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Rescue Teams Have Safely Pulled Out Four Boys Who Were Trapped Deep Inside A Cave In Thailand; Supreme Court Decision; Border Security; Cnn Heroes; Sex And The City; Trapped Children In A Cave; Tropical Storm Beryl; Cnn Heroes; Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 08, 2018 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00] KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: And we will be going around the city for the rest of the afternoon on the section in the "sex and the city" bus tour, checking out a few more of these places leading up to the night's big premiere.

JOE JOHNS, CNN HOST: Yes. And you know, it is just absolutely true. New York City can be so romantic and so complicated and that's kind the way "sex and the city" was. So looks great.

Kate Bennett, thank you for that.

Be sure to catch a premier of "the 2000s" tonight at 9:00 right here on CNN.

We start with breaking on that dangerous rescue mission in Thailand to save a youth soccer team and their coach trapped in a cave.

Hello to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Joe Johns in for Fredricka Whitfield.

Rescue teams have successfully evacuated four of the boys. The rest of the team spending another night right now in the depths of that dark cave where they have been trapped for more than two weeks. Rescue crews are plotting their next move as oxygen levels drop, monsoon rains move in threatening to seal off the cave.

CNN has reporters on the scene. Jonathan Miller near the cave entrance and CNN's Matt Rivers outside the hospital where the four boys are now being treated.

Let's go first to Jonathan Miller. This was just an extraordinary rescue. Eight boys and their coach still until the cave. What do we expect for next round of rescues? Actually a suggestion, we could wait for another 15 hours or so?

JONATHAN MILLER, ASIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, when the governor (INAUDIBLE), the governor of this northern Thai province, Joe, he suggested it was going to be between 10 and 20 hours before they can restart the rescue operation. That would be sort of late tomorrow afternoon at the latest Thai time.

And you know, the reason for this is apparently so many of the oxygen canisters had been used up in bringing these four boys out that they needed to replenish supplies down there. And yet they have been pre- positioning them for days now. So it's obviously an oxygen-heavy situation. It is a terribly precarious operation, you know. It's so difficult down there. We had, of course, three days ago, the tragic death of that Thai Navy SEAL, an experienced diver. But it tests the limits to professional cave divers to the absolute max. It's really difficult. It takes the best divers in the world about seven or six hours to get out of the cave chamber where the boys are to the outside again.

This operation this afternoon took seven and a half hours. It's absolutely remarkable. It happened quickly. They obviously managed to keep the boys calm enough to get out. It was quite an achievement. But for all the euphoria about getting them out, there is still a lingering anxiety and tension over the eight remaining boys and the coach still down there and we expect them to come out as you say in about 10 or 15 hours-time.

JOHNS: Just incredible. And I guess, the next question is, and we have been talking sort of throughout the show about the possibility of communications. And we also discussed the fact that a special kind of communications device which has really been around for about 20 years was flown in, we were told, from London about last Tuesday or so which has the ability to essentially send a low-wave signal through rock. And of course, the question would be whether you have any idea if they were able to get one of those communication units all the way through the process to those kids as well as their coach at the end of the line there. Any sense as to whether they were able to try at least to get a communication system through so they would know perhaps these four others actually made it out?

MILLER: Well, we don't know that, Joe. What we do know is that, you know, they have been trying for a week to get a communications link down to the boys. They haven't been able to do so a couple days ago which was the last time I heard it mentioned. I did hear that absolutely fascinating interview you did about an hour ago with the professional cave diver who said that there was this low frequency telephone. The signal actually able to penetrate rock, you know, which is quite a remarkable thing. And if they have been able to get those down to the boys they may well know that their fellow schoolmates have made it out.

What we do know about those boys is that they have been well-prepared for this. First of all, we know that they are in good shape physically and mentally and they were give an good check over by a cave doctor or a diving doctor this afternoon before they came out. So the hope is that they will be able to manage this difficult journey.

[16:05:01] JOHNS: Right. And you know, the other thing that we sort of started talking about here over the last couple of hours is that the idea that the coach actually spent several years, according to multiple reports, as a Buddhist monk and practiced meditation which we would hope he has been working on with the kids.

Thanks so much for that, Jonathan Miller. After that intense rescue mission, the boys were rushed to a hospital

about an hour's drive from the cave. Doctors and nurses have been preparing for days in anticipation of treating the first boys.

