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Video Shows Moment Before Plane Strikes Person On Denver Runway; Passengers Being Monitored For Hantavirus In Nebraska & Georgia; Trump: Iran Ceasefire Is "On Massive Life Support"; Iran Counters U.S. Deal, Demands Sovereignty Over Strait Of Hormuz; WH Press Gala Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To All Charges; Parents Detained By ICE Reunite With Son A Day Before His Death. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired May 11, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: -- say they rely on a combination of technology surveillance, physical inspections even to secure it. But now the airport says it's reviewing its entire perimeter safety program.

A lot of people also asking why the airplane couldn't simply swerve out of the way to avoid this person walking on the airport property. Preliminary data shows the aircraft was still going about 120 knots or 135 miles per hour as it was accelerating for takeoff. At that speed, the plane's going about 200 feet every second, weighing about 200,000 tons -- sorry, 200,000 pounds. Simply not designed for sharp, acute maneuvering on the runway at that speed and weight.

And because this happened at night, spotting a person on the runway would have been so extremely difficult. There are also some big questions now about the evacuation that took place as well. The crew evacuated all 231 people on board directly onto the runway using those inflatable emergency slides you're familiar with during the passenger briefing.

Some passengers reported smoke in the cabin. Question why the evacuation took what they felt like was too slow. Safety experts are especially concerned about video showing passengers taking their carry-on bags with them during the evacuation. And in an emergency like this, every second matters.

Never take your bags during an evacuation. It's become a major focus of the National Transportation Safety Board in recent years because carry-on luggage can slow down evacuations and block exits when lives are on the line.

By the way, the NTSB says it has not launched a formal investigation into this incident yet. They are still gathering information about whether -- deciding about whether or not to launch a full investigation on this. So many agencies, though, involved in this here. BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: I like that you always remind people of this. It's so important because in the end, if you are someone who makes that choice, is it worth someone else's life? Absolutely not. And you would look back on it and regret that you made that choice.

MUNTEAN: You know, it begs pointing out there was an incident in Russia only a few years ago where folks took their bags off the plane in mass. The back of the plane was on fire and it slowed things down and really contributed to a lot of fatalities.

In this case, there probably weren't going to be fatalities. But I was just talking in hair and makeup with folks there and they said, you know, you can get by pretty much with everything on your person for a pretty long time. If you have your phones, if you have your wallet, you're probably going to be OK.

KEILAR: Yes. You'll get your bag back later.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: I've seen that, too.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN News Central starts right now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The head of the World Health Organization says this isn't COVID but he's still warning about the potential for more hantavirus cases to come. We're following new details about the condition of Americans who just got back in the United States after that nightmare cruise.

Also cease fire on life support. President Trump warns that his patience is running out. And earlier, he called Iran's latest proposal to end the war totally unacceptable. One sticking point to Iran says it wants to control the Strait of Hormuz from now on.

And then tariff turmoil. A lawsuit says Nike paid $1 billion in tariffs and raised prices. But now that there's a refund, consumers ask, where's our cut? We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

All right, we're going to start with breaking news on the American passengers now back in the United States after leaving a cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak. In all, 18 people were flown to the United States overnight. One who tested positive overseas and another who officials say is having symptoms.

Now this hour, most of the passengers are being closely monitored at the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska. We're told they range in age from roughly 20 to 80 years old while two others are in Atlanta. And then just last hour, CNN obtained this new video of those passengers arriving in Atlanta. Health professionals you can see them greeting them at the edge of the stairs taking extreme caution as they were being moved. I want to bring in CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell who leads us off here. So Meg, the overwhelming message to Americans today that the risk of public spread is very low, but obviously, not non-existent. What more do you know here?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes that's true, Omar. They are paying very close attention to all of these people and trying to assess their own levels of risk as they have now come back into the country. And so, we know that there are 16 people who are in Nebraska.

One of those people who had that positive test overseas is in a biocontainment unit there. Now there are some questions about that positive test. The WHO is not counting this person as a case as of now and we are expecting to get further confirmatory testing.

