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North Korea Launches Two Ballistic Missiles After U.S. & S. Korean Drills; Canadian Wildfire Smoke Blankets Parts Of Upper Midwest; CDC: More Young People Dying From Suicide, Homicide; Report: DOJ To Investigate PGA Tour-LIV Golf Deal; First Golf Major Tees Off Since PGA Tour & LIV Partnership; Uber Driver Makes Major Debut At U.S. Open. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 15, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:29]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: North Korea fired at least two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan today. Japan saying that these missiles landed less than 100 miles from the Japanese shore.

The launches are coming just hours after Pyongyang condemned the U.S. and South Korea for conducting live-fire joint military drills near the North Korean border.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is following this story.

What do we know about these launches, Paula? What can you tell us?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this point, we do know there were two short-range ballistic missile launches off the east coast of North Korea.

And it appears it happened just hours after a defense spokesperson in Pyongyang through statement media slammed the U.S. and South Korea for joint military drills they had been holding earlier in the day.

Now we know that there have been five separate occasions where these Live-fire drills have taken place.

Today, this Thursday, was actually a time when the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was in attendance. The commander-in-chief saying that he was confident and satisfied by what he saw.

Now these have been billed as the largest ever Live-fire drills. In fact, we went to one of these five days, and I can confirm that it was the largest drill that I have seen in many years here.

It was also a much more blatant and a much clearer message to North Korea. Quite often, these military drills talk about reacting against an enemy.

In this particular scenario, they talked about an illegal armed invasion by North Korea. And the fire power that we were witnessing was the reaction by the U.S. and South Korea. So it was a very clear message to Pyongyang.

And certainly, that is something that Pyongyang did not appreciate, as we can see by the reaction today.

Now they've said that the reason that they're carrying out these increased numbers of missile launches and weapons tests over really the last year and a half is because of these joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes. Those pictures of those drills that you have captured send a very loud message and certainly one that's being returned there.

Paula, thank you for that report.

Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Here's a look at the other headlines we're following this hour.

Good news for Pope Francis. The Vatican says he's expected to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow morning, nine days after undergoing abdominal surgery for a hernia.

Earlier today, the pontiff visited with child cancer patients at the hospital's nearby cancer ward.

Also, the manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue has been indicted on charges of stealing and selling human body parts. Yes.

According to the indictment, the body parts came from cadavers that were donated for educational purposes.

It accuses Cedric Lodge of taking the body parts to his home and then shipping them to buyers. Prosecutors also say that Lodge brought people to the morgue to shop in-person for body parts.

Anyway, here's a quick look at the Dow. It's up big today, nearly 400 points. Investors seem to be taking kindly to the Federal Reserve's big announcement yesterday.

For the first time in 15 months, the Fed hitting pause on a new interest rate hike amid signs of cooling inflation. But there are still two more rate hikes potentially planned for the end of the year.

Brianna?

KEILAR: Boris, it is back. A new round of smoke from at least 63 wildfires now burning in Ontario, Canada, blanketing parts of the Midwest here in the U.S.

[13:35:01]

This is a view of Chicago from earlier this morning. And, no, those are not rolling clouds, not mist. That is smoke pouring into the windy city. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray joining us now from the CNN Weather

Center. She has been for days now talking about this story.

This is actually triggering some red alerts in some major cities. Who's seeing the worst of this?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It really is, Brianna. We're talking about the Midwest this time. This was a huge story last week in the northeast. Before it hit the northeast, it was in the Midwest. So they have had this before.

And you're right. It is back. Here's a live look at St. Paul, Minnesota, from our earth cam. You can barely make out the buildings across the skyline.

And we're looking at poor air quality anywhere across Wisconsin, portions of Minnesota, and down into Iowa. We have air quality alerts up. And you can see these yellow and red dots. Those indicate some poor air quality.

We have unhealthy air quality across portions of Iowa, on into near Chicago even, seeing poor air quality as you saw from that picture.

And the smoke is just pouring in from Canada, these wildfires. And we talked about how this could be the summer of smoke. We are seeing it. So it really all depends on the fire activity in Canada, and the wind direction.

Here's going to be the near-surface smoke forecast going forward. And you can see that poor air quality is going to be pretty far south.

But what really caught my attention is this plume right here. You can see around the Canada/U.S. border, by Saturday morning.

That's going to be one to watch as well, those bright colors of red and orange, that could sneak back into the U.S., especially the northeast by the time we get to say, Sunday into Monday. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens there.

But, Brianna, I think this is going to be a story that's going to stick around for most of the summer as the fire season in Canada is just getting going.

