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Deadline to Remove Border Barrier; Thousands Evacuated in Greece; Record High Temperatures Hit U.S.; "Barbie" Tops Box Office. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired July 24, 2023 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00]
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Back because I want to show you exactly what Priscilla was talking about when it comes to access to this property.
You can see that this is a mound of dirt that blocks off this gate. The owner of this property tells us that she's upset, frustrated, because she doesn't have access. Well, U.S. border patrol doesn't either.
This is what it actually looks like. You can see here. It's a mound of dirt. There is no access. And the owner of this property tells us that border patrol is actually leasing this space and it could be used to provide more humane conditions for migrants.
Take a look here. They've got porta-potties, a washing stations and tents that could be used to process migrants while they are waiting to be sent to processing facilities.
And, John, instead, you can look around me, there are no migrants here. We just saw a very large group of migrants walk through the river. But these resources that are already here, not being used.
John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, you did see migrants walk past there. So, obviously, there still is movement across the border that hasn't stopped people from moving across the border, Rosa.
Any sense of what will happen there with, you know, five, six hours left to go until this deadline? Any sign that Texas will blink?
FLORES: Yes, well, let's move over here where the buoys are. And if we take a look you'll see that there's some construction equipment. Now, this really doesn't look like they're removing the buoys. It looks more like maintenance on the buoys. And, again, because the water levels are so low, John, you can see that even the individuals who are working on the buoys, the workers, are maybe at thigh-high water.
So, earlier today, we started seeing some of that construction equipment go up and down the river. It appeared like they were trying to assess the situation. But it really does look like it's just -- the water levels are really low today. And those buoys, if you take a look closely, actually, you can see the anchors for the buoys, it's that low. Those -- there's concrete slabs that are right by the buoys. Those are the anchors. You can see them right next to the buoys.
And, John, to your point, these buoys, according to the state of Texas, they're supposed to deter illegal immigration and costing the Texas taxpayer about $850,000. That's according to an information request that we obtained.
And you can see that it is not deterring illegal immigration. I mean this is just a portion of the river. And what we've seen are migrants literally walk along the water to turn themselves into immigration authorities.
And, John, I have to point out that normally, if this concertina wire was not here, those migrants would be able to walk on solid ground rather than walking on the river.
Now, the other complaint - I want to show this air boat because the other complaint that we've been hearing from migrants out here is that law enforcement in these air boats have been circling them, knocking them over. And that's another one of those humanitarian issues, humanitarian concerns raised by critics is, is that humane behavior to try to corral, if you will, migrants on the water using air boats. So, a long list of concerns, John. It's unclear again what Governor Abbott will do come the 2:00 p.m. Eastern deadline. We are here. We'll take a look. But at this point we're not seeing any movement in regards to the removal of the buoys.
John.
BERMAN: All right, Rosa Flores, right in Eagle Pass, looking out at the Rio Grande, watching this over the next few hours. It's great having you there. Please keep us posted.
Rahel.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John, a use of force review board now looking into what led up to a police dog attacking an unarmed black man in Ohio. The man was surrendering to police with his hands in the air and officers were ordered not to release the dog. And we do want to warn you, the body camera footage you are about to see is disturbing.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The footage provided by Ohio State Highway Patrol is disturbing, but now under scrutiny after a man was mauled by a police officer's K-9. July 4th Jackson County, Ohio. A case report shows a highway patrol officer in a marked vehicle tried stopping the driver of this big rig for a missing mud flap. The man behind the wheel, later identified by authorities as 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose drives on and a chase begins. About 20 minutes into the pursuit, the big rig is seen rolling to a
stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the truck!
SANDOVAL: But that lasts only a few seconds. The driver continues to flee and officers stay on him for another eight minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He took off again. We're heading northbound.
SANDOVAL: It wasn't until police used tire deflation devices -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're stopped.
SANDOVAL: that the chase came to a slow but dramatic and disturbing stop.
