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At Least 35 Killed In Israeli Strike On Rafah After Hamas Rocket Attacks; Deadly Storms Sweep Central U.S., 100 Million At Risk; More Than 670 Feared Dead In Papua New Guinea Landslide; 12 People Injured During Turbulence On Qatar Airways Flight; China, South Korea Leaders Meet Before Trilateral Talks With Japan; Closing Arguments Set for Tuesday in Trump's Criminal Trial; Mexico's Largest-Ever Election to be Held on June 2; Japan's Host Clubs Accused of Preying on Vulnerable Women; Global Warming is Bleaching Coral Reefs in Thailand; Southampton Returns to Premier League after "Valuable" Win. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 27, 2024 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:23]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Ahead on CNN Newsroom. An Israeli strike on Rafah kills dozens just hours after her mass fires rockets into Tel Aviv for the first time in months. Ceasefire talks are still set to resume this week.

Millions in the U.S. remain under a severe weather threat as tornadoes rip through the central part of the country. And another flight rocked by extreme turbulence injuring multiple people. We'll take a look at what's driving these incidents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us and we begin in Gaza where the health ministry says at least 35 people many of them women and children have been killed in an Israeli strike in the southern city of Rafah. Gaza officials say the strike hit a camp filled with tents for those displaced by the war and caused a fire that left many people injured with horrific burns.

The Israeli military claims it was targeting a Hamas compound and killed two senior Hamas officials. But the IDF acknowledges reports that the strike along with the fire did harm to civilians. Well, CNN's Paula Hancocks is tracking all these developments and has more now from Abu Dhabi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There have been a significant number of casualties following in Israeli air strike on Rafah this Sunday. Now this happened in North West Rafah, it was in a displaced persons camp where there were tents, there were makeshift shelters and according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, they say that most of those who were killed and injured were women and children saying that no hospital had the capacity in the area to be able to cope with the scale and the number of those killed and injured.

Now we know also from the Gaza government media office that this was designated as a safe zone and this is an area where some had moved to after being evacuated by the Israeli military and other parts of Rafah notably, in the East.

Now we've had a response a statement from the Israeli military they say that they did carry out an air strike, they struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and they say that they killed two senior Hamas officials. One of them a commander of Hamas' leadership in the West Bank.

Now they do acknowledge that there was a fire, reports of a fire, they say they see reports of civilians being harmed as well and they are conducting a review of the incident. Now we know a large fire did break out in that area. There are horrific images.

On social media there are images obtained by CNN, where we see the bodies and the injured being pulled from those burning tents. Now we saw firefighters, paramedics, also the displaced desperately trying to put those fires out.

Now also earlier this Sunday, we saw her mass fire eight missiles at Israeli territory, and for the first time since the end of January, they targeted Tel Aviv there were no reports of casualties. But we heard from the Israeli military that Hamas is operating in Rafah. They have hostages in Rafah and this is why they need to operate there.

But the fact of course, that more than seven months, well over seven months into this war, Hamas is still able to fire rockets into Israeli territory does raise questions and it does also put more pressure on the Israeli government to come up with not just a military strategy, but also a political plan for the day after the wall. Paula Hancocks, CNN Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage deal are set to resume this week with an Egyptian official telling CNN the talks will take place Tuesday in Cairo. Now though there are questions as to whether the strike in Rafah and the rockets being fired at Tel Aviv could complicate those efforts. One CNN military analysts weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It seems like that every time the various parties get closer to a hostage deal that there are indicators that Hamas will fire some rockets from the very area where Israel is conducting operations.

[01:05:11] And then blame Israel for the response that allegedly kill a lot of people. And certainly there has been humanitarian disasters in this area. Civilians had been hurt and killed. So it's just a back and forth which, you know, when you think you're getting close to a deal for the hostages last acts, Israel response, the deal's off, and it just goes through that same cycle again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The funeral procession for an Israeli hostage whose body was found last week by the IDF in Rafah was held in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Thousands gathered outside the home of Hanan Yablonka as a show of solidarity. His family had urged the public to turn the procession into a march to further pressure the Israeli government to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Yablonka was captured by her mastering the October 7 attack.

The death toll from a Russian strike on a crowded hardware store in Kharkiv is now at least 16. But that number could still rise. We have new video from inside the store but a warning it is disturbing. Officials have said there were nearly 200 people inside the building when it was hit. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says hundreds of first responders rushed to the scene after Saturday's attack.