Let's check in with CNN's international correspondent Matt Rivers right outside the hospital.

Matt, what do you know?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All things are quiet here now, Joe. But it was a scene that was quite busy a couple hours ago when four ambulances one after the next each carrying one of the four boys that has been rescued arrived here going into the emergency center where I don't know if you can see it, but there is some flashing lights there behind me. That is where the emergency room is. All of the boys were immediately taken inside the hospital for treatment.

As to their condition at present, no worth yet from authorities. There really has been a lot more restriction when it comes to media access in the releasing of information throughout the day today as compared to what we had really experienced with authorities over the last several days.

There has been a distinct push here by authorities to maintain the privacy, perhaps understandably so of these boys who have gone through so much. We have been asking what the conditions are of these boys but they still haven't released any information.

What you can look through though is that fact that they were able to make it out of that cave. I mean, you heard Jonathan talking about there, Joe. This was not an easy thing for them to do. It wasn't an easy thing for an experienced diver to do let alone someone who had been underground with limited food and water for the first almost ten days of the two-week experience down there. So the fact that they were able to do that and are now in the hospital I think is an encouraging sign but we are still waiting on official word as to how those boys are doing right now.

JOHNS: Thanks so much for that, Matt Rivers. Just so many elements of this making it such a compelling and dramatic human story.

Still a long way to go in this rescue. Joining me now is CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

This ordeal, Sanjay, has been going on now for more than two weeks. When you look at this thing, what are the immediate concerns for doctors in treating these patients, the soccer team as they come out?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the immediate concerns are the things that are going to be the most life threatening to these boys and obviously to the divers as well as they go through this pretty perilous journey as you heard described there.

You know, in medicine, things are pretty simple this this regard. You want to make sure someone's airway and their breathing and all that is fine. That their heart is functioning well. And then you start to really do a systemic check of their bodies. You know, make sure that they are warm, if they got too hyperthermia, make sure that you start to address nutritional concerns and one of the big ones is hydration, just how hydrated are these kids and again these divers coming out of this, you know, pretty tricky sort of labyrinth of caves.

One thing that just remind viewers of, I think, as well, Joe, is sort of the timeline here that we are talking about. It's a significant timeline. We have a sort of description of exactly how this unfolded. But June 23rd, you remember, is when these soccer players and their coach were first reported missing. It wasn't until July 2nd that they were found. So you get an idea how many days passed in between there. How long did they really go without food? What was their water supply like? We know that air, oxygen in the air was starting to become more diminished. And you can see now it was six days after that that we had the first rescue.

So, the doctors, the paramedics, the people around the scene take a look at this timeline as well to try and predict exactly what kind of shape these boys are going to be in.

JOHNS: Yes. And certainly hard to do. And there has been some concern expressed about water temperatures dropping which could only added a concern. I have seen pictures of some of the divers wearing wet suits which obviously help insulate the skin a little bit. Nonetheless, is hypothermia still a concern as these boys name transit when they are positioned out to the open air?

GUPTA: Yes, there is no question, hypothermia is a concern. And just basically speaking, you know, anytime the body is getting wet, you are just dispersing heat much more quickly. You know, ten times as much heat or ten times as much dispersion of heat in water versus air. So that is the concern.

There is another concern, and Joe, I know you are a scuba diver as well. You have done this. But part of it is that when you start to get cold you start to consume more oxygen. And that is the big concern. Obviously, you heard that that oxygen stores are precious commodity here. They have to refill these oxygen stores. If you start to shiver or you start to become too cold that can become a more immediate concern within the rescue itself.

[16:10:09] JOHNS: Absolutely. It's so true. And also exhaustion between exhaustion and the cold just incredible to watch your oxygen go down on the regulator and scary sometimes depending on how deep you are.

GUPTA: Yes.

JOHNS: Now one of the boys needed to be airlifted to the hospital. Does that tell you that there are real concerns about the conditions of these young men as they leave and should we make a lot out of it or a little out of it?

GUPTA: I think it is hard to say with the boy that was airlifted to the hospital. I mean, what I will tell you having covered these types of stories and you have as well, I mean, everything is an abundance of caution. So if there's any concern at all about the hour long ambulance ride down to the hospital, you airlift at that point. You have to capability to do that.

