Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Hantavirus-Stricken Cruise Ship Arrives In Tenerife; Passengers Begin Disembarking From Hantavirus-Stricken Cruise Ship; First Qatari Ship Crosses Hormuz Since Conflict Began; White House Awaits Response To Proposal To End War; Funeral Held For Eight Children Killed In Louisiana Mass Shooting; Teenager Dying Of Cancer Reunited With Recently Deported Parents; Investigators Did Not Recover Kristin Smart In Latest Search; New Video Shows Moments Before Frontier Strikes Pedestrian; Five States In The U.S. Monitor Seven Passengers Exposed To Hantavirus, No Symptoms Reported. Soggy, Stormy Start To Mother's Day; Outrage Utah After Controversial AI Data Center Is Approved; World Cup Fans Outraged By High Ticket Prices; BTS Returns To Mexico City For Sold Out Shows; "Eva Longoria: Searching For France" Final Episodes Air Tonight At 9P (ET/PT). Aired 6-7a ET

Aired May 10, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:35]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. Here's what's happening today. Passengers have just started to get off of the cruise ship carrying people stricken with hantavirus. Here's a live look at that ship. Medical professionals are now evaluating all of those passengers. Our Melissa Bell is standing by with the latest.

Plus, a new warning from the Iranian military to any country that enforces sanctions. The new threat they're leveling today.

Also new this morning, we're getting a look at the moments before a Frontier Airlines flight hit a pedestrian on the runway, and the chaotic moments after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, NEW YORK: And as we prepare to host the World Cup right here in our backyard, we want to do everything in our power to make it more affordable for fans to make those memories.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: And we're about a month away from the start of the World Cup. But amid the excitement, there's anger about the sky high cost of ticket prices. We'll tell you how some cities are making the games, or at least the atmosphere around them, more affordable.

Sunday, May 10th. A very happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, especially mine. I'm Danny Freeman, in for Victor Blackwell.

We begin right now with breaking news. We just learned that passengers have started to disembark the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak. The MV Hondius is anchored at the Port of Granadilla in the Canary Islands. Passengers are being escorted off the ship, according to their home country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, ACTING DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIC AND PANDEMIC MANAGEMENT, WHO: So the plan will be that the ship will anchor and that there will be small boats that will take some of the passengers and it will be done in a very choreographed, coordinated way, in a very protected way. Bring those passengers to shore. There will be a screening that will take place. Right now, there's nobody on board that has any symptoms, including passengers and crew. And that's great news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Centers for Disease Control officials will be there to escort 17 Americans back home. Now, none has symptoms, but they will go to a special facility in Nebraska for monitoring. After that, they will self-monitor for six weeks at home.

CNN's Melissa Bell is live from the Canary Island of Tenerife. Melissa, good to see you. Tell us what happens next.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, what we've seen over the course of the last couple of hours, Danny, those very first small boatloads of people being taken off the virus stricken ship and onto shore. Once onshore, taken onto these busses that are ferrying them on to the airport where their airplanes are waiting for them.

The first batch of people to be taken off the ship were Spanish. They are even now making their way onto that flight that will take them onto Madrid, Danny, where they will be taken to a military hospital and kept in quarantine for seven days, monitored, no visits for them.

So, whilst this part of the ordeal is over for these passengers, remember that whatever their home country is, there's a whole process ahead of them. In the case of the Spaniards, seven days in that military hospital, and then there's very long isolation time. The World Health Organization is recommending a six week period. So, that's a very long time before any of these people are going to get back to life as they knew it before.

This morning, the sense is, first of all, for these passengers and crew members who would have caught sight this morning for the very first time of a shore onto which they would be able to step later in the day, must have been such a huge relief. These people, Danny, have been on this ship for more than five weeks now, and ever since the virus was first identified in early May, entirely uncertain of their fate of what their final destination would be and of how long they were going to be on this ship in these very difficult conditions.

In fact, what we heard yesterday was a direct letter from Dr. Tedros, the head of the World Health Organization, to the people of Tenerife, thanking them for their solidarity, for their humanity and allowing this very complex operation to take place on their island, but also acknowledging the fact that people are afraid.

Ever since the COVID days, and it's normal with these kinds of viruses, but also pointing out that everything was going to be done to ensure their safety. And that's really what we've seen today, a very transparent operation, a very careful operation. And exactly as they said, those passengers taken off in small groups by nationality to the shore, onto their planes, and then onward to their next destinations, Danny.

