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Official: Ship Was Moving In Wrong Direction When It Hit Brooklyn Bridge, Killing Two; Officials Identify Suspect In California Fertility Clinic Explosion; Ukraine: Russia Launched Largest Drone Attack Of The War. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 18, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

JON RAHM, PROFESSIONAL GOLF PLAYER: They just aimed a little bit better. Just getting closer to the hole. Besides that, I mean, he definitely -- he took it -- and he was a great sport about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Jon Rahm's humor there, Fred, making an allusion to the beautiful game of football.

I want to stress. Thankfully, the man in question was okay, right back to you.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Yes. You know what? And he is considering himself lucky. I mean, who gets to tell that story? And I got hit in the head with the ball? You know, I mean, it is fun --

SNELL: by Jon Rahm, no less.

WHITFIELD: That's right. All right, Patrick Snell, thanks so much.

[15:00:35]

WHITFIELD: All right, hello again everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, this breaking news. We continue to follow federal and local authorities now in New York joining forces to investigate how this happened.

A Mexican Navy ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge last night. Two people died and about 20 injured after several of the ships masts snapped during that collision, sending debris falling onto the vessel's deck.

The terrifying moment of impact seen right there with cars just above crossing the bridge. CNN's Gloria Pazmino is along the East River.

Gloria, I mean, it is still striking to see how in the world this happened? Are they getting closer to figuring out how this happened?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the first time I saw some of those videos, I thought they were out of a movie. I didn't think they were real, because it looks as if it is something that you might watch in a movie theater.

But right behind me is the Cuauhtemoc. It was towed here last night after that accident, and all that is left of that mast at the top is a bunch of mangled metal and wood, ripped sails tangled all over it.

You can tell that it is just a real mess up there after the mast hit the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge and essentially bent in place as we can see in the video.

Now, what we are trying to learn and understand now is exactly what happened here. But we know that the captain of the ship reported losing power and having an issue with the rudder of the ship, meaning that he was not able to steer the ship.

Now, we've also learned that the ship was heading in the wrong direction. So that video that you are watching from social media, video captured by bystanders, is showing the ship moving in the wrong direction.

The ship, the Cuauhtemoc behind me had been docked at Pier 17 over the last several days. It was here on a goodwill mission. It has been on a goodwill mission all around the world, and it had been here in New York City for the last few days as part of essentially an exhibit where people could come on the ship, take a look around the ship, visit with the Mexican Navy, and it was setting sail yesterday evening on its way to Iceland.

It was supposed to stop at a Brooklyn dock for a refuel stop, and that's where during that trajectory, something went terribly wrong. That loss of power, the issue to the rudder and the issue of steering.

Now, a team from the NTSB is expected here later this afternoon. They are doing an investigation, along with the local city officials here in the city, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard and the Mexican government. But for now, as you said, Fred, two people sadly losing their lives as a result of this incident. Dozens of people were injured. Some of them remain at the hospital. And as well as the crew that's been in and out of the ship here in the last several hours.

I spoke with the commissioner of the city's Office of Emergency Management, which responded to this incident last night. Take a listen to how he described what he has learned so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACH ISCOL, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Something happened during that period of time where the ship reportedly lost power, possibly lost steerage and that's when it ended up going in the wrong direction towards the bridge. But that's very preliminary at this point, and there still needs to be an investigation that will take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Fred, another thing I do want to point out is that we are -- we are standing on a pier here. This is essentially part of a public park that's along here, the water, and all day -- we've been here all morning -- and all day, there has just been so many people that have come to take a look at this ship, including members of the Mexican community.

I spoke to a man earlier today who told me that he actually had been on the Cuauhtmoc a few weeks ago, when it was there for the exhibit. He went to see it because he said he was so proud as a Mexican that he could come and see the Mexican Navy right here in New York City.

He started crying when he spoke to me about being able to be on the ship and seeing it here now, with its mast all destroyed, and knowing that people tragically lost their lives. He was very moved and he has been here for several hours just watching as some of those crew members are in and out of the ship.

