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U.S. Marine Charged With Sexual Assault After 14-Year-Old Girl Found In Camp Pendleton Barracks; Secretary Of State Blinken Speaks By Phone With American Paul Whelan In Russian Prison; 3 Bills Targeting Trans Youth Now Law In NC; Entire City In Canada Ordered To Evacuate As Fires Rage; New Data: Covid Levels Up But Still Relatively Low. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 17, 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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[13:30:44]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: In southern California, a U.S. Marine is charged with sexual assault after a missing 14-year-old girl was found in the barracks at Camp Pendleton.

The girl had been missing just over two weeks when she was discovered on the base. Right now, military leaders at Camp Pendleton are convening to review evidence in that case.

CNN's Josh Campbell is following the story.

And, Josh, goodness, the age of this girl, the details, on base for two weeks. Walk us through the possible charges and what we're expecting from today's hearing.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, very serious accusations here. Now, the U.S. military obviously has its own judicial system and this unidentified Marine has been charged under the code pertaining to rape and sexual assault of a child.

As we look at those charges, we're talking about three counts of sexual assault of a child who has attained the age of 12 years old. Now, I won't go into the specific graphic details that were in this charging document but suffice to say it is graphic, indeed.

It's worth pointing out that if this Marine is actually convicted, he faces potentially 90 years in prison.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

CAMPBELL: Because each of those counts, what the military calls specifications, carries a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

And just to walk our viewers through this timeline, authorities say that on June 13th, this 14-year-old girl was reported missing by her grandmother. About two weeks passed.

It's unclear what the nature of the relationship was between this young girl and the Marine, whether it was romantic, whether this was a trafficking situation.

But this alleged conduct took place on June 27th. And the next day, June 28th, this 14-year-old is discovered inside the barracks at Camp Pendleton. Days later, that suspect is charged.

As you mentioned, Jim, at this hour, this command group in Camp Pendleton is meeting to determine whether this suspect will actually be court-martialed.

As we wait to see what happens there, it's worth pointing out that there are still very serious questions for the U.S. Marine Corps. Jim, you've been on numerous military installations. There are checkpoints. There are roving sentries patrolling the area.

So still a major question, how did a 14-year-old girl get into the military barracks? A very serious situation.

SCIUTTO: Yes, and exactly how long was she there?

Josh Campbell, thanks so much for covering.

Boris?

CAMPBELL: You bet.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: First on CNN, a source tells us that secretary of State Antony Blinken has spoken by phone with Paul Whelan. Remember, he's one of the Americans that the U.S. considers wrongfully detained in Russia.

Whelan has been held for more than four years and is being held at a remote prison camp.

CNN's Kylie Atwood helped break this new reporting.

Kylie, what can you tell us about that call from the secretary of state?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, we just had a State Department briefing here where the State Department deputy spokesperson said the secretary was able to hear directly from Paul about his condition. He wouldn't get into the details of what that condition actually is.

But it's hugely significant that an American, who is detained in a Russian prison camp, was able to speak on the phone with the secretary of state.

Of course, we have been told according to a source familiar with that call this is the second time that they have had a conversation.

But it comes at this pivotal moment when Paul Whelan has been wrongfully detained for more than four years. And of course, the U.S. continues to try and push for his release.

We're told that the primary messages from the secretary of state were twofold. First of all, to keep the faith and also that the U.S. government is doing everything that they can to secure Whelan's release.

Now, his brother, David Whelan, was able to speak to Paul about that phone call, said it was a long and frank conversation.

And here's what he said about the message that that phone call sent to the family and also to the Russians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WHELAN, BORTHER TO PAUL WHELAN: I think that Secretary Blinken has obviously sent a message, and that message is for Paul and for our family that the U.S. government is continuing to advocate for Paul and his release.

And I think it's also a message for the Kremlin that the U.S. government hasn't let up and, in fact, their lead foreign policy person is willing to call a prisoner, which is I think astound astounding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:34:54]

ATWOOD: Now, when it comes to the U.S. government's efforts to get Paul Whelan out of prison, we know that earlier this year, actually back in January, more than eight months ago, the U.S. put a substantial offer on the table with the Russians, according to sources familiar with those efforts.

The Russians haven't responded in a substantive way. But of course, U.S. officials are saying that is still a live offer. They still want Russia to pursue that offer they put on the table.

But as you know, Jim, it's only gotten more complicated since they offered that to the Russians, given that Evan Gershkovich, another American, that "Wall Street Journal" reporter, was also wrongfully detained in March of last year.

