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President-Elect Biden Sees Doctor After Twisting Ankle; Trump Denies Reality In First T.V. Interview Since Election; U.S. Surpasses 100,000 New Cases For 27th Straight Day; Prison And A Prep School: Two Unlikely Worlds Collide. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 29, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:01]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: What happened?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard from the vice president -- former vice president's office, the president-elect's office, this afternoon that yesterday, he was playing with his dog, Major, slipped and twisted his ankle, and that's why he was taken to see an orthopedist in Newark, Delaware. We actually just got a statement from his doctor, which said that according to initial X- rays, he has a sprain in his right foot, but no obvious fracture, but there are going to be addition CT scans to make that they have all the details of how his leg, his foot, ankle, how all of those things are doing.

We do know, of course, that he had been spending Thanksgiving weekend Rehoboth Beach earlier today. He traveled back here to Wilmington, Delaware, where he lives. And this could be one of the reasons that we didn't see him publicly at any point over the weekend.

We know that this fall while he was playing with his dog happened yesterday. Again, the president-elect's office saying that Biden was taken to a doctor out of an abundance of caution and now we know that this resulted in a sprain in his right foot. So, any other information we get in the coming hours and days, obviously, we will share that with you. Clearly, the health issues involving the sitting president, president-elect is always very important.

SANCHEZ: Yes, certainly. M.J., also, Biden making big news tonight, an all-female communications team. Who's on it?

LEE: That's right. A big announcement coming from the president- elect's office, an all-female senior communications team to serve at the White House, and for anybody who has been following the Biden campaign and the transition efforts, some of these names are going to be very familiar.

We have Kate Bedingfield being appointed White House Communications Director. She obviously served as a deputy campaign manager for Biden's 2020 campaign. We also have Jen Psaki being White House press secretary.

So this is the face that we are going to see behind the podium when she holds White House press briefings, answering questions from reporters in a public setting.

Two other names I want to mention, as well, Symone Sanders is going to be the chief spokesperson for the vice president elect, Kamala Harris, and we also have Karine Jean-Pierre who is being named principal deputy press secretary.

So, noteworthy that the team is announcing an all-female communications team, and also we are seeing racial diversity here as well. Both of those are things have been things that Biden has touted as being important and wanting to have both in terms of gender and racial diversity, that level of diversity reflected in the top post in his White House and administration, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, M.J. The president elect saying that he wants a team at every level that reflects the diversity in the United States and he's following through on that. M.J. Lee reporting from Wilmington, Delaware, thanks so much.

For every single minute that passes today, on average, one American life is lost to the coronavirus pandemic. The daily number of deaths could double by next weekend, according to experts, because of Thanksgiving weekend full of family gatherings and travel is bound to have unintended consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I want to be straight with the American people. It's going to get worse over the next several weeks.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: As we go for the next couple of weeks into December that we might see a surge superposed upon that surge that we're already in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A reminder more than 13 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 since this pandemic began and a quarter of a million lives have been lost. That number representing our family members, our neighbors, our friends.

But the president is on other things. He is still in fight-mode against non-existent election fraud, and he's spent 45 minutes airing his delusions to millions of viewers on cable news this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice over): This is total fraud and how the FBI and Department of Justice -- I don't know, maybe they're involved, but how people are allowed to get away with this stuff is unbelievable. This election was rigged.

This is the essence of our country. This is the whole ball game, and they cheated. Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: It appeared to be an unraveling in real-time from a man who is unable to accept defeat and unable to acknowledge the reality of a pandemic. This is most likely a preview of how the president will be spending his remaining days in office.

CNN White House Correspondent Jeremy Diamond joins us now. And, Jeremy, the president just spewing almost an endless fountain of falsehoods that went largely unchecked.

[18:05:04]

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, completely unchecked by Fox News Host Maria Bartiromo, who held this conversation. I won't even call it an interview with the president of the United States for about 45 minutes.

And it was a fountain of lying and delusion and disbelief even from the president of the United States, who nearly four weeks now after the 2020 election concluded, the president still refuses to believe that he has lost and he is continuing to try and convince the American public to take them along with him in his denial of reality.

But now, Boris, it is coming against this backdrop of more than 30 cases that the president's campaign and their allies have lost or withdrawn in state and federal courts across the country, recounts in key states like Wisconsin, an audit in Georgia confirming the results of the election.

And you also have these -- as for the rulings from the judges, you have some pretty startling opinions, including this one from a Trump- appointed judge, Stephanos Bibas, who writes this. He wrote, calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here. The campaign's claims have no merit. That was one of the latest blows that the president's campaign has suffered in federal court in Pennsylvania.

