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Ebola Outbreak in DRC and Uganda; Military Diver Dies in Maldives Search; Bulgaria Wins Eurovision Song Contest. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 17, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

A stern warning from the World Health Organization on the severity of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Tragedy on top of tragedy, a diver has died in the search for the bodies of scuba divers in the Maldives.

And a first-time winner in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, and Bulgaria takes home the prize.

And we begin this hour with a warning from the World Health Organization. It has now labeled the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO is not declaring this a pandemic emergency, but health officials say at least 80 people have died in the DRC amid a surge of more than 200 suspected cases, and there are no approved vaccines or treatments for this rare strain of the virus.

And joining me now from Brussels, Belgium, is a professor of global health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr. Peter Piot. Welcome back to CNN. Thank you for joining us. We have so many questions to ask you, sir. And, first, just the chances that this could spread further, the outbreak is in the DRC and Uganda. How concerned are you that the virus will cross more borders and spread even further?

DR. PETER PIOT, PROF. OF GLOBAL HEALTH, LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE: Right, good morning, everybody, Kristie. First of all, I really welcome the prompt declaration by the World Health Organization and because it is an international -- of international concern. And I'm quite worried for the region, not for the rest of the world, but for the region because it has the potential for a larger outbreak for many reasons.

One, it's probably that this has been going on for quite a while because there have been clusters of cases across the province of Ituri, the Northeast Congo. As you know, 80 deaths including four healthcare workers, that doesn't happen you know, overnight probably since March.

Secondly, we -- as you mentioned, there are two cases in Kampala. They're not connected. There's one case diagnosed in Kinshasa, and now also one case in Goma, according to a Professor Muyembe, who's really one of the leaders in the world at dealing with this.

And then I would say, let's not forget this is a region with high insecurity, high population mobility. And, finally, as you mentioned, this is an unusual strain of Ebola virus, an unusual species. It's called Bundibugyo. And, you know, we have no proven vaccines, no proven treatment, so it has all the elements for a much larger outbreak than what we have.

STOUT: So, Dr. Piot, you're less worried for the world, you're very worried for the region. You mentioned Ituri. This is the epicenter of the DRC, the epicenter of this outbreak. A question about containment, given the security situation in the DRC, as you pointed out a moment ago, this is a very volatile region. There have been deadly clashes there between rival militia groups.

So, from a public health perspective, I mean, what can public health workers do to improve containment efforts given the violence and the security situation there?

PIOT: Yes. First of all, I should say that Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, has some really top expertise dealing with Ebola outbreaks led by Professor Muyembe. And so the technical expertise is there. What now -- what will matter is that can they operate in the region providing within the first place protective gear for healthcare workers, because otherwise it's going to be really a major, major massacre of healthcare workers as we've seen before.

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Will there be diagnostics, et cetera?

So, this will require also support from outside for tools, and WHO has started doing that. And I think that it has to be clear that if there are warring militias and so on, that they stop and, you know, fighting with each other and that there is room for this type of a response, because we know what to do, even if it's a new type of virus.

But we also need to make sure that we test out are the current vaccines that exist for Ebola, will they work, and all the treatments. Yes.

STOUT: Yes. Because this is a new type of Ebola that authorities are dealing with here, this is involving a non-Zaire strain of the Ebola virus. The existing treatments and vaccines, they were developed against the Zaire strain. So, with this new strain, this alternative strain, what kind of supportive care or treatment is available?

PIOT: Yes, it's true. This is the third outbreak of this Bundibugyo strain, and we already know that the classic diagnostic tests that are now being used for the diagnosis of Ebola virus infection, they don't really work, and that's one of the reasons that there was some delay in confirming that this was an Ebola outbreak.

Secondly, the vaccine, which works very well in -- when you vaccinate people around cases of Ebola to protect the further spread, we don't know whether it works and it has to be evaluated. But there are no specific vaccines because there was really no, let's say, market incentive or no clear public health need. And as far as treatment is concerned, these are two monoclonal antibody treatments, and they're very specific for the Zaire strain, as you mentioned.

