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CNN This Morning
Deadly Storms Move East, 18 Killed Across Four States; Trump Booed, Heckled at Libertarian Convention; 12 People Injured by Turbulence on Qatar Airways Flight; 2,000+ Believed Buried Alive in Papua New Guinea Landslide. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired May 27, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is Monday, May 27th, Memorial Day. And right now on CNN THIS MORNING, over 100 million Americans facing potentially deadly weather on this Memorial Day after a weekend of violent storms killed at least 18 people.
[06:01:02]
Rough air. For the second time in less than a week, passengers are injured by severe turbulence during flight.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Libertarian Party should nominate Trump for president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo!!!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo!!!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo!!!
TRUMP: Whoa!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Donald Trump cutting his campaign speech short after getting heckled and booed.
Six-oh-one here in Washington. That is a live look at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on this Memorial Day, when we thank so many who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean, in for Kasie Hunt. It is great to be with you today.
More than 120 million people are under severe storm threats after deadly thunderstorms battered the Southern plains this weekend, killing 18 people.
In Northern Texas, a tornado reduced parts of Cooke County to absolute rubble, killing seven people, including two young children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): The heartbreak of a family losing a 3-year- old and a 5-year-old child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming back to this location right now for the first time, knowing that I was just here, and it's all destroyed, is -- is mind-blowing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Eight people also killed in Arkansas, where a state of emergency remains in place this morning. And look at what remains of a strip mall that ripped through the town of Rogers, Arkansas.
In Oklahoma officials say two people are dead, 23 others injured as storms leveled homes there, leaving widespread damage.
Meteorologist Derek van Dam is tracking all of it for us. Derek, what is in store for today?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So Jessica, we've got some new video that we just obtained here at CNN. This is from a twister that moved through Dawson Springs, Kentucky, late last night.
And why this is so concerning is because this area was ravaged by an EF-4 tornado back in December of 2021. So to have another twister which is clearly very dangerous on the ground within this area is -- is concerning.
And there's been reports of tree damage, lots of power outages. You can see people just trying to clean up the initial mess that was left in the wake of these storms that moved through.
Now that same storm system advances to the East Coast: Atlanta, all the way to New York and our nation's capital, that I-95 corridor. Hundreds, thousands of people, if not millions of people, under the threat.
And we have a severe weather threat for the day tomorrow, too. So just recycling this severe weather threat over the next few days.
Here's a look at the power outages. We have the greatest number of customers out across Kentucky. And you saw the storms and the tornado that move through there yesterday. There it is.
The line of storms now approaching portions of central Alabama into Northern Georgia. We have tornado watches and severe thunderstorm watches, including the greater Birmingham area. Wouldn't be surprised if Atlanta is included within some sort of watch within the next coming minutes.
A few severe thunderstorm warnings as we speak, but the storm system really has our greatest risk of tornadoes across the mid-Atlantic. And that includes our nation's capital. I mean, Jessica, we have had over 1,000 reports of severe weather
since Friday as the system finally exits off the East Coast. And then we recycle that severe weather threat into Texas for the day tomorrow. So can't stop, won't stop. It is so busy.
DEAN: It just keeps coming. All right. Derek van Dam with the latest, though. Thank you so much for that.
VAN DAM: All right.
DEAN: Donald Trump booed during his speech at the Libertarian National Convention over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Libertarian Party should nominate Trump for president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo!!!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo!!!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boo!!!
TRUMP: Whoa! That's nice. Only do that if you want to win. If you want to lose, don't do that.
[06:05:06]
Keep getting your 3 percent every four years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: You hear it there. The former president heckled, jeered at multiple times during his roughly 34-minute speech. It's one of his shortest campaign speeches to date.
It is highly unusual for a presumptive Republican nominee to attend the Libertarian convention. And it highlights the Trump campaign's growing concern over third-party candidates.