My guess is the reason they make that decision is upon exiting the cave, maybe had some difficulty with breathing or was -- blood pressure was too low, they felt they needed to get IVs and hydration quickly. You know. That these are things that they sort of if I made that judgment call at the time.

Keep in mind, though, before the boys exited the cave, before they started the rescue, they were evaluated by a doctor there who basically determined yes, they can do this. So at that point, you already have a critical piece of data that says, before they started this several hour journey outside the cave, they were at least deemed worthy to do that journey by a doctor. So that is a good piece of information they have as well.

JOHNS: But the other thing, I mean, it is like come on, you can evaluate them and try to figure out if they can make the journey but come on, you are not going to leave them there, right? At the end of the day you still have to get them out.

GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. I mean, it sounds like other options to try and rescue them have been evaluated. And you know, they wouldn't be fast enough. So -- but still, you know, the doctor is saying look, we can think they can do this journey is important. Could you run into a situation where someone simply can't do the journey? I don't know. They need to get them out of there.

JOHNS: Got it. So looking at the big picture do you think they end up with a significant hospital stay or treated and evaluated and out in a couple days?

GUPTA: My guess is the latter. You know, I think that is -- if there is a critical problem -- like you may remember the Sego mining disaster, Joe. Those are the miners in West Virginia. And they were dealing with a low oxygen situation as well. One of the miners was injured, had a (INAUDIBLE). As a result, had only one miner survived, Mandy McLyod (ph).

JOHNS: Yes.

GUPTA: But we don't seem to have those additional sort of (INAUDIBLE) of trauma here. Hopefully that none of that occurs during the rescue as well. But in terms of malnutrition, hydration, hypothermia, the basics, restoring vital signs to normal, that's a couple of days to perform (ph).

JOHNS: Sego mine, yes, that was 2010. Just around the same time with the Chile miners, too.

GUPTA: That's right.

JOHNS: Thank you so much for that, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. We are hearing from the people of Thailand reacting to the breaking

news of the four boys rescued from the cave. We just got the audio translated, so take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HRANGKA BOOHMAS, RESIDENT (through translator): I am so happy that the boys can go out of the cave and get treated at the hospital just like the operation was planned out.

NAT METIPAT, RESIDENT (through translator): I am glad to hear that. I have been watching this. I know that there is a limited time to get the boys out. At first, I heard that just a few boys would get out but when I knew there were four I was so happy. I want them to come out soon to get good food.

WITCHAI PAMCHARCEN, RESIDENT (through translator): I am very happy they are safe. I have been worried about them since the first day that they have been trapped in the cave with no food for them. I want them to get out as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Again, eight more boys waiting their turn along with the coach. The rescue operations is on-hold while oxygen tanks are being refilled. It's a race against time. We have monsoon rains hitting the cave after the first rescues.

This is truly been an international efforts to rescue these boys and their coach. Countries from around the world lending resources and expertise. The help the U.S. government is providing coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:37] JOHNS: If you are just joining us, we want to get you caught up in the breaking news. Rescue teams have safely pulled out four boys who were trapped deep inside a cave in Thailand. The boys had been there for more than two weeks. Eight other boys and their soccer coach still inside the cave. Right now rescue efforts are being paused as officials review their plans.

As we say, time is of the essence as you have powerful monsoons battering the area increases the chances of flash flooding in the cave. The mission to save these boys is all over the world, truly international. This morning President Trump tweeted this.

The U.S. is working very closely with the government of Thailand to help get all the children out of the cave and to safety. Very brave and talented people, he writes.

CNN Pentagon reporter Ryan Browne is here now.

Ryan, so talk a little about the United States involvement in this rescue operation and how it came about.

RYAN BROWNE, CNN PENTAGON REPORTER: Well, officials I have spoken to have been very clear that the Thai government, Thai officials, Thai Navy SEALs are very much on the lead here doing the diving, doing the rescuing themselves.

However, there is a significant U.S. military presence, about 40 U.S. military personnel from bases in the region, pacific command from Japan have come to Thailand and they are performing logistical functions, medical support, helping advice the effort. So it is a very complex rescue effort. It was briefed to Thai official, we are told, Friday. It has got briefed up their government. So it require a lot of expertise and the U.S. provided that along with divers from the UK and other countries that participated in this.

