Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

100 Million-Plus People Across Much Of The US Under Threat Of Large Hail, Damaging Winds And Fierce Twisters Today; Hamas Claims Responsibility For Rocket Attack On Tel Aviv. Aired 3-4-p ET

Aired May 26, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:29]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICKI MINAJ, RAPPER: I'm not carrying drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, but it is not a question -- I think it is --

MINAJ: I am not carrying drugs, number one when I came here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can go inside.

MINAJ: I am not going in there. I need a lawyer present.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will get a lawyer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, maybe you recognize the voice. That's rapper, Nicki Minaj speaking to Dutch authorities yesterday in Amsterdam for allegedly carrying drugs.

In the video, which Minaj recorded on Instagram Live, you can hear her being questioned question by authorities in order to go into that vehicle at the airport.

Well, after several hours, Minaj says she was released from custody that evening for a sold out concert in the UK, had to be postponed. Live Nation and the concert's venue said they were deeply disappointed by the inconvenience.

Minaj later greeting and apologizing to fans outside her hotel in the UK Sunday morning, and in an updated statement to CNN, the Royal Netherlands Military Police said a woman detained on suspicion of exporting soft drugs has been released CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and we are following breaking news this afternoon. Tornadoes, hail, damaging winds, and serious flooding, more than a hundred million Americans are at risk of severe weather right now, stretching as far south as Louisiana and as far north as Michigan. Today's threats come after a night of brutal storms wreaking havoc on parts of the south, at least 10 people were killed and dozens of others injured. One Oklahoma family says the damage to their home is devastating but they realize it could have been so much worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we've worked so hard on that room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We both worked our butts off for this house, so I feel really bad for him, but it is going to work out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's okay, bud. It's stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stuff can be replaced, but human lives can't and that's I think the biggest thing that I can take away from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Valley View, Texas and meteorologist, Elisa Raffa is tracking today's storm, so Ed, let's start with you where I see people behind you, perhaps they're trying to pick up some of the pieces, but that area was hit very hard.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This area here near Valley View in Cook County, which is north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, this is the neighborhood that took a direct hit. We spoke with the sheriff here are short while ago, who confirmed that the latest death toll is now seven people, including four children. Two of those victims, two and five years old and this is what so many people here endured last night.

This is a neighborhood that essentially took a direct hit. There is a family of five was inside this home as the tornado approached this area and I just spoke with one of the people in the family who, they were inside and is, everything the pressure started dropping in and they could feel the intensity of the storm and the warnings getting louder.

They ran this way, Fredricka and inside this storage building just behind their property, there is a cinderblock storm shelter that they had built and that is where they rode out the storm, but they could just feel the intensity of the pressure dropping, the storm ripping through here.

And the gentleman we spoke with said, you know, if they had been inside this home when the storm actually made a direct hit, they do not feel like they would have survived.

You can see the damage inflicted through here, all the windows blown out, the inside of the homes, just an absolute mess. Terrifying moments here that so many people in this neighborhood have endured.

And this is a storm, Fredricka that was on the ground for quite some time and the width of the damage is also rather intense as well. But this storm damage also caused a gas station area, a service station walls' to collapse. People were trapped in there, had to be rescued. There was a marina at a nearby lake that was devastated as well.

So the intensity of the storm which happened in the darkness of night, it was almost eleven o'clock at night when the tornado ripped through here, just added absolutely terrifying moments because it is impossible to see where exactly the storm is coming from and to kind of get your bearings in those terrifying moments, but this is what people here near the Valley View area of Texas are left to clean up this afternoon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right, Ed.

Let's check in with Elisa because there are still threats of more severe weather. What are some of the areas that have to look out today?

[15:05:07]

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the same system moving east. We've got areas in the Midwest, in the Ohio Valley under risk right now after seeing these images yesterday. This was near Wichita Falls, Northern Texas. I mean, classic textbook tornadoes that came out of these super cells.