WHITFIELD: I mean, understandably, it is a gorgeous ship, and it was a goodwill ship. So a real celebration, you know, to the community and culture.

All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much. We will check back with you.

[15:05:08]

All right, we are also following breaking news on that deadly bombing at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California.

Investigators are now identifying the suspect as 25-year-old Guy Bartkus, who lived about an hour's drive away from Palm Springs in a town called Twentynine Palms, California. Officials believe the suspect intentionally set off a bomb in a car outside the fertility center on Saturday.

Authorities are also looking into writings and recordings the suspect may have left behind, offering possible clues about his motive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AKIL DAVIS, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF LOS ANGELES: The subject had nihilistic ideations, and this was a targeted attack against the IVF facility. Make no mistake, we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism.

We are tracking a possible Manifesto out there, and it is part of our ongoing investigation.

We believe he was attempting to live stream it. And yes, that is also part of our investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Authorities believe the suspect was the sole person killed in the explosion. Four other people who were injured in the blast have been treated and released from area hospitals.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now. From the scene of that Palm Springs attack outside that fertility clinic. Stephanie, bring us up to speed on what we are learning and what more they want to know about the bombing and the suspect.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are still some questions outstanding, really trying to figure out what the motive is here. Like you're saying, they are following those leads there to figure out what was happening.

We do know that yesterday they carried out a search warrant on a property in Twentynine Palms evacuating some people nearby because of the potential for more bomb, paraphernalia that was just as they said, out of caution there.

But here, where we are now is on the street where this facility is. It is about some 700 feet down the road. You can see that it is still blocked off here and that is because they say the debris field is so large. They said its over 225 yards that they are going through, still combing down this area. They've opened up some streets. These streets though not open yet.

In fact, it is so large. Take a listen.

You just heard Akil Davis there from the FBI talking about how large it was. Hear him put into perspective just how large of a blast this was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: This is probably the largest bombing scene that we've had in Southern California. This does eclipse the bombing matter in Aliso Viejo, it is that big. And just for reference, to throw pieces of vehicle hundreds of feet in the air and then several blocks away, you can use your imagination -- imagine how big that bomb device was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: So badly damage was the person who died that they have to use forensics to identify them, but they are fairly certain that that person who died and the person who perpetrated this is Bartkus. One thing that they're also saying here is that they are going through trying to help these businesses and the homes that are in this area that have been damaged here.

Also, though, they have asked for the help from the public releasing the license plate number of the car that was used in this, a Ford, that silver sedan that was used in this event because they want the public's help in identifying where the perpetrator was in those hours leading up to about 11:00 A.M. local time when this happened.

They are saying they know where he was at 6:00 A.M. They want the public, if they have any video from their cameras on their homes, anything to identify where he was, to help put that into place, to help them identify this.

But obviously here, what is also important is knowing that the only person who lost his life was the person that they think perpetrated this and all of the embryos, all of the reproductive materials they said they were able to save out of that facility down the street here, despite the fact that the building did have some catastrophic collapse there in the front, despite the firefighters getting here within a minute of the bomb being deployed, they are saying they were able to save all of that, and all of the people that work there are fine, as well as those four people who were injured who have all been released from the hospital.

Really remarkable considering the time of day on a Saturday what could have been happening here on the street -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right, very remarkable indeed.

All right, Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for that.

Let's talk further now about these developments. Juliette Kayyem is back with us. She is a CNN senior national security analyst and a former Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security.

Juliette, thanks for sticking around with us.

So we heard the FBI describe it, this is the largest bombing scene that they've had in Southern California. So now, of course, we know they're going to be looking for, in that very massive debris field, looking for evidence that will help them understand the components used here, and the origins of it.

How meticulous is that kind of investigation to find out all the things that were used to create this kind of large bomb, and where these materials might have come from.

[15:10:03]

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So just based on my experience and having gone through these cases a lot, here is what investigators will be looking at.

The device has alternately been called sort of an IED, but also a pipe bomb in various press conferences or sometimes the same thing, sometimes different.