So, we are in a difficult situation, absolutely. But -- so care for the patients is really absolutely the priority now, isolation and also making sure that those who care for people are protected and don't get contaminated.

STOUT: Absolutely. This is a very critical moment.

Dr. Peter Piot joining us live, thank you for sharing your expertise with us.

PIOT: Thank you very much.

STOUT: Now, Russia's state news agency is reporting a massive wave of Ukrainian drone attacks overnight. It says at least three people were killed near Moscow in what's being described as the largest attack on the capital in more than a year. 12 others were injured, including workers at an oil refinery in the region.

Now, Russia's military says it shot down more than 500 Ukrainian drones, and that's happening after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would respond to Russia's largest two-day barrage last week.

Iran's state media claims that European countries are engaged in talks with the IRGC navy regarding passage through the Strait of Hormuz, this as a top Iranian official announced that only vessels and parties cooperating with Iran will benefit from a new, quote, mechanism to manage traffic in the vital waterway.

Now, he went on to say that, quote, necessary fees will be collected under this mechanism. The report did not mention specific countries in Europe, and there has been no response yet to the claim.

Meanwhile Israel launched new strikes on Southern Lebanon after the two sides agreed to a 45-day ceasefire extension. Residents in the City of Tyre could be seen sifting through the rubble after an IDF strike destroyed part of a residential building.

Eyewitnesses say occupants were forced to flee with little more than the clothes on their back, and the extension of the ceasefire was announced just days before it was set to expire. Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel's allowed to conduct, quote, defensive operations.

Leila Gharagozlou is monitoring those developments from Abu Dhabi. She joins us now live. And, Leila, the fighting continues in Lebanon after the ceasefire was extended. What's the latest from there? LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. So, as you said, the ceasefire is 45-day extension, and it's set to begin today on Sunday.

Now, just hours after the ceasefire was announced and just hours before it was set to go into place, we saw an Israeli strike on a southern Lebanese village.

Now, this is coming off the back of some earlier moves this week, where we saw Israel continue to advance into Southern Lebanon and then cross that critical Litani River.

So, we've seen kind of these increased hostilities over the course of the last week, but also throughout the rest of the ceasefire, and it's causing experts some concern about the viability of the ceasefire and whether this is going to maintain and hold even for that 45-day extension.

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Now, Hezbollah, for its side, it says that it would be open to a direct ceasefire with Israel if Israel is also open to it. But it still remains to be seen whether that is something that will actually happen. In the meantime, we are continuing to see these increased hostilities between the two sides.

STOUT: All right. Leila, thank you for that important update there on that front o- of the conflict. But I also wanted to ask you about how these discussions are underway between European countries and Tehran in order to gain access to the Strait of Hormuz. What have you learned?

GHARAGOZLOU: Yes. So, Iran's state media has said that the Iranians and the Europeans have engaged in some sort of talk to create a deal for them to be able to get access to the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, it's unclear what is in the details of those talks, if these talks have happened. The Europeans and the E.U. in general have not confirmed this as of yet. What I think is important to look at, though, is what the White House will say if this deal is something that is eventually confirmed. President Trump has had very harsh comments for his European counterparts and their decision to stay out of Operation Freedom and their desire to stay out of this conflict, and Trump's effort to reopen the strait. So, if there is some sort of deal that gives the E.U. access to the strait, it's going to be really interesting to see how Trump will react.

Now, on the Iranian side, this is very clearly their effort to double down on not only collecting fees and transit tolls for access to the Strait of Hormuz, but also their national sovereignty. Iran's head of National Security Commission to the Parliament, Ebrahim Azizi, actually said that this is a national sovereignty framework when it comes to this mechanism and access to the strait. So, they're doubling down on their control of the strait, and we're going to have to see what this means for any further talks between the U.S. and Iran.

STOUT: Yes. The fate of the strait is front and center, and, of course, access to it.

Leila Gharagozlou joining us live from Abu Dhabi, thank you very much indeed for your reporting.

Now, expert cave divers from Finland are in the Maldives now to assist an ongoing undersea recovery mission, and search teams have been looking for the bodies of four Italian divers who went missing after a scuba accident on Thursday, and the body of one diver was recovered that day.

