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El Mencho killed US tourists take shelter as Mexico erupts in chaos · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: Violence has erupted across Mexico following the killing of the
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  Speaker 1: country's most wanted drug leader known as Elmento, in a
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  Speaker 1: military operation on Sunday. You can see smoke blowing into
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  Speaker 1: the sky there in this resort town on Mexico's Pacific Coast.
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  Speaker 1: A witness says fires are ongoing and smell like burning rubber.
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  Speaker 1: Officials say has suspected members of organized crime groups unleashed
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  Speaker 1: the wave of violence after the death of Elmento. He
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  Speaker 1: was a former police officer who was one of the
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  Speaker 1: world's most wanted traffickers. He led the powerful Hallisco and
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  Speaker 1: New Generation Cartel or the CJNNG. CNN's Valaria Laon has
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  Speaker 1: more details for.
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  Speaker 2: US Fire, smoke, and chaos across several Mexican states. Cities
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  Speaker 2: brought to a standstill as criminal groups retaliate after Mexico's
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  Speaker 2: most wanted drug leader died following a military operation Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: Blocked highways, drivers first out of their cars at gunpoint,
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  Speaker 2: Trucks and bus is set on fire. Nemesio O Segeda Servants,
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  Speaker 2: a former police officer known to most as Elemento, was
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  Speaker 2: the leader of the Caliscoio Generation cartel wounded during a
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  Speaker 2: Mexican military operation and later died while being transported to
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  Speaker 2: Mexico City. The US played a role in Sunday's operation,
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  Speaker 2: according to US defense officials, though it's unclear to what extent.
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  Speaker 2: As fear spread, many Mexicans spoke out calling for an
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  Speaker 2: end to the violence.
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  Speaker 3: The former facult people are aware of this violence and
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  Speaker 3: what they want is peace, to live in harmony and justice,
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  Speaker 3: not in war.
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  Speaker 2: Blockades were reported across various states, and classes were suspended
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  Speaker 2: in at least three states as officials tried to contain
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  Speaker 2: the violence and keep civilians off the streetsy.
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  Speaker 4: I'm tired of seeing this continue every single day.
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  Speaker 2: Under Elmentu's command, the cortel expanded rapidly, challenging rivals like
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  Speaker 2: the Sineluo Cartel for control of t territory and trafficking routes.
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  Speaker 2: According to US and Mexican officials, El Mincho managed to
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  Speaker 2: avoid capture for years. His attention and debt is one
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  Speaker 2: of the most significant blows to organized crime in recent years,
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  Speaker 2: and the first high profile operation under President Claudia Seaman.
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  Speaker 2: The full of Elmincha may mark a major security milestone,
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  Speaker 2: but with tourism foreign investment and security for the twenty
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  Speaker 2: twenty six World Cup at stake. The world is watching
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  Speaker 2: how Mexico handles what comes next. Bally y Leone CNN
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  Speaker 2: Mexico City.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the violence across Mexico has left some American tourists
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  Speaker 1: who've been asked to remain endors stranded. Taris Dejane from
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  Speaker 1: Los Angeles is stock in Poeta Viata and joins us now, Travis,
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  Speaker 1: thank you so much for being with us. We are
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  Speaker 1: so sorry that you and of course the locals are
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  Speaker 1: going through all of this. What is it like where
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  Speaker 1: you are right now? Can you just describe the atmosphere
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  Speaker 1: and what you've been seeing so far?
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  Speaker 4: Sure? Thank you. Ben.
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  Speaker 3: At the very moment, it's about eleven ten pm. It's
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  Speaker 3: eerily quiet outside. And I say that listening from my windows,
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  Speaker 3: not from the streets, because we have been locked down
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  Speaker 3: for the duration of the day. It's been a day
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  Speaker 3: filled with anxiety. It started very fast and very loud.
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  Speaker 3: There was a bit of an information vacuum for the
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  Speaker 3: first few hours. There was a lot of anecdotal and
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  Speaker 3: social media reporting, so to speak, filling in some of
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  Speaker 3: those gaps for people. But we really were counting on
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  Speaker 3: each other to report to each other what you see
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  Speaker 3: on the street.
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  Speaker 4: We shared a lot of videos, a lot of photo
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  Speaker 4: and it was pretty terrifying.
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  Speaker 3: There were some sites that I personally saw just outside
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  Speaker 3: my Airbnb unit that I would have never have imagined.
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  Speaker 3: It really did look and feel like a war zone.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that feeling of anxiety, that feeling of
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  Speaker 3: what does happen next or what could happen next, is
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  Speaker 3: driving what a lot of people are feeling right now at.
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  Speaker 4: The very moment.
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  Speaker 3: Though, the streets, from what I can tell and from
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  Speaker 3: what I'm reading on social media, are quite quiet, so
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  Speaker 3: I think we're all in a little bit of a
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  Speaker 3: holding pattern to see what does or what could happen.
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  Speaker 1: Next, and to see a shelter in place warning and
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  Speaker 1: what should be a vibrant, touristy area. What was your
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  Speaker 1: first reaction when things started happening size.
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  Speaker 3: Upenly, Unprecedented, I think is the word that a lot
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  Speaker 3: of people would use. I've been coming up parta Virata
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  Speaker 3: for years, and it's a city in a country that
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  Speaker 3: I love immensely.
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  Speaker 4: It's a beautiful city filled with warm, generous.
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  Speaker 3: People, and it's also a place where Canadian tourists, American
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  Speaker 3: tourists and tourists from around the world do see a
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  Speaker 3: safe haven a bit of a paradise. So it is
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  Speaker 3: jarring to have that contrast, and especially when you see
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  Speaker 3: some of the visuals some of the sites that actually
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  Speaker 3: do look like a war zone in a place that
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  Speaker 3: has been celebrated as such a paradise.
