Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Cruise Ship Passengers To Be Transported To Quarantine; U.S., Iran Trade Strikes Despite Ceasefire Still In Effect; Russia Wraps Up Scaled-Down WW2 Victory Day Parade. Aired 05-06a ET
Aired May 09, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: 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. The U.S. is stepping up efforts to help contain the spread of Hantavirus.
We'll have the latest on the cruise ship at the center of the outbreak. President Trump is waiting for Iran's latest proposal to end the war. We'll go live to Jerusalem for details. Plus an unprecedented redistricting battle is pressing ahead across the U.S. We'll take you to the latest state where the GOP is feeling pressure from the White House.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Health officials say the Hantavirus outbreak isn't another COVID style pandemic, but they're still taking the threat very seriously. The cruise 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 be transported to a quarantine unit at a Nebraska Medical Center, where the CDC will monitor them for symptoms.
Doctors say it can take up to eight weeks after exposure for Hantavirus symptoms to appear. As health officials worldwide scramble to track the outbreak, President Trump says the situation is under control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 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 closely. We have very good people studying it very closely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN's Melissa Bell reports on what's next for the ship and its passengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As the M.V.
Hondius heads towards the Canary Islands, in Tenerife, authorities are preparing for a race against time when the cruise ship arrives here in Granadilla. That cruise ship is now on its way here to Tenerife, and is due to arrive at this port. It's pretty blustery here already, and what local authorities are saying is that the weather conditions are going to deteriorate Tuesday, which means that the only window of opportunity for getting all the passengers off of the ship is between when it arrives at mid-day on Sunday and by the end of Monday.
The 147 remaining passengers and crew will only leave the Hondius when a plane to their country is ready to take off from Tenerife airport. The goal to minimize their time on the island.
VIRGINIA BARCONE, SPANISH HEALD OF CIVIL PROTECTION & EMERGENCIES (through translator): That means all the technical aspects have to be sorted. Refueling must be complete, and the aircraft door must be open so they can start boarding.
BELL: Passengers will then get ferried off the ship on speed boats, taken to the airport and then flown to their respective countries. Spanish authorities say that the first passengers to be taken off the ship will be the 17 Americans. CNN understands from sources that they will be taken by charter plane straight to the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska.
BARCONE (through translator): I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is absolutely no chance of any contact with the civilian population.
BELL: Those assurances not enough for many here in Tenerife. Port workers on the island expressing their frustration in front of the local parliament.
RUBEN MANGANE, TENERIFE PORT WORKER & PROTESTER (through translator): We don't have any information. We don't know how that virus is spread. Therefore, we can't have the needed EPIs. We don't know if we should be using FFP2 masks or a single mask. We know nothing.
BELL: With COVID Still on people's minds these protests a reminder of the fear these outbreaks can inspire. Melissa Bell, CNN, Tenerife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Last hour, I spoke to Dr. Charlotte Hammer, an Assistant Professor in Health Security and Infectious Diseases at the University of Cambridge, and I asked her why health experts are saying the Hantavirus outbreak is unlikely to spiral into the kind of pandemic situation we had with COVID. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CHARLOTTE HAMMER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: 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. 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 -- with rodents, with their droppings, and those droppings then being disturbed, say with a broom or with feed and you breathe that in.
[05:05:00]
Now, with the Andes 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 relative -- apologies, 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 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 the 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 then 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 WHO, but also by the European authorities, given 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is waiting for Iran to respond to his 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 (inaudible) ceasefire remains in place, but both sides have continued to exchange fire around the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military said on Friday it disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers trying to bypass its blockade. Now this as Trump considers resuming the short lived operation Project Freedom that guided ships through the waterway. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 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 it would be Project Freedom Plus meaning Project Freedom plus other things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Iranian officials gave an update on the Supreme Leader, who hasn't been seen in public for months. They say he's healing from injuries, but quote is now in complete health. Sources tell CNN that U.S. intelligence believes he's playing a critical role in Iran's war strategy, despite his absence. Our Oren Liebermann joins me now from Jerusalem. Oren, walk us through the latest.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Right now the U.S. is waiting on a response from Iran to the latest U.S. proposal to put in place a more permanent ceasefire and end the war. President Donald Trump said that response had been expected on Friday, but at this point, as far as we know, the U.S. has not received Iran's response to the latest proposal, and that goes to show that at least from where we see right now, Iran isn't feeling pressure to move quickly, to respond quickly, or to go along with these negotiations to get a more permanent ceasefire in place.
