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Dozens of Scientists Slam Trump Administration's Climate Report; Taliban Plead for Help After Afghanistan Quake Kills More Than 1,400 People; Trump to Award Guiliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom; Belichick's Debut at UNC Ends With 48-14 Loss to TCU; Army Football Player and His Father Save Man After Car Crash; Ceremony at D.C. Memorial Marks End of WWII, Honors Fallen. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 02, 2025 - 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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[13:31:20]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Today, major pushback from the scientific community over a government report that downplays the severity of climate change. 85 veteran researchers issuing a joint rebuttal after the Energy Department painted climate change as potentially beneficial. One of the scientists comparing the report to a "badly written blog post that makes a mockery of science." Joining us now is CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir. Bill, how significant is this?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It is significant. It is the voices trying to rally together, given a very limited public comment window by the Department of Energy. But it's really just that their attempt to push back on what is an all-out war on science by the Trump administration, trying to gut the very foundations that lead to regulation of greenhouse gas, pollutions from power plants, from tailpipes and so forth. The National Climate Assessment since for generations has put out the best science on this while the Trump Administration killed that portal, took it offline, fired the scientists behind it, and then the Department of Energy put out this sort of memo written by five noted climate contrarians back in July. And then the EPA used that as an excuse to get rid of the endangerment finding, which is the legal underpinning for all these regulations.

So now, Andrew Dessler at Texas A&M and Bob Kopp at Rutgers, and a host of dozens of others put out a point by point rebuttal. In less than a month, they put out a -- really a book-length, 400-page rebuttal to this. And they're calling out specifically the mistakes, the almost willful errors, the cherry picking of data. They point out some -- just some of the bullet points here, sea level rise. They poo- pooh the predictions on that even though they're conservative and are being born out in real time. Carbon dioxide is plant food, so it's beneficial for the planet, that they -- this report put out without mentioning all of the agricultural costs of climate change and the accuracy of modeling right there.

Andrew Dessler says really this comes down to a return to the tobacco battles. The goal here, he says, "is not to win the debate. They're never going to win the debate. The science of climate change is incredibly solid. All they're trying to do is muddy the waters, create this idea that there is a debate." And then the government used that to roll back regulations. President Trump famously promised oil and gas CEOs that he would roll back all regulations if they helped him get elected. The -- and it isn't just these scientists.

Just this week, the American Meteorological Society, the AMS seal that you see next to your favorite weathercasters on local news, they put out a statement saying this report from the Department of Energy fundamentally flawed, foundationally flawed, and is misleading. And all of this ultimately, Brianna, leads us back to the question of this is the story of our age. Your health, wealth and happiness is all tied directly to a climate imbalance that is careening wildly out of it. You see it week by week in the headlines from these weather events around the world. And the official stance now from the U.S. government is that it's not real. And so, here is 85 plus scientists trying to at least hold the record straight.

KEILAR: Yeah. As you said, trying to create the illusion that there is this debate. That's a really interesting and important point. Bill, thank you very much for the report. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, the Taliban now calling for international help after Sunday's devastating earthquake in Afghanistan that killed at least 1,400 people, injuring more than twice that many.

[13:35:00]

According to a government spokesman, the magnitude 6.0 quake leveled entire villages near the Pakistani border with strong aftershocks felt in Kabul. Heavy rain, landslides and damaged roads are hindering relief teams trying to gain access to remote areas that were hit the hardest.

Also, President Trump announcing he will award the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to his former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, calling him an American patriot. This announcement comes after the former New York City mayor was hospitalized from a high-speed car accident in New Hampshire over the weekend. Giuliani often referred to as America's mayor following the September 11th attacks, saw his post-mayoral career descend into controversy, especially over his involvement in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

And a college debut disaster for famed former NFL coach Bill Belichick. Starting his career at UNC Chapel Hill with a 48 to 14 loss to TCU on Monday. 70 new players on the roster got schooled by the Horned Frogs who racked up 41 unanswered points after the Tar Heels scored a touchdown on their opening drive. Belichick later told reporters we're better than what we were tonight, but we have to go out there and prove it.