So U.S. officials are working to secure the release of both of those Americans in Russia right now.

SANCHEZ: Kylie Atwood, from the State Department, thanks so much.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: A political fight with huge implications for trans youth in North Carolina. Lawmakers are pushing through new laws over the governor's veto that touch on everything from health care to schools to sports. We're going to have a live report from North Carolina ahead.

And an entire city forced to pack up their belongings and leave. This as wildfires creep closer and closer in Canada. That's next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:38]

SCIUTTO: A trio of actions that will affect transgender youth are now law in North Carolina. This after the Republican legislative supermajority there overrode the governor's veto blocking or attempting to block those measures.

This means, right now in the state, gender-affirming care for minors is banned. There are restrictions on how gender identity can be discussed in schools. And transgender athletes are prohibited from competing on girls' sports teams.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is in Charlotte today.

Dianne, tell us what the reaction has been there to these laws.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim, supporters of this legislation are doing a victory lap as North Carolina joins a host of other states in enacting similar legislation.

But about a month and a half ago, when Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed these bills initially, he said they were, quote, "hurting vulnerable children and pushing political culture wars."

And look, much of what we heard on the floor last night as these veto override votes were being conducted, was echoed of that by Democrats.

The bill that LGBTQ organizations have said they're most concerned about is House bill 808, which effectively bans all gender-affirming care for minors, even if they have parental consent.

So we're talking about surgical procedures, puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

There are some limited, and we're talking extremely limited exceptions for children who may have certain disorders as well as children who began care before August 1st with parental consent and a doctor who deems it medically necessary for them to continue.

Republicans have said they are, quote, "allowing the state to take a cautious approach by limiting access to what they call life-altering procedures."

But look, Democrats and LGBTQ organizations have called the legislation cruel and unnecessary. They cited suicide and mental health statistics.

And we should point out that these types of care do vary by the age and goals of the recipient. And they're considered the standard of care by many mainstream medical organizations.

Now, sponsors of the bill H.B.-574, that bans transgender athletes from playing girls' and women's sports. We are talking about the middle school, high school, and college level sports. Look, those sponsors say that they are, quote, "protecting girls and

women, that they are leveling the playing field."

But look, Democrats and LGBT organizations again say that this is singling out a tiny fraction of the population. And as one lawmaker said, using a sledgehammer when a scalpel is probably more appropriate.

One Democratic lawmaker pointed out that since 2019, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has only approved two transgender girls to play in high school sports across the entire state. They say that it's simply singling out already vulnerable children.

The third bit of legislation, S.B.-479, is a bit more expansive. It's called according to the right, the sponsors there, the Parents' Bill of Rights.

Organizations have noted it's still going to likely disproportionately affect LGBTQ kids and their families. It requires parents to be notified if there's any pronoun or name changes.

It also bans instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality from kindergarten through fourth grade -- Jim?

SCIUTTO: Dianne Gallagher, sweeping legislation. Thanks so much.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching for at this hour.

A rare flesh-eating bacteria is being blamed for the deaths of three people in New York and Connecticut.

Now, two people died in Connecticut after swimming in two separate locations on the Long Island Sound. New York officials are still investigating whether a person who died in Suffolk County encountered the bacteria in New York waters or elsewhere.

Officials from both states are now advising people to take precautions before consuming raw oysters or being exposed to salty or brackish water.

Also, a stunning new prediction for Taylor Swift's Eras tour. The tour could gross more than $2 billion in North American ticket sales alone. That's according to August survey data provided exclusively to CNN by the research firm, Question Pro.

[13:44:55]

And a new hurricane just formed in the Pacific just south of the western U.S. Tropical Storm Hilary became a hurricane early this morning as it whipped up winds off the coast of Mexico.

Forecasters are warning that Hilary is rapidly growing stronger and could bring heavy rain to southern California and the southwest this weekend.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: An entire capital city now ordered to evacuate as wildfires rage in Canada. The National Weather Service warns the toxic smoke could spread to cover the entire state of Minnesota here in the U.S. today.

The smoke so heavy you could see it from space. Look at that picture there. More than 200 fires have already burned a large area of the Northwest Territories.

And as they creep toward the Canadian city of Yellowknife, officials are undertaking what they call the largest airlift in its history because many highways across the territory are closed.

CNN Meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

Jennifer, the images, they show the scope, the satellite images do, the video you're showing there, but also the images of that orange- colored foreboding sky as a result of the smoke as well.

Tell us the extent of this.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's really terrifying, Jim. And you know this is such a rural area, this is part of the Northwest Territories of Canada.