Joining us now, Republican strategist Rina Shah; Lance Trover, former spokesperson for Doug Burgum's 2024 presidential campaign; and former special assistant to President Biden, Meghan Hays. Good morning, everybody. Here we all are on a nice Memorial Day.
Lance, let's just start first with you. Rina and I were talking last hour about seeing the former president at that Libertarian convention. Why do you think he was there? And what does it say to you that he was there?
LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESMAN, DOUG BURGUM'S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think this is part of a broader strategy they have going in reaching out to non-traditional Republican groups.
And I would say to Democrats and anybody who questions that, underestimate Donald Trump at your own peril when it comes to reaching out to these groups. We've seen that he is polling really well with Latinos, African Americans across the country.
And despite the raucous atmosphere, I would say that, you know, he made some pretty big commitments to this group of people out there today. This commutation of Ross Ulbricht, which is a big deal to them. That's going to filter down through the atmosphere.
It is a little unconventional, but again, I've not seen a Republican candidate like Donald Trump in many years doing this kind of outreach to non-traditional Republican groups.
DEAN: So it sounds like you're saying comes from a place of offense, not defense.
TROVER: Well, look, I don't think anybody -- the Biden -- Biden campaign or the Trump campaign -- believes that this is going to be some blow-out election. Everybody knows that each vote is going to count.
And so I say, hey, why not go to this convention, make your case to these folks? Granted, the reaction may not have been exactly what he had hoped for.
But in terms of the long-term and the outreach, where are the Libertarians going to go? Are they going to go to Joe Biden or are they going to go with somebody like Donald Trump?
DEAN: And Rina, I want to listen to some clips of him talking about them going kind of back and forth at each other. Let's listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With the lockdowns, the mask mandates, the travel restrictions, President Trump presided over the greatest restriction on individual liberties this country has ever known.
TRUMP: RFK Jr. -- I call him "Junior." By the way, he's radical left. Don't think about it. Don't waste your vote. We need a conservative person with common sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: He -- he's saying directly there. He's -- he's -- he's trying to educate them, he -- it seems like, in a way: Listen, he's this; he's not that.
RINA SHAH, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, typical campaign tactic, right? It was, to me, the type of thing that was more revealing of who RFK Jr. actually is.
And he is somebody that took a real issue, again, with those COVID-era policies. And it was probably the most salient point he's made in a while on the campaign trail. Because that is something that a lot of people have -- tend to forget
overall, is the poor handling of the Trump administration, how they handled that pandemic.
I always say Trump lied; people died. And we -- if we forget that, then we forget the greatest mistake he's made in his presidency and why he doesn't deserve to re-enter the White House.
His administration knew of so many things coming down the pike. Yet, they failed to act. And then they wanted to take advantage of, basically, the environment and say, We did Operation Warp Speed. Hey, that was the bare minimum.
So again, I think, if we focus on COVID, people realize that Trump did things that don't jive with Libertarians. And I think that will also trickle down and make its way to Libertarians.
But the question remains: where do they go? I think a lot of Libertarians stay home.
And look, it's not unusual for them to interface with conservatives. I've attended places like Freedom Fest for summers many years, where I've seen conservatives and Libertarians co-exist well.
But this, again, was a poor move on Trump's part. I think trying to court their vote, it fell flat.
DEAN: And -- and Meghan, in terms of the Biden campaign, they're also trying to guard against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in their own way, which is what's unique about him as a candidate.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Yes, I just think that the Biden campaign is doing this little bit more strategically. And I think that they are going after votes on the issues, which is in drawing the contrast to Trump and to RFK.
But again, I don't think the Biden campaign is taking RFK very seriously.
I disagree a little bit with you guys on why he was there. I think he doesn't have money, and he can't afford to do these big rallies. He is showing up where cameras are. And this is the way to do it. And he gets attention. We're out here talking about it. Regardless if it's good or bad, we're talking about it.
So he's getting the attention that he needs.
DEAN: Right.
HAYS: And wants.
