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Autopsy: Yacht Victims Were Trapped Alive, Clung To Air Pocket; Biden, Harris, Trump Vow To Block Japanese Purchase Of U.S. Steel; New CDC Rabies Rules Make It Hard For Military Families To Bring Their Dogs Home From Overseas. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 05, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:34:10]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A disturbing update now for you in that deadly accident involving a superyacht off the coast of Sicily. Autopsies revealed that several of the victims were trapped inside the ship as it sank, alive, huddled together likely in an air pocket.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: CNN Saskya Vandoorne has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, Boris and Brianna, we're getting more information on the final moments of the people who lost their lives aboard the superyacht battered by a storm off the coast of Sicily last month.

Authorities have released the autopsies of four of the seven victims who died.

And they revealed that American lawyer, Chris Morvillo, his wife, Neda, as well as Morgan Stanley, banker, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife, Judy, did not have water in their lungs or stomach, which suggests that they suffocated in an air bubble as oxygen ran out.

[14:35:01]

It paints a harrowing picture of their final minutes as investigators believe the cabin, the four were found in filled with carbon dioxide as the oxygen supply diminished.

British tech entrepreneur, Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Lynch, and the yachts chef, Recaldo (ph) Thomas, also died in the incident.

Now there are still a lot of questions about how the disaster could have happened. And the autopsies are part of a criminal investigation.

As Italian prosecutors have placed at the captain and two other men working on the boat under investigation for multiple manslaughter and culpable shipwreck. But authorities say this doesn't mean that they will be charged with

any crime. And the men have been allowed to leave the country -- Boris and Brianna?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: All right, Saskya Vandoorne, thank you for that report.

Former President Trump, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris may not agree on much, but they are all opposed to letting a Japanese company take over U.S. Steel.

That iconic American company says it could shut down steel mills if the deal doesn't go through.

We're going to ask the president of the Steelworkers Union what he wants to see happen.

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[13:40:36]

SANCHEZ: Just moments ago, Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Pittsburgh to prep for her debate against Donald Trump, their first ever face-to-face meeting.

But even before the big showdown, just five days from now, there's another battle coming to a head in Steel City. Both Harris and Trump actually agree with President Biden that they would block the $14 billion sale of U.S. Steel to the Japanese firm, Nippon Steel.

U.S. Steel's chief is warning, though, that if the sale doesn't go through, it may have to close down mills, likely cutting thousands of union jobs and potentially moving its headquarters out of Pennsylvania, which if you've been paying attention, is a very important state in this election.

Some employees of U.S. Steel rallied yesterday in Pittsburgh to support the takeover. But the United Steelworkers Union has firmly been against the deal.

Let's discuss with David McCall. He's the president of the United Steelworkers Union.

David, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

I'm curious to get your response to this warning from the CEO that blocking the deal could mean lost union jobs. Do you agree?

DAVID MCCALL, PRESIDENT, UNITED STEELWORKERS UNION: No, I don't. Boris. And thank you for the invitation to talk about this.

The CEO came out yesterday with this statement about threatening to shut down some of the facilities and move their headquarters out of Pittsburgh. It's baseless and it's irresponsible. U.S. Steel is a profitable company. It does well here in the Amman

Valley where he was targeting some of those threats. They've talked about it being a world-class facility and being able to deliver quality products to our customers.

Now, all of a sudden, when he's about to lose a $70 million change- and-control bonus, he makes these kinds of threats. And like I say, they're irresponsible.

And the board of directors ought to really be looking at what exactly his agenda is.

SANCHEZ: The company's stock dropped sharply when President Biden said he planned to block the deal yesterday. It seems you're convinced that U.S. Steel can survive without the kind of investment that Nippon Steel is promising. Is that right?

MCCALL: I know it can survive. It's been -- as I said, it's a world- class facility and we make good high-quality products. Matter of fact, here in Amman Valley, it's been noted as being one of the most cost -- lowest cost producers in the entire system.

So these threats are just irresponsible.

The real problem here is not only the national defense and critical supply chain issues that CISA has been investigating. It also violates our collective bargaining agreement in that the ultimate parent of this proposed transaction, Nippon, is not signing our collective bargaining agreement.

So there's issues around the collective bargaining agreement, but there's also issues about national defense and critical supply chain issues.

SANCHEZ: I want to dig into that with you, sir, because supporters of the deal argue the Japanese firms invest more than $700 billion across the United States. They employ something like a million Americans directly and up to 3 million indirectly.

Obviously, there are strong political relationships between the United States and Japan. So what do you say to those who argue that those national security concerns are overblown?

MCCALL: Well, frankly, we know that they are an ally and that's not an issue here. But they're not necessarily an ally when it comes to trade.

There's currently 12 cases against Nippon Steel itself where they've dumped steel and steel products into this country at illegal prices, either below the market or less than cost of production.