[16:20:15] JOHNS: One of the interesting things in that graphic you just put up, it says U.S. divers not expected to participate. Why is that?

BROWNE: Well, it is, you know, again, I think the key here is to have the Thai Navy SEALs, the Thai divers are very capable. Officials feel that they should be in the lead and they know the area, also the language issue. There is, you know, you going in and feeling with these boys having to have conversations with them. That is something that they would also consider the ability to have seamless communication with those that they are rescuing. Because that communication is so critical because they have to introduce these boys to something they have never done before which is this under complex underwater dive.

JOHNS: Absolutely. And it would be a level of trust, too, would it not, if you had, for example, British divers, American divers who maybe they speak the language but they are not necessarily as fluent as a Thai diver would be. There might be a little concern or reticence even with this kid who has to trust these guys to take him through water. And if the kid doesn't swim, it is another level of problem.

BROWNE: Exactly. Exactly, right. Trust being a real key issue her.

JOHNS: You got it. OK, thanks so much for that, Ryan. Appreciate it.

It has been more than two weeks since the boys were first reported missing and it is still unclear how long it could take to get the remaining eight boys and their soccer coach out of that cave.

CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval has been monitoring the situation.

Polo, take us through this. Can you give us just sort of a little idea of how it's unfolded up to now?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Joe. So, let's keep in mind, it is during overnight hours right now. It has been a very long day. Rescuers are now going to be resting up. But as you mentioned a while ago, waiting to fill up these oxygen tanks before going back in again.

So as we wait for these operations to kick back up in the early morning hours, we thought it would be important to look back at the last 15 days to see how the kids got there in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): This is the Wild Boars soccer team before becoming trapped beneath the mountains of northern Thailand. On June 24th, the 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach left their bikes at the entrance of the cave. They went in, unaware rainwater would soon flood them in. It would be a week before anyone from the outside world would reach them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirteen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirteen? Brilliant.

SANDOVAL: These are some of the first images showing the 12 trapped boys huddled together on a rocky ledge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are very strong.

SANDOVAL: The footage was shot July 2nd by a team of British divers.

The days that followed included tireless rescue efforts involving Thai Navy seals and volunteers from Europe, Australia, Asia and the U.S. On July 6th, a tragic reminder of how dangerous the situation is. Sergeant Saman Kunan, a retired Thai Navy SEAL died as he returned from an operation to deliver oxygen tanks to the group.

Yesterday, the boys' worried parents received their first direct communications from their children in more than two weeks, handwritten notes sprung from the depths of the cave by Navy seals.

Today, renewed hope after a team of divers emerged from the network of underground tunnels with four of the boys alive.

Rescuers are locked in a race against time. They are pumping water out of the cave system. Oxygen levels are also depleting. Another threat, impeding monsoon rain that is likely to flood the cave in a more sealing off access long term.

As for the parents, they continue their wait in agony at the entrance of the cabin labyrinth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Fifteen days later, the world continues to watch, waiting for more good news to come out of the region. Our colleagues there on the ground covering the story, John, have described that rescue operations as two prong, to not only help those four children who were removed from the cave but also obviously go back and get the remaining soccer players and their coach as well.

JOHNS: So do we know if those parents are basically camped out in one little place that looks like a classroom there all together? SANDOVAL: We have heard some very heartbreaking stories coming out

from the region there, John, describing parents at the entrance of the cave waiting for that news to come out as soon as possible. And they have, as we just mentioned a little while ago been exchanging notes with these divers who have been taking those writing back to their children in the inner part of that cave. So yes, those parents are certainly not only staying together, praying together, but also hoping that tomorrow will bring better news as well.

JOHNS: Polo Sandoval, thanks so much for that.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Joe.

JOHNS: We will have more on the rescue efforts in Thailand in just a moment.

Plus, tomorrow night President Trump is expected to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court, kicking off a real busy week which is likely to include a testy NATO meeting in Brussels.

We will talk about that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:29:28] JOHNS: There you go. A live picture of air force one, President Trump on route back to the White House at this hour, leaving his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey just moments ago. Now, we don't have the sound of what he said just a minute ago so I'm going to go over to CNN's Boris Sanchez who is in New Jersey not far from the President's Bedminster resort.

Boris can you kind of give us a readout if you actually know what it was the President said apparently just minutes ago?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This just happened, Joe. We are turning the sound over now.

