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Harry and Meghan Marry; Texas School Shooting; Maduro Seeks Reelection; Lava Eruptions Increase in Hawaii. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired May 20, 2018 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Husband and wife: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot in a royal wedding watched around the world.

Plus a community grieves: Santa Fe, Texas, mourns the loss of 10 people, students and teachers, after Friday's school shooting.

And fast-moving lava, cloud of ash plus, to top it all off, another powerful earthquake. We'll have the latest on Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.

Live from the CNN Center here in Atlanta, I'm Cyril Vanier. It is great to have you with us.

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VANIER: And so it begins. It's 3:00 am on the U.S. East Coast, meaning it is 8:00 am in England and for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, this is the first day of the rest of their lives as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of course, but also perhaps arguably, more importantly, as husband and wife. After the groundbreaking wedding at Windsor Castle.

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VANIER (voice-over): It was a cloudless, sunny Saturday with thousands of well-wishers lining the streets of Windsor, celebrating with the happy couple. On Twitter, the royal family wrote, "Thank you to everyone who came to Windsor and those who followed from around the U.K., the commonwealth and the world today. Congratulations once again to the newly married Duke and Duchess of Sussex."

The last we saw of Harry and Meghan on Saturday was this, on their way to an evening reception, private, hosted by Prince Charles, in style. This is a 1968 Jaguar convertible with a bespoke license plate displaying their wedding date.

And this capped off their perfect day full of love. Listen to the bishops who participated in the ceremony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REV. MICHAEL CURRY, EPISCOPAL CHURCH: It was nonverbal communication throughout the whole thing. And you could watch them look at each other. And even when they didn't -- weren't talking, the way they looked at each other just sent a message of these people are in love, for real.

JUSTIN WELBY, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: What an amazing way to get married. And you can tell from the reaction of the crowds, the most wonderful moment when they exchange the vows and that was unscripted. You heard this roar from outside.

I was thinking, OK, what do we do with that?

And do I talk over it or just go on?

And I would say congratulations, what a fantastic start. People are with you, as they are with new married couples, and God is with you. Pray, trust, keep going forward, you will have a wonderful life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Joining me now is CNN royal correspondent Max Foster, who is in Windsor, England.

Max, I am so glad that you're with us, in fact, I wanted to wake you up earlier but CNN wouldn't let me. Your coverage yesterday was fantastic. But we are remiss in one thing and I don't know whether you can help us here.

Do we know anything about what went on at that private party in the evening?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: No, you know what, I suspect they took everyone's phones away as they went in because there isn't a peep from anyone. I think Harry's a bit of a party animal. He likes to have a good time. He had all his mates there.

You might recognize some of those mates from some of those Las Vegas, those infamous Las Vegas photos. He wanted to just put his hair down, as it were, or Meghan would have put her hair down and just had fun.

And I think the idea was that these are my closest mates. There aren't going to be any leaks. I just want to relax after this epic day. I think the only indication of what sort of night it was we will get this morning when we get a glimpse of Harry and Meghan leaving here, going in to Kensington Palace and from the bags under his eyes.

VANIER: The cameras are already trained on Kensington Palace. When I heard that, I thought, well, it's 7:00. I heard this in hour ago, it was 7:00 U.K. time. I thought he was -- at least hoped he was going to get some sleep.

What they do now, I mean, today?

And also is there to be a honeymoon? FOSTER: Well, they won't be drawn on their honeymoon. It is an interesting one because they're saying we're not saying anything about honeymoons. They're certainly not going straightaway on honeymoon. They're going to stay here in London and presumably spend some more time with Doria.

She only came in late last week and it was a very busy time for her. And then on Tuesday they're going to get straight back into their public work. There is a reception at --

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FOSTER: -- Buckingham Palace, hosted by Prince Charles. So that is interesting in itself.

They're basically saying we're going to go along on our first event as a couple to support Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. But the messaging there really is that we are going to throw ourselves right into work. That's our priority now.

There is another bit of messaging there yesterday when the first people able to see them when they came out of the church was a group of 200 people associated with their charities and causes in that little cloister there, outside the chapel at the bottom of the steps.

So lots of messaging there, lots of messaging throughout the service yesterday, which I know still we've been dissecting. But royalty is all about symbolism and I think it's remarkable really how Meghan has understood that straightaway and peppered the whole of the service and everything that she does already with symbolism.

