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City Workers on Strike in Philadelphia; A.I. Helps Couple Get Pregnant; Fourth of July Weather; Science Behind Hot Dog Eating Contests. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 03, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And all over the place.

What do you see in the fascination that his garnered. And also, when you're talking -- I mean you're talking about a music mogul here. You're talking about the celebrity. You're talking about the MeToo movement, all kind of wrapped into one. And the cultural impact of it all.

CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, that's a great question. And I think that's why people are fascinated.

First and foremost, I think we've had to learn to deal with separating the art from the artist. Some people can do that.

BOLDUAN: Before this even.

CHAMPION: Before this.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CHAMPION: With R. Kelly, for example. Do I still listen to his music? Do I like who he is now that I know more than him? And these -- this is not the first time we'll see a celebrity live another life. Their public figure isn't the sum of all their parts.

But with Diddy in particular, and I'm speaking for myself as a fan of his music, a fan of hip hop, he has such a handprint, a blueprint, an impact on the culture, his music. He's produced music that's narrated childhoods and adulthoods. And he's always been in the zeitgeist, if you will, in terms of his children. He's always in the news, who he's dating, what is going on. His white parties were infamous at one point, and famous, right?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CHAMPION: So, he will always be a part of the culture, and that's why I see the fascination. And that's why I also see why some of these people were outside cheering for him, because they know him as someone who has been a consistent figure that for them has been someone to look up to. BOLDUAN: Areva, on that, I mean, you did have supporters and opponents

shouting each other down outside of court -- I think we're showing it here -- as they learned the news of the verdict. Is it -- is it OK for people, do you think, in your -- in -- in your view to be able -- to separate the -- the music and the image from the man behind the scenes? To -- for him to be something other than a disgraced music mogul from here on out?

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: Well, that's up to each individual. But I do want to point out, Cari mentioned, you know, the kind of bigger than life profile that he had for many, particularly those that love, you know, hip hop music. But at the same time, he has been plagued for decades with rumors of violence. And the conduct that we heard so much about during this trial has been a big part of his legacy as well. It's been a big part of his persona. This bad boy image. This image that he was somehow above the law. That he could engage in conduct, even criminal conduct, and not be held accountable.

And I think, you know, we must not lose sight of the victims in this case. There were real life victims, people who suffered harm as a result of their involvement with Diddy. And we heard about the graphic details of those victims and their experiences. And we have to protect and ensure that we continue to encourage victims, like Cassie Ventura, to come forward, to tell their stories.

I'm happy to hear that after she told her story, not only did it result in the investigation of Diddy, the criminal investigation, but there was a spike in abuse calls to some of the national hotlines indicating that women are feeling more empowered to come out and tell stories, even when it involves abuse related to wealthy, powerful men like Diddy.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And that is part of it, too.

CHAMPION: Yes, conversely, though. And, Areva, you're right, I think we haven't lost sight of the victims. I think yesterday, in the way that Diddy's attorneys are framing it, was that it was a win for Diddy. Now, what does that say about the -- the question of what about the victims?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CHAMPION: How do they feel about it? Why do -- to me, yesterday's verdict meant, yes, we don't really understand what it means to be a victim. And perhaps maybe, you know, we --

BOLDUAN: You still have a misunderstanding of what abusive relationships entail.

CHAMPION: And -- and what it means and how it affects people. But at the end of the day, there is this part of our society that is -- will always, always be obsessed with fame.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CHAMPION: And in a trial like this, a case like this, all this attention and you -- and people are thinking now he walked away. That's why you saw the celebration. And it's unfortunate because we did forget about the victims are the main part. But that's his cultural impact. That's his significance. It's a very complex one. It's not something that people should be proud of. But his legacy will be mixed.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you guys. Thank you.

CHAMPION: You too.

BOLDUAN: Really appreciate it.

John.

MARTIN: Thanks. Appreciate it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the trash is piling up. Thousands of city workers strike in Philadelphia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:45]

BERMAN: All right, this morning, standing by for signs of progress in talks to end a strike involving sanitation workers in Philadelphia. This is day three. The trash is piling up on city streets. Nearly 10,000 state, county and municipal union workers say they want a contract with better pay and benefits. The city says it has made its, quote, "best offer."

Let's get to CNN's Danny Freeman, literally in the middle of it all in Philadelphia.