[16:30:01]

Essentially, the President sort of spoke to reporters very briefly about his Supreme Court decision saying he had not yet made a final decision as to who his nominees going to be replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. The President telling reporters that he would likely make up his mind between late tonight or possibly tomorrow before noon, and saying that there were four leading candidates, listen to President Trump departing from Bedminster just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. DONALD TRUMP (R), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I am very close to making a decision, have not made it official yet obviously. Have not made it final but we're very close to making a decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people are you decided between? TRUMP: Let's say it's the four people. But they're excellent.

Everyone, you can't go wrong, but I am getting very close to making a final decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible)

TRUMP: I'll probably be decided tonight or tomorrow, sometime by 12 o'clock. We'll be meeting at 9 o'clock. And we have a great country, folks. We have a great country. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That was the extent of what the President revealed, bud it does coincide with what we've heard from sources over the weekend. One White House source indicating that President Trump was still fielding calls while here in Bedminster about the Supreme Court pick, though that source would not indicate specifically who the President had spoken to.

As far as those four leading candidates, that also sort of coincides with some of our reporting. We know that there are three strong contenders out there that sources reported to, including Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Raymond Kethledge. The fourth could potentially be Thomas Hardiman who was the runner-up during the last Supreme Court vacancy after the passing of Antonin Scalia when President Trump picked ultimately picked Neil Gorsuch to fill that seat.

Of course, all of this is happening as there is a brewing legal fight between the President's attorneys and the Special Counsel. This weekend, Rudy Giuliani laid out very specific terms for the Special Counsel to meet in order to get the interview that Robert Mueller's been requesting with President Trump. Giuliani essentially saying that the Special Counsel has to provide evidence that would lead to a suspicion of wrong doing of President Trump.

Giuliani spoke with Dana Bash this morning on State of the Union on CNN. He essentially said that he was expecting Robert Mueller not to meet those demands and potentially to file a subpoena to try to comply, to force the President to comply with an interview request. Listen to Giuliani's response here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: I have no idea what he's going to do. I think if he does, we could have the subpoena quashed. To subpoena the President, never been done successfully in the history of this country. There is very, very strong law that the President cannot be subjected to criminal process.

There's very good argument that the (Inaudible) opinion governing Mueller says that, but certainly constitutional law may say it. The reality is that we have a very strong argument that they haven't made a case for an interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Well, Joe, this is all happening as the President has a jam packed schedule this week, not only with that Supreme Court announcement coming at prime time tomorrow at 9:00 p.m., but also his trip to Europe to meet with NATO allies and his one-on-one sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as this Russia investigation is unfolding. It continues to be a cloud over this administration as all eyes will be on Helsinki next week, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, NEWSROOM ANCHOR, CNN: So much to think about, but on the plate immediately is that Supreme Court pick. And anybody who tells you what the President is thinking probably doesn't know what they're talking about, unless it's the President himself.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: Thanks so much for that, Boris Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: That's right, Joe.

JOHNS: We have new developments on the crisis at the border and the separation of young children from their parents. CNN has learned the Trump administration has now handed over the names of nearly 100 of those children under the age of 5 who have been separated from their parents, trying to cross the border. CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us now from Brownsville, Texas, where some of those released migrant parents are desperately trying to track down their children. Miguel, what do we know about this list?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, this list is part of that lawsuit in California. The judge asked the government for that list. They turned it over. The ACLU now has that list. ACLU will go through that list to see if there's any help that they can provide in trying to track down some of these parents as well. They say they have tons of volunteers who have been trying to help track these individuals down, because the government says it does now know where these parents are.

The ones that are in custody, they know about. The kids that are in custody, they know about. The ones that have been deported or the ones that have been released, they don't know about. And increasingly, we are seeing individuals here in south Texas who have bonded out on their asylum claim. We spoke to five family members' parents who are now desperately searching for their kids. I want to show you a little bit of what that looks like and sounds like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:08] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: That is a mother who has been separated from her six-year- old for over a month. She is -- was difficult to speak to her because every time we tried to speak she just started to cry. She is clearly just traumatized by this entire process. Another mother who is -- who came to actually see her 10-year-old, she got out of detention about 72 hours ago.

She came to this facility in Brownsville to see her 10-year-old. She saw him for an hour. They would not let her take him home, says it's going to be at least a month process before she can do that. She is beside herself, Joe.

