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New Day Saturday

Faith And Politics Center-Stage as Dems Pitch Black Votes; Allies Push Trump to Keep Military Presence in Afghanistan; New Video of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Plane Crash; Hundreds Help El Paso Widower Say Goodbye to Wife; 17-Year-Old Marcel McClinton, Running for Houston City Council; Gun Safety Rallies; 11th Weekend of Pro-Democracy Rallies in Hong Kong; Stinky Seaweed Ruining Beaches in Popular Vacation Spots. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 17, 2019 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shaky markets and unpredictable trade talks are stoking fears of a recession.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have no choice but to vote for me, because your 401(k) down the tubes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Basco no longer has remaining family after his wife was killed in the shooting. Not only did hundreds of people show up to the service, but more than 400 flower arrangements and cards were sent in from all around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three 2020 hopefuls made their pitch to African- American church leaders black millennial voters in Atlanta.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Christ does not strengthen you to sit on the sidelines. This is not a spectator sport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scrambling to get out our are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy and two pilots. Their first concern is Dale's 1-year- old daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really is a miracle that they got out before the flames overtook the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning to you, top of the hour now. I'm Victor Blackwell.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christi Paul, so grateful to have you company with us here. And we're beginning the morning with faith and politics. The Black Church PAC hosting five 2020 presidential candidates in Atlanta today.

BLACKWELL: Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Cory Booker, Julian Castro, former HUD Secretary and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend Indiana, all joining some of the biggest names in Christian ministry to pitch black voters on their vision for the future of the country.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is following the latest from Atlanta. Vanessa good morning what have you heard.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning Christi and Victor. Well, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are expected to take the stage in just a couple hours right behind me to make their pitch to church leaders and black millennial voters here in Atlanta.

Just yesterday, we heard from Julian Castro, Pete Buttigieg and Corey Booker. Now this comes on the heels of a poll that was just released that detailed which presidential candidates would beat Donald Trump in 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH (voice over): Faith and Politics taking center stage in the Democratic primary as three 2020 hopefuls made their pitch to African- American church leaders and black millennial voters in Atlanta.

BOOKER: Christ does that strengthen you to sit on the sidelines. Christ does not strengthen you to sit on the couch. This is not a spectator sport.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Corey Booker joined by Julian Castro and Pete Buttigieg with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders speaking Saturday. Buttigieg who has struggled to build support among black voters, hoping to make inroads with an electorate key to winning the Democratic nomination.

MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-IN) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I get why voters are cynical right now, because I think a lot of promises have been made. Promises have been made to black Americans and they have not been kept.

YURKEVICH (voice over): But the openly gay South Bend Mayor also not directly addressing whether his sexuality might add to the challenge of winning over some black voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Do you think that black voters of faith may have a difficult time connecting with you particularly because some may have very conservative, religious or moral beliefs around homosexuality?

BUTTIGIEG: I think the biggest thing on the minds of black voters and all voters is what difference our candidacies will make in their lives.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): A new Fox News poll shows Joe Biden maintaining his front-runner status with 31 percent support, with Elizabeth Warren surging into second at 20 percent. She's followed by Bernie Sanders at 10 percent and Kamala Harris at 8 percent. All four Democrats also lead President Trump in potential head-to-head match- ups with Biden holding a 12-point advantage. This as Beto O'Rourke rolls out a new plan to combat gun violence,

proposing a mandatory buyback of assault rifles and a national gun registry. It comes in the wake of the mass shootings in Dayton and O'Rourke's home town of El Paso.

BETO O'ROURKE (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I owe my family, my community, my country, my very best.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: Now as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders take the stage in just a short while. They are some of among the highest polling candidates with African-Americans but they will have their work cut out for them

[08:05:00] Today I spoke to some of the voters here who say they want to hear from the candidates on gun control, education and student debt. Because remember now, this is a millennial audience and these are the issues that are very important for them in 2020. And they want to hear these two candidates today talk directly to them about this. Victor and Christi.