KEILAR: Yes, and we hear from our Canadian viewers. They say, hey. What about us? We're the ones with the fires. And we know that. We are watching. We are seeing how bad it is.

GRAY: Yes.

KEILAR: We're also just sort of with disbelief looking at how this is shifting so far away from where those fires are. And we'll be watching all summer long.

Thank you so much, Jennifer. We appreciate it.

Boris? SANCHEZ: The CDC is sounding the alarm about young people dying from suicide and homicide at the highest rates in decades. We're going to show you what every parent needs to know.

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[13:41:43]

SANCHEZ: We have an alarming new report to share with you about the mental health crisis among this country's youth. Children and young adults are dying at the highest rates in decades from suicide and homicides.

There's new data from the CDC showing that, in 2021, suicide and homicide became the second- and third-leading causes of death for people ages 10 to 24.

And even more concerning, recent research showing that children struggling with suicidal thoughts don't get the follow-up care that they need.

CNN's Meg Tirrell joins us with details.

Meg, walk us through the finding from the CDC.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. It's an alarming report. If you look at the rates both of homicide and suicide over this age group over the last two decades, they are now converging at about 11 per 100,000.

And the number for homicides, that rate is the highest we've seen since 1997. For suicides, the rate is the highest going all the way back to 1968.

And that rate has really been increasing since 2007, up by 62 percent. For homicides, there was a jump up more than 30 percent just in the first year of the pandemic alone.

And that's something we've seen in the broader data but it's pretty scary to see it laid out like this.

Also scary, if you dig through the data more deeply and look into the specific age groups, if look at the youngest kids in this, between ages 10 to 14, the suicide rate in that age group has tripled since 2007.

That's really something that's really making people very worried as well.

The American Medical Association this week saying, quote, "We are in a crisis situation with children's mental health."

This week, voting to adopt a new policy to advocate for children's mental health, Boris. Something that a lot of people are very focused on.

SANCHEZ: And, Meg, are there indications as to why this uptick is happening now?

TIRRELL: Yes, you know, as the data showed, this has unfortunately been something that's been happening over the last couple of decades. And it's something that's getting a ton of attention.

The surgeon general put out a report in 2021 calling major attention to this as well.

You know, some of the issues are that, you know, kids don't get the help that they need, about half of them. And there's not a big enough work force to take care of these kids who need these mental health services.

So that's something the American Medical Association is really trying to draw more attention to this, and try to build up for that work force -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for giving us those details.

We want to discuss now further with a child psychiatrist, screen time expert, and the author of "Reset Your Child's Brain," Dr. Victoria Dunckley.

Doctor, thank you so much for spending part of your afternoon with us.

Initially, I'm curious to get your reaction to this research.

DR. VICTORIA DUNCKLEY, CHILD PSYCHIATRIST & SCREEN TIME EXPERT & AUTHOR: I'm not surprised at all. I think all of these trends were occurring even before the pandemic and the pandemic has just added fuel to the fire.

And we're still seeing these trends continue even though we're, you know, mostly back to normal now.

SANCHEZ: So as far as parents and loved ones, what signs should they be on the lookout for that one of the younger people in their life may be in trouble?

DUNCKLEY: I think there's -- you know, some things are more obvious, like if a child is cutting themselves or isolating, you know, talking about things that are violent, things like that, or being preoccupied with violence.

[13:45:09]

But there's a lot of kids kind of are flying under the radar, and they're not doing well, and no one really seems to notice.

Part of it is our very fast-paced lifestyle. So I really encourage parents to check in with their kids often.

And even when they get help, that's not enough. I think parents, we really need to spend more one-on-one time with kids, not just family time, but really one-on-one time. The brain responds in a different way to one-on-one time. So we're

missing that, the eye contact, the face-to-face conversation, being very present with a child.

I tell your parents, baby your baby. Think about how you act when you're a newborn or toddler. You're very present and trying to listen to everything they say.

So that is something that can help activate the part of the brain that makes people feel less depressed, less anxious and less angry.

The second thing is screen time. I say this over and over again. We keep trying to put a Band-Aid on the problem and we're not stopping the bleeding.

Screen time changes brain chemistry, stress response, brain/blood flow, and it short circuits the areas of the brain that make us have a sense of well-being and are able to connect with people.

Just reducing screen time, ideally cutting it all altogether for a few weeks is really, really helpful. And then spending more time outdoors. We need to- more.

We know all of these things. And we need to look at the neuroscience. And some of it will be inconvenient, but that's what needs to happen.

SANCHEZ: So obviously, you mentioned screen time, and there's been a large amount of research that has shown a link between social media, specifically, and a decline in mental health.