What we also know is that this defendant or the bomber had no previously known record of violence. So putting those two things together, he is going to want to make it simple, right? This is not going to be very complicated. And the simplest kind of bomb that can wreak incredible damage, not just to a building, of course, the car, but, you know, blocks and blocks away in terms of its sound would be some sort of IED or pipe bomb that was filled with explosive materials, including gunpowder and also possibly metal devices or others that we saw, say, in the Boston Marathon IED device that would then shoot shrapnel to people around it.

We don't know of the injuries sustained, what those injuries are yet. So this is the range of potential possibilities. But it could be done very easily, so it doesn't mean -- so the fact that they have no record of him, doesn't tell us much about how he might have done this. Could others have been involved? Did he have an apparatus supporting this? He could have driven up to a hardware store, actually.

WHITFIELD: So there are writings as well as the digital footprint. What can be potentially gleaned from that? What could be built on what investigators already have learned about that material?

KAYYEM: Right. So back to my first point about sort of the means, you know, this digital footprint communications that he has had would tell him, was he part of a larger group? We understand this group is to be the mortalist -- not moralist -- mortalist. This is a not very well known group whose motive is essentially that each individual should be able to choose their own life or not. And so it is sometimes tied or often tied to suicide.

We will learn more from his manifesto because we understand that, at least in what we can garner from his motivation. Of course, he went after an IVF facility because he was critical of couples or women who are choosing life. It makes no sense, but it is just trying to decipher what his motive will be and whether others were supporting him. Through communication online, meetings or whatever else.

So they know who he is. It is going to be a relatively simple investigation in the sense that you know, they will be able to access his digital footprint and the physical evidence that may exist at his home or in purchases that he makes.

WHITFIELD: Okay. All right, let me shift gears now to this ship crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge. I mean, what kind of security response would customarily happen in a case like this? And, again, we don't know, from Gloria Pazmino's reporting, we can say that there were some sort of engine failure, but we don't know at what juncture. But now we've heard from another expert that that ship was going backwards. So maybe it was backing up, leaving the pier. And then for whatever reason, continue to, you know, go and careen that way.

So if someone radios for help, then what's the security that that kicks into place?

KAYYEM: Right. So just based on the picture so far and this would just be part of an investigation just to lay clear, its important what this is not, this was not intentional. It wasn't an act of violence. The Mexican government is exceptionally cooperative and apologetic about what happened, and it was just a terrible, terrible accident.

In my view of both how I know maritime security works and these apparatuses work, as well as the pictures that we all saw last night, there is a tugboat nearby. If you look right -- and the tugboat was apparently an escort tugboat that happened. So the combination of loss of power and what we know about the currents in the East River, this is really important, they are always horrible. They're known to be horrible.

What was the reaction time of the tugboat and the pilot of the ship to be able to alert others and at the very least, get those guys off of the top of the boat. I don't know if those were the two that passed away, but I saw those falls like everyone else. And you definitely want to protect the most vulnerable, even if you can't stop the crash from happening.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I think it had been reported that the two people were on the mast and, you know, to be able to get down in the right amount of time. Yes, that seemed like that was futile.

All right, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

[15:15:02]

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, Ukraine says Russia has launched the largest drone attack since the beginning of the war. How this could impact President Trump's phone call with Vladimir Putin tomorrow.

And Pope Leo holds his Inaugural Mass. What he said about two major global conflicts, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:00]

WHITFIELD: Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war, according to Ukrainian officials. They say 273 drones targeted Kyiv and eastern regions of the country earlier today.

The attack comes as President Trump is scheduled to talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone tomorrow, and just a couple of days after Russia and Ukraine had their first face-to-face talks involving representatives in three years.

Also earlier today, Pope Leo met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican ahead of his Inaugural Mass this morning.

CNN's Betsy Klein is at the White House.

