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U.N. Warns Gaza is "Hungriest Place on Earth"; Controversial New Gaza Aid Group Not Screening Recipients; Potential Peace Talks Up in the Air over Russian Memorandum; Trump Sets 50 Percent Tariff on Steel; Musk Exits Government Role but Will Keep Helping Trump; Ukraine Hope "Drone Wall" Will Counter Attacks; Wildfires Grow in Canada as Smoke Heads to U.S. Cities; Mother, Two Others Convicted for Trafficking 6-Year-Old Girl; Taylor Swift Buys Her Original Masters Outright from Private Equity Firm. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired May 31, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
We have new details on the U.S. proposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as international pressure on Israel mounts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We'll have the latest.
Elon Musk's formal role in the U.S. government has ended. But president Trump says the billionaire isn't really leaving. We'll look at the major impact Musk has already had in reshaping the federal government.
Plus, how Ukraine could soon be turning to the state-of-the-art technology to help in its fight against Russia's invasion.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: U.S. president Donald Trump says he believes negotiators are very close to reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage release agreement, he told reporters on Friday night that he believes Hamas wants to approve the ceasefire proposal that Israel has already accepted. We'll have more on that in a moment.
Meanwhile, an Israeli official tells CNN that Israel will block a Palestinian plan to host a delegation of foreign ministers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday. But a Saudi official tells CNN that the country's foreign minister will travel to the West Bank anyway, where he plans to meet with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.
Now this all comes as there's new international pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza. Aid distribution has been chaotic in the first days of a controversial new plan backed by Israel and the U.S. On Friday, the U.N. issued a new plea to get more aid to Gaza's 2 million people.
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JENS LAERKE, OCHA SPOKESMAN: This limited number of truckloads that are coming in, is a trickle. It is drip-feeding food into an area on the verge of catastrophic hunger. It's not a flood. Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth.
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BRUNHUBER: President Trump says he'll share more on the Gaza ceasefire negotiations in the next day or two. We get more now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, as.
President Trump.
Says that Israel and.
Hamas are.
Quote, "very close to a ceasefire agreement,"
I'm learning.
New details.
About that latest U.S. proposal that's aimed at bridging the gap between the two sides.
Now we know that this proposal would involve a 60-day ceasefire, the release of 10 living and 18 deceased hostages. I'm now also learning that the negotiations to end the war in Gaza will begin on the first day of the ceasefire and will be presided over by the U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
We also are learning about the timing of the release of these hostages. Half of both the living and the dead hostages will be released on the first day of the agreement. The other half would be released on the seventh day.
In addition to that, 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences would be released, as well as over 1,000 Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained during the course of the war.
Now there are no guarantees from the United States in this proposal to end the war nor any assurances that a ceasefire will be extended as long as Israel and Hamas are continuing to negotiate.
And that is revealing itself to still be a sticking point in these talks with Hamas. The current proposal says that the negotiations may be extended, subject to the agreement of the parties.
It's also important to note that there's some specific language in this proposal relating to president Trump saying that he is committed to ensuring good faith negotiations continue and also that he would be the one to announce a ceasefire agreement.
Now Hamas has not only demanded that the U.S. provide guarantees that a ceasefire will be extended past the 60 days, as long as negotiations are still ongoing to end the war; they are also asking that Israel be made to pull back to its military positions from the last ceasefire, meaning pulling back closer to the Israeli border.
Now as those negotiations continue, Gaza is still being roiled by a hunger crisis. And we are seeing these continued scenes of desperation surrounding these aid sites run by this controversial new U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
We are also learning that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation isn't conducting any screenings of Palestinians who are showing up to this site; no ID checks, no security checks.
And that's quite surprising, given the fact that Israeli officials have said the reason why this foundation is their preferred mechanism for getting aid into Gaza is because they will ensure that the aid only goes to civilians in need and isn't stolen or taken by Hamas.
[04:05:13]
Beyond that, we know that the United Nations, for example, their aid agencies actually do conduct some ID checks, checking databases of family names and checking people off of a list so that people don't come back over and over again to get more than their provided ration.