Iran feels they're at least in a position of strength moving into these negotiations, even after the attacks we've seen from the U.S. and from Israel on their top leadership, as well as their military infrastructure. And that's because this all comes down to the Strait of Hormuz.
According to a CIA assessment, which multiple sources describe to CNN, Iran is able to withstand the economic pressure of the U.S. imposed blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, likely for at least another four months. And that means that the pressure the U.S. is trying to put there, the economic pressure that has been claimed by the Trump administration, isn't forcing Iran's economy to its knees, and the regime isn't feeling that much pressure, at least not in the short term, according to that CIA assessment.
Meanwhile, we have seen continued fire between the U.S. and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz. But crucially, it has not completely derailed the ceasefire or sent the region back to an all-out war. The U.S. military disabled two Iran Ian tankers on Friday that it says we're trying to run the U.S. imposed blockade. Meanwhile, on Thursday, U.S. Central Command said they struck Iranian military facilities after U.S. warships came under fire transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
[05:10:00] What's crucial here is that from where we sit now and from Iran's negotiating position, they see the strait as a strategic asset. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMAD MOKHBER, ADVISER TO IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER (through translator): 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)
LIEBERMANN: and the Strait of Hormuz is one of the key issues here. If Iran isn't willing to negotiate and insists that it is Iran's Strait of Hormuz for them to do whatever they want with, charge tolls, with close it, open it, then it becomes an enormous block to getting a broader deal here.
Now Trump floated the idea of Project Freedom Plus, which would be some sort of bigger version, perhaps, of the very short-lived Project Freedom, which lasted only about two or three days, but it's unclear what that would look like.
Meanwhile, there are questions, of course, about Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and his condition. Iran says he's in complete health. The U.S. assesses, according to multiple sources familiar with the assessment that he is still able to influence Iran's decision making and is still, at least to some extent, in charge.
It's unclear how much, because the U.S. believes Iran's command and control, its decision making, both on the military and on the political side, is fractured because of the U.S. and Israeli strikes that have decapitated Iran's top leaders, but Mojtaba Khamenei is still able to influence and help sway where Iran stands, and that may be a big problem, because he is considered very close to Iran's very hard line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
All of that shows you the difficulty of getting to a ceasefire, even as Trump has claimed that there is good progress in negotiations.
BRUNHUBER: I appreciate that update. Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem. Thanks so much.
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 a military base, but Israel says Hezbollah knows missiles were either intercepted or fell in open areas.
We have breaking news from Denver, Colorado. Frontier airline says one of its planes reportedly hit a pedestrian at the Denver International Airport. 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 take off was aborted. Now listen to some of the control tower audio here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got smoke in the aircraft, we're going to evacuate on the runway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Frontier says 224 passengers and seven crew members were on board, and they were evacuated and taken to the terminal. Frontier is investigating the incident.
Russia holds its annual military parade to mark the Soviet victory in World War II, but the usual show of the Kremlin's military power is absent. We'll have a live report from Moscow, plus local elections across Britain deal a blow to the ruling Labor Party. Just ahead, we'll drill down into the numbers as the hard-right Reform UK Party racks up wins. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Russia has just wrapped up a scaled down version of its Victory Day Parade in Moscow. The event marked the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. But this year, there was no usual display of military hardware. Heavy security was in place across the city, with anti-aircraft 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. Fred, so take us through this scale down parade and the atmosphere there.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, certainly, and I think the atmosphere was certainly quite tense, and security, as you absolutely correctly stated, was very high on Red Square, but really in the entire city here in Moscow, with massive disruptions of mobile internet services, something that the Russians had said that they would do also for security reasons.