PAUL: All righty, Vanessa Yurkevich, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. With us now Reverend Leah Daughtry she is the Co-Founder of the Black Church PAC and former CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee. Good to have you on for NEW DAY. So let's start here. We heard that three candidates spoke to the group yesterday, two more today. What is resonating with the Black Church PAC?

REV. LEAH DAUGHTRY, CO-FOUNDER, THE BLACK CHURCH PAC: What we wanted to do in creating this opportunity was to really put the candidates in front of a black church millennial voters.

We know that the African-American community is not monolithic. We have all stripes, all kinds. And so these are young voters who are some of them voting for the first time, who are very engaged, some of them who voted for the first time in 2018 to help flip the House.

And so they are instead just interested in pocketbook issues. Many of them are dealing with student debt. And they're starting their careers or midpoint in their career and want to know about gentrification and housing and the pocketbook issues that will help them to live a bundle.

Some of them are entrepreneurs they want to know about access to capital. So these are the things that they are concerned about. And of course, as African-Americans, there are the issues that affect us disproportionately such as gun control, over-policing, intimate partner violence and things like that. So they want to talk about those as well.

PAUL: Let's listen to Mayor Pete Buttigieg here as he talks about race. Listen to what he says. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUTTIGIEG: And a conversation that frankly white America needs to have about how everything is racialized because I think there are still too many people among them well-intentioned white progressives - and I'll be honest that I've been on this journey. Grow up thinking that only black and brown people have a race. That race is only experienced by minorities where actually everybody's life is affected by this in some way, especially our economic class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: I see you shaking your head yes, as he was talking. How was that received?

DAUGHTRY: Very well. He got, I believe, a lot of applause for that - for the recognition. Listen, we're accustomed to politicians and candidates coming to our churches, coming to our communities to talk about racism and race. You're preaching to the choir.

So for white candidates to talk to white people about race is really a turning point and we've seen that a lot from some candidates during the course of this campaign. So he made excellent points and we were glad to hear them and glad to hear his own acknowledgment of his own journey of being thoughtful about race.

And he's right, white people can treat race as a hobby. They focus on it when they want to, whereas those of us who are from minority communities have to think about race every day.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you specifically about Mayor Buttigieg, because the latest Pew poll came out and he has zero percent support among the black respondents. Consistently former Vice President Joe Biden is at the top of the list and everyone else comes in the middle there.

He's spoken very openly about his faith. But there was a question that Vanessa Yurkevich asked about his being a married gay man and the conservative base of black congregants. Do you think that is a significant hurdle for him?

DAUGHTRY: I think his more significant hurdle is just getting people to know who he is. He does not have the long national track record of a Joe Biden or Kamala Harris and so for many of the folks yesterday it was their first introduction to Pete.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAUGHTRY: Just not familiar. And I think we have to understand the black church is not monolithic. So we while - the segment that we or folks that we were with yesterday are one of the more conservative and there we swing the spectrum. So we have denominations that for whom that is not an issue, it's not a problem, they don't even think about it or talk about it.

They have LGBTQ folks in their congregations. And then you have the more conservative. So I think it mirrors America really in terms of the swathes of thinking around these issues.

BLACKWELL: Do you think Pete Buttigieg could get souls to the polls on the Sunday before?

DAUGHTRY: You know, I don't know. I think he's on a journey, as he says. I think he's got to get to know people and build relationships in the African-American community. I think he's sincere about wanting to do that. But real authentic relationships take time.

BLACKWELL: Okay.

PAUL: Very good point very good point. Very good point.

BLACKWELL: Reverend Leah Daughtry.

DAUGHTRY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you so much.

[08:10:00] PAUL: Thank you for being here. Now at nearly 18 years the Afghan war is the longest running conflict in U.S. history. Some of President Trump's closest allies pushing back now on his plans to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan.

