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Trump Demands The Names And Countries Of Foreign Students At Harvard; Zelenskyy: U.S. Encouraging Putin With Silence Over Barrage Of Attacks; New Target Boycott On Day Marking Five Years Since George Floyd's Murder. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 25, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

KAREN KAIFA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A story, Mark Ireland, Superintendent of the Sicily, Rome-American Cemetery says still inspires.

MARK IRELAND, SUPERINTENDENT, SICILY, ROME-AMERICAN CEMETERY: That idea of you're fighting to the very end, not giving up.

KAIFA (voice over): And is just one of many to be honored by generations to come.

In Washington, I'm Karen Kaifa.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, Karen, thank you so much.

[15:00:21]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, today, President Trump is escalating his attacks on Harvard University just days after a federal judge temporarily halted his administration's ban on Harvard enrolling international students, the President is now demanding "names and countries" of the thousands of international students at the Ivy League school. Trump suggesting that foreign countries, some of which he says are hostile to the U.S. should contribute funding to educate their students.

For more on this escalating feud, let's go to Julia Benbrook, near Trump's New Jersey estate, where he is spending the weekend.

Julia, tell us more about the President's sentiment here.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is escalation in President Donald Trump's ongoing battle with Harvard University.

Just a couple of days ago, he was working to ban international students from attending Harvard, a move that was swiftly halted by a federal judge, and then overnight, we are hearing from Trump again as he demands more information about the international students who attend. Writing this quote: "We want to know who these foreign students are. A reasonable request since we give Harvard billions of dollars." And he went on to claim that Harvard isn't exactly forthcoming. Now, about 27 percent of Harvard's student body is of students from overseas, and they do release some of that information. Starting in 2024, they do have a list of which countries those students are attending from. It is important to note that, according to Harvard's website, in the Student Aid section, it makes very clear that foreign students are not eligible for federal funding and can instead apply for scholarships and things like that through the college itself.

Our team has spoken with multiple international students at Harvard who describe the feeling right now as one of uncertainty and even pure panic as Trump works to ban their enrollment. The university also responding calling this move a clear retaliation for its refusal to meet some of the government's demands on certain policies there on campus.

And this is just the latest in a long back and forth. We are going to pull up some of those important moments and exchanges that happened over just the last several weeks now.

The administration cut $450 million in federal grants, froze more than $2 billion in research funding, moved to ban international students, what we are talking about today, threatened to end the university's tax exempt status and is using the Department of Justice to investigate diversity initiatives.

So, again, a lot of uncertainty for these international students at Harvard, but also uncertainty for the faculty, staff, and other students as well -- Fred.

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

With me now to talk more about these developments is Cornell William Brooks. He is the former President and CEO of the NAACP and is currently a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School.

Professor, great to see you.

CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NAACP: It is good to see you as always.

WHITFIELD: So what do you think is at the heart of President Trump's obsession here?

BROOKS: That is a great word to describe it. It is an obsession because what we have seen over the -- over many weeks, many months is an ever shifting exercise in arguments and excuses for going after Harvard, for no serious legal basis. Meaning we have a federal judge who has issued a temporary restraining order against this ban against nearly 6,000, nearly 7,000 international students, one out of every four at Harvard, six out of every ten at the Kennedy School where I teach, and what we have seen is over and over again, the Trump administration, using its lawyers to go after Harvard's fiscal -- its budget by literally taking away almost $3 billion after they admitted that they made a mistake.

I mean, that's absolutely surreal. WHITFIELD: That's just in the research kind of funding, the two to three billion.

BROOKS: That's right. That's right.

WHITFIELD: So this threat is invoking fear. I mean, students, especially international ones, you know, are terrified. Do I go home for the summer? Will I get back into the U.S.? Will I get to finish at Harvard? I mean, these are legit questions.

So what are your concerns for these students, especially, as you mentioned, six out of ten of the students there at the -- you know, Kennedy School are international students.

BROOKS: Well, I am very concerned.

[15:05:10]

So I have students who would like to go visit their parents right before graduation and come back with them, who are afraid that if they leave the country, they may not be able to get in.

