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Frontier Flight Hits Pedestrian At Denver International Airport; CDC Staffers To Meet With Americans On Hantavirus-Stricken Cruise Ship; Hantavirus-Stricken Cruise Ship To ARrive In Port Early Sunday. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 09, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:37]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN this morning. It is Saturday, May 9th, and here's what's happening today. First up, passengers were forced to evacuate a Frontier Airlines jet after it hit a person on the Runway during takeoff. We'll hear from one passenger who was actually on that flight. Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. STEPHEN KORNFELD, ABOARD HANTAVIRUS-HIT CRUISE SHIP: It's impossible for them to determine now anything as far as where and how long we'll be isolated in a facility versus home isolation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Health officials will be waiting when a cruise ship carrying people stricken with hantavirus docks in the Canary Islands. We're live with the latest, including what people on board are dealing with. And Friday's jobs report crushed expectations. But there's one warning sign economists are watching.

And it's been 30 years since Kristin Smart disappeared. Well, now, decades later, a new search is renewing hope for answers into her disappearance.

And of course, this glowing orbs, mysterious crafts and unusual audio. Is it science fiction or proof that aliens exist? We'll crack open the newly released UFO files coming up on CNN this morning.

Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Victor Blackwell is off. First of All, we'll be back next weekend. For now, I'm Danny Freeman live from New York.

And we begin with breaking news out of Denver International Airport. Officials there say a Frontier Airlines jet hit a person as it was taking off at about 11:19 p.m. local time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 4345, We're stopping on the runway. We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 4345, I see that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest Frontier 4345, I'm going to be rolling the trucks now. Do you know the souls on board and fuel remaining?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, 4345, we have 231 souls on board. We have 21,320 pounds of fuel on board. There was an individual walking across the runway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, we are rolling the trucks down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got smoke in the aircraft. We're going to evacuate on the runway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Now the plane was preparing to take off for Los Angeles when it hit the person the airport says there was a brief engine fire, and everyone on board was evacuated using slides. No one on board was seriously hurt.

We don't know why that person was on the runway. But let's hear from one of the passengers who was actually on board that flight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSE CERVANTES, PASSENGER: We were already taking off and we were going pretty fast. And I felt like the plane started to tilt up, went out of nowhere. It just -- we felt like a thud and heard like an explosion.

And I was right on the wing. So I looked to my right, and I just see, like, the right wing just on fire and it's exploding, and it sounds like horrible, you know. And right away they shut the aircraft off.

Well, when that happened, like, the aircraft lands back down and they kind of like swivel side to side, and then they stop, shut it off right away. And then the cabin starts to fill up with smoke. And that's when they started evacuating everybody, and they started sending us down the slide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Scary stuff there. The FAA and the NTSB are now investigating what happened. In a statement, Frontier Airlines says they're deeply saddened by this incident.

Switching gears now, a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship is set to dock in the Canary Islands tomorrow if the weather holds up. Centers for Disease Control staffers are on their way. They're there right now to meet with about 17 American passengers on board the MV Hondius.

Now, there are six confirmed cases of the Andes strain of the hantavirus and two probable cases tied to the ship. Three people have died. The Andes strain is the only hantavirus strain able to spread person to person and not just from rodents. Now, those on board the ship say staffers are diligently investigating to figure out what exactly happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KORNFELD: We were appropriately distanced, but they were wearing masks, and we all went through an interview process about contacts and our health and how we're feeling. Our temperature was taken, our medications were reviewed, and that's kind of helping them piece together what happened and to help them predict what might happen in the future based on exposures.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:05:06]

FREEMAN: After the CDC staffers conduct risk assessments on the American passengers, they'll fly to Nebraska on a charter flight. They'll be in quarantine at the National Quarantine Unit there.

