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Protesters Burned Down an Ebola Treatment Facility Causing Chaos Despite DRC's Efforts to Prevent from Spreading Further; British Police Calls for Investigation on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired May 22, 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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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world. You are now in the "CNN Newsroom" with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta, and it is so good to have you with me. Coming up on the show.

Chaos at a health center treating Ebola patients in the DRC as protesters burn down hospital tents. Details of what happened and the latest on efforts to stop the deadly virus from spreading.

An update in the investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. We will go live to Buckingham Palace for what British police are saying.

Plus, new details on Iran's military capabilities. We'll take you live to the Gulf for the latest on the Iran war.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome.

More countries are taking precautions as a deadly Ebola outbreak spreads in Central Africa.

The U.S. is now requiring air passengers who were in a Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past three weeks to land at Dallas International Airport near Washington D.C. for testing. Meanwhile, Uganda is suspending all public transport with the neighboring DRC to help prevent the disease from spreading.

The World Health Organization is stepping up its response to the outbreak at the epicenter in the DRC. Two cargo planes have delivered 14 tons of medical supplies and health workers are setting up new isolation facilities. The DRC says at least 160 deaths are thought to be linked to the disease.

Yet, the outbreak has led to some controversy too. Protesters clashed with authorities at an Ebola treatment facility in the Eastern DRC on Thursday. And CNN's Larry Madero joins us now live from Nairobi for more. Larry,

what are we learning about the violence and the protests around the Ebola treatment facility?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those damage caused to a hospital treating Ebola patients, Ben, in the northeast of DRC, This is the epicenter of the current Ebola outbreak. And it shows the tension between tradition and the protocol expected during a public health emergency.

The family of a young man believed to have died of Ebola demanded to take his body and bury him, according to local customs. The medical facility did not allow them to do that. It degenerated into a protest.

Two tents were burned to the ground and fortunately a body was burnt as well. In that process, police had to use tear gas fire warning shots to disperse this angry crowd that demanded the body of their loved one. This is one gentleman who's also there to take the body of his son.

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LEOPOLD KATABUKA, RWAMPARA RESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (through translator): We came to bury my son, and then we saw these people coming in numbers, asking for the body of someone called Eli. They started throwing stones and set fire to the tents, and my son's body was left burned there. I don't know what to do.

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MADOWO: The challenge here is that they want to bury their loved ones in dignity.

And there are some in this community who tell CNN they don't believe in Ebola. It's not really, it does not exist. They think it's a white man's invention, some of them think the NGOs have created it to make money.

The other one is that Ebola often spreads at funerals. This current outbreak is believed to have started at a super spreader funeral on May 5th. A lot of people died connected to that funeral and they began testing and then announced that yes, there was an outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, which is very rare.

It doesn't have a vaccine or any treatment therapies at this time. And that is why authorities are trying to stop them from doing this. But they believe in touching the corpse of the departed as a farewell.

That is what we're seeing right here in this tension, Ben.

HUNTE: And from, in fact, no, Larry, we are actually going to wrap there. Thank you so much, I appreciate that speech again later.

And now to the war with Iran. Sources say Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities faster than expected. The sources citing U.S. intel say Tehran has already restarted some of its drone production and its drone attack capability could be fully operational in as soon as six months.

This as Iran's foreign ministry dismisses rumors about a breakthrough in peace talks. One of the main sticking points has been over enriched uranium. The U.S. is demanding Iran give up its stockpile, but Iran has refused to discuss it.

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Leila Gharagozlou joins us live from Abu Dhabi. Thanks so much for being with me again.

We are hearing new reports that Iran may be rebuilding military capabilities faster than anyone expected. What more can you tell us about that?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, we learned a number of things from this report. As you said, that Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities much faster than U.S. officials originally estimated. And in particular, they're ramping up their drone production.

And these drones have been really key in Iran's retaliation against the U.S. and Israel, particularly in the region. Now, these drones, it's important to remember are very cheaply made and can be produced very quickly. So it does look to be that Iran has used these six weeks to replenish their drone program.