This dangerous mission has already cost the life of a top military diver from the Maldives. Authorities believe Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhee died from complications in the decompression process. And officials say that they think the bodies of the four remaining Italian divers are in a maze-like underwater cave. The deepest point of the cave is about 70 meters, that's about 230 feet, below sea level.

Now, John Volanthen is a diving officer for the British Cave Rescue Council. He played a key role in the rescue of the Thai youth soccer team back in 2018, and he joins us now live. Sir, thank you so much for joining us here on CNN.

As we reported just a moment ago, and, of course you well know, a military diver in the Maldives has died while searching for the victims. Could you please tell us about just the level of difficulty for this recovery mission?

JOHN VOLANTHEN, DIVING OFFICER, BRITISH CAVE RESCUE COUNCIL: Well, firstly, I'd like to offer my condolences to all of those who knew the Italian divers, and also, of course, the military rescue diver, Mohamed Mahudhee. His death was the outcome, I guess, of a selfless act, looking for that overdue party.

The dive is potentially very difficult. In diving, depth generally equals danger, and being deep in a cave adds to that quite significantly. You mention maze-like. We understand the cave is a series of three rooms on the seabed. And so trying to enter that cave with the depth and also the potential silt and difficulty is what's unquestionably hampering the rescue efforts or the recovery efforts.

It's essentially a very long way into the cave, and, normally, cave divers would lay a guideline to find their way into the cave, and that's potentially what happened with the missing party.

STOUT: What we learned from, you know, the -- we heard from the Italian foreign minister was that the divers died when they tried to explore these caves at depths around 50 meters or around 164 feet. A number of risks involved for a dive at this depth. And I wanted to ask you about currents and siphon effects, and could tidal currents play a role in pulling and catching a diver off guard?

VOLANTHEN: I think that's unknown at the moment. What I would say is that cave diving and diving in general is a relatively safe activity, provided the divers stick within their experience and also their equipment. But it appears here there's a potential that the divers have gone significantly beyond their experience and also the equipment they were carrying.

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STOUT: Yes. Cave diving, as you said, can be a safe activity, but there are risks that could happen along the way. And again, investigation is underway. We're not trying to hypothesize here, but to understand the risks, could we talk about, for example, psychological distress or a panic attack? Is something like that something that could affect a team underwater?

VOLANTHEN: Certainly, panic is something that can affect anyone whilst diving. As you start to increase the depth, factors, such as the air that is breathed starts to become narcotic, and that makes not just panic more likely, but it also makes it more likely that you're inebriated or essentially unable to control yourself. That narcosis effect gets significantly stronger if you're breathing air, which we understand the divers that were lost are.

And so, as you start to go deeper, that narcosis effect potentially could create panic, but also would make them less likely to be able to find their way out. And also, again, if the cave becomes silty, as is normal for this type of cave, if you touch the walls or the floor, finding the way out becomes much more difficult.

STOUT: Yes. And, of course, sir, you are no stranger to high-risk diving and cave diving. And as you point out, it can be a safe activity. So, what is the preparation required for a safe cave dive? You know, in practical terms, what do divers need to best prepare themselves, especially for a dive like this?

VOLANTHEN: I would perhaps turn it on its head and say that most of the incidents that I've been aware of are a series of small decisions. It's not one big dramatic problem underwater. Usually, an incident like this starts with a series of small decisions. Sometimes they even start on the shore or on the boat or out of the water.

And as things start to go awry, it's trying to avoid making those small decisions. So, a lot of safe cave diving is really in the planning.

STOUT: Yes. So, you know, a cave dive is a series of small decisions, and you have to make the right decision all along the way, along with your crew, with your team. And you must have had a few close shaves underwater. Could you think of and share with us a time when something went wrong, but you managed to make that right decision and problem solve your way to safety?

VOLANTHEN: I would suggest talking about the Thai cave rescue. There was a large team and a large series of good decisions amongst our team that eventually led to the safe outcome of that particular rescue. I would say as a series of good decisions and also very careful planning, that rescue stands out as something that can be achieved when good decisions are made, when people are working within their comfort zones, and they're not at their limits.

