agree. Last month the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her involuntary manslaughter conviction and she's appealing the decision.
Rapper Sean Diddy Combs is facing yet another sexual assault allegation, this time by a woman who claims he assaulted her four times from the mid '90s to the early 2000s. Now this is the eighth lawsuit filed against the rapper since November.
CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has a story and, we just want to warn you, this report does contain graphic details that some viewers may find disturbing.
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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The legal fallout continues for Sean "Diddy" Combs, just a week after CNN uncovered this disturbing video of the music mogul, throwing then- girlfriend Cassie Ventura to the ground, then kicking in, dragging her.
On Thursday, April Lampros filed a civil law lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual assault when she was a fashion student in New York in 1994, sharing with him her dreams of working in the fashion industry.
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Then Mr. Combs love-bombed her, the suit alleges, using flowers and cards like this one and inviting her to his first Father's Day celebration. But Combs is kind gestures became more aggressive, the suit alleges, leading to a total of four separate sexual assault. The first and alleged rape in 1995, leaving Lampros nude, sore and confused. She claims that Combs used his power in the industry to regain her trust.
But then in a New York parking garage, forced Lampros to perform oral sex as Ms. Lampros' eyes filled with tears, she could see the parking garage attendant witnessing this horrific assault, the suit claims. Lampros says she was caught in an abusive relationship in tried to end it after several years but after running into Combs at an event, he pursued her and in late 2000s at her apartment, Combs violently grabbed her and forced himself onto her, kissing and touching her against her will.
All this the suit notes, while Combs was in a public relationship with Jennifer Lopez.
Combs develop this mobster persona, the suit claims, at one point violently yanking her down to her knees in pulling her hair. The alleged abuse similar to this, when Combs was caught on hotel surveillance in 2016, kicking and dragging Cassie Ventura, then throwing a vase at her.
Cassie made her first public statements since the videos released this week, writing: Domestic violence is the issue. It broke me down to someone I never thought I would become.
SEAN "DIDDY" COOMBS," MUSIC MOGUL: I mean, I hit rock bottom.
WAGMEISTER: The latest suit filed by Lampros is the seventh civil lawsuit against Combs, alleging sexual assault. Many of the cases once fell outside the statute of limitations.
DEBRA KATZ, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ATTORNEY: The New York City has extended the statute of limitations to March 25, 2025 for victims of sexual violence to be able to sue.
WAGMEISTER: But in the case of that shocking video from Los Angeles, the district attorney says criminal charges won't be filed because the statute of limitations applies.
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: So as we are opening up these steps actress for civil suits and money is good but criminal conduct needs to be held accountable in criminal court.
WAGMEISTER: Now I reached out to April and she tells me that she came forward so that no other woman will have to endure what she did. She says that she believes that justice will ultimately prevail.
We also reached out to Diddy's team, nowhere in back yet on this lawsuit I'm also no comment from them on another suit that was also filed earlier this week. Both of those complaints coming after that surveillance video of Cassie that we released here at CNN. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: The International Court of Justice is ordering Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah. Ahead, Israel's reaction and what the court said about allegations of genocide. Plus we'll talk to a security expert who just came back from Kharkiv about Russian threats to Ukraine's second largest city. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: The United Nations' top court is ordering Israel to immediately halt its Rafah offensive. It is 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 the limited ground offensive in Rafah on May 7. Before
then, more than 1 million Palestinians were taking shelter there. But now around 800,000 people have been displaced. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem with more on the court's order and Israel's reaction.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United Nations top court intervening to try and stop Israel's military offensive in Rafah.
NAWAF SALAM, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: The state of Israel shall, in conformity with its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah governorate.
Which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza, conditions of life that would bring about its physical destruction.
DIAMOND: The ruling comes nearly three weeks after Israeli tanks first rolled into Rafah, seizing the border crossing with Egypt, slowing aid deliveries to Gaza.
More than 800,000 people have now been forced to flee the city, many camping out in areas with insufficient food, water and sanitation, as humanitarian aid officials warn of looming catastrophe.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, says Israel must continue fighting to return its abductees and ensure the safety of its citizens at anytime and anywhere, including in Rafah.