BLACKWELL: So yesterday advisors gave the President an update on the peace talks currently happening between U.S. officials and the Taliban. The President has been very public about his wish to end the conflict and bring the troops home.

PAUL: CNN's Sarah Westwood with us now. So what are some of his closest advisers saying?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Victor and Christi, some even allies of the president have major concerns that pulling out of Afghanistan too quickly could allow terrorism in that country to flourish in the absence of a U.S. military presence.

Yesterday at his Bedminster report here in New Jersey President Trump met with a high level team of his national security advisers - Vice President Mike Pence; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Defense Secretary Mark Esper, they were all in attendance. And they discussed this preliminary U.S. Taliban peace plan.

It's been in the making for months. It's not quite final yet. But it would entail a significant withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. We would go from about 15,000 troops to 8,000 or 9,000 under this plan. It would also involve a cease fire between the U.S. and the Taliban.

But crucially it would not involve any kind of cease fire between the Taliban and the Afghan government. So that's also led to some fears that this would allow the Taliban to take aim at the Afghanistan government, its people its military without U.S. intervention. So allies of the President are raising concerns that this preliminary peace plan represents something of a surrender for the Trump administration. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who is very close to President Trump said in a statement yesterday in part, "Any peace agreement which denies the U.S. a robust counterterrorism capability in Afghanistan is not a peace deal. Instead it is paving the way for another attack on the American homeland and attacks against American interests around the world."

Now there are some counterterrorism commitments that the Taliban has to make in order for this peace plan to go through. President Trump has expressed interest in bringing the troops home from Afghanistan since he was running for President. So he has been pushing for this for his entire presidency even though, Victor and Christi, many of his advisers have raised concerns about the long term implications of not having a robust U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

PAUL: Absolutely. Sarah Westwood, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: We have breaking news. Police say the man in the surveillance video dropping off rice cookers in New York City is now in custody. We're live in New York with more on that in just a moment.

Also ahead, we're getting a closer look at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s incredible - and you have to see the video - escape from a burning plane. We'll show you what eyewitnesses saw and you'll hear what they said and investigators are now learning more about this crash.

PAUL: Also the New York City Medical Examiner's Office says Jeffrey Epstein died of suicide by hanging. His attorneys do not believe the findings. So what they plan to do next.

BLACKWELL: Also, stinky seaweed is ruining beach vacations in the Caribbean and in the U.S. We'll tell you more about it where it is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00] BLACKWELL: Breaking news for you now. Police say that the man in the surveillance video dropping off rice cookers in New York has been taken into custody.

PAUL: CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval has been looking into this. What are you learning this morning?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey guys. Less than 24 hours that it took the NYPD to track down this man who they certainly want to speak to in relation to yesterday's scare that took place here in New York City.

A source close to the investigation saying that, the individual that they were trying to track down to speak to was apparently placed into custody at about 2:00 a.m. this morning. He was found unconscious in the Bronx here in New York and is currently hospitalized.

However, we should also point out that no charges have actually been filed as police still continue to investigate and to try to answer that question exactly why they were placed there. You recall it was just - it was yesterday morning actually when two devices were found. Initially, the report came in as suspicious devices.

Investigators eventually responded there to the subway stop in lower Manhattan and determine that they were in fact empty rice cookers that posed no threat. About an hour later a third kitchen appliance was located in the Chelsea neighborhood that also was determined to not be a threat and was empty.

So now investigators just trying to find out exactly why those two first ones were actually placed there, because in the video, as I heard investigators describe yesterday, you actually see that individual placed them in that busy subway station both on the mezzanine and on the platform.

So the question now is why. But certainly was a reminder that the subway system here in New York, Victor and Christi, is always considered a target. It was less than a year and a half ago when a pipe bomb exploded at a subway station here in New York City.

So as you can imagine the officials certainly took no chances and their full response yesterday. But now the question, why did he do it.

BLACKWELL: I think we want to ask--

PAUL: Yes, we got a same thing.