The remains of 10 people have been identified but eight others are still missing. Mr. Zelenskyy offered his condolences to those who lost loved ones is also urging the U.S. and China to attend a peace summit in Switzerland next month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We do not want the U.N. charter to be burned, burned down just like these books. And I hope you don't want to either. Please show your leadership in advancing the peace. A real peace not just a pause between the strikes. The efforts of global majority are the best guarantee that all commitments will be fulfilled. Please, support the peace summit with your personal leadership and participation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Zelenskyy went on to say that more than 80 countries have already agreed to attend the summit.

Across the U.S. more than 100 million people face the risk of severe weather in the coming hours on this U.S. Memorial Day. A deadly storm system is expected to continue its path of destruction and overnight tornado watches in effect for parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, impacting more than 3 million people.

More than half a million homes and businesses are without power. And at least 18 people have died in four states. That includes four children in Cooke County, Texas, where tornado hit overnight that's just north of Dallas.

A preliminary report from the U.S. National Weather Service estimate the tornado had maximum winds of more than 217 kilometers per hour. That is 135 miles per hour. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed disaster declarations for four additional counties bringing the state's total to 106. He says more than 1/3 of all Texas counties are now subject to a disaster declaration. CNNs Ed Lavandera has more now from Valley View in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Residents are cleaning up the destruction that was left by a tornado that shredded its way through this part of North Texas near the little city of Valley View north of the Dallas Fort Worth area. You can see some homes just destroyed and absolutely leveled throughout the day. We've seen dozens if not hundreds of residents, just cleaning it all up in some cases like this, bringing in heavy equipment to just bulldoze the debris away. It has been a devastating day and evening for many of the residents who live here.

The storm in this area killed at least seven people. The sheriff here tells us that four of those seven victims were under the age of 18. Two of them are two and five years old. So just simply devastating, heartbreaking news that so many people are dealing with right here.

Well we spoke with a number of people who rode out the storm inside of makeshift storm shelters that had been built on their own to protect themselves from this. They said they could feel the pressure dropping everything starting to violently shake as the storm ripped through here and they knew in the dead of night that when they woke up and emerged from the shelters or wherever they were seeking cover that it was not going to look good and that is exactly what has happened.

[01:10:08]

But the extent and the length of the damage here in this particular storm system is quite devastating as well, not only in this subdivision south of Valley View, but there was a convenience store that had that collapsed, several people had to be rescued out of that. There's also a marina at a nearby popular lake on this Memorial Day weekend that was shattered by the storm system as well.

So just a devastating scene that many people are having to deal with on this Memorial Day weekend. And the deaths have been extensive into Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri as well. So this storm system really wreaking havoc and in the overnight hours leading into this this Sunday of the holiday weekend, just devastating scenes that we're seeing play out and unfold here, wherever we look. Ed Lavandera, CNN near Valley View, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: More than a million people have been evacuated in Bangladesh in western India, where tropical cyclone Ramal made landfall just hours ago. The first cyclone of the year brings the threat of wind gusts up to 135 kilometers per hour, potential landslides and storm surges of nearly four meters. Authorities in Bangladesh raised the storm danger signal to its

highest level for two ports and nine coastal districts along the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone continues to move north and is expected to weaken as it gets further inland.

An update on that massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, the UN's Migration Agency says more than 670 people are now fear dead, a sharp increase from their initial estimate. While more than 150 homes are buried in a massive debris field, said to be as big as four football fields.

Rescuers are still searching hoping to find more survivors. The landslide hit a remote region of the country in the middle of the night, early Friday.

Qatar Airways says it will investigate a turbulence incident on a flight which injured a dozen people it was flying from Doha to Dublin, Ireland on Sunday, eighth were taken to hospital when they landed in the Irish capital. The flight ran into turbulence over Turkey, but it's unclear what caused it. Passengers describe what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL SUKER, QATAR AIRWAYS PASSENGER: Was quite scary, then, the plane just seemed to go stop, which it didn't but then dropped quite a severe drop.

MUFADDAL ALI, QATAR AIRWAYS PASSENGER: (INAUDIBLE) could be honest, like I'm just shooting ride. Before four to 10 or 15 seconds and that was a worse 15 second of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And this comes just five days after more than 100 passengers were injured and a man died of a suspected heart attack when a Singapore Airlines flight encountered severe turbulence.