First and foremost, because of the threats of possible Ukrainian drones. Now, as far as the parade was concerned, there were some elements that were fairly similar to other years. We see some of them on our screen right now. Those marching columns of soldiers, a lot of soldiers on Red Square. Also, of course, Vladimir Putin presiding over the parade. A lot of VIPs also, there basically his entire cabinet.
But then also veterans from World War II, which, of course, this day commemorates, but also from what Russia still calls its special military operation. Obviously, the combat operations in Ukraine. But there were things that were completely different. One of the things that you normally see is a large number of Russian tanks, of armored vehicles, of infantry fighting vehicles, all the way to ballistic intercontinental missiles, nuclear capable.
None of that was on display on Red Square today. Instead, what the Russians did is they produced some very high end videos of other assets that they have in their military. That going all the way from drones to anti-aircraft systems to more strategic assets, like, for instance, long range aviation as well as their naval fleet.
But all of that was just on video. None of that could actually be seen on the ground, although there was a short fly over. Now, one of the things that Vladimir Putin did do in his short speech that he gave at the beginning of the parade is he sort of made the connection between the soldiers who fought in World War II in what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War, and to the combat efforts going on today in Ukraine. Let's listen in.
[05:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The great feat of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers carrying out tasks of the special military operation, today. They are standing up to an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO block. And yet a hero is marched forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Vladimir Putin there, essentially saying that. He believes the Russian military today is not just up against Ukraine, but of course, also Western nations, including many of those who are -- who are in NATO and you know, all of that, of course, also reflects on the situation.
One of the things that the Russians have been facing here, increasingly, over the past couple of weeks, is long range Ukrainian drone strikes. Of course, that would have been a threat today, although there was that ceasefire that was brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump last night. But in general, for many Russians, Kim right now, is very difficult to see whether or not an end is in sight to the combat operations in Ukraine.
Certainly, the Russians claiming they're making progress, Progress, however, seems to be very difficult to come by. Vladimir Putin, however, in his speech, not showing any inklings of backing down, one of the quotes that he did have, I'll read it to you, was towards the end of his speech. He says, victory has always been and always will be, on our side. That is Vladimir Putin earlier today.
BRUNHUBER: Appreciate that. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much.
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 Narcoterrorists 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.
One of the United States closest allies is facing an election shake up. The hard right Reform UK 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 hundreds of council seats.
Farage is an ally of President Trump and was the chief architect of Brexit, which forced the UK out of the European Union. He says he is ready for rebellion. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIGEL FARAGE, PARTY LEADER, REFORM PARTY UK: When you see the full results in the red wall, there will 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.
(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)
KEIR 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. Labor is elected to meet those challenges, and I am not going to walk away from those challenges and plunge the country into chaos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And joining us now from London to drill down into the election, is Owen Winter. He's a Political Data Journalist with The Economist. Great to take your get your take on this. So just to start, for an American and international audience that might not be too familiar with the ins and outs of British politics. I mean, give us the big picture of what is happening now across England, Scotland and Wales.
OWEN WINTER, POLITICAL DATA JOURNALIST, THE ECONOMIST: Yes, so these are local elections to elect local councils that run services like bins and other kind of local politics. But they're the biggest kind of staging post before the next UK General Election. So lots of people are watching for a sign of how the parties are doing, and the Labor government basically suffered one of the worst defeats in the Labor Party's history.
It lost over 1000 local councilors, did very badly in Wales, which is one of its historic kind of heartlands, and failed to make gains in Scotland, which it lost a few years ago. So really, it's very catastrophic for Labor, and there's a lot of questions about Keir Starmer's future. As a result, the biggest beneficiaries are Reform UK, as you say.
But there's some kind of signs, you know, they made huge gains, but I wouldn't say it was a total landslide for them. And then the other party, probably to mention is the Green Party. They made some historic gains as well.
BRUNHUBER: OK, so I want to get at all of those individual ingredients, but let's start with Reform. I mean, they picked up so many seats. Do you get a sense that Britons are more attracted to that far right message, or is it just basically a protest vote against Labor?
[05:25:00]
WINTER: Yeah, so it's probably a mix of the two. Britain has had kind of parties on the populist right for at least a decade, and part of that is immigration, which is one of the top issues in the country. People are really unhappy with the level of immigration and particularly the arrival of small boats across the channel with asylum seekers.
