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Isa Soares Tonight
Joe Biden Jets Off To Northern Ireland To Mark 25 Years Peace Agreement; South Korea And Egypt React To Pentagon Document Leak; Taiwan's Foreign Minister Speaks On China Threat; Ireland Honors Its Close Connections To Several American Presidents; Biden Travels To Northern Ireland To Celebrate The Anniversary Of The Accord; Navalny, Leading Russian Opposition Figure, Sicker In Jail, According To Spokesperson; U.S. Leak Aftermath; Pentagon Looking Into Extent And Nature Of Document Leak; U.S. Damage Assessment Anticipated By Allies; Woman Killed In West Bank Shooting Attack Buried By Mourners; Until End Of Ramadan, Israel Will Not Allow Jewish Visitors Or Tourists Into The Grounds Of Al-Aqsa Mosque; Myanmar: Around 100 People Killed After Junta Attack; Migrant Boats Being Escorted To Safety By Italian Coast Guard; 400 People Believed To Be Aboard Third Large Boat Seen In Mediterranean; Taiwan's Air Defense Zone Breached By 54 Chinese Carrier Fighter Jets; Taiwanese FM: China Threatening Taiwan With War; Taiwanese FM: If China Starts War, Taiwan Is Prepared. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired April 11, 2023 - 14:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, U.S. President Joe Biden is on his way
to Northern Ireland to mark 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement.
Then South Korea and Egypt, the latest countries to react to the massive leak of U.S. Intel documents. And then Taiwan's foreign minister tells CNN
that China is threatening war, but the island is ready for anything.
Well, all those stories in just a moment. We'll begin in the United States with a closer look at two significant issues, abortion and guns. Apparently
causing the deepest cultural as well as political rifts. First, we'll look at how they are affecting Americans' everyday lives.
Then we'll ask CNN's Stephen Collinson what is driving these divides. To start off with, let's get the latest on the 146, let just that sink in, 146
U.S. mass shootings so far this year. And we are learning more about the bank employee who opened fire during a staff meeting, killing five people
and seriously wounding eight others in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 25-year-old shooter live-streamed Monday's entire event on Instagram. Police say the video shows the gunman firing his AR-15 style weapon inside
the bank for about a minute. Officers were on the scene about 90 seconds later. A dispatcher says the shooter alerted his friends to the attack.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty five-year-old white male, Connor Sturgeon, 6'4. He's texted a friend, called a friend, left a voicemail he was going
to kill everyone at the bank. Feeling suicidal.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, officials in Louisville held a news conference just a bit ago, about an hour or so ago, where the interim chief of police explained
how the shooter got this weapon. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUELYN GWINN-VILLAROEL, INTERIM POLICE CHIEF, LOUISVILLE: We have also learned that he purchased the weapon used in this tragic incident on
yesterday on April, the 4th. He purchased the weapon legally from one of the local dealerships here in Louisville.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: I want to bring in CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. John, great to see you. Look, we heard -- I think
it's fair to say, John, some very chilling details from officials in Kentucky in the last what? An hour and a half or so by the investigation.
Help us then piece together how this all unfolded, how the officials say this unfolded here?
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELIGENCE ANALYST: Well, what we learned today from the press briefing and some of the other fragments
that have been coming together overnight is that Connor Sturgeon purchased this weapon seven days ago legally from a local gun store, and then began
planning what he was going to do at the bank where he had been employed for more than a year as a full-time employee and where he had intern before.
And he goes into the bank live-streaming onto the Instagram platform, opens fire on senior staff members in the middle of a meeting in a conference
room. There were other people on the other end of that conference watching on Zoom as he opened fire, who witnessed this literally virtually.
And then goes on back to the lobby of the building, the bank building, where he stays basically for about a minute and a half until police arrive.
That 9-1-1 call refers to him texting a friend, saying he's going to kill everybody in the bank and is feeling suicidal. Waiting in the lobby, he
opens fire on police who returned fire, this is, I guess a classic example of what today they call suicide by cop. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, and John, I mean, he -- like you said, he live-streamed the whole atrocity on social media. Why then publicize the attack? What does
that perhaps tell us about his motives here -- his motive here?
[14:05:00]
MILLER: So, that's a phenomenon that when I worked in the NYPD as the chief of Intelligence, my Intel analysts identify this with the New Zealand
attack on the mosques which you recall, a horrific attack in and of itself. And something we've seen replicated by other shooters. They call the
phenomenon dying lie.
Many of these shooters expect not to survive their own actions, but they want to broadcast it so that their evil deeds will live in perpetuity on
the internet. But there's more to it than that. The psychological effect is most of these people feel undervalued, ignored, insecure. This is their way
of writing the end of their life story in a movie version, to show that they were this dominant, powerful force and live-streaming it is a way to
make sure that it gets out, at least, to some people even before authorities or social media can stop it.
