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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
FBI Identifies Suspect In Palm Springs Fertility Clinic Bombing; Seven Men Still On The Run After New Orleans Jailbreak; 2 Dead, 19 Hurt When Mexican Tall Ship Hits Brooklyn Bridge; NJ Transit Workers, Union Reach Deal To End Strike; Israel To Allow A Basic Quantity Of Food Into Gaza; Pope Leo XIV Meets U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary Of State Marco Rubio. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired May 19, 2025 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Now this cancer diagnosis being announced now so that Biden will be viewed more sympathetically. So those arguments are going to keep going back and forth and there are other books in the works as well.
At least one more big look back at 2024 decisions is coming out this summer. So, while the conversations may be more muted for the time being, they will still be taking place in the days, weeks and months to come. Brian Stelter, CNN.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Police have now identified the suspect in the bombing outside a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California. Authorities say that 25 year old Guy Bartkus is a suspected bomber and they believe that he died in the blast. Our Stephanie Elam has more now.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Officials believe that the only life that was lost in the Palm Springs bombing was that of the man that they believe was the perpetrator, 25 year old Guy Bartkus from Twentynine Palms, which is a community about an away from here in Palm Springs.
Officials say they were able to save all of the sensitive materials and the embryos that were there inside the clinic. And we also learned that four people who were injured have all been treated and released. Officials also saying that they do believe that this town is safe and that he was the lone threat here.
But they continue to do investigation into more of this man's background. But they are asking for the public's help as well. They know where he was at six o' clock in the morning on Saturday. They want to know if anyone in the community saw this car that he was driving, even giving out his license plate to find out what he was doing leading up to this event that happened at about 11 o'clock in the morning on Saturday.
But they say that they are aware of a possible manifesto and rantings that could have been made online. They believe that this perpetrator was also trying to live stream, but that seemed to have failed. Also unclear whether or not the perpetrator was inside the vehicle or outside when the bomb detonated. But they did say they will have to use forensic to completely identify that this 25-year-old man is who they think he is. But still they have given us this name and they do believe that is the right person.
Out here they continue to work on going through the debris field here. They said it was very expansive. So much so they say it doesn't really compare to anything else. Take a listen to the FBI acting director from Los Angeles talk about that.
AKIL DAVIS, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, LOS ANGELES: Due to the speed and professionalism of the Palm Springs fire Department, Station 1, the Palm Springs Police Department as well as the FBI bomb technicians, we were able to save all of the embryos at this facility, good guys 1, bad guys 0. They understood the sensitivity and the precious nature of what was inside, and they took extreme care to ensure that there was no loss of any sensitive material.
ELAM: I talked to a resident who lives just around the corner, and he walks down the street three times a week for his own cancer treatment. And he says that the people where he lives, his home, everyone is still very much shaken because something like this just doesn't happen here in Palm Springs. Stephanie Elam, CNN, Palm Springs, California.
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SOLOMON: Officials in Louisiana, meantime, are asking for the public's help to recapture seven inmates still on the run after escaping from jail in New Orleans. Ten inmates broke out on Friday, and only three have been found so far. Authorities believe that jail employees may have helped the men escape and that friends and family have been helping them while on the run. Police warn that the inmates may have left the state.
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COL. ROBERT HODGES, LOUISIANA STATE POLICE SUPERINDENTENT: These fugitives may not just be in New Orleans. They possibly moved out to other parishes and other states. And the combination of local, state and federal law enforcement working collectively to ensure the capture and safety of everyone is our top priority.
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SOLOMON: Officials say that defective locks allowed the inmates to leave their cells. Then they breached a wall behind a toilet, leaving behind a message mocking their escape as, quote, too easy.
The National Transportation Safety Board is set to hold a news conference in New York later today. There they have assembled a team of expert investigators to determine what caused a Mexican Navy training ship to strike the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.
Early evidence suggests that there was a mechanical issue with the ship's rudder. The captain has said that they lost power and he was unable to steer. Mexican officials have now identified the two people who were killed during the strike after they fell from one of the ship's masts. Now, the first victim was a cadet, America Yamileth Sanchez, and the second was a sailor, Adal Jair Manondo Marcos.
A tentative agreement has been reached to end a three day transit strike in New Jersey. Governor Phil Murphy praised the outcome, calling it a quote, good results for commuters and taxpayers. Hundreds of union engineers manned picket lines on Friday in a dispute over pay.