The president also tried to claim once again that this conspiracy theory about voting machines, saying that votes for him were either deleted or switched to President elect Joe Biden, no truth there. And even Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican Party, who has been indulging in some of the president's false claims about voter irregularities in the 2020 election, even she wasn't willing to go that far. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Machines are switching the votes and we go there in crazy numbers and they should have won but then they still --

RONNA MCDANIEL, CHAIRWOMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Yes, we have to -- we didn't see that in the audit. So we have got to just -- that evidence, I haven't seen. So we'll wait and see on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And the president also making very clear that even as he has committed so far to leave office on January 20th, if the Electoral College certifies Joe Biden's victory, he still said that he's not going to change his mind about his belief that this election was rigged, saying, my mind will not change even in six months. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, even as the fundraising emails and the lies pile up, they are still insisting that there was some kind of fraud, the legal losses also piling up. Jeremy Diamond from the White House, thank you so much.

I want to discuss all of this now with CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen. He's a former presidential adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. And also with us is Susan Glasser, a CNN Global Affairs Analyst and Staff Writer for The New Yorker, and last but not least, CNN's Chief Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter.

Brian, I want to start with you because you sort of picked up on Reliable Sources right after this interview took place and it was difficult to watch. This was the first interview that President Trump has given one-on-one after his election loss and it was -- it was hard to call it an interview because Maria Bartiromo is effectively just echoing what the president is saying and it's baseless. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice over): This election was a fraud. It was a rigged election.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: This is disgusting and we cannot allow America's election to be corrupted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: If anybody is trying to corrupt America's election right now, it's President Trump. Brian, what do you think of what is going on at Fox News right now? It seems like they are in somewhat of a civil war.

BRIAN STELER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, Maria Bartiromo was complicit in the airing of all these lies and grievances today. There is a real tension inside Fox about the president and his conduct. It is so sad to see that this president, on the way out of office, is willing to let the house burn down, willing to add fuel, willing to let it burn down, willing to leave nothing but ashes for Biden to take over in January.

And what is even more troubling are all the people standing around letting him lighting the blaze, letting him add fuel to the fire and those are the Bartiromos of the world, those are the Murdochs who control Fox News, those are Mitch McConnells and other GOP leaders who apparently approve of all of this crazy stuff. Because if they didn't approve, they could call into your show, Boris, they could call in right now.

They could speak out. They could tweet. They could issue a statement. But instead, 26 days after the election, they seem to be okay with all of this madman behavior. It is an astonishing way for the presidency to end, the Trump presidency to end, because for four years, it's been about who enables him and who is complicit. It's about leaders who don't show leadership. And that includes people like Maria Bartiromo who just tee up lies to the president but it also includes political leaders who are willing to let all of this go on without intervening.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad you said that about the people who were complicit in elevating this delusion and a madman, so to speak. I'll get to that in a moment.

But I want to ask because it's striking that the president didn't give this interview to Sean Hannity or Ingraham.

[18:10:02]

He did it with Maria Bartiromo. Why is that?

STELTER: Not only that, but it was not a formal interview, it wasn't on camera, it wasn't a sit-down at the White House. It didn't use the trappings of office. It was just a phone call to one of his closest friends at the network.

Look, it does speak about Bartiromo and how she's evolved over the years or devolved. She used to be an acclaimed journalist, well- respected in the industry. Now, she's willing to do propaganda on behalf of the president. And perhaps he figured this is going to be the easiest format for him in order to just basically give a series of speeches.

If anybody thought Trump was going to start to accept reality, apparently, three weeks later, he's not, and as long as he has interviewers who will enable that, then why would he, I suppose?

SANCHEZ: Well, there is speculation out there that this perhaps could be part of some kind of strategy for the president to fundraise, that the delusion isn't exactly the way that it presents itself on T.V. But we're learning new details that reveal something different. What we're seeing publicly is different from what aides are seeing behind the scenes.

The Washington Post writing this, quote, Trump was in the telling of one closed advisor like Mad King George muttering, I won, I won, I won. However clearer Trump's aides may have been to his loss to President-elect Joe Biden, many of them, nonetheless, indulging their boss and encouraging him to keep fighting with legal appeals. They were happy to scratch his itch, this adviser said. If he thinks he won, it's like, shh, shh, we won't tell him.

David, this reminds me of the stories about Richard Nixon walking the halls of the White House overnight and talking to the portraits of former presidents on the walls.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It has some resemblance, Boris. And the word was in the Nixon White House, the president talked to pictures on the wall. And for the first time in history, the pictures spoke back to the president.

Listen, this Trump interview today would be laughable were it not so dangerous. To have a president of the United States intentionally sabotaging his successor, trying to tie his hands on one way or another across various fields and making it harder to deal with, it's just harder to deal with Republicans.

If Joe Biden comes in and say he wants to cut deals with the Republicans, and then the Republicans hear from their base who believe that Biden is fraudulently elected, that he should not be there, they're going to put a kibosh on everything they can about trying to cooperate with this guy, just like Maloney.