SOARES: John Miller, really appreciate it, thanks very much, John. Well, this shooting in Kentucky is sadly yet another reminder, of course, of the
gun violence epidemic that's sweeping across the United States. And now, a really sobering new survey shows that most families in America have been
affected by a gun-related incident. Have a look at this.
Fifty four percent of U.S. adults have either personally experienced or had a family member experience gun violence. That is according to research by
Kaiser Family Foundation. And nearly one in five adults had a family member killed by a gun. One in five. These are just some of the staggering
statistics here.
I want to bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And Sanjay, this is pretty hard to -- for us to wrap our heads around. So in
context, I think it's important here for our viewers. According the gun violence archive, there have been what? A hundred and forty six mass
shootings --
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes --
SOARES: So far this year in the U.S., leaving more than 200 people dead and hundreds of course, critically injured. And that's just mass shootings.
Just talk us through the findings of this survey here.
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, to give you some context, Isa, is that, you know, some 50,000 people die of gun violence every year in the United States. That was
the numbers in the last year that we had good data for. About half homicides and half suicides. I mean, these are atrocious numbers. For
children and teenagers, it is the leading cause of death in the United States.
More so than car accidents. And I think the question has been, and I think what the survey was all about is trying to figure out how much of it is a
sort of -- what's a psyche really that is here in the United States over gun violence
Some of those numbers you mentioned already in terms of just how pervasive this is, 17 percent of people have seen someone get shot, Isa, I mean,
almost one in five people, same percentage roughly, have a family member has been killed by a gun, either homicide or suicide. Twenty one percent
people have been threatened with a gun as well. That's according to the survey.
How often do people then fear gun violence in the United States among adults? Forty percent sometimes, 10 percent almost every day, 8 percent
every day, you get a sense of just how much people are thinking about that. The 50,000 number, 49,000 people dying of gun violence, that number jumped
over 20 percent over the past few years. So, we're seeing more of it, and it's taking an increasingly greater toll, Isa.
SOARES: And as we're looking at the numbers, Sanjay, one of the things that struck me in this survey, is that about 41 percent of adults live in a
household with a gun, and about three-quarters of them say the gun is stored in a way that backs common safety practices --
GUPTA: Right --
SOARES: When they say that, what do they mean by that, Sanjay?
GUPTA: This part of the survey was really to sort of identify other potential solutions here. Not there's much talking about ownership, which
has gone up as you mentioned, but about storage. And are these guns, are these weapons being stored safely? And just like you said, more than a
third, they found initially were not being stored in a way where the gun was not loaded.
You're not supposed to store a weapon loaded like this. Forty four percent of the time, it wasn't even locked up, and 52 percent of the time, it was
stored in the same location as ammunition. All of these things violates best safety practices when it comes to having guns in the household. So,
this was an area, I think the people conducting the survey said, look, other areas of potential solutions here to try and curb some of these
numbers, this is one area they focused in on.
SOARES: And you mentioned critically, children, how this is impacting -- this gun violence is impacting children, and it's become -- and correct me
if I'm wrong, the leader killer of kids --
GUPTA: Yes --
SOARES: In America. So what does the survey reveal about what's happening to children throughout -- children in the United States here, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Yes, and I just emphasized that again, the leading cause of death, you're right, among children and teenagers, more so than car accidents.
It's overtaken car accidents over the past few years. As fearful as adults are about gun violence, they're even more fearful when it comes to children
and especially their own children.
[14:10:00]
So, if you look at the numbers overall, you find that people who have kids in the house, about 20 percent of them have considered changing schools
because of concerns about gun violence, 38 percent worry about this every day, 13 percent almost every day -- I'm sorry, 38 percent sometime, 12
percent ever day they think about this.
And I can tell you, as a father of three teenagers myself, especially in the wake of a shooting like we saw yesterday, especially in the wake of a
school shooting like we've seen too many times over the past several years now, you think about it all the time. You --
SOARES: Yes --
GUPTA: You think about your kids' own school, so it ebbs and flows for sure, but overall, Isa, the trend has been worsening in terms of how much
of a toll this is taking on the American psyche.
SOARES: Yes, and I suspect, Sanjay, I mean, lots -- I mean, I've got two kids, lots of play dates I'm sure, you know, your children have had. What
does this mean in terms of parents, how they -- will they be asking other parents --
GUPTA: Yes --
SOARES: If they have guns at home? What kind of conversation needs to be had here?
GUPTA: This is a really interesting point because, you know, there's this PSAs that have come out, that basically said, look, you would -- all these
types of things you would question about locations you'd send your kids, where there's possible concerns about safety. But too often, the
conversation about guns does not happen.