DEAN: And Lance, he knew he was going to go but when a raucous -- as you described it, and it was. A raucous environment.
TROVER: Certainly seemed like it, yes.
DEAN: Yes. No, it had been that way the night before, too, when Vivek Ramaswamy was there, talking about him.
And I talked to one analyst that was saying, Look, it was a chance for him to show like, See, I can go, you know, toe-to-toe even if they're -- if they're, you know, pushing back on me or belittling me. What do you think about that?
[06:10:04]
TROVER: I think that this is Donald Trump, and this is what he does. And I think that is something people actually like about him, is that he is not afraid to throw himself into the lion's den and be a fighter.
But again, if you look at what they're doing, whether it's in the Bronx last week, or going to these types of things, I do think there is some strategy behind what they're doing in terms of reaching out to non-traditionally Republican groups out there. Because this is obviously going to be a very close election, and they know that every vote is going to count.
DEAN: Yes, and so Meghan, how does the -- how does the Biden campaign then move forward while he's reaching out to kind of, like you mentioned, he's -- he did the Bronx. He's -- he did this thing this weekend.
Biden campaign's obviously going after Haley voters. They are looking outside of their normal base, because this is likely going to be won on the margins in some of these swing states.
HAYS: Yes, I think that the Biden campaign is meeting voters where they are. They're going to the suburbs of Philadelphia. They are going into Arizona. They are reaching people where they are.
They're talking about issues that those folks care about, which the women outside of the suburbs of Philadelphia, they care about reproductive freedom. Donald Trump's not mentioning that, because he knows it's a losing issue for him.
So I think that they're going on the policy and trying to draw the contrast of who the Biden -- who Joe Biden is vs Donald Trump.
DEAN: And it is going to be interesting, too, because now we're most almost a month, let's see exactly -- it's May 27. Exactly a month away from this debate, Rina, where they're going to be on stage together.
Again, neither of them have debated since this last go-around. So it's going to be interesting to see this all kind of come to a head pretty soon.
SHAH: Well, I'll be very interested to know who's watching, because this also feels like a moment in which people say, Again? And what are they going to hear that's different.
When you talk about Trump showing up in different places looking like a fighter, what's he fighting for anymore? I don't hear it. You know, young families like mine with really tiny children, we have
a lot of big, unexpected costs coming down the pike, always. But it feels magnified when you don't hear a candidate that wants your vote says, I'll make your life better. But how exactly?
What -- what are you going to do with wars? What are you going to do on the economy? What are you going to do to strengthen the American family? We don't hear the Republican Party put out really clear issues anymore, like those pet issues I heard Doug Burgum talk about. He really piqued my interest when he was on the debate stage, because when candidates talk in specifics, people listen.
And Trump doesn't do it, ever. He's always speaking in platitudes. And I think that's my great frustration, is that what are you fighting for? You're out here just fighting, and you're angry, but you're not fighting for my family when you don't talk about my needs.
And that is going to be the challenge in the debates. When Biden says to him, I did this, that or the other, whether its junk fees or what have you, at least he's got some concrete things. That's what Trump world needs to focus on now.
DEAN: OK, let's leave it there for now, but you'll still be here. We have more to discuss coming up.
But up next, turbulence causing passenger injuries during a flight. The second time in less than a week.
Plus, the search for survivors after a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea.
And how President Biden plans to remember America's heroes on this Memorial Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:17:46]
DEAN: Some terrifying moments for passengers on a Qatar Airlines flight on Sunday, 12 people suffering injuries, eight of them taken to a hospital after landing at the Dublin airport.
This comes just one week after more than 100 passengers were injured and a man with a heart condition died after a Singapore Airlines flight ran into rough air.
CNN's Sebastian Shukla joins us now from Berlin.
Sebastian, this was very scary for a lot of those people on board.
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, terrifying. And as you alluding to, the second such incident that's happened in the space of a week. This time it was from that Qatar Airways flight going between Doha in the Irish capital, Dublin.