We have students who are afraid that they won't be able to continue their studies or start their studies, or even graduate. This is absolutely terrifying, and let us be clear here. This ban that the Trump administration is attempting to impose is a ban on students from Switzerland to Sweden, from Palestine to Israel, from Kenya to France and it is a ban that hurts all kinds of students studying all kinds of subjects that serve the world.

At the Kennedy School, we have students who are from India, who are studying development. We have students from Nigeria who are studying ways to improve health care. The point being here is that the Trump administration is engaging in a trauma war, a psychological war against students in an effort to punish a global university, largely as a result of the President literally using Harvard as a toy, as a political prop, if you will, to agitate and excite his base to the detriment of the country's well-being and the good of the country.

Think about this, Fredricka. At Harvard, we have hospitals who care for sick, dying, and patients who are in need of health care. We have students who literally create the means by which we solve serious problems. And all of that is being threatened by a President who is having a temper tantrum at the expense of the country.

WHITFIELD: And right now, Harvard's President is standing firm that the campus will not bend to the White House on a variety of policy changes. Will Harvard be able to continue to dig in its heels and combat this White House?

BROOKS: I think we have to, because first of all, what the President and the administration is asking Harvard to do is to violate the Constitution. There is a First Amendment in the Constitution which guarantees all persons, not merely all citizens, freedom of expression, that we cannot give in to that. We certainly cannot give in to lessening our mission, diminishing the quality of our work and the quality of our study and scholarship and research and practice, so that we can essentially appease this President.

So it is not so much a matter of Harvard digging in its heels, it is a matter of Harvard standing firm. And this president literally engaging in a temper tantrum to the detriment of the country.

So we have no other choice.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel pretty certain that its Harvard now and another university, private or public next?

BROOKS: Oh, most certainly, most certainly. And all we need do is listen to the President himself. The president has said that we are looking at other universities.

And so the point being is we have to ask ourselves if Harvard, with the resources it has, is trying this hard at this expense, what about community colleges? What about state universities?

You know, I went to a state HBCU, a state college. I went to a private university, an Ivy League law school, and I went to Head Start, and we had this President literally going after all kinds of institutions of higher learning and secondary learning in this country. So the issue is it is not -- this is not a matter of Harvard, this is a matter of education. And when it comes to education, that means the well-being of most Americans, nearly all Americans and so this is critically important.

WHITFIELD: Harvard Professor Cornell William Brooks, always great to see you. Thank you so much.

BROOKS: Good to see you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: The Trump administration is also taking aim at Harvard's funding, cutting money for two of the university's largest ongoing nutrition studies. The move happening despite the fact that the Make America Healthy Again Commission says the NIH should fund more nutrition research.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER C. WILLETT, PHYSICIAN AND NUTRITION RESEARCHER, FREDRICK JOHN STARE PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND NUTRITION, HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: So this is our rooftop freezer farm up here.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wow.

TIRRELL (voice over): You're looking at a liquid nitrogen freezer farm powering one of the biggest and longest running studies on women's risk factors for chronic disease in history here at the Harvard School of Public Health. TIRRELL (on camera): How many people samples are stored in these freezers?

WILLETT: These specific freezers, it's tens of thousands.

TIRRELL (voice over): The nurse's health study has more than 280,000 participants, over three generations. They've shared samples of blood, urine, DNA. About 1.5 million samples in this freezer farm alone, even toenail clippings.

[15:10:18]

WILLETT: These little envelopes are toenail clippings, we collected these back in 1982.

TIRRELL (voice over): And tumor samples.

WILLETT: These are actually the individual tumor samples from participants who have developed breast cancer. These are really unique and invaluable.

TIRRELL (voice over): All to help scientists like Dr. Walter Willett make discoveries about our health.

WILLETT: We can go back many decades later, long before someone developed a cancer or a heart attack and look at what were their hormone levels, what were the blood nutrient levels? Of course, we can look now at their DNA. We couldn't do that when we first collected the sample.

TIRRELL (voice over): Paired with detailed questionnaires, the participants faithfully fill out every few years, the study has yielded major discoveries from the benefits of a Mediterranean Diet to the dangers of trans fat.

WILLETT: The first thing that popped out when we looked at heart disease was trans fat, and the association was really quite strong.