And we are already seeing evidence of criminal gangs and merchants taking advantage of the lack of checks at these Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, with several eyewitnesses telling us that they saw people who were paid by the merchants going in, taking boxes that would then be resold on the black market.
Now the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, they have told me that they are more concerned right now about feeding Gaza's population than conducting ID checks. They said they would continuously assess the situation to determine whether they will carry out ID checks in the future.
But what is clear is that Gaza's hunger crisis is very much still continuing, has yet to be alleviated by this new aid delivery mechanism nor by the trickle of aid that Israel has allowed into the Strip via the United Nations.
In particular, because Israel, according to the U.N., hasn't provided safe routes to get those aid trucks to the northern part of the strip where that hunger crisis is most acute -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine says Russian drones have struck just five kilometers from NATO's border. The statement says the target was a post office in a Ukrainian town on the Danube River, across from NATO member Romania.
The structure was destroyed on Friday but there are no reports of injuries. Romanian officials say they alerted residents about incoming drones after seeing them on radar but they say the drones didn't cross into Romania's airspace.
Meanwhile, top U.S. senator says the upper chamber of Congress will start voting next week on a bill that would hit some countries that keep Russia's economy afloat. Reuters says Republican Lindsey Graham made the statement during a visit to Kyiv Friday, when he met president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The bill would slap 500 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and other products. Now that's happening as the next round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine are still up in the air.
Moscow wants to meet in Istanbul on Monday but Ukraine isn't ready to commit yet, saying the Kremlin isn't living up to its side of the diplomatic bargain. Nic Robertson explains.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: What Ukraine is saying is that Russia should really hand over that memorandum right now. That was their understanding. The Russian memorandum that lays out their view of what peace talks could look like.
The Ukrainians say that the understanding was that both the U.S. and Ukraine would get this document from Russia. And they say the fact that Russia -- and we've just heard from the Russian foreign ministry, saying that they won't be handing over this document before their team arrives in Istanbul for those talks on the 2nd of June, Monday next.
This document will be coming with them. So you know, Ukraine's position is that they think that Russia is playing for time. They think that they are not really wanting to push with speed as president Trump wants, as they want, as Ukraine's European allies want toward a ceasefire and a lasting peace deal.
The Russian foreign ministry says their team is committed. They're sending this team. It's the second round of talks. The memorandum will come with them.
But what Russia has done, these strikes -- 90 drones, two more big missiles fired into Ukraine -- does fly in the face of what president Trump's representative at the U.N. Security Council was talking about, that Russia should stop attacking Ukrainians if it is committed to peace.
And if -- and if it doesn't stop attacking Ukrainians, then the United States would consider its position and pull back. The representative also said that, you know, if Ukraine and Russia can work together to get a peace deal, the United States is ready to help them, ready to work with the U.N.
Ready to work with European partners as well over it. And I think it's worth noting here that what President Zelenskyy says, particularly on reflecting on those comments we've heard from the U.S. representative at the United Nations Security Council, is that Ukraine wants the United States to remain diplomatically engaged in this process.
But it really seems as if the scene is set for these talks on Monday. Ukraine yet to say whether or not that they will go, that both sides are at odds. Already Ukraine's handed its memorandum to Russia.
And the very real sense from the Ukrainian side and its European supporters is that Russia is playing for time. And an increasing sense there from the White House, that Russia is not committed to a peace process.
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But where will it all stand at the end of Monday?
I don't think anyone's expecting it to have advanced very far.
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BRUNHUBER: Elon Musk has left the building with a handshake and a golden key to the White House. The billionaire moves on from his role as head of DOGE. But his political days aren't over yet.
Also ahead, the latest on massive wildfires in Canada that are forcing thousands of people to evacuate. The strain to find housing is affecting many other areas as well. We'll have those stories and more coming up. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. president Donald Trump says he's doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S. from other countries to 50 percent. The measure would take effect on Wednesday as a legal battle brews over the president's authority to impose sweeping tariffs.
He made the announcement at a U.S. Steel facility in Pennsylvania on Friday.