This is where Ed just was. They are north of Dallas where those tornadoes really kind of ripped through another long stretch from Oklahoma into Northern Arkansas where we know there is also a lot of damage, a lot of surveys going on today to figure out exactly how strong these tornadoes were. At least 25 reported tornadoes right now.

Here is the latest watch, you can see it includes parts of Kentucky and Tennessee, including Nashville and Louisville. This goes until three o'clock Central Time and then all of that yellow, those are the severe under storm watches that go through the afternoon and evening that will bring that risk of damaging winds and even some isolated tornadoes.

When you see this line, kind of organized and bending like that, that is when you get a push of damaging winds. We are talking winds up to 70 miles per hour. All of these yellow boxes are warnings for that severe thunderstorm warnings.

Maybe even have additional tornado warnings because you can still get the brief spin up in a line like this that we have to watch out for as we go through the day today.

So here is the risk. You see that orange enhanced risk from Louisville to Nashville over towards Little Rock. It is a level three out of five again, for the risk of damaging winds, hail to the size of ping pong balls and a couple of tornadoes. Then it shifts to the East Coast tomorrow. Look at all the massive cities in this risk in the yellow from DC to Richmond, Charlotte, even down to Atlanta as the storm continues to progress eastward. It could also come with some heavy rain, flash flood watches in effect for Missouri into Tennessee.

So, here is a look at how this plays out. You could see the line of storms continues to push south through Kentucky and Tennessee as we go through the day today, that is the damaging wind threat. It plows into the deep south, Atlanta wakes up to some storms in the morning and then the storms reignite with daytime heat and humidity again up and down the East Coast.

It could have come with some heavy rain for parts of Tennessee. I mean, two to four inches of rain. That is bringing us that flood threat that is a moderate. So we will have to keep an eye out for that and it is coming in what has been a crazy, busy last couple of months, more than 900 reported tornadoes average would have been 700.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's a remarkable number.

All right. Elisa, thank you so much.

I want to bring in now, Samantha Taylor, she is the director of Emergency Management for Denton County, Texas.

Samantha, I mean, what can you tell us about the damage that you have been seeing there in Denton County?

It looks like we not only lost the picture, but we did lose the sound as well.

All right, oh, Samantha, I think you're back. Can you hear me now?

SAMANTHA TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Okay. Tell me --

TAYLOR: I can.

WHITFIELD: Good. Tell me about the damage that you have seen thus far in Denton County?

TAYLOR: So, so far in Denton County, we do have damages along Ray Roberts Marina and in Pilot Point. The main damages though are in Ray Roberts Marina. We do have 24 trailer homes that have been impacted and the marina ramps have also been destroyed.

So right now, we have set up a water distribution site. We have Salvation Army there to help assist with food, canteen services. We also have DCTA helping bus people to temporary shelters and then also we called chaplains to help assist those who are digging through the items, looking for their belongings and their loved ones, so that's what we are doing so far.

WHITFIELD: And looking at the damage -- yes, I mean, it is a big task, just assessing the damage, trying to account for every one and then try to make available water, as you said. So I am wondering, is there confirmation now about tornadoes causing this destruction?

TAYLOR: So we do have the National Weather Service on their way out here right now. They are doing their surveys, but we do not have confirmation right now. But it looks a bit, we are sure this one is going to be on the mark.

WHITFIELD: Talk to me about the people that you've encountered, the people who were caught off guard. Everyone was likely sleeping. It happened in the overnight hours. Tell me what kind of stories you've been hearing from them, what their greatest needs are now.

TAYLOR: Absolutely. So when we arrived on scene this morning at 8:00 AM after working throughout the night, we did run into a few folks looking for their cats and their pets and they were successfully able to find them, so that was great.

We were hearing stories of individuals laying in their trailer, lifting up, and rolling over and actually be able to come out unscathed besides a few minor injuries.

[15:10:04]

We did have three transportation to EMS in the hospitals. So far, there are no fatalities that we can happily report on.

WHITFIELD: That seems miraculous, doesn't it? Because when we look at these images, it looks like a steamroller just plowed through the area. The destruction is quite unbelievable. And now you're met with temperatures in the 90s today. I mean, really unbearable kinds of conditions. How is this impacting people?