Joining me now from the island of Tenerife is CNN's Melissa Bell. Melissa, what more are you learning about this operation?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've just received, first of all, a message from the head of the World Health Organization press statement really thanking Spanish author authorities for having stepped up in this show of solidarity, accepting to take this ship at all. There had been so many questions, Danny, about what country would accept, first of all, the risks, the difficulties logistically, the hard sell to their people of taking this ship in. And what the head of the World Health Organization was reminding everyone of in that statement was that there are, of course, about 150 people on this ship who've been on it now in some cases for several weeks.

Some of them are grieving, and they've been living in these very difficult circumstances, and therefore, it is a question of humanity and solidarity. And that's what he was thanking the Spanish authorities for.

We've also been hearing more, by the way, from them this morning about what's going to happen when the ship arrives here at this port to the south of Tenerife. What we understand is that it should arrive between about 4:00 and 6:00 in the morning, overnight local time, and that from the moment it enters Tenerife's territorial waters, there will be this sort of exclusion perimeter around it about a nautical mile, and no one will be able to approach then.

It's not going to be docked exactly there as those ships are. It's going to be kept a little bit away anchored so that those initial checks can take place, so that the screening process of the passenger can start, and so that then the very difficult and one imagines complicated process of getting them off can begin. What the authorities have been saying in their latest press conference this morning, again, words of reassurance to the locals here is that there will be no contact between anyone who is not either from the Spanish army or a health professional, that anyone involved in this delicate operation from tomorrow will be wearing FFP2 masks in their work and that every precaution will be made that there is no risk to the general public here.

What we understand is going to happen, Danny, is that the -- once the ship is anchored, there are going to be these speedboats that take the passengers off. Once that screening process is done, onto the airport, which is very close over here, putting them on planes that will be waiting on the tarmac. You mentioned the case of the Americans that will be taken to Nebraska. The Spanish citizens will be taken to that military hospital in Madrid. The UK citizens will be taken onto the United Kingdom and so on and so forth.

But that is the operation that we understand is going to start here from tomorrow morning. Difficult, delicate, but as we just heard from the head of the World Health Organization, desperately needed by those nearly 150 people still on board. Danny.

FREEMAN: I mean, just truly remarkable, a massive operation about to take place there. Melissa Bell, thank you so much for your reporting. Appreciate it.

And joining me now for analysis, Emory University professor of global health and epidemiology, Dr. Carlos del Rio.

Doctor, thank you so much for being with us today. Can we start here just because I think it's the main question that so many have had when they heard about this news. Can you explain to our viewers why this is not like COVID-19?

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY, PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH AND EPIDEMIOLOGY: Well, Danny, thank you very much for having me this morning. First of all, it's not like COVID-19 because it's some other we know we did not know anything about SARS-CoV-2 we were learning as things were happening. We were trying to predict what happened (inaudible).

This virus has known, we know how it's transmitted. We know how to stop it. There's no evidence that this virus has mutated. We know that the life could have translated to other.

FREEMAN: We're going to actually take a moment to fix the audio with Dr. Carlos del Rio. We'll get back to him in just a little bit. We want to move on though, for now.

Right now, a three-day ceasefire is in effect between Russia and Ukraine. And in Moscow earlier today, there was a scaled-down version of Russia's Victory Day parade. The event marks the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. But this year, there was no usual display of military hardware. CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us live now from Moscow.

Fred, tell us what stood out to you today. FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Danny. Yes, a lot of this comes with a very tense security situation here in Moscow. In fact, this parade, as you mentioned, commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and of course, the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers in World War II.

But at the same time this year, one of the big issues that they've had is the security situation around it has been very tense because of the threat of Ukrainian drone strikes is something that the Russians took very seriously. And that was also the reason why they did not have any tanks, armored vehicles, or, for instance, intercontinental ballistic missiles that you would normally see parading over Red Square there this time.

[08:10:06]

Now, some of the things were basically, as usual. You had those large columns of soldiers. You had Vladimir Putin overseeing the parade, as usual. But instead of that military technology, instead of the armor that you would normally see, the Russians actually showed short films that were produced of their forces on the front lines, of their drone forces, their surface-to-air missile forces, and also some of their strategic forces like bombers and nuclear submarines.