So, Betsy, today's attack, is that likely to affect the tone of tomorrow's phone call between Trump and Putin?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Almost certainly. I mean, there were no goodwill gestures or signs of de-escalation from Russia ahead of these very critical talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Trump has repeatedly said he believes he is the only person who can help to solve this conflict. He said that there will be no breakthrough in this war until he meets face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin and all of that gets started in earnest at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time on Monday, when the two of them are set to speak by phone.

Setting up these very high stakes critical calls, White House officials have really made clear that this is a big moment. Steve Witkoff, the President's Special Envoy for the Middle East, saying that, "This could clear up some of the logjam between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine and get a peaceful solution underway." Of course, ending this conflict has proven so elusive for the Trump administration, and Putin has repeatedly moved the goalposts on Trump, which we saw play out this week in Turkey ahead of those talks. European leaders and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy offered a proposal to end the conflict that was backed by the U.S. Putin, in turn, said that he would like to meet with Zelenskyy. President Trump encouraged Zelenskyy to have that meeting and repeatedly floated attending himself in Turkey, bringing up his Middle East trip.

But Putin ultimately pulled out of those talks, kind of leaving President Trump hanging and talks on Friday at a lower level, however, did mark the first time that these two sides have met face-to-face for substantive discussions in the last three years. So somewhat of a positive step forward there.

But listen to how Secretary of State Marco Rubio forecast these talks earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Are they tapping us along? Well, that is what we are trying to find out. We will find out pretty soon. They met last -- yesterday or the day before in Turkey. From that, they agreed they're going to exchange paper on ideas that get to a ceasefire. If those papers have ideas on them that are realistic and rational, then I think we know we've made progress.

If those papers, on the other hand, have requirements in them that we know are unrealistic, then we will have a different assessment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, after that call with Putin, President Trump says that he plans to speak with Ukraine's Zelenskyy and other members of NATO, and all of this comes after Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary Rubio met with Zelenskyy in person in Rome earlier today. Both sides posting a very striking set of photos showing both leaders smiling, of course, in such stark contrast to that February 28th Oval Office meeting that became so contentious, Fredricka, and of course, showing that there is a very symbolic and united front ahead of this call tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's a pretty remarkable contrast indeed. All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

All right, still to come, after a deadly tornado outbreak, the National Weather Service responds to concerns about shortages of forecasting staff before more storms hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:2 8:14]

WHITFIELD: Cleanup efforts are underway right now across communities in the Central U.S. after a storm system carved a path of destruction this weekend, leaving 25 dead. Large tornadoes were reported through Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana. More than a hundred thousand are still without power right now.

In Kentucky, aerial video showing several houses that were reduced to rubble as you see right there. The storm also ripping a roof clean off this -- ripping off a building and strong winds destroyed some nearby structures as well.

So local officials in St. Louis say a tornado hit there as well and you can see windows just blown out of several homes and debris has been scattered on the ground as you see right there.

We are also learning new details now about the forecast around that severe weather outbreak that hit Kentucky late Friday.

The union for the National Weather Service said that staff shortages did not impact the accuracy or timeliness of the tornado warnings. The agency's office in Jackson, Kentucky, is one of at least four facilities that no longer operate 24 hours, but made the decision to call everyone that night. Eighteen people died in the state just hours after violent storms killed seven across Missouri, and the region is still facing severe weather.

CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar is tracking the latest forecast. Allison, what's ahead?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Some of those same areas that just got hit by severe thunderstorms less than 48 hours ago have the potential to see additional severe thunderstorms as we go through the evening and overnight hours tonight.

The main target is going to be this highlighted area you see here, especially within the orange and the red color on the map across portions of the Central and Southern Plains.

[15:30:06]

The main concerns in all of these areas really is going to be damaging winds 50 to 70 miles per hour, but especially in the Central U.S., the bigger concerns are going to be extremely large hail.

You're talking the size of baseballs or larger, and also the potential for some isolated strong tornadoes. That means EF2 size or greater. And this especially is a concern as we head into the overnight hours, because some of these storms have already been ongoing throughout the day. But we really start to see a lot of the activity fill back in around nine, ten, and 11:00 P.M. tonight, especially across portions of Kansas into Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma as that line continues to spread eastward.