The other 15 folks in Nebraska are in quarantine. We were told that they came in, they were well. All of them were asymptomatic. They were tired though and so assessments are going to take place later today.

And what those will involve is in addition to any monitoring for symptoms as well as for fever, conversations about whether they had close contact with any of the symptomatic cases on board that boat. Because as of now, there is no thought that this spreads without symptoms. And so they're really paying close attention to that kind of contact there.

[14:05:08]

We also know those two folks went to Georgia. One of those people was said to have symptoms. That person is not tested positive for hantavirus. We don't know if they will.

Omar, these symptoms can resemble flu like illnesses, so even a cold a cough things like that can turn up. And so they're being monitored, kept in biocontainment there, along with one other person who has not shown symptoms. Now 42 days is the incubation period here that time when they'll need to continue to be monitored for symptoms.

And the outcomes of these assessments that are being done will determine whether those folks stay in these quarantine units or these biocontainment facilities or whether they go home and they have the ability to self-monitor and stay relatively isolated in a home setting close to health care because that's really important. These symptoms can come on fast and people can deteriorate quickly. So all of those things will go into about where these people go.

We also don't know exactly when that 42-day window starts. That's going to be determined based on these conversations this afternoon as well. As you noted, Omar, health officials are saying that the risk to the broader public is very low at this point.

And history can tell us a little bit of some of this here even though this is a rare virus. We have had at least one importation of the Andes virus into the United States before a woman in 2018 had traveled to that region of the world, Argentina and Chile. She came back. She had symptoms. She flew on two commercial flights. 50 of her contacts were identified. Nobody ended up developing hantavirus in that situation.

JIMENEZ: Important perspective. And as we've heard from the acting head of the CDC as well specifically saying this is not COVID but obviously so much to monitor moving forward as I know you will continue to.

Meg Tirrell, good to see you. Brianna?

KEILAR: President Trump is offering a blunt assessment of the latest negotiations with Iran following their counteroffer to the U.S. peace proposal. Today, the President said this about where the fragile ceasefire stands now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us, I didn't even finish reading it. They said -- I'm going to waste my time reading it. I would say it's one of the weakest right now. It's on life support.

They understand these are all medical people. Dr. Oz, life support is not a good thing. Do you agree?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prognostic.

TRUMP: I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support where the doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1 percent chance of living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Iran says it sent a reasonable response to the U.S. which state media says included Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz among other conditions.

We have CNN Global Affairs Analyst Brett McGurk here with us now. I'm curious what you think about the President's assessment, because while he's sort of characterizing this, I think bluntly as it's life support, the fact is he is also artificially keeping it alive. And it is still alive because he wants it to be in place.

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think, Brianna, we have a stalemate. So the stalemate of Hormuz or the great Strait stalemate, whatever we might call this period once we're through it, both sides think time is on their side. And how does a stalemate end? You can either have a blinking contest and this can go on for some time.

I think the economic pain will compound inside Iran, but they can withstand that because they don't really care. The guy's making the decisions, the macroeconomic shocks in the global economy really start to compound as well. You can act militarily, which the President seems to be previewing there to try to seize the Strait militarily that project freedom that he tried last week, which didn't really work. You could try that. I don't think it's a great option, or you can continue to try diplomacy. Right now, the diplomacy, clearly, Brianna, is stuck. But the President is going to China. And so I -- Xi Jinping understands power. He understands he has some leverage here. And I would not be surprised if in Beijing, the Chinese try to work out something that at least opens up the Strait for a period.

KEILAR: And what could that look like?

MCGURK: Well, I mean, what has been tried to be negotiated over the last week is basically an MOU where the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iranian ports. And Iran then allows the status quo ante to allow shipping to go through the straight without resolving up front, any of the nuclear issues, anything else.

So you could work out something like that. That would release the economic pressure. But the Iranians are not prepared to do that. And you just put their demands up there. They are demanding, basically, the Strait is now ours. And that's what they're saying.