Joining me now from Massachusetts is CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien Good to have you with us.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So one death and multiple injuries on a recent Singapore Airlines flight. And now of course, this similar incident within days involving Qatar Airlines with eight hospitalized. Why are we seeing more and more incidents involving this severe turbulence? What's going on?

O'BRIEN: Well, scientists will tell you Rosemary that climate change might have a little something to do with this as the earth heats up and heats up unevenly by both latitude and altitude. And that perturbs the jet streams in ways we can't totally predict. And when I say jet streams, you have to imagine the clear blue sky being layer cakes, kind of rivers of air, many of the moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour. Sometimes at cross currents, sometimes the speed changes. And as an

aircraft, particularly at high altitude as both of these cases occurred, moves to those air streams. Sudden changes can relate to sudden changes in lift on the wing. So the aircraft is going along. And all of a sudden, that lift diminishes and down it goes and it goes suddenly. And if you're not attached to the aircraft, you have a problem.

CHUCH: So is there any way of predicting those sets of conditions that lead to turbulence of this magnitude?

O'BRIEN: Or some turbulence we can predict like when we see a towering cumulus cloud for a thunderstorm Of course, we would avoid that and we know there's going to be turbulence around that. Sometimes high winds as they deflect off of either tall buildings or mountains can create disturbances in the air which can cause turbulence.

But there is this category called clear air turbulence, which we can't detect and there's not -- there's nothing on the cockpit of a modern airliner, which allows a pilot to see this coming except for his radio, his or her radio.

[01:15:00]

And the pilots ahead of them, warning them of it. So that's pretty basic, isn't it? And you would think we could have a better way to do this.

CHURCH: Yes, as I wanted to talk more on that, what more can we do to avoid these deaths and injuries from severe turbulence? Since researchers are now saying that this, this severe turbulence is on the rise, in actual fact, because of the warming of the planet?

O'BRIEN: Yes, I think a little bit is being better on defense, which is to say, if you're a passenger, and you're in your seat, whatever it may say about the seatbelt sign, keep your belt buckled, at least loosely, just in case something like this happens. If you have an infant in your lap, you might want to think about using the car seat to keep them attached to the aircraft as well.

And the other thing I would ask the airlines to consider is their poor flight attendants. 80 percent of the injuries in these cases, statistically, not surprisingly, are the flight attendants who are out and about trying to serve us meals, they should sit them down more frequently, frankly, when this -- when there is a hint of this happening, when we know about that pilot ahead warning of turbulence, they should be seated just in case.

But on top of that, we don't have any sort of magic technology to identify these strange cross currents of air, which caused this turbulence and they're on the rise.

CHURCH: And how many of these pilots that experienced this, let the control towers know will let other pilots that will be following in a similar path. Know about that turbulence is that done? O'BRIEN: Pilots are pretty good about it. But the more they do this, the better clearly, and the more the airlines really look carefully at those jet streams and how those winds may or may not be changing, and factor that into their decision on planning their routes at high altitude, that could help things as well.

But really, it's one of those things it's just part of air travel. And we need to be cognizant of the fact that when we're several kilometers above the surface of the Earth, approaching 800 kilometers per hour, we're not in our living room watching a movie. We should have a seatbelt on, and it would save a lot of injuries.

CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. And is there a particular part of the plan that tends to be better to be seated in when it comes to turbulence?

O'BRIEN: Yes, if you're a white knuckle flyer, and stay near the wing, because think about it for a moment as the aircraft pitches, look what happens with the nose and the tail, lot more movement, right? So because of the whole idea of, you know, the distance between the moment as it were.

So if you want -- if you're really nervous about it, get a seat by the wing, buckle up and hang on tight. It's not going to bring a plane down. We don't have that happen.

CHURCH: Yes.

O'BRIEN: But if you're not attached, it can be a real problem.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Very good advice. Miles O'Brien as always, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Rosemary.

CHURHC: Three Asian powerhouses are currently holding their first summit in years. We will tell you what's on the agenda for leaders from Japan, South Korea and China that's ahead in a live report. Plus, Taiwan is working on an ambitious new system that will keep its communication networks up and running in the event of a disaster. That story and much more. After a short break. Stay with us.

