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WAPO Says Pentagon Deletes Webpage Honoring Native American War Hero; Measles Cases Rise to 321 in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma; Astronauts Hours from Splashdown after 9-Month Delay in Space. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 18, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New today, President Trump's ongoing DEI crackdown has now led to some history being erased online yet again. Take a look at this iconic photo, which shows Marines, including Native American Ira Hayes on the far left, raising the American flag over Iwo Jima. According to the Washington Post, the Defense Department's website used to have a dedicated webpage, which you see here, that was solely celebrating Hayes and his heritage, but that tribute was taken down.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Post is also reporting that multiple articles about the Navajo Code Talkers, who were critical to America's victory at Iwo Jima, were also removed.

Joining us now is Zonnie Gorman. She is a historian whose father, Carl Gorman, was a Navajo Code Talker during World War II.

Zonnie, thank you so much for being with us. What's your reaction to this report?

ZONNIE GORMAN, HISTORIAN, FATHER WAS NAVAJO CODE TALKER DURING WORLD WAR II: I am still in disbelief, quite frankly. It's it's unbelievable. I'm still trying to figure out how to put a lot of what I'm feeling into words.

KEILAR: Yes, it's that it's such an important part of history.

[15:35:00]

I will just mention, Zonnie, that I recently just happened to read a book to my eight year old about your dad and other Navajo Code Talkers who were so instrumental in what they did and their code was never broken. It was really amazing the work they did.

And the Post is noting that while some of the articles, including that one we mentioned about Hayes, was taken down on the Defense Department website, some of these still exist online on websites or social media accounts for the individual branches of the military.

But why is that so important to you and in your view that the DOD website continue to honor these heroes as they have before? GORMAN: Well, I think it's very important that that, you know, it's history, it's, it's, it's something that we should definitely keep up. I feel for the DOD, number one, just to mention this, because they're stuck between a rock and a hard place and they do have to make some decisions. But I think that, you know, what they did really should not have happened.

The story is extremely important. You know, the Navajo Code Talkers were vital, were critical in helping to win World War II. You know, growing up as the daughter of a Code Talker with these men all my life, when I was younger, we would go to a lot of different events, especially in Washington, D.C., especially back in the 1970s and '80s. And to to watch high ranking officials, commandants of the Marine Corps, other high ranking military men who would literally cry when they talked about the Navajo Code Talkers and the respect that they showed these men over the years has just been amazing. And to have that just disregarded is unconscionable.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what your message is to the Trump administration and the Defense Department as they attempt to dismantle what they describe as DEI.

GORMAN: What is my response to the Trump administration? You know, we are still here and we will continue to be here. And our history has been attempted to be erased for -- over and over and over again. And this is one more example of that. However, we will stand strong and we will continue to be here.

SANCHEZ: Zonnie Gorman, we're grateful that you shared some of your afternoon with us. Thanks so much for joining us.

GORMAN: You're welcome. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: When we come back, an update on the growing measles outbreak. There are now more than 300 confirmed cases across three states. We have the details ahead.

[15:40:00]

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SANCHEZ: We have some new numbers to share with you in the ongoing multistate measles outbreak. The total number of cases for Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma has climbed to 321. That's 25 more infections since just Friday's update.

Most of the patients are either unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. The bulk of these cases are still in Texas, where the outbreak began. Let's get the latest from CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell. Meg, what more are you learning?

MEG TIRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, we know that this outbreak began in the West Texas area. And Texas now itself is saying that there are 279 cases in those counties, including 36 hospitalizations. And, of course, that one death of the school-aged child. In New Mexico, we're up to 38 cases. And now we learned today from Oklahoma, they've had an additional two cases. So, now they're up to four. And what Oklahoma said is that those two additional cases didn't have exposure to the previous Oklahoma cases, but exposure to the Texas and New Mexico cases.

So, we are seeing these states that are close together, you know, exporting more cases to other states. And in the case of the two folks in Oklahoma, state health officials are warning that they went to places, including some big box stores, where they could have exposed other people.

