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One Florida Man Rescued After Being Stranded at Sea for More Than 30 Hours; Interview with Jacksonville Sector U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Nick Barrow; Man Stranded 12 Miles Off Florida Shore Rescued by Coast Guard; "Of course" Trump Lost 2020 Election, Says DeSantis; GOP Voters More Interested in "Law & Order" Than Fighting "Wokeness" According to New York Times Poll; 2 Helicopters Collision Left 3 Dead While Battling Fires in California. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired August 07, 2023 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: This morning, a Florida man is back home and recovering after fighting to stay alive as his waterlogged boat drifted out to sea in shark-infested waters. Coast guard crews spotted Charles Gregory, 12 miles offshore where they were able to rescue him.
CNN's Carlos Suarez joins us now with the details here. What happened to this guy?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, talk about an incredible story that this 25-year-old is going to share with family, friends, and loved ones. John, as you mentioned, that rescue played off -- played out, rather, about 12 miles off the coast of St. Augustine. Now, according to the coast guard, 25-year-old Charles Gergory went fishing early Friday morning on aboard this 12-foot boat, this jon boat, it's a pretty lightweight and flat-bottomed vessel, we're told.
And now, according to his father, at some point early on in that fishing trip, that boat is hit by a wave, that wave causes boat to start taking on water. And in that process, well we're told that Gregory lost his cellphone, he lost his life vest, and that he barely was able to hold on to this boat. We're told that at one point, Gregory decides to remove the motor of the boat all in an effort to keep it afloat, and then spends the next 35 hours hoping that someone will rescue him.
Now, video from the coast guard shows the moment that he was rescued. You can see that Gregory is on that boat. It's dipping in and out of the ocean there. We're told that Gregory had seen some sharks earlier in the day. He'd been stung by jellyfish. And according to his father, the worst of this entire ordeal took place at night because Gregory, he couldn't see anything around him. He was cold. He was wet. Apparently, it was very windy out there. And so, he wasn't quite sure if and when someone would come out to rescue him.
In fact, we're told that at one point, Gregory took off his swimming shorts all in an effort to try to flag down some nearby boat, as well as an airplane. Now, Gregory's father talked to CNN on Sunday, and he told us that his son was doing OK. But that, "He basically just struggled to stay alive for about 35 hours in the ocean." He lost his throw cushion and life jacket, his cellphone. All the stuff that he got on his boat to protect him. But he told us that at the end of the day, the whole moral of the story is, "Don't ever give up."
We're told that the coast guard eventually spotted him from an airplane, they got a boat out to him, they brought him back to shore. And that Gregory, this morning, is recovering. He's being treated for some severe sunburns, as well as some dehydration. But again, John, he has quite the story to tell after spending about 35 hours off the coast of St. Augustine.
BERMAN: I get this whole this much better now. That's a really tiny boat. I mean, that is not the type of boat you want you want to be 12 miles out to sea in, stuck for 35 hours in shark infested hours. You need a bigger boat if you're going to be doing that. Carlos Suarez, thank you for explaining this so well.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Let's talk more about this rescue and how this man survived. Joining us now is Commander Nick Barrow, he's the rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard Sector Jacksonvile.
[10:35:00]
Commander, thanks so much. We're going to continue to play this video that you all at coast guard put out of this what this rescue, what you saw, what your crew saw when they were able to locate Mr. Gregory. Can you walk us through what happened, how you were able to locate him given that he didn't have anything on him. He didn't -- that he hoped to have in order to have any kind of communication?
CMDR. NICK BARROW, U.S. COAST GUARD, JACKSONVILLE SECTOR: Yes, thanks for having me this morning. Really a wonderful outcome in this case and it really points to the just fantastic interagency coordination and partnership with the local emergency responders in St. Augustine as well. From search planning to search execution, to rescue and recovery. Definitely a dire situation for Charlie, and super happy to have found him when we did.
BOLDUAN: How did he stay alive in those waters for so long?
BARROW: Well, we know he was out there for quite some time. And as mentioned before, this is definitely a very small vessel to be that far offshore. That's not where he intended to be, but that is where he ended up, unfortunately. Search areas do not get smaller with time. And as we move through the day on Saturday, you know, we recognized that this was a growing dire situation and an offshore case having not located Charlie or the boat in the initial priority search a little closer to shore, inside the inlet where he was known to operate.