TIRRELL (voice over): Trans fat was ultimately banned from foods in the U.S. in 2021.

WILLETT: We continued to follow our participants and that finding was sustained over time.

TIRRELL (voice over): But earlier this month, Willett and his team got devastating news.

WILLETT: There it is. It says: You are receiving this e-mail because one or more of your projects have been terminated per notice from the federal funding agency.

TIRRELL (voice over): The Trump administration has said it is cutting upwards of $2.6 billion in federal funding to Harvard, saying that the university hasn't done enough to combat antisemitism on campus.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And we certainly should not be funding a place where such grave antisemitism exists.

TIRRELL (voice over): The university has filed a lawsuit to fight back. The funding cuts affect both the nurse's health study, which is focused on women's health, and a counterpart focused on men. Its research that would take decades to recreate if lost.

TIRRELL (on camera): How much longer can it keep going?

WILLETT: Without additional funding, we are talking about really, literally weeks for keeping the nitrogen flowing in our freezers. We are going to be scrambling to see if we can maintain the most critical parts of it, but we don't have that in hand right now.

TIRRELL (voice over): The liquid nitrogen alone to cool the freezers Willett says, runs to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and this comes as the work is reaching a pivotal milestone.

WILLETT: The older participants, some of those are reaching the hundred-year mark. During the next five or 10 years, we have a very good opportunity of looking at how -- what people were doing 30, 40, 50 years earlier is related to healthy aging.

TIRRELL (voice over): These major nutrition studies are losing funding from the National Institutes of Health, just as the Trump administration's newly released Make America Wealthy Again report on children's health decries how little the NIH spends on nutrition research.

It is attention not lost on Willett.

WILLETT: If someone really believes that we want to make America healthy, this is something that should continue. There is still a lot more to learn.

TIRRELL (voice over): Meg Tirrell, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, Russia launching its largest ever aerial assault on Ukraine, pummeling Kyiv with missiles and drones for a second night in a row despite completing a major prisoner swap.

And later, an operation 80 years in the making to replace erroneous grave markers for Jewish American servicemembers who died fighting the Nazis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:06]

WHITFIELD: All right, new this afternoon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is accusing the U.S. of encouraging Russia's Vladimir Putin by remaining silent after a weekend of Russian attacks on the capital of Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has the latest. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have seen a weekend of superlatives at the same time as seeing the largest aerial assaults from the Russian military on Ukrainian cities. We are also seeing the largest prisoner exchange between the two countries.

Now, starting with the positive, we did see over three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a total of 2,000 prisoners being released, 1,000 Russian, 1,000 Ukrainian. Now this did happen, as I say, over three days. We have been seeing some very emotional reunions, some very emotional images on the Ukrainian side as those coming off from buses draped in the Ukrainian flag are reunited with their loved ones. In some cases they have been held prisoner for a number of years.

Now, we did hear from the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, thanking everybody involved in this process.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The task is to bring home absolutely everyone who is currently held in Russia, and this is a joint task for our intelligence services, for our diplomats, for our entire state.

Clearly, it is not an easy task, but it must be accomplished. I am grateful to everyone around the world who is helping us.

HANCOCKS: Now, according to the Ukrainian Prisoner of War Center, this is the sixth prisoner exchange that we have seen this year alone, and it is the 65th overall. And yet, at the same time as seeing something as positive as this, we also saw a devastating weekend when it came to the aerial assaults on Ukraine.

[15:20:01]

We saw from the Ukrainian Air Force saying that Saturday into Sunday, there were almost 70 missiles, almost 300 drones. Now, many of them, they claim, were intercepted, but those that got through were deadly. We know that children were among the dead and injured.

Now they say there were drones. There were cruise missiles, ballistic missiles fired from both ships and planes. According to the Ukrainian leader, rescuers were working in well over 30 cities and villages across the country.

Now, there were some 13 different districts that were impacted, but certainly what we saw in the capital, in Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday morning was that the air raid sirens were blaring for hours. Residents were told to stay in shelters in the early hours of Sunday morning and over the weekend, one Parliament member, speaking to CNN, said it felt like Armageddon.