[06:05:06]

FREEMAN: Yes, you can just tell that the relief, I'm sure, is massive even as this massive operation is taking place before our eyes. Melissa Bell, thank you so much for that report.

Joining me now is Dr. H. Dele Davies. He works at the Nebraska facility where the American passengers will eventually go for monitoring. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us on such a busy and consequential morning for the story. Let's set this up though. Tell us about this specific facility and what it is used for when it comes to cases like this.

DR. H. DELE DAVIES, INTERIM CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: So we have the only nationally designated monitoring center. And this place is a 20-room unit that looks pretty much like a hotel room. However, it's specially designed with what we call negative pressure rooms so that any kind of deadly disease is kept inside the room. And then we have specially engineered controls so that any air that leaves the room is filtered through high efficiency particulate air filtration.

And then the rooms themselves, because, you know, we expect that people may have to stay there for prolonged periods of time are like a hotel room. Actually, more than a hotel room because in the rooms we have equipment where the people living there can have access to do exercises. They have room service there to help them have the activities of daily living. They have monitors, Wi-Fi so they can communicate with their families.

So, this particular setup is really, if our federal partners determine that they would like any of those passengers to stay, that they can be as comfortable as possible.

FREEMAN: Wow. That's truly remarkable. Can you tell us a little bit more, Doctor, about what patients can expect once they actually arrive at the facility? How are they going to be processed? And is the protocol perhaps any different considering at the moment they're all asymptomatic.

DAVIES: Right. So, these -- so these, you know, we'll call them passengers since they don't have any symptoms as you've pointed out, what they would expect is that we would welcome them. Obviously, we're delighted to have our fellow American citizens back home, as you've pointed out.

We would then work with our federal partners, with the CDC and others. We would check to make sure that none of them have any of the symptoms that we would be concerned about like fever, muscle aches. You know, it's often headaches, maybe some G.I. symptoms, like stomach pain, diarrhea, et cetera. Those are some of the early stages of things that you'd expect with hantavirus.

And later on, of course, when they get more sick is when they get the difficulty with coughing and breathing and, you know, fluid in their lungs. And ultimately, have low blood pressure. So, we would just basically assess them. And then our federal partners would make the determination of which ones stay here in our special monitoring unit. And those that they consider they would like to sort of send closer to home.

If for whatever reason they do stay here, we have highly specialized personnel, interdisciplinary teams, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, you know, all kinds of interdisciplinary workers ready to handle them. And if any one of them does turn sick, we have a biocontainment unit where we've handled patients with Ebola and COVID in the past successfully. So, we feel very comfortable and confident that we'll be ready to take care of our fellow citizens right here.

FREEMAN: Wow. Doctor, once you are able to release some of these people back to their homes, can you give a sense of what home monitoring might actually look like and what will happen to these people if they do start to exhibit symptoms?

DAVIES: Well, so that determination to release them to their homes will be most likely made by the -- by our federal partner, the CDC. And if they do make those determinations, then they would be monitored the same way that I just described.

They will be asked to check their temperature. They'll be asked to monitor for all the signs of muscle aches and G.I. symptoms. They'll be asked to -- obviously, if they have any of those symptoms, to seek help immediately.

And then the ideal scenario, depending on the perceived risk upon the time they arrive in terms of their contact with somebody who may have had the diseases, you'd probably want them close to a place where they could be quickly cared for. So, you know, those who may be farther away from a specialized unit than us may be held closer to those units and those who are closer may be allowed to stay home. And then, you know, knowing that they can get that care very fairly quickly.

FREEMAN: Doctor, what do you see right now as the risk to the general public, as these Americans are set to head back to the states?

DAVIES: Well, I would say that the risk is low, Danny, because, you know, unlike Ebola or COVID, these -- the Andes virus is one that is not easy to get. You have to be in fairly close contact with someone who has developed the symptoms, not somebody who's well, but somebody who's developed the symptoms.

[06:10:04]

And, so the risk of actually transmission is low. If you do get it, then the disease itself can be very highly, you know, deadly, but it's not one that we generally worry about in terms of transmission to the general public. So, for those people who are in contact with somebody who's well, generally the risk is low. And most of these people, as you know, are coming off a boat where they were over 100 -- 150 people. And to our knowledge, I believe about seven have been sick.