Still to come, the heroic moment when a West Point cadet and his father pull a man from a wrecked car before it burst into flames. Brianna speaks to that cadet next.

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[13:41:00]

KEILAR: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point is praising standout Cadet Larry Pickett Jr. as the embodiment of U.S. Army values for his heroic actions in saving a man's life.

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LARRY PICKETT JR., ARMY FOOTBALL PLAYER, PULLED MAN FROM CRASHED CAR: Come on, Larry. Come on. Come on, get him out. That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, Pickett and his father, Larry Pickett, Sr. pulled that man from a crashed car near West Point just before this happened, before it burst into flames. And they did it despite live power lines dangling on the ground from the pole that the car had slammed into. The father and son carried the driver to the other side of the road, as you saw there, stayed with him until first responders could arrive and take him to a hospital. And we're joined now by Cadet Larry Pickett Jr. Cadet, thank you so much for being with us. Your dad said that you never hesitated to act, you just sprang into action. Tell us what happened here.

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am. Thank you for having me. So, my family had come out for the game on Friday night. We found ourselves in the city on Saturday. Coming back from New York City Saturday night, we came upon a downed power line. We looked to the side of the road, saw that there had been a car that crashed. So both my father and I got out -- got out of our car, ran towards the car that crashed, saw that there was a gentleman who needed help. Got the gentleman out of the car and helped them to safety.

KEILAR: And so, the car burst into flames and you were rushing there. We can see how quickly you were trying to do that. There were power lines. Did you have a sense that the car was at risk of catching fire?

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am. We knew that it was only a matter of time before the car had -- end up being all the way in flames just because of those power lines. Just seeing sparks underneath the car, we knew that it was only a short amount of time.

KEILAR: And so, how was the driver doing when you got in there at first?

PICKETT JR.: We could tell that he was a little disoriented. Other than that, we weren't too sure about his condition.

KEILAR: And he went to a nearby hospital, as I mentioned. Have you been able to make any contact with the man that you rescued or with his family?

PICKETT JR.: No, ma'am. We have not had any contact with the driver. KEILAR: Well, it's -- I'm sure he's very thankful for what you've done though. Just watching this video is unbelievable here. You've heard what people are saying, right? At West Point, you've made a lot of people proud there. Officials say that --

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am.

KEILAR: -- that this is a display of character that is what they're trying to instill in cadets. Did you feel any of your training kicking in? Can you talk about that?

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am. Definitely, just being raised by my family and being here at West Point, just those values that they instill in us, selfless service and just the willingness to serve and help others, that definitely took action on Saturday night. I'm very thankful and grateful and humble that I'm able to be at a place like this that helps people grow into leaders. So, what I've learned here, definitely, you could see on Saturday night.

KEILAR: So, what are other cadets saying to you about what happened?

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am. Other cadets and other people around are definitely commending me for the actions that both, myself and my father took on Saturday night. And I'm 100 percent sure that any other cadet in that situation would've done the same thing just because that's the type of people that are, being created here.

KEILAR: So, I want to bring it up.

[13:45:00]

I'm sorry, you mentioned your family was in town for the game, and I am sorry to bring it up, but it's important context here because this happened the night after Army had a stunning loss in double overtime, Tarleton State upsetting Army.

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am.

KEILAR: You're on the football team. I'm sure that this was on your mind over the weekend. I'm sure you were talking to your dad about it. But I wonder if you've thought about how this moment that is caught on video, sort of being in the right place at the right time to do the right thing and save someone's life has redefined the weekend. Maybe not just for you, but for a lot of people there at West Point.

PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am. As you said, unfortunately, we did take a loss on Friday night. It wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but we definitely faced a good football team. It's plenty of things that we have to work on as a team, but it definitely did bring some joy to the football team, to the players, to the institution. And I'm happy that the gentleman, hopefully, is OK and that we were able to bring some joy to the weekend.

KEILAR: Well, Cadet, it's an amazing moment to watch you and your dad springing into action and saving this man. And thank you so much for being here to talk with us about it. PICKETT JR.: Yes, ma'am. Thank you for your time.

KEILAR: Cadet Larry Pickett Jr., we thank you for being here with us. And when we come back, how the U.S. is commemorating 80 years since the Japanese formally surrendered, ending World War II. Stay with us.

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[13:51:13]

SANCHEZ: Today, we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the day World War II ended. It was this day back in 1945, when Japan officially surrendered on the deck of the USS Missouri.

KEILAR: And this morning, we watched as veterans gathered at the National World War II Memorial here in the nation's capitol. Another ceremony will be held later today in Honolulu aboard the USS Missouri, which is where we find CNN's Stephanie Elam. This is a big day as there are still so few surviving veterans of World War II. Smaller each year, Steph. Tell us about what is being planned there.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and this is a really big one, Brianna and Boris. Think about it, the 75th anniversary happened during COVID, so a lot of those men who were living were not able to make it back here. So this 80th commemoration is a huge deal and we're almost 80 years to the hour of when the signing happened. And it has happened right here. If you look down, this is where the table was, where the documents were signed, where the Japanese got on board of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and officially surrendered to the United States and the Allied Forces, ending World War II.

And so when you look at how impactful that is and how much has happened since then, it's really important to listen to these eight surviving Naval veteran who were serving on World War II -- on USS Missouri during World War III, hearing their experiences about the battle and what they saw during the surrender. I want to introduce you to one man right now, who refers to the USS Missouri as his ship.

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JOHN DELEO, SERVED ON USS MISSOURI DURING WWII: My name is John DeLeo. I'll be 100 in March. My rate was seen at first class. I love being the nobody because that's who ran the ship. I went to a basic training in Newport, Rhode Island, and then from Newport, I went to Brooklyn where the ship was built.

ELAM: So when you got out to sea on the USS Missouri, do you remember how you felt after?

DELEO Well, 19-year-old that we thought we were King of the Hill, but I got into a very prestigious union. Fire control, controlling all the guns on the ship.

ELAM: I believe you were on the ship when there was a kamikaze attack. Is that correct? DELEO: Yeah. There was photographs made where you can almost see the pilots go deep (ph). That's how close he was. And he was at eye level, too low, and he hit the ship in the worst spot you could hit it where all the steel was thick and half his body in plain (ph) come on the ship. And the other half where a 500 -pound bomb went into the water.

ELAM: Were you nervous at any point?

DELEO: I don't think 18-year-old, you can afford to be nervous. You got no brains. So we thought we (inaudible) we're going to become heroes.

ELAM: When word comes through the ship that the Japanese were going to surrender.

DELEO: We knew they gave up. We knew they surrendered. I was one of hundreds and hundreds of men looking up from the top. Now, we weren't allowed to get too close. Only officers could get in the surrounding area, but we witnessed it. I think I was happy to know that I was going to end up going home and eat the Italian food I was used to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And he went home and he got married and he had five children. And it's worth noting that many of these veterans have come back with their families for this commemoration. So, the great-grandchildren are here with them as well.

[13:55:00]

Many of these men also working to get their fitness up to be able to make the journey from the mainland, to make it here, to be here. These men are between 99 and 101-years-old, guys. This is likely the last time they're going to be on the USS Missouri. They're aware of that. And this means everything to them, to be here today.

SANCHEZ: That is so touching and I'm so glad he got that Italian food too.

KEILAR: That's right.

SANCHEZ: -- that he was looking forward to. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for bringing us that voice. Appreciate it.

So, we are standing by for President Trump's Oval Office announcement about the Department of Defense. We're going to bring that to you in just moments.

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