He's a fraud. Well, A, he's not a fraud, but, B, it's damaging to democracy when a major figure like Trump, you know, is -- gets this chance of undermining the institutions of our society, undermine the voting process, undermine the goodwill that goes into so many of these people who work the polls every day and so many of the recounts. You know, it is just -- it is very dangerous to our democracy.

One of the best things about January 20th, Donald Trump is going to have his bully pulpit stripped away from him on January 20th. And after that, it's up to the media to figure out how much real publicity this guy deserves.

SANCHEZ: Susan, one of the theories that Trump's legal team has put out there was that voting machines were tampered with by communist forces in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez. Just to point a fact, Hugo Chavez died seven years ago, roughly three years before Donald Trump even announced that he was running for president.

The Washington Post is writing this. The Venezuelan tale was too fantastical even for Trump, a man predisposed to conspiracy theories who, for years, has feverishly spread fiction. And I just want to point out, this is an asinine theory called from the dregs of the internet. It is completely baseless and false.

But what's your reaction to the idea that there is a conspiracy being peddled that is too far out there even for Trump?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, look, I mean it has Rudy Giuliani written all over it. Giuliani, once again, is a key Trump adviser. He's the through line between adopting Russian propaganda theories about the last election 2016. That was largely something that was pursued at Giuliani's behest and now introducing this new ridiculous conspiracy theory, as you pointed out. Look, you don't want to perjure yourself in court.

And what I haven't seen is the Trump campaign or any lawyers acting on his behalf being willing to swear in court and to issue this ridiculous conspiracy theory as actual evidence. It's, once again, in the lines of trolling the American people, showing how many people will go along with the craziness.

And it's interesting, Boris, that we started the hour talking about the new Biden team, once again, you have these almost parallel non- intersecting realities, the sort of fantasy delusional president in the White House hold up, refusing to accept what's actually happened, and then this sort of drumbeat of hyper regular announcements.

[18:15:10]

The president went to see the doctor because he twisted his ankle. The president has appointed an experienced team of women to lead his communications in the White House, to lead his economic team. And the bifurcation, which has been strong, of course, in recent years, couldn't be more palpable right now to me.

It's just unbelievable that the president of the United States is living in this fantasy, delusion land right now as we head towards a very volatile last few weeks, not quite two months until he has to leave office.

SANCHEZ: And, David, one of the questions that's out there is where are Republicans on this. I want to look at a tweet from Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger. He tweeted this out in response to the president's claims the FBI and DOJ may have been involved in stealing the election allegedly.

He writes, the FBI did not rig the election. If you find yourself believing they did, please stop and say it out loud and you'll realize how silly it sounds. The president simply flooding the zone with baseless conspiracies again.

David, he calls it silly but a lot of his colleagues are either supporting the president or couching what they say, not calling Joe Biden the president-elect, saying it's possible or likely that he'll be inaugurated on January 20th. Do you think this is going to continue?

GERGEN: It's going to continue until January 20th. After that, as I say, I think Donald Trump may gradually go into our rearview mirror and we can move on. But in the meantime, we talk about this, talk about this and talk about this. Nothing changes. But I do believe this is a moment of truth for the Republican Party. It was one thing to stand by Donald Trump during an election season. That's understandable, even in Georgia to stand by him.

But at some point, Republicans have to decide is this Trump's party or is it going to be the Republican Party that we joined way back when? Is it going to be a respectable party, one that tried to do the right thing, that is not cowardly, or is it going to be a party that vows to his whims and we have to live with this craziness for another three or four years?

I think four more years Donald Trump dominating the airwaves, even as citizen Trump or candidate Trump would be very disparaging for the country and I really think would be a serious setback for our democracy.

SANCHEZ: Let's go ahead and put that portion of the conversation in the rearview in the spirit of what David just shared with us and let's talk about the future. President Joe Biden just named an all-female communications team. Brian, what do you make of his picks? Do you think this all-female staff was a deliberate choice?

STELTER: I think it was. And it certainly gained the headlines of the Biden team once with regards to changing the page, changing the story from the Trump years, which we know was dominated by white men. Obviously, Kayleigh McEnany is the current press secretary, also a CNN alum. Another CNN alum, Jen Psaki, will take over as press secretary.

And what we're going to see is a return to some form of normalcy, what people used to see in the Bush and Obama years, daily White House briefings, regular, at least, White House briefings. And, obviously, when Psaki and others try to fib or avoid the reality or not answer questions, we will call that out. But we're going to see a return to a more normal relationship between the press and the presidency and that's hopefully going to be good for the country.