JOHNS: And with good reason I would say. Thank you so much for that, Miguel Marquez.

We will continue to bring you the latest developments out of Thailand on the rescue of the remaining eight boys and their coach trapped in a cave. Also ahead, Puerto Rico still recovering from Hurricane Maria -- is bracing for another storm and no one is taking chances, a live report from San Juan straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:00] JOHNS: Eight boys in Thailand and their coach are waiting deep inside a wet cold caves to finally make their escape. Four of their teammates have already been rescued after being trapped for more than two weeks, but the rescue mission has been put on hold as divers refill their oxygen tanks. And it's certainly a race against time.

Monsoon rains for one thing hit the area after the first rescues and show no signs of slowing down. CNN's Meteorologist Ivan Cabrera joins me now. How long do they have before the storms really begin impacting this mission, if you know, Ivan?

IVAN CABRERA, METEOROLOGIST, CNN: Hours I think at this point here. I mean it's just continuing to downpour, Joe, across the area, and tomorrow we have more rain in the forecast. Keep in mind when we talk about rain in this part of the world, its monsoon season. So it's the kind of rain that falls very heavily. We could get one, two, three inches an hour across the region and that is what has been happening here.

So we're going to watch this very closely, mountainside and to the north as well, all that water draining down south. Now, generally one of our computer model forecasts forecasting about half an inch a day. We could easily get more than that, right. And once again, it doesn't have to fall right on top of the cave system to funnel in there.

It's exactly how the caves were formed. Look at this forecast here -- the next seven days. That is not good, a lot of colors here indicating the potential for 6 to 10 inches of rainfall. So this is why the urgency has now been ramped up. We have got to get the boys out of there quickly before that cave begins to fill with more and more water.

They're pumping out water but they're going to lose the battle as far as that goes because of how much rainfall we're talking about here. The other thing I watched this time of year this part of the world, South China Sea and the western pacific. It is typhoon season. We do not want a tropical system to get pulled in there. That's not going to happen. We do have this super typhoon that's going to be headed up towards

China, but that's not going to be impacting the cave at all. Now we are also of course, in the Atlantic hurricane season. There's Beryl, it was a tropical storm maybe this morning. At this point, it's just a remnant low. Basically, the forecast we had talked about.

So this is a rain event for the islands here and we're going to continue to see this pushing up to the north and west. I'll show you the forecast track here that's done. I mean there is no forecast track. What I'm looking for is the rainfall that is going to be headed towards Puerto Rico. If you're still living with a blue tarp on your house, it's going to be tested I think the next few days.

Because we do have that tropical rain for the next 24 to 48 hours, it is not going to arrive as a tropical storm, certainly not a hurricane, but just I think one of the first few tests of how things are going to bear out in Puerto Rico with a lot of folks still and structures that really are barely standing at this point. So we will keep you posted on that, but the good news is here is that Beryl is no more, Joe.

JOHNS: Thank you for that. You know I have got to say that graphic move you made right there only through the miracle of television can you go all the way around the world with the flick of a button.

CABRERA: We cover it all, absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: That is pretty amazing, all right, thank you so much for that, Ivan. Even though Tropical Storm Beryl is getting weaker, no one is taking any chances in Puerto Rico where they're still recovering from Hurricane Maria. CNN's Leyla Santiago now joins us from San Juan. And Leyla, that storm is expected to hit tomorrow that we just saw on the graphic. What are residents doing to prepare?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Well, listen a lot of people are still very anxious, still recovering from Hurricane Maria, and so they're still kind of wondering what will happen with Beryl when it comes to Puerto Rico. The government has said do not let your guard down. Yes, this is weakening, but make sure you have what you need.

As I have talked to folks, they have water, they have batteries, they are prepping, not taking chances as you said. But here's the problem. You see this (Inaudible) behind me. You see all those tarps that are on the roofs of homes? This is in (Inaudible) San Juan, Puerto Rico, an area really is prone to flooding.

This is the problem. This is what a lot of people are worried about. The governor saying that there are still 60,000 homes in Puerto Rico that still have these blue tarps on them. And that is a concern because as you just heard, this will be the test. They really can't take several inches of rain. And then there's the power situation.