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TRUMP: I said to the group, would you rather have a 40 percent increase?
Because I was thinking about 40 when I came. I said, would you rather have a 40 percent or a 50 percent?
They said, we'll take 50. I said, I had -- I had a feeling you were going to say that.
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So congratulations.
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BRUNHUBER: Trump was there to celebrate the purchase of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, a proposed deal he once vowed to oppose. But he says the agreement hasn't been finalized.
Local union officials, who represent workers at Pittsburgh-area plants, backed the deal, splitting from the national leadership, who opposed the deal, saying it represents a full purchase by Nippon.
The U.S. Supreme Court hands president Donald Trump a legal victory in his immigration crackdown for now. The court ruled Friday that the administration may temporarily suspend a parole program allowing immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to temporarily live and work in the country.
The emergency decision isn't final and the underlying legal case will continue in lower courts. Now it's the second time this month that the justices sided with administration efforts to revoke temporary legal status for immigrants.
The court also allowed the revocation of another program that provided work permits to Venezuelans. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court has ruled that Trump's directive for mass firings at multiple agencies will remain on hold.
The February executive order was paused in early May. That's when a judge ruled the president needs congressional approval to conduct such a sweeping overhaul of government agencies, federal employee unions, local governments and outside groups brought the case.
On Friday, the appeals court concluded their arguments are likely to succeed. The court says Trump's executive order, quote, "far exceeds the president's supervisory powers under the Constitution."
More than 100,000 federal workers were fired when Elon Musk was in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency. Friday was the billionaire's last day at DOGE but Musk says he'll keep helping Donald Trump despite his recent criticism of the president and Trump's policies.
Musk was in the Oval Office on Friday for a special farewell. CNN's Julia Benbrook has the story.
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JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been by president Donald Trump's side for these crucial first few months of the term, is stepping back from his role as a special government employee.
Where he led the Department of Government Efficiencies' efforts to identify and eliminate, quote, "waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government."
In the Oval Office, with Musk standing nearby, the president touted DOJ's work.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We'll remember you as we announce billions of dollars of extra waste, fraud and abuse.
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BENBROOK: As Musk shifts his focus back to his companies like SpaceX and Tesla, he is still expected to serve as an adviser. And DOGE is expected to continue its work with staffers stationed across various government agencies.
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ELON MUSK, PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job. They're going to continue to doing an incredible job. And I'll be -- and I'll continue to be visiting here and be a friend and advisor to the president.
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BENBROOK: Under Musk's leadership, at least 121,000 federal worker jobs were cut or targeted for cuts in Trump's first 100 days. And federal grants and programs have been slashed; some reinstated, though, after court challenges.
Those moves, at times controversial, leave a lasting impact on various departments across the federal government. DOGE estimates that it has saved $175 billion so far, though questions have been raised about the accuracy of that tally.
We have seen Musk become more critical of the Trump administration in recent days, telling CBS News that, while he agrees with much of what the administration is doing, there are some differences of opinion.
In that same interview, Musk criticized Trump's so-called one big, beautiful bill, saying that the massive piece of legislation could undermine DOJ's efforts -- reporting at the White House, I'm Julia Benbrook.
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BRUNHUBER: For more on this, I want to bring in Inderjeet Parmar, who's a professor of international politics at City University of London. Thank you so much for being here with us. So let's start there with
Elon Musk's departure and what we saw in the Oval Office, that big sendoff, just a few days after Musk was critical of Trump's mega bill.
The optics of that big sendoff, I imagine, to show that they're on the same page.
But do you get the sense of a growing rift between the two?
INDERJEET PARMAR, CITY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: I think there is areas of which are really clearly very important, particularly around tariff policy as well as the big, so-called big, beautiful bill, which is going to increase the American -- the deficit greatly.
But there is also a very, very large areas of agreement. And Musk, if you like, you know, he put hundreds of millions of dollars into Trump's election. He has cut tens of thousands of jobs.
The whole idea of the state or the federal government as a kind of a set of institutions for the servicing of the needs of the American people, in health, education, welfare, Social Security and so on, has all been challenged and cut back.