If you send your kid over for a play date, spend the night, play party, whatever it might be, is that accompanied by a question, is there a gun in
the house? And more often than not, those questions don't happen. This was another thing that sort of came up in the survey, and in another potential,
you know, area of hopefully making a difference to at least engender that conversation, parent-to-parent. And hopefully, ultimately, child-to-child
as well.
SOARES: Very troubling indeed. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you. Thank you very much.
GUPTA: Yes, thank you.
SOARES: And I want to transition now to that second issue that I mentioned at the top of our -- of our show, and that is abortion. It's just as
divisive in the U.S. as guns. A federal judge's decision to block the FDA's approval of an abortion pill in the U.S. is causing several Democratic
states to stock up.
California's Governor Gavin Newsom says his state now has emergency stockpile of 2 million pills of one type of abortion medication.
Massachusetts has 15,000. The governor there says that's enough for at least a year. And Washington State bought a three-year supply of another
type of pill ahead of last week's ruling.
And I want to turn now to Dr. Kristyn Brandi; abortion provider in New Jersey. She was the Board Chair of Physicians for the Reproductive Health.
Doctor, great to have you on the show. Let me start off by asking you, what does this mean then for women across the United States who might want to
meet to get their hands on mifepristone, what are you advising them?
KRISTYN BRANDI, BOARD CHAIR, PHYSICIANS FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: Well, thank you so much for having me. And the first thing I'm telling everyone
is that nothing has changed as of right now. So people that need or seeking a medication abortion on using these two-drug regimen can still access this
concurrently.
It's something that's available and will remain available until we have a final decision about what's going on with this court case.
SOARES: So it's still available, as it stands today, it's still widely available. But are you and others stockpiling the other mifepristone, the
other drug in the abortion pill regimen here?
BRANDI: I have heard of people that are talking about stockpiling. And I just want to reassure people that, you know, how can I -- independent
whether or not your state has stockpiled medication or not. I think we're doing everything that we can to make sure that we have all the supplies
that we need. But we want to make sure people know that, switching from those two dose -- this two medication regimen to switching the -- cost to
only regimen is safe, it's effective, and we want to make sure that it's readily available to anyone that may need it, both for abortion care as
well as miscarriage management.
SOARES: But if this ruling, federal ruling does go ahead and take effect, what would this mean critically here for women's reproductive healthcare.
Does this ruling severely harm women in your view here, doctor?
BRANDI: Well, I think any time of restriction on healthcare will harm women and harm patients. We've seen this with abortion bans across the
country where people are having limited or no access to care, and having to travel, potentially one state, two-state, three states over to access that
care. So we know that any type of restriction will impact care severely.
And this ruling is no different. Not only will it impact healthcare in the immediate term, by people having a changed regimen and making sure that
people have access to the care, the medications that are -- that will still be available for people to get care. But this has long-term implications
for other types of care.
I worry about if a judge can set the precedent that they can decide what medications are safe and effective and ignore over 20 years of science, I
wonder what other medications could be at risk.
[14:15:00]
Things like the other medication misoprostol, is that the next medication to be questioned? Or other types of care. Things like gender-affirming
care, things like emergency contraception or contraception in general or COVID vaccines. I really worry about how we can just throw out all the
evidence and the science and have judges deciding what is best for patients. That's not how healthcare should be.
SOARES: Can I ask you, doctor, I mean, how many -- have you been receiving many calls from patients? What kind of conversations have you been having
with those seeking your advice, what are they asking you?
BRANDI: So, many people are fearful, and are just uncertain about what care is currently available. I practice in New Jersey, a state that has
luckily a lot of protections around abortion care. And my office and places across the state are getting calls, asking are -- is medication abortion
still available? Is it something that I can come get today if I need it?
And a lot of my job is just reassuring and making sure people know that this care is available, and it's available including this medication
currently. But I think it shows the level of confusion that exists across the country right now. We're already in abortion crisis where people don't
know if they can access healthcare in the state, in the communities that they live, let alone what happens when we change this medication.
And the confusion that exist within the healthcare for fighters, for doctors, for nurses, many people are kind of hearing generally about this
and don't know if they can actually give this medication to their patients or what happens next if this medication goes away. And so, that's the
point, right? The point is just to create this confusion in the healthcare system and potentially like while people are accessing what they need.
SOARES: Yes, and you say your job is to reassure, but I sense from what you're telling me, the frustration that we've even got to this point here.
From -- you know, it takes one judge in Texas to change women's rights here.