Now, the other thing that we learned from this report is why they're able to rebuild their military capability so quickly. The report says that it could be due to Russia and China helping Iran with rebuilding, but also that the U.S. and Israel actually did not degrade the military capability as much as they had originally thought that they had.

Now, President Trump did push back on this just yesterday. Take a listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have total control of the Strait of Hormuz, as you know, with our blockade. The blockade has been 100 percent effective. Nobody's been able to get through.

It's like a steel wall. It's our Navy. We have the greatest military anywhere in the world.

We wiped out their Navy. We wiped out their airport. I think they're down to about, I would say we knocked out 85 percent of their missile capacity.

It's very hard for them now to build missiles, to build drones.

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GHARAGOZLOU: Now, this missile capability has been really key to Iran's not only wartime strategy, but in general to Iran's military capabilities. It has been a key issue in nuclear negotiations as well. Now, in April, CNN actually reported that U.S. intelligence had

assessed that about half of Iran's missile launchers had survived U.S. strikes. That number has increased over the latest report to about two-thirds of them having survived. So we're not really seeing that degradation of capability that President Trump is necessarily talking about in either of these reports, Ben.

HUNTE: Iran is dismissing reports of any diplomatic breakthrough with the U.S., though. So where do things actually stand right now?

GHARAGOZLOU: So we're seeing quite a lot of back and forth between both sides. I think it's notable that President Trump and the White House have taken a more positive tone.

Earlier this week, President Trump said that there had been positive developments. Then we heard from J.D. Vance saying that he felt good enough about the direction of these talks to keep them going. Now, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, echoing that sentiment.

The Iranians have taken a more cautious tone. They are exchanging texts between the Iranians and Americans. There are text exchanges via Pakistan.

However, they do say that there are still major gaps when it comes to things like the nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz, and the missile program, and this missing enriched uranium. We're going to have to see how things go but President Trump has been very clear that he wants this enriched uranium out.

The Iranians are saying that it has to stay in the country. Ben?

HUNTE: Okay. Thank you so much, Leila, I appreciate it.

A new effort to rein in President Trump's war powers in Iran was abruptly canceled. House Republicans axed the vote because they were on the verge of losing.

Republicans hold only a razor-thin majority in the House, and several party members were absent. Democratic House leaders called the cancellation, quote, "cowardly." The vote is now expected to happen in early June when lawmakers return from recess.

Meanwhile, some Senate Republicans are revolting over the Trump administration's new anti-weaponization fund and a few other unpopular moves from the White House. The pushback is apparently so intense that senators have now canceled votes for the rest of the week, and they too left early for the Memorial Day recess.

Derailing plans for major legislation, including a bill that would have funded ICE and Border Patrol, the nearly $2 billion anti- weaponization fund would use taxpayer money to compensate those who claim they were unfairly targeted by the previous administration.

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SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): This is, I mean, this is just stupid on stilts.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I do not believe that individuals who were convicted of violence against police officers on January 6th should be entitled to reimbursement for their legal fees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: It appears that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche could not stem the mounting opposition, despite meeting with lawmakers.

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British authorities are appealing for any information related to misconduct by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Police provided an update a short time ago on the misconduct in public office investigation into the former prince. They said they are examining, quote, "a number of aspects of alleged misconduct," including reports that a woman was taken to Windsor in 2010, quote, "for sexual purposes."

The government released documents on Thursday relating to his appointment as British trade envoy in 2001. They indicated that the late Queen Elizabeth II pushed for him to get the position and that he was never formally vetted.

Nada Bashir joined us from London. Nada, what more do we know about this?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ben, these latest revelations are certainly adding yet more controversy to Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor, the brother of King Charles III. As we know, of course, he was briefly arrested back in February after documents and revelations were revealed as part of a Department of Justice release in the United States, which appeared to show that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had leaked during his time as trade envoy for the United Kingdom, shared sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein regarding his role as trade envoy and potential information connected to government details and ongoing deals with countries in Asia.