I think the question then becomes, will Trump voters believe anything they hear from the Biden White House. Will Trump voters perceive Biden as illegitimate? And is there anything this communication team can do in order to try to improve on that, to rebuild some of the trust that's been lost in recent years?

SANCHEZ: Well, I think many of them viewed Trump's predecessor, Obama, as illegitimate considering that that was how President Trump started his political career, that birther lie. Unfortunately, we have to leave the conversation there but we really appreciate all of your time. Susan Glasser, Brian Stelter, David Gergen, thank you so much for joining us for this conversation.

GERGEN: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

The surgeon general says that Americans who traveled and gathered for Thanksgiving can take steps to mitigate the spread of COVID, like getting tested. But will they? Let's ask them. We'll take you to the world's busiest airport, next.

You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

SANCHEZ: This just in. For the 27th straight day now, the United States has recorded more than 100,000 coronavirus cases and it's showing no signs of slowing down, with fears that holiday travel could fuel the surge we're seeing right now. A record-breaking 91,000 Americans hospitalized across the country, according to the COVID tracking project.

In November alone, the U.S. added more than 4 million new COVID-19 cases. That accounts for 30 percent of all cases in the United States since the pandemic began, demonstrating the alarming rate of the spike we're seeing right now.

The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warns another potential surge may be yet to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: And what we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December that we might see a surge super posed upon the surge that we're already in. And when I give that message, I don't want to frighten people except to say it is not too late at all for us to do something about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The only light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, two vaccines that are expected to be submitted for the FDA -- for emergency approval in the coming weeks.

Amid the ever-widening pandemic, many Americans are returning home today after spending time with family or friends this Thanksgiving holiday.

[18:25:00]

I want to go to CNN's Natasha Chen. She's at Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport. Natasha, I'm curious to hear what you're learning from travelers today, what they're sharing with you.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. Some of them who are arriving home to Atlanta today have given me really different accounts of what they've experienced depending on which airports they've come from today around the country. Here in Atlanta, this is the busiest airport in the world, and about an hour ago, we did see a little bit of a rush.

But, honestly, this is so much emptier than a typical Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is historically the busiest day out of the Thanksgiving week for travel. Typically, you'd have security lines all the way to where I'm standing right here, instead people are walking right on through.

I did talk to someone who decided to fly and travel for the very first time since the pandemic began. Here is what she said about her experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE SAKAE, TRAVELER: I was a little nervous because it was our first time going out and out of the state, but Charleston was really, really, like empty this morning, the airport, and Atlanta is always busy. So it was just very different for us to just have this -- were very crowded. But the airport itself, everything is really nice and safe and everybody just keeping their distances. I feel like it's safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Our nation's health experts have recommended that people get tested after they come home and that's one thing that I noticed each person talking to me today who is arriving back in Atlanta. They did say that they have the intention to get tested for COVID in a few days since they're now home. One person even told me that he plans on self- quarantining for 14 days.

So people do have that in the back of their minds. They did talk about the difficult decisions they made with their families to travel or not to travel, how big to make their holiday gatherings.

And, of course, the TSA has been screening a record number of passengers with at least three days out of the last Thanksgiving week hitting more than a million screened passengers, and that hasn't happened except for one other day in October. So, you can tell people have definitely traveled more this past week than they have during the entire pandemic. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes. The fear is that even if these travelers quarantine now and able to get tested, that the damage may be done and that we're in for a very painful three weeks ahead. Natasha Chen reporting from Atlanta, thanks so much.

Next, the picture and story that we have to share with you, a Texas doctor comforting a lonely COVID patient on Thanksgiving, an emergency room doctor who has been fighting COVID for months joins us next.

But, first, CNN's Zain Asher has a look at what Wall Street will be watching for this week in your report -- and your Before the Bell report.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Hi there. With the Dow 30,000 in the rearview, investors turn their attention back to the labor market this week. The government releases the November jobs report on Friday. In October, the unemployment rate dropped below seven percent, as more than 600,000 new jobs were added. But the economy is still down, millions of jobs since the pandemic started. And weekly jobless claims spiked last week, a signal of the rising virus numbers are pressuring the labor market.

But investors remain laser-focused on the future. All three averages posting solid gains for the year, optimism about a coronavirus vaccine and a smoother transition to the Biden presidency seemed to be enough for investors to keep buying.

But a lightly surge in coronavirus cases after Thanksgiving and heading into Christmas could put a damper on Santa Claus rally this year.

I'm Zain Asher in New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:33:24]

SANCHEZ: This just in. President-elect Joe Biden has left the doctor's office after twisting his ankle while playing with his dog. You see the president-elect there walking a little bit gingerly. His doctor says he has a sprain in his right foot. No obvious fracture. Again, Joe Biden leaving the doctor's office out of an abundance of

caution after a slip yesterday. It's typically a hazard when you have a highly energetic big dog like Major appears to be