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NTSB Investigating Deadly Ship Crash; Moody's Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating; Deadly Weekend Storms hit U.S. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 19, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:21]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, this morning, investigators are searching for the voyage data recorder. Basically, a ship's black box. And the NTSB is expected to hold a news conference. What everyone wants to know, of course, is, what caused a Mexican naval ship to crash directly into the Brooklyn Bridge. Two crew members were killed, more than a dozen others were injured.

I want to play for you FDNY's dispatch audio after this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it looks like a sailboat was going under the Brooklyn Bridge, hit something over there with the mast broken off, and is drifting under the Manhattan Bridge with people on the boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: PD is reporting that there is a tugboat taking people from the boat to Brooklyn Bridge Park. We have an engine heading over that way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your box is going to go to an all hands. They have multiple serious patients coming into your location and we're going to go all hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Gloria Pazmino is near the bridge this morning.

And, Gloria, tell us more about what we're learning around this investigation.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, those emergency calls really give you a sense of just how chaotic it was in those first few minutes as emergency first responders were trying to get to the scene.

Now, the. Cuauhtemoc was towed to this pier here behind me. It's been here since Saturday night. And I want to show you actually, there's a little bit of work that is happening. You can see there's two sailors that are actually coming down the mast right now. They've been up at the top where the mast has broken. It's essentially broken almost in half. And many of those sails have been ripped. We've been watching as they go up and down the mast this morning to try and repair. One of the primary goals here is not only the investigation, but to make sure that the Cuauhtemoc can be put back in working order so that it can sail out of New York City, as it was intended to do.

Now, there are some crew members that are still on the ship, but the majority of the crew actually went home to Mexico late last night, according to both local and Mexican officials.

We also know that two cadets remain here in New York City hospitals. They are in stable condition. And we know that shortly after the incident, the ship captain reported a loss of power. We know that that is believed to be one of the primary reasons for why the ship started steering in the wrong direction, heading directly towards the Brooklyn Bridge, as we see in that shocking video.

The video shows that the mast of the ship hits the underbelly of the Brooklyn Bridge, causing it to split.

[09:35:04]

And we see, tragically, as some sailors who are actually standing on the mast appear to fall off. We know that the two people who tragically lost their lives were actually some of the sailors that were on the mast.

This is a ceremonial maneuver known in sailing, known as manning the -- the mast. You stand on the mast as you are coming in and out of port. And that is what the sailors were doing at the time.

Another important factor here. What role did the river current play once the -- the loss of power was reported? We are told that the current essentially helped push the ship in the wrong direction.

Lastly, Kate, the two victims who lost their lives here on Saturday night have been identified. They are America Yamilet Sanchez and Adal Jair Maldonado. We have heard from America's family in Mexico. They are awaiting answers from officials and this investigation, trying to get some information about what happened here that led to their loved one's tragic death and waiting for her remains to be sent back to Mexico.

We are expecting the National Transportation Safety Board to give us a briefing later this afternoon where hopefully we are going to learn more about exactly what happened here and the next stages in this investigation.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Gloria, thank you so much for bringing us that update. My goodness.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, ahead, two critical phone calls this morning expected to be undertaken by President Trump, who is set to speak with both Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelenskyy on trying to bring an end to Russia's war on Ukraine. That story and a lot more, ahead.

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[09:41:31]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you can see right there, the stock markets opened just a short time ago, and they opened lower. This is stocks. You know, bond yields, while this is happening, are also rising with the 30-year fixed over -- with a yield of over 5 percent, which has lot of economists worried this morning. This all follows the decision from Moody's to lower the U.S. credit rating from a perfect AAA score is now below that. Moody's, the final of the three major credit rating agencies to downgrade the U.S. score. Part of the reason they cited was the debt could increase from this spending and tax cut bill that President Trump is supporting and is working its way through Congress right now.

With us, CNN political commentator Paul Begala, and former press adviser to then House Speaker John Boehner, Maura Gillespie.

Paul, let me start with you.