BRANDI: It really -- it's really scary and frustrating to think about, you know, the years of training that I and many of my colleagues have had to
get to this point, all the scientists that have done all the studies over the past 20 years to prove time and time again that this medicine is safe,
just to discard that or just throw that out the window is really disheartening, it makes me really worried about whether medicine can look
like in the future if judges like this can decide healthcare and to the providers like myself.
SOARES: Dr. Kristyn Brandi, really appreciate you taking time to speak to us, thank you, doctor. Now, President Joe Biden reacted to the ruling for
the first time today, saying that what the judge in Texas did is quote, "completely out of bounds". But most Republicans are staying silent. South
Carolina and Republican Nancy Mace is one of the exceptions, the representative calls herself pro life, but she tells CNN, the state laws
that provide exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother could turn away most voters. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): We are getting it wrong on this issue. We've got to show some compassion to women, especially women who have been raped.
We've got to show compassion on the abortion issue, because by and large, most American's aren't with us on this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Now, many believe this issue is a risk for the Republican Party's viability. Stephen Collinson of CNN politics is live for us from
Washington. Look, delve into the politics of all this. And Stephen, I mean, the silence shouldn't really come as a surprise, but the words you heard
there from Nancy Mace urging compromise on these issues. Is this being listened to? Are Republicans, Stephen, willing to change the party's tact
on this?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: No, not more generally. I think this is one of those classic issues which we've seen Republican Party
get stuck on almost by virtue of their success for 50 years. Conservatives in the Republican Party pushed to overturn the right to abortion when that
happened last year in the Supreme Court.
They entered this new world where many of them are still trying to get a complete ban on abortion everywhere. Your doctor there was talking about
how remarkable it is, that one judge in a deep red state, a Republican state in Texas can influence the healthcare choices of women all over the
United States and even in liberal states.
The problem for the Republicans is, is that this wing of their party, which has become very powerful partly because of the issue of abortion, social
and Christian conservatives is alienating a large swath of other Americans. We saw it in the midterm elections where Democrats did a lot better than
expected in a lot of swing states, among women voters and suburban voters because of the abortion issue.
[14:20:00]
Last week, there was an election for the Supreme Court that swung the majority in Wisconsin, in the Wisconsin Supreme Court to liberals because
of this abortion issue in a very narrowly-divided state. So, while Republicans have used abortion as they have guns, as a kind of glue for
their coalition and to play to the base of their party, it could be harming them more generally as we look at national elections going forward, and
especially among young voters who will be, you know, the new generation who will be voting in the presidential elections and decades to come.
SOARES: Yes, and like you said, you look, abortion was a huge motivator for Democratic voters in the midterms, it's been driving young people to
the polls, that much we know. But is there evidence here, Stephen, too, within the Republican, Mace, the silence, the acquiescence here is turning
voters away, even moderates away.
COLLINSON: Definitely, in the midterm elections, the Republicans are expecting a massive wave, they weren't able to take back the Senate and
they only just got a very narrow majority in the House of Representatives, which has caused them all sorts of trouble. You know, that is evidence
here, that you know, this issue was very strong.
A lot of people after Roe v. Wade was repealed last year, thought that this would just go away. And there's reason to think that because Republicans
have been campaigning on abortion for 50 years, since the early 1970s when the right to an abortion was affirmed by the Supreme Court. This is a long-
term campaign. Democrats have been, I think you could say complacent.
They didn't use this as a sort of motivating factor for their voters for many years, and the Republican majority in the Supreme Court kind of crept
up on them, many people thought, well, you know, this will be an extreme right-wing Supreme Court, but they will never do something as -- you know,
to overturn Roe v. Wade, because it was so ingrained in society.
So, we are, I think at the very beginning of the left fight-back on abortion, this is something that could take years and decades as it did for
the right to get Roe v. Wade repealed.
SOARES: So, I suppose the question then becomes, you know, how did the Republican Party straddles this? You know, the numbers that you're giving
us, and there, where they stand on these key issues. I want to play if I could some clip from South Carolina female GOP, Morgan McGarvey who had
this to say. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MORGAN MCGARVEY (D-KY): That is not a political issue. But it becomes one. When Kentucky Republicans would rather ban books and pronouns and then
make Kentucky a sanctuary state for weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And I was looking at some of the numbers here, and it said that 57 percent -- this is October 2022, 57 percent of all Americans said that laws
covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict. I mean this -- how then does the party straddle these two -- these two things here?
COLLINSON: I think it's going to have increasing problems. But the issue here, say, you are a Republican lawmaker from Kentucky for example, and you
want to make a career in national politics. You have to win a primary election to get to the general election to serve as a Republican candidate.
Massive majorities of your vote are going to be among Americans in say a rural area of Kentucky who want the right to have guns, they want to have
assault rifles, and they don't think anyone should stop them from having them.