TAYLOR: Absolutely. It is hot out there, so we are trying to make sure that people are staying hydrated. They've been going -- working through the night trying to find their loved ones and reconnect, and now they're trying just to gather their belongings and what they can gather in lieu of everything that's going on.

So we are trying to help them to our best ability. I know we have coordinated with the United Way of Denton County to help set up donations for monetary donations and that can be found on our website at DentonCounty.gov. Other than that, just trying to help assist any way we can for this heat.

WHITFIELD: Yes, a horrible situation. I know the people are really glad that you and others are there and certainly glad to hear from what you were saying, no fatalities, but the destruction widespread in so many ways.

Samantha Taylor, thank you so much there in Denton County.

All right, and this other breaking news, another turbulence incident. The second one this week. Twelve people were injured on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin after the plane was rocked by turbulence over Turkey. The flight landed safely in Dublin and eight people were taken to the hospital. Qatar Airways tell CNN that it is conducting an internal investigation, and this comes days after a Singapore Airlines flight from London was hit with severe turbulence, one man died and 104 passengers were injured. That plane has now returned to Singapore after being delayed in Thailand while authorities were conducting safety checks.

All right, authorities in Ukraine are now using DNA samples to identify the victims of a deadly Russian airstrike.

And it was a tough crowd for former President Donald Trump at the Libertarian Convention last night in Washington, DC. What the audience liked and didn't like about what he had to say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:16]

WHITFIELD: All right, we've got breaking news from the deadly landslide that buried a remote village in Northern Papua New Guinea. Nearly 700 people are feared dead according to a United Nations official.

More than a thousand people have already been displaced from their homes. The area continues to pose an extreme risk as large rocks and soil continued to fall from a nearby hill. Residents are still working to remove the bodies trapped under the debris and rubble.

And Hamas is claiming responsibility for an early morning rocket attack on Tel Aviv in Central Israel. These are the first rockets fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv since January.

Israel Defense Forces say eight rockets were fired from Rafah in Southern Gaza, and that a number of projectiles were intercepted. Rafah has been the focus of Israeli military operations in recent weeks, and Israel has threatened an all-out assault if hostages being held in Gaza are not returned.

Also a short time ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the latest demand from Hamas to end the war in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages. Talks involving the two sides are expected to resume this week.

I want to bring in now Colonel Cedric Leighton. He is a CNN military analysts and retired US Air Force colonel. Great to see you.

So it appears those rockets didn't do any damage, and most of them were intercepted. But the IDF says they were launched from Rafah. So what is the significance of that?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Fred. It is great to be with you.

There are several big factors here, but the very fact that Hamas were able -- this group was able to launch these rockets from Rafah indicates clearly that Rafah is still an area that is going to be used by them for this kind of activity. I think they basically pooled their resources there. It is one of the few areas that the Israelis haven't completely occupied within Gaza, and that of course, lends a degree of significance to the plans that the Israelis have to take over as much of Rafah as they possibly can, basically to clean it up. And it will probably give you impetus to the Israeli efforts to do.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's turn now to Ukraine where authorities there now say 16 people died in yesterday's strikes in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.

Is there a strategic reason why Russia would target Kharkiv area in recent days and weeks?

LEIGHTON: Well, it is certainly easiest for them to target Kharkiv because it is so close to the Russian border, it is about 20 miles or so from the Russian border.

[15:20:06]

And the very fact that it is the second largest city in Ukraine makes it basically the linchpin for a Ukraine base for its entire northeastern region.

The very fact that the Russians have the capability because their logical hub at Belgorod is not far from Kharkiv and from the border, that makes it easy for them to do this. But from a military standpoint, if the Russians were able to make Kharkiv uninhabitable or even take it over, then that would be a significant setback for the Ukrainians.

So there are several reasons for the Russians to target Kharkiv. In some ways, it is surprising that they haven't done so before this time, but it only shows that the Russians had to amass a great deal of firepower before they embarked on this latest phase of their offensive.