This means areas like St. Louis, which were hard impacted late Friday, now have another round of those same showers and thunderstorms coming through during the overnight time frame, so please make sure you have some way of getting those alerts on your phone to wake you up, especially if your line of storms comes through during the overnight hours.

As we go through the rest of the day Monday, you'll see a lot more redevelopment in some of the exact same places all over again. So this is going to be a multi-day impact, not just for Sunday, but also Monday as well as Tuesday.

And again, a place like St. Louis on the map for all three of those days. It is the time of year. May is the peak traditionally and statistically for tornadoes before we start to see them drop off during the summer months.

Rain is also going to be a concern because, as we mentioned, it is going to go over the same places over and over again. So some of these spots could end up picking up as much as four to six inches of rain over the next several days. That's going to lead to at least a slight risk for excessive rainfall, not just Monday, but also into Tuesday.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much for that.

All right, straight ahead, the White House and Republican leaders working to push President Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill across the finish line.

And we are going to continue to follow the breaking news out of Southern California, where moments ago, the FBI identified the suspect of the Palm Springs explosion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:36:43]

WHITFIELD: All right, tonight, in a rare Sunday session, the House Budget Committee is set to meet to try and pass President Trump's multitrillion dollar domestic policy bill after it failed in a vote on Friday. The text includes a massive overhaul of the Tax Code and spending cuts to domestic programs.

Intense weekend talks were ongoing between House GOP leaders and conservative hardliners, and House Speaker Mike Johnson says he does not expect any delays.

CNN correspondent, Julia Benbrook joining us now from Washington.

So, Julia, what is at stake tonight?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Trump's agenda faces challenges after that group of GOP hardliners blocked it in a key committee vote on Friday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and members of his leadership team have now spent the weekend trying to get those Republican members who opposed it to support it before they try and advance it again. And as you mentioned, that's going to happen in a late night vote, 10:00 P.M. on Sunday, a very rare late night Sunday vote.

Now, among the demands that those hardliners are making, they want to see deeper cuts to a clean energy tax program, as well as stricter overhauls on Medicaid, specifically when it comes to work requirements. The current proposal has work requirements going into effect in 2029. They want to see those sooner.

Now, in an interview on Fox News earlier today, Johnson said that the weekend negotiations are "going well." He implied that there could be some room for compromise on that work requirement timeline, but added that he is concerned about giving states enough time to properly implement any changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The concern is, what we are trying to work with is the ability of the states to retool their systems and ensure the verification process is to make sure that all the new laws and all the new safeguards that we are replacing can actually be enforced.

And so we are working through all those of details and we will get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Representative Ralph Norman, one of the Republicans who opposed advancing this bill, tells CNN that weekend negotiations suggest that GOP leaders may be moving in their direction when it comes to some of the sticking points. It is important to note, Fred, that any changes to this bill to appease one group could cause problems with another. In this case, the more moderate members of the GOP and Johnson needs almost every vote here to be successful.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thanks so much.

So with intense negotiations still underway, GOP leadership is racing to get the President's agenda back on track after last week's setback. I want to bring in now Republican Strategist Doug Heye now for more analysis.

Doug, great to see you.

So all right, so Speaker Johnson, you know, he was adamant that, you know, this morning that they will get this done. But what is it going to take to get Republican holdouts on board or should they feel confident that they are going to get more of what they want?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, Fredricka, I can tell you, I've dealt with -- I thought every permutation of congressional machinations of nonsense that I've seen before, I've never dealt with a 10:00 P.M. Sunday night vote. That is a new one.

And as Julia pointed out really well, part of the challenge and I dealt with this certainly when I worked in House leadership is sort of these pendulum politics. You try to appease your members on the right, you create a bigger problem with the moderates, so you have to swing back to them and you go back and forth and all you do is while trying to fix a problem, create some ill will.

[15:40:08]

So it is part of why leadership is in a real difficult spot here, and because there is such a small majority.