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And the more coercive parts of the state, as well as the ones which are kind of deregulating Big Business, all have been put forward. So yes, there's a big picture in which they're actually pretty closely aligned. But they do differ in various tactical areas of policy as well.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And DOGE apparently still recruiting. So even if Musk is leaving, DOGE doesn't seem to be going anywhere. You talked in broad strokes about the aims of DOGE and what Musk has done.
So just looking overall, what do you make of what Musk and DOJ's impact has been?
I mean, there have been, as you said, questions about how much actual waste has been found but no debating how deeply he and DOGE have gutted federal programs.
So what strikes you as the most important in terms of what they've done?
PARMAR: Well, I think U.S. aid, for example, has been cut back very, very severely and the very large impacts have been felt all around the world. And in many ways, rightly or wrongly, USAID is one of the agencies which, if you like, is a carrier of American soft power.
And it's a kind of reputational spend around the world, which says that U.S. is not just a military superpower but it also tries, at least, to promote development and promote education and health and the well-being outside of its own borders.
And if you like, that entire edifice of soft power has been fundamentally challenged by the Musk programs of cutting back the state, domestically and internationally. And the -- and there is a general "we're going to stand up for the big companies and their interests.
"We're going to deregulate them to do what they like and we're going to basically use the American market as a weapon to discipline our competitors, allies and foes."
So the reputation of the United States, on the basis of the kind of programs DOGE and Trump have been carried out, I think has been very, very severely damaged. And that soft power is definitely, I think, almost more or less evaporated.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's the international impact domestically. I mean, what DOGE has been doing has not broadly been very popular for Democrats. I mean, we saw in some of the recent elections that that Musk himself seemed to be a significant factor in rallying Democratic voters. He was a great foil.
You know, he was broadly disliked by Democrats and independents. So you know, Democrats will miss him as well.
PARMAR: Yes. Well, he did provide a kind of bogeyman in addition to Donald Trump, who is the probably the bogeyman (INAUDIBLE) and he did provide a target. And in a way, I suppose, a legitimate target, because, you know, he is a billionaire businessperson.
He has been brought into government, really, in a kind of quite unusual (INAUDIBLE) as some special advisor and given very wide- ranging powers over the whole range of government until many of the secretaries in the departments rebelled against it.
And it caused Donald Trump quite a bit of political fallout. So he -- what it shows is that there is a kind of limit to the Trump program if you go far too openly pro-corporate, where you have an actual figure, a name, a person, who appears to be running the show and was sometimes referred to as president Trump's boss.
So I think there were some political damage done on that basis. And I think in that regard, then I think the sidelining of Musk was a political imperative, because of the gift, as you talk about, to the to the opposition.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. Well, we'll have to see what role he'll continue to have in the administration officially or unofficially and how he will continue, possibly to be weaponized by Democrats. We'll leave it there. Inderjeet Parmar in London, thank you so much for speaking with us.
PARMAR: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Hurricane season in the Atlantic will soon be underway but a recent report says FEMA isn't ready for what's expected to be a very active season. That story much more straight ahead. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Ukraine is reportedly betting on state-of-the-art technology to hold back expected Russian attacks this summer. Experts say Kyiv is scrambling to build what some call a drone wall to compensate for Russia's advantage in manpower.
The idea is to use continuous swarms of drones to defend the most vulnerable parts of the front line. But analysts say Ukraine still needs to improve its drone technology and possibly use AI for the concept to fully work.
President Zelenskyy says Ukraine will soon be able to produce at least 300 drones per day, about the same number as Russia. But the flip side is Moscow is also making strides in its own drone technology.
For more now, we're joined by Mick Ryan, a retired general with the Australian Army. He also wrote the book, "The War in Ukraine: Strategy and Adaptation under Fire." And General Ryan is in Brisbane.
Good to see you again. So just first explain the concept behind this.
How exactly would these drones be used and what would they be used for?
MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, Kim, it's good to be with you. Well, this drone wall is aimed to be about 1000 kilometers of continuous drone coverage of the front line.