Good morning, Danny.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John. Welcome to day three of the strike of Philadelphia's largest city workers union. This is a strike that's taking place with about 9,000 employees. And it's not just sanitation workers. We've got sanitation workers, water department folks, street department folks as well, 911 dispatchers in fact as well. But as you can see right here, the pileup of trash really has been the largest part of the story so far.

There's a couple of things happening right now in this residential corner. They're bringing in a dumpster to put here. This truck right here is also going to start picking up some of this trash to remove some of the stress in this neighborhood.

But again, John, this is the challenge here. And again, we're just on day three and trash like this is piling up right here.

Let me tell you a little bit about what each part of these parties, the union and the city, want right here.

[09:40:04] We're talking about District Council 33. What they initially were hoping for was an 8 percent raise every year for the next three years. According to "The Philadelphia Inquirer," over the course of the past couple of days, since they went on strike on July 1st, their ask has come down to about 5 percent of a raise each year for the next three years. But the city is still not at that point. They were at the negotiating table yesterday, but no deal was reached as they were deliberating late into the night. So again, you still end up getting scenes like this.

And, John, the real concern for folks here in Philadelphia is, there's concern about rat problems. There's concern about roaches coming in as these -- as the city really tries to identify sites where people can try and dump their trash. But again, the speed with which they are trying to clear dumpsters, get people to pick up the trash on city streets, like here, is clearly not picking up the pace. And the other challenge here, John, is, this weekend is the Fourth of July weekend. Philadelphia expecting a lot of people to come here. They're also expecting a lot of events to happen as well. And that's a challenge for the city when, again, there's trash piling up on the streets.

So, both of these parties very hopeful to come to a resolution. Again, the union hoping for higher wages, better benefits. The city, for the moment, saying they're giving their best offer but not quite there yet.

John.

BERMAN: All right, I know a lot of people waiting for a solution here.

Danny Freeman, smell you later.

SIDNER: Oh.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: John.

All right, one couple's remarkable journey after trying and failing to conceive for 18 years, they decided to use artificial intelligence to help. And guess what happened?

Also, he's back. Champion eater Joey Chestnut returns to choke down as many of Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dogs as he can. It's the one contest that's hard for me to watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:27]

BOLDUAN: This is new this morning and an amazing story. One couple's -- it's an incredible pregnancy journey. After trying to conceive for 18 years, a couple -- this couple is now pregnant with their first child. And it is all thanks to the power of A.I.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard has the story, and she's joining us now.

Jacqueline, tell us everything.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Kate, it's a fascinating development. And it happened at Columbia University Fertility Center in New York. And that's where researchers have trained artificial intelligence -- they've trained A.I. to identify hidden sperm cells in patients who are once told they had no sperm at all. These are patients with a condition called azoospermia, and it's a condition where in a semen sample there is no measurable or detectable sperm. And without sperm, you cannot conceive a child. So, these are men who were told they would not be able to have children. And we know that up to 40 percent of infertility cases often involve the male partner.

But at Columbia University, researchers trained A.I. to identify hidden sperm cells in semen samples collected from patients with azoospermia. In some cases, A.I. was able to detect maybe one, two or three or four sperm cells that were previously missed by the human eye, when humans analyzed samples. And through the A.I. system, researchers were able to help this couple get pregnant after they tried for 18 years. And, Kate, their baby is due in December.

Now, of course, this A.I. system won't work for every patient. Some patients, in fact, may have no sperm cells at all. But for those who have one, two or three that were missed, this is a huge development for them, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And it just shows the huge potential of A.I. in the medical field -- in the health and medical field for sure.

How much more efficient, faster, better is A.I. at this than what they've been trying to do for so long?

HOWARD: I actually asked Doctor Zev Williams, the lead researcher at Columbia University Fertility Center, about this, and I was shocked by his response. Have a listen to this, Kate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ZEV WILLIAMS, DIRECTOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FERTILITY CENTER: This is, in development, one of the most striking examples. When we had what we thought was a working system, it was somebody where they gave a sample and humans looked for two days through that sample to try to find sperm. They didn't find any. We brought it to the A.I. In one hour it found 44 sperm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So, did you hear that, Kate? A.I. was able to find sperm within an hour, and humans spent two days not able to find any sperm. So, Dr. Williams told me he and his researchers plan to publish this work. They want to share this A.I. system with other fertility centers across the country, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Wow. And for this couple, what -- when they probably saw no hope left, 18 years and now due in December. Just amazing. Jacqueline, great reporting. Thanks so much for bringing it to us.