Notwithstanding, there's been sequence of mass shootings. So, if you're a politician, you're not going to get elected as a Republican if you are
calling for severe restrictions on gun laws. That's just a fact. And then when you come to Washington, you know, that motivates Republicans. If the
Democrats have the house, they can pass gun reform, but it's more difficult to get something serious through the Senate because you have a filibuster
rule, which means that you need 60 votes to get something through the Senate.
You know, that is just not going to happen at the moment in terms of how divided America is, pretty much right down the middle. It's -- whoever
wins, it's usually a 52-48 country. So the political system, I think weighs against reform. I would say that I think there's increasing anger and
frustration among many voters, particularly Democrats, but also independents, you cited that figure there about --
SOARES: Yes --
COLLINSON: About how people would like some more gun reform. I think this is a growing issue, you know, five or six years, ten years ago, Democrats
wouldn't talk about guns in a national election. And I think now, it's an issue they're prepared to run on. So things will change, but it's going to
take a very long time.
[14:25:00]
SOARES: Yes, explains the silence, but I also remember perfectly, one of your analysis pieces for about a month or two months ago where you said
abortion, gender and gun issues will be some of the hottest topics come next year --
COLLINSON: Definitely --
SOARES: Stephen Collinson, always great to get your perspective and your analysis here. Thanks, Stephen.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
SOARES: And still to come tonight, U.S. President Biden set to land soon in Northern Ireland as tensions rise on the anniversary of the peace
accord. You are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back everyone. In just a few hours, U.S. President Joe Biden will land in Northern Ireland, marking 25 years since the Good Friday
Peace Accord was signed. But we are seeing an uptick in violence. We told you that story yesterday here on the show. Police conducted an operation in
Derry after four suspected pipe bombs were found at a cemetery.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan is in Belfast ahead of the visit and joins us now with more. So, Donie -- I mean, good to see you, 25 years on, I think it's
fair to say, the peace has been somewhat uneasy. What does this visit then mean for President Biden and for the people of Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Isa, he'll arrive here in Belfast in the next two hours or so, and he'll be meeting with leaders
here tomorrow as well as delivering a speech as you mentioned on the 25- year anniversary of that -- quite uneasy speech. But then after that, tomorrow, he heads south to the Republic of Ireland, really where he is
going to meet a lot of his cousins, a lot of his distant relatives and we met some of them. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm currently at probably the most highly regarded landmark in Ireland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Barack Obama Plaza.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): It's become a viral favorite on TikTok on the side of an Irish motorway, a rest stop named after President Barack Obama.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Ireland!
(CHEERS)
My name is Barack Obama of the Moneygall Obamas.
O'SULLIVAN: Barack Obama Plaza was built here in the tiny village of Moneygall where Obama's ancestors immigrated from in the 19th century.
OBAMA: I suspect you don't always dress up this much --
(LAUGHTER)
O'SULLIVAN: Obama visited the village in 2011.
OBAMA: Cheers!
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): So that makes you guys --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight cousins.
O'SULLIVAN: OK --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: And what's your nickname?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got me the nickname Henry Dave(ph).
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Henry Hilly(ph) is Obama's distant cousin and is now a manager at the Barack Obama Plaza.
(on camera): I think it definitely raises some eyebrows in the United States when they hear, there's a rest-stop at the site of a highway named
after an American president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does give some shock and all. The cardboard cutouts that we have here are phenomenally popular.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thousands cheer with the enthusiasm that only Irishmen can --
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Irelands love affair with U.S. presidents began when President John F. Kennedy visited his ancestral home here in New Ross,
County Wexford in 1963.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): And you were sitting in the front row?
MARK MINIHAN, IN CROWD FOR JOHN F. KENNEDY'S 1963 SPEECH IN IRELAND: I was about -- I'd say, maybe 10, 15 yards out there.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Mark Minihan's dad was mayor of New Ross at the time and was to introduce Kennedy to the crowd.
ANDY MINIHAN, THEN-MAYOR OF NEW ROSS, COUNTY WEXFORD: Can you hear me know? Can you hear me?
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Some of the microphone stopped working just as JFK arrived.
M. MINIHAN: Microphones broke down just before he started. So, he was even more uptime.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): The microphones broke down?
M. MINIHAN: The microphones broke down when President Kennedy was on the - - over on -- coming along the street here.
A. MINIHAN: We're in right (ph) trouble now.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): The technical glitch was eventually resolved, and the speech ended up going ahead.
JOHN F. KENNED, THEN-U.S. PRESIDENT: It took a 115-years to make this trip.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): A trip which included a business here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is the original farmyard the president, the president -- the president's great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, left for
him. He actually left through that gate, the same gate --
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Oh, wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- during the famine when he went off to Boston.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Like many Irish-American, Kennedy's great- grandfather immigrated the United States during the Irish potato famine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he decided to come back to Europe and showed that he was proud of his peasant roots.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Kennedy began a tradition of presidential visits to Ireland. Reagan visited in 1984.
