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Cruise Ship Passengers To Be Transported To Quarantine; U.S., Iran Trade Strikes Despite Ceasefire Still In Effect; U.S. Awaits Iran's Response To Proposal To End War; Iranian Officials - Supreme Leader Is In Complete Health; Cuba Holds Military Drills Amid Pressure From U.S.; Sources - U.S. Thinks Mojtaba Khamenei Shaping War Strategy; Virgina Supreme Court Strikes Down Voter-Approved Map; Pentagon Releases - Never-Before-Seen UFO Files; Aired 4-5a ET

Aired May 09, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom. Countries are racing to contain a deadly antivirus outbreak on a cruise ship. We'll tell you what awaits the Americans still on board.

The fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appears to be holding as Washington waits for a response from Tehran to a peace plan while head to the Gulf for the latest developments. Plus, a huge blow to democrats in the redistricting battle playing out across the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: From a dream cruise to a deadly outbreak at sea, the ship at the center of the Hantavirus scare is expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday. The 17 Americans on board will then be transported to a quarantine unit at a Nebraska Medical Center where the CDC and biocontainment teams will monitor them for symptoms. Doctors say it can take up to eight weeks after exposure for Hantavirus symptoms to appear. Health officials around the world are now working with the World Health Organization to track the outbreak.

Earlier, President Trump said the situation was under control. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it making you reconsider leaving the World Health Organization because of the outbreak of Hantavirus?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No we seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It's been around a long time. Not easily transferable unlike COVID, but we'll see. We're studying it very well. We have very good people studying it very closely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau joins us now from Rome with the latest on the outbreak. So, Barbie, tell us about that cruise ship. What is the latest there?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. They're expecting this ship to come into the Port of Tenerife on early Sunday morning. Of course, that could be subject to change. You never know what the weather. One of the things they are concerned about, though, is coming storm. So they're going to have to disembark everyone by Tuesday, they say. And it's not -- the ship is not going to be able to just dock at the port. It will be anchored in the port, which means it will have to be reached by individual boats and health officials from all over the world.

Now much of this is really being done by nationality. So the Americans will be met by the American team. The Spanish will passengers will be sent to a military hospital. But it's a very organized situation. Let's listen to what the port authority has planned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO SAUREZ, TENERIFE AUTHORITY DIRECTOR: There will be three specific areas as it has been requested. The first is a passenger reception area. The second is for changing personal protective equipment for those involved in the passenger reception operation. In the second area, buses will arrive to collect passengers. And the third is a buffer zone designed to ensure a reasonable social distance is maintained.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NADEAU: And, Kim, when you listen to that, it's quarantines and cruise ships and all that sounds a lot like what we went through COVID, six years ago, but they say it's very, very different. And that each of these individuals who are on that vessel will be undergo a risk assessment to determine how long they need to quarantine and really what the risks are. But even as the President said, President Trump said is that this is a virus that's been along for -- been around for a long time.

They know about it, and so they don't expect all these various mutations and things. But, of course, who knows, Kim? And this is sort of unchartered territory, I guess you'd say, but they're really ready in the Canary Islands to accept this vessel and these people. The world's watching to see what happens next and if they're doing any sort of contact tracing and if that turns up cases around the world, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. We'll keep tracking this story. Barbie Latza Nadeau, thanks so much. For more on this, I want to bring in Dr. Charlotte Hammer, she's an Assistant Professor in Health Security and Infectious Diseases at the Center for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge. Great to get your expertise on this story for us here.

I want to build off of what our reporter was just talking about. There are many people who are hearing about this. The first thing that comes to mind is COVID. We heard there that it is very different. Can you walk us through why experts aren't seeing this as something that could spiral into that kind of pandemic?

DR. CHARLOTTE HAMMER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: Of course. Yes. And I do understand why people jump to that conclusion. We have a collective memory of COVID. But if you look at the virus and at the disease, we are looking at something quite different here.

[04:05:00]

So Hantaviruses are viruses that are associated with rodents, and each type of hantavirus is associated with a different rodent population. And normally people catch those from very close contact with rodents, so with their droppings and those droppings then being disturbed, say with a broom or with feed, and you breathe that in.

Now with the ANDV strain which we're looking at here, there is limited human-to-human transmission possible in very specific settings, so you need what we call close and prolonged contact. Now a cruise ship is unfortunately one of those settings where you tend to have close and prolonged contact in relatively small rooms. But that is not the settings we have sort of normally. It's not the kind of thing where you pass someone in the airport or anything like that. So in terms of the transmission potential, it is incredibly different from COVID say.