So a very devastating and deadly weekend in a number of Ukrainian cities.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining us right now is Bill Taylor. He is the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Good to see you, Ambassador.

President Zelenskyy says U.S. silence on the weekend attacks just encourages Vladimir Putin. Do you agree with that?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: So, Fredricka, the world, the international community, the Americans and the Europeans all have to condemn these kind of attacks. It is an indication that the Russians think they can get away with this. It is an indication that there is no intent on the part of the Russians to seek a peace deal. There is no willingness to negotiate They continue --

And that needs to be condemned, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: So in your view, is it just lip service that Vladimir Putin wants some sort of deal -- peace deal ending war, whichever way you want to put it. Is this just a charade?

TAYLOR: It is a charade. You're exactly right. It is a charade.

He is trying to indicate that he is willing to make some compromises. No compromises. Every time he is asked what he is after, it is essentially Ukrainian surrender. Ukrainians have been fighting for more than three-and-a-quarter years. They're not for surrender. They will not surrender.

So Putin continues to push his army, his army is not making progress. He is not making progress on the ground. The only thing his army is -- his Armed Forces can do is fire drones, as you were just reporting, as Paula was just saying, firing drones and missiles, many of which they get from North Korea and Iran. That's all they can do.

They have no intent of stopping this attack.

WHITFIELD: So would you say that the U.S. hope is really futile? I mean, that the U.S. is kind of wasting its time if there is going to be a bringing to the table, or does the U.S. need to consider something else if it wants to be a participant in helping to end this war? What would that be?

TAYLOR: That would be pressure on Putin to negotiate. That would be economic pressure in the form of additional sanctions and that would that would be in the form of additional weapons and military support for Ukraine.

The Europeans are actually stepping up on both counts. That is, they are putting on new sanctions, and they are providing as much of the weapons as they can.

Senator Graham -- Senator Lindsey Graham in this country has some 83 co-sponsors, 81 co-sponsors in addition to the two sponsors on a bill that would put sanctions on Russia. This can be done. The American people support Ukraine and oppose Putin. The Senate is in strong position to put these sanctions on. That's what can be done. No, it is not hopeless.

WHITFIELD: If the U.S. doesn't provide more weapons then, you know, the onus is largely going to be on Europe. Does it have the ability to do more, to go it alone, so to speak, to help Ukraine?

TAYLOR: Well, it turns out that some 40 percent of the weapons being used on the battlefield right now, coming from Ukrainians, coming from Ukrainian factories, 40 percent are Ukrainian made weapons, 30 percent coming from the Europeans, 30 percent coming from the United States.

So the Ukrainians are stepping up their ability to provide these, as are the Europeans. But you're right, Europeans do not have the military industrial complex, the defense industrial base, in order to provide the kinds of equipment that the Americans have provided.

So the Europeans are willing to buy from the United States, from U.S. arms' manufacturers weapons for Ukraine. So that can happen.

[15:25:10]

We just have to give them the okay to do that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ambassador Bill Taylor, always a great pleasure having you. Thank you so much.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, the fight to protect Florida's lovable manatees. It is going to court. Details on the big win for conservationists and manatees next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Renewed boycotts of the retail chain, Target today coinciding with cities marking five years since George Floyd's murder. This is Conyers, Georgia. It is one of several protests across the country organized by the Black Faith Community.

The protests called for Target to reestablish its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, which the company ended shortly after President Trump took office.

[15:30:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JAMAL BRYANT, PASTOR AND ACTIVIST: Those in authority can only do what people allow them to do. And so I think it is not until America clears its throat and voices and registers its objection to what is taking place that we are going to see more of it take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The giant retailer's stock dropped 37 percent over the past year as Target continues to struggle following its decision.

Conservationists in Florida are fighting to save the state's manatees. Their main target is the Indian River Lagoon, once the home of dozens of so-called sea cows. Pollution has made the waters unlivable for them.

But as CNN's Randi Kaye reports, a recent ruling by a federal judge could save the gentle giants.