The ruling cements a month of extraordinary international condemnation of Israel's conduct in Gaza when it saw President Biden threaten Israel over concerns about Rafah.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they go into Rafa, I'm not supplying the weapons.
DIAMOND: And just this week, the International Criminal Court's top prosecutor seeking an arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister.
For the second time in two weeks, Israelis also learning of the deaths of more hostages.
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: It is with a heavy heart that I share that last night, Israeli Special Forces in Gaza rescued the bodies of our hostages.
DIAMOND: The Israeli military recovering the bodies of three hostages in Northern Gaza, 59-year-old Michel Nisenbaum, 30-year-old Orion Hernandez Radoux and 42-year-old Hanan Yablonka. The news crushing their family's hopes that their loved ones were still alive.
SHAY ABADY, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF HANAN YABLONKA: Eight months, we were hoping that we will find them. But until now, until today, this morning, we didn't know nothing if he was alive or he was dead.
DIAMOND (voice-over): His brother-in-law, Hanan Yablonka, was killed after making a last minute decision to attend the Nova festival.
ABADY: He always had a smile on his face, always smiling. No matter what happened, he smiled.
DIAMOND (voice-over): As his family mourns, top American, Israeli and Qatari officials meeting in Paris to reignite stalled ceasefire talks, the fate of 121 hostages resting on their results --
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Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian 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.
Russia launched a surprise cross-border offensive north of the city early this month and initially took about a dozen villages. But Zelenskyy now says, Ukraine is pushing back. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Now our soldiers have managed to take combat control of the border area where the Russian occupiers entered.
And I thank every unit that ensures the necessary results in destroying the occupiers.
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BRUNHUBER: All right for more analysis, let's head to Lviv, Ukraine, where we're joined by security expert Maria Avdeeva.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So you've literally just come back from Kharkiv. Describe what you saw in that city in terms of the effects of these attacks, the destruction, the loss.
MARIA AVDEEVA, EUROPEAN EXPERT ASSOCIATION: Hi, Kim, and thank you for having me again.
I actually was in Kharkiv on the day of this massive missile attack. And the barrage of missiles was landing in the sea to like every five minutes. I was on the street and then took cover in the nearest metro station.
And then this news came that the three missiles hit the local printing house, demolished it and we have seen all these awful images of people killed on their workplaces. They were printing books and they were not able to take cover because there was not enough time.
And people in Kharkiv are under this constant stress daily because Russia bombards now Kharkiv in daytime, with gliding bomb missiles and Shahed drones and also Russian reconnaissance drones are able to make it almost to the city.
Being able to watch in real time what's happening in the town.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I saw on your social media, it seemed poignant that, on the day of that bombing, you had received a book from that bookshop that was just targeted, just incredible the impact that must have had.
AVDEEVA: Yes, that's in that printing house. Many European and American authors were printing their books in Ukrainian because Ukrainian culture and books are now a big thing after Russia invaded, especially because this is a way for Ukrainians to show their identity.
And what makes people also angry, another thing, apart from these attacks, is that we know that Russia is concentrating more troops around Belgorod. And they are launching these missiles and drones from Russian territory, from Belgorod.
But at the same time, Ukraine is not allowed to use American weapons and Western weapons to hit these troops. And proceed (ph) this launching pads in Belgorod region because it's banned.
And this is what people can't understand, like they're literally watching Russia, preparing to attack more and not able to fight back.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, certainly a big debate and many asking the U.S. to change that policy.
I understand that you have a summer home near Lyptsi in the Kharkiv region. One of our reporters was just there and described it as a town Ukraine can never afford to lose.
Why is that?
AVDEEVA: Well, it's because Lyptsi is very close to Kharkiv.
It's actually -- you can call it a suburb of the city. It's only 20 kilometers, like 10 miles away from Kharkiv. And if it's on the heights (ph). So if Russians will be able to capture Lyptsi, this will mean that Kharkiv will be in the direct artillery fire from Russia.
And Russia will be able to erase the complete residential areas, as we have seen it in the first days of the war. And this is why Ukraine puts every everything we have to defend Lyptsi, not to allow Russian push forward.