[09:35:01]
That's a Circleville, Ohio, Police Department K-9 unit rolling up to the scene. After repeated orders from state troopers, the driver eventually steps out of the rig, his hands in the air as requested. A patrolman is heard asking the K-9 to not be released, though it's unclear if he could be heard by all officers on scene. That's when the K-9 is deployed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not release the dog with his hands up. Do not release the dog with his hands up. Do not release the dog with his hands up. Don't -- get the dog off of him!
SANDOVAL: After the K-9 takedown, an officer approaches, then quickly walks away, her hands covering her face as Rose screams in pain. The frustration audible in the voice of another state officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was I not loud enough?
SANDOVAL: After the dog is removed, officers move in to arrest Rose and administer first aid.
JADARRIUS ROSE: You just let a dog bite me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All you had to do was come to me.
ROSE: I was coming. All the guns pointing at me. How do you expect me to respect you if you've got a gun pointed at me. It's like 20 of y'all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All you had to do was stop, brother.
ROSE: I did stop.
SANDOVAL: A spokesperson for the Ohio State Highway Patrol tells CNN, as troopers were attempting to gain compliance by providing verbal commands to the suspect, the Circleville Police Department deployed their K-9, which resulted in the suspect being bitten. CNN has reached out to the Circleville Police Department for comment.
Police say Rose was take to a local hospital where he was treated and released before being taken to jail. His attorney declined to comment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Polo Sandoval reporting there. Polo, thank you.
John.
BERMAN: All right, thanks, Rahel.
Raging wildfires force thousands to flee, including tourists.
And, it is Barbie's world, and all of us, we are just living in it. Including "Oppenheimer."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:41:14]
SOLOMON: Now to some other stories we're following around the world.
The deputy commanders of the United Nations says that conversations have begun with North Korea over the U.S. soldier who crossed into the country last week. Private Travis King, who you see here, was on a tour of the demilitarized zone when he bolted across the border. He has not been seen or heard from since. The U.N. Command says that King's welfare is now the primary concern.
In Spain now a chaotic situation in the country's parliament. The country's ruling center left party lost its majority after calling a snap election, but none of the other parties won enough seats to form a majority government. So that means they are likely headed for a round of painful political negotiations as the various parties try to cobble together a ruling coalition.
And in China at least 11 people have died after a roof collapsed at a middle school gym. The girls volleyball team was training in the gym at the time and a preliminary investigation suggests that the collapse may have been caused by materials that were being stored on the roof. Authorities say that those in charge of the construction are being held in police custody.
John.
BERMAN: All right, this morning, thousands forced to flee devastating wildfires in Greece on the island of Rhodes, which is a popular tourist destination. New video shows scenes of destruction there. Twenty thousand people are scrambling to get off the island.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HELEN PICKERING, BRITISH TOURIST EVACUATED FROM RHODES ISLAND: It was chaos, absolutely. The surges towards, you know, the two or three bus that arrived and everyone screaming and shouting and crying because people couldn't even get on their flights yesterday and were desperate to get home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, all of this comes as Greece suffers through a brutal heat wave. A lot of Europe suffering through this.
Elinda Labropoulou is in Greece, not far from Athens.
What are you seeing there?
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, I'm in an area that now the fires have been put out. But you -- we're seeing the aftermath of the fire really. And, you know, it's immense devastation. A lot of homes have burned down. A lot of trees.
The main fires now are the ones in Rhodes, but there's also a fire on the island of Parfu (ph). And we understand that there's a new fire. It started yesterday on the island of Evia (ph). This is an area that burned down just two years ago.
So, you have to understand that Greece is very much like a tinderbox now. Basically we have fires all over the country. It's just a question of how quickly they're being put out.
The temperatures are extremely hot. We're going through a prolonged heat wave here of over 104 degrees Fahrenheit for days now. And these temperatures are likely to continue for at least the next few days.