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Train of service is expected to return to normal as soon as Tuesday, but the tentative agreement still needs to be ratified by the rank and file. New Jersey Transit serves 100,000 customers a day, making it the nation's third largest commuter railroad.
The violent storm system that already killed dozens across Missouri and Kentucky left a trail of destruction in Colorado on Sunday. The severe weather produced at least two tornadoes, including this one. This is in Aurora, Colorado. That's where the National Weather Service reported hail the size of ping pong balls. CNN affiliate KUSA reports that dozens of buildings and homes were destroyed or damaged across multiple counties and more than 1,000 flights were delayed on Sunday due to the severe weather.
Mixed messages coming from Hamas's upper ranks. On Sunday, a senior Hamas leader told CNN that the militant group had agreed to release up to nine Israeli hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 300 Palestinian prisoners.
But then just hours later, another senior leader denied that proposal. Israel says that it will allow, quote, a basic amount of food to enter Gaza as the U.N. backed report warns that the enclave remains at critical risk of famine. That's amid Israel's 11-week aid blockade and Israel is pushing ahead with its new offensive in the enclave.
Let's get live now to Nada Bashir, who is in London for us. Nada, give us a sense of what's the latest now or.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, this extended and expanded ground operation by the Israeli military, which is set to target both northern and southern Gaza, comes at a time of growing desperation for Gaza's civilians. The Israeli military has said that it is pushing forward with this operation in an effort to secure and meet all of its military objectives, including the defeat of Hamas, including the release of all hostages remaining in Gaza.
And now, they say, expanding operational control of the strip through what they have described as the segmentation of the territory and the relocation of civilians, they say for their protection. But as we have seen throughout this war, it is civilians that are bearing the brunt of this military campaign.
This ground operation, of course, follows an intensifying aerial campaign by the Israeli military, an intensifying and ramping up bombing campaign that we've seen since Thursday, which has already killed hundreds, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, and injured hundreds more.
And what we have seen, as we have done many times before, is once again the targeting of civilian areas, including displacement camps such as the Al-Mawasi coastal area, an area that has previously been designated a humanitarian zone by the Israeli military is known to be housing thousands of civilians in these makeshift tents.
And also the targeting of health care facilities, including the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, which was essentially the only remaining hospital in the north of Gaza that was somewhat functional.
We've seen video emerging showing patients attempting to evacuate the hospital, some patients being wheeled out in their hospital beds, and there have been reports of some patients remaining intensive care, unable to evacuate. So it is a deeply desperate situation.
But as this ground offensive of course is coupled with that intensifying bombing campaign, we've heard firm language, stark language, from humanitarian organizations, including the United nations, the UN's own humanitarian affairs chief, human rights chief Rather Volker Turk, saying that the intensified bombing campaign is equivalent to ethnic cleansing.
And there have been quite devastating accounts from civilians on the ground. Take a listen to one Palestinian civilian who was forced of course once again to relocate to the Al Mawasi area as I mentioned earlier.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We came to the Al Mawasi, they followed us. Our house was destroyed, all our homes were gone. Nothing is left for us. May God have mercy on us. We are fed up. We need a solution, people. Shame on you. We are fed up. We cannot live any longer. My heart can't handle anymore.
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BASHIR: And of course, in addition to this intensified military campaign, we've also seen that weeks long blockade on the Gaza Strip preventing any food or humanitarian aid from entering the Strip. The UN has repeatedly warned now that the vast majority of Gaza's civilian population, more than 2.1 million people, are at critical risk of famine.
Now, the Israeli Prime Minister's office said that they will allow a basic amount of food into Gaza due to operational requirements and needs. But again, this has been a weeks long blockade. The need for civilians in Gaza is dire and the situation is only growing more desperate. Rahel?
SOLOMON: Yes, certainly more dire by the day. Nada Bashir in London. We appreciate the reporting, thank you. We're going to take a short break and we'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo today. They had attended the Pontiff's inaugural mass on Sunday and were seen shaking hands with him afterwards. Vance was also seen greeting other world leaders before the start of the service. A massive crowd gathered at St. Peter's Square to greet the Pope on Sunday.
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That's where the pontiff called for unity in the church and prayed for peace in places like Ukraine and Gaza.
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POPE LEO XIV, LEADER OF CATHOLIC CHURCH (through translator): In this, our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, by violence, by prejudice, by the fear of difference and an economic paradigm that exploits the world's resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world.