[16:45:07] The governor of Puerto Rico has said that this power grid is more vulnerable today than it was before Hurricane Maria, than it was before Hurricane Irma. Still today, more than 1500 customers of the power authority do not have power because Maria wiped that out, and many people have just had power restore in the last month or two months.

So many people, while they are getting ready, making sure they have that water, the food, the batteries, whatever they can to prepare. Many people are concerned that the infrastructure here will not hold, that that will be the biggest concern. Now there are shelters about 24 shelters. Mayors have requested to have them opened up.

I am being told that they are still a pretty small numbers of people who have been going to the shelters, but many officials urging folks that if you are in an area that is prone to flooding. If you have a tin roof, if you still have a blue tarp, seek shelter because this is an island that is very much vulnerable and something as small as a tropical storm or something much less could have a big impact.

JOHNS: Leyla Santiago thanks so much for that, prayers for Beryl, tropical storm Beryl to give Puerto Rico a break. We'll be right back.

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[16:50:00] JOHNS: Welcome back. Take a look at this. I want to highlight this week's CNN Hero. In the state of Texas, more than 40 percent of kids who go to jail once will be back within 12 months. Chad Houser, a chef from Dallas, wanted to do something about that. He says he had an ah-ha moment when he met an excited young man from Dallas County Juvenile Justice Facility who just discovered his love of cooking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember consciously thinking that the system is rigged based on choices that were made for him, not by him, the color of his skin, the part of town that he was born into, the schools that he had access to. I just thought it's not fair. He deserves every chance that I had. And I thought if you're not willing to do something yourself then you're being a hypocrite, so either put up or shut up. And that was it for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Put up or shut up. To see just how Chad is putting up, go to CNNheroes.com. And while you're there, nominate somebody you think ought to be a CNN Hero. OK, it was the quintessential question at the turn of the new millennium, are you Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or Samantha? Yeah, talking about the smash hit TV show, Sex and the City, which will is going to be featured on tonight's premiere episode of CNN's the 2000s, the platinum made to television.

Now this show really is so iconic. Its locations are tourist attractions, years after the series. And CNN's Kate Bennett is on the Sex and the City bus tour about to take it in New York at the Plaza Hotel. So Kate, what pivotal scene in the series unfolded there.

KATE BENNETT, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: So behind me is the Plaza Hotel, iconic Plaza Hotel, and of course, this was where Mr. Big and Natasha, the woman he married, had their engagement party. This is sort of was where Carrie and Big said one of their many good-byes in front of the Plaza Hotel area where you thought it was over and it's very dramatic and she quotes the way we were, and then Big moves on to his new life.

Now we're about to move on here to our bus tour. We've got a couple dozen women here lined up for on location tours ready to do the (Inaudible) New York City Sex and the City bus tour. We're going to hit a lot of fun spots, landmarks like Carrie's stoop, one of the clubs and the restaurants where the ladies hang out in New York.

It's certainly going to be an interesting afternoon. Again, of course, we're talking about iconic television of the 2000s. This was a show that many women and men, Joe, you know watched. And we learned about (Inaudible) lives that had happened at a time when really the city was coming alive for a lot of people, and so we're going to relive that a bit today ahead of the 2000s premier tonight on CNN.

JOHNS: Yeah, you know what? I'm on of the people who watched that show, and I have got to tell you I am really surprised. Look at that line. I could only see, and maybe there is more, but I thought I could only see like one guy in the line. I figure a lot of guys would go on the tour, although I don't think Mr. Big would.

(CROSSTALK)

BENNETT: You asked me if I was a Charlotte or a Carrie or a Miranda.

JOHNS: Right.

BENNETT: You could either be -- are you a Mr. Big or are you an Aiden. You're a Mr. Big, right?

JOHNS: I want to be -- you know I kind of admire him even though I think he picked the wrong girl.

(CROSSTALK)

BENNETT: Well, so we'll hop on this tour and inform you as we go.

[16:54:53] JOHNS: You got it. And we're going to be looking for the 2000s tonight. Now again, this whole business of New York being the fifth player in the show, I think that is absolutely correct, and being in that city you know how just how romantic it can be and sometimes how difficult to navigate. Thanks so much for that, Kate Bennett.

So be sure to watch the premier of the 2000s tonight at 9 right here on CNN. Thanks so much for joining me. I am Joe johns in Washington in for Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of Newsroom starts after this short break.

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