BLACKWELL: --same question. Go ahead.

PAUL: Can you clarify - did you say he was found in the Bronx unconscious? Was in a home, was in a hotel?

BLACKWELL: On a street or where was he?

SANDOVAL: So the specific information coming from a law enforcement source now, who was speaking to my colleague, Brynn Gingras, now indicates that he was found - again, as far as we're told by the source, that he was found unconscious at an address in the Bronx. And that he's currently being hospitalized. That he was taken into custody at approximately 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning.

So the fact that he was unconscious, that certainly could potentially provide a little bit more inside or at least hint more about his condition right now. So, yes, there's certainly is a lot of questions the first.

At the moment I read that myself Victor and Christi, I certainly was wondering exactly what led to this, especially, because I was in the middle of it yesterday morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Yes.

SANDOVAL: And there were lot of people who were frustrated about trying to get to work yesterday morning here in New York City. And if this is an individual - if this is the individual who's responsible, then he obviously would have a lot of explaining to do. PAUL: Well, thank you for the clarification, because it's something, obviously, we--

BLACKWELL: Yes, it stood out.

PAUL: --think everybody kind of picked up on. Thank you, Polo.

BLACKWELL: Thanks Polo.

SANDOVAL: Thanks guys.

BLACKWELL: So the New York City Medical Examiner's Office says that Jeffrey Epstein died of suicide by hanging.

[08:20:00] PAUL: The determination comes almost a week after he was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was being held there awaiting trial on charges of operating a sex trafficking ring including paying girls as young as 14 for sex. He had pleaded not guilty.

BLACKWELL: Epstein's lawyers say they are not satisfied with the medical examiner's conclusions and they plan to independently investigate the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death.

PAUL: Listen, we have some video you are not going to want to miss here, because it was a fiery crash and one incredible escape. New video, as we hear too from witnesses who say Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family escaped from the wreckage of his private plane and they were the ones that were calling 911 - these people. We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Well, good morning. Listen, we have some new video we want to show you that was taken moments after a private plane carrying NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed in Tennessee.

BLACKWELL: Now in the video, watch it here. You will see Dale Jr., his wife, their 1 year old daughter - on the right of your screen, they will climb out of this plane. And then they are quickly followed by the family dog, the plane's pilots. The NTSB says the plane slid off the runway Thursday afternoon after making a hard landing.

PAUL: And it bounced at least twice before the right rear landing gear collapsed and then, of course, you see the flames and the smoke. Listen to the 911 class too from people who were watching the family escape.

[08:25:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just crashed right across the street, right in the highway. There's fire everywhere. There is somebody getting out. Now they're trying to get out now. There's a baby, one, two, three, four, five - Five people and a dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: Dave Faherty from CNN affiliate WSOC has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE FAHERTY, WSOC (voice over): You can see black smoke pouring out of the back of the plane and a man running towards the wreckage. Moments later flames shoot off from one of the wings just seconds before the door to the plane pops open.

Scrambling to get out are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his wife Amy and two pilots. Their first concern is Dale's one-year- old daughter. She was handed to the first person off the burning plane who rushed her to safety.

The video shows one person falling to the ground, and then the family's dog running from the wreckage. These two women called 911 from their office nearby, watching in horror as flames spread across the plane.

LACY PASQUALE, WITNESSED PLANE CRASH: I just couldn't believe it was happening, especially right here in front of our office. And then when we saw them escape and them hand a child out both of our hearts just sank.

BETH BARE, WITNESSED PLANE CRASH: It was really scary. There wasn't much time for them to get out, and it really is a miracle that they got out before the flames overtook the plane.

FAHERTY (voice over): Both women say it was just 30 seconds to a minute later before a second explosion caused flames to engulf much of the plane. We could see NTSB investigators around the plane for much of the day, feet away, skid marks in the grass from the Cessna Citation business jet at the end of the runway before it went through a fence and ended on the four-lane highway. For much of the day race fans stopped by to see the wreckage including Bobby Loveless and his son, whose middle name is Dale after Junior's father.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want to say to dale and his family tonight?