What I am most interested to see, Fredricka is, will the vote happen tonight? If it happens tonight, that tells me that they've got the votes to pass it in committee and they can move forward. If there is a delay, that means they have a lot more negotiations that they've got to go through.

WHITFIELD: We've seen that before, though. When one thought that, you know, maybe the Speaker did caucus, he did get everyone on board and then come to find out he didn't, and you know, things did not go well.

So I wonder in this scenario, how much pressure is trump, you know, applying here? What's his role?

HEYE: Yes, I'd say not enough. Obviously, he was overseas last week for a lot of official and important meetings, I get that. But this is key to his legislative agenda and if this were to fail, it basically jeopardizes everything else. So if I am Speaker Johnson and I know he is having these conversations with the President and his team, Donald Trump needs to be working the phones on those members, whether they are moderates or whether they are Freedom Caucus members, to one-on- one conversation, get them to yes and that's true of these people who are on the committee who voted no earlier, or those members who aren't on the committee, but could be a problem as this legislation moves to the full House.

Donald Trump has to work this. This is not going to be a Mike Johnson failure if it doesn't happen. This is on Donald Trump. We know it is his party. It is also his Republican conference.

WHITFIELD: All right, Doug Heye, we will leave it there. Thank you so much.

HEYE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, Pope Leo shares some of his priorities in front of many world leaders during his very first mass at the Vatican.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: History made in Rome today.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WHITFIELD: Tens of thousands of people, including world leaders and Royalty, crowded into St. Peter's Square for Pope Leo XIV Inaugural Mass.

CNN's Christopher Lamb has more on the day's events from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was an historic Sunday here in St. Peter's for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. Pope Leo began the day by getting on the Popemobile for the first time, greeting the crowds, waving at them, giving them the thumbs up. It was the first time that we'd seen the Pope on that iconic papal vehicle.

Of course, afterwards, he then began the service. It was a solemn event, but also one that was punctuated by applause. There was a celebratory atmosphere.

Now, Pope Leo received the symbols of office of the papacy during the service. He received the Fisherman's ring, which of course comes after the fact that the First Pope, St. Peter, who Catholics hold as the First Pope, was a fisherman.

He also received the pallium, which is a symbol of office and service that Pope Leo will carry out.

(POPE LEO XIV speaking in foreign language)

LAMB: Now, in the homily that Pope Leo gave, he emphasized the importance of being a servant. He said he didn't feel that he warranted the election that he received in the Conclave, and this is what he had to say.

POPE LEO XIV, BISHOP OF ROME, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SOVEREIGN OF THE VATICAN CITY STATE (through translator): I was chosen without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy.

Walking with you on the path of God's love. For He wants us all to be united in one family.

LAMB: Pope Leo, in his homily, also emphasizing the importance of unity in the church. Of course, there are a number of divisions within the Catholic Church that he seems keen to seek to heal.

He also called for a church that is missionary, that isn't looking in on itself. Of course, Pope Leo was a missionary in Peru for a number of years. The Pope also received different groups or different representatives from parts of the church, including a married couple, young people, some Cardinals in what was the Rite of Obedience.

This reflecting the desire that Pope Leo has for a church that isn't just the hierarchy leading, but also it is the hierarchy with the people together. That's going to be, I think, an important part of his ministry.

The service was very solemn, very beautiful. There was chanting, there was singing. At the end he led the Regina Caeli prayer. And in that prayer, he talked about the suffering of people in Gaza, in Ukraine and Myanmar. He had a round of applause when he mentioned Gaza.

And then afterwards he went back into St. Peter's Basilica to greet the delegations who were here for this Inauguration Mass on Sunday. Amongst those who he met, the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, his wife, the Second Lady Usha Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Countries from all corners of the globe have sent delegations for this Inauguration. Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada amongst them.

[15:50:04]

And the Pope before the mass, met with the President of Peru. Of course, Pope Leo, serving in Peru for many years before he came to Rome.

This was really an extraordinary day in St. Peter's, as Pope Leo now formally begins his ministry as Pope.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, extraordinary indeed.