So in many ways, a lot of this parade was actually more virtual than it was real down there on Red Square. And that was certainly very significant and shows how tense the security situation is right now, as Ukraine has been striking targets inside Russia and ever deeper inside Russia over the past couple of weeks.

Now, in his speech, Vladimir Putin showed himself to be defiant and he tried to make a connection between World War II and the feats of the Soviet military then and, and what's going on in Ukraine today. Let's have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (voiceover): 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 bloc, and yet, a hero's march forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: So, as you can see there, Danny, as things remain difficult for the Russians on the battlefield, one of the things that Vladimir Putin is trying to portray is essentially he is saying that he believes that the Russian military is not just up against Ukraine, but that Ukraine is being supported by NATO nations as well, which obviously right now is something that is very important for the Russians to showcase. As you have the Ukrainians ever more hitting targets inside Russia, like for instance, oil and gas facilities. But at the same time, if you look at the situation on the battlefields inside Ukraine as well, the Russians are saying that they're making progress, but certainly progress does appear to be quite difficult to come by.

The Russians also outright threatening the Ukrainians, saying that if they did try to strike the parade today, that there would be a severe answer by the Russians, including possible ballistic missile strikes on the center of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. It remained calm at the parade today. And of course, the main reason for that possibly was a ceasefire that was brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump very late last night, and that both sides have then said that they would be willing to latch onto.

That also includes, by the way, the exchange of a thousand prisoners from both sides, Ukrainian and Russian, and then possibly again also led to the fact that today, around this parade, things remained calm, Danny.

FREEMAN: Fred Pleitgen, live for us in Moscow. Thank you very much for that report.

Coming up next, a cyber-attack impacting thousands of schools. We'll tell you what we know about the canvas hack and how students are reacting ahead of final exams.

Plus, a major blow to Democrats in Virginia, the state Supreme Court, they are voiding the attempt to redraw the congressional maps. Coming up next, the impact this could have ahead on the midterms.

And later on, the Pentagon released new photos and video of UFOs. So, are we closer to answers or just more questions? Stay with us.

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[08:17:54]

FREEMAN: More now on that hantavirus-stricken cruise ship. It's expected to dock overnight, where passengers will be greeted by health officials. Joining us once again is Dr. Carlos Del Rio. He's back with us. Audio concerns fixed.

Doctor, I want to start here. It's the question I asked you before. Can you explain to our viewers why this hantavirus is not like COVID- 19?

DEL RIO: Danny, good to be with you. It is not like COVID-19 because we know hantavirus. We've known these viruses before. We know what they do, we know how they're transmitted, we know how to stop the transmission.

COVID, when it emerged in 2020, was a new virus. We knew nothing about it. We were learning as we were doing things, and obviously, a lot of things we didn't know, and therefore, we -- it was more complicated to take care of it.

Also, hantavirus is very unlikely to be transmitted. It has a very low potential to transmit person to person. While it can do, it is not as COVID-19 that transmitted to a lot of individuals. FREEMAN: Now, as we understand that these confirmed cases on board have been referred to as the Andes strain. Can you tell us what's the difference between that particular strain of hantavirus and others? Why should we be concerned about that?

DEL RIO: Well, the hantavirus is a family of viruses or multiple viruses, and they exist globally. In the Americas, we have several hantavirus. In the United States, the most common one is a virus called the Sin Nombre virus. Virus without a name.

It's a hantavirus that exists in the Four Corners region of the United States. So you can see it most often there. And it causes, you know, since it was first described in 1993, there's been less than a thousand cases in our country. Because it goes from the animal. The animal that is infected with the virus infects a human because of exposure to urine or to droppings of that -- of that mouse.

And then the individual, the affected human, is a terminal host that cannot transmit to anybody else. They add these hantavirus, which exists in Argentina and Chile in the Southern Hemisphere, is the only hantavirus that exists globally that actually can transmit human to human, even though it doesn't do it very, very effectively.