WHITFIELD: Okay, and Colonel, in this country, tomorrow is Memorial Day. You spent more than 25 years serving in the Air Force. Can you talk to us about the significance of Memorial Day to you, a day that we all are honor our fallen military men and women.

LEIGHTON: Yes. Memorial Day started really as an outgrowth of the Civil War and it was designed to -- the first name, Decoration Day was designed to honor those, as you said, Fredricka, who had fallen in combat.

For me, I think about a lot of the people that I knew who gave their lives in combat. There were several people in the latest wars in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and even in Afghanistan, who either gave their lives or were wounded.

And it really shows that the segment of the US population, about one percent or so that serves making ordinant sacrifices in order to preserve the freedoms that we have. So Memorial Day has several meanings for me, but most important, it is one when I remember some of my friends and colleagues who gave their lives in the service of our country.

I come from a long line of military people that go back all the way to the revolution, and it is certainly a fitting tribute for all of those who served, but particularly for those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice.

WHITFIELD: Very beautiful, and we thank you for your service. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks so much.

All right, the strikes against Tel Aviv and Central Israel come as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows increasingly dire.

CNN's Paula Hancocks shows us what daily life is like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Living in a city of ruins is barely living. The daily search for water and food in Gaza's second largest city of Khan Younis is relentless.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

HANCOCKS (voice over): This young man says, "Life is horrible."

Isam (ph) shows us what's left of his home, a twisted shell of concrete with tarpaulin for walls.

(ISAM speaking in foreign language.)

HANCOCKS (voice over): "The bathroom," he says "... is half destroyed. The living room half destroyed. And I'm now sleeping in the kitchen with my family, with my children."

Ominous cracks slice through the ceiling, which bulges precariously over the family below.

"As you can see," he says, "The ceiling is cracked and could fall at any time. God knows, we could be dead or alive in the morning."

It is dangerous and it is unsanitary, and yet better than the alternative. He says, he has been unable to secure a tent for his family.

Others have found shelter in a bombed school. Around 100 families live here.

Mohamed was an engineer in Gaza City. He has been forced to move his family almost half a dozen times so far by the Israeli military, most recently from Rafah. He points to his seven-month-old son, saying he needs to be allowed to live.

MOHAMED IBRAHIM, GAZA RESIDENT: Do you think he is Hamas? Does he have a Kalashnikov or have RPG, have something to make a war with Israeli soldiers?

HANCOCKS (voice over): His only hope he says he shares with all Gazans that the war will end.

IBRAHIM: We are humans, not animals, like some people said. Israelis and people say. We're not animals. We are humans. We have rights.

HANCOCKS (voice over): This is where the Israeli military says the displaced should move to, Al-Mawasi, calling it a, quote, "humanitarian zone." As waste piles high alongside makeshift shelters, aid groups call it unfit for human habitation.

The Israeli military response to the Hamas October 7th attacks continues to be overwhelming for those trying to survive in Gaza. Israel insists it needs to destroy Hamas and find the remaining hostages.

[15:25:06]

Local officials estimate 80 percent of buildings in Khan Younis have been destroyed and yet amid the dusty wasteland, a makeshift market has sprung up.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

HANCOCKS (voice over): "Everything is destroyed," this vendor says. This is a ghost town. People living on top of dead bodies still under the rubble.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will now be considered for the Libertarian Party's nomination. The vote underway today. we will talk about what that means for the 2024 race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:10]

WHITFIELD: Former President Donald Trump got a rough welcome last night in the nation's capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BOOING)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will be a true friend to libertarians in the White House.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: We want libertarian votes because you stand for what we stand for and don't waste a vote. Now I think you should nominate me or at least vote for me and we should win together.

(BOOING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He attended the Libertarian National Convention, and in one of his shortest speeches of the campaign season, just over 30 minutes, Trump attempted to convince the libertarians in the crowd to vote for him this November.

You've heard the crowd.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, he also he spoke at the convention and today, it was announced that RFK, Jr. will now be one of the candidates for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination and that vote is underway right now.