So that is a kind of, probably reforms defining issue that continues to be an issue, but it is also a kind of general sense of dissatisfaction with politics. I mean, when I speak to voters, particularly Reform voters, the overwhelming thing is a kind of sense of Britain's decline, or a sense that things are getting worse, and a kind of desire to kick the system because it isn't delivering.
BRUNHUBER: OK, so let's get at what this might mean in the future. I mean, you've done a lot of work modeling British elections. If you take these local and regional results and kind of project them on to a general election, what does the map look like?
WINTER: Yeah. So if you look at the elections on Thursday, they basically tell a similar story to what opinion polls were already telling us. So Reform, UK is out in front. It's definitely got a substantial lead over the other parties, but it isn't a kind of hugely popular party. It's probably, you know, the estimates suggest its nationwide vote share is somewhere between 25 and 30, maybe slightly above 30 percent. So, you know, it leads the other parties. But it's not overwhelming,
and the other parties are kind of fighting, jostling for position to be the main opposition to Reform. Whether that will carry on for the next few years, I think, is very uncertain. Historically, local elections at this point haven't been, you know, perfect predictions of what a general election would look like.
The correlation is surprisingly weak, but I think it is kind of raising alarm bells for the Labor Party. Obviously, we already knew that the Labor Party was very unpopular, but on a kind of emotional level, I think for a lot of labor politicians, there will be a sense that -- a sense of shock at losing so many Heartland constituencies.
BRUNHUBER: We heard in that clip there, Nigel Farage saying that Prime Minister Starmer is basically their best asset. How much of this is down to Keir Starmer's unpopularity? And I'll fold in a follow up there. You know calls for him to step down. How loud are those whispers getting right now?
WINTER: Yeah, so Keir Starmer is definitely unpopular. He's probably one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers Britain has ever had. He's getting close to the levels of Liz Truss, whose premiership was a disaster and lasted only a few days. So there is certainly something about Keir Starmer the voters particularly dislike. But I think maybe Labor politicians are engaging in wishful thinking, if they think they can just change leader and solve all of the problems.
I mean, the government has really struggled with a lot of issues, such as, I mean, the cost of living is particularly important to voters. That won't change if they change Prime Minister, and most of the kind of options to replace Keir Starmer are fairly unpopular themselves. I think at the moment, the Labor Party is still kind of reeling from the election. There's probably 20 to 30 MPs who have directly called for Keir Starmer to go.
Most of those are people you'd sort of expect, who didn't like Keir Starmer to begin with. And so it's a -- it's going to take a few days to see if that kind of snowballs into something bigger. But as I say so, much of this is about the kind of emotions of the -- of Labor MPs, and you know, how they respond to the trauma of such a dramatic loss.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting to see what the implications of all this will be. I really appreciate your analysis. Owen Winter, thank you so much.
WINTER: Great. Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: All right, after the break, more on the hantavirus outbreak on the ship at sea, and what's next for the passengers and crew still stuck on board. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber, and let's check some of
today's top stories. The U.S. is waiting to hear back from Iran about its latest proposal to end the war. This as the two sides continue to exchange fire around the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. military says it disabled two Iranian flagged oil tankers trying to bypass its blockade. Despite the attacks, U.S. officials say the ceasefire is still in effect.
Sources tell CNN that U.S. intelligence believes Iran's Supreme Leader is still shaping the country's war strategy. Mojtaba Khamenei has remained out of the public view since the early days of the war. Iranian, officials say he's been healing from injuries, but quote is now in complete health.
The cruise ship at the center of a deadly Hantavirus outbreak is expected to arrive in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday. Officials say that upon their arrival, the passengers and crew on board will be immediately transported to quarantine facilities for continued observation over the coming weeks. Health officials worldwide are scrambling to track the outbreak in conjunction with the World Health Organization.
CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau joins us from Rome with the latest on the global response. So it's such a huge, you know, global outpouring of sort of efforts here to track people and so on. Can you take us through exactly what the latest is there?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, you know, I think all eyes really right now are on the Canary Islands and Tenerife waiting for this cruise ship to arrive on the early hours of Sunday morning. Now, you know, when you think of cruise ships and quarantines, everybody is thinking back to COVID, six years ago.
But of course, you know, if you look at the response, especially the global contact tracing right now, a lot of lessons were learned during that pandemic, even though it's the very different situation, authorities tell us.
When that ship arrives in Tenerife tomorrow morning, there will be a number of smaller boats that will meet it. It will not dock on land, and those -- in those boats will be various health authorities, including those from the CDC in the United States. The American passengers, 17 of them, will then be sent to Nebraska, where they'll be quarantining and studied to make sure that they don't develop any symptoms.
And the Spanish passengers will go to a military base. So every country is sort of dealing with it differently, but just to sort of hone-in on what's going to happen when that vessel arrives in Tenerife, the port authority there has a very, very specific plan. Let's listen to what that is.
[05:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PEDRO SUAREZ, TENERIFE AUTHORITY DIRECTOR (through translator): There
will be three specific areas, as it has been requested. The first is the passenger reception area. The second is for changing personal protective equipment for those involved in the passenger reception operation. In the second area, busses will arrive to collect passengers. And the third is a buffer zone designed to ensure a reasonable social distance is maintained.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LATZA NADEAU: And Kim, you know, a lot of the terminology we heard during the pandemic, but so many of the experts have said that this virus is very different. It's been around for a long time. They don't expect mutations. And it's -- it's being watched differently. It's, you know, every everybody is sort of knows what to expect, and people are taking precautions.
And so when those 17 American passengers get into the shore there in Spain, in the Canary Islands, they'll be doing individual risk assessments and determining how long they need to quarantine. So it's very, very organized and well thought out, but the world is watching, worrying and waiting at this point, Kim to see what happens next.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely, Barbie. Lots on (inaudible). Thanks so much. Now, CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the operation to transport the ship's 17 American passengers back home to the U.S., and what those passengers can expect during their quarantine in Nebraska's bio containment facility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL PROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are an estimated 17 Americans on board the cruise ship, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, its operator, and we have learned that the plan has two steps. The first step involves Centers for Disease Control staffers traveling to the Canary Islands to meet the cruise ship when it arrives at the Spanish archipelago, and then escort the American passengers back to the United States aboard a charter flight.
This is what four sources familiar with the plan told CNN. According to one of those sources, the Charter is a specialized aircraft with a bio containment unit, like the ones used during COVID-19 evacuations. The second step, according to two sources, involves a team being dispatched to meet those returning American passengers in Nebraska, where it's expected they will be placed into quarantine to ensure the virus doesn't have a chance to spread. Why Nebraska?
Well, because the state is home to the National Quarantine Unit, which is a federally funded quarantine facility. It's also home to the Nebraska Bio Containment Unit that treats patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases. Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC Director, told CNN that even though this is a very dangerous virus, people shouldn't assume it is just as contagious as COVID.
DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: What's very concerning is the high case fatality rate here. This particular strain of the Hantavirus is quite lethal. Now that is not to say this is the next pandemic. Hantavirus is not set up to cause a pandemic, the way say COVID was at this point, and there's nothing to suggest that it is on the way to doing that.
ROMO: Six states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, Virginia and now New Jersey are already monitoring seven passengers who previously disembarked from the ship, although health officials told CNN that none are experiencing symptoms, a State Department spokesperson confirmed the U.S. State Department is arranging the repatriation flight in coordination with the CDC, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Government of Spain. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The pressure is mounting for southern states like South Carolina, as the redistricting battle to pick up seats in the House heats up between Republicans and Democrats. That story and more coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: A major blow for Democrats in Virginia in the growing battle over congressional maps ahead of the midterms. The state Supreme Court overturned a redistricting plan voters approved just two and a half weeks ago, a map Democrats had hoped could help them win as many as four additional House seats, and Virginia is just the latest flash point in a widening state by state fight over how congressional districts get drawn before November.
In Alabama, Republicans filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to try and redraw its map. The governor even signed new legislation anticipating a win in the courts. President Trump celebrated the Virginia ruling online, calling it a quote, huge win for the Republican Party and America.