A warning to our viewers, that you might find some of this video distressing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATRINA SHADIX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BEAR WARRIORS UNITED: I was ecstatic. It felt like Christmas for the manatees.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Katrina Shadix and the group, Bear Warriors United are celebrating a giant leap forward for the protection of manatees in Florida. We recently saw firsthand where the manatees are starving to death in Florida's Indian River Lagoon, which stretches from Palm Beach County to Daytona Beach.

The lagoon is where manatees come for the warm water. But in recent years, the northern end of the lagoon has been a death trap for them.

PETER BARILE, MARINE BIOLOGIST, MARINE RESEARCH & CONSULTING INC.: All these homes along the lagoon that are on septic tanks are slowly leaking, literally, tons of nitrogen and phosphorus into the system.

KAYE (voice-over): Marine biologist Peter Barile says those pollutants are being released by septic tanks and water treatment facilities along the lagoon and are fueling algae growth in the water, which is causing the manatees' main food source, seagrass, to die.

BARILE: So, this algae is reducing light down to the seagrasses, essentially smothering them and killing them.

KAYE (voice-over): He says manatees need to eat nearly 100 pounds of vegetation a day. Between December 2020 and April 2022, more than 1,200 manatees died of starvation, most of them here in the northern part of the Indian River Lagoon. Now, a federal judge has temporarily halted the approval of any new septic tank permits along the lagoon.

BARILE: It was a strong move to stop and put a moratorium on any new nitrogen coming from septic tanks.

KAYE (voice over): The latest ruling follows a 2022 lawsuit in which Bear Warriors United sued Florida's Department of Environmental Protection to help protect the manatees.

SHADIX: They suffered immensely and for a very long time.

KAYE (voice-over): Last month, the same federal judge ruled in favor of Bear Warriors United and against the state, finding Florida's Department of Environmental Protection was "in violation of the Endangered Species Act."

BARILE: There was lax leadership from the state of Florida over decades that allowed this problem to get worse and worse.

KAYE (voice-over): The judge found a definitive causal link between Florida's Department of Environmental Protection wastewater regulations and the ongoing risk to manatees. Just this week, he agreed to what was essentially a wish list from Bear Warriors United, things they wanted the state to fix on behalf of the manatees.

In addition to halting septic tank permits, Florida must submit a plan to monitor manatees' health and set up a supplemental feeding program for manatees in this lagoon.

SHADIX: If we do this feeding program and give them an abundance of their natural food source, a healthy food source, starvation goes away.

KAYE (voice over): We reached out to both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but neither provided a response to our questions. The state's Department of Environmental Protection has filed a notice of appeal, signaling it plans to challenge the case in federal court.

SHADIX: I'm fighting to the death and hopefully it won't be manatee deaths.

KAYE: Are you hopeful the manatee population will come back here?

SHADIX: Now that we won this lawsuit, we think we have a really good chance of working with the state to make sure the manatees don't go extinct on our watch.

KAYE (on camera): It is worth mentioning a few more things the judge is ordering the state to do. Florida now has to issue quarterly reports detailing the results of the supplemental feeding program. The state also has to document mortality statistics for manatees and submit quarterly reports regarding the water and the seagrass conditions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much. Thank you so much to Randi Kaye for that update.

All right, still to come, you might have seen the incredible video right here. A house on fire and two teens rescuing the family inside.

In a moment, you'll hear exactly how it all happened.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:39:30]

WHITFIELD: During World War II, many Jewish American soldiers who were killed in action were mistakenly buried beneath Christian crosses.

We honor their sacrifice this Memorial Day, as CNN's Dana Bash goes to an American cemetery in Italy with the nonprofit, Operation Benjamin, which is working to replace the grave markers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In this cemetery outside Rome lay more than 7,800 Americans killed in battle liberating Italy during World War II, now buried alongside rows of beautiful Roman pines.

[15:40:08]

RABBI JACOB J. SCHACTER, PRESIDENT, OPERATION BENJAMIN: Faith in each other --

BASH (voice-over): And on this day, families of three soldiers traveled to Italy from the U.S. to honor their sacrifice.

SCHACTER: Today we are setting the historical record straight. We will give them the marker that is appropriate for their faith.

BASH (voice over): More than 80 years after they died, correct inadvertent errors. Burial beneath Latin crosses instead of Jewish stars.