So, I'm sure just a lot of, you know, hoping and staying confident on scene for him to just push through the night. I'm sure it was a scary situation for I him. But very happy again that we were able to see the outcome. We were really a testament to all of the teamwork and hard work that went into this case.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. I mean, you are coordinating this as you had the crews out there searching for him. Do -- have you heard from any of the crew members of what he said when they eventually were able to finally pull him out of the water?
BARROW: I have. I was fortunate enough to be in St. Augustine at the boat ramp when our crews brought him back to turn him over to the emergency medical services on Saturday morning, so I was able to check in with our crews. And, you know, he -- again, he got into a pretty bad situation. He did not intend to be at sea, but that's where he ended up. And fortunately, enough, as mentioned before, he capsized and lost his cellphone and what limited safety gear he had on board -- overboard.
But, you know, he made the decision to stay with the boat, ride the boat and I think that that was a very important factor in us being able to ultimately find him with a C-130 which initially found him by a radar, and then was able to vectored in close -- more close -- closely to acquire him with camera and then a visual contact. And we had boats operating in the area as well on different search patterns, so we were able to quickly divert boats out to him and recover him, and get him to shore very quickly.
So, the system really worked in this case. And, you know, again just such a strong team effort between the coast guard and St. John's and St. Augustine and Florida Fish and Wildlife. A huge team effort, and I think that really made the difference in this case.
BOLDUAN: I mean, absolutely. I can only imagine how thankful Charlie is. His father speaking to CNN saying, you know, the moral of the story is, don't ever give up. But I think also moral of the story is also, be prepared for the worst even if you're not planning to be out at sea. I can only imagine, I had a jon boat as a kid. I can only imagine how terrifying it would be in a jon boat out 12 miles out.
Commander, thank you very much for coming on. And thanks to all of your crews for everything the coast guard does. Thank you.
Omar.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it's a top talking point for some of the 2024 Republican candidates. But the war on woke isn't quite landing with their voters according to a new poll. So, what is their concern? We'll discuss.
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JIMENEZ: Now, to the race for 2024, Republican Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis is going against Trump's false election fraud claims this morning. The Florida governor telling NBC this.
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DASHA BURNS, NBC NEWS REPORTER: Yes or no, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
REP. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoever puts their hand on the bible on January 20th, every four years, is the winner.
BURNS: OK. But respectfully, you did not clearly answer that question, and if you can't give a yes or no --
DESANTIS: Because.
BURNS: -- on whether or not Trump lost, then how can --
DESANTIS: Well, of course -- no, of course he lost.
BURNS: Trump lost the 2020 election --
DESANTIS: Of course.
BURNS: OK.
DESANTIS: Joe Biden is the president.
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JIMENEZ: But DeSantis might have something else to worry about. A New York Times, Sienna College poll shows Republican voters are more interested in law and order than battling wokeness, which could be an issue for DeSantis who's made his battles with his woke schools and corporation central to his campaign.
So, let's talk about it all. CNN Political Director David Chalian joins us now. David, good to see you as always. But -- and I want to start on that --
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Omar.
JIMENEZ: -- latter point. That if a large part of your platform has been anti-woke vote with schools and corporations, and now it's not polling that well. How do you pivot or does he?
[10:45:00]
CHALIAN: Yes, I'm not -- it's also a bit of a top thing to pull, right? Because I think --
JIMENEZ: Yes.
CHALIAN: -- woke means different things to different people. And you're giving a specific choice to people about this or law and order, which is obviously also very popular, especially among Republicans. I would be surprised if we're going to see Ron DeSantis just toss overboard his whole, sort of, you know, Florida is where woke comes to die. Although, seeing these poll numbers, he certainly may layer in some other messaging there as well. But I would be surprised if the take away here is that he's going to end that.
He -- there is a slice of the Republican primary electorate that responds pretty robustly to those issues. The -- and a lot of the things get thrown in there. As you noted, education issues, issues dealing with transpeople, and equal rights, and where the right has been on that.