Can you talk about the influence of social media among kids?

DUNCKLEY: Yes. So I think all screen time has a physiological response that can cause depression, anxiety, and mood dis-regulation.

Social media adds extra layers on top of that because it's psychologically trying to hijack these developmental needs to be seen, to role play, to get, you know, a response from people. So parents really need to replace that role.

And it's very compelling and it really draws kids in. We can't just rely on them. It's not realistic to have them regulate their own use. It really needs to be cut out.

So I think, you know, the recent surgeon general's warning that social media can be harmful, especially to minors, is a big step in the right direction. I think it needs to be socially acceptable that we keep kids off of social media altogether.

SANCHEZ: It certainly is a challenge when you consider that the algorithms these companies use are themselves designed to attract those young minds.

Dr. Victoria Dunckley, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

Brianna? DUNCKLEY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Yes, and an important reminder that if you or someone you love is struggling with mental health, you can call or text the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

So one of golf's biggest tournaments gets under way shrouded in a cloud of controversy. This as we learned from a new report that the DOJ is set to investigate this deal between the PGA tour and the Saudi-backed LIV golf league. We have some new details next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:53:00]

KEILAR: This just in. The "Wall Street Journal" reports that the Justice Department is set to investigate this planned partnership between the PGA tour and the Saudi-backed LIV golf tour over antitrust concerns.

All of this happening as golfers are teeing off the at the U.S. Open right now.

CNN sports anchor, Andy Scholes, joins us now on this story.

How are players feeling, Andy? I mean, they've got this cloud of controversy over the entire sport right now.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Brianna, the feeling at the start of the week really was anger and confusion. Players were not happy about being left in the dark and they don't even know how this new joint venture will even work.

But the new commercial partnership between the PGA tour and D.P. World Tour and Saudi Investment Fund may end up not even happening.

According to the "Wall Street Journal" and people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Justice Department will be investigating the planned partnership over antitrust concerns.

This comes as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden sent a letter to PGA tour leadership asking a variety of questions to seek clarification and evidence associated with the deal.

The U.S. Open is the first major since the partnership was announced. The guys that stayed loyal to the PGA tour and were always very critical of the LIV series, obviously not happy about how this all went down, especially since it came out of nowhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON RAHM, 2-TIME MAJOR GOLD CHAMPION: The general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.

I understand why they had to keep it so secret. It's no easy as a player that's been involved like many others wake up one day and see this bombshell. Right?

That's where, we're all in a state of limbo, because we don't know what's going on and we don't know how much is finalized or how much they can talk about it either.

BROOKS KOEPKA, 5-TIME MAJOR GOLF CHAMPION: So we didn't hear anything about it. I think that's kind of the one thing that shocked everybody the most. I think I ran into Rickie and J.T. after watching the whole thing and they were asked if they knew and they said they didn't know either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: PGA and LIV guys have been playing against one another the whole time in the majors. So awkwardness isn't there anymore.

[13:55:05]

But, Brianna, the big question is, what compensation are loyal PGA guys going to get for staying and not taking huge payments to join LIV? Rory McIlroy and a LIV player are paired together. They tee off this afternoon.

KEILAR: Oh, that's going to be interesting for sure, Andy. I just can't wait to see what that conversation is like.

We also saw a great Cinderella story coming out of this tournament. And this has been the theme I think recently in golf, these Cinderella stories. But we have another one. Tell us about it.

SCHOLES: Yes, can you imagine watching the U.S. Open today, Brianna, you're watching and maybe that guy looks familiar right now. I think he was my Uber driver. Well, you wouldn't be wrong.

Because Barry Henson, 43 years old, playing in his first-ever major. And to help support his golf career while he was injured, the 444th- ranked player in the world became an Uber driver in southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY HENSON, GOLFER & PART-TIME UBER DRIVER: I've got 3,000 rides and 4.99 Uber-rated driver, which I love. I feel like I take pride in that.

I like to play games with my -- with my -- with my passengers when they come in. I usually let them ask me questions to find out what I really do and can only answer yes or no and that ends up turning into being fun.

Because they go down like this weird road of entertainment business and -- and being in the movies or whatever it might be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. You can see that Brianna, one of his callers, Uber, actually one of the official sponsors for the U.S. Open. How cool is that?

KEILAR: I love that! What a sweet story.

Andy, thank you for all of that.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville pushing back against criticism that his holds on military promotions pose a national security risk. He says it's not much of a problem.

We have national security spokesperson, John Kirby, joining us with the White House's take when we come back on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.