All right, back to our breaking news: More than 100 million Americans are at risk for destructive tornadoes, damaging hail and winds and flooding today.

The threats come just hours after a series of reported tornadoes across the south killing at least 13 people.

CNN's Rafael Romo is here with more on the damage and meteorologist, Elisa Raffa is tracking the storms.

So, Rafael, you first. You've been watching some of the hardest hit areas.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We've been monitoring the damage left by the storms overnight across a wide region that includes parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. One of the hardest hit areas was Benton County in Northwest Arkansas, where at least one person was killed. The total death toll in the state now stands at four.

Take a look, Fred, at the extensive damage sustained by a strip mall in the City of Rogers. That is what remains of what used to be a hair salon and a Dollar Store. Local authorities said that after making sure there were no additional injuries or people trapped, they are now focusing on clearing roads that were made impassable by downed trees and power lines, as well as plenty of debris.

A hairstylist who says she slept through the storm woke up today to find out her workplace is now gone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAZMIN MORALES, HAIR STYLIST: One of my other friends called me and she's like, dude, your store is gone and I thought she was telling me that I was late for work and so she sent me a picture and you can look into it like a doll house and it is crazy.

NICHOLAS PARRY, BENTON COUNTY RESIDENT: We were sitting there, wind swirling. You start hearing the sirens, debris is flying everywhere.

I was sitting with my buddy and he was saying, oh, we should maybe go inside, we should go inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Bentonville, a city in Northwestern Arkansas known as the birthplace of Walmart, was one of the hardest hit areas overnight.

Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman earlier said that crews are working to respond to power outages and emergency medical calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR STEPHANIE ORMAN, BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS: We've got water leaks. We've got gas leaks. So each of those crews are now being mobilized in the city. Well over a hundred calls. So Bentonville along with all of the cities in the surrounding area have been hit very hard with this storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Fred, the cleanup work for many of these crews is barely beginning, not only in Arkansas, but also in Missouri, Texas, Kentucky, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Just a few moments ago, we added up the number of people reported without power in all of those states. There are currently nearly 450,000 customers in the dark.

Again, the work, the cleanup work is barely beginning.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, it is quite the mess. It is going to take a long time.

All right, thanks so much, Rafael.

All right, Elisa, these storms have delayed the start of the Indianapolis 500 this afternoon as well. I mean, this is a huge swath.

RAFFA: Yes, all of this is now continuing to march eastward and you can see when those storms came through, Indie and had to delay the start of the race there. They are not included in the severe thunderstorm watch, but it does stretch from Cincinnati down to almost Charlotte getting into parts of North Carolina.

This goes through the afternoon and evening for this line of storms. The red one is a tornado watch. It includes Nashville and Louisville through by three o'clock Central Time, as we have two lines of storms here that are really packing a punch. When you see the line kind of bend like that and organize like that, that's where were getting damaging wind gusts, 60 to 70 miles per hour along this line there just south of Cincinnati.

Nashville is under a thunderstorm warning right now, the heart of the city for winds up to 60 miles per hour. Along these lines, we could also get tornadoes that can embed as well. So even under severe thunderstorm warnings, we still have the possibility of tornadoes.

This is the risk for today, stretching from Louisville to Nashville, even over towards Little Rock. That enhanced level three out of five. We need to watch closely for these lines of damaging winds and the tornadoes possible, too.

Then, it all shifts to the East Coast tomorrow. We are talking about cities like DC, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, all in that slight risk tomorrow. That's a level two out of five where we can continue to find damaging winds.

[15:35:09]

We are also looking at some flooding rain, some pretty heavy rain for parts of Missouri and Tennessee and Kentucky as we go through the overnight tonight.

So here is a look at the way that this could play out. Those storms continue dive south into Kentucky and Tennessee. By tomorrow morning, this is 5:00 AM Eastern Time, you could see the storms getting close to Atlanta.

They might fizzle as we get there, but we can still find some of these storms firing up again, right along that front up and down the East Coast as we cook the atmosphere with some of that daytime heat and humidity.