Sara.

SIDNER: Really cool.

All right, thank you, Kate.

Parades, picnics, barbecues and fireworks. It's all happening for America's 249th birthday. But what will the weather be like tomorrow?

CNN's Derek Van Dam is here with us.

Derek, don't disappoint us. Just don't do it.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, can we add sunscreen, bikinis and beaches to this weather forecast as well?

SIDNER: OK. OK.

VAN DAM: Because a lot of people, all right, they're going to be hitting the coastline. There's 72 million people that are expected to travel from yesterday right through the first parts of next week.

But I want to draw your attention to what's happening here across the southeast coastline.

[09:50:03]

That is the potential of a tropical disturbance that could ruin your Fourth of July plans.

But let's get right to the beaches. Most importantly, Galveston, all the way eastward to Destin, Florida, the water temperatures, like bathwater, right? You're going to have dry conditions. But as we move into the Florida peninsula, that's a different story, especially with a tropical system looming nearby. We could get some heavy downpours across this region.

And then I want to focus our attention across the Carolinas. So, check this out. If you're in, let's say Savannah, Charleston, to Myrtle Beach. This area could experience some beach erosion. Depending on how this storm develops through the weekend, there's the potential for high rip tide warnings across this area and gusty winds depending on if a tropical system does develop.

But further north, along the East Coast, you're all smooth as butter. Lots of sunshine and looking fantastic for places like Atlantic Beach, all the way down to Virginia Beach.

But, you know what, mother nature is going to make its own fireworks just one day early if you're located across the northeast today. New York, Philadelphia to Boston, showers and thunderstorms could become severe today. So, that could cause some delays. Perhaps building up across some of these bigger airports. LaGuardia into Reagan National. Here's your July 4th forecast. Dry, again, for the East Coast. That's

for tomorrow. Maybe some thunderstorms over the central parts to dampen your fireworks forecast. But it looks good in the nation's capital. You might be able to watch that here on CNN.

And just here's an outlook of the area where we could see that tropical mischief. We'll be keeping a close eye on that.

Sara.

SIDNER: Tropical mischief. Don't mind.

BERMAN: Yes, and we are all smooth as butter.

SIDNER: Right.

BERMAN: Derek Van Dam, thank you very much for that.

All right, along those lines, the king of the hot dogs is back. Champion eater Joey Chestnut returns to Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest this Independence Day. He was banned --

BOLDUAN: It was such a big deal, remember?

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: It was a very big deal. He was banned last year because he struck a deal with a rival brand.

Now, CNN's --

BOLDUAN: You mean a plant-based hot --

SIDNER: It was a vegan -- like --

BOLDUAN: It was a plant-based hot dog, guys.

SIDNER: Just letting you know.

BERMAN: This is all true. This is all true.

BOLDUAN: OK, sorry. Would you like to continue, John?

BERMAN: I would like to introduce CNN's Harry Enten.

BOLDUAN: I'm sorry.

BERMAN: Because as we all know, you know, I have spoken to Joey Chestnut, champion eater, who tells me he likes to go into these contests --

BOLDUAN: You -- stop.

BERMAN: Empty and loose.

SIDNER: That's his words.

BERMAN: But, Harry, you've also looked into this. What have you found?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, OK.

So, you know, I am a big fan of hot dogs. So --

SIDNER: OK.

ENTEN: Quite good. So, you know, I'm always stuck in the studio and I decided, you know what --

BOLDUAN: You are talking with food in your mouth.

SIDNER: Yes.

ENTEN: It's fine. Don't worry about it.

SIDNER: We knew that was going to happen.

ENTEN: I'm always stuck in the studio. And so I've decided, you know, I want to go out in the field. I want to actually enjoy America. So, this past Tuesday, I decided to go out to Coney Island, where, of course, the hot dog contest is held, and decided to do some investigations on how you can, in fact, be a champion hot dog eater.

And let's take a listen.

SIDNER: Oh, gosh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE SHEA, CO-FOUNDER, MAJOR LEAGUE EATING: If I were picking the absolute best physique for a competitive eater, I would say your height, 6'2", maybe 6'3", big shoulders, big frame, but not tight abs. You don't want to be ripped. You want expansion.

