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Billy Joel Cancels Upcoming Tour Due to Brain Disorder; Fourth Person Charged with Helping Escaped Inmates; Suspect Charged with Murder in Shooting of Israeli Embassy Staffers; U.S., Iran End 5th Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Uranium Red Line. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 23, 2025 - 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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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And we'll be right back.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right, everyone. We're following breaking news. Music legend, Billy Joel has canceled his upcoming tour dates as he seeks treatment for a neurological disorder called normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Now in a statement on Instagram, Joel posted that his condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance. Now in the statement, Joel says he's sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience but that he looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.

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His statement notified ticket holders that they will be automatically refunded the cost of their tickets. CNN has reached out to Joel for further comment.

We're also following a number of other stories including a week after that jailbreak in New Orleans, which launched a manhunt for 10 escaped inmates. A fourth person has been arrested in the case. Now, the suspect is accused of sending money to one of the men who is still on the loose.

I want to bring in CNN's Ryan Young who joins me now because Ryan, you know, the manhunt for five escapees still goes on or I guess the manhunt continues overall. But what more are you learning about this latest arrest?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we actually believe the number may be up to five total arrests now for people helping in terms of the escapees and that number could grow. We've talked to a source that says they are literally checking through the jail logs. They're talking to folks who work there. They're really trying to piece this together.

When you think about what the DA's office did yesterday as well, going back in and doing an investigative forensic look at that jail, there could be more arrests. And when I was talking to the former sheriff of this same facility, he does believe there was a major lapse in security because this facility opened in 2015.

He believes it was state-of-the-art at the time and there were too many things that had to lapse for these inmates to be able to escape at the same time. In particular, getting behind not only that locked door, but being able to get that commode off the wall is something that he talks about is something nearly impossible, they believed at the time.

We also have reporting from a source that said tremors, electric tremors were found near that hole and extra blades were found, like they were used almost like a soldering sort of technique.

So you see this planned activity that happened and there may be more arrests because someone handed these inmates towels so they could get over those walls in terms of the jail and the razor wire that was on the fence line. So there's a lot of questions about this.

We know the New Orleans Police Department used a tactical squad to catch that fifth person, but still at this day, you got to think a busy weekend, a lot of tourists flowing into town. We know extra patrols will be in the New Orleans area and they've actually split this up. So there are several different teams that are working through New Orleans area to try to catch these suspects. Let's not forget $20,000 per head on all these inmates that are still escaped -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: And again, the manhunt still going on, but at least it seems they are making progress to this point. Ryan Young --

YOUNG: We're watching.

JIMENEZ: -- really appreciate the reporting.

All right, coming up next a woman who was inside the Jewish Museum during this week's deadly shooting in DC describes the moment. She says the alleged gunman seemed to confess that he was involved. You're going to hear those chilling details next.

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KEILAR: We're following some new developments surrounding the fatal shootings of two Israeli Embassy staffers here in the nation's capital. The alleged gunman is in custody facing federal murder charges. And as authorities continue digging into his background, we're hearing some chilling details from people who encountered him just moments after the shooting. Listen to what one woman says. He told her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KATIE KALISHER, SAYS SHE UNKNOWINGLY SPOKE TO ALLEGED GUNMAN: Suddenly a man comes in and he looks very distressed, very scared and I think we all generally assume that he must have just been out in the street when there was gunfire or he heard shots and maybe he saw someone get shot. We don't know but we let him in because we just assume most people are good. I'm talking to him and I'm like so how do you like the museum?

How's your day going? And he's like oh what kind of museum is this? And I understand now he was kind of playing dumb with me.

So I told him oh it's a Jewish museum and he asked me do you think that's why they did it? And then suddenly he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a keffiyeh and looks me in the eye and says I did it, I did it for Gaza.

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KEILAR: CNN's Brian Todd is with us now. This case is being investigated as an act of terror and as a hate crime and you're learning more about how it unfolded.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And these details, Brianna, are just horrible to look at and to kind of get your mind around. Following up on that those comments by that witness Katie Kalisher, we've got new detail from the charging documents of just how this unfolded and we do have to warn viewers that some of these details are very disturbing.

According to the court documents, surveillance footage viewed by the police showed that this alleged shooter walked across the street toward the victims then walks past them. Then according to the documents he turns and fires toward their backs. They fall to the ground. According to the documents he then comes up, leans over them with his arm extended and fires more rounds.

Then the female victim Sarah Milgram, according to these documents again based on surveillance footage, tries to crawl away. He follows her, he fires again. Then according to the docs she tries to sit up and he reloads and fires again.

Just horrific detail in these charging documents all viewed by police surveillance footage. Now based on that we could tell you about the charges. The charges that have been filed thus far and there could be more coming.

The charges include two counts of first degree murder, murder of foreign officials, a charge of causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and that is the one which carries the possibility of the death penalty. Also he is charged with discharging of a firearm during a crime of violence and we also can say that according to sources telling CNN hate crime charges could come later.