So if you have Memorial Day plans and include being outside, you want to be careful for lightning in the area.

Look at this, this is just a remarkable. More than 900 tornado reports since January 1st, average to date would have been 700. So just incredibly active tornado season so far -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I mean, that's very significant. Big numbers there.

All right, thank you so much, Elisa Raffa and Rafael Romo.

All right, on to New York now where a man has been arrested after police accused him of throwing a flammable substance on a stranger and then setting his shirt on fire. It happened at a subway station on Saturday afternoon.

Police say the 23-year-old victim suffered a burn to his upper torso and remains in stable condition after being transported to the hospital.

A 49-year-old man is now facing eight charges, including assault and arson.

And the family of a PGA Tour golfer sheds new light on the 30-year- old's death as his fellow golfers remember that two-time winner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:24] WHITFIELD: All right, some very sad news to report. Two time PGA Tour winner, Grayson Murray died by suicide at 30 years old.

Murray passed away on Saturday, just one day after withdrawing from a golf tournament in Fort Worth, Texas citing an illness.

CNN World Sport anchor, Don Riddell is here with more on this.

I mean, this is so sad. How in the world is his family handling this?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: I can't imagine what the family are going through, Fred.

WHITFIELD: No.

RIDDELL: And they have released a statement which confirm what many of us had feared, which was that he had taken his own life.

I mean, Grayson Murray, he was playing in the tournament on Friday. He bogeyed three consecutive holes, then he withdrew, and by the next day, we learned that he had taken his own life.

This is some of the statement that his mom and dad released saying: "We've spent the last 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact that our son is gone. It is surreal that we not only have to admit it to ourselves, but we also have to acknowledge it to the world. It's a nightmare. Life wasn't always easy for Grayson and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now."

They concluded the statement by saying, "Be kind to one another." If that becomes his legacy, then we could ask for nothing else.

He was a player who was well-known to have struggled with anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, but it did seem as though he turned things around this year. He was successful. He won on the PGA Tour back in January in Hawaii. He just played the Masters Tournament for the first time and make the cut and now he is gone.

A lot of people are really struggling to wrap their heads around it.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and what about the golf community? I mean, fellow golfers, I mean, I understand, some were just really torn up about it.

RIDDELL: Yes. I mean this is a big golf tournament and somebody who started this tournament didn't survive the end of the tournament. I think there was some concern about whether they should even continue playing in Dallas, but the PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said that his family had persuaded them to continue, and so they're now playing. This is the final round happening in Dallas right now.

Some of the players are wearing commemorative ribbons with black and red colors. That's what Grayson Murray used to wear on Sundays because he is a big fan of the Carolina Hurricanes ice hockey team, but I mean, it is just so hard for these players to really make any kind of sense of it. One of the guy so actually play the first two rounds with him, Peter Malnati spoke to tournament broadcaster yesterday afternoon, and I think if you watch this, they will give you a real sense of how everybody is feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER MALNATI, PGA TOUR GOLFER: It is so funny we get so worked up out here about a bad break here, a good break there and look -- like this happens and you realize, we are all just humans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: It is just sad, isn't it? So tragic.

Grief counselors are on-site helping the players and the staff, and I think it is going to take everybody a long time to really, really make any kind of sense of this. It is just awful.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I am so sorry, and so sad for him and for his family.

RIDDELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Don Riddell, thank you so much.

And if you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please text or call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:49:36]

WHITFIELD: All right, the search for a missing pet monkey is underway after he escaped from his South Carolina habitat a few days ago. Many residents in Colleton County, which is west of Charleston have spotted the 15-year-old primate named Bradley in their backyards.

Police are working with Bradley's owner or to get him back home. Animal control is advising residents not to approach Bradley, but to report any sightings of him.

Pet owners also being advised to monitor their pets while outdoors as a precaution.

[15:50:08]

And a concerning trend on Chinese social media. Users are being exposed to a growing number of deepfake videos.