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[01:20:42]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Leaders from China, Japan and South Korea are in Seoul this hour for a trilateral summit aimed at boosting dialogue, trade and mutual cooperation. It's the first such meeting for the three nations in more than four years.

Chinese Premier Li Jiang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean Yoon Suk Yeol are expected to adopt a joint statement focusing on six areas of cooperation. And CNN's Mike Valerio is following diplomatic developments for us. And he joins us now from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Mike. So why does a summit like this matter? What is its significance? MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rosemary within the past hour, we have new statements from the Premier of China, Li Jiang saying that this is a new beginning for all of the three countries involved here, the Japanese government in a similar vein, saying that this summit has been quote, very constructive. And this matters Rosemary at the heart of it, essentially, because this is all about minimizing miscommunication, minimizing the chance for any sort of escalation to break out between these three countries, because tensions here in Asia are so high right now with the United States, pulling Korea and Japan closer into its orbit. And then conversely, China pulling Russia, Russia closer to its center of gravity.

So you know, Rosemary, it's astonishing. It's very notable that this meeting is even happening at all, because it's been on ice for the past four and a half years. There is a mechanism for having this meeting that has existed for years in South Korea. There's an office in Seoul that manages the report and the relationship between these three countries. But because of disagreements and COVID, the meeting hasn't happened for nearly four and a half years.

Now, we are not expecting any major reversals of policy, any big breakthroughs in geopolitics from this meeting. And summing that up, we spoke with Professor Ian Ja Chung from the National University of Singapore. Here's what he told us earlier, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JA IAN CHONG, PROFESSOR, THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE: So I'm not looking for any big breakthroughs. I think that's not feasible at this point in time. If there is some mutual understanding to move forward on issues like the environment on people to people exchanges, on some trade investment issues, I think that's pretty good. That's probably as much as we can expect at this point in time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: OK, so Rosemary, where do we go from here? Well, in terms of deliverables, we have all three countries saying that they are going to be working towards a new free trade agreement in the region, which of course helps stability here in Asia.

But new into the conversation this morning, we have North Korea warning that it is going to launch what eight calls a satellite between now Monday morning and sometime Tuesday of next week, a wide one week plus one day window. So South Korea is strongly condemning this saying that the international community needs to sternly respond to it.

Japan responding with similar language. China's saying that each side needs to present more restraint. So certainly softer language, but we're going to be seeing Rosemary in the months and years to come. If a summit like this, Japan has already scheduled to host the next trilateral summit. If a gathering like this could help all three nations come together for their common security denominator when it comes to North Korea. It's really of course, the wildcard in terms of security here in the region, Rosemary. CHURCH: All right, thanks to Mike Valaria joining us live from Hong

Kong.

Well, Taiwan is working on an ambitious plan to create a new satellite system to keep people online in case of a disaster. That self- governing island currently relies on a series of vulnerable undersea cables for its communications. Senior international correspondent Will Ripley has more on the problem and Taiwan's proposed solution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deep beneath the waters around Taiwan, a fragile digital lifeline some call shockingly vulnerable to a Chinese attack. 15 on undersea internet cables connecting Taiwan to the rest of the world vital strategic assets and potential military targets cut the undersea internet cables connecting Taiwan to the rest of the world, vital strategic assets and potential military targets.

[01:25:10]

Cut the cables, you cut off the internet, plunging 24 million people into digital darkness, leaving this island democracy dangerously exposed. Elon Musk spent years and billions developing Starlink using low orbit communication satellites to provide high speed internet.

RIPLEY: Here in Taiwan people have plenty of reasons to doubt the reliability of Starlink. Elon Musk controls it and he has deep business ties with China.

RIPLEY (voice-over): In September, Musk made comments seen as signing with Beijing over Taipei.

ELON MUSK, CEO, SPACEX: Their policy has been to reunite Taiwan and China. From this standpoint, you know, maybe this analogous to like Hawaii.

RIPLEY: Taiwan's Foreign Minister quickly fired back posting on Musk's X platform. Listen up, Taiwan is not part of the People's Republic of China, and certainly not for sale.

To protect itself, Taiwan is turning to space, investing billions to develop and launch its own low orbit communication satellites to ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity in times of crisis, a program spearheaded by Wu Jong-shinn, Director General of TASA, Taiwan's Space Agency.

WU JONG-SHINN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, TAIWAN SPACE AGENCY: The communications cetera is very important for our communication resilience during urgent period.