It will provide visibility to the Ukrainian forces but also the capacity to strike at Russian forces as they seek to continue their offensive in Eastern Ukraine over the summer months.
BRUNHUBER: OK. But I mean, they've been using drones since the beginning of the war. Obviously, they've become more important.
So how would this be different from what we've seen before exactly?
Well, what the Ukrainians are trying to do is close some of the gaps. It hasn't been continuous coverage. We see Russian drones able to penetrate Ukrainian lines and conduct strikes deep in the rear.
The Ukrainians try and prevent that but they also want to step up the number of drones they're using to cover for their manpower shortages. So it's about covering gaps in territory and covering gaps in manpower.
BRUNHUBER: And would these drones be attacking mainly other drones or focused on ground troops?
RYAN: Well, they'll be attacking just about everything that poses a threat. The Ukrainians have improved very significantly their ability to intercept Russian drones with other drones.
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But they'll also be continuing to conduct long-range surveillance and reconnaissance and conducting strike, particularly against Russian artillery troop concentrations and logistic locations that have artillery munitions.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So it might sound like a great idea on paper.
How realistic is it as you described it?
I mean, it's a huge area there they're planning to cover here. And Ukraine is reportedly expending 10,000 drones a month right now.
So can they produce enough drones to make this work?
RYAN: Well, the Ukrainians this year are going to produce somewhere between 2.5 million and 3 million drones. So they can produce sufficient drones.
The question remains, can they produce sufficient drone operators and then marry this up with things like electronic warfare and other ground forces?
So it will be a personnel and a technological challenge. But given what the Ukrainians have achieved so far in this war, it appears at least feasible.
BRUNHUBER: Then the flip side, as I mentioned in the introduction, I mean, it's not like Russia's standing still, either.
I mean, what are we expecting to see from Russia to possibly counter this?
RYAN: Well, we've seen the adaptation war between Ukraine and Russia with drones speed up and the Russians are innovating quickly. The fiberoptic FPV drones are potentially better and longer range in Ukrainians.
And they've been very good observers of what the Ukrainians are doing. When the Ukrainians come up with a good idea, the Russians copy it and industrialize it very quickly. So this will be a continuing adaptation battle on the front line as Ukrainians build this drone wall.
BRUNHUBER: All right. So other countries will be watching this with interest to see how well it works.
How else or where else might we see these so-called drone walls deployed?
RYAN: Well, European countries have already decided that they might do a test drone wall in Eastern Europe, particularly along the Baltic country's border with Russia, as a surveillance line. But potentially, if this drone wall does work, it could be of use for Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait for its deterrence of any Chinese aggression or invasion.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, and there could be nonmilitary uses as well. I mean, I heard you mention the word "border" there. That comes to mind certainly here in the U.S., right?
RYAN: Well, absolutely. The southern U.S. border is a high priority for this administration. But there are other countries that do border patrol as well. So I think there will be many countries from both military, Border Patrol, that will be looking at how this drone war works out for the Ukrainians.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, technology is moving so quickly here. The implications of this kind of drone wall, when you add developments in AI, it could be just transformative and, I have to say, a little frightening as well.
RYAN: Well, it's certainly a little frightening if you're having to come up with it. It could be something that may not be a static wall but something that could move and protect our forces as they move. But it could also be something that protects critical infrastructure as well. So there's a lot of applications for this if it does work out.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. Well, the world will be watching. Really appreciate getting your expert analysis on all of this. Mick Ryan, thank you so much.
RYAN: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Wildfires in Canada are affecting about half of the country's provinces. Thousands of people are fleeing their homes. And states of emergency are in effect in several places. A wave of evacuees is flooding into Winnipeg and they're scrambling to find housing. Kamil Karamali with CTV News has the latest.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): This is such an awful feeling.
KAMIL KARAMALI, CTV NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bright orange flames light up the night sky in northern Manitoba near the Saskatchewan border. Communities in both provinces --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, all that's going to go.
KARAMALI (voice-over): -- in danger of losing homes and losing lives.
On Thursday, roughly 17,000 evacuations, primarily from northern indigenous communities in Manitoba, with thousands more forced to flee today.