But now, of course, as this investigation continues by Thames Valley Police, we are learning more details. As you mentioned, police officials have released an update this morning saying that in addition to the investigation into that alleged misconduct, they are now also carrying out assessments into reports that a woman was taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for, quote, "sexual purposes," and those assessments are ongoing.

Of course, this adds to the scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor and those growing allegations of sexual misconduct that have been put forward in the past. We've also heard from the police that they are now engaging with the woman's legal representatives to confirm that if she wishes to report this formally to the police, they have said in their statement it will be taken seriously and handled with care, sensitivity and respect for her privacy.

Now, of course, this is yet another expansion of the investigation that is ongoing. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor took on the role of trade envoy back in 2001 and stepped down a decade later as a result and over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It was just last year that his titles were also stripped from him by King Charles III, perhaps an attempt to distance the royal family from this ongoing scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

But, of course, now there are questions as to whether we may see further allegations coming forward, whether we will see developments in this particular line of inquiry with regards to questions around sexual misconduct. Important to note, of course, that Andrew Mountbatten, has continuously denied those allegations. Buckingham Palace, for its part, has said it respects the course of justice and law, that it has responded and listened to these allegations with deep concern that it is respecting the due process of the law.

But, of course, this will add greater scrutiny and certainly to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the ongoing investigation. Now as you mentioned, Ben, this comes, this revelation by Thames Valley Police comes just a short while after we saw documents released by the government which appear to show that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to the role of trade envoy in 2001 with little vetting processes in place.

HUNTE: Okay, thank you so much for that update, Nada. I appreciate it.

NATO ministers meet amid rifts within the alliance. Still ahead, a look at growing friction between the United States and its allies across the Atlantic. See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: Ukraine says it has killed dozens of Russian troops in two waves of new drone strikes. One of them hit a training camp for drone pilots in occupied Ukraine on Wednesday night, killing at least 66 people.

CNN could not confirm that claim, but we did geolocate this footage that shows huge fires at the training camp. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says close to 100 Russians were killed or wounded in separate attacks in the occupied part of the Kherson region. He says the targets were a Russian security service headquarters and air defenses too.

The White House is making a U-turn on the deployment of U.S. forces in Europe. President Trump abruptly declared on Thursday that another 5000 troops will be headed to Poland. That came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked a scheduled deployment of a U.S. combat team to Eastern Europe.

Mr. Trump touted his relationship with Poland's right-wing President Karol Nowrocki. He highlighted his endorsement of the Polish leader, citing his election as one of the reasons he decided to send troops.

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Several hundred people protested the opening of a much larger U.S. consulate in Greenland on Thursday. Video from the event shows people standing outside of the new consulate, holding signs that say, quote, "USA stop it," and quote, "no means no."

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This protest comes months after President Trump tried to take ownership of the Arctic island. This did upset many locals, who have focused their anger on the opening of the larger U.S. consulate. The U.S. State Department says the new office provides a greater capacity for diplomatic engagement within Greenland.

Okay, happening now. NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Sweden at this very hour.

The U.S. says the government will focus on defense spending and greater burden sharing among alliance members. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull out of NATO. He also disagreed with the alliance over aid to Ukraine and recently ordered a withdrawal of thousands of troops from Germany.

For more, we're joined by Steven Erlanger, the chief diplomatic correspondent for the "New York Times," and he is in Berlin. It's good to see you, sir. Thanks for being with me.

This meeting comes at a pretty tense time for the alliance. What is the mood among allies going into these talks?

STEVEN ERLANGER, "NEW YORK TIMES" CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: I would say it's confused. It's confused and disoriented.

They know President Trump is angry with them about the Strait of Hormuz, but they, you know, a lot of this is Trump's anger at being stuck in a problem he can't get out of very easily. He thinks NATO as an alliance should have helped him, but NATO doesn't deal with the Middle East.

Certain NATO countries did provide basing flights for U.S. planes and refueling to hit Iran. Spain notably refused to join.