DUSTIN DALE PARLIER, RACING FAN: That you're in our prayers and just be blessed. Make a quick recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That was Dave Faherty reporting. Now let's talk about the investigation. The NTSB has interviewed the pilots. They've also recovered the plane's flight data recorder to, of course, figure out why this happened.

PAUL: A 17-year-old shooting survivor is running for city council in Houston. Marcel McClinton is kicking off his campaign at his high school little bit later this month. We're talking to him about why he's running and what he thinks can be done about gun violence.

BLACKWELL: Plus an 11th straight weekend of demonstrations in Hong Kong happening right now.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

BLACKWELL: Tens of thousands of people are in the streets, as Beijing continues to flex its muscles on the border with Mainland China with those paramilitary

troops staged there. We'll take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00] PAUL: Well more victims of the Wal-Mart shooting are being laid to rest. And among them is 63 year old Margie Reckard. Her husband Antonio Basco was afraid no one would come to her memorial, because they didn't have any family close by. She was his only family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: But look at this. Nearly a thousand people were there to help him say goodbye to his wife last night, most of them complete strangers and many of them were from out of town. Even flower arrangements were sent from strangers in Japan, in New Zealand. Basco stood for hours next to his wife's casket. You see it covered in flowers, thanking those who had come to pay their respects and be there with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, as the Senate is on recess and members are back in their home towns, gun control activists are taking advantage of the opportunity to take their fight straight to the Senators, to their representatives doorsteps.

Activists to showing up to district offices to demand action on passing background checks on gun sales as well as strong red flag laws and other measures. Marcel McClinton is a survivor of a shooting. He's a teenager and he's also running for Houston City Council. Marcel, Good morning to you.

MARCEL MCCLINTON, 17-YEAR-OLD RUNNING FOR HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL: Hi good morning how are you?

BLACKWELL: I'm well. Thank you. Let's start here with your experience. It was 2016, you were teaching Sunday school and tell us what happened.

MCCLINTON: Yes. So I was teaching Sunday school class in 2016 to it to a group of toddlers. We had like two dozen students in the classroom with the windows in the room facing outside of the parking lot.

When a gunman went on a rampage for 15 minutes with an AR-15 and shot in the parking lot, shot in the neighborhood, shot my friend Denise through her car and then a bullet went in and out both of her thighs grazed her neck. It was a traumatizing time for our community, and for our church community and for me personally.

I was 14 when that happened and we had to shelter the kids, lock everyone down and wait in the church until the gunshot stopped. And as we waited for that to happen, from the gunshot to stop, I was sitting under a window seat with about other guys in the front lobby of the church watching the shooter pace the parking lot, listening to a police scanner on or on an app on our phones.

BLACKWELL: And is that why now - I mean you have been very active in trying to end gun violence, but is that the centerpiece of your campaign for Houston City Council?

MCCLINTON: Yes. I mean gun violence is a super important issue to me. Personally, it is the issue that I hold near and dearest to my heart. But it's not the only thing that we're tackling and hoping to combat in my race for City Council and then in my office when I'm elected in November 5th.

We are talking about sex trafficking - ending that trade in the City of Houston we are. We are constantly a top hub in the country for sex trafficking and it's a demoralizing label for our city to have.

We're also trying to tackle flooding and bring better infrastructure to our city, reduce traffic and crime, increased corporate responsibility for companies that operate in our city and are benefited by tax breaks from our city and state. And so we're working to hold folks accountable and bring positive change to our city.

BLACKWELL: So let's talk about these recess rallies that I've talked about at the top introducing you. They're going on across the country. But there were also the March for Our Lives across the country. You organized one of them. There were sit-ins and die-ins.

Why are you convinced or at least hopeful based on recent history that what we're going to see today is going to have a greater effect than what we've seen over the last several years with demonstrations like the recess rallies.