WALB KINEW, MANITOBA PREMIER: We can expect thousands of more people from the northern parts of our province to be moved out of their communities or neighboring communities to find their way to safety.
KARAMALI (voice-over): Dozens of wildfires continue to burn across the country, nearly all of them concentrated in the Prairie provinces. More than a dozen in Manitoba, raging out of control throughout the day today, most of those burning in the northern and eastern regions of the province.
This morning, Canada's emergency management minister approved two requests for federal assistance from the Government of Manitoba to support evacuation efforts and is working to deploy all necessary federal resources to ensure Manitoba has the support it needs. Wildfires continue to spread across Saskatchewan today.
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Out of the more than dozen active fires, roughly half were deemed not contained by fire crews.
CHIEF PETER BEATTY, PETER BALLANTYNE CREE NATION: Conditions are extreme. I haven't seen this for a long time. It's amazing that we're getting this kind of heat in May.
KARAMALI (voice-over): While in B.C., an out-of-control wildfire in the northeast has also triggered an evacuation order for the area, all of it carrying thick smoke into urban centers. Today, Saskatoon covered in a blanket of haze.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The health impacts of this -- of these smoke particles that are especially the ones that are smaller than about 0.3 of a millimeter, is that they can really get deep into your lungs.
KARAMALI: Environment Canada has issued air quality advisories from Alberta all the way to Western Ontario and is advising people who live in those areas with poor air quality to stay inside -- Kamal Karamali, CTV News, Toronto.
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BRUNHUBER: Massive flooding in Northern Nigeria has killed more than 100,000 people. Nigeria had heavy rains on Thursday and a dam collapse on Friday made the flooding even worse.
Emergency management officials told CNN that they've recovered 115 bodies and that many children are among them. The death toll is expected to rise. The flood ravaged two communities and left some buildings submerged.
Officials in Switzerland are monitoring the water that's backing up behind debris that buried a small town. A chunk of a glacier broke off Wednesday afternoon, burying the village of Blatten under tons of ice, mud and rock.
The wreckage blocked the river running through Blatten and water is accumulating. Local authorities are urging residents downstream to be on alert. One official told us that 90 percent of the town was covered. The mayor vows to rebuild despite the challenges. Here he is. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MATTHIAS BELLWALD, BLATTEN (through translator): Those are the people who have lost a lot, except for what they were wearing. Houses, bridges and real estate no longer exist and have lost their value.
Entire livelihoods, including three wonderfully thriving hotels, known far beyond the valley, have been wiped out. The meticulously tended mountain agriculture is on its last legs. And we know the next winter is coming in just over four months.
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BRUNHUBER: Satellite imagery shows the aftermath of the glacier collapse. Some 300 residents fled their village ahead of the slide last week.
Officials in Indonesia will continue rescue operations following a rock collapse at a quarry in West Java. So far, at least 10 people have died, with six injured. The initial collapse took place on Friday, with Indonesian officials unable to give an estimate of the number of people missing.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on Sunday but a recent internal review by the Federal Emergency Management Agency says FEMA is, quote, "not ready" for the destruction that could be coming. CNN's Leigh Waldman has more on the report and on concerns among weather professionals.
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LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About 10 percent of FEMA's total workforce has left since January, including the former acting FEMA administrator, Cameron Hamilton, who was fired earlier this month after telling lawmakers he opposed dismantling the agency.
Projections suggest, by the end of the calendar year, staff losses will total 30 percent, according to a FEMA official.
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RICK SPINRAD, FORMER NOAA ADMINISTRATOR: I worry a lot about how thin the situation is and the ability to get information across during what could be a very active season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALDMAN (voice-over): Fears are churning over the preparedness of what's forecasted to be another active Atlantic hurricane season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It only takes one, so we got to be prepared right now.
WALDMAN (voice-over): However, an internal memo obtained by CNN suggests that FEMA is not ready for the June 1st start to the season.
Quote, "As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood. Thus, FEMA is not ready."
President Donald Trump has criticized the agency for months. And Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem has vowed to eliminate it.