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  Speaker 4: It has been of course very jarring.
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  Speaker 3: And again the speed and the loudness with which it
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  Speaker 3: all happened was it was literally alarming. You didn't really
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  Speaker 3: have time to think about like what's happening. You really
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  Speaker 3: just want to see what's on the ground, see what's
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  Speaker 3: out your window.
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  Speaker 1: Well, these pictures with CYO speaking are very very scary,
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  Speaker 1: so so so what you're going through that are people
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  Speaker 1: actually following the shelter in place warnings or have you
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  Speaker 1: seen some movement and activity regardless of that alert.
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  Speaker 4: There has been some movement. I have.
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  Speaker 3: I've been going out on the balcony of my unit
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  Speaker 3: just to see what's going on, mostly during the day,
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  Speaker 3: and around four.
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  Speaker 4: Or five in the afternoon, you did start to see
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  Speaker 4: more and more.
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  Speaker 3: People start to venture out, and I myself, I actually
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  Speaker 3: got in the elevator of my building, and there was
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  Speaker 3: another pair of tourists in the elevator, and we all
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  Speaker 3: were kind of deciding, like or thinking about do we
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  Speaker 3: want to go out? Do we want to try to
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  Speaker 3: see what's open? Especially with lack of food and in
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  Speaker 3: some cases lack of drinkable water, people aren't really starting
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  Speaker 3: to wonder and ask when will it be safe for
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  Speaker 3: me to go out and explore? When will it be
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  Speaker 3: safe for me to maybe go to a store, Will
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  Speaker 3: the stores be open? Is it safe for employees to
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  Speaker 3: get here? I think those are all questions we're dealing
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  Speaker 3: with generally, though, I am seeing a great deal of
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  Speaker 3: respect for the lockdown and the shelter in place measure,
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  Speaker 3: and I think that's evidenced by what we're reading on
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  Speaker 3: social media right now, people saying the streets sounds so quiet,
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  Speaker 3: the city sounds so quiet.
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  Speaker 1: These pictures are insane. My goodness, you just tell us
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  Speaker 1: more about the violence that people are seeing. First time
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  Speaker 1: tourists seeing these roadblocks and burned vehicles and a heavy
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  Speaker 1: military presence. Suddenly it's mad.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely. I mean I woke up to what I thought was.
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  Speaker 3: A building demolition happening next door, and when I looked outside,
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  Speaker 3: I hadn't yet seen. There were some cars diagonally parked
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  Speaker 3: in some of the major intersections around my unit, and
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  Speaker 3: within maybe ninety minutes to two hours, each of those
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  Speaker 3: was lit on fire. And I actually did see in
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  Speaker 3: I saw and heard and smelled a group of criminals
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  Speaker 3: set a car on fire and run. So the city
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  Speaker 3: does smell like burnt rubber at the moment I went
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  Speaker 3: up to the roof of my building and there's a
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  Speaker 3: thin layer of ash and some embers or and you've
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  Speaker 3: just seen multiple plumes of smoke in the sky in
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  Speaker 3: the horizon throughout the day, And that was one of
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  Speaker 3: the other eerie parts, seeing that there were you could
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  Speaker 3: visually spot this spread in the number of violent cases
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  Speaker 3: going on at any one time.
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  Speaker 4: And you definitely still feel and smell that hanging in
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  Speaker 4: the air.
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  Speaker 3: So it is quite jarring, the noise, the visuals, the light,
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  Speaker 3: the sound, all of it, and especially the suddenness with
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  Speaker 3: which it came on this morning.
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  Speaker 4: I think it really did alarm a lot of people.
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  Speaker 1: And I guess the big question is when are you
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  Speaker 1: expecting that this situation is going to change? When are
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  Speaker 1: you hoping that the situation is going to change? Because
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  Speaker 1: this is quite a wild current timeline that you're going through.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, I hope that it would change tomorrow.
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  Speaker 3: I hope that tomorrow we're able to feel, all of
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  Speaker 3: us feel some degree of normalcy in safety in this beautiful,
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  Speaker 3: incredible city. That's what I also understand. A lot of
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  Speaker 3: us are dealing with the in the moment reaction. When
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  Speaker 3: is my flight going to be delayed? When am I
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  Speaker 3: going to be able to find a meal?
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  Speaker 4: When am I going to be able to find a
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  Speaker 4: way back to my home?
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  Speaker 3: And if I can't find those answers, what are the
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  Speaker 3: other answers that what can I do in the meantime.
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  Speaker 3: So I think we're all trying to deal with this
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  Speaker 3: with a certain degree of patience in understanding things that
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  Speaker 3: are beyond the individual's control.
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  Speaker 4: But also we do we're very hungry for information.
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  Speaker 3: We're very interested in any sort of official information that
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  Speaker 3: can help us make some of these decisions.
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  Speaker 4: And that also has.
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  Speaker 3: Been difficult because there is an immense amount of counter
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  Speaker 3: information that's in circulation.
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  Speaker 4: Is the airport closed or not? Is the airport under
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  Speaker 4: control or not?
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  Speaker 3: Each of these is a node and a network of
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  Speaker 3: decisions that we're all trying to make and you're all
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  Speaker 3: trying to have a certain amount of grace around while
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  Speaker 3: also maintaining safety in the moment. So it certainly is
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  Speaker 3: a lot going on, and I really hope that everybody
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  Speaker 3: in this city, everybody in this country, is able to
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  Speaker 3: feel normalcy and is able to feel some degree of
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  Speaker 3: safety after this.
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  Speaker 1: Definitely hope that for tourists and the locals as well.
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  Speaker 1: But for now, Travis deg know, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 1: We really appreciate it. Stay safe,