And you may remember he helped set this latest redistricting push in motion last summer when he openly urged Republicans to draw more favorable maps. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: How many more seats do you want the Republicans to draw?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Five.
REPORTER: And then what if California, New York, Illinois and other blue states --
TRUMP: Yeah. Well, that's OK, too, but five, I think we get five, and there could be some other states we're going to get another three or four or five, in addition. Texas would be the biggest one. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The fight gained new urgency just over a week ago when the Supreme Court again weakened part of the Voting Rights Act, opening the door to new redistricting battles across the south. Now, Republicans in states like Louisiana and South Carolina are pushing their own map changes as both parties try to reshape the battlefield ahead of the midterms.
The ABC network is accusing the Trump administration's media regulator of threatening its first amendment rights. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the network says the agency is upending decades of settled law and chilling free speech. The letter was filed in response to the FCC's highly unusual decision to open an inquiry into the daytime talk show, The View.
The probe centers on the equal time rule that previous FCC chairs have downplayed. The rule requires stations to give equal airtime to all legally qualified candidates for public office. The ABC letter points out the FCC ruled in 2002, The View qualified for a news exemption to the rule, but current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has sought to challenge how news exemptions apply to daytime and late night talk shows.
President Trump on Friday says he knows nothing about whether he's going to get rid of his Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary. Now this comes after CNN reported that Trump signed off on Makary's firing amid criticism his management of the agency. Aides and outside allies have criticized Makary on several issues, including how he's handled efforts to further limit access to the abortion pill.
30 years after Kristin Smart vanished from her college campus, investigators have launched a renewed search for her remains. Authorities in central California say they're using ground penetrating radar at the home of the mother of Paul Flores, the man convicted of Smart's murder in 2022. CNN's Josh Campbell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are police any closer to finding the body of Kristin Smart, the 19-year old California college student who disappeared three decades ago? A new development in the search may be significant.
Authorities say there is indication, human remains might be located at the home of the mother of Paul Flores, the man convicted of Smart's murder in 2022.
[05:45:00]
IAN PARKINSON, SHERIFF, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY: So we can't call it Kristin, but you know, we think there's -- there's evidence to support human remains there at one time.
CAMPBELL: The renewed search for Smart's body comes as the sheriff says New information has come to light that allowed investigators to get a search warrant for the home of Susan Flores.
But as far as what new information led to the renewed search, authorities aren't saying.
PARKINSON: If I laid -- let out information, that could jeopardize a next step or our next direction that would be damaging.
CAMPBELL: One thing we do know, according to authorities, is they are currently using advanced technology called ground penetrating radar to scan the Flores' property for remnants of human remains. Based on the initial positive findings that human remains might currently, or at one point, had been on the property, the sheriff said the next possible step for investigators will be to obtain an additional search warrant to start digging.
CNN has reached out to Susan Flores for comment, but has not heard back. To date, she has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Authorities say her son, Paul Flores was the last person who saw Kristin Smart alive back in 1996 when they were both returning to their university dorms after a party.
After about two months following her disappearance, police began to zero in on Flores, his story began to change, and he eventually stopped cooperating. At the time, police didn't believe there was enough evidence to charge him with murder because they couldn't locate her remains. But fast forward, more than 20 years later, it was podcaster Chris Lambert who started looking into the case, actually uncovering new witnesses to Smart's disappearance.
Flores was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison despite police not knowing the location of Smart's remains.
CHRIS LAMBERT, PODCASTER, YOUR OWN BACKGROUND: Every time that they do a search for her, is that this is going to be the time they finally find her. Kristin's mom turned 80 just a few days ago, and her parents are still waiting for answers, and this would be perfect timing.
CAMPBELL: And while the Smart family holds out hope they will finally learn what happened to Kristin, authorities say the investigation continues with a renewed hope for answers. Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back with more here on CNN Newsroom. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Mother's Day is this Sunday here in the U.S. and retailers expect Americans to spend billions on their moms. The National Retail Federation says a record $38 billion will be spent on Mother's Day gifts this year, and while flowers remain, the go-to gift, shoppers may get sticker shock placing those orders. CNN's Marybel Gonzalez reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been working through 11 years already.
MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ana Mendosa (ph) long time florist at this wholesale flower market in downtown Los Angeles has seen her fair share of changes in the industry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Little by little every year, different prices.
GONZALEZ: This year is no exception. And how much are these?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one, they're 70.
GONZALEZ: $70. How much were these last year?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, they were like $50.
GONZALEZ: So $20 more. Florists here point to a rise in gas prices due to the war in Iran and President Donald Trump's tariffs as the biggest contributors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have products that fly in from Ecuador, Colombia to Miami, and that they're driven from Miami to Los Angeles by truck. So the fuel cost is extremely expensive right now, and it affects the cost of the flowers.
GONZALEZ: And it's not just the flowers that are costing more. Vendors say the materials they use to make these arrangements, from the plastics to the tissue paper to the baskets, all of those are getting more expensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today's economy is difficult. You know, it's very difficult. So and flowers can be really expensive.
GONZALEZ: Customers like Gretchen Severson are feeling the price hikes, opting to buy wholesale to save.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're really getting a lot for your money. I know it really does fluctuate, but this is the best I've seen so far.
GONZALEZ: Vendors say they are working with people's budgets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, we used to do, like, more big ones to be more expensive for now, like, Let's do more smaller so people could be like, you know, reasonable prices. I mean, it doesn't have to big, a big arrangement to make your mom happy.
GONZALEZ: I'm Marybel Gonzalez reporting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right, now to the NBA Playoffs. The San Antonio Spurs have a one game advantage over Minnesota and the Western Conference Semifinals. They beat the Timberwolves, 115- 108. Victor Wembanyama finished with 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. And the New York Knicks are trouncing the Philadelphia 76ers in the east.
Even with star player Joel Embiid returning from injury, the Sixers couldn't keep up with Jalen Brunson. And the next Friday night, the Knicks won 108-94 and now take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Fans of J. Balvin, get ready. The global superstar will be one of the performers headlining the World Cup's opening ceremony in Mexico City next month. FIFA announced the planned performance on Friday. The Colombian reggaeton singer sat down with CNN's Stefano Pozzebon for an exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For someone about to sing in front of 15,000 people, Colombian mega star J Balvin is remarkably calm when he sits down exclusively with CNN. FIFA just announced he will perform in the opening ceremony of the World Cup.
J BALVIN, COLOMBIAN REGGAETON SINGER: Yeah, of course. You know this is for the World Cup.
POZZEBON: This is incredible that you --
BALVIN: It is a main and huge statement. Always wanted the world to take us out of the box, you know, as Latinos, and just show that we're global citizens. And the thing that I've been showing and what we represent.
POZZEBON: The gig set for Mexico City on June 11, will raise the curtain on a global tournament that begins in Latin America, with most matches in the United States. FIFA hopes the tournament unites the region at a moment when the Latino community in the U.S. has seen their place under question. With the White House pushing an all-out deportation effort that has made many fans want. If they would be able to attend the matches.
[05:55:00]
But also, as Latin music is dominating on the world stage, driven by artists like Balvin, who have been doing this for 20 years.
BALVIN: You know, I think this is just the beginning. People thought Reggaeton was going to die 30 years ago, and every year they weren't going to say -- they were saying like, oh, this is the last time. This is the last time. So we're going nowhere. You know, we know about culture. You know, we know what we represent.
We know what we can give to the world. We know our skills. We know our talent. You know, we embracing more our culture than ever.
POZZEBON: In February, Puerto Rico's Bad Bunny made history as the first Latino artist to headline a Super Bowl halftime show. And in April, another Colombian, Karol G closed Coachella. Balvin hopes the star power can push Latino culture beyond the football field.
BALVIN: I think they will do great if we understand that we are a team, you know, and we leave our egos behind, and we just think about as a family. I think that can take us really far.
POZZEBON: Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Barranquilla, Colombia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: South Korea, has had an explosive global influence, from award winning films to K-beauty and 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. That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. CNN This Morning is coming up after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