Again, the markets are -- are one thing. Increasing the debt is another. This bill that got passed the Budget Committee and is working its way through Congress, what are the politics surrounding that?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's not a bill. It's a political suicide note by the Republicans. They are in power because of the votes of working class Americans. That breaks my heart. But Donald Trump won the votes of people who make less than $50,000 a year. So, what are the -- what is Mr. Trump and the Republicans doing? They're pushing through a budget that kicks 13.7 million people off of Medicaid.

Now, that's the Democratic number. Republicans say it's only 8 million. So, let's take their number. Only 8 million people off of Medicaid. Cutting -- but, by the way, 41 percent of every -- of all the babies born in America are paid by Medicaid. Sixty-three percent of all the people in nursing homes are paid by Medicaid. And they're disproportionately in red states. And they're going to add 3 trillion to the debt. So, they're cutting Medicaid, cutting their own voters, and increasing the debt by 3 trillion, which is what has Moody's so upset. Why? Because they got to cut taxes for the rich. I mean this is the oldest playbook the Republicans have. And in that sense, I think it's going to be a political disaster for the Republicans.

BERMAN: So, Maura, what do you think about that because, look, economists have been worried for the last six weeks about the tariffs. This is a little bit of a new worry when you're talking about the debt and this bill working its way through Congress.

MAURA GILLESPIE, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, BLUESTACK STRATEGIES: Certainly. But one of the things that Moody's pointed out was the reasoning that this would stay stable and wouldn't shift any further was largely due to the fact that we have independent reserves. So, I think that's important to remember that Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve is what's keeping a lot of this kind of still intact.

But to the Medicaid cuts and to those things, it comes down to messaging. Republicans need a message, why they support this bill, and saying it's cuts to Medicaid as opposed to reforming Medicaid has been the messaging tactic for Republicans.

But more than that, these programs, Medicaid and Medicare, are not sustainable long term unless they have some real fixes. And addressing the (INAUDIBLE) how we go about that, we can certainly debate and have disagreements on, but I think -- I do believe that a large majority of Americans want fraud, waste and abuse to be cut out. So, that's going to be a key point here for Republicans to message in terms of how this legislation goes forward to their districts, to their constituents.

BERMAN: Let's talk about messaging for a second because Walmart last week sent the message, Paul, that it was going to have to raise prices because of the tariffs. I want you to listen to what the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said about that over the weekend.

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SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I did speak to Doug McMillon, who I have a very good relationship, yesterday, just to understand what he had to say.

[09:45:04]

And, you know, understand, that came from an earnings call. They -- on an earnings call because of SEC requirements they have to give the most draconian case. So, Walmart will be absorbing some of the tariffs. Some may get passed on to consumers.

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BERMAN: So -- so "Axios" picked up on the last part of what Scott Bessent said right there, that some of it will get passed on to consumers. Because on the subject of messaging, Paul, that's a different message than the administration has said -- ever said, frankly, on tariffs. That's the Treasury secretary saying -- saying that some of the costs, and he said it at the end there, will be passed on.

BEGALA: Right. It's -- it's -- you're going to pay more, America, because of Mr. Trump's policies, because of Mr. Trump's tariffs, you're going to pay more at Walmart. Because of his cuts in Medicaid, you're going to pay more at the doctor's office, or may be not even be able to afford it.

You know, Donald Trump won mostly because of inflation. The border was a big part of it. But even bigger, people wanted to cut the cost of groceries, gas and rent. And Mr. Trump is raising those costs. This bill raises those costs. His tariffs raise those costs. It is a massive betrayal. And I think that should be the Democrat's message, betrayal, betrayal, betrayal.

These are good people who supported Donald Trump. They thought he would bring their costs down. And now Trump is stabbing them in the back. He's betraying the very people who put him in office.

And by the way, it's not just messaging. You can call it reform. I love Maura, but you can call it reform. It's like -- it's like my dog Gus. OK, we reformed him. Well, OK, what we really did, we cut him. And that which used to work real well didn't work no more and Gus was not very happy with the procedure. It's a cut.

BERMAN: Oh, man, Gus is not happy with where this discussion went.

Maura, very quickly --

BEGALA: Poor Gus.

BERMAN: To -- to what extent has the White House moved through this complicated minefield on tariffs that was of its own creation?