But Trump is very angry and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he will come to NATO and express the President's deep disappointment. But people are confused, particularly over this announcement about Polish troops. To get more American troops in Poland, which is very close to Russia, is a good sign for NATO's deterrence, not a bad sign.

It's closer to the front line than Germany is. But this notion that somehow the President is rewarding his friends rather than thinking through what's best for the alliance is also very troubling to people. They really don't understand how deep the President's commitment to the alliance and to European security really is.

HUNTE: Marco Rubio is expected to be carrying President Trump's message into the room. But what exactly is Washington angry about or worried about right now? And how much of that frustration is shared by his allies?

ERLANGER: Well, Washington is worried about a couple things. One is money, this is very expensive. Rotational troops are very expensive so I think they want to cut down on that.

The United States put more troops into Europe after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. I think the Pentagon would like to withdraw some of those and get back to the previous numbers, because the Russian threat seems a bit less extreme given the troubles they're having.

But NATO will want to help with the Strait of Hormuz, but once there's a settlement, of course, to help. Once there's a settlement, you don't need much help, but they're certainly not going to get involved with the war. So everyone's waiting to see what's going to happen with that.

And people still have a very strong lingering mistrust over Mr. Trump's intention, he said, to take Greenland, whether Denmark liked it or not. Denmark is a loyal NATO ally. And so there's anxiety over all those things.

Plus, Mr. Trump still seems much friendlier to Russia than to Ukraine. So there are issues to discuss. There's nervousness.

The Americans keep saying they will only withdraw troops from Europe when the Europeans are able to step up and replace those capabilities. But when the President gets angry at Germany and says he's going to pull troops out of Germany and then decides he likes Poland, he's going to put some into Poland, it makes people wonder what the real rationale is.

HUNTE: We are just waiting to hear from Marco Rubio in a moment, but we'll continue for now. How will Iran and the Strait of Hormuz play out here?

NATO officials have pointed out the alliance itself wasn't formally asked to even get involved. So is there a mismatch between what Washington expected and how NATO sees its role now?

ERLANGER: Well, I think there's a great confusion often between NATO as an alliance, which is collective defense when it is attacked, and NATO countries, individual countries, which are allies of the United States.

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And Mr. Trump confuses this too. NATO as an alliance had no real reason to get involved with the Strait of Hormuz and the war against Iran. This was not a war of defense, but a war of choice.

At the same time, NATO allies who have American bases, who have different basing rights agreements, some of them were reluctant to let American planes fly offensive targeting against Iran. But Germany, for instance, if Trump got angry at Germany. Germany allowed its bases to be used and certainly American hospitals

in Germany took the wounded and so on. So it's very hard to know really what's driving President Trump from day to day or even hour to hour.

HUNTE: Okay, thank you so much for that. We'll leave it there, Steven Erlanger.

ERLANGER: Thank you.

HUNTE: Okay, Cuba is about to push back against the indictment of its former President in the U.S. still ahead. The U.S. embassy in Havana becomes a pressure point for the Cuban government is eager to use. See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: Welcome back, I'm Ben Hunte. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

British police asking people to come forward with any information about alleged misconduct involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Authorities provided an update on their investigation into the former prince, which they said include reports that a woman was taken to Windsor in 2010, quote, for sexual purposes.

Protesters clashed with authorities at an Ebola treatment center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some family members reportedly tried to reclaim the bodies of their loved ones on Thursday, but authorities refused. The situation escalated with protesters setting fire to two hospital tents, police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse that crowd.

Iran's foreign ministry says there has been no breakthrough in peace talks between Tehran and Washington. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday there had been some progress in negotiations, but he also noted that a deal may not happen.

The sister of a Cuban military conglomerate chief has been arrested in Miami. Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted that Aide Lastres Marrera was a permanent U.S. resident who also aided the Cuban regime. She is now in the custody of U.S. immigration enforcement.