So, it's a large bucket. And we hear a ton of candidates beyond just Ron DeSantis, sort of, playing in that space. No doubt, immigration, crime, law and order, the economy, inflation. Those are other issues that Republican candidates are playing up on the campaign trail as well.
JIMENEZ: And, David, someone who is pulling well in raking in money, as he has done this whole is Former President Trump. And, of course, we're still waiting on a potential fourth indictment out of Georgia. And I want to play to that last point a little of what Trump said over the weekend in Alabama. Take a listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls. We need one more indictment to close out this election. One more indictment and this election is closed out. Nobody has even a chance.
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JIMENEZ: Now, obviously, it's a campaign rally. But is he right? I mean, how do other candidates outraise him if he is making money off of being indicted?
CHALIAN: Yes. Well, he's also using a lot of that money he's raising to pay for the legal bills --
JIMENEZ: Exactly. Yes.
CHALIAN: -- instead of necessarily advancing his campaign cause, Omar. But Donald Trump is doing here a classic Donald Trump move, right? Take his grievances and use that as a way to fortify support among his most loyal supporters. And that's what each one of these indictments has done. He's been able to use it as a rallying cry and his supporters have come and, sort of, taken heed of that. They have answered that call for him, and we do see that in the polling.
You also noted, Donald Trump very often on the campaign trail, Omar, says, they're not just coming for me, they're coming for me, I'm standing in the way of them coming for you. He tries to connect it to the voters, in some way, even though these are uniquely his legal challenges.
JIMENEZ: Of course, he has branded himself as the defense of American electorate, at least for his voters. And that if this could happen to him, it could happen to you. And we'll see how it all plays out at this campaign moves forward. David Chalian, thank you as always.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, two helicopters collide in mid-air as they're trying to combat wildfires. And federal authorities are now investigating the cause in this deadly crash. That's next.
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[10:50:00]
BOLDUAN: Federal investigators are working now to try to determine what caused two firefighting helicopters to collide midair in Southern California. Three people were killed in this.
CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now. She's got more on this. Camila, tell us what is known so far as to what has happened. It's clearly, they are investigating the cause.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate. Yes, it's two helicopters. One is an observer helicopter. The another is the one that does the water run retardant drops. And we're told they were making progress when the two collided. They were working on the Broadway Fire, this was around 6:00 p.m. Sunday night. And it was a fire that started as a structure fire, but then it spread out to the vegetation and it became a wild land fire.
Officials saying that, yes, they were working on this three-acre fire when the two helicopters crashed. Thankfully, one of the helicopters, the observer helicopter was able to land safely, the other did not. And so, it caused the death of three people. This is the first three deaths in the 2023 fire season here in California. It was a pilot, a division chief, and the captain. Here is what the regional chief is saying about these three members of their team.
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DAVID FULCHER, CALFIRE SOUTHERN REGION CHIEF: We have lost three great individuals, three fathers, three husbands, three friends. And we want to tell everyone, well, the sacrifice should not be in vain.
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BERNAL: And the chief is saying that everyone should be thinking about those families because, of course, they are grieving the loss of their own. The people that put their lives on the line. And as you mentioned, NTSB is investigating so we'll have to see what they say is the exact cause of the crash. Kate.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Camila, thank you very much for that update.
John.
BERMAN: At least three people are dead and several others injured after a charter bus carrying dozens of passengers collided with a car and flipped over. This is about 100 miles west of Philadelphia. The bus was carrying up to 50 people at the time of the crash.
[10:55:00]
In Texas, at least one factory worker was injured after a fire broke out at a Sherwin Williams paint manufacturing facility, leading to a series of explosions.
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BERMAN: The fire has been put out, and work at the plant has been suspended as they investigate the cause.
"Barbie" is making history, raking in $1 billion at the box office just three weeks after premiering. That makes Director Greta Gerwig the first solo female director to ever reach that milestone. Warner Brothers says, no film in the studios 100-year history has sold so many tickets so fast. "Barbie" and "CNN News Central", the two tent poles for this corporation.
JIMENEZ: Exactly. By the way, I was part of those tickets selling fast and I have no regrets.
Now, we've got a lot coming -- lot to cover over the course of this show. Still coming up, an assassination plot is foiled in Ukraine. What we're learning about one woman's alleged plan to take out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That's next.
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