So, the risk of transmission itself is low. Obviously, the risk of the disease is significant. So, the general public should feel very safe.

FREEMAN: OK. That's a good note to end on. Dr. H. Dele Davies, thank you so much for joining us this morning ahead of what I'm sure is going to be a very busy few days. Really appreciate the work you do and for sharing some insight on it all.

DAVIES: Thank you so much, Danny.

FREEMAN: And of course, be sure to tune in to "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning. Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya will be among the guests joining Jake Tapper. That's going to be at 9:00 a.m. eastern right here on CNN.

New this morning in the war on Iran, the first Qatari tanker has crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began. Ship tracking data shows the ship is on its way to Pakistan, carrying liquid natural gas. In the meantime, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were in Miami yesterday, meeting with the Qatari prime minister. The State Department said the unofficial lunch meeting focused on promoting security and stability across the Middle East and U.S. efforts to secure a peace deal with Iran to end the war.

After the U.S. struck and disabled two vessels back on Friday, Iran threatened to target U.S. military assets in the region if Iranian vessels face any hostile actions. So for more on this, let's go straight to CNN's Leila Gharagozlou with more. Leila, tell us, has the U.S. received a response yet from Iran on the latest proposal to end the war, we've been waiting for that.

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Danny. The U.S. has yet to receive a response from the Iranians. Now, we did see Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, post this yesterday, say on Friday, saying every time a diplomatic solution is on the table, the U.S. opts for a reckless military adventure.

He went on to say that the Iranians won't bow to pressure. Now, this is in response to both the timeline, which the U.S. has set, and Iran has pushed back on, but also to these tit for tat hostilities that we're seeing in the Strait of Hormuz with these tankers and, obviously, as you said, the Iranians responding to that.

Now, fundamentally, the lack of response comes down to trust. The Iranians have made it very clear they don't really trust the Trump administration on these negotiations. They've said throughout this process that the administration has moved the goalposts and that they don't really think a deal is necessarily likely to come out of this.

Now, I do think it's important to understand that this proposal that the U.S. has sent isn't a deal. It is just a framework, which means to actually get a deal done on the key issues like Iran's nuclear program and the missile program. We still have a very long road ahead.

FREEMAN: All right. Leila Gharagozlou, thank you so much for that reporting on such a consequential update today. Appreciate it. Coming up next on CNN THIS MORNING, we're getting a look at new video of the moments just before a person was hit and killed by a Frontier Airlines plane in Denver. We'll show you that video coming up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:20]

FREEMAN: To some other headlines we're following now. A community in Louisiana honored eight children killed in last month's mass shooting. A funeral was held yesterday for the victims. Seven siblings and a cousin ranging in age from three to 11. The service included an open casket viewing and speeches on the impact of their deaths.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CLEO FIELDS (D-LA): This is not a Shreveport mourning. This is a nation mourning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: The children were killed April 19th when Shamar Elkins used an assault style weapon to kill eight children. Seven of them were his own. His wife and another woman were also wounded in the shooting.

Turning to Mexico now, the parents of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen with cancer have reunited with their son. It came one day after their release from DHS detention in Arizona. The teen, who was born in the U.S. but raised in Mexico, got sick while visiting family in Chicago. He was later diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. His parents, who had previously been deported, were arrested in April after trying to reenter the U.S. to see him. Officials say their visa requests were denied, but a judge ordered their release last week.

And in California, authorities say they did not recover Kristin Smart's remains during the latest search at the home connected to her case. Paul Flores was convicted of murdering Smart back in 2002. Investigators served a search warrant, though, at his mother's home last week, citing new leads in evidence.

Authorities ended the search there yesterday and say they remain committed to finding answers in this case. Smart was last seen back in 1996, and her body has never been found. She was declared dead in 2002.

To this now, we're getting a new look at the moments before and after a Frontier Airlines jet struck a pedestrian crossing the runway at the Denver airport.

[06:20:08] Now, this surveillance video right here shows the person walking across the runway. Seconds later, the person is hit by the plane's engine. We're not showing that particular moment.