RIPLEY: Starlink developed by SpaceX crucial in conflict zones like Ukraine and Gaza. TASA is racing to develop a similar system in space.

RIPLEY: The satellite you're developing if the internet or the communication lines were caught, and Taiwan could go into the dark right there right out this?

JONG-SHINN: Yes, I think so. So that's very important for us. Yes, we take it very, very seriously.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A Chilean case study of Taiwan's digital vulnerability on its outlying Matsu Islands last year, Taipei accused two Chinese ships of severing underwater cables without providing direct evidence. The only backup sluggish microwave radio transmission calls dropped, texting took hours online videos unwatchable. Taiwan is cooperating with NASA in the U.S. accelerating its space program in the face of rising threats.

JOHN-SHINN: China is rising up in space tech, for example, you know, third have this political difficulty international as you know, but in space, there's no country division or there's no boundary.

RIPLEY (voice-over): And back on Earth, rising cross strait tensions adding urgency to Taiwan's space race. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: After the break, jury deliberations are expected this week in Donald Trump's historic criminal trial. We will hear from a former Trump attorney on how the former president's team might handle a guilty verdict.

Plus, in the run up to Mexico's largest ever election, candidates from all parties have been attacked, and in some cases killed. An expert tells us what's behind the violence and what the government needs to do to stop it.

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[01:30:54]

CHURCH: We are nearing the end of Donald Trump's historic criminal hush money trial. Closing arguments are set for Tuesday starting with the former president's attorneys followed by the prosecution.

Afterwards, the judge will instruct members of the jury on the charges they must consider. Then they'll begin their deliberations likely on Wednesday. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election?

CNN spoke with one of his former attorneys on whether he believes Trump's team is prepared for the possibility of a guilty verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN TRUSTY, FORMER ATTORNEY OF DONALD TRUMP: I think so because it's a Manhattan jury pool. I mean, the reality is that the numbers don't favor them. Only taking three days and three-and-a-half days to pick a jury on something this high profile is very worrisome, even having a couple of attorneys on the jury could kind of cut wildly in either direction. So you know, I think there's probably a feeling of fatalism, but not

of surrender. I mean, again, you can -- there's stuff to attack in terms of whether the entries are even false when it says legal services rendered.

But beyond that, to go into Cohen as the star witness is just, you know, you can make a lot of arguments that if you wouldn't buy a used car from this guy, you can't base a criminal verdict on him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Trump said Sunday that he didn't file paperwork for the libertarian nomination for president because Republican rules prevent him from being the nominee for two parties.

But the statement comes after he asked for the vote of libertarians at their convention in Washington, D.C. on Saturday and was loudly booed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The libertarian party should nominate Trump for president of the United States. Whoa.

That's nice. Only do through that if you want to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Trump left the stage after speaking for 34 minutes, his shortest campaign speech to date. But libertarians didn't want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. either.

He was eliminated drawing voting Sunday, politician Chase Oliver, who is openly gay and has run for Congress multiple times won the libertarian presidential nomination after seven rounds of voting.

Several people in central Mexico were injured at a mayoral campaign rally on Sunday after strong winds caused a tarp to collapse on the crowd. Officials say none of the injuries are life threatening but it happened just days after a stage collapsed during a presidential rally in northeastern Mexico killed nine people.

On Sunday, Mexicans will vote in the largest election in the country's history. More than 20,000 offices are up for grabs including the presidency and the governorships of nine states. It's also been a campaign season with deadly political violence across the country.

Sandra Ley is a security program coordinator at Mexico Evalua. She joins me now from Mexico City. Appreciate you being with us.

SANDRA LEY, SECURITY PROGRAM COORDINATOR, MEXICO EVALUA: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So with Mexico's presidential election just one week away, violence and deadly attacks on dozens of political candidates, their relatives and party members is, of course, causing considerable concern. Why are so many Mexican election candidates getting killed and who's behind this?

LEY: Well, this is a phenomenon that has been ongoing since 2006. This is a process that has been writing no -- no policy has actually been developed over the past almost 20 years to address this phenomenon.

[01:34:45]

LEY: And this election in particular is the largest election in Mexico with over 20,000 municipal positions are being elected. And it is precisely the municipal level positions that are the most interesting for organized crime, which has been rising also prominently in Mexico as an attempt to capture institutions, security apparatus, have access to information and protection, which really enables criminal activity across -- across our Mexican territory.