MCCLINTON: Yes, I mean, these recess rallies are put on by every town. They're incredible. This weekend is going to be monumental for our country I think and for the issue of gun violence prevention.

[08:35:00] I talked to folks and I organize with folks and I mentor organizers who survived the Sandy Hook shooting and they've been in this movement for years and years and years. And all of them tell me that this time feels different.

2018 felt different and we showed that with sweeping numbers winning the House back and then putting gun sense, and having for the first time in history in a longtime gun sense and gun Loss Prevention majority in the House which is incredible. And we're also seeing this, I think and feeling it for 2020.

People are telling me that they feel something is different. The energy is there and I think that Americans suffering from PTSD in the United States and in fear of gun violence every single day and every venue that they go to, is starting to get the best of everyone. And people are getting pissed off and more and more pissed off. BLACKWELL: More so I just got the wrap, but I want to take a few extra seconds here. We've got Florida Republican Congressman Ted Yoho coming up in our 10:00 hour. He voted against the expanded Background Checks Bill H.R. 8 earlier this year.

And I want you to make your case to him, why he should support expanded background checks, red flag, any other of the legislation. I'm going to play it for him and I want him to respond. So what's your case to Congressman Ted Yoho and Congressman who voted against these expanded measures?

MCCLINTON: Yes, I mean, first and foremost, understand that blood is on your hands. People in America are dying because of your inaction and because of your ties to whatever gun lobby or special interest group that was holding you hostage and preventing you and holding you back from putting forth and signing onto legislation that has literally proven to save lives.

Background checks are not controversial. The NRA has made this into something that it's not. Now these are the most widely supported pieces of legislation that we've seen in our country introduced. They have passed in the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senator McConnell is holding them up in the Senate. And this - the more and more that we sit back and don't act and sign our names onto legislation that is going to save lives that Americans fully support, more Americans are going to die. And you will go to sleep at night knowing that blood is on your hands from shootings in schools, churches, Wal-Marts, shopping malls street corners and households.

This is not the time to sit back and say I need a donation from the NRA to win re-election. People are dying in United States and the more and more that we sit back, stay silent and we - that makes us complicit in this, and these senseless acts of gun violence that we see every day in this country. 96 Americans are being shot and killed in America every day. And Senator, Representative you do you do not care, and it shows and it's sad.

BLACKWELL: I'll play that for him. Marcel McClinton, thank you so much.

MCCLINTON: Thank you. Thank you.

PAUL: Well, right now, pro-democracy protesters are in the streets of Hong Kong for the 11th straight weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Police have already been pushing protesters back. But there is another presence on the border that we have not seen before. Today, we're going to take you to Hong Kong.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to watch tomorrow night for the final episode of The CNN original series "THE MOVIES". Here's a look.

(END VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we don't give Marilyn Monroe enough credit as a dramatic actress or as a comedian. She could do it all and Billy Wilder knew it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Some Like It Hot" is Marilyn Monroe's most memorable film, because she kind of puts everything together for herself. You really start to see her as a person that you care about emotionally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARILYN MONROE, AMERICAN ACTRESS: All the girls drink. It's just that I'm the one that gets caught. Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're in the hands of a Billy Wilder, it's the right person saying the line and the right way. They hear the comedy of it. There's a music to a punch line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAPHNE: This may even turn out to be a surprise party.

SUGAR: What's the surprise?

DAPHNE: Not yet.

SUGAR: When?

DAPHNE: Better have a drink first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a ridiculous movie and a lot of ways. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play these two musicians in 1920s Chicago and they accidentally witness through St. Valentine's Day Massacre and they have to escape. They decide to join an all-girl band disguised as women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY: I'm the bass fiddle. Just call me Daphne.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Lemmon becomes deafening and without really trying to. He attracts a millionaire who falls in love with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY: I'm engaged.

JOE: Congratulations. Who's the lucky girl?