VANIER: Let me ask you the question that every annoying parent asks, right after a wedding and way too soon, is there talk of a baby?

FOSTER: I think you're late, Cyril. People have been talking about that for the last six months. It is ridiculous. Ever since they got engaged. Who knows whether they'll have children or be able to have children.

But she and he have both talked about wanting children. If you see him in any sort of public walkabout, he goes straight for the children. He gets on very well with George and Charlotte. He is all about kids. His charity work is largely about kids and veterans on the other end of the scale.

So they've made it pretty clear this is a priority for them. So, you know, the betting companies, you can't really get odds anymore on whether or not they will announce the baby this year.

So that is the assumption, yes.

VANIER: OK, one last question and this is more of a serious one. Right now Meghan Markle can do no wrong. She's extremely popular. Everybody loves her. She's beautiful. She comes across as sincere and authentic.

But do you perhaps see a scenario where she at some point falls out of favor?

I don't wish this for her obviously but she's going to be under intense scrutiny and that tends to magnify any missteps.

FOSTER: I think you've asked the question really and that is the question now, from today onwards. What you had yesterday was Meghan Markle as the star of the show for the last time. The queen had to wait for her; Oprah Winfrey had to wait for her.

But what we've got in this country which you don't have in America is a system where we aren't brought up to feel like, in America, you can become head of state. As soon as we're born in this country, we are told you have to be born to be head of state. And I think that sort of impregnates every sort of part of society and it's where the class system is built.

Meghan Markle doesn't fully understand that. It was a whirlwind romance. She's just come into this and she's been made to feel number one. But she's not number one. The whole monarchy system, the regal system is built around hierarchy and the queen is at the top.

Charles is number two; William, George, Charlotte, Louis, then Harry, then Meghan. And crucially, I think the tension's going to be Meghan will always be number two to Harry and Kate. Kate's going to be queen.

And I think the other reality from yesterday is that the star of the show now is Meghan. So while she is the most popular figure in the royal family right now -- and very well turn into the long-term popular figure -- she still has to fit into that system.

And if there are any tensions with her in the family, they're going to rally around Harry just as they did around Charles with Diana and Diana exposed that flaw in the system and so may Meghan, too.

But let's not predict downfall just yet, day one.

VANIER: No, no, absolutely. And that wasn't the point of the question. And we don't wish ill, certainly not. And this is been a fairytale and we've enjoyed it as much as I think many of our viewers have enjoyed it.

But thank you for those insights because it is interesting to point out that what is happening today and perhaps the public perception and the dynamics within the royal family today may not be those that we see perhaps some years down the -- down the road.

Max Foster, thank you very much. Stupendous coverage yesterday and it continues today. Thanks a lot.

And also Max, with being in the eye of the storm, perhaps didn't fully realize how much people have watched this, especially in this country, in the United States, watched it, enjoyed it, got up in the middle of the night to see it. Here Is CNN's Nick Glass with the highlight reel.

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NICK GLASS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The gospel soul --

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GLASS (voice-over): -- classic, "Stand by Me," from 1961, we assume the song means a lot to the couple and we also assume it's never been sung at a British royal wedding before.

The choir stood at the back of St. George's Chapel Windsor and simply sang for Harry and Meghan. There was a palpable sense of departure here. On one side of the chapel a certain English royal stiffness perhaps and reserve; in contrast, a warmth and vivid emotion on the other side.

Meghan Markle's arrival looks like she may help change things.

We always knew that the turnout would be glamorous, the divorced, biracial American actress marrying the most popular of English princes. We weren't disappointed. The church filled. Meghan's on- screen husband from "Suits," Patrick J. Adams; David Beckham, footballer and model; Mr. Elton John and husband; Serena Williams, tennis player.

The vintage Rolls-Royce swept bride and mother to the chapel. We glimpsed the dress for the first time.

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GLASS (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) French couture, Givenchy were the most delicate and lengthy of veils, sewn with floral symbols from all over the commonwealth, 1930s tiara was borrowed from the queen.

It seems that Meghan had always planned to walk down the first part of the aisle by herself, followed by her retinue of bridesmaids and pageboys. In the absence of her father, Prince Charles met her halfway.

And of course, at this wedding, there was love. This was visibly, inescapably a romantic union.

REV. MICHAEL CURRY, EPISCOPAL CHURCH: The late Dr. Martin Luther King once said, and I quote, "We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love."