And at the moment, Russian advance was slowed down. But Russia also has more resource. They also have details (ph). They have more weapons. And this is why this help for Ukraine is so critical. So it has already to be there on the front lines to allow Ukrainians to stop Russian advance. BRUNHUBER: Yes, the U.S. is sending military aid to help propel the
assault in the Kharkiv region.
So do you get the sense that they are getting what they need and will it arrive in time, do you think?
AVDEEVA: Well, it's already late because Russia actually used that timeframe when Ukraine did not have enough ammunition to attack. And this is why the actual attack ahead of time.
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There was an expectation that they will attack later. But they used this timeframe. And I've talked to several military and they say that they don't see yet the ammunition, something new package on the battlefield.
What they can do is they massively use drones. Ukrainian made drones and also drones that Ukraine can acquire to hit military personnel and Russian military targets, both in Ukraine and in Russian territory.
But that's all they have. They still don't have enough ammunition to fight back. Ukraine has now one of the most experienced military units around Lyptsi. So this gives people in Kharkiv hope that the Russian advance will be stopped and Russians won't make it to the city.
BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there but always appreciate speaking with you, Maria Avdeeva in Lviv, Ukraine, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
AVDEEVA: Thanks, Kim. Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: Now one final note on what's happening in Ukraine right now and the fear we've just heard about, that so many artists have, that Russia is trying to wipe out the country's culture.
In March of 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion, Russian troops kidnapped and executed Ukrainian writer, Volodymyr Vakulenko. His body was found in a mass grave outside of the city of Izyum.
One of Ukraine's leading young writers, Victoria Amelina, found his diary, which he had buried in his backyard, and had it published. Now, Amelina herself was killed in a Russian missile attack on a pizzeria in the city of Kramatorsk in June of last year.
Now, earlier this week, as we mentioned, the publishing company in Kharkiv that printed the diary was also destroyed, bringing one attack on Ukrainian culture, however unintentional, full circle.
Once again, artists and writers within the country and beyond are standing in solidarity to say they will not let Ukraine's culture perish.
We'll be right back. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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BRUNHUBER: We're keeping an eye on the latest artificial intelligence headlines here in the U.S. A political consultant faces criminal charges for allegedly using artificial intelligence to create a phone message voice that sounded like President Biden.
It was said to be an attempt to prevent or deter voters from casting ballots in New Hampshire's primary this year.
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AI JOE BIDEN, FAKE VOICE: It's important that you save your vote for the November election. Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again.
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BRUNHUBER: And now the Federal Communications Commission is proposing new rules for AI. They would require a political advertisers on broadcast media to disclose on air if their ads contain AI generated content.
And actress Scarlett Johansson says she's shocked that the OpenAI company released a demo of its ChatGPT voice that sounds remarkably like hers. She had declined their offer to be the voice of the company's AI tool.
Though, for more on this, let's bring in Noah Giansiracusa, a professor of mathematics at Bentley University. He's also the author of the book, "How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News." He's in Boston, Massachusetts.
Listen, thank you so much for being here with us at this hour. So much AI in the news, you're just the person to unpack it for us. So let's start with the consultant that was charged. We don't need to delve into the specifics of the case.
But is it a harbinger of more to come, do you think?
NOAH GIANSIRACUSA, PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS, BENTLEY UNIVERSITY: I think it's certainly sending that message.
There's so much uncertainty right now about what could happen, especially with upcoming elections, that I think the government and officials are really trying to get in front of this and say, look, there are consequences to your actions. People cannot just get away stealing voices and manipulating voters' perspectives.
What's happening in the world? So I think whether or not there's more cases like this coming, I think
it sends a strong message and I think that's a good thing.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. The FBI has ramped up AI election interference warnings. Obviously, there'll be political types here in the U.S. who might get involved, as we just saw. But also there are foreign actors involved, mostly Russia and China.
The federal government in the recent hearings has said, quoting here, that "it has never been more prepare -- have never been better prepared to protect elections," thanks, to the lessons that they learned from 2016.
Do you believe them?
And saying that were -- we've never been better prepared doesn't actually mean we actually are prepared, right?
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GIANSIRACUSA: That's an interesting point, Kim.