RONALD REAGAN, THEN-U.S. PRESIDENT: For many Irish men and women from every walk of life played a role in creating the dream of America.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): The interiors of this pub in Reagan's ancestral village of Ballyporeen were eventually shipped to California to the Reagan
Presidential Library. Now, perhaps the most Irish of Irish-American presidents is about to visit the country. And his cousins, the Blewitts,
here in Ballina, County Mayo are getting ready.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Tell us how you're related to the president, first of all.
JOE BLEWITT, IRISH RELATIVE OF U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: So, my dad is his third cousin. So, his great-great-grandfather, Edward Blewitt, left by
Ballina in the 1860s. And he went to -- moved to Scranton.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Girls, how does it feel to be related to a president?
EMILY BLEWITT, IRISH RELATIVE OF PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: It's very exciting.
LAUREN BLEWITT, IRISH RELATIVE OF PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Yes.
E. BLEWITT: He's president.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): And have you met him before?
E. BLEWITT: Yes, we've met him twice.
LAUREN BLEWITT: Yes, we've met him twice, yes.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): What did he say to you?
LAUREN BLEWITT: He was just eating our chips. And when the fancy meals came out, he just wanted the chips and chicken nuggets. So --
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): He was stealing your chicken nuggets?
E. BLEWITT: Yes.
LAUREN BLEWITT: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Biden's ancestors, the Blewitts and the Finnegan's immigrated from counties Mayo and Louth.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Your dad and Joe Biden are third cousins?
LAURITA BLEWITT, IRISH RELATIVE OF U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): But you seem to be the favorite cousin.
LAURITA BLEWITT: I don't know why but -- well, maybe it's just my personality.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Hi, everybody.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Biden has visited Ireland in the past, and the Laurita Blewitt has made multiple trips to the White House. But this will
be the 1st time they will welcome him to Ireland as president.
LAURITA BLEWITT: We've struck up a great friendship since the first day that we met. You know, his family were -- are steeped in Irish traditions.
He, you know, he talks about it all the time. So, he tells great stories of growing up and basically growing up in an Irish household, even though, you
know, obviously they're very much American.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Yes.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): From accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
BIDEN: You know, I can't let it come and go by without quoting an Irish poet.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): To accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for president.
BIDEN: The Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, once wrote.
O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Biden always seems to have a line of Irish poetry to hand.
BIDEN: But then, once in a lifetime. The longed-for tidal wave. Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme.
J. BLEWITT: And he's just so proud of those roots, like, he's really proud of those roots. Yes, we have had -- though the presidents -- this president
is more than a part in Ireland than the rest of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Biden continuing a 60-year tradition now, started by JFK of Irish presidents -- Irish-American presidents coming to Ireland
to trace their heritage, find their ancestral roots. Biden is going to give an address to the Irish parliament in Dublin on Thursday. And then on
Friday he is going to the west coast of Ireland to the town of Ballina in County Mayo, where his great-great-great-grandfather immigrated after the
Irish potato famine and he will be delivering a public address there. Isa.
SOARES: A lovely piece there, Donie. I suppose that the message from anyone there, keep the nuggets away, the chicken nuggets as those two
little girls -- those two young girls were saying.
O'SULLIVAN: Yes.
SOARES: Great to see you, Donie. The chips and the nuggets --
O'SULLIVAN: Thanks, Isa.
SOARES: -- put it far away from President Biden. Thanks very much, Donie.
And still to come tonight, the fallout from the massive U.S. intelligence leak is spreading to its friends. How U.S. allies are reacting, that is
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:35:00]
SOARES: A news just coming in to CNN. Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny's health is deteriorating in prison, and that is according
to his spokesperson. On Twitter, the spokesperson says that Navalny is experiencing severe stomach issues and has lost eight kilograms over the
past 15 days. She goes on to say, an ambulance was called for Navalny last Friday. But no one has been treating him, and no one is giving a diagnosis.
As she went on to say, we do not rule out that all this time in prison, he could have been poisoned with something to make his health deteriorate
slowly but steadily. And then she adds, this may sound like nonsense and paranoia to someone else, but not to Navalny after Novichok. Obviously,
Novichok is the nerve agent that was used, of course, to poison Navalny in 2020.
We also note that Navalny has faced additional challenges in prison, including threats from fellow inmates, and that is according to government
-- to his spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh. She said that in a Twitter -- on Twitter today. We'll stay on top of this story, but we're hearing that
jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny's health is deteriorating in prison. We'll stay -- we'll bring you more details, of course, as soon
as we get them.