BRUNHUBER: But so you're saying limited human-to-human transmission. But, I mean, could the disease mutate? Could that change and it could become more transmissible?

HAMMER: So as we have heard this is a disease that has been around for a long time. It has been -- we've seen these smaller outbreaks for a long time. So that seems incredibly unlikely.

BRUNHUBER: So, I mean, President Trump, we heard him there say the situation is under control. Is that the sense you get here?

HAMMER: So the unprecedentedness of this situation is less in having a small outbreak of Andes Hantavirus and more in the unique situation having a ship with nationals of a whole number of countries and those they needing to be coordinated. Now from what we're seeing so far, this is all going in a very smooth and coordinated fashion, coordinated mainly by the W.H.O., but also by the European authorities giving that the ship will dock in a European port and is also flying a European flag.

So it seems to be going quite smoothly. There are plans in place for the various countries affected, and they will have their own jurisdictions in terms of how exactly they want to deal with this locally.

BRUNHUBER: I want to widen this out here to take advantage of your expertise. I mean, your work has looked at how things like climate change can lead to these outbreaks. I mean, is there a bigger lesson that we should be taking away from this even after this particular outbreak is over?

HAMMER: There probably is, and I think it's less to do with individual outbreaks like this because, obviously, tracing this individual outbreak to something like climate change is close to impossible. But we are seeing zoonotic outbreaks. We are seeing outbreaks of infections that have links to climate change and to other disturbances, and we've seen them more and more. So there are issues with Hantavirus. We know that there are with the American strains, so the ones we see in North and South America, there is a documented link to heavy rainfall situations, and that really makes sense because rodents then seek shelter in places where humans are.

Now, climate change leads to more heavy and unprecedented rainfall situations. With the European strains, we know there are links to, particularly hot summers where you then have an increase in the vole populations and then in the year after an increase in the Hantavirus infections. And we see that for quite a lot of infectious diseases where we have these intricate links and where we know that things like climate change make the situation generally worse.

BRUNHUBER: Really appreciate your expertise. Dr. Charlotte Hammer from Cambridge University, thank you so much.

HAMMER: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is waiting for Iran to respond to its proposal to end the 10-week conflict. On Friday, President Trump said he would supposedly get an answer by the end of the day. As of now, it's not clear whether he has. A fragile ceasefire remains in place, but both sides have continued to exchange fire around the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. military said on Friday it disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers by trying to bypass its blockade. Now this says President Trump considers resuming the short-lived operation Project Freedom that guided ships through the waterway here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Project freedom is good. We were asked not to do that by Pakistan, who's our friend, as you know, the Prime Minister and the Field Marshal. But I think Project Freedom is good, but I think we have other ways of doing it also. We may go back to Project Freedom if things don't happen, but could it be Project Freedom Plus meaning, Project Freedom Plus other things. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:00]

BRUNHUBER: Want to bring in Bijan Hosseini who is standing by in Doha. Bijan, what's the latest?

BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Kim, as you mentioned, a very fragile ceasefire as the U.S. awaits for that response from Tehran, and it's quite notable the lack of response every day that passes is obviously another day, a risk, or an opportunity for escalation in the strait, and we've seen that play out throughout the week. You mentioned some of that, the U.S. attack on those two Iranian oil tankers yesterday.

We also saw the U.S. attack multiple cities along Iran's coastline taking out what they said were missile and drone launch sites that they believed and they said Iran had fired upon the U.S. Navy. So a lot of back and forth, a lot of tit for tat happening in the strait over the last week, which just continues to risk this massive escalation.

And the spiral that President Trump said that the ceasefire is still in effect. He called those skirmishes love taps. When it comes to a deal itself, there's obviously a couple sticking points. Iran's nuclear program, their enriched uranium stockpiles, these are both things. The U.S. wants them to give up. Iran has repeatedly said that this is a sovereign right of theirs and that they will continue to develop that.