CHURCH: And this will be Mexico's largest election ever. So, what happens if more candidates continued to get killed? What impact will these targeted attacks have on the outcome of the election? And of course, the future leadership of Mexico.

LEY: One of the evidence that we have and that we have studies very clearly is that each of these attacks has an effect on participation, on interactions.

So in Mexico, citizens play two crucial roles in election, on Election Day. And this is both receiving and counting votes and voting. And both, both phenomenon -- both phenomena are being addressed, right in this process.

Organized crime mobilizes and demobilizes voters, attempts to scare voters to participate in elections as the way to make sure that their own political preference gets elected.

And so what we see is that for each of these attacks, there's a depression in political participation both as co-workers, as -- and as well as voters. This means that democracy is really being under attack in Mexico and most importantly, that in this place is organized crime ultimately then becomes de facto ruler by having such influence in the political arena in these communities.

CHURCH: And of course, at least 36 people seeking office have apparently been killed since last June. That's according to a "New York Times" analysis.

You say there's no policy in place and hasn't been for all of this time, but what does the government need to be doing to stop these killings, or at least control this in some way.

LEY: Now, what we would need is to actually dismantle those networks of protection that have sustained organized crime through the authoritarian period of Mexico. And that is something that no party has actually been able or willing to propose.

To a great extent, we know that all of this victims of organized crime are across all parties. So all parties have victims of this type of attacks and this makes it really hard for any party to actually be willing to talk openly about it. Because attacks talk both about politicians that have been involved with organized crime, colluded with organized crime, as well as those that have resisted organized crime.

So it becomes really difficult and costly for parties to bear the cost of really investigating each of these attacks and delving, right into what would be necessary to dismantle those protection that have enabled organized crime for such a long time.

CHURCH: And you did mention that democracy in Mexico is under attack. I mean, what is left of democracy when you have a situation like this where candidates who step up are being killed?

Ley: So elections will take place. It's sometimes a miracle that elections can happen in this -- in this processes. In some other elections, we have had municipalities where you only have one candidate. So that already tells voters a lot about who is deciding the election overall.

We have institutions in place to make sure that elections happen. But that doesn't mean that elections in all of these places can take place in such a (INAUDIBLE) and fair way.

CHURCH: Sandra Ley, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

LEY: Thank you.

CHURCH: Coming up activists and lawmakers in Japan are raising the alarm about host clubs, saying many of them are preying on women, forcing them to rack up huge debts and pay them off with sex work.

That story just ahead.

[01:39:22]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Japanese officials are responding to a growing number of complaints about romance scams from a type of nightclub called host clubs. One victim of these scams tells CNN she ended up thousands of dollars in debt while paying for the company of a handsome host, who she says then pressured her to perform sex work to pay off her bills.

Hanako Montgomery joins me now from Tokyo.

So Hanako, it is a horrifying, and of course, cautionary tale. What more can you tell us about these host clubs in Japan accused of preying on vulnerable women?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Rosemary. As you said I mean, it's a hugely cautionary tale and a very, very large problem in the country.

Essentially, host clubs are bars or clubs where young, usually attractive men, flirt with women, entertain them, pour them drinks. And though this sounds like it's all fun and games in theory, in reality from what we found through our reporting is that these host clubs deliberately make women pay an exorbitant amount after clubs make them spend way beyond their means, usually with emotional manipulation or the threat of violence.

Now, once they make these women pay a huge, huge amount and shoulder these massive debts, they then introduce them to sex work to pay off these debts. And then the host, of course, take a cut of that profit made.

Now, this has become a huge problem in the country and has left hundreds of victims. So host clubs have announced that they would self-regulate and that by April they would ban underage girls from entering their clubs and also prevent women from shouldering these massive debts.

But according to the lawmakers, the victims and the aid groups that we've spoken to that simply is not the case. There are still victims in Japan who are made to work in prostitution, both at home and abroad.

We spoke to a victim of this specific type of romance scam earlier this year, a woman named Yu (ph), who told us about how she lost everything and how she was trafficked overseas to pay her debts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YU, VICTIM OF JAPAN HOST CLUB ROMANCE SCAM (through translator): I've hit rock bottom. I don't know if I can start over again. I want to go back to my normal life, my ordinary job and play with my pets.

I don't know why I ever went to host clubs.