JERRY: I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Some Like It Hot" is the greatest comedy of all time with the greatest last line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY: But you don't understand. I'm a man.

OSGOOD: Well nobody's perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Oh, this is so funny for so many reasons. "The MOVIES" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

[08:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, tens of thousands have been taking to the streets in Hong Kong as pro-democracy protesters filled the center of Hong Kong for the 11th straight weekend. A police forced to push protesters back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And here's the thing that we're seeing today which is new just across the border in mainland China. Dozens of paramilitary forces together. One officer telling CNN they're on a temporary assignment. But they wouldn't explain why the troops were stationed right there at the border.

I want to bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks who is live in Hong Kong with the very latest. Has anybody been talking about that presence, Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well it's certainly been noticed here in Hong Kong as Beijing would want it to be, Christi and Victor. The very fact that we were able to film these images, the fact that Matt Rivers was able to talk to one of these personnel and they said they were there on temporary assignment, means that they want these images to be seen across the border.

[08:45:00] They're playing to a domestic audience within China as well showing their being strong and could deal with the Hong Kong issue.

But they certainly want this to be seen. Now we've heard from the Hong Kong police as well in recent days. They have said that the situation is under control, even though the Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that they're on the brink of no return. So, clearly, the police trying to give the impression that they can handle what is happening here.

Now we've had a number of different protests this Saturday there was the teachers union out this morning. We had a big pro-democracy rally this afternoon, also a pro-Police rally. So just to point out this is not just pro-democracy here.

But there have been people who believe that the police are doing a good job. They deny the accusations from protesters that they're using excessive force. And it just really shows the split in this city at the moment. It really is quite pronounced split.

But what we're hearing from many people I just had a protester walk past and tell me. Tomorrow - we will see you tomorrow - Sunday is expected to be a sizable protest. They wanted to do a march as well that hasn't been allowed by police, so of course if groups do splinter off from that then that is where we could see some trouble within the city. But I suspect that we could be speaking this time tomorrow. Victor and Christi back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right Paula Hancocks for us there in Hong Kong. Thank you.

PAUL: Thanks Paula. Listen I want you to see what beachgoers are dealing with.

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PAUL: Look at that. They say this seaweed reeks. It's clogging beaches in the Caribbean and in the U.S. What we know about what's happening. Stay close.

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[08:50:00] BLACKWELL: So we just lived through what was the hottest July ever recorded according to NOAA. It follows the hottest June ever recorded making this one of the hottest summers in recent history.

PAUL: And put on top of that the water temperatures have broken records as well. Temperatures, so high it's killed several varieties of Alaskan salmon and it has done so in very large numbers.

Here's our CNN Meteorologist, Allison Chinchar talking to us about why this is so significant.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I mean, when you think that warm ocean temperatures, we might actually kind of enjoy that. That would be nice on the beach. But it has a huge impact on the wildlife and the sea life specifically.

So, yes, when these salmon come in for their mass migration to the Yukon River, when they were doing it a couple of weeks ago, because this is doesn't necessarily just because they died off recently. This all started at the beginning of the migration several weeks ago when water temperatures were about 70 degrees.

That may not sound all that bad to us. But they rely on those temperatures being closer to the 60 degree mark. That 10 degree difference is enough to trigger heat stroke in the salmon. Now in the short term we're talking, they estimate about a thousand of these salmon were part of this die off.

But the full migration was likely close to around 2 million. So it's just a small percentage. If you already have travel plans to go to Alaska to go salmon fishing. It's not necessarily going to ruin your trip.

The main concern is the long term threat that this poses. Four to five years from now when those fish that died would have come back to spawn their eggs, they will no longer be there. So is this going to have big economic impacts four to five years from now rather than just in the short term?

And it all comes back to these incredibly warm temperatures across portions of Alaska. Alaska, yes setting one of its record hottest July's on record. Here's the Yukon River that you can see and the Koyukuk River. Those are the two main rivers that are really focused on this particular salmon die off.