And then there's also this tightened grip that Iran now has over the Strait of Hormuz. Clearly, Tehran sees this as a huge tool of leverage. Here's how one adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD MOKHBER, ADVISER TO IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER (translated): On the issue of the Strait of Hormuz, for years we neglected this advantage. In reality, it is a capability on the level of an atomic bomb. When you hold the position from which a single decision can affect the entire global economy, that is an extremely great capability. What we have gained through this war, we will by no means give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOSSEINI: So, Kim, that just gives you a sense of how much leverage Tehran believes they have, and perhaps that's the reason why they're in no rush to respond.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Bijan Hosseini in Doha. Thanks so much.

And Iranian officials gave an update on the Supreme Leader who hasn't been seen in public for months. They say Mojtaba Khamenei has been healing from injuries. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAZAHER HOSSEINI, HEAD OF PROTOCOL, OFFICE OF IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER: Mr. Mojtaba was affected by the blast wave. His foot was slightly injured as well as his lower back. His lower back has already improved, and his foot will heal soon. He is now in complete health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now CNN can't independently corroborate these claims. Sources tell us that U.S. intelligence believes Khamenei is playing a critical role in Iran's war strategy, despite his absence. CNN's Zachary Cohen has more.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Iran's new Supreme Leader has kept a very low profile ever since he was injured in the early days of this conflict. But we're learning from sources that the U.S. intelligence community believes he has remained heavily involved behind the scenes, helping to shape Iran's war strategy and likely has helped guide Iran's responses to U.S. demands as the two countries continue to try to find a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing conflict.

Now we're learning from sources as well that the new Supreme Leader has remained isolated ever since sustaining severe injuries that include burns to one side of his body, his face, his torso, his hands, which have largely required him to seek significant medical treatment. But even so, he has maintained some role in the Iranian power structure, and he has remained heavily involved in discussions about the strategy as it relates to the United States.

Now it remains unclear exactly where the new Supreme Leader stacks up as far as the current Iranian regime is concerned. U.S. officials have said publicly that they believe that the Iranian government is very fractured right now. That in part is why there is some delay in the back and forth as the two sides try to get on the same page. But even still, the new Supreme Leader who has replaced his father in that role, we're learning that he is both alive and engaged in this process and will likely have significant input in whatever the ultimate resolution is. Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.

BRUNHUBER: Lebanon says Israel's military offensive is destroying the livelihoods of people who live near combat zones. It claims Israeli strikes have wiped out more than a fifth of farmland in parts of Southern Lebanon. Officials also say at least 10 people were killed in the latest strikes on Friday, including two children. Hezbollah has acknowledged what appears to be its first strikes inside Israel, since the fragile ceasefire began last month. The militant group says it targeted military base, but Israel says Hezbollah missiles were either intercepted or fell in open areas.

Russia is holding its annual military parade to mark the Soviet victory in World War II.

[04:15:00] Russian President, Vladimir Putin is there, but the usual show of military power is absent on the live report from Moscow. And later, a new skirmish in the redistricting battle as Virginia's state supreme court deals a major blow to democrats. We'll have those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A scaled down version of Russia's victory day parade is underway in Moscow. The event marks The Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. But this year, there's no usual display of military hardware. Heavy security remains in place across the city with antiaircraft systems visible around Moscow following recent Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is monitoring the event from Moscow, and he joins us live.

So, Fred, take us through this scaled down parade, the atmosphere, and the message it's sending.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the atmosphere in the Russian capital certainly is quite tense, especially the security situation. One of the things that shows that is the fact that mobile Internet services, if you go outside have actually been shut off by the Russians.

[04:20:00]

And, of course, there has been that threat of possible Ukrainian drone strikes that we've really seen actually materialize here in Moscow over the past couple of days, Kim, when there was a Ukrainian drone that hit a residential building not far from where I am sitting right now and also not very far from the area around the Kremlin either. I would say about 6 miles away from that.

So if we look at the parades today, there were some elements, that were actually common to parades that we've seen in the past. Some of them we're seeing on our screen right now. Those large columns of marching soldiers marching, of course, to some of the music that was played, also Vladimir Putin overlooking the parade, but then a lot of things were simply very different.

What you would normally see is a lot of tanks, lot of infantry fighting vehicles, all the way to intercontinental ballistic missiles being paraded over Red Square. And this year, none of that took place because of that security threat, that threat especially from Ukrainian drone and missile strikes that the Russians clearly were quite concerned about, and that's something that they acknowledged.

So instead of that, what the Russians actually did was show some highly produced videos of their military hardware. This included Russian drones, also Russian anti-aircraft systems, all the way to more strategic elements, like, for instance, long distance bombers and their naval fleets, including nuclear public -- powered and nuclear capable submarines as well.