And it's not surprising because the Revolutionary Guard, which is in control now, and Ahmad Vahidi, who's the leader of the Guard, he knows we have this in our hands and he's not going to give it up. I've negotiated with the Iranians, with guys like Hamas, and when they have an asset, whether it's a hostage, something else, they will not give it up.

And so it's kind of like a hostage situation. I hate to put it that way. But it's --

KEILAR: It feels that way, right?

MCGURK: It's a very, very difficult predicament.

[14:10:02]

KEILAR: So Trump says Iran reneged on its agreement to allow the U.S. to remove its supply of enriched uranium. He said they actually agreed to this two days ago, quote, "But they changed their mind because they didn't put it in the paper." What's your read on this?

MCGURK: I suspect what's happening here, this is the risk of using mediators because mediators is kind of a game of telephone. And the mediator sometimes tries to put some spin on the ball, trying to get the two sides closer. So there might've been a misunderstanding there.

You also have the factional disagreements inside Tehran. Bottom line, this -- I've been saying this for weeks at risk of repeating myself, there's not going to be a deal of the sort the U.S. wants. It's just not in the cards right now.

And so, you have to think about other options and that could mean the military move in the Strait to try to open it up. Again, I think that's very risky. And even if you do that, the problem here is it's confidence for commercial shippers. Again, another, in the Red Sea back in 2024, we had a very similar

problem. The Houthis were launching Iranian drones and missiles into the Red Sea. We built an international coalition to basically try to control it.

But to get the confidence of international shippers and insurance companies to allow the ships to go through, extremely difficult and hard to measure. So I think this is going to go on for some time.

KEILAR: Yes. Their risk tolerance is really low. We see that as they are even in somewhat dire circumstances staying put in the Gulf. So talk to us about the challenges of a military operation to open the Strait.

MCGURK: Yes. So the challenge is, this is where asymmetrics come in because the Iranians have these drones, the Shahed drones, which can fly 1,500 kilometers. So let's say 1,000 miles. They can be fired from anywhere in the Hormuz mountains, which is, you know, about inland from Iran and hit a tanker, slow moving tanker, which has to go through this choke point.

To stop that is, it's a needle in a haystack game. And I wouldn't say impossible, but extremely, extremely difficult. And again, we saw this in the Red Sea.

So we could go in heavy and have a lane, which we tried to do last week. We had some problems with our partners in the Gulf, unfortunately, the Saudis and Kuwaitis kind of backed out of that. Now it looks like they might be back in, but that's going to be very risky, Brianna.

And does the President want that to be going on a kinetic campaign as he's in China? And of course, the Iranians have a vote in this and everything. So if we do that, they can start launching missiles at the Gulf and at Gulf infrastructure and make the global economic shock even greater.

So that's where we are. It's a strategic dilemma, but that's -- it's either a staring contest, which kind of settle in, try to find a diplomatic off-ramp, maybe through the Chinese, which by the way, is not great for the U.S. You don't want to be asked by the Chinese for something like this, or try a military option.

KEILAR: These are tough --

MCGURK: It's tough.

KEILAR: -- options, very tough options.

Brett McGurk, thank you so much --

MCGURK: Thank you.

KEILAR: -- for taking us through that.

Still to come, the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner appears shackled in court. Hear how he pleaded.

Plus, a gay couple is speaking out after they say they were swept up in a MAGA rage baiter's viral stunt.

And then later, the first refunds from President Trump's now overturned tariffs are being sent out today. Should you expect to receive anything? We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN News Central.

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[14:17:41]

KEILAR: The man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at last month's White House Correspondents' Dinner was in federal court today. 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen pleading not guilty to all four charges that he faces, and his defense team continued its effort to get top Justice Department officials disqualified from the case. They say those officials face a conflict of interest because they were there during the incident.

CNN Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid is with us now on this story. Paula, how did the judge respond here?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The judge is clearly skeptical of this argument that top Justice Department officials like U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, that they have to be removed from this case because they were at the dinner and they argue they were victims of this alleged crime.