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KRISTI NOEM (R-SD), SECRETARY, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY: President Trump has given us the responsibility of looking at an agency that, in the past, has been there in times of crisis for many people, on their worst day that they've ever experienced. But many times in the past, it has failed.
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WALDMAN (voice-over): With hurricane season imminent, multiple sources and an internal memo obtained by CNN show DHS is inserting more than half a dozen of its officials into key front office roles at FEMA, though they appear to have limited experience managing natural disasters.
According to the officials' bios included in the announcement. Some experts are worried the shakeup at FEMA will harm the preparation, mitigation and response after natural disaster strikes.
CHRIS VAGASKY, METEOROLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN/MADISON: There have been a lot of cuts to FEMA staffing and FEMA funding and that's going to have impacts on the local emergency response.
WALDMAN (voice-over): Recently, FEMA has reopened training centers to get staff prepared for the hurricane season and lengthened contract extensions for part-time workers, who are deployed to disaster areas -- in New York, I'm Leigh Waldman.
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BRUNHUBER: A prosecution witness, who's a former assistant of Sean Diddy Combs, faced a tough day in court on Friday.
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Ahead, what the music mogul's defense attorneys focused on during her cross-examination.
A mother will spend the rest of her life in jail, convicted of trafficking her own daughter for a few hundred dollars. Just ahead, the shocking case of the missing 6-year-old child. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A 6-year-old girl is still missing and her mother is behind bars for life in South Africa. During Kelly Smith's trial, a witness quoted her saying she sold her daughter to a traditional healer. Two accomplices were also convicted. CNN's Larry Madowo has more from Nairobi.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a bizarre case that has shocked South Africa, a mother sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and trafficking her 6-year-old daughter.
That mom, 35-year-old Kelly Smith, her boyfriend and one of their friends who was charged as an accomplice, are expected to spend the rest of their lives in jail.
A witness told the trial that Kelly Smith sold her daughter to a traditional healer, known as a sangoma in South Africa, for about $1,100. She was desired for her eyes and her skin, according to this witness.
One of her teachers told the same court trial that, during the search process for her, her mom told him that she was already on a ship in a container on the way to West Africa. So Joshlin Smith disappeared from a small community outside Cape Town in February 2024 and has not been found since.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are.
Continuing day and.
Night.
Looking for.
Joshlin and we're still appealing to everybody.
That let's work together to find the missing child.
And all other missing child out there that have not had the opportunity to (INAUDIBLE) to have a case brought forward by today.
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MADOWO: South African prosecutors claimed in court that that little girl, Joshlin, was sold into slavery.
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Though they did not prove that conclusively. Before delivering his judgment, the judge did reprimand the mom for not showing remorse. She did not testify in this trial and she did not call any witnesses. She showed no emotion when the ruling came down.
A social worker brought in during this process said it would not be a stretch to conclude that Kelly was the mastermind behind the trafficking of her own daughter. One witness had described her as a manipulative person who told barefaced lies. Her own mother pleaded with her after the ruling came down. She said,
bring back my granddaughter or tell me where she is. But that fell on deaf ears. It's really one of the more bizarre cases we have covered in a while -- Larry Madowo CNN, Nairobi.
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BRUNHUBER: One of Sean Diddy Combs' former employees endured a tough cross-examination on Friday. Defense attorneys focused on several of her warm and friendly social media posts about Combs over the years.
Now this comes after she testified for the prosecution about his violence and abuse. CNN's Kara Scannell has more from New York.
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KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sean Combs' former assistant testifying under a pseudonym, Mia, was under cross-examination for much of Friday. She was confronted with about three dozen social media posts she made about Combs.
In these posts, she posted photos of them smiling, captions that called him a legend, mentor and inspiration and also writing repeatedly, I love you, with multiple exclamation points.
The jury was also showed several posts where she wished Combs a happy birthday. And Combs attorney, Brian Steele, said to her, wasn't that the anniversary of the very first time you claimed he sexually assaulted you?
Mia testifying that, for her job, she was expected to promote him and she also said that she was still unraveling all of this in therapy. She was also showed a scrapbook that she made for Combs for his 45th birthday.