So when you tell someone to evacuate, there's really not a lot of choices on how to get out. A lot of the locations, the fire is on both sides of the road. So people are having trouble. It is a terrifying situation.

And all of that smoke not only extremely dangerous for the folks in Canada but it is coming down into the U.S., like we've seen periodically throughout the summer with other fires.

So here is Yellowknife. And you can see from the satellite imagery, and you've been showing that as well, all of the smoke. Poor air quality all over portions around the fire, which is in extreme northern sections.

And then just falling down to the south into the U.S. And so that's where we see those air quality alerts for portions of Minnesota.

Here's Yellowknife right there. And you can see all of the fires burning around. So you can see how people could get trapped in that region and trying to find a way out because we have so many fires. And more fires are igniting by the day.

We are going to see rounds of rain, wind around this region. So the rain definitely helps. If there are lightning strikes, that doesn't help.

And of course, the wind is something that is not going to be in favor for the firefighters as well. But the winds are going to stay at about 15 to 20 miles per hour with gusts a little bit higher all the way through Saturday -- Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes. And of course, smoke knows no borders as it comes this way as well.

Jennifer Gray, thanks so much.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Doctors are hoping that new tools could prevent a surge of respiratory illnesses in the fall. But will people embrace them as we face a new wave of Covid, flu and RSV? That and more still ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:52:33]

SANCHEZ: You'll remember, last year, we faced a triple threat, RSV, the flu and Covid-19. So as the new school year gets under way and we head into fall, public health officials say it's time to focus on these viruses again.

CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us now.

Sanjay, let's start with Covid-19. It seems like we all know someone who has it right now. Where do things stand? What are hospitalizations like/

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, first of all, just with regard to the number of cases out there, it's hard to know because there's not a lot of testing that's going on, Boris. And testing is not being required to be reported either. So it's harder to get a sense of the overall levels.

They do wastewater sort of analysis around the country to get a sort of picture of the country more broadly.

And that map gives you some idea. The dark ones are where there have been increases in the amount of wastewater samples. More Covid in the bright orange. Green is where it has gone down in some places. And yellow has more plateaued or sort of leveled.

So most of the country, a lot of the country has seen an increase overall in the amount of Covid.

But to your question, actually looking at hospital admissions, this is sort of a map, a trend line over the past several months, a couple of years, in fact, on how things have looked.

And compared to, for example, August of last year, while we go up, we are about a quarter of where we were last year.

So some good news, bad news. Bad news, it's going up. The good news is it's starting from a much lower level overall.

So got to keep an eye on it. As the weather gets cooler, as it gets drier, respiratory viruses, all of them, increase in transmission -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Sanjay, if you could, what is the latest guidance if you test positive for Covid-19? What should you do? It's been a long time since we reviewed it.

GUPTA: Yes, right. And some of the guidance has changed as well, probably, over the past several months.

First of all, if you are sick, no matter what, you should stay home. I think that even before the pandemic that was the advice and the recommendation. That holds true.

If you test positive, what the recommendation are now, is that for five days you should isolate.

[13:54:57]

Now one caveat there. Let's say you had symptoms and didn't test yourself until day two or three, the isolation period actually begins at the time you first have symptoms. So the day after you first develop symptoms is day one of isolation and so forth.

You don't have to test, but if you want to test, two tests in a row, negative tests in a row and you're not having any more symptoms, that can get you out of isolation.

No recommendations on mask wearing either at that point if you have those two negative tests.

It's a little confusing but the bottom-line advice, stay home if you are sick and think about sort of five days of isolation from the beginning of symptoms -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: And, Sanjay, what about vaccinations? What are they going to look like this fall?

GUPTA: You talk about this triple threat, and flu is something we talk about in every season, obviously Covid now and then add RSV into the mix.

Sort of look at it like this. For flu, before Halloween is when you should think about getting your vaccines.

Covid, a new Covid booster is expected sometime probably near the end of September. That new booster will better target some of the more dominant strains.

The most dominant strain is known as EG-5. This booster doesn't specifically target that but it targets another strain, which is pretty similar, so it should offer you some protection.

With regard to RSV, if you're high risk for some reason, you have to talk to your doctor about that. But there's certain populations for which RSV is going to be recommended specifically to people who are high risk, for example, because of age or because of some preexisting condition. SANCHEZ: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, always appreciate the advice. Thanks so

much.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Jim?

SCIUTTO: A growing sense of dread with more than 1,000 people still missing on Maui. How high could the death toll go? We will have an update.

Do stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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