The judge points out that everything with Allen happened outside the ballroom where Blanche, Pirro, other Justice Department officials were eating. They likely didn't see anything, but the judge invited them to submit additional details on exactly what it is they're looking for, right?

OK, you want the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office to be moved -- removed from this case? Do you want the entire Justice Department to be removed? They're going to submit those additional details about their request.

But politically, the fact is that Pirro and Blanche are not going to want to step aside from this case without a massive fight. This is one of those high-profile cases they were dealing with, and we know both of them are up for promotions, right? Todd Blanche is acting as attorney general. According to my reporting, he is likely going to be tapped to permanently take on that position.

Jeanine Pirro, she is someone who has been discussed as also possibly in line for a promotion soon at the Justice Department. So they're not going to want to step aside from a case which, at its core, is about trying to kill their boss.

KEILAR: But also, this idea of a perpetrator exacting a crime and doing so potentially -- in this case, it was sort of like pre-the ballroom -- but potentially in the presence of people who might be in charge of pursuing justice for the crime in a way sort of creates the conflict. No? Do you see the kind of issue here?

REID: Yes, totally. And look, a lot of legal scholars have argued that it probably is a good idea for Pirro and Blanche to step aside. You don't want to jeopardize a potential conviction in a case like this. But politically, they're both focused on the here and now, and that is right where they are inside the Justice Department.

[14:20:05]

The fact that this is a profile case, they have a boss who does not like recusals. And this is a very serious case. You can see the charges. We're talking about attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, discharging a firearm in the commission of an act of violence, transporting guns and ammunition through interstate commerce.

It's a very serious case, but there are multiple considerations here. And at this point, it is not expected that these officials will step aside.

KEILAR: Paula, thank you for that.

Next, a heartbreaking final reunion. A Mexican couple enduring weeks in detention and multiple deportations and a desperate bid to see their teenage son before he died. Their plight right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:21]

JIMENEZ: Now to the tragedy of a dying son's love during the nation's immigration crackdown. 18-year-old American Kevin Gonzalez passed away from colon cancer yesterday on Mother's Day. The day before, on his last full day of life, Gonzalez finally embraced his parents just after they were released from weeks of ICE detention. The couple had tried to reenter the United States in a desperate bid to see their son.

Here is the moment the family reunited.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: I mean, you can see and hear the emotion there. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins me from Dallas. So Ed, look, Kevin had to travel to Mexico to see his parents while they were detained in the United States. So just bring us into the story.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you can see how just painful it is to watch that video. But Kevin Gonzalez had come to visit. He was American-born but had been living and raised in Mexico because his parents had been deported when he was younger.

But he had come to Chicago at Christmastime to visit family. That's when he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. His parents were desperately trying to get to his side while he was undergoing and battling the cancer. But they say that they were denied humanitarian visas.

The Department of Homeland Security says the couple had requested a different type of visa and that had been denied because they had been previously deported. Despite all of that, the family, the parents then decided we are going to cross the border illegally to get to our son. And that's when they were taken into custody by immigration authorities on April 14th and had remained in detention up until late last week when a federal judge demanded and ordered that the couple be released and deported so that they could get back to their son.

In the meantime, their son had traveled from Chicago and had gone back to Mexico. And they, the parents, got there on Saturday afternoon. That was just less than about 24 hours before Kevin Gonzalez would die of cancer there. And that was where we saw the emotional reunion taking place this weekend.

We are now told that funeral services for the young man will be held later this week on Wednesday. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Yes, I mean, look, as we were watching that video, for all the policy debate and the legal procedures that do take time to play out, just to have that moment and to have it happen within 24 hours of that possibility disappearing is just, on a human level, pretty emotional and remarkable.

Ed Lavandera, appreciate the reporting, as always.

Meanwhile, an American being monitored at the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska shares a selfie from his room. We're going to be live from Omaha, where 16 evacuated cruise ship passengers are being observed for any signs of the hantavirus right after this.

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