Now Janine Pirro, the interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, spoke about the possibility of the Justice Department seeking the death penalty on this suspect.

Here's what she had to say.

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JEANINE FERRIS PIRRO, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR DC: The President and the Attorney General have both indicated that, you know, in cases where the death penalty is warranted and seems appropriate, we will use it. It's far too early to say whether that is the case but this is a death penalty eligible case.

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TODD: And the suspect Elias Rodriguez from Chicago has not yet entered a plea. Brianna, and again we're getting new details on the investigation. They're combing through his internet. We've reported on this manifesto that really called for violence in response to the war in Gaza. A lot of disturbing detail in this investigation.

KEILAR: Yes, Brian Todd, thank you for that -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Brianna, I want to update you all on some of the other headlines we're following this hour. Including a Georgia college student that has now been granted bond and reunited with her family. You can see the emotional scene there. After being held at an immigration detention center for more than two weeks. Ximena Cristobal was pulled over for allegedly making an illegal right turn on red and arrested for not having her international or Georgia driver's license.

But an investigation into the case showed the police actually pulled over the wrong car. All traffic charges have been dropped but she still faces deportation once her case makes it back to court. Her attorneys say they don't expect her next hearing to happen until mid 2026.

Plus, a jury convicted the woman who snuck onto a flight from New York to Paris without a boarding pass last year. You see her in the circle there. Prosecutors said Svetlana Dali hid in an aircraft bathroom for several hours and wasn't discovered until the plane was nearing Paris.

She was found guilty on stowaway charges in federal court and faces up to six months in prison.

And a family is safe after a group of teenagers saved them from a fire. Four New York teens were driving home from their junior prom when they saw a detached -- look at the flames there -- detached garage burning. They jumped into action. One of them actually ran to the front door of the house to make sure no one was inside. A video shows him knocking on the door while flames burned next to him.

Two young girls opened the door in tears. Take a quick look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your house is on fire. Your house is on fire. It's on fire. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know my dads calling the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys -- you guys got to get out. No, you've got to get out.

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JIMENEZ: I mean, it just shows how frantic it was in those moments. A family representative says the two girls, their father and their dog were able to escape safely, maybe not as quickly if not for the actions of those that pulled over.

Still ahead, high stakes nuclear talks take place between the United States and Iran. Tehran describes the meeting as one of the most professional rounds of negotiations they have seen. But we're going to tell you what that could mean for talks moving forward next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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KEILAR: The fifth round of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran just wrapped up, and the Iranian foreign minister is sounding an optimistic note, calling it one of the most professional rounds of negotiations so far. Here with more is CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt. OK, what are you learning about this meeting? What does that mean professional?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, we were hearing signs of progress, but it's clear that more talks are going to be necessary. And of course, this is a very complex issue. We have not yet heard from Steve Witkoff, who's the main American negotiator who's sitting across from the Iranian foreign minister.

Mediating these talks were the Omanis, and they said that there was some but not conclusive progress. So it's clear that, you know, there was some advancing in this conversation, and the Iranians had really lowered expectations going into this. The Supreme Leader a few days ago saying, I don't think anything's going to come out of all these talks. They're actually going to fail in the end. And the Iranians have been clear about their frustration with the American stance.

And Brianna, remember the last time, last round, the two sides exchanged proposals, and this fifth round was essentially to get on the same page and try to align their positions.

But it's clear there's still a very, very big difference in terms of their views on enrichment. This is the biggest question, with the Iranians saying it's absolutely a red line, it's non-negotiable, we will not even discuss the possibility of not enriching, while the American side is saying you cannot have any enrichment at all. Just a few days ago, we heard from Steve Witkoff, who said we won't even allow the Iranians to enrich to 1 percent.

Here's a little bit more of what he had to say.

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STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: We have one very, very clear red line, and that is enrichment. We cannot allow even 1 percent of an enrichment capability. We've delivered a proposal to the Iranians that we think addresses some of this without disrespecting them.

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MARQUARDT: So essentially, to get to a bomb, you need enriched uranium at around 90 percent, but when it's in the single digits, we're talking about enriched uranium that could be used for civilian energy purposes. And that's what the Iranians are saying, is we don't want a bomb, but we want to be able to enrich uranium in order to have energy.

The U.S. proposal is we're not going to let you enrich at all, you can import fuel from elsewhere, but so far, the Iranians have not gone for that.

So how do you reconcile this?

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This is the question I've been putting to all the U.S. officials I can think of, and they are saying that they're trying to come up with some creative solutions to try to bridge this gap. It's clear that both sides do want to try to solve this diplomatically. It's moving forward, but it is going slowly.

KEILAR: Really interesting, Alex. Thank you so much for that.

And still to come, singer Billy Joel canceling his upcoming tour after revealing he has a neurological disorder. We'll talk to a doctor about his diagnosis.

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