So, we're going to be keeping a close eye, Boris, on what's happening in Oklahoma, as well as, of course, what's going on in Texas and New Mexico.

SANCHEZ: And to the point about Texas, we did get an update from health officials there. What are they saying about what stage we're in with this outbreak?

TIRELL: Yes, Boris, if you look at the trajectory of this outbreak in just Texas alone, you know, this started at the end of January. And we are still seeing cases climbing. We get reports every Tuesday and Friday. And they're growing by 20 to 30 cases in each update.

We heard from Texas health officials today that they expect this to be a, quote, large outbreak. We are still in the increasing phase of it, they noted. And one of them said it could potentially last at least a year in order to get this under control. And that's a really important metric, you know, for a number of reasons, Boris. But we eliminated measles in the United States in the year 2000, which means at least a year with no sustained transmission of measles.

So if this did last 12 months, we would lose that elimination status of measles in the United States.

SANCHEZ: Yikes, a telling sign. Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for that.

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore saying goodbye to the International Space Station. You see them there in white waving goodbye, headed home after spending almost 10 months in space when they plan to be there for about a week. The latest on the mission, bringing them back home next.

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KEILAR: We're about an hour from the most dangerous part of the return to Earth for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They finally left the International Space Station early this morning after a nine- month delay that was triggered by problems with the initial spacecraft that brought them to the ISS, that Boeing Starliner. And Williams and Wilmore are now traveling back on board the Crew Dragon Freedom capsule with two others. And the crew is nearing re-entry. This is the riskiest phase of any trip back from space.

SANCHEZ: Yes, listen to this.

[15:50:00]

The spacecraft exterior hits more than 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit, moving 22 times the speed of sound. The capsule then is expected to splash down off the coast of Florida just before 6:00 p.m. Eastern. And this is the culmination of a 286-day odyssey for Williams and Wilmore when it was supposed to have just been eight days. Now the duo has completed more than 4,500 orbits of the Earth, traveling more than 121 million miles.

Joining us now is retired Air Force Colonel Terry Virts, a former NASA astronaut. Sir, thank you so much for being with us. Obviously, the astronauts are now just a bit over an hour from re-entry. I wonder, listening to those stats, 22 times the speed of sound, extremely hot outside, what goes through your mind when you're going through re- entry?

COL. TERRY VIRTS JR. (RET.), FORMER ASTRONAUT WHO SPENT 213 DAYS IN SPACE OVER CAREER: Well, in a capsule, it's very different than in the space shuttle. In the space shuttle, it was more like an airliner landing. It was pretty gentle, a nice Air Force touchdown.

The capsule was very violent. When the parachute comes out, you tumble and spin. There's a lot more g-force.

And I remember there was this one moment on my last flight landing in Kazakhstan with the Russians. We were flying over Africa, and I looked out the window. And, man, the ground was flying by, because normally we were up at, you know, hundreds of miles away from Earth. But when you come back, you're a lot closer to Earth going the same speed. And I just remember this, seeing, like, it was Eastern Africa, the Sudan, Ethiopia area. I was like, we are moving really fast, because you could see it once you got a little bit lower.

KEILAR: Like, you almost feel like you're moving too fast at that point.

VIRTS: It was, you know, it's just like when you're in an airliner. You don't realize how fast you are, because you're up at 30,000 feet. Well, in an F-16, when I was a fighter pilot, if you're at 100 feet going the same speed, you realize how fast you're going.

And it was something that, you know, you just hadn't realized. I remember on my first launch on the shuttle, we were still climbing as we went over to Europe. But I looked out, and I could see the Alps flying by. And I thought, those are big. I've been there. Those are big mountains. It takes hours to drive, and it's only taken us a few seconds to go from peak to peak. So it's not unless you're launching or landing that you realize just how fast you're going.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder, while they've been in space, Suni Williams became commander of the ISS, a position that you once held. What does that job entail? VIRTS: Yes, being space station commander was great. It was a huge honor for me. But it's in some ways, you know, when you're an airline pilot, you're the aircraft commander. But air traffic control tells you where to go, what to do. So if you have an emergency, you tell them what you're doing. But other than that, other people are telling you.