Yes, it's an arms race, right?
It's -- both sides are amping up. So I think the nefarious actors that are trying to manipulate things are probably -- have never been better prepared. And the authorities that are trying to protect us from that have probably never been better prepared.
So it's like in baseball. If you have a really good batter and a really good pitcher, it's hard to tell what's going to happen. But I think both sides are doing what they can.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, with the costs of losing this game. I mean, we've seen how catastrophic that can be. And we continue to see it with all of the disinformation that's flooding our social media and so on. I'm wondering what role the government can play in this.
I mean, in the Senate Intelligence Committee that just happened, the top Republican asked this question -- I want to read it.
"Who is in charge of letting people know this thing is fake?
"This thing is not real."
And he goes on to ask, "What are we doing to protect the credibility of the entity that is saying it so that the other side does not come out and say, 'Our own government is interfering in the election'?"
I mean, it's an interesting question because nobody knows who to trust anymore.
GIANSIRACUSA: It's very delicate, especially in the U.S. We have a very strong free speech First Amendment atmosphere here. And that has many wonderful aspects but one challenging thing is it doesn't really allow the government to be the arbiter of truth, to decide what is correct information, what's misinformation.
Not only that but the government can't go to private companies like social media companies and tell them, hey, you got to take this down or you got to fix a label to this.
There's a Supreme Court case going on right now that's exploring how much the government and whether the government even overstepped earlier and just communicating with social media companies.
So basically, as much as we love free speech and as great as it is, it means it's really just up to the companies to decide how to handle this and what to do. And that's -- that is a little unsettling. That's in the U.S.
In E.U. and other areas, there are other -- there's a lot more legislation and other regulation moving forward.
BRUNHUBER: Do you trust the companies to get this done?
I mean, it doesn't feel like enough has been done and we don't have a lot of time, right?
GIANSIRACUSA: It's hard to say what enough is. I think no matter what they do when you're talking about a company that has billions of users.
[05:45:00]
Even if they do something well, 99 percent or 99.999 percent of the time, think of how many times they're going to get something wrong.
So I don't know what enough ever will be. But my answer is no, they're never doing enough because these things have real consequences. A lot of our elections are so close that it's not about fooling 10 percent of people or 5 percent.
But if it's 1 percent in a swing state or even in the right community, that can change the outcome of our country and our history. So it's a very delicate thing. And these algorithms are just not able to make that level of accuracy (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
BRUNHUBER: Well said. Listen, before we go, I wanted to sort of shift tack and ask you about this, because this has been one of the biggest AI stories in the headlines. Scarlett Johansson, AI, the voice that was modeled on her, the company says it wasn't exactly her and so on, so forth.
But let's get out of the weeds on that. But obviously, the concern is real for actors and so on.
But it feels as though this has implications beyond just Hollywood stars, right?
GIANSIRACUSA: Absolutely and I think you're right in saying let's get out of the weeds of this. There's going to be a lot of discussion of whether they hired different voice actors before and when, the details. And I think that's kind of a distraction.
The reason this story is resonating, I believe, is because there's a lot of anxiety in the public right now, that AI is taking away our humanity, our employment prospects. It's just kind of robbing us of what it means to be human.
And Scarlett Johansson is very famous and has a lot of clout and power. But it's kind of like we all have this concern. We all feel like we could be in the situation that she found herself in.
But she has the power to stand up and fight back. So it's -- I think she's kind of the right person at the right time to stand up and say, hey, this is enough. We need to -- we need to respect people's rights and just not trample over people with AI.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, let's see if it leads anywhere. We'll have to leave it there. Noah Giansiracusa, professor of mathematics at Bentley University, author of the book, "How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News," really appreciate having you on again. Thanks so much for joining us.
GIANSIRACUSA: Thanks so much for the opportunity, Kim.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be right back.
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[05:50:00]
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BRUNHUBER: Another instant classic in the NBA playoffs Friday night as the Dallas Mavericks stunned the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road again. Andy Scholes joins me now.
And Andy, Luka comes through one more time, right?
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Luka Doncic wins six more games that means he's going to prove he's the best basketball player in the world and he may already be there.