[08:20:02]

FREEMAN: Is there something, doctor, that you're going to be looking for that would actually make your concern for the greater public grow? Or at the moment, are we pretty okay?

DEL RIO: I think at the moment we're pretty okay. This is, as I said, from a public health perspective. This is CDC has called it a level three, which is the lowest level of risk. There's essentially no risk to the general public.

But from an infectious disease standpoint, this is a really interesting outbreak. For those of us in infectious disease, we're trying to understand. We would learn a lot more about this virus, how it's transmitted, and how -- what do we need to stop it. And again, it's a good reminder that we have to develop vaccines and treatments against hantaviruses. There are no vaccines and there are no effective antivirals against this -- this virus.

FREEMAN: All right. Well, we're going to certainly continue to keep an eye on this, especially as that cruise ship docks. Dr. Carlos del Rio, thank you so much. And again, apologies for the audio issues earlier on.

DEL RIO: Happy to be with you.

FREEMAN: Some other headlines now, new this morning, rescue crews in Indonesia have resumed their search for the bodies of three hikers killed after a volcanic eruption. Mount Dukono erupted as 20 people were climbing it on Friday. Seventeen surviving climbers were rescued near the crater of the mountain also on Friday.

Well, they told authorities that three people died in the blast. 100 rescuers, military, and police personnel are now working on the search and recovery operation.

And in Utah, a judge says cameras can stay in the courtroom for the case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The defense pushed to block cameras, saying coverage could hurt his right to a fair trial. Prosecutors argued, keeping cameras in place helps counter misinformation.

The judge also delayed the preliminary hearing until July 6, giving defense attorneys more time to review DNA evidence. Robinson has not entered a plea for the charges he faces, including aggravated murder.

And canvas. The system used by millions of students is back up and running after a cyber-attack knocked it offline on Thursday. The platform is used by more than 30 million people in 8,000 schools and universities globally.

The disruption forced some schools to push back deadlines and final exams. The FBI is now advising students to wait for guidance from their school about what exactly to do next. They're also warning people to be wary of scammers claiming to have access to their personal data.

To this now, Virginia Democrats say they plan to appeal a major court redistricting decision. Virginia's Supreme Court ruling blocked last month's referendum that would have helped Democrats gain up to four House seats, ruling it unconstitutional.

Now, it all follows a raucous protest in Tennessee's state capitol Thursday where GOP lawmakers there approved carving up a majority- black U.S. House district. Both Republicans and Democrats have been frantically trying to redraw congressional districts to their advantage before the midterm elections. For more on all of this, we're joined now by CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein.

Ron, the way that I saw it put in another outlet yesterday was basically the Democrats' redistricting luck finally ran out. They had a strong run. But at the end of the week, it seems the advantage seems to have swung back to the Republicans. No.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, a couple weeks ago, it looks like this redistricting fight was going to be a wash. But the combination of the Republican appointed justices on the Supreme Court green-lighted the way for Republican controlled Southern states to undertake a truly historic erasure of black political districts and black political power. And Virginia, now the state Supreme Court, kind of contra to that, blocking Democrats from doing their own redistricting.

There's going to be a net advantage for Republicans out of this, probably as many as eight or 10 seats in 2026. By itself, that's probably not enough to preserve their majorities if President Trump's approval rating doesn't improve between now and November. But it's going to make it a lot tighter than it looked for Democrats a few weeks ago.

FREEMAN: Well, again, so let's back up for a second. President Trump, of course, launched this fight last year, urging Texas Republicans first to redraw their maps. Before that usual once in a decade review. Now we've seen this tit for tat over a number of states trying to redraw their maps.