Along with that scrapbook account, encompassing his rise in hip-hop in the '90s, was a long, handwritten note.
She was asked, why would you make a scrapbook for him if he sexually assaulted you and brutally beaten your best friend, Cassie Ventura?
Mia testified, "It's a lot more complicated than the way you phrased that. It's abuse on many levels."
She was also challenged directly, asked, "You just made up that Sean Combs sexually assaulted you?
"He never did that."
Mia testified that everything she said on the stand was true. Now earlier in the day, she was still under direct examination by the prosecution. And then she testified that two weeks after Cassie Ventura filed her civil lawsuit against Combs, that she was contacted by Combs' security guard called D-Roc and Combs himself.
She said Puff wanted D-Roc to get to me and make sure I wasn't a threat. She called that a front. Mia will be back on the witness stand on Monday for more cross-examination -- Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: British actor and comedian Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault in a court in London. Brand's facing multiple charges relating to four separate women, with alleged crimes taking place between 1999 and 2005.
A trial date has been set for June of next year. Police began investigating Brand in 2023 following the release of an investigation from three British media outlets, "The Times," the "Sunday Times" and Channel 4's dispatches.
Recently, the actor has framed himself as an online social commentator, gaining millions of views on YouTube.
Well, Taylor Swift takes back control and her fans are celebrating as the star announces she now owns the entirety of her music catalog. We'll have the details of that next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, we're almost in June, which is traditionally Pride Month across the United States. In Wisconsin, the governor praised the pride flag over the state capital in honor of the LGBTQ community for the entire month.
And in Washington, D.C., the mayor ushered in World Pride Month. Muriel Bowser said the flag tells the story of pride, perseverance and progress. People from around the world will gather in Washington for a parade and political rally. Protests are expected to center around president Donald Trump's rollback of rights for LGBTQ communities.
Taylor Swift has announced that she now owns her entire music catalog. After a six-year battle, the megastar announced that she was able to purchase her master recordings outright from the private equity company that previously owned them. Randi Kaye has more.
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TAYLOR SWIFT, AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER: I've always wanted to own my own music.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And now she does. Taylor Swift announced the news on her website today, writing, "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me."
Back in 2019, Swift said she'd been, quote, "blindsided" when the master recordings of her first six albums were part of the deal when her former label was sold to producer Scooter Braun. TAYLOR: I made it very clear that I wanted to be able to buy my music. That opportunity was not given to me and it was sold to somebody else.
KAYE (voice-over): Braun insisted Swift's team was aware of the pending deal. Swift wrote on Tumblr then that the $300 million deal "stripped me of my life's work." She moved on and signed with Universal Music Group's Republic Records, which allowed her to own her future masters. She also found a way to reclaim ownership of most of her earlier music by rerecording her first five albums.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a plan.
TAYLOR: Yes, absolutely.
I just figured I was the one who made this music first. I can just make it again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TAYLOR: So that's what we're doing.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to say it.
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TAYLOR: So that what we're doing. So when something says in parenthesis, "Taylor's version" next to it, that means I own it, which is exciting.
KAYE (voice-over): And when Swift announced her new album "Lover" on Good Morning America in 2019 --
TAYLOR: One thing about this album that's really special to me is that it's the first one that I will own. I think that artists deserve to own their work. I just feel very passionately about that.
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My contract says that starting November 2020, so next year, I can record albums one through five all over again.
KAYE (voice-over): And now Swift also owns all her music videos, concert films, album art and photography, along with unreleased songs purchased, she wrote, "with no strings attached" from a private equity company that had bought her master recordings. Swift told her fans, "This is my greatest dream come true" -- Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, the Eiffel Tower is lit up with a rallying cry for football club Paris Saint-Germain. "Allez Paris" or "Go Paris" ahead of the Champions League final in Munich later today. PSG, as the team is known, will face off against Italy's Inter Milan
for the European cup title. Inter last won the Champions League in 2010. A win for PSG would be a first. And CNN will have full coverage with "WORLD SPORT's" Amanda Davies in Munich.
All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