SHALOM LAMM, CHIEF HISTORIAN & CO-FOUNDER, OPERATION BENJAMIN: We're all here in some way to honor those who have rested here for all of these many years under an incorrect identity.

BASH (voice-over): All thanks to the non-profit, Operation Benjamin, which works with the American Battle Monuments Commission. Shalom Lamm is chief historian.

BASH: Many of the servicemen who are buried under crosses, even though they're Jewish, it's because they didn't want to show that they were Jewish on their dog tags.

LAMM: Right. There was a real fear of being captured. And if you were captured by the Germans in particular, that was really terrifying. These are not purposeful. These were true errors. America really tried to get it right, but they naturally missed some.

And our job is to come back through all these decades and find those guys. It has happened again and again and again that I introduce people to someone who's just a shadowy figure in their memory. They were real flesh and blood human beings. And we know that story.

BASH (voice-over): Stories like that of technician fourth grade Ben Bernstein.

His nieces and nephews finally learned details of their uncle's sacrifice. A member of the elite First Special Service Force killed by a Nazi grenade on December 3rd, 1943 in the Battle of Monte la Difensa. BASH: Your name is Ben.

BEN SHERIDAN, NEPHEW OF BEN BERNSTEIN: Correct.

BASH: You are named for your uncle.

SHERIDAN: He was a hero. He was always a hero in everybody's eyes. But we knew so little. We knew he stormed a hill in Italy and died. We knew he was a paratrooper. We knew he volunteered for force. That's about it.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

BASH (voice over): Now they are here giving their uncle a proper burial.

BASH (on camera): This is the gravesite of Second Lieutenant Sheldon Finder, who was shot down and killed on August 16th, 1943 during World War II. As you can see here, he was Jewish and he's laid to rest beneath a Jewish star.

Well, the only other person to die in that very same mission in August of 43 was Paul Singer. He was also the only other Jew in that mission. He's under a cross. That's going to change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In death, they are nine feet apart. In life, they were three feet apart. One was the navigator, one was the bombardier.

SCHACTER: Paul, on behalf of the members of your family, and on behalf of the Jewish people, we welcome you home.

BASH (on camera): Your cousin, Paul Singer, died 82 years ago, and he's been under a cross until today. What did it mean to you to be here and to be a part of the ceremony to honor his Jewish faith?

JODI REFF, COUSIN OF PAUL SINGER: We are very committed Jews. It's so special to have something from your religion that's now and that's connected families.

BASH: He was orphaned at 16. He was an only child.

REFF: Right.

BASH: It's probably why it took so long to have this changed.

REFF: Right, because they were trying to contact these aunts of his, but right, you know, there wasn't any other family. So it's nice to be able to be here and represent the family to be able to do this.

BASH (voice over): Sheldon Finder's family feels the same way.

BASH: So this is your uncle.

JONATHAN FINDER, NEPHEW OF SHELDON FINDER: That's my uncle, Sheldon. I have a great picture of my father and my uncle as children.

BASH: Did your dad talk about him?

FINDER: Very little. Very little. I feel like by being here today, I honor his quiet grieving for his entire life.

BASH: Until now, there was never a proper funeral.

FINDER: No, as a matter of fact, I don't think anyone in my entire family has ever been here before.

BASH (voice over): The two families met here in Italy for the first time.

REFF: I knew the name and I knew he was buried here. I didn't know he was buried this close, but then to meet them is really incredible.

RICKY REFF, RELATIVE OF PAUL SINGER: It puts a lot of meaning to this whole experience. That it's not just about one person, it's about all of these individuals.

BASH (voice over): Headstones in military cemeteries can only be changed with approval from soldier's families. Shalom Lamm does the research.

LAMM: The amount of proof we're required to deliver it to the American Battle Monuments Commission is really huge. It's really tough and it should be tough. We're changing something for eternity.

BASH (voice over): The stone from the cross that's removed never leaves the cemetery.

SCHACTER: We lower our heads in gratitude and respect to these silent civil sentinels who have so majestically stood guard over these young men for all of these decades. How magnificent is it that these men here on these grounds were comrades in arms against a common foe, good on one side and absolute evil on the other.