But even though Democrats did have successes, and again, Democrats are supposed to do better in this midterm election, as is customary, usually the first midterm after a incumbent president comes in. Do you think that Republicans actually can keep the House based on these latest redistricting efforts?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think by itself. I mean, it certainly improves their position. But you know, the president's approval rating now is running at around 40 percent, which is a level where the president's party usually suffers significant losses. And you know, you got to look at this from both short and longer term or even intermediate term implication.

It is going to be an advantage for Republicans in '26. By 2028, the pressure on blue states to respond, places like Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, even Minnesota, if they win unified control of the state legislature, that's going to be insurmountable.

[08:25:14]

So by 2028, I think we're going to be in a situation where there is minimal partisan advantage out of this process, but enormous civic damage. Because what we are doing is systematically erasing Republicans' ability to win in blue states, Democrats' ability to win in those are a lot of the moderates in Congress who tend to support more bipartisan agreements.

You're hardening the partitioning of the country. And as I said, above all, you are undertaking the biggest erasing of black political power since the unraveling of Reconstruction and the imposition of segregation in the late 19th century. And this is just kind of pointing us in a direction that really isn't good for anyone. And I think in the end, is going to have very minimal advantage for either party.

FREEMAN: Ron, Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham urged caution during this redistricting wave. I want you to take a listen to what he says, he told the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Make sure the map accomplishes the goal. If the end of the day we create a map that gives Democrats more competitive opportunity, what have you gained?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: See, that's the interesting thing, because what is the likelihood that when all of this shakes out, this could actually backfire? We've been looking at some of the maps, for example, in Florida, that sure, in a Trump -- when Trump is on the ballot, maybe it's a strong Republican. But are there any potential unexpected twists we should watch for, for maybe gerrymanders that might not go Republicans way here?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, by the way, first of all, think about what Senator Graham is saying. He's not saying that this is fundamentally wrong to deny representation to voters and in fact, to, you know, kind of ensure the result before election Day. He's basically saying we got to be careful we don't do it in a way that actually doesn't help us. And yeah, of course, I mean, I was just in South Texas, where, you know, which is the heart of the Republican gerrymander in Texas.

The Republican gerrymander in Texas is supposed to pick up five seats based on the assumption that Donald Trump's elevated level of support among Latinos can be sustained by other Republicans. And that, less than two years later, is a very shaky assumption that Republicans might not win all of the seats that they are targeting in Texas or Florida or elsewhere, but they're going to win most of them.

And you know, if you think about this, like, beyond the immediate partisan advantage, just look what's happening. You're talking about states. In a state like Texas, 92 percent of the population growth since 2010 has been among minority citizens. Alabama, 92 percent. Florida, 87 percent. And yet they are racing minorities participation and districts systematically in those states.

Not a good thing for the country. Not a good precedent to be setting.

FREEMAN: Getting into your earlier point, when does this all stop? Ron Brownstein, thank you as always for jumping on early and sharing your insight. Appreciate you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

FREEMAN: All right, coming up, hiring in April, beat expectations, but Americans still say they're feeling bad about the economy. Well, ask an expert why those vibes are so off. Coming up in just a moment.

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[08:32:50]

FREEMAN: President Trump said he was expecting it last night, but this morning there were still no word yet that Iran has responded to the U.S. proposal aimed at ending the war. In the meantime, President Trump is suggesting he may resume the operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz if there is no movement towards a deal, calling it Project Freedom Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We may go back to Project Freedom if things don't happen. But it would be Project Freedom Plus, meaning Project Freedom Plus and other thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: The president paused the original so-called Project Freedom earlier this week, but the U.S. Blockade of Iranian ports is still being enforced. On Friday, the U.S. military released a video showing a U.S. fighter jet disabling two Iranian-flagged tankers they say were violating the blockade. We'll keep an eye on this.

Now, as the wait for the end of the war drags on, a new jobs report showed stronger-than-expected hiring gains last month. The economy added 115,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate stayed at 4.3 percent. Now, despite those impressive numbers, consumer sentiment continued to decline this month, showing that many Americans still feel squeezed by rising gas prices caused by the war.