Now, shortly after that, the crew reported an engine fire and aborted the takeoff. Passengers were evacuated onto the runway after smoke was reported inside of the aircraft. CNN's Leigh Waldman has more.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Danny, such a scary situation for everyone on board that Frontier Airlines flight. The person who was involved in this incident, who was struck and killed, still has not been identified. The Denver Police Department saying the demographics of that victim are still under investigation.

Meanwhile, the Denver International Airport putting out a statement saying they do not believe this person was an employee of the airport itself. The runway where this happened has been reopened. That accident scene has been cleared.

But we want to go ahead and show you video of a slide set up outside of that plane to try and get all 231 people on board off of that plane. Passengers saying there was smoke filling the cabin. We blurred the engine video where there was a fire there that was quickly extinguished.

We know it was a very scary situation. One passenger telling CNN it was a gruesome scene and almost a bomb like explosion that took place.

This flight was leaving from Denver, going to Los Angeles. Obviously, the pilots having to forgo taking off and grounding that plane after this incident happened. We want to play for you that air traffic control audio from moments after this incident happened.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

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

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

PILOT: 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.

TOWER: OK, we are rolling the trucks down.

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

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WALDMAN: Twelve people were hurt. Five of them were taken to local area hospitals. The transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, weighing in on this with a statement online saying, late last night, referring to Friday night, a trespasser breached airport security at Denver International Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, ran out onto a runway. The trespasser on the runway was then struck by Frontier Airlines flight 4345 during takeoff at high speed. The pilot stopped takeoff procedures immediately. No one should ever trespass on an airport.

One of the passengers that CNN spoke to said that he was not flying after this incident. Instead, he was renting a car and driving eight hours to go back to his home. The NTSB and FAA, they're working together to investigate this incident, Danny.

FREEMAN: What a scary story. All right. Leigh Waldman, thank you very much for that.

To this now, the process is underway to get those passengers off of the cruise ship connected with that hantavirus outbreak. You're looking at live photos right there. We'll let you know what's planned for the Americans on board and how the CDC will help. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:02]

FREEMAN: Right now, more than 100 passengers from a cruise ship linked to a hantavirus outbreak are disembarking in Tenerife, Spain. We're looking at live photos right now. Medical teams you can see are boarding the ship and screening people as they come ashore before they head home. Three deaths have been linked to the virus since the ship left Argentina last month, and others were evacuated earlier for treatment.

CNN's Rafael Romo has the latest on the response underway.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The MV Hondius is carrying 147 people all together, including 87 passengers and 60 crew members, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, the cruise ship operator. It says those on board represent 24 nationalities, including 17 Americans.

A spokesperson confirmed the U.S. State Department is arranging the repatriation flight in coordination with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the government of Spain. According to sources familiar with the plan to bring those Americans back home, the first step involves CDC staffers meeting the cruise ship when it arrives in the Canary Islands, and then escorting the American passengers back to the United States aboard a charter flight.

A separate team will meet the passengers in Nebraska, the CDC says. There passengers are expected to be evaluated at the national quarantine unit to ensure the virus doesn't spread. Former CDC director Tom Frieden told CNN it's important for health officials to act swiftly to prevent the spread of the disease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: You really have to recognize that there are other people who have gotten off the ship earlier. And the key here, really, is to make sure that people have rapid access to good care if they get very sick, because there's no vaccine, there's no specific treatment, but supportive care in an intensive care unit can save someone's life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Five states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia, are already monitoring seven passengers who previously disembarked from the ship, although health officials told CNN that none are experiencing symptoms. New Jersey is monitoring two people who possibly were exposed to an infected passenger.

Here in the United States, Hantavirus is relatively rare. According to data from the CDC from 1993 to 2023, 890 cases of Hantavirus disease were reported in the country, most of them in western states.

Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Rafael, for that.

All right, it's been a pretty soggy weekend across parts of the country and we're also tracking the threat for severe storms. For more on this, we have CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. She's got the latest.

Morning, Allison, how you doing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on-camera): And so far, so good, yes, but we do have a very stormy Mother's Day in the forecast for several areas. Mostly right now, the focus is across areas of the Southern Plains, but we do still have that original cold front wrapping up over the open Atlantic, so you still got some areas right there along the coastline that are dealing with some heavy rain showers.

Here's a look at where the strong storms are. Again, you can see all of that lightning really starting to fire up across portions of Oklahoma. Northern Texas also has some strong storms, including one flash flood warning because one area in particular has just had one storm after the next, after the next, kind of overtaking that area.