And part of our concern here, and when we've talked to them about it and tried to get them to make commitments to us, they don't. They talk about investing in the hot-strip mill here in Amman Valley.

But we're also concerned about blast furnace production, which is the kind of production that you need to make for some of the high-quality products around automotive and tin, and in that national defense issues around the military.

And they have 16 million tons of excess capacity in Japan. And our concern is that the blast furnaces will go down, they want don't repair them over a period of time. And then they'll bring slabs into the United States from Japan.

[13:45:00]

We need to melt, pour and finish steel in this country for national defense and critical supply chain issues.

So a lot of what they say is about, in the future, shutting down some of that blast furnace production that we need to be kept here in the U.S.

SANCHEZ: Would you be more amenable to a deal if Nippon actually made promises in writing or made agreements in writing with the company and with the workers union that outline the kind of investment that they would make aside from just a press release or a public announcement?

MCCALL: We've asked them about it over the last -- almost a year now. We've talked at various times with them about those kinds of commitments and they've refused to do it.

And as I said, they're also the ultimate parent in this transaction and they refuse to sign the collective bargaining agreement. And they've known that for eight months now that those are the issues and they, frankly, just ignore them.

(CROSSTALK)

MCCALL: And they -- they make promises about no later -- unless they -- unless something changes in the market. Well, those are the kinds of commitments we've already gotten in our collective bargaining agreement.

SANCHEZ: David McCall, appreciate you sharing your perspective. Look forward to continuing the conversation as the story moves forward.

MCCALL: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, the U.S. insisting that Israel and Hamas are on the verge of a ceasefire deal. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the leaders who would have to sign off on that, says it's not even close.

So what exactly is going on? And can they actually get any closer to a truce? That story and more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:51:20] KEILAR: On this week's "Homefront," a new problem for families in the military moving back to the U.S. from overseas posts. Amid all the confusion in that clutter of moving, some are facing a new hurdle, no way to bring home their family dog.

The problem stems from new requirements from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They're designed to prevent any dogs that might carry rabies from entering the U.S.

But it's led eight airlines to decide to stop flying dogs back into the states, either in the cabin or the cargo hold.

Liz Hensel is the CEO of Leave No Paws Behind, USA. She is joining us from Tel Aviv, where her husband is serving with the U.S. Marines.

Liz, this is heartbreaking. How many families have been affected by this?

LIZ HENSEL, CEO, LEAVE NO PAWS BEHIND: It is heartbreaking. Well, we have a large population of troops all over Europe and Asia, and they think the last time to hit Bradley (ph), 300,000 troops overseas.

And when the news first broke, it was so sudden. There was no guidance, that the quick reaction was to just shut down the services. And when the rule was published, I was actually in the middle of my family vacation in Germany. I just knew that we had to do something. We had to act fast.

This is PCSD season, permanent (INAUDIBLE season, where families are constantly moving in and out of the country.

So I immediately got on my laptop and my phone and I was emailing the CEO and the leadership of Lufthansa Airlines.

This is an airline that I have personally used before. They are one of the most pet-friendly airlines. They made it so easy for military families to move to and from Germany to the United States.

So thankfully, after about three days of back-and-forth of trying to cope with solution, trying to contact CDC leadership, explaining that this is not something that I can just be implemented almost overnight.

We only had a few months warning to get things ready. Alot of families had no idea that this change was coming down.

So with a lot of attention brought to this, the CDC did pull back a little bit. They're still a process that needs to happen. Lufthansa finally agreed to bring pets back in the cabinet and in the hold.

But with starting caveats. They can only enter the country on certain locations, which you can find on their Web site. But it's still a huge win compared to what we had a few weeks ago, which was just a complete shutdown.

KEILAR: So do you have people then, Liz -- I mean, they're jumping through hoops, getting their dogs sent to other airports. I mean, it sounds like a huge inconvenience.

HENSEL: It is a huge inconvenience. And personally, our organization has helped families where we pick up -- where we actually facilitate a pickup of their pets at another airport and then basically dropping them to their final destination.

Yes, it's absolutely an inconvenience, especially like, one of the ports for incoming -- for bringing them in the country is New York City.

OK, so what if the family is PCSD in North Carolina where we have traveled to, one of the biggest Marine Corps Bases on the east coast, along with Fort Bragg, one of the biggest Army bases on the east coast.

And we have to figure out a route to bring that pet from New York City all the way to North Carolina versus just having a flight that can go directly there.

KEILAR: Yes. You're relying on the kindness of strangers and that seems like a bit much to be going through when you're already moving so often.

[13:55:02]

Liz Hensel, thanks so much for highlighting this problem. We really appreciate it.

HENSEL: Absolutely. Thank you for having me on.

KEILAR: And we'll be right back.

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