So in many ways, it was more a show of force that was on video than actually on Red Square. And Vladimir Putin did acknowledge the fact that right now Russia's special military operation, as they call it, is still going on. Of course, this day really commemorates the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers made in World War II in the defeat of Nazi Germany, but then he made the connection to Russia's ongoing military operation in Ukraine where he then claimed that Russia is up against, as he put it. I'm sort of paraphrasing, an aggressive force that is supported by the entire NATO block. So clearly showing that the Russians are saying they're not just up against Ukraine, but that Ukraine is being supported by Western nations as well.

And if we look at that special military operation, the combat operations the Russians are conducting against Ukraine, those are ongoing. And right now at this point in time, it really is unclear whether or not there is an end in sight to that. All of that, Kim, also at this point in time taking a toll on the Russian economy. So we can see this year as this parade was going forward, I would say that the mood here in Moscow, the mood among Russians is a lot less optimistic than maybe it was one year ago that this could possibly come to an end.

Vladimir Putin, though, saying that the Russian people will persevere, he called for unity. One quote, that he did have that I wanted to read for you, he said, victory has always been and will always be on our side, Vladimir Putin said, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Alright. Appreciate that. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. Thanks so much.

Well, the U.S. is continuing the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that have now killed at least 192 people. U.S. military officials released this video of a strike Friday in the Eastern Pacific. They say two Narco terrorists on the boat were killed and one other person survived. The strikes have destroyed some 59 vessels since they started in September. The Trump administration told Congress the nation is in an armed conflict against drug cartels and what they called unlawful combatants. Some members of Congress and Human Rights Groups have questioned that finding.

Well, Cuba is trying to show its military can put up a fight amid growing pressure from the U.S. State television showed Cuban troops carrying out new military drills on Friday, which included artillery fire. President Trump has imposed a crippling oil blockade on Cuba and floated the idea of a military action, but Brazil's President, who was in Washington on Thursday, said Trump told him he doesn't plan to invade the island.

Spanish police have seized 30 tons of cocaine in a record breaking drug bust valued just under $1 billion. It's Europe's largest ever cocaine takedown. The drugs are being transported on a Comoro Island flagged ship before being intercepted by Spanish authorities off the coast of the Canary Islands last week.

Pope Leo marked his first year as Head of the Catholic church with a visit to the Italian city of Naples. He called on the faithful to promote a culture of peace. Early on the day, the pontiff visited the ancient ruins of Pompeii where he prayed for God to inspire world leaders to ease global tensions. A visit came just a day after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Vatican.

British -- Britain's King Charles was part of a unique video birthday message to nature broadcaster David Attenborough. Oh, look. Attenborough, who celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday, has been friends with the king for nearly seven decades. Charles' video appears to show animals native to the U.K. delivering a handwritten birthday card.

[04:25:00]

The clip aired during a celebration of Attenborough's life at London's Royal Albert Hall. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES III, KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Dear David, my wife and I are delighted to learn that you will be celebrating your 100th birthday on May the 8th and wanted to send you our warmest congratulations on such a special occasion. It is amazing to think that you and I have known one another for more than 60 years, the urgent need to protect and preserve this precious planet of ours and all life on earth for future generations. Thank you then for all that you have done. And on behalf of the whole nation, I wish you a very happy 100th birthday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Well, the largest blue green diamond goes to auction next week where it could bring in nearly $13 million. Christie's auction house says the ocean dream is a rare 5.5 carat fancy vivid blue green diamond. It's the largest such stone. The Gemological Institute of America's ever certified will be auctioned off during Christie's spring auction on May 13th. Christie's in Geneva first sold the stone back in 2014 for $8.5 million.

All right. We're going to take a quick break for our viewers here in North America. We'll have more news in a moment. For our international viewers, CNN Creators is next.

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[04:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States and Canada. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom. The U.S. is awaiting a response from Iran on a proposal to end the war. President Donald Trump previously said his administration was expecting to hear back from Tehran on Friday night. No word yet on if he did.

Meanwhile, Trump says the U.S. might resume the short-lived operation Project Freedom that guided ships through the Strait of Hormuz. He'd paused the operation earlier this week because negotiations with Iran were progressing. And the ceasefire is reportedly still in effect despite the U.S. and Iran engaging in fire around the strait. U.S. central command says it disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers that were trying to bypass its blockade.