Twelve people injured, eight people taken to hospital, where emergency services were waiting for passengers when they arrived.
The flight, though, the main difference between the two is obviously the number, but also that this flight continued to its final destination. Singapore Airlines flight had to make a diversion to -- to Bangkok.
What we are seeing and hearing about this particular incident, though, is that it seems to happen during the meal service. Again, a time where people may not have been wearing their seat belts and as they would be during taxi take-off or landing.
And the -- you know, the meal service had to be interrupted. And it was four hours until that flight really landed. It landed on time, but you know, it still -- it was and is a harrowing series of incidents to happen.
Take a listen what some of the people had to say who were on board that flight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLILP)
PHILOMENA PRENDERGAST, PASSENGER ON QATAR AIRWAYS FLIGHT: We had our -- we had our seat belts on just from watching the episode that happened last week. It was just. It was there in your mind.
It was scary at the time. You just don't know, is this it or not, like. But the staff were amazing. Like to -- to actually get up and have to look after us. And they're going around with bandages on their hands and bloodied faces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHUKLA: What this does, Jessica, is that it starts to seep into the national or the psyche of travelers in that every time they experience turbulence, they start to worry about what whether they will befall the same fate of these two aircraft.
I was on a flight yesterday which went through some very mild turbulence, but people were still kind of screaming and were nervous. So that is going to be something that the airlines are going to have to have a look at. How do they combat this and how do they keep their passengers safe -- Jessica.
[06:20:05]
DEAN: Such a pertinent point that it's now in people's heads, just like those women were just saying. Sebastian Shukla, thanks so much for that reporting.
Next, Nicki Minaj apologizing to her fans in Amsterdam after making them a promise.
Plus, a grim realization three days after a deadly landslide in Papua New Guinea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:24:44]
DEAN: Local authorities believe more than 2,000 people were buried alive after a landslide in Papua New Guinea on Friday. Look at the drone footage showing the extent of that damage.
Emergency crews are struggling to access the remote village in Northern Papua New Guinea where the landslide occurred. Ivan Watson joining us now from Hong Kong with the latest.
[06:25:03]
Ivan, what are we learning today?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, it's taken the authorities in Papua New Guinea days to come to grips with the scale of this disaster, which began at, really, perhaps one of the most tragic times possible. The landslide took place at around 3 a.m. in the morning, local time, on Friday with virtually an entire mountain coming down on what the authorities say were a network of six rural villages.
So everybody would have been at home in their houses when the rocks and the mud started coming down.
And the consequences have been catastrophic, with the authorities estimating more than 2,000 people were buried alive in this landslide.
This is one of the survivors who's now grieving talking about the aftermath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVIT KAMBU, LOST 18 FAMILY MEMBERS IN LANDSLIDE (through translator): I have 18 of my family members buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on. And a lot more family members in the village, I cannot count. I am the landowner here.
Thank you to all those who have come to help us. But I cannot retrieve the bodies, so I'm standing here helplessly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Jessica, the Papua New Guinea government has reached out to the international community, asking for help.
It has gotten some aid through to the disaster zone, but that's complicated by the fact that the landslide cut off the main road to this devastated area.
People have had to dig with picks and shovels. They don't have heavy machinery yet on site.
And part of it is also complicated by the fact that the area is still very unstable, and it could be dangerous to bring in heavy machinery. There's an additional challenge. Aid workers say that a long-running,
deadly dispute between two tribes in the province erupted again into deadly violence over the course of the weekend after the landslide in a community about halfway from the capital to this devastated area. And that could put the aid convoys at risk.
So put it all together, this has been a very awful, nightmarish weekend for this remote rural community -- Jessica.
DEAN: Nightmare, indeed. All right. Ivan Watson, thanks so much for that.
Up next, will we see a verdict in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial this week?
Plus, it is Memorial Day across America. Up next, a look at ceremonies in the nation's capital and how the president will honor America's fallen heroes.
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[06:30:00]