MONTGOMERY: Yu is one of hundreds of Japanese women forced to sell their bodies after they've been coerced to spend every penny to their name on a certain type of Japanese entertainment called host clubs.

Right now, I am the mecca for host clubs, Kabukicho. In this part of town alone, there are over 300 of these types of establishments. And it's in places like these where the problem starts.

Host clubs, part of Japan's expansive night entertainment industry, are bars where female patrons pay for the companionship and attention of male hosts. Typically well-groomed and skilled in flattery, these hosts serve up compliments and drinks offering a fantasy-like escape.

[01:44:48]

MONTGOMERY: But some of them are outright romance scams and criminal enterprises preying on young, lonely women.

Yu, a divorced mother of two, felt her heart flutter when she first met her host. She asks to use a pseudonym because her family doesn't know about her debts.

Yu met her host in January 2023, and quickly fell in love. She a clinician who worked long, lonely hours, spent every spare minute at his club. In return, he showered her with presents, attention, promises until her money ran out.

She spent it all on extremely marked up alcohol where the bill could run into the thousands of dollars.

YU: He asked me, how are you going to pay me back?

And when I said I didn't know, he said go abroad for sex work. I didn't want to.

MONTGOMERY: Yu said he pushed her into prostitution at home and abroad, in Macau and Hong Kong. She never saw the money she earned all of it wired back to a pimp in Tokyo.

YU: When my body was exhausted or I felt weak so I thought it'd be easier to die. I thought about that a lot.

MONTGOMERY: Hidemori Gen is an aid worker in Tokyo's biggest red-light district. He's provided a drop-in consultation service for victims of sexual abuse and gang violence for over two decades.

But in this past year, women with cases like Yu's he says have increased five-fold.

HIDEMORI GEN, CHAIRMAN, SELBOREN VICTIM SUPPORT GROUP (through translator): Last spring when we came out of the pandemic and the masks came off, that's when consultations about host clubs increased dramatically.

MONTGOMERY: Politicians like Ayaka Shiomura have tried unsuccessfully to pass laws to strengthen safeguards against exploitative host clubs.

AYAKA SHIOMURA, LAWMAKEWR: Basically it's a romance scam some of these women are brainwashed into thinking they're dating these hosts. It's a vicious cycle.

MONTGOMERY: Instead from April 1, host clubs say they will self-manage and ban customers under 20 and prevent women from incurring massive debts.

A measure, welcomed by Mikami, a host of ten years.

RUI MIKAMI, CLUB LEO HOST (through translator): These guys know they'll make more money prostituting young women. So they target girls.

MONTGOMERY: Though he swears he's never forced a customer into sex work, Mikami admits in the past, he's coerced women to spend way beyond their means.

MIKAMI: But now I entertain women without pressuring them for money. I stick to what they can afford. Now, my clients go home every night and say, thank you.

But for victims like Yu, "thank you" are the last words out of her mouth as she wonders if she'll ever gets her life back.

I'm still doing sex work and because I can't afford to leave. I don't want to do this work. I feel like I'm going to fall apart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MONTGOMERY: Clearly a very, very dire situation, Rosemary.

Now in response to this issue, the Japanese government has met with host clubs and victims of these romance scams. Just earlier last week, a high-level government official met with victims for the very first time and according to an aid group that was there at that meeting, they said that the government finally acknowledged that these were women of an actual crime.

These were victims of an actual crime rather than women who had gotten themselves in a bad situation. Now the aid group said that that was a massive step forward, but still that there was a lot more work to be done to stop women from being trafficked overseas and forced into prostitution at home, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And hopefully we'll see that work being done.

Hanako Montgomery joining us live from Tokyo. Many thanks for that report.

The parents of pro golfer Grayson Murray have confirmed their son died by suicide. The PGA Tour announced Murray's death on Saturday after he withdrew from a tournament in Texas.

His parents said, quote, "Life wasn't always easy for Grayson and although he took his own life we know he rests peacefully now."

Murray admitted to struggling with mental health and physical issues during a years long winless streak. But that ended in January when he won his second PGA Tour title at the Sony Open. Grayson Murray was 30 years old.

And if you or someone you know, maybe considering suicide or is in crisis, please seek out help. Many countries have lifelines and resources available.

We'll be right back.

[01:49:51]

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CHURCH: This just in more than 2,000 people have been buried alive beneath the debris of that massive landslide in Papua New Guinea.