Want to bring in Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, and he comes to us from Geneva, Switzerland. Thanks so much for being here with us. I appreciate it. So we're now, what 10 weeks into this conflict, and President Trump says he was supposed to have an answer from Iran by the end of Friday. I mean, what's your read on where things actually stand right now?

ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: It's good to see you, Kim. Look the Iranians seem to be dragging their feet at this moments because they know President Trump wants to have a deal that would start the process of reopening the Strait of Hormuz before he goes to Beijing. Otherwise, he will be in an embarrassing position and in a weaker position, vis-a-vis President Xi. And that's why they are trying to drag their feet to see if they can extract more concessions from the United States.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. So they feel they have leverage here due to the timing. I was interested. I mean, the ceasefire has been in place for about a month now, but we're still seeing fire exchanged around the strait, and the U.S. just disabled two more Iranian tankers. I mean, how do you square that with both sides saying there's still a ceasefire?

VAEZ: Well, this is a ceasefire respected only in the breach, right? In a way, because of the double blockade, both sides are going to challenge, the blockade of the other side. It is very likely that we will continue to see frictions as Iran would try to get past. The U.S. blockade and send, its oil through to China, or bring back some of its empty tankers in order to use them as storage.

And the same, the U.S. is going to try to prevent these things from happening. There will be friction. There will be, both sides firing at each other. So it's definitely not at the level of conflict we had, during the 40 days of the war, but it still is a very risky situation at any moment can devolve into an all-out conflict again.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So in the meantime, I mean, there are these efforts to try and end the war. Now according to our reporting, U.S. intelligence believe Iran's new Supreme Leader is playing a critical role in shaping the war strategy alongside senior Iranian officials. But you've talked a lot about the internal divisions within Iran's leadership. So how much of that is factoring in why it's taking so long for Tehran to respond to this proposal?

VAEZ: Look. There's always a degree of debate within the Iranian political system, but the current cast of characters who are leading and making the final decisions, mostly former, senior revolutionary guard commanders who are in critical positions now, they are more or less on the same page. I don't think that's really an obstacle that the system is divided or fragmented in a way that is paradise.

But, the Supreme Leader himself is under, obviously very in a securitized environment. Communicating with him is very difficult. We know that they have to use couriers, to run back and forth. There's no digital devices anywhere near him. So that might slow down the process. But, again, I don't think the reason that the Iranians are dragging their feet is because of internal divisions. It is because they understand, that the United States needs to deal more than they do, and the U.S. is still not giving them, a face saving way out, especially when it gets to their ability to preserve enough of their nuclear infrastructure. That's why they're dragging their feet. It's not because of internal debate.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. So, I mean, the basic facts of sort of getting to a deal don't seem to have changed. So how do we get there then if neither side is giving in on those red line issues?

[04:35:00]

VAEZ: Yeah. That's a very good point, because people will get to a deal when they realize that the alternative to it is much less attractive, which is a return to the war or a no deal, no war situation, which in this case, because the Strait of Hormuz remains closed is not really a tolerable outcome. The problem I think remains that both sides believe that they have the upper hand. And so it's the other who has to blame first. It's the other who has to make the more painful concessions.

I'm hoping that that would change, in the coming days and that both sides would show flexibility and would meet each other halfway. Because, again, if they don't given the degree of friction, on open waters, given the implications of the straits closure for the rest of the world, the global south, which would soon be running out of fuel and fertilizer, this is going to just turn a bad situation worse. But this would require more flexibility on both sides, which so far, we're not seeing enough signs of it.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And as you say, so many, innocent people being caught in the economic crossfire, if you would. Really appreciate your analysis of this, Ali Vaez in Geneva. Thanks so much.

VAEZ: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. has placed fresh sanctions on a number of Chinese firms for ties to Iran. The U.S. state department says three companies based in China provided satellite imagery that enabled Iranian strikes on U.S. forces in the Middle East. The treasury department also designated several individuals and companies for helping Iran secure weapons and materials needed to build ballistic missiles and drones. Now these sanctions just come days ahead of a critical summit between President Donald Trump and China's Leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

A cyber-attack on an online education platform created a nightmare for millions of students and teachers around the world. Just ahead, we'll have a report on the online status of Canvas. Plus, local elections across Britain deal a blow to the ruling Labor Party. We'll drill down into the numbers as the hard-right Reform U.K. Party racks up wins. Stay with us.