Here's a look, though, Alaska had its warmest July on record, beating the previous by about 6.5 degrees above average. Looking at August so far, obviously, the month is not done yet, but we're averaging at this point about 8.2 degrees above the average. In fact, six of the last nine days have set record high temperatures.

Here's the thing. It's not just the heat, though, we're also dealing with drought in some of these areas and this is a concern because some of these cities, especially Ketchikan and either other areas further south they're actually no longer allowed to get hydropower, because a lot of the rivers in the lakes where they're getting these the water levels are simply too low. So they're having to resort to other forms of energy, mostly diesel in these areas to power a lot of these communities. And this isn't just an issue for Alaska.

Globally, we also had the hottest July on record. Again, this coming after, as we mentioned, the hottest June on record. So I think the main concern here is, is this going to become a long term concern, where you and I are meeting all again every month talking about it being the hottest month on record.

PAUL: Good point.

BLACKWELL: Allison, thank you.

PAUL: All right. Thank you Allison. So listen. This is your beach time beach.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it is.

PAUL: Still beach vacation time. You have to be aware of something that is - it's got such a stench apparently when you're at the beach. We're talking about this specific kind of seaweed that is ruining popular beach spots and yet another indicator of the climate crisis that's affecting the planet.

BLACKWELL: Yes, CNN's Natalie Allen has the story for you.

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): With sugary white sands, crystal blue waters and stunning scenery, once pristine shores like these in Tulum, New Mexico, now look like this - huge mats of ugly brown seaweed blanketing large swaths of land, turning waters a murky brown.

Top beach destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean to South Florida are inundated with huge masses of sticky, foul-smelling seaweed known as Sargassum, upsetting tourists and locals alike.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All you can smell is this bad aroma. It's terrible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is my first time in Miami Beach. I thought the beach would be nicer. So I'm a bit disappointed on it.

ALLEN (voice-over): Although seaweed is a valuable part of marine life, this foul-smelling invasion comes from an unusual massive bloom growing this time of year in the ocean called the Great Atlantic Sargassum belt. It stretches from West Africa all the way to the southern U.S., carrying millions of tons of exceed seaweed. Scientists can only speculate why.

CHUANMIN HU, MARINE SCIENTIST: The fertilizer used and also the deforestation have both increased in the past 10 years. We speculate those increases would increase the nutrient release from the Amazon River.

ALLEN (voice-over): A team of researchers at the university of Southern Florida have observed the Sargassum bloom each July since it was first observed by satellite in 2011. Generally it has grown over time and shows no signs of stopping, indicating this could be the murky brown wave of the future.

[08:55:00] Posing problems more menacing than a bad smell, decomposing Sargassum can attract insects, create bacteria and release toxic gases into the air, creating a health hazard that is, in turn, toxic to local economies which depend on tourism to their usually picturesque shores. Mexico's government is spending over $2 million to rid their famed beaches of the unsightly seaweed and there are urges to search for a more long-term solution.

GABRIELA GOMEZ, GEOGRAPHY RESEARCHER (through translator): If the seaweed problem is not dealt with, the Caribbean as we know it will disappear and that will cause environmental, social, economic and ultimately political problems. So it has to be dealt with immediately.

ALLEN (voice-over): A massive clean-up is also underway in Miami, where local media report Sargassum is at unprecedented levels. But researchers warn these fixes may only be temporary and it might be time to embrace the inevitable.

HU: I have seen people use the Sargassum to make bricks, make a house, and make shoes. People are smart. If this really becomes the new normal, then people will invent many ways to make use of this. ALLEN (voice-over): Natalie Allen, CNN.

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PAUL: That was awful.

BLACKWELL: And more than an inconvenience, though, as we've learned.

PAUL: No doubt, no doubt. Hey, thank you so much for spending some time with us this morning.

BLACKWELL: Smerconish is up after a quick break. See you back here at 10:00.

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