Joining me now to discuss is CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar. Thank you so much for breaking down what was an interesting, mixed week. So the White House touting the April jobs numbers as a blockbuster success because we beat expectations. But some economists are warning that we're in this frozen labor market where the employed are afraid to quit and job seekers are frozen out.

So, Rana, from your perspective, who's right here?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, you know, both -- both sides are right. And that reflects the fact that we have a K- shaped economy, Danny. You know, I think I've used that phrase a number of times on air recently.

And basically, there are two economies. There's the economy of people that own a lot of stocks, maybe own homes. Those asset prices are still rising. You know, the stock market prices in what it can.

It doesn't know what's going to happen in the Strait of Hormuz, but it does know that companies are saying that their earnings per share are going to get higher. The tech companies are doing well. So, it keeps going up. If you're invested in that stock market, you're feeling pretty good.

[08:35:05]

But if you're the type of person, like most Americans that get most of your money in a paycheck every couple of weeks, you're feeling squeezed. You are noticing those rising gas prices, rising food prices, home prices, potentially interest rates going up. And all of that is making you feel worried.

And so that's why you get these seemingly two different economies. And now I'll say one more thing. The jobs figure is optimistic. I mean, that's the second month now that we've seen some pretty solid gains.

That's coming after a few months of up and down, up and down, where it was really hard to tell where we were. But if we were to get, say a third month of really good job gains, I would start to say, well, you know, the labor market is really stabilizing, and hopefully, if people can get some pay increases, that should start to make them feel better.

FREEMAN: Rana, when you're talking about this disconnect right between those who are invested in the market, investors having things actually look pretty good over the past couple of months. Do you see this divide getting worse even though consumer sentiment continues to be at an all-time low?

FOROOHAR: You know, Danny, I'm worried about that. It's something frankly, I've been worried about for years because this isn't just a trend that's showing up right now even in the last few months. This is a trend that's been happening for years, decades even, where people that own most of the stock market, that's 10 percent of the population, by the way, owns 80 percent of the stock market. So that's a big divide.

The wealthy are really -- they're getting wealthier. I mean, it's absolutely true. It's especially true under Trump because he's done a lot to try and juice the stock market. Now, the war in Iran has obviously caused big concern.

It's interesting that it hasn't hit share prices yet. That's because oil takes a long time to get where it's going. The war's only been on. Well, I shouldn't say only. It feels like a long time, but it's been about nine weeks, 10 weeks.

So, you know, we could still be feeling some of that impact even in the next couple of weeks or so. But at the same time, if you don't have investment in that market, you just, you know, you're in a holding pattern. As you said, companies aren't firing so much, but they're not really hiring big time yet. And there's, of course, the worries about AI which we've seen impact the tech markets. You've seen a lot of layoffs in software. You've seen a lot of layoffs in communications area where I can do a lot of jobs.

And so I think that there's this kind of underlying almost existential worry amongst the average person, gosh, is AI going to take my job? And what's that going to mean?

FREEMAN: Yes, sure. And Rana, we only have about 30 seconds left, but just I guess when you look at the total of all of this, will it -- can the Trump administration keep saying things are great as long as those gas prices remain stubbornly high?

FOROOHAR: I don't think so. I mean, I think, look, gas prices are the one price that we see everywhere. Every American sees them almost every day. I think it's really hard to hide the fact that a war of choice has created major energy inflation.

FREEMAN: Yes. Especially as we head into the summer months and people start to travel more and more.

FOROOHAR: Indeed.

FREEMAN: Rana Foroohar, thank you as always for your expertise. Really do appreciate you jumping on this morning.

FOROOHAR: Thanks.

FREEMAN: Coming up next, a haunting case resurfaces. A new lead in the disappearance of Kristin Smart 30 years after she was last seen. We'll tell you about the new search warrant coming up after a quick break.