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SOLOMON: Let's go to our Ben Wedeman who has been following these developments and joins us live from Rome with the latest. Ben, and we just learned that Vance has also met with the pope not long ago. What more do we know about that meeting?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand from the pool reporters who were with who traveling with the vice president is that at 7:56 a.m. local time, the delegate -- the U.S. delegation arrived at the Vatican.
Now, according to the Holy See press office, first there was a one on one meeting between Pope Leo and J.D. Vance. The vice president's office has put out pictures of that meeting. Following that, they were joined by U.S. Secretary of State Marc Rubio, and after that, they were joined by the secretary of state and the vice president's wives and the larger delegations.
Now, it's not clear how long Pope Leo and the vice president actually met. However, afterwards, there was a meeting between the U.S. delegation and the Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, who's the secretary, the Vatican secretary for relations with states and international organizations.
Where of according to the Holy See press office, there was an exchange of views on sort of situations around the world and there was a calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict. Certainly no doubt there was some reference to the situation in Gaza that our colleague Nada Bashir referred to earlier, where, of course, the United States is the principal political and military backer for Israel's war in Gaza.
There was also a call from the Holy See for a negotiated settlement of conflicts, obviously referring to Gaza, Ukraine and other conflicts around the world. Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. Ben Wedeman reporting there in Rome. Ben, thank you.
All right. So ahead for us, Scottie Scheffler has claimed his very first PGA Championship. Coming up, CNN catches up with the world's number one ranked golfer following his third major win. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: All right, the NBA's Final Four is set. The Oklahoma City Thunder cruise into the Western Conference finals on Sunday, crushing the Denver Nuggets by 32 points in Game 7 of their series. The Thunder will play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals and the winner will go on to face either the New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers for the NBA title.
The world's number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler, has won his first PGA Championship. He finished the tournament at 11 under par Sunday, a commanding five stroke victory over the second place finishers. It is Scheffler's third career major title after winning the Masters in 2022 and 2024. And CNN's Patrick Snell was in Charlotte, North Carolina, for Sunday's final round and caught up with Scheffler.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Scottie, many congratulations. A remarkable achievement. I will say, though, at times on the front nine, you looked a bit like a boxer on the ropes. How did you manage to regroup, get yourself back together while splitting all that emotion as well en route to your third major title?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, WINNER OF 2025 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: Yes, I think that's a good description. Yes, I felt like I was on the ropes a little bit. This golf course will keep you on your toes. And I really -- it was weird because by the time, like, 7, 8, 9, I felt like I hit really good tee shots, and I looked up and it was just like 30 yards left to where I was looking, which was a bit unusual.
But making the turn, I kind of squared my shoulders up and I hit a really good T ball in 10, really good T ball in 11. And after that, I really did a good job executing. Hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and, you know, played a really good nine holes when I really needed to. SNELL: It's been a meteoric journey for you over the last three years.
Talking big picture now, your first PGA Tour title. The wonderful moment as well. You become a father, and now your third career major. How do you reflect on that journey and how would you describe what has actually been like for you? Give us a sense on that.
SCHEFFLER: Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, it's really hard to put into words. You know, Mary and I were talking this morning. We still feel like we're in high school. Felt like were in high school yesterday. Like, we just started dating, and all of a sudden, you know, life out here is pretty cool right now. This is a lot of fun.
But at the end of the day, life at home for us is pretty much the same. You know, we have a good little life and we have great friends at home, and, you know, I'm looking forward to getting home and celebrating them.
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SOLOMON: So cute to see the baby just completely unaware of the moment and everything that is happening. All right. Not since the age of gladiators has Rome seen such a formidable face off. It's quite the tease. Tennis world number two, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain defeated Italy's very own Jannik Sinner in the men's Italian Open final on Sunday.
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Alcaraz won in two sets, making it his fourth straight victory over the world number one Sinner. 22-year-old champion praised his opponent's return to the sport. Sinner had not competed since January due to a doping suspension.
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a tiny robot the size of an airpod. It's kind of like an insect that moves by hopping and weighs less than a paper clip. With a spring loaded leg and four flapping wings. Here's how it works.
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YI-HSUAN HSIAO, MIT ROBOTICS LAB: The passive leg, just like a tiny pogo stick, makes sure the robot can bounce back efficiently from the ground. On the other hand, the flapping wing modules ensure the robot stay upright for stability.
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SOLOMON: Now the creators say that the robot could be used in search and rescue operations because it can navigate confined spaces and withstand rough terrain. That's going to do it for this hour of Early Start. I'm Rahel Solomon in New York. I'll be right back with more news after this quick break.
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