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Russia Strikes Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure In Overnight Attack; U.S. Honors 13 Servicemembers Killed On Third Anniversary Of Kabul Airport Attack; Mother Of Soldier Killed In Kabul Airport Attack Speaks To CNN; SpaceX Crew Aiming For First-Ever Commercial Spacewalk; NASA: Starliner Astronauts Won't Return To Earth Until February; Fauci Recovering After Hospitalization for West Nike Virus; High Mosquito- Borne Encephalitis Risk Leads To Park Closures In MA. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 26, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But also, of course, for Ukraine's incursion into Russian territory.

The Ukrainians obviously completely angry about what happened. In fact, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after given an update on the situation of Ukraine's incursion into Kursk, saying that was still moving forward, also said that there will be an answer by the Ukrainians for this massive missile attack.

And of course, one of the things that we know, it's getting dark and Kyiv right now. Of course, people very much bracing for what could be another night of possibly more missile attacks -- Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for the update.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Today marks three years since the deadly Abby Gate terror attack that killed 13 American servicemembers in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military was securing Kabul's airport perimeter shortly after the Taliban regained control of the capital, helping Americans and eligible Afghans flee during the chaotic withdrawal of all American forces when an ISIS-K suicide bomber detonated a bomb. The blast also killed about 170 Afghans.

Today, President Biden released a written statement calling the servicemembers who lost their lives, "patriots in the highest sense."

And former President Trump laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the Abbey-Gate 13.

He also laid flowers at the grave of Staff Sergeant Ryan Christian Knauss, who is the only member of the Army killed during the attack.

And Trump also spoke on the phone with my next guest, as he did that, Ryan's mom, Paula Knauss Selph.

Paula, thank you so much for joining us today, as you are remembering your son.

And I do want to talk with you about your search for accountability over the bombing.

First, though, I do want to just talk to you about your son because you've spoken so beautifully about the kind of person and soldier that Ryan was. And I was just hoping that you could tell us a little bit about him.

PAULA KNAUSS SELPH, MOTHER OF ARMY STAFF SERGEANT RYAN CHRISTIAN KNAUSS: First of all, I just want you to know that I miss him so much. And his smile was contagious. His ability to think through situations was remarkable.

He was truly gifted at what he was doing. And we're so proud of him for what he was willing to do for our country.

KEILAR: Yes. You noted that he volunteered for that mission. He didn't have to go on it.

And I do want to note, you're speaking to us from Fort Liberty in North Carolina because the base held its annual memorial workout in honor of Ryan today. So that's why you we're not at Arlington Cemetery and you spoke with President Trump on the phone.

Do you mind telling us what he said to you when he called you?

SELPH: So this morning, I was with the troops in Fort Liberty. I'm making my way right now to D.C. to spend some time with Ryan tomorrow.

And what Trump said to me was, is that he was sorry. It was so sorry that all this happened and that it should have never happened. And he's right. It should have never happened.

KEILAR: And, Paula, I know, for you and many of the other family members of these 13 men and women, family members you've become very close to, that you want accountability. What would that look like to you?

SELPH: Well, it would be great if the administration would start out by saying, we made a mistake, we made several mistakes, we did not make the best decisions. Instead, this administration is trying to sweep it under the rug.

And that's absolutely not going to work for this nation, nor this world who watched this live on television. You can't deny what we all knew and saw.

KEILAR: Vice President Harris is now running to be commander-in-chief. I wonder, do you have a message for her?

SELPH: You are with the whole administration in all of this. You hold the same accountability as President Biden does. You were right beside of him in making these decisions.

And if you say you're not, then what kind of leader are you going to be in the future if you didn't have the same decision-making with him on this?

KEILAR: You know, Paula, I wanted to ask you because I've seen now many presidents who struggle to engage with Gold Star families who are angry with them. And yet, these are men and women, these servicemembers who died in the service of their country on orders from their commander-in-chief.

How do you think that a president should engage with and honor the sacrifice of families like yours, even when, especially when they don't see eye-to-eye with you?

[14:35:07]

SELPH: Well, when I was eye-to-eye with President Biden in the White House Oval Office at his invitation, it would have been great if he would lean in and gave me a hug at the moment.