STOUT: Yes. John Volanthen, thank you for sharing your expertise with us, and, of course, at the top, thank you for expressing your condolences to the families of the victims. We appreciate that. Take care, sir.

VOLANTHEN: Thank you.

STOUT: You're watching CNN Newsroom. We'll be back right after this break.

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STOUT: Welcome back. Now, the stranded humpback whale known as Timmy has been found dead off the coast of Denmark. Efforts to rescue him in March and April captured the hearts of people around the world. Timmy had spent weeks lost in the Baltic Sea, sick and far from his natural habitat, and he repeatedly stranded himself along the German coast.

As his health deteriorated, a complex last-ditch rescue operation was launched to save him. Timmy was successfully transported back into his native North Sea waters earlier this month, but sadly did not survive.

Now, Bulgaria is celebrating its first ever victory at the Eurovision Song Contest. 27-year-old Dara stole fans' hearts with her pop song, Bangaranga. It crushed the jury and the public's vote, the first time both have selected the same winner in nearly ten years.

For seven decades, Eurovision has helped create some of the biggest international stars, including ABBA and Celine Dion. But this hugely popular contest, which often features kind of quirky acts, is facing its largest political boycott ever. Israel took second place, although its participation led five countries to boycott the event over Israel's war in Gaza.

Now, if you have kids, you're likely familiar with the viral and nonsensical six-seven hand gesture trend. Well, Pope Leo playfully joined in with a group of kids visiting the Vatican, taking a moment to show off his pop culture fluency, much to their delight. Take a look.

He's got it.

Now, top ranked golfers, they are meanwhile preparing for the fourth and final round of this year's PGA Championship later today. American Alex Smalley carved out a narrow lead on Saturday following his birdie streak on the back nine, but the tournament is still anyone's to win, with nearly a dozen major champions within striking distance.

Now, CNN World Sports Patrick Snell has more on how moving day shuffled the leaderboard.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Atop a clogged PGA Championship leaderboard, one name stands alone at the top. The unheralded American Alex Smalley will take a two-shot lead into Sunday's final round, but it could have been an all together different story. The 29-year-old New Yorker, without a PGA Tour title to his name, started Saturday's round three in a tie for the lead, but he bogeyed three of his first four holes. He dug deep though, refusing to hit the panic button, responding with seven birdies, including one of the last, to close out a round of 68 to leave himself at six under par for the championship.

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Also in the mix, Spanish star Jon Rahm, who fired a three under par 67 on Saturday, Rahm's quest to become the first Spanish golfer ever to win the PGA Championship.

And England's Aaron Rai also very much in the mix. Rai, one of five players at four under par as he seeks to become the first English golfer to win this tournament in 107 years.

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AARON RAI, ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's actually the first that I heard of that statistic a few minutes ago. I didn't realize that was the case. But, yes, amazing to be in this position, a lot of really good golf to be here. But I also know there's such a long way to go. A lot of things can and will change tomorrow.

So, yes, amazing to be here, but trying not to get too far ahead of myself.

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SNELL: Saturday was very much moving day for two-time winner Rory McIlroy, who'd started the day five shots back, but a sizzling four under par 66 soon changed that, and the back-to-back Masters champion will start Sunday three shots back.

And only once since 1990 has the PGA Championship winner not been in the top five on the leaderboard entering the final round.

And with that, it's right back to you.

STOUT: Thank you, Patrick. Now, organizers call it one of the world's toughest marathons, especially as it includes a grueling section of the Great Wall of China.

Nearly 1,500 runners from more than 50 countries ran in the 23rd Great Wall Marathon. Now, participants could run a half-marathon or an 8.5 kilometer fun run. But for those brave enough, the longest course, some 42 kilometers, that included 5,000 steps on the Great Wall, often filled with uneven stones and steep inclines.

Now, the course, it also cuts through the scenic countryside, where people often line the route to cheer on the competitors. Wow, breathtaking scenes there.

I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Thank you for joining us. Quest's World of Wonder is next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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