Now, in terms of the rest of the day, this is where we have the best chance for severe thunderstorms. It's really going to kind of be in this elongated bubble that you see here. We do still have the potential for at least a few mild storms across portions of Florida, but the focus is really going to be here across Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and into areas of southern Oklahoma. And you can see a lot of that really firing up this afternoon, especially 1, 2, 3 o'clock.

But even into the evening hours, we still have that elongated system right through here. That large cluster that's really going to slide through, say, around dinner time tonight, and that will continue into the evening hours. We also still have some of those thunderstorms developing over Florida. So do keep a close eye on those two. If you've got some beach plans, you may have to pack up a little bit early this afternoon as some of those storms continue to develop.

The rest of that line is going to kind of fall apart overnight tonight, so there is some good news. That means by the time we get to the morning rush hour tomorrow, not really dealing with a lot of the storms that we would have the night before. Now, one thing to notice, though, to those they do ramp back up again, say 2, 3, 4 o'clock again tomorrow afternoon. You're going to see more of those storms popping back up, especially across areas of Louisiana.

Now, most of the southeast is grateful for this rain because they need it. You still have several areas, especially that red color dealing with the extreme drought. We just don't necessarily want the severe aspect of it that kind of comes along with it.

One thing to note, though, is after those storms clear out those cooler temperatures that have been in place, those are going to start to go away. We have record temperatures possible today in the West, but that is going to start to expand off to the east as we make our way through the upcoming week.

Danny?

FREEMAN: All right, so fear not. The heat is indeed coming.

All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. Appreciate you.

To this now, a group of Utah residents are sounding the alarm over plans for a massive AI data center development in their community. The project was approved by Box Elder County commissioners despite the pushback from residents. Proponents say the project will boost the local economy.

Critics are concerned about the energy consumption and environmental impacts of the nine-gigawatt data center, which could use more than double the energy of the entire state Utah uses in a year.

CNN's Clare Duffy spoke to some of those concerned residents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS TECH REPORTER: The project is, as you said, 40,000 acres that have been set aside in this rural Utah county that right now mostly has farms and agriculture. The plan is for a nine- gigawatt data center. That would be more power than the entire state of Utah uses in a year, plus a natural gas power plant.

The idea there is to create the power for the data center so that it doesn't put a strain on the grid and raise electricity prices for residents. But residents have several concerns. One is just that they haven't had enough time to make sense of these plans and the potential environmental impact on this already ecologically fragile area.

So I asked Kevin about this, and he said they've already taken these environmental concerns into consideration. Take a listen to what he told me.

KEVIN O'LEARY, INVESTOR & DATA CENTER DEVELOPER: No, we're not going to drain the Great Salt Lake. That's ridiculous. We're we are going to create incremental jobs. This is not going to destroy air quality because we don't have the option to do that. That's controlled both state and federally, and we don't want to do that.

Now we want it to be the shining example of how you do this. And I want the Chinese to see this. I want -- I want them to see that we're not going to stop. We're going to catch up in terms of incremental growth of power.

DUFFY: As you hear there, he says the this data center project is going to create 2,000 permanent jobs, tax revenue for the state and for the county.

And also, he says this is really a national security issue where he's concerned that the U.S. is falling behind China in compute power and thus in advancing AI technology. I think the problem is that residents just feel they haven't had enough time to really understand what this project is going to mean for them.

[06:35:02]

I spoke with Robert Davies, he's a physics professor at Utah State University and an expert in environmental change, and he described the concerns like this.

He said, the question is, will the jobs be worth the cost? And the cost, of course, is multi-generational here. One needs to think about what kind of community do I want my children and grandchildren in 30 years from now, 50 years from now. Because this thing, as described, and running it for 30 years will utterly transform this valley. And that is what people in this community are worried about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Clare Duffy, thank you very much for that reporting.

We are about a month away now from the FIFA World Cup, and U.S. soccer fans are being asked to shell out thousands of dollars at times just for tickets.

Well, why are prices so high? We'll dig into that debate, coming up next.