Last night he just hit another all-time great game winner in game two of the Western Conference finals, Mavs were down 2, under 10 seconds to go. The inbound ball to Luka, he will switch Rudy Gobert onto him and then Luka just cooks him and nails this step back three to take the lead with three seconds left.
Go Bears, the defensive player of the year. But it didn't matter. No one can guard Luka. That was your game winner, Luka 32 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds. He was all pumped up as the Mavs win game two 109-108, are now 2-0 in
the series.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once we got a look at the ball, we want to give him space and let him do what he does. In that moment as you've seen, with Luka, he loves that stage and he doesn't run from it. And he made a big shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we can't have ignored you, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can't effing guard you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who said that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've said that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't say that. I was speaking Slovenian.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Oh, Lukashenko. All the eyes added other overtime thriller and this daily cup playoffs, Rangers, needing a win to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole at home to the Panthers and finding an answer from one of the unlikeliest of players, Barclay Goodrow.
The 31 year-old fourth liner leading the brake, the give and go for Vincent drove back any berries. The game winner gets swarmed by his teammates, Rangers win 2-1. And here's how it sounded on the Rangers' radio network.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drupal flips it out the center, knocked down by Goodrow fine stroke check. Back out to Barclay Goodrow.
(INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barclay Goodrow in overtime. We have finally won.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHOLES: I love the giggle there. And Goodrow only scored four goals in 80 games over the regular season.
He already has four in these playoffs. That series now heads to south Florida for game three tomorrow.
Elsewhere 19,000 fans on hand to watch Caitlin Clark and the Fever take on Cameron Brink and the Sparks. And another roof shooting night for Clark. She made just four of her 14 shots but her last two buckets were big ones.
Clark making this three here from way downtown, put the beaver up by 3 with 2.5 to go. Then under a minute up just 2, Clark again, the step back three. She finished with 11 points. Fever get their first win of the season 78-73.
And Kim we will see if Clark can get a little winning streak going now that they've got that first win. She's back on the court tonight in Las Vegas, taking on the Aces.
BRUNHUBER: That was some fantastic highlights there. I want to broaden this out because we have some massive news for college sports in the United States, that landmark deal that will allow universities to directly pay student athletes.
That's something that was banned for well over a century. So the question is, the day of the amateur student athlete basically over?
SCHOLES: Yes, it certainly looks that way. Those days now look to be in the rear-view mirror because the NCAA and the power five conferences, they hoped by reaching this settlement that they can stabilize college athletics after just years and years of lawsuits.
And a big part of the deal is that news that schools will now for the first time ever directly pay athletes. Each school in the Big Four conferences moving forward, is going to have the ability to spend a maximum of roughly $20 million per year on direct payments to their athletes.
The direct pay to athletes could start as soon as the fall of 2025. So lots of questions remaining with these settlement. But any athletes who played a Division 1 sport from 2016 to the present, they got claim for some of that $2.7 billion. And how they plan on paying the star quarterback versus the pole vaulter, that's still not clear.
[05:55:00]
The $2.7 billion expected to be paid out over a 10-year period. And Kim, if athletes opt in to the settlements, they do have to agree they're not going to sue in any further antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, huge implications.
I mean, you're talking about lots of questions still. The schools, I mean, this is such a huge change.
Are they responding?
SCHOLES: Well, they aren't very happy with the settlement, Kim, but they understand it was necessary. Notre Dame president reverend John Jenkins, he put out a statement. I'll read it to you.
He said, "The settlement, though undesirable in many respects and promising only temporary stability, is necessary to avoid what would be the bankruptcy of college athletics. "To save the great American institution of college sports, Congress
must pass legislation that will preempt the current patchwork of state laws established, that our athletes are not employees but students seeking college degrees and provide protection from further antitrust lawsuits that will allow colleges to make and enforce rules."
So as you can see, there, not very happy with it but understood it was necessary. But these schools still want Congress to step in and try to help this situation.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Even for those who aren't stars, I mean, this still will be life changing for those athletes and their families, a seismic shift many would say long overdue.
SCHOLES: Yes. Certainly so.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there.
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AMERICAN (SIC) VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