That word coming from an emergency official in a letter to the U.N. The U.N.'s migration agency has said more than 150 homes were buried in the massive debris field said to be as big as four football fields. Rescuers are still searching hoping to find more survivors.

The landslide hit a remote region of the country in the middle of the night, early Friday. With climate change causing ocean temperatures to rise, marine life is dying off, including coral reefs that many species rely on. In Thailand, fishing communities are bearing the brunt of this devastation as they struggle to make their catch with a diminishing supply of fish.

Lynda Kinkade has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's yet another beautiful day on the water in Chao Lao Beach, Thailand. But it's what lies beneath the surface that's been left unrecognizable where this fisherman used to make up to 10,000 baht or U.S. $276 a day. He says now he's lucky to earn a fifth of that.

As the coral below him dies off, the marine animals who inhabit it and feed off it disappear.

SOMMAY SINGSURA, LOCAL FISHERMAN (through translator): The coral reef is my heart and soul when it isn't bleached, healthy and abundant and you can go out fishing at night. You can easily catch a squid in a fishnet on the coral reef, earning a living was nice and easy.

KINKADE: The third-generation fisherman is among some 200 who live and fish on this beach. The fisherman here help provide seafood like blue swimming crabs and other small fish to Bangkok, Vietnam, and China.

But with 50 percent of coral in the gulf of Thailand already bleaching according to Thai government scientists, they regular catch is dwindling. Without healthy coral typical marine life is forced to migrate.

LALITA PUTCHIM, MARINE BIOLOGIST, THAILAND DEPARTMENT OF MARINE AND COASTAL RESOURCES (through translator): The factor causing the bleaching is the rising of the sea water's temperature. When I got into the water just now, I immediately felt that the water was warm, very warm.

KINKADE: To some scientists, the term global warming doesn't do the situation justice. Global boiling is a better fit. As atmospheric temperatures rise, so do ocean temperatures. The heat stresses the corals, causing them to lose their algae and pigment. What's left is a colorless graveyard.

SINGSURA: The coral bleaching is happening so quickly this year. It's unusual. Look, all of it has turned white. It's never been this bleached before. All very white this year. All of it is bleached.

KINKADE: Unless the world drastically cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions, 90 percent of living corals could decrease by 2050, an ominous threat not just to our reefs, but to the marine life they sustain and the fishermen whose livelihoods depend on them.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:54:47]

CHURCH: A triumphant Southampton, is returning to top-flight football after the club won a very valuable match.

CNN's Don Riddell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: They call it the richest gaming sports. Football's playoff final at Wembley Stadium, which always decides the third and final team to be promoted to the Premier League.

According to the accounting experts for Lloyd, whoever wins this game can expect a revenue windfall of at least are $178 million and more than double that if they can survive their first season in the top flight.

On Sunday leagues United and Southampton went head-to-head, both were relegated from the Premier League just last season, but only one could return. Southampton drew first blood midway through the first half. The league's, defender losing Adam Armstrong. He definitely shot across the goalie to score the far post.

It was a tie game. Leagues never gave up looking for an equalizer. In fact, they almost had one in the 84th minute when Dan (INAUDIBLE) only by the crossbar that was close. But Southampton held on to edge it by a goal to nil. And they are heading back to the Premier League alongside Leicester City and (INAUDIBLE).

KYLE WALKER-PETERS, SOUTHAMPTON DEFENDERS: We were disappointed to be relegated in the first place. you know, we believe this group is a group of Premier League players and you have to prove that I think this season we have.

You know, we've had a few a downs, but we've always bounced back and today I think we really deserve this.

ADAM ARMSTRONG, SCORED WINNING GOAL FOR SOUTHAMPTON: (INAUDIBLE) promoted while feeling like you touched on there, yes. I was thinking about next season, yes. I want to have a few guests tonight, more than a few, and have a good night.

RIDDELL: Well, this was the scene in the locker room afterwards. Just unbridled joy.

Being promoted via the playoffs is a pretty nerve-wracking experience, but the exhilaration in moments like this perhaps makes it all worthwhile.

They'll have their beers then they'll have a summer vacation and then it's back to business. Premier League season kicks off on August 17th.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thank you so much for joining us this hour.

I'm Rosemary Church. We'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break.

Do stay with us.

[01:57:01]

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