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[08:43:15]

FREEMAN: This morning, investigators may have a new lead in the Kristin Smart case nearly 30 years after she disappeared from Cal Poly. Smart was last seen in 1996, and her body has never been found, but she was declared dead in 2002. Paul Flores was convicted of her murder and is now serving 25 years to life in prison.

Well, now, authorities have served a new search warrant at a home linked to his family. CNN's Josh Campbell reports.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR 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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERIFF IAN PARKINSON, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY: We can't call it Kristin, but you know, we think there's, there's evidence to support human remains there at one time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PARKINSON: If I let out information that could jeopardize a next step or our next direction, that would be damaging.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL: One thing we do know, according to authorities, is they are currently using advanced technology called ground penetrating radar to scan the florist's 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.

[08:45:10] 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 body.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAMBERT, HOST "YOUR OWN BACKYARD" PODCAST: 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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.

FREEMAN: Josh Campbell, thank you very much for that reporting. Coming up in just a moment, new files on UFOs have been released by the Trump administration, and we're going to walk through all that was revealed. Coming up after a quick break.

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[08:50:45]

FREEMAN: The Pentagon has released what they say are never-before-seen files on UFOs that outline various investigations into reported sightings of what officials now call unidentified aerial phenomena. The accounts spanned decades, from reports from astronauts aboard the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 to sightings as recently as last year. The release, which was ordered by President Trump, has been billed as an effort to provide greater transparency to the American public. CNN's Tom Foreman has more on what was in those files.

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

TRUMP: I don't have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do.

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

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All engines running, commit liftoff.

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

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a bogey at 10:00 o'clock high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have any more information? Estimated distance or size?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like hundreds of little particles going down to the left out about three to four miles.

FOREMAN (voiceover): Also, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean reporting from space in 1969. You can see these lights, particles of light, flashes of light, and they're just sailing off. They really haul out of here and press off out at the stars.

There are many pages of comments by curious citizens, some obvious hoaxes, and more, but no solid answers about what it all means from government officials, present or past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have not seen any firm evidence. That there are aliens out there. What the Pentagon is now doing is basically letting the American people make up their own minds.

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

FREEMAN: This, however, can be explained. That right there, that's hail, large hail falling outside a home near New Orleans. And this right here, this is a view of a steady stream of rain and hail falling in another neighborhood in Louisiana. It's all on track to be a soggy weekend across the Southeast.

For more on this, we have meteorologist Chris Warren. He's got our forecast this morning. Chris, you're tracking these storms. I know they're bad, but they're needed at this point, right?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The rain that comes with the storm is what's absolutely needed. We could do without the hail, the possibly damaging hail, and the damaging winds. But this time of year, that's often how we end up getting the rain is through thunderstorms.

The severe weather threats are the strongest variety of storms will be developing throughout the day and really peaking here in Oklahoma. But it's these showers and storms that have the chance producing some flash flooding and chance for producing some severe weather as well. Damaging winds possibility with severe thunderstorm warning right there, just in complete southern Mississippi.

The threat for this isolated areas with those the warnings continues throughout the day. But here is where, later on and into tonight, we could see some of the stronger, more potent storms with even larger damaging hail and damaging winds as well. You can see that then transitioning to a severe weather threat for tomorrow in Texas and the Arch lacks with more rain throughout the Southeast.

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Could see about 2 to 4 inches. Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but we'll take every drop here because of the intense drought that is ongoing. The orange and red colors, that's severe and extreme. The darker color here is the most intense form of drought. It's exceptional drought. And we're going to again get more rain tomorrow.

But again, Danny, the storms that are expected to develop that we saw there on the future radar, Dallas and Fort Worth into the Hill country could be severe. So just a heads up for any warnings that may be heading your way tomorrow.

FREEMAN: Yes, heads up indeed. Big weather for the Big Easy. All right, Chris Warren, thanks so much. Appreciate you.

And thank you all for joining us this morning. Victor Blackwell, and First of All, we'll be back next Saturday morning at 8:00. Smerconish is up next. I'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 6:00.

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