I was weeping in front of him but he didn't. and so that marks a character issue. And that's what I really am looking for, is better character in the office for our president.

KEILAR: I want to ask you, because there's been a new development when it comes to this congressional investigation into the withdrawal jury. Jerry Dunleavy, who was a senior investigator for Republicans on the House committee, resigned in protest.

He said the committee has failed to interview a number of witnesses from the military and State Department, from the Biden administration, and has helped a number of witnesses avoid accountability.

I know that this is a committee that has listened to family like yours. You were able to testify before them.

But this is a critic of the Biden withdrawal, who is saying that Republicans are not doing enough. Do you think that the committee is doing everything it should?

SELPH: Well, short of having our president walk away from the office prior to his finish of these four years, I think that we have done quite a job of at least making Americans aware of what they already actually knew, and that is the failure of this administration.

KEILAR: You want policy changes. That's one of the three things that you talked about wanting before Congress. What kind of policies are you looking to change? Whether this is -- this incoming administration is Republican or Democrat?

SELPH: Well, how about we shut down the border around the United States of America? How about we vet those who are coming in illegally or being welcomed in by this administration that are illegal immigrants? That we have no idea -- they have not been vetted. And we are now at a crisis in our country, from crime, from things

that are happening that makes people fearful in our own nation's borders.

How about we start with our nation first? Giving our nation's safety before we run off and do any other foreign policies right now. How about we protect the United States of America?

KEILAR: Paula Knauss Selph, thank you so much for being with us. We do really appreciate your time today. And we're thinking of you, we're thinking of your family, and we're thinking of Ryan. Thank you.

SELPH: Yes, ma'am.

KEILAR: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:39]

SANCHEZ: Right now, four civilian space travelers are getting ready for a daring mission. And if all goes according to plan, the SpaceX crew members will reach a higher orbit than any human has gone since the Apollo program. And they would become the first civilians to conduct a spacewalk.

KEILAR: That's pretty cool.

Their rocket is set to blast off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center early tomorrow on a mission known as Polaris Dawn.

Don't want to be on that one?

SANCHEZ: Yes, that'd be a great movie.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: That's amazing.

OK, CNN is going to be broadcasting it. We're hoping this is super cool to watch.

Let's bring in former NASA astronaut, Garrett Reisman, who now serves as a SpaceX consultant. We should note he helped lead the development of Crew Dragon, the first SpaceX civilian mission to space.

OK, Garrett, two of the crew members, they are venturing out on a spacewalk? This is crazy. What is this going to look like?

GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes, that's a little crazy, but -- but it's very exciting.

And I really want to start by giving praise to Jared Isaac, the man who put this mission together and is the commander of the mission. It was really his idea to push SpaceX to expand their capabilities. And that includes doing spacewalks, something SpaceX has never done before. And it's going to be really exciting. Anytime you do something like this for the first time, it's really exciting to watch.

SANCHEZ: It's also about who is doing it, right? These are civilians doing a spacewalk. So it's going to be historic for a number of reasons.

But there's risk involved, right? Walk us through those.

REISMAN: Yes. And two of the civilians on this flight are people I worked with at SpaceX and know very well. So it's a little bit of a nail-biter for me to be honest with you. It is risky. Anytime you do something like this for the first time, it is a bit risky.

But it's -- but it is super exciting and I'm so happy for them. I know how excited they are to be a part of this.

It's really very important because it's a step that SpaceX eventually needs to take if we are going to have people living on the moon and on Mars in a sustainable fashion going forward. So it's great to see him taking this step.

KEILAR: Yes, we get so excited, but this is serious business and it's always important to remember that. Because this is the frontier, right?

I do, Garret, want to ask you about these two astronauts who are stuck in space. We covered it at the beginning. They were supposed to be there for a little over a week. It's now been more than two months, going on three.

[14:45:08]

And NASA says that they're going to be stuck on the space station until February when a SpaceX rocket will bring them home. What do you think led NASA to make this decision?

REISMAN: Well, it's just that the uncertainty in the results. They don't know exactly what is the root cause of the problem up there.

I -- look, I would put really good money -- I would bet good money that when Starliner undocks the Boeing capsule, it will come home and everything will be fine.