ENTEN: Oh, well, then I'm in perfect condition.

ENTEN (voice over): If you're in my physical shape, then George Shea, the co-founder of Major League Eating, has the sport for you.

Shea has been the host of Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest since 1991. He walked us through the techniques used by the most prominent competitive eaters.

SHEA: Kobayashi obviously had his own technique of separating out the hot dog from the bun, dunking it in water. And then, obviously, Joey Chestnut has a completely different technique.

It's actually a science. Joey is the best at it. He crunches it up in a ball after he's dunked it and then just drops it down his gully.

ENTEN (voice over): He's referring to the OG's of the hot dog eating contest, Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi. SHEA: Kobayashi would never beat Joey in the long run because his

frame is too small. Joey's a big guy, 6'1" big. So, he has that advantage. But on top of that, he's done this for so long and he has sort of trained.

ENTEN (voice over): So, how do folks feel about the annual hot dog eating contest?

UNIDENTIFIED MALES: Joey Chestnut, I'm coming for you.

ENTEN: What do you think of the idea of trying to shove as many hot dogs down in a set period amount of time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's hilarious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they're crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I love it. I love it.

ENTEN: If you wanted to, in a ten minute period of time, how many hot dogs do you think that you could put down?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably about four.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thousand.

ENTEN: One thousand? That seems like a heck of a lot of hot dogs in 10 minutes.

How about you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably like 40.

ENTEN: So the other thing that you do when you're out in Coney Island is to ride the nearly 100 year old Cyclone, like I did earlier. Let's take a listen to how I.

Yahweh (ph), my friend, Yahweh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: I want to -- I want to hate on this. I love when you go out and do this, Harry.

SIDNER: I do too.

ENTEN: You know, I had not been on a roller coaster since 2005, which was, in fact, the exact same Cyclone.

[09:55:01]

But I am willing to experiment and put myself on the line for not just the enjoyment of the audience, but my -- for my dear three friends right here. And --

SIDNER: So, how many did you freaking eat? And you dunk them in the water, which is the thing that makes me hurl.

BOLDUAN: The dunk and crunch.

ENTEN: The -- so, I did the dunk --

SIDNER: Dunk and crunch.

BOLDUAN: Dunk and crunch.

ENTEN: I did the dunk and crush. I ate one there. I also had one with mustard, which I also have here. And, you know, the whole thing with all of it is that I just love hot dogs because it brings me back to my childhood, but I also love my friends. And so I've decided, of course, to bring, you know, when I go out on these things --

BOLDUAN: We are not --

ENTEN: Last time I brought Playbills.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

ENTEN: But today I brought some hot dogs for --

BERMAN: I'm in.

ENTEN: There we go.

SIDNER: How do we get -- how did you get it charred? What did you do to it?

ENTEN: I ordered these out. This is -- this is -- this is on Grubhub, OK. You think that I'm cooking up these hot dogs myself? You think I have those culinary skills, Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, I do.

ENTEN: No, I absolutely do not. Now, if you are interested in seeing me shove hot dogs down my throat, which I'm sure the entire audience is, right?

SIDNER: How do you -- how do you do it?

BOLDUAN: No.

ENTEN: You can --

SIDNER: How do you do it?

ENTEN: You can, in fact, tune in tomorrow night to our special --

BOLDUAN: To watch you eat and talk on TV?

ENTEN: To watch me. We -- you're going to see me -- SIDNER: Are we doing a contest?

ENTEN: I'm going to --

BOLDUAN: To talk with food in your mouth again.

ENTEN: I am going to do a contest against myself. "The Fourth in America" live tomorrow --

SIDNER: Oh -- oh, gosh.

BOLDUAN: You're doing a contest against yourself?

ENTEN: Against myself.

BERMAN: I hope you win. I hope you win.

ENTEN: I hope I win. How many can I shove down? Can I beat my old record of two hot dogs in a set period amount of time, however long the producers tomorrow night decide to give me.

BERMAN: That's a tease, I will tell you, that's a tease if I've ever heard one.

Harry Enten, you suffer for journalism and we respect you.

BOLDUAN: You do. (INAUDIBLE).

ENTEN: I really do try.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: OK. All right.

SIDNER: Get rid of it.

Thank you for joining us. "SIT ROOM" is next. I bet they don't have hot dogs, though.

BOLDUAN: I -- I don't know. I might -- how do I feel?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)