So when you're the space station commander, there's 15 different nations. You know, there's NASA. There's Europe. There's Japan. There's Russia. Everybody has, you know, everybody's in the kitchen. There's not just one chef in the kitchen. So it's in part, it's herding cats.

I used to give advice to other astronauts when they were, you know, becoming commanders. I'd say, look, the best thing you can be is a little bit lazy. Because if you need everything to be exactly perfect, you're going to go nuts. And you're going to make everybody else nuts. So be a little flexible. Pick your hills to die on. Because you can't have everything your way. Because it's a giant bureaucracy.

But it was a huge honor. And a lot, you know, thousands of people on Earth motivated to make the mission successful.

KEILAR: Yes, don't be too much of a perfectionist here. OK, so they're going to do this, as you describe it, your word, violent kind of process of reentry. Splashdown. Then they will head to Houston, where they get reacclimated.

Can you tell us how that works? What is that like? What happens right after they're helped out of the capsule?

VIRTS: Yes, so there'll be a boat that comes out that picks the capsule out of the water. Those first few minutes, and hopefully not hours, I would think they're not going to be fun. Because they're going to be bobbing up and down in the ocean. And trust me, after being in space for half a year or longer, you don't want to be bobbing up and down. So they'll be ready for, I'm sure, firm, dry ground.

NASA will get them back in Houston in a few hours. My last flight, it was 24 hours to go from Kazakhstan. It was a Russian Air Force helicopter, and then three legs in the jet. So that was a long time.

And the first thing I did was I went to rehab. Because, you know, your bones and muscles are having issues. Your brain is like, what the heck is going on? You were just weightless, and all of a sudden there's gravity. What is this?

So it takes your brain and your vestibular system, your balance system, some time to get, you know, used to gravity again. So there's a lot of physical rehab.

And then they'll get to see their families for the first time in what was supposed to be eight days. And that turned into, you know, more than half a year. So that will be a big, you know, joyous moment, I'm sure. So they're going to have a busy next day or two or 100 for sure.

SANCHEZ: And we'll be glad to finally have them home. Colonel Terry Virts. Thanks so much for being with us.

VIRTS: Thanks for having me on.

[15:55:00]

SANCHEZ: So they were once declared to be the ugliest animals on Earth, but they just won a much more distinguished title. Details straight ahead.

KEILAR: What is that?

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SANCHEZ: A notorious sea creature infamous for being named the world's ugliest animal just got a heck of a makeover. Take a look. The blobfish was just voted as New Zealand's fish of the year.

The competition was organized by a conservation trust to educate people about New Zealand's fresh and seawater ecosystems.

KEILAR: Blobfish, which grow, unfortunately, about a foot long, are described as a big, blobby tadpole, a mass of pale, jelly-like flesh with puffy, loose skin, a big nose, and beady, staring eyes. So they get that way once they are removed from the water because they don't have strong bones or thick muscles to keep their shape. These are actually a vulnerable species found mostly in Australia and Tasmania.

SANCHEZ: It's not really fair. It's like taking a picture right when you wake up in the morning. You know, you may be a little bit hungover.

[16:00:00]

You kind of haven't gotten yourself together. You haven't washed your face. They're all dehydrated is the problem. When you get them in the water, they look like normal fish. People shouldn't be so mean to the blobfish. They serve an important role in the ecosystem.

KEILAR: I don't ever believe that thing looked normal even under a lot of pressure.

SANCHEZ: It kind of looks pretty droopy there now.

KEILAR: It just looks like a gorgeous lionfish under pressure.

SANCHEZ: Maybe it had a few drinks last night, partied pretty hard, had a good time.

KEILAR: That's totally what happened to that fish.

SANCHEZ: It wasn't done that before.

KEILAR: Completely. All right, THE ARENA with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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