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[04:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: One of the United States' closest allies is facing an election shakeup. The hard-right Reform U.K. Party is surging in this week's local elections, and the governing labor party is struggling, casting doubt on Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ability to hold on to power.

Preliminary results show leader Nigel Farage's Reform Party gaining 100s of cancel seats. Farage is an ally of President Trump and was the Chief Architect of Brexit, which forced the U.K. out of the European Union. He says he's ready for rebellion. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIGEL FARAGE, REFORM U.K. PARTY LEADER: When you see the full results in the red wall, there'll be a rebellion. Personally, I'd be very sad to see the Prime Minister go. I would be very, very sad indeed. He's the greatest asset we've got.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Starmer says it's clear voters aren't satisfied with the pace of change, but he's vowing to stay on. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIER STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let me be clear, these are really tough results. I'm not going to sugar coat it. And we have lost brilliant labor representatives, people who put so much into their communities, so much into our party and our movement. And the voters have sent a message about the pace of change, how they want their lives improved. They was elected to meet those challenges, and I'm not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now to the redistricting battle that's raging across the United States. The Virginia state supreme court has delivered a huge blow to Democrats by striking down their redistricting plan that voters approved a few weeks ago. The plan could have helped Democrats win as many as four more house seats, but the state's high court ruled Friday that the process of creating the referendum violated the state constitution. State Democrats say they intend to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Trump took to social media to celebrate the decision, calling it a huge win for the Republican Party and America in Virginia. CNN's Arlette Saenz has more on the story.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Virginia Supreme Court delivered a major setback to Democrats as they've waged this redistricting battle that was started by President Donald Trump heading into the midterm elections. The state supreme court ruled that they would block the democratic drawn maps, which Virginia voters had approved in late April that could have netted the party an additional four U.S. house seats from Virginia. The state supreme court ruled that the creation of the referendum on these maps violated the state's constitution. That is because the law requires that the general assembly in Virginia vote 2 times on any proposed constitutional amendments that they are sending to voters in a referendum with an intervening general election in between.

Republicans had argued that the very first vote that the general assembly took on this referendum in mid-October of last year took place while a general election was already underway, including in the race for Governor in the state. The state supreme court agreed with that matter. Now house minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has said that they will try to pursue every avenue possible to try to overturn this ruling from the state supreme court, but it's unclear what those legal avenues might be for Democrats moving forward.

But big picture here, this is a major blow for Democrats as they've been engaged in this back and forth redistricting war with Republicans that spanned across the country. As of right now, Republicans have an eight seat advantage in this redistricting battle, and there's a potential that that could expand even more. There have been a slate of states across the south who have said that they're considering redrawing their congressional maps in the wake of a Supreme Court decision just last week that had invalidated a majority minority district in Louisiana.

That is one of the states considering redrawing their congressional maps as well as Alabama and South Carolina. Tennessee has already done that this week in their state assembly, but this is really going to present a challenge for Democrats going forward into these midterm elections. Democrats still believe that they have the political advantage on their sides when it comes to winning back the majority in the U.S. house. They are hoping to tap into that frustration with President Donald Trump and with the way that the economy is proceeding and also the historical trends that typically the party that is in power does not do well in these midterm elections.

[04:45:00]

But every single congressional seat will count, and it appears right now that at least on the redistricting front, Republicans do have the upper hand. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington.

BRUNHUBER: And more now on the southern state of Alabama's redistricting fight ahead of the midterm elections. Republican state officials filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court Friday. They want justices to return to a state congressional map that has just one majority black district. The hope is to stop a lower court ruling that blocks the use of a more diverse 2023 map. The effort was reignited after last week's ruling on Louisiana's map severely weakened the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

While popular cloud-based education platform is back online now and available to most users, Canvas was shut down by a cyberattack at a crucial final exam time for millions of students and teachers around the world. CNN's Natasha Chen picks up the story.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been a nightmare for students, professors, and other staff after losing access to Canvas. It's a cloud-based education platform with 30 million active users around the world at about 8,000 institutions. A hacking group called ShinyHunters apparently wrote a ransom note that appeared on the homepage of many schools Canvas sites saying they "Breached Instructure again." Instructure is the parent company of Canvas. The hackers warned the company, "Pay or leak," saying it had accessed data from millions of users, including students, teachers, and staff. This comes during a crucial time for many as students are in the thick of final exams and projects, including this student who had a message for hackers to see if she could just get her notes.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to the people that hack Canvas, if you all can unhack it for like 5 minutes, two at best, 2 minutes is all I need. I just need to go in there and take a picture of my final review questions that are going to be for my final that I take in four days to be exact. So I just need to -- you know what? Just give me 1 minute. Just give me 30 seconds at best to just go in there, take a picture, and then I'll get out of you all's hair.