BASH (voice over): Dana Bash, CNN, Nettuno, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:30]

WHITFIELD: An incredible close call and it was caught on video. A group of teenagers passing by saw fire at a residence and then sprung into action.

Four New York teens were on their way home from their junior prom when they saw a garage engulfed in flames. One of them tried to see if there was anybody in the house. A video shows him knocking on the door while flames burned right next to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your house is on fire. Your house is on fire. It is on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know my dad is calling the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to get -- you guys have got to get out. Yo, yo! Get out! Come on, get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A family representative says the two girls, their father and their dog all got out safely. I spoke with two of those heroic teens, Aidan Kane and Tyler Sodja.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, Aiden, you first. What in the world happened here?

AIDEN KANE, HELPED SAVED FAMILY FROM BURNING HOUSE: So basically, it was prom night. We ended up leaving a little bit early to come here to One Genny and get something to eat. And then we ended up leaving and decided to go to our friend's house. And on the way there, we saw a huge garage engulfed in flames. Like we were just astonished at what was happening. We ended up running up to the house and making sure no one was in there. And it was a really crazy night definitely.

WHITFIELD: I mean, you all seem to not hesitate at all, Tyler. I mean, this is very dangerous. I mean, we're looking at the video. That was a seriously, you know, big fire. Tell me about your instincts to just go in there, knock on the door, start yelling, and really get their attention.

TYLER SODJA, HELPED SAVE FAMILY FROM BURNING HOUSE: You know, it's -- you kind of just have to react. And we did react, and we were able to get everybody out and make sure that no other damage was done. And, you know, it's like fight or flight. You just have to do it. And we didn't think twice and we're glad we were there because there was no one else really around. So we're glad we were there because we don't know if the family would have gotten help. But we're just grateful.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And then, I mean, it was a big fire and I know it was very hot even though were looking at the distance between the door that you're banging on and, you know, that garage, I mean, at what point, you know, Aiden, were you even thinking about your own safety if at all?

KANE: I mean, not really, because, to be honest, the fire was fairly like a good distance away, but definitely I felt the heat all the way over there from the door, and especially because like the garage ended up exploding multiple times. There must have been like propane tanks in there or something, but it was insane and it was pretty scary. But I was just worrying about getting those kids out at first.

WHITFIELD: Oh, and you did. I wonder, Tyler, for a minute, were you looking at this fire and thinking, there's no way somebody is actually in there.

SODJA: It was -- I went up to the fire and I was trying to see if there was anyone in it, like screaming. And I made sure there was no one in there. And then as I backed up to go to the actual house to get the people out, it kind of exploded, like right in front of me. It was like making all these popping noises, and I didn't, I didn't -- there was no one in there at the time, but I didn't think there was anyone in the house. But there was when Aden went to knock on the door to get them out.

And then it kind of really kicked in, like, this is real and this is happening. And then it was just surreal. But we're glad that we were able to get the family out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we're glad, too. Aiden and Tyler, and there was a third friend, too, all of them true heroes.

All right, still ahead, drugged, tortured and locked up for weeks. New details on the alleged kidnapping that prosecutors say was a plot to steal a man's Bitcoin account.

And new warnings from local pharmacies, some saying that President Trump's proposed tariffs on prescription drugs could put them out of business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Parts of this country that are very rural or not very accessible, those pharmacies are really the only medical facilities that exist. So those patients are really going to -- they are really going to suffer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[15:59:06]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

A Norwegian man woke up to a rather unusual visitor in his front yard this week, a 440-foot container ship. The man says he was sleeping when the ship narrowly missed his home, colliding with the water bank in his front yard as you see right there. Remarkably, the collision did not wake him up. No one aboard the ship was hurt either.

Several attempts to pull the ship free have so far not worked. Norwegian officials say additional investigations must now take place before they can try it again and figure out how in the world this happened. Talk about a sound sleeper.

All right, in next week's episode of "Searching for Spain," Eva Longoria takes viewers to Galicia, a hidden gem on the country's northwestern coast. There, she explores the history and the fresh seafood, the beef, and produce that this remote region is known for.

Be sure to tune in to a new episode of Eva Longoria "Searching for Spain," airing next Sunday, 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

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