But I'm not really willing to bet my life on it, unless I had to. And that's the thing, they don't. They don't have to, right? They can wait. They can have another vehicle coming up, the SpaceX Dragon, and they can just wait and take that home.

And, yes, it's going to -- they're going to have to stay up there another six months, and that's a long time. They weren't anticipating that. That's not easy. It's not easy on the families.

But, you know, Suni -- I know Suni very well. She's got a very cheerful and very positive disposition. She'll be -- she'll be just fine up there. I'm not so sure about Butch, though.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Garrett, you essentially said that this isn't really a referendum on the Starliner, that you think it would come back in pretty good shape.

I'm wondering what impact this sort of snafu might have on Boeing's space program long term.

REISMAN: Well, they've got to fix this technical problem. So they don't want to go through this again. They have to by doing a lot of testing on the ground.

And when the capsule comes back, and they review all the data for the mission, they have to look very carefully to see what are the missing pieces of information that need them -- that they need to be confident to do this again with people.

And what additional testing they might have to do before they're willing to do that.

But there will be a path forward. This is a technical problem that engineers can solve. And I'm confident that Boeing will be there, along with SpaceX, in the future.

Because NASA really needs to have two -- actually, this whole incident shows exactly why it's important for NASA to have two different options to get people up and down to the space station.

SANCHEZ: Garrett, thanks so much for sharing your expertise with us.

"Polaris Dawn" premieres tomorrow --

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: -- right here on CNN.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: We're in Florida watching it.

Thanks, Garrett.

REISMAN: Thanks, Boris.

Thanks, Brianna.

Always fun.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, a growing mosquito-borne threat causing problems across parts of the northeast. Health official sounding the alarm over for a pair of potentially deadly viruses, one of them hitting one of the nation's top health officials. What you need to know, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:04]

KEILAR: Right now, Dr. Anthony Fauci is recovering at home after being hospitalized with a case of West Nike Virus. The former director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is expected to make a full recovery.

His infection highlights, though, the growing concern about mosquito- borne illness, which have been reported across dozens of states.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard is with us now to talk about this.

Jacqueline, exactly how common is the West Nike Virus in the U.S. right now?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Brianna, we know that around this time of year, August and September, is when we see the highest levels of this viral activity.

And it's estimated that there are about a few thousand cases reported each year. So far, this year, there have been more than 200 cases reported across 33 states, as you see on this map.

And West Nile Virus is the most common mosquito-borne disease here in the United States. Symptoms can include headache, fever, body aches. We know that Dr. Fouchier reportedly had said that he felt very fatigued when he was hospitalized with this virus.

And while there is no specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for this, we do know that the symptoms can be alleviated with rest, fluids and pain medications in most cases -- Brianna?

KEILAR: OK. And then there's another mosquito-borne disease -- which I had to rehearse the name in the commercial break. It's called Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

This is actually --

HOWARD: That's right.

KEILAR: I know. That's hard to say.

But it's led to some park closures in Massachusetts. Tell us about this one and how worried folks should be.

HOWARD: That's right, Brianna. This is in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they have seen an increased risk of this.

Now, Triple E is not as common as the West Nike Virus. An estimated 11 human cases are reported each year here in the United States.

And while many people don't develop symptoms, when they do, this virus can cause fever, body aches, joint pain and, in some cases, neurologic disease. You may have inflammation of the brain in some cases.

So that's why this is something that health officials are watching closely, particularly in Massachusetts.

But when it comes to Triple E or West Nike Virus, Brianna, these are all good reminders that mosquitoes, they are some of the deadliest animals in the world because they spread diseases like this through mosquito bites.

And that's why it's so important to try to avoid mosquito bites by wearing repellants, wearing loose-fitting clothing. Make sure your window screens are in place so mosquitoes do not fly indoors.

And if you do have a mosquito bite and, if a few days later, you develop a fever or other symptoms, definitely talk to your doctor because you just want to make sure you're staying on top of things, especially around this time of year -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Yes, a good reminder. Waiting for that first freeze, I'll tell you that.

[14:55:00]

Jacqueline Howard, thank you for the report.

And coming up, new drama surrounding the next presidential debate, with both sides arguing about the rules, including whether microphones will be muted.

CNN NEWS CENTRAL continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:08]

SANCHEZ: "Is this thing on?" That's the question at the center --