That is all happening as Cuba is preparing to push back against the U.S. indictment of its former President, Raul Castro. As Patrick Oppmann reports, Cuba will use the U.S. embassy in Havana as a pressure point.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Furious over the indictment of former Cuban leader Raul Castro, government officials here are organizing a demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy early Friday morning. Security is going to be tight, so we do expect top Cuban leadership there.

Of course, bringing people to this these kinds of demonstrations is becoming tougher and tougher. It involves using oil, gasoline, petrol. The Cuban government simply does not have, but it shows how upset this government is that their former leader, still by many counts the most powerful person on this island, is being targeted by the U.S. justice system.

You've heard Cuban officials, ever since that indictment was released, saying that there is absolutely no way Raul Castro is going to appear in a Miami courtroom to face allegations, charges now, that he ordered the 1996 shoot-down of the Brothers Rescue planes that left four people dead.

We have seen now that the United States is moving an aircraft carrier into the region, a group of U.S. Navy ships that were previously of South America as part of the operation that captured Nicolas Maduro. Certainly, there is concern here among regular Cubans, as well as government officials, that the U.S. could try to mount a similar operation here, and Cuba has vowed to resist that. But of course, at this point, the longer this crisis goes on, the harder it gets for the people who live here.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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HUNTE: A record is set at Mount Everest, just ahead, why that is both a cause for celebration and for concern. See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: Welcome back. These are some of today's business headlines.

A dire economic outlook for Europe in 2026, as the European Commission predicts the E.U. economy will slow. The Commission says a war in the Middle East triggered an energy shock that caused a surge in oil prices, which led to the current economic slump. This is the second such energy shock that Europe has endured in less than five years.

The latest consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan is due out in the coming hours. It will give a better understanding of how Americans feel about the U.S. economy. A preliminary report released earlier this month capped consumer sentiment at an all-time low, one of the major drivers was rising energy prices due to the war with Iran.

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Argentina announced it will cut its export tax on wheat. Argentina's President says starting next month, the tax will drop from 7.5 percent to 5.5 percent. He also said tax on soy exports could come down by up to half a percentage point next January.

A record 274 mountain climbers made it to the top of Mount Everest on a single day this week. That number represents a personal goal achieved for many climbers. But for officials responsible for their safety, it highlights long-standing concerns about overcrowding on the world's highest mountain.

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HUNTE (voice-over): The number of climbers scaling Mount Everest has reached a new high. On Wednesday, a record 274 people reached the summit of the world's tallest peak in a single day from its south side in Nepal. This video shot the day before of one group who made that record summit push; hiking officials say climbers took advantage of the clear weather conditions.

The previous record was set almost exactly seven years ago, when 223 people summited from Everest's south side in a day, and even more trekked to the top from the mountain's north face in Tibet.

Nepal has issued 494 permits to climb Everest this year, each costing $15,000, and implemented tighter controls to try to reduce overcrowding on the mountain. Nepal's expedition operators association says the climbers were spread across different camps and areas, but that more may need to be done to manage such high-volume days.

UNKNOWN: In one day, better to not move. More than 250 people in a day. This is our experience and we are going to control on this and future expedition.

HUNTE (voice-over): Eighteen-year-old Bianca Adler was one of the climbers to summit on Wednesday. Her tour company says she's the youngest Australian to climb to the top of Everest. She was accompanied by her parents for some of the trek, and said it was part of the plan to avoid the crowds.

BIANCA ADLER, EVEREST CLIMBER: Well, I left, so I knew that there was going to be a lot of people, so I left a lot earlier than most of them, so that I could get ahead and not be stuck in the big queues, same as the day before we left earlier.

HUNTE (voice-over): The climbing season got off to a late start this spring because of ice blocking the path, a shorter window for climbers to reach the summit. Hundreds of climbers achieved their dream this week, yet again raising questions about how much is too much to be on top of the world.

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HUNTE: And that is all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me in the team, I'm Ben Hunte, and I'll see you at the same time tomorrow.

"World Sport" is next, and stick around for "CNN Newsroom" starting at 9:00 A.M. in London, 4:00 P.M. in Beijing. See you tomorrow. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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