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CHEN: The parent company Instructure said Thursday night the Canvas was available again for most users. This is the second data breach in one month claimed by ShinyHunters. On May 1st, Instructure said it had experienced a cyber security incident, but the breach was contained. In Thursday's note, the hacking group gave a May 12th deadline to "Negotiate settlement." Little is publicly known about the group, but federal authorities have linked ShinyHunters to several other high profile data thefts, including the hacking of Ticketmaster in 2024. Back to you.

BRUNHUBER: Parking news just into CNN. Frontier Airlines says one of its planes reportedly hit a pedestrian in Denver, Colorado. The carrier says flight 4345 bound for Los Angeles was taxiing on a runway late Friday night when the person was struck. No word yet on injuries. Frontier says smoke was reported in the cabin after the incident and takeoff was aborted. Just listen to some of the control tower audio.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire. We've got smoke in the aircraft. We're going to evacuate on the runway.

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BRUNHUBER: Frontier says 224 passengers and seven crew members were on board. They were evacuated and taken to the terminal. Frontier is investigating the incident. We'll be right back here on CNN Newsroom. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The Pentagon has released what it calls never before seen files on UFOs. They include accounts of what officials now call Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or UAPs. The release, was ordered by President Trump, has been billed as an effort to provide greater transparency to the American public. But CNN's Tom Foreman reports, none of the information released so far provides any real answers.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Crackling with videos and photos showing cryptic images of what appear to be very peculiar flying craft. The release by the Pentagon has UFO and UAP watchers buzzing even as President Trump who ordered the release has said he doesn't know if there is life beyond Earth.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do.

FOREMAN: Many of the newly released reports are quite recent. For example, U.S. intelligence officials just last year saying they saw glowing orbs traveling in some undisclosed spot at a high rate of speed. They appeared to be oval shaped, orange in color with a white or yellow center and emitting light in all directions.

In 2022, there are reports of a military sensor tracking a UAP moving from north to south, and in another report, flying from west to east. In 2024, a teardrop shaped craft and an uneven ball of white light and a diamond shaped vessel traveling nearly 500 miles an hour are all reported by military observers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All engines running, commit, liftoff.

FOREMAN: Older NASA missions also appear, although many were made public earlier. Among them, a bit of unusual audio between the capsule and ground control during the 1965 Gemini 7 mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Houston. Say again, 7.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a bogie at 10 o'clock high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any more information, estimate distance or size?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like a hundreds of those little particles going by the left, out about 3 to 4 miles.

FOREMAN: Also, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean reporting from space in 1969. You can see these lights, particles of light, flashes of light, and they're just sailing off. They really haul out of here and press off out at the stars. There are many pages of comments by curious citizens, some obvious hoaxes, and more, but no solid answers about what it all means from government officials present or past.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I have not seen any firm evidence that there are aliens out there, but the Pentagon is now doing is basically letting the American people make up their own lives.

[04:55:00]

FOREMAN: To be clear, the overwhelming number of these sightings are explained as being airplanes or weather balloons or mirages or meteoroids, something that makes sense. But some of them still can't be explained, and that's what keeps the interest up. And it's likely to stay there because the Pentagon says more releases are on the way. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. Now to the NBA playoffs. The San Antonio Spurs have a one game advantage over Minnesota in the Western Conference semifinals. They beat the Timberwolves 115 to 108. Victor Wembanyama finished with 39 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks. And the New York Knicks are trouncing the Philadelphia 76ers in the East even with star player Joel Embiid returning from injury, the 6ers couldn't keep up with Jalen Brunson and the Knicks Friday Night. The Knicks won 108-94 now take a 3-0 lead in the series.

South Korea has had an explosive global influence from award winning films to K-beauty and so much food. In the premier episode of the new CNN original series K-Everything, Daniel Dae Kim explores Korea's booming music industry with K-Pop royalty Psy and steps inside the studio behind Korea's biggest hits. K-Everything premieres today on CNN.

All right. That wraps this hour. CNN Newsroom, I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Stay with us.

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