The Greek prime minister has already said that, you know, Greece is at war with the fires. These are the words that he used. And he has promised to try and compensate those who have suffered the most. And this, of course, includes the people in islands like Rhodes. Rhodes is a very popular destination. One of Greece's most popular tourist destinations. Which means now with 1,000 of evacuations, a lot of the hoteleurs (ph), the restauranteurs and everybody else on the island is also going to suffer.
So far repatriations (ph) have been underway. A number of planes have been coming on just to bring people back home or to take tourists to other destinations to continue their holiday. The Greek authorities are pointing out that in their opinion procedures are being followed. That people have been safe. We have not heard anything about any injuries so far luckily, but a number of homes have burned and people have been forced to leave the island.
And this is how things stand at the moment, as we understand. You know, winds are continuing to blow. The night is going to be very difficult, especially on the island of Rhodes, where we've been hearing that there have been rekindlings in just - just minutes prior to now, John.
[09:45:04]
BERMAN: It has been so hot and so dry for so long. And they're going to have to endure several more days of this.
Elinda Labropoulou, thank you so much for that report. Appreciate it.
Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right, John, a 71-year-old man has died at Death Valley National Park. Officials say it is the second possible heat-related death at the park this month. The temperature at the time was around 121 degrees Fahrenheit. It's all part of a worldwide record-breaking heat wave. I mean we just heard what was happening in Greece. And in Arizona it is so hot that some people are getting serious burns from just touching the pavement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. KEVIN FOSTER, ARIZONA BURN CENTER DIRECTOR, VALLEYWISE HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER: The pavement is so hot that it only takes a fraction of a second to get a pretty deep burn. And to lay on a hot pavement or a hot surface for ten minutes, 20 minutes, a half an hour, an hour, that's full thickness burn, skin is completely destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now from Las Vegas, where the high today is expected to be 106 degrees.
Stephanie, good to see you.
I mean, is there any relief in sight? This has been weeks now.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, unfortunately, there is not. I mean you just look at some of these records that are being broken. And they're massive.
Here in Las Vegas, for example, it did not breach 100 degrees until the last day of June, which was the latest ever on record for that to happen. But since then it's been over 100 degrees with the average temperature above 110 for several of those days. And July is on track to be the hottest July on record.
So, you can see that these numbers are just going in the wrong direction. In Phoenix they're looking at the 25th day -- consecutive day over 110 degrees. And I was in Phoenix last week looking at what they're dealing with there and how they are handling this issue because one of the doctors told me that when the body gets to about 107 degrees, that's when you can start seeing symptoms of heatstroke fit into the body and that is when they have to get into the ER and really help them.
In fact, take a look at how Dr. Frank LeVecchio showed me how they work to immediately cool down the body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FRANK LEVECCHIO, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, VALLEYWISE HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER: Try to throw a little bit of ice, you know, on here, on the bottom, get a little bit on the bottom. And then when they get their body on here, we like to throw it all above them. So, what's going to happen then is the only thing showing is going to be their head. OK. That, in an ideal world. We also like to throw water on there. This has been shown to drop their temperature a degree almost every five minutes if done properly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And another one of the burn doctors there saying that the asphalt can get so hot that it will be about 180 degrees. He said it would just be just below boiling. So, people, if they're collapsing because of heatstroke or if they're homeless and they're hitting some of that hot asphalt, they're getting very severe burns. So, obviously, this is a concern here throughout the southwest.
And this heat, which is about 10 degrees, 15 degrees above normal, is now going to start shifting east. And so we're going to see more people in the center of the country starting to see these extreme heats being about 20 degrees above average.
But, obviously, this heat cycle that we're seeing is showing the difference here because of human-induced climate change. And that is why you're seeing some of these desert communities in particular looking to find ways to mitigate some of this heat moving forward and trying to find ways to figure out what they need to do. Maybe some of it is painting some of the ground white. All of these things they're looking to do because this does seem to be the new normal where each year does seem to get more and more extreme, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yes, hard to even fully appreciate. But you're right, Stephanie, you have to think with a heat wave like this lasting weeks, the type of stress that puts on someone's body day after day when you don't get relief.