GILLESPIE: They are saying that the president, obviously, they want to stick with him and -- and see this through. And I think you're going to (INAUDIBLE) there are a handful, obviously, a large portion of the MAGA supporters are -- are trying to be patient and see this through. But the reality is, and I wont go into Paul's analogy there, but talking about tariffs in the way that many Republicans were saying, this is a tax. The tariff is a tax. And it costs the American people. And this was discussed a lot during the election and during the campaign season. Just try to remind people -- remind people of what this really means because I think there is a confusion about it, the way that Trump talked about it during the campaign and then now seeing it and feeling it.

It is to be seen whether or not he can secure some deals. He's going to need to get some wins here. But the impact on the American consumer is going to be felt. For how long? We just don't know yet.

BERMAN: All right, Maura Gillespie, Paul Begala, give our regards to Gus, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning, at least 28 people are dead after a weekend of severe storms. Dozens of tornadoes ripped across multiple states. And more severe weather is on the way. We're live from one of the communities hardest hit this morning.

We'll be back.

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[09:52:29]

SIDNER: New this morning, the death toll has now risen to 28 after devastating storms tore through several midwestern and southern states over the weekend. About 100 tornado touchdowns have been reported across more than a dozen states in the past week, and the threat's not over. More than 50 million people remain under severe weather threat today.

CNN's Julia Vargas is joining us now. She is in St. Louis. And CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking the storms in the CNN Weather Center.

And, Julia, we're going to start with you. You were standing outside of obvious devastation that happened there in St. Louis, which was really hit terribly hard. What are you hearing? What are you seeing from those who are experiencing this?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, after the devastation, it's heartbreak and exhaustion. It hasn't even been 72 hours since the city was hit with what the mayor called one of the worst storms in its history. Entire neighborhoods, leveled. Homes turned into piles of bricks. Massive trees uprooted on these streets.

And in this chaos, we've also seen people step up, doing extraordinary things to help their neighbors. We spoke to one of them, a Navy veteran, Omar Sykes, who helped people out of his apartment building for hours on end. But he said he was frustrated with the city's response.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR SYKES, TORNADO SURVIVOR AND VOLUNTEER: There were elderly that couldn't walk. There were kids, you know. And these people, our home is gone, right? And it's not a charity thing. It is a livelihood, right? And I care, right? And I wanted to make sure that the people that actually cared were taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And now that emotion and frustration we heard echoed from many people here, Sara. But the mayor and the fire chief reassuring folks here over the weekend that they're working around the clock to check every single house in St. Louis. Twenty-three thousand people are still without power. And the curfew will stay in place until further notice.

SIDNER: Bless that man, Omar Sykes, who is doing just the most important work trying to take care of himself and his community at the same time with such emotion.

Let's go to Derek Van Dam now.

I mean, this is not over. There -- there is still more storms on the way, right?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, that's correct, Sara.

[09:55:01]

And I want to show you this very compelling video that we got here at CNN. This is in the front range of Colorado. This is one of the 30 confirmed tornadoes from yesterday alone.

Remember, we've had 100 tornadoes over the past week or so across the U.S. But look at this individual peering out their window, filming a tornado that's several hundred yards away. But that is ominous. Very scary situation for this area.

And here we go again. A classic setup for severe weather and tornado possibilities across tornado alley. May is the most active statistically number of tornadoes in the month of May. And the chance of EF-2 or greater tornadoes exist. Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wichita, Kansas City, we cannot forget about the potential of two to four inch sized diameter hail falling from the sky. Picture that. That's a softball falling from the sky. That will put a dent in your car. That will hurt you. It will also destroy homes as well.

So, the severe weather threat, it's interesting. We start to see these storms pile up this afternoon and then refire into the same locations across central Oklahoma. It advances eastward tomorrow. Heads up, this region that's still recovering from the recent tornadoes in Kentucky, under the threat tomorrow.

Sara.

SIDNER: Man. Thank you so much, Derek Van Dam, and to you, Julia Vargas Jones, who is out there in St. Louis, where all the damage is.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

And thank you all so much for joining us today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.

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