Joining us right now is CNN religion contributor and Roman Catholic priest, Father Edward Beck.

Great to see you.

So, Pope Leo, I mean, he is reaching out to church conservatives while also trying to continue the mantra of his predecessor, Pope Francis, you know, in calling for religious and cultural diversity.

Do you see him being able to maintain this?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION CONTRIBUTOR: I do, Fred, and I think his homily was a great indication of that. He had this beautiful line where he said, when the cardinals came together for the Conclave to elect a new Pope, they weren't all united. I mean, they had different camps. They wanted perhaps another candidate other than he was elected.

And yet he said that this Pope was the heartstrings in a single melody is how they came together. And he used that as a model for what the church needs to do.

That yes, he acknowledged that there is some division in the church, but he called for a unity amidst our diversity, that it is okay if we don't all agree or think the same thing, but we must come together to model unity for the world and I think that we are going to see a Pope who continues in the path of Pope Francis, who will indeed attempt to do just that.

WHITFIELD: Pope Leo also called to, I am quoting him now, "end hatred, violence and prejudice." I mean, that's something echoed from his first speech and even first Sunday mass. So who is he directing this message to?

BECK: Well, remember, he began his papacy when he came out on the loggia by saying, "Peace be with you." He stressed the violence and the division in the world, and he named some of those places, he has named them and he is really going to be an Ambassador of Peace. He has already welcomed Ukraine and Russia to come together to the Vatican for peace talks. He has welcomed peace talks with Israel and Gaza.

So you know that this is going to be a missionary of peace. That will be a primary mission of him, as well as outreach to migrants, and continue this great cause of immigration that Pope Francis began and the environment. Remember that Popemobile that we saw him in for the first time was an E.V., an electric vehicle, and he is very conscious of the environment and promoting real responsibility with regard care of our earth.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and hey, that picture, right, of Vice President J.D. Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, you know, ahead of this, but certainly in the shadows of this inaugural mass. I mean, was that in your view, you know, the making of Pope Leo? Did he craft that?

BECK: Well, I don't know if he could have crafted it, but I think he certainly wants to say that I brought many, many different people together for this celebration, people of differing views, differing faiths. I mean, we saw Jewish people. We saw eastern right people there. So, I mean, this is a man who said that we must find the unity and the word "Catholic" means universal. I mean, that's what it means, so he has to appeal to everyone.

So I think he is going to continue this outreach and you saw that in those who were assembled. I think you're going to continue to see that this is a man of dialogue. He is going to meet with people he doesn't agree with, and he is going to try to persuade them to go according to the Gospel, according to the Jesus message that he preaches so forcefully.

WHITFIELD: All right, Father Edward Beck, always great to see you. Thank you so much.

BECK: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, new details this afternoon into the investigation of an explosion in Palm Springs, California. What the FBI says may have been the motive.

And the NTSB is launching a go team to examine the Brooklyn Bridge after it was hit by a Mexican Navy ship. More on that straight ahead.

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[15:59:23]

WHITFIELD: In this week's episode of "Searching for Spain," Eva Longoria takes viewers to the Northern Basque Country and since a bastion, there Eva explores the deep history, rich culture and inventive food the region has to offer. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVA LONGORIA, CNN HOST, "SEARCHING FOR SPAIN": We are with the Princess of the Sea. Oh, she is the Princess of the Sea. Oh. That's it right there.

Once considered a waste product, Basque fishermen started cooking up the kokotas in clay pots called cazuelas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now she dance.

LONGORIA: Now we dance. We all dance. All your moves.

Look at it. It is making a sauce.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's great.

LONGORIA: Look at this. What's happening? It's like magic in front of our eyes. This is so crazy. Just by moving the fish.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's moving.

LONGORIA: Oh my gosh.

And this traditional version. It is as simple as that. Wow. That is a super-rich sauce. It just melts in your mouth, very creamy. And you can taste the beauty of the fish. It is so fresh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, that looks so good. All right, a new episode of Eva Longoria, "Searching for Spain" airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

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