Well, a major U.S. intelligence leak is sending shockwave through the Biden administration and its allies abroad. We don't know yet, you know, who was
responsible for posting a trove of documents online or how they did it. Oren Lieberman has more on what we do now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): A damaging leak from some of the highest levels of the Pentagon, rattling U.S. officials
who fear the revelations could jeopardize sources and hurt us relations abroad.
[14:40:00]
Among the 53 classified documents reviewed by CNN, a detailed look at key shortages in Ukraine's air defenses and battlefield assessments with the
war in a critical face in Ukraine preparing for a counteroffensive. The documents were posted on Discord, a messaging and chat platform in recent
weeks where they resided unknown to the Pentagon until they were picked up and disseminated further.
The Department of Justice is open for to criminal investigation into the leaks. The U.S. government is reviewing how this type of intel is shared.
The Pentagon has already taken some steps to tighten the flow of such sensitive information.
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: We're taking this very, very seriously. There is no excuse for these kinds of documents to be
in the public domain.
LIEBERMAN (voiceover): At the top of some documents, an alphabet soup of government secrecy. Top secret, SI-Gamma is signals intelligence, NOFORN is
no foreign nationals, and FISA stands for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The documents also reveal U.S. efforts to spy on allies around the world. A CIA intel update from March first says, Israel's spy agency, the Mossad
advocated for protests against the government. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said the report was without any foundation whatsoever. Another
document has information on internal deliberations within South Korea to sell artillery ammo that could eventually go to Ukraine. The report came
from signals intelligence, which includes intercepted communications and drew backlash from Seoul.
KIM BYUNG-JOO, SOUTH KOREAN LAWMAKER (through translator): We strongly regret that the top U.S. intelligence agency had been illegally spying on
allies like our country. We strongly demand a thorough investigation and urge that similar incidents do not occur.
LIEBERMAN (voiceover): An official from one of the countries and five eyes (ph), a crucial intelligence sharing arrangement between the U.S. and some
of its closest allies said they expected the U.S. to share damage assessment, even as they conduct an assessment of their own.
LT. GEN MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's not only the kind of intelligence we collect on foes, but also the kind of intelligence that
all nations connect -- collect on their friends, too. We do this, other nations do it too, but you don't like it to be put into the public space.
LIEBERMAN (on camera): On the diplomatic front, it'll be Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, who will smooth things over with allies and
partners if that's needed. Meanwhile, the Pentagon hasn't named who will lead the interagency on this end to make sure this sort of damaging leak
doesn't happen again. And to get a better control, a tighter control, if you will, of this sort of sensitive information.
But a crucial open question, are there more documents that have already leaked or that could leak? Is there more damage information that will come
out? That is a question the Pentagon is watching very closely. Oren Lieberman, CNN, at the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more on all of this. Kylie Atwood with me now the U.S. State Department. And Kylie, we -- what we heard was the Pentagon, of
course, and the Justice Department, we know what we heard there from Oren are investigating this leak. Where are we on this investigation -- These
investigations, I would say, and the fallout here?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're still in the early days of these investigations because a lot of these documents had
been on social media sites for a number of weeks now, but they really didn't gain substantial, you know, knowledge within the U.S. government or
reporting within, you know, U.S. news agencies until the end of last week. And that is when the DOJ stood up their criminal investigation, of course,
they'll be trying to figure out who is responsible for their leaks. And then the Department of Defense has stood up this investigation to look at
the implications of this leak.
But the problem is that they can't even definitively say what the scope of this leak is right now, because Pentagon officials have said that they
still are looking to see if there are other documents that are out there that they haven't yet discovered, or of course, if more potentially are
posted in the coming days or week.
So, this is really an active investigation on behalf of both the Pentagon and the Department of Justice. And of course, this comes as U.S. officials
and members of Congress are really concerned about the sources and methods of this information potentially being in jeopardy because this information
is out there. And that is part of, of course, what the Pentagon will be reviewing, you know, because a certain classified set of information is out
there, does it jeopardize the sources and methods? That's a major concern.
And we're also watching as overseas partners, U.S. allies are responding to this. And it's interesting that we saw, just today, the South Korean
presidential office put out a statement saying that there are, "Considerable amount of these documents that are fabricated." And they said
that both their defense minister and the U.S. defense minister agreed that that was the case in the conversation that they had.
[14:45:00]
Well, as far as we know, only one of these documents had actually been manipulated, and that had to do with the casualty numbers for the Ukraine
war on the Ukraine side and the Russia side. So, we don't necessarily know at this time that any of the other documents had been manipulated. But of
course, we'll be watching for that. We'll be watching for U.S. officials to flag any of the other documents that are actually fabricated. But this is,
of course, creating tension between the U.S. and its allied even these allies would, of course, know that the United States does spy on them, spy
globally as part of its global intelligence collection.