GLASS (voice-over): For a good 30 minutes or so, St. George's Chapel reverberated to unfamiliar oratory, American and passionate. The response was mixed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't -- he wasn't getting anything out of it.

JUSTIN WELBY, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: I, Meghan, take you, Harry...

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I, Meghan, take you, Harry... WELBY: -- to be my husband...

MARKLE: -- to be my husband...

WELBY: -- to love and to cherish...

MARKLE: -- to love and to cherish...

WELBY: -- until death us do part.

MARKLE: -- until death us do part.

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GLASS (voice-over): And so Harry and Meghan were married in a great English medieval chapel and kissed without any prompting from the waiting camera man. Thomas Markle watched it all on TV.

"My baby," he said, "looked beautiful and very happy."

In what seemed like Californian sunshine, his daughter now has a title. She is the Duchess of Sussex, although we'll still probably refer to both of them as just Harry and Meghan -- Nick Glass for CNN.

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VANIER: We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.

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VANIER: The small town of Santa Fe, Texas, is in mourning after a gunman opened fire at a high school there on Friday. The shooter took 10 lives and wounded 13 more at the school. We're learning more about those who died and we wanted take a moment to tell you about them.

Sabika Sheikh was an exchange student from Pakistan. Her body will be sent home on Monday. That's according to the Pakistan consul general in Texas, who called Sheikh, "a bridge between our people and cultures."

Another young life lost, 17-year-old Jared Black. He was supposed to have his birthday party Saturday. That was now or a few hours ago.

Seventeen-year-old Christopher Jake Stone, described as adventurous and willing to try anything.

And Cynthia Tisdale, a substitute teacher and a mother of four.

Also Shana Fisher, her mother tells CNN that the alleged gunman made advances toward her for months but she refused to date him. All the victims were remembered Friday night at a candlelight vigil.

One of the survivors who knew the alleged shooter, says there were no clues that he would do something like this.

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MADALYN WILLIAMS, SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SURVIVOR: He was very quiet and very sweet. He was funny. He was never mean to me. He was nice. We'd make jokes. We laughed about memes on the Internet. And there was no red flags, no warning. The big question on everyone's mind, why? Why did he do it?

Why them? Why that period? Why?

Twenty more minutes and it would have been my class

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Now the suspect is a 17-year-old student at the school. His family released a statement saying they are as shocked and confused as anyone by these events. They add that they are gratified by public comments by fellow students that, quote, "show Dimitri as we know him, a smart, quiet, sweet boy."

Rosa Flores is in Santa Fe, Texas, with a closer look at the tragedy that has shaken this small community.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yet another American school turned a crime scene, this time in Santa Fe, Texas. Ten people dead and 13 others injured. There are a lot of questions still remaining.

But here is what we know from authorities. The accused shooter acted alone. Investigators interviewing two other individuals who were then cleared about the weapons that were used in this case.

Police say that a shotgun and a .38 revolver were used. Initially authorities talked about pipe bombs and pressure cooker bombs that were placed not only in the school but also in other areas.

Now police describing those weapons as juvenile and also unsophisticated. We are learning more from a probable cause document. In that document it says that the accused shooter walked out of the art lab, turned himself in to police and also told officers that he spared some students that he liked so that they could tell his story.

The accused shooter now in custody, in solitary confinement. And from what we hear from authorities, he is cooperating with police -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Santa Fe, Texas.

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VANIER: In a few hours, polls open in Venezuela for the presidential election as the country faces a severe economic and humanitarian crisis. Millions are struggling to find food and medicine and over 1 million people fled the country.

But Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro is expected to secure reelection. The most popular opposition leaders have been jailed or banned from running in the election and the main opposition is boycotting the vote, condemning it as rigged. CNN's Paula Newton has more from Caracas.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's with a measure of both apathy and exhaustion, fatigue that Venezuelans approach these elections. Nicolas Maduro, the president, is looking for his second term. The last few years he has essentially presided over the economic collapse of Venezuela.

Venezuelans have been dealing with severe shortages of the basics and hyperinflation, also an exodus of people. Well over 1 million Venezuelans have now left the country. And through all of this, in his closing rally, Nicolas Maduro claimed that he would heal the economy. Take a listen.

NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): I'm going to call for a great day of national --

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MADURO (through translator): -- dialogue to reach an economic recovery (INAUDIBLE) for an economic growth (INAUDIBLE), for an agreement to protect the national economy through every social, cultural, political and economic sector in the country.

NEWTON: So to try and drum as much enthusiasm as he could for this election, he brought in his final rally brought on stage Argentinian legend footballer Diego Maradona and many people have seen this rally and also some of the election rallies around the country where they actually give out food and sometimes even alcohol as a way to really prime voters.

Now the opposition has essentially boycotted this election. They say that they are rigged. And yet there has been one leader, Henri Falcon and his party have said that they must challenge Maduro, that someone must challenge Maduro and he continues to be very confident on the campaign trail, saying that the real democratic opportunity here to turn over the rule of Maduro. Take a listen.

HENRI FALCON, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not only talking about a victory. We're talking about establishing a real government of unity, of transition and national salvation.

NEWTON: What will be very consequential in this election is turnout. Nicolas Maduro is claiming there will be a very large turnout, although you have heard him in the rallies that he has also been pleading for people to actually go to the polls.

There was a lot of current controversy over turnout in elections last year here in Venezuela with the government contractor saying they couldn't even verify the results and that the turnout had been overestimated again.

It's what people are watching closely. And yet there are very few if any independent election monitors on the ground here, something that Venezuela, the Venezuelan government is also lashing out at European, their Latin American neighbors, the United States, Canada and saying that in refusing to recognize this election that they are harming Venezuela -- Paula Newton, CNN, Caracas.

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VANIER: Cuba is observing its second day of official morning after Friday's deadly plane crash. An officials says the cockpit voice recorder has been found. Authorities are still searching for the other black box. CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more now from Havana.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just seconds after takeoff in Havana, an explosion, a Cubana airline with 113 passengers and crew aboard crashed in a field next to the Jose Marti International Airport.

Rescuers were greeted by scenes of total chaos. Passengers' belongings littered the ground. The Boeing 737 split into several pieces. The plane's burned-out tail coming to rest near a tree; 110 people died in the crash but miraculously, seemingly against all odds, three people, all Cuban, all women, survived.

Cuban officials cautioned the survivors have traumatic brain injuries, broken bones and severe burns and that their recovery is far from certain.

"These patients have highly complicated injuries," he said. "It has taken an extraordinary effort to stabilize them."

Friday's accident was the worst aviation disaster Cuba has suffered in nearly three decades. It comes as the island's Communist-run government recently canceled flights and pulled aircraft experiencing mechanical problems from service.

The plane Friday had been rented from a Mexican airline and had a Mexican crew. Cuban officials are still investigating what caused the plane to crash.

OPPMANN: This is the terminal where the plane left from. It was supposed to take off from here and fly most of the way down the island to a city called Holguin, Cuba. Instead, it crashed just after takeoff.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Residents that live in the area of the crash scene said the plane struggled to get airborne.

"The plane was revving its engines to take off, but it couldn't," he told CNN. "Luckily, it didn't land on anyone's house."

Cuban officials say they have now recovered the remains of all the victims. But the process of identifying the dead following such a devastating crash could take weeks -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

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VANIER: And on Hawaii's big island now, this is still happening. In fact, it's getting worse. Lava is causing brushfires to spread near the Kilauea volcano. Nearby residents are being told to leave. Lava is also moving quickly toward a highway that is along the coast and there is no sign that the volcanic activity is actually slowing down.

Much to the contrary. CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Hawaii.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are plenty of indications that the Kilauea eruption is not over. Around midnight local time, there was a plume of ash that shot out from the summit and the estimate is that it hit about 10,000 feet into the sky.

On top of that, there is a 5.0 earthquake that did rock the area as well. The seismic activity indicating that the eruption is continuing. On top of that some of the fissures, which are now at 23, some of the fissures that had slowed in productivity have ramped up in productivity --

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ELAM: -- again, spewing lava, shooting fountains out of the Earth again in Leilani Estates, so much so that there was one street that has now been cut off by lava, some people even having to be rescued by helicopter to get out of there.

That is why officials are asking residents to stay vigilant and if they say to get out of there, as these lava flows and also these volcanic gases continue to emit from the Earth, they're asking them to stay vigilant. And it's time to go, they need to listen and get out of there.

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VANIER: Thank you for watching. I'm back with the headlines in just a moment. Stay with us here on CNN.