Remember, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. You can also go to CNN.com/Watch.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:38]

FREEMAN: As the World Cup gets underway next month throughout North America, many fans say they feel left out due to the sky-high costs of the tickets. FIFA has come under fire for the inflated ticket prices, with President Trump even saying he wouldn't shell out $1,000 a ticket to watch the U.S. play. Some host cities are trying their best to make the World Cup fan experience more affordable.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that all official FIFA FanFest events in New York will be free this summer. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (NY-D) MAYOR: But if the best things in life are free, so too should the World Cup fan experience.

That is why we are delighted to say that we will be hosting five free official fan events, one in each borough, featuring live viewings, local food offerings, and so much more. These events were not initially set to be free, but the world's game should belong to the world. And so we've made the decision together for fans to be able to watch that together without having to spend a dollar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Joining me now is the soccer editor at USA Today, Seth Vertelney.

Seth, OK, I signed up for my FIFA account this morning to take a look at these prices and on the resale market, they're pretty wild. It seems like the price of entry, at least in Philadelphia, is actually going to probably start at $1,000 for so many games.

Listen, it's the World Cup tickets, I guess you would expect to be expensive, but is this normal for World Cup games?

SETH VERTELNEY, SOCCER EDITOR, USA TODAY: They haven't been this high. This was a sort of conscious decision by FIFA to charge these prices. Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, actually said this week that when you look at the U.S. marketplace, paying premium prices for tickets is a pretty normal thing.

And so, FIFA decided that they were going to put these price points way higher than they have been in the past. You know, a fan group based in Europe did some estimations on how much it would cost to follow a team from the beginning of the tournament through the final, and they compared it to the last World Cup in Qatar. And they determined that it would be five times more expensive to follow a team all the way through to the final for this World Cup. And there is one additional game this year compared to 2022, but obviously that doesn't make up for that huge difference.

So clearly this was a decision by FIFA to basically try to get as much money out of the U.S. consumer as possible.

FREEMAN: Seth, it seems though also city by city, the things can be super variable. New York and New Jersey, for example, they caught a bunch of flack, separately of the tickets, for New Jersey transit riders spiking for World Cup games. Or rides, I should say, the price of rides. But then they were slightly reduced this week, I understand. Is that right?

VERTELNEY: Yes, they went from $150 to $105 --

FREEMAN: Oh.

VERTELNEY: -- for a ticket between -- yes, Penn Station to the stop closest to MetLife Stadium where a bunch of games will be hosted, including the final. You're right, there is a big variation from city to city when it comes to transit. There are some cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta that are charging basically what they normally do for transit. And other cities like New York and Boston, which have jacked up the prices a lot.

These are decisions that are basically coming from the fact that FIFA is making cities pay for a lot of the infrastructure to be ready for this tournament. And at the same time, FIFA extracts almost all the profits themselves. The cities don't get a whole lot, like when it comes to ticket sales, parking, sponsorships. None of that goes to the city. So, it's been sort of a city-by-city decision when it comes to transit.

Also, you mentioned FanFests, that's another one. In the past, those have all been free for the most part, just because it's a place for fans to gather and watch the game. There's not necessarily anything inherently that needs to be charged for in that scenario.

But city-by-city, some of them are charging for FanFests. Some of them are charging a small amount to get in, and then a little bit more for premium areas of FanFests. New York has decided to make theirs free. They weren't initially going to do that.

[06:45:14]

But again, I think a lot of this just stems from the fact that these cities are being left having to pay a lot of the costs themselves and they're trying to recoup some of this money.

FREEMAN: Seth, I only got about 30 seconds left. What would be your suggestion for scoring World Cup tickets? It seems there are some, let's call them less marquee games, that you can probably get cheaper.

But you know, I'm still seeing one in Atlanta for the semifinals where they go as high as $600,000 for a ticket.

VERTELNEY: Yes, it sort of depends how badly you want to go to a game. I think if you're a casual fan and you live in one of the host cities, I think it makes sense to wait and keep an eye on it. If you can make a last minute decision and the day of the game, keep an eye on the prices.

But I also can't really say for sure that these prices are going to go down. In fact, when the tournament starts, you're going to hear a lot about it, you're going to be watching it, and there might be this certain low effect where fans really want to get in and then they really want to go.

So I would suggest if you really want to go to a game, you might just have to bite the bullet and pay what the tickets cost now.

FREEMAN: Seth, it sounds like you and I are going to be sitting at a bar watching these games come the summer.

Seth Vertelney, thank you so much --

VERTELNEY: Yes.