SOARES: Yes, lots of unanswered questions still. Kylie Atwood, appreciate it. Thanks very much, Kylie.
Now, thousands of mourners gathered at a West Bank settlement today for the funeral of a woman killed by suspected Palestinian government. The British-
Israeli died of her wounds days after a car came under fire in the Jordan Valley. Two of her daughters were also killed and were buried over the
weekend.
Well, violence has escalated since Israeli forces stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem twice last week during Ramadan prayers, outraging the
Arab, as well as Muslim world. Today, Benjamin Netanyahu's government announced it will ban Jewish visitors and tourists from the compound until
the end of Ramadan. Israel's national security minister calls that, "A serious mistake". Itamar Ben-Gvir says it may only escalate the situation.
And still to come tonight, life-saving rescues at sea. How the Italian coast guard is helping hundreds of stranded migrants make it safely to
shore. That story, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, Myanmar's shadow government says about a 100 people have been killed in an air strike launch by the military junta. The images we're
about to show you are disturbing. Local media reporting the attack happened early on Tuesday, on a village where people were gathering. CNN is not able
to confirm the authenticity of these photos that you're looking at and the military junta has yet to comment on this alleged attack.
The Italian coast guard is working to save hundreds of lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Crews are escorting two boats to safety. Our Barbie
Nadeau has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voiceover): The world's deadliest migration route is also one of the busiest, which has led Italy to call a
state of emergency over the migrant crisis. Over the weekend, more than 1,700 people arrived on the tiny island of Lampedusa. Many on small boats
from Tunisia where geopolitics continue to push people to risk their lives.
And off the southern coast of Italy, bigger boats in distress put hundreds more lives at risk. One large boat with 400 people ran out of fuel in the
multi search and rescue zone and was given fuel by a merchant vessel to continue towards Italy.
[14:50:00]
Those on board told the NGO alarm phone that people were threatening to jump overboard due to the dangerous conditions. And another boat with 800
people was spotted some 120 nautical miles off the coast of Sicily on Sunday. Both boats were being escorted slowly to safety after coast guard
officials deemed it too dangerous to transfer the people in rough seas.
Italy's interior ministry statistics from April 11th showed that nearly 31,300 people have arrived by boat since January, not including the two
boats being escorted to safety. That figure is about four times more than the same period last year. The number of deaths is also growing. At least
23 people died when a boat overturned off the coast of Tunisia on Saturday, reports rescue ship and NGO.
These extraordinary rivals continue to put pressure on the government of Giorgia Meloni who won an election in September on a promise to stop boats
from landing on Italian shores. Now, her government is tasked with dealing with the largest influx of irregular migration Italy has seen in years.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And the NGO sea watch, which has said a third large boat has been spotted in the Mediterranean. This vessel carries an estimated 400 people.
Well, of course, we will continue to watch this story as it developed as soon as we have more, of course, we'll bring it to you. We'll back after
this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, Taiwan says, dozens of Chinese war planes crossed into its air defense zone on Monday, the highest in one day -- once in day -- in one
day this year. It comes after the Chinese military carried out military exercises around Taiwan. Our Chief National Security Correspondent, Jim
Sciutto, spoke to the Taiwanese foreign minister. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Is Beijing, in your view, threatening Taiwan with war?
JOSEPH WU, TAIWANESE FOREIGN MINISTER: Yes, indeed. Look at their military exercises and also their rhetoric, they seems to be trying to get ready to
launch a war against Taiwan. But if we look at the U.N. Charter, the most fundamental T net (ph) in resolving international dispute should be through
peaceful means.
[14:55:00]
And Beijing's way of handling the differences between Taiwan and China is through coercion, military threat, and the threat to use force against
Taiwan, and these are unacceptable. And therefore, the Taiwanese government look at the Chinese military threat as something that cannot be accepted
and we condemned it.
SCIUTTO: Does Taiwan have, today, what it needs to defend itself?
WU: Yes, we do. We have been procuring military arsenals from the United States for a long time. And when President Biden was in office all these
years, they have announced nine batches (ph) of arms sale to Taiwan. And we have also been increasing our military training so that we are ready at any
moment if China wants to launch a war against Taiwan.
And I think in a war situation, the determination is probably more important than the military equipment. And on that note, I would say that
Taiwan is absolutely determined to fight for our own freedom and to fight for our sovereignty. And we are ready to defend ourselves, but hopefully
China will not resort to the use of force because war means devastation for a lot of people not only here in Taiwan, but also in other places.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And that does it for me for this hour. Thank you very much for your company. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