CNN's Will Ripley looks at how the AI generated content is being used to promote China's relationship with Russia and the threat it poses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: I am really envious of you, Chinese. China is the safest country in the world.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Only in China can you sleep soundly.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On Chinese social media, what you see --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am Chinese.

RIPLEY (voice over): -- may not be what you get.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Single men in China, I have good news.

RIPLEY (voice over): The women in these videos supposedly Russian, with messages appealing to the romantic fantasies and nationalist pride of some Chinese men.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: I love this land. I love China.

RIPLEY (voice over): Below the videos, comments like this. "Welcome to China, Russian beauty."

OLGA LOIEK, YOUTUBER: This is so creepy.

RIPLEY (voice over): Olga Loiek is a student at the University of Pennsylvania. She claims in this video on her YouTube channel, someone cloned her image in China and is peddling products and propaganda with AI-generated deepfakes of her.

LOIEK: The narratives my clones were voicing sounded like blatant propaganda.

RIPLEY (voice over): Deepfakes designed to build a narrative of alliance and admiration between China and Russia, largely untouched by the government's heavy-handed censors.

CNN cannot independently verify the videos, which have now been taken down. But not before Loiek says they racked up thousands of views.

LOIEK: Here she already has 140,000 fans, and she has a ton of videos of my face where she likes saying how much she likes Russia and how much Russia needs Chinese economic support.

As a Ukrainian, this has obviously been infuriating for me.

RIPLEY (voice over): How this happened? Loiek says she has no idea. CNN showed Loiek's real and fake videos to people in Taipei.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

RIPLEY (on camera): Couldn't tell the difference?

How's your Chinese?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: AI.

RIPLEY: AI. You can tell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I have no idea.

RIPLEY: You can't tell which one is AI?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.

RIPLEY (voice over): Artificial intelligence is advancing so quickly, experts say you need AI detection software just to identify some deepfakes.

TYLER WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR OF INVESTIGATIONS, GRAPHIKA: A general kind of undermining of a source of truth.

RIPLEY (voice over): Amplifying the power of disinformation and not just in Chinese.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- theatrics staged by the Filipino side --

RIPLEY (voice over): Chinese state media is using AI-enhanced videos on TikTok, altering the reporter's voice and face. A disclosure on screen for just a few seconds, easy to miss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Under China's jurisdiction.

RIPLEY (voice over): The video is pushing Beijing's narrative on the South China Sea.

Is this a threat to democracy?

FELIPE SALVOSA II, JOURNALISM PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS: Most definitely. I think China has found a more cost-effective way to get its message across.

RIPLEY (voice over): Turning today's digital landscape into a battleground for truth, where seeing is no longer believing.

RIPLEY (on camera): Every time I do a story about these deepfake videos, what strikes me is the quality keeps improving.

Our researcher, Yong, spent hours putting these through algorithms to determine with 99 percent accuracy whether these videos are real, whether they're fake, whether the voice has been altered, the face has been altered.

Who on social media has time for that? And a lot of people don't take the time, which experts say is dangerous, particularly in democracies when people are watching these videos and then potentially using the information they hear to make decisions about how to vote.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And this just in, libertarian convention voters have said no to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The Independent candidate tried to win the libertarian nomination for president today, but he lost in the first round, winning only two percent of the vote.

The voting continues there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:58:45]

(VIDEO CLIP FROM "MARY POPPINS")

WHITFIELD: Don't you love that? That was one of the classic Disney songs co-written by Richard Sherman, who passed away today.

Sherman along with his brother, Robert wrote hundreds of songs for Disney that became part of childhood for millions of us. He won an Academy Award for "Chim, Chim Cher-ee" in the film, "Mary Poppins."

Sherman also co-wrote one of my favorite childhood songs from the movie, "Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang."

(VIDEO CLIP FROM "CHITTY, CHITTY BANG, BANG.")

WHITFIELD: So fun.

And if, you've ever been to a Disney theme park, you couldn't miss one of his most iconic tunes of all time.

(VIDEO CLIP FROM WALT DISNEY)

WHITFIELD: Thank you to Richard Sherman for all of these great childhood memories. He was 95.

[16:00:10]