FREEMAN: -- for breaking it all down for us. Really do appreciate you joining us this morning.

VERTELNEY: Thanks for having me.

FREEMAN: All right, so this now, BTS' fever hits Mexico City. Tens of thousands of the BTS Army are showing up to catch the K-pop supergroup in concert this weekend.

We'll show you K-pop frenzy it's creating, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:17]

FREEMAN: Let's get you caught up on our top stories this morning. First up, a cruise ship at the center of the Hantavirus outbreak has arrived in the Canary Islands. You're looking at live photos right here.

Passengers began disembarking a short time ago, and they'll be met by medical professionals from their home countries before being flown back there. Our Melissa Bell is live there, and we're going to check in with her at the top of the hour.

Plus, a new warning from Iran this morning. A senior military official says any country that enforces sanctions on Iran will face problems when their vessels go through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Iran for decades. Other nations have followed suit, citing concerns over Iran's weapons programs and human rights record.

And Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, is expected to be arraigned tomorrow. He's facing multiple charges, and they include attempting to assassinate the President and assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

K-pop supergroup BTS is back in Mexico this weekend as part of their comeback world tour after a nearly four-year hiatus. It's been nearly a decade since the band has performed in Mexico, and the demand to see the group has only grown.

CNN's Ben Hunte has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RM, BTS MEMBER: Uno, dos, tres, we are BTS. BEN HUNTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The K-pop band BTS is electrifying audiences in Mexico City, thrilling fans at sold-out shows filled with fireworks, booming sing-alongs, and even a few phrases in Spanish.

J-HOPE, BTS MEMBER: Thank you so much. Thank you. Te amo.

HUNTE (voice-over): Mexico City is the first Latin American stop of the BTS worldwide tour. The band last played in the Mexican capital nine years ago, and since then, its fan base has exploded.

LAURA MEDINA, BTS FAN (through translation): The truth is, there are so many of us, even millions. Worldwide, ARMY as a fandom has grown a lot. And right now, here in Mexico City, K-pop, and in this case, BTS fans, there are a lot of us.

HUNTE (voice-over): Last year, Spotify ranked Mexico as the fifth largest market in the world for K-pop music. And many fans say their love of BTS hits deeper than just the music, because their lyrics often deal with issues of mental health and self-growth.

FRIDA YAEL, BTS FAN (through translation): They helped me through a lot of depression, and their UNICEF campaign and all of that they do kind of taught me to have self-esteem.

ATZIRI JUAREZ, BTS FAN (through translation): I suffered a lot of bullying when I was a little girl. And when I discovered them, a song about youth really spoke to me.

HUNTE (voice-over): The band was treated to a rock star greeting by a crowd of about 50,000 people as they appeared on a balcony with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum ahead of their concerts. It was a dream come true for so many fans.

ABIGAIL CASTRO RODRIGUEZ, BTS FAN (through translation): I've known BTS since I was 13 years old. I'm 25 now, and I'm extremely excited. I've been waiting for them for almost 10 years, so I'm really, really excited.

HUNTE (voice-over): But many BTS followers won't get the chance to see them. Ticketmaster Mexico says over a million people were on its site at one point trying to score tickets for the Mexico City shows, with only 150,000 seats available.

But Sheinbaum invited a group to return next year, giving hope to die- hard fans that they won't have to wait as long to see their favorite band again.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

HUNTE (voice-over): Ben Hunte, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Quite a story there, love it. All right, right now, passengers are making their way off that Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship. We're going to take you live to the Canary Islands after the break

But tonight, is the series finale of the "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR FRANCE," and here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[06:55:08]

EVA LONGORIA, EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR FRANCE, HOST (voice-over): In fact, Louis XIV is such a big deal, the team are dedicating two courses to his story. For the soup course, Chef Behrens is making a lobster bisque with juicy chunks of lobster tail, dressed with ginger, red onion and basil.

LONGORIA: Let's sit, come and sit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

LONGORIA: So we can have our next course. Merci beaucoup. Wow!

LONGORIA (voice-over): The bisque base is smothered with an intense lobster broth, combined with lightly whipped cream.

LONGORIA: Look at that color! Look, I love anything with cream. Let's taste this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: That looks so good! Tonight's series finale of "EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR FRANCE," airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN, and then tomorrow, on the CNN app.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)