Stephanie, before I let you go, we can see it's 6:48 where you are. What's the temperature looking like right now?
ELAM: Right now it's 86 degrees, which is actually pretty cool because when I got outside at 3:00 in the morning it was 91 degrees. So, that's the other problem, there's no relief overnight.
SOLOMON: Stephanie Elam, we appreciate you being there for us. Thank you.
John.
BERMAN: All right, the "Barbenheimer" movie release battle makes history. The incredible box office results proving that "Barbie" is a lot like a superhero. Better than a lot of superheroes lately, actually.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:53:15]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm coming with you. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you bring your roller blades?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I literally go nowhere without them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, so the "Barbenheimer" battle results are in. And, obviously, as you just saw, "Barbie" crushed the competition.
SOLOMON: Obviously. "Barbie" raked in a staggering $155 million this weekend as it faced off against "Oppenheimer." Now the biopic didn't do too bad. It did top $80 million in ticket sales. All in all this weekend was huge for the movie industry.
BERMAN: It really was unprecedented in many ways.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich - I'm so excited talking about "Barbie," as you can tell, I'm slurring my words. Vanessa Yurkevich is with us to talk about this important cinematic phenomenon.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Huge weekend. Huge. The fourth highest grossing weekend at U.S. box offices in history.
SOLOMON: Oh, wow.
YURKEVICH: "Barbie" raking in $155 million, as you said. "Oppenheimer," $80 million. So that's about $235 million in the opening weekend domestically. Add what it did abroad, over half a billion dollars in ticket sales.
And Barbie-heimer - or Barbenheimer, I've been saying it both ways, has really led the way on this. It wasn't about which movie you want to go see, it's which order you're going to see the movie. I'm still trying to figure out if "Barbie" is the palate cleanser before "Oppenheimer" or after "Oppenheimer."
But another historic first. Greta Gerwig, she now has the biggest domestic start for a female director. She basically took over for "Wonder Woman," which previously held that distinction.
But, you know, guys, this comes out against the backdrop of an industry that was really struggling during the pandemic. A lot of theaters closed. So, local movie theaters really loving this big blockbuster weekend.
And normally today we might hear from Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Cillian Murphy, but we cannot -
[09:55:05]
SOLOMON: Yes.
YURKEVICH: Because they are on strike, as well as the writers. So, they're probably toasting privately in their homes right now, but nothing on social media, no interviews. But sometimes just let the movies speak for themselves.
SOLOMON: Vanessa, what can we glean in terms of the audience tastes that this was so historic, as you pointed out, because there had been years, as you know, as business correspondents we've been talking about it for years, that maybe the way of the movie theater was done, and yet, after this weekend, it's looking like, maybe we just need to give them what they actually want.
YURKEVICH: Right. And they want something fresh and new. You know, "Barbie" has been around since 1959, but she's never appeared on the big --
BERMAN: Don't point to me when you say 1959, OK. I'm not that old.
YURKEVICH: All right, I'll point back there.
BERMAN: All right.
YURKEVICH: But we've never seen "Barbie" on the big screen. And a lot of people don't know the story of "Oppenheimer" and the atomic bomb. And so these were new, fresh takes for people. And I think folks were looking for something new and they loved the sort of double viewing that they had this weekend.
SOLOMON: Yes.
YURKEVICH: Over five hours of movie viewing. But, you know, hey, it's the weekend, maybe people got time for that.
BERMAN: Smart (INAUDIBLE).
SOLOMON: I want to see both. I have yet to see both, but -
YURKEVICH: Same, I haven't seen them either.
BERMAN: Me also.
Look, ii think it's smart, creative filmmaking, with characters that people haven't seen. Maybe not a sequel for once isn't a bad idea.
Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much.
YURKEVICH: Thank you.
SOLOMON: All right, coming up for us, Russia unleashing a barrage of attacks on Ukraine's grain supplies. What that could mean for other nations.
And a Suffolk County sheriff is sharing what he witnessed when he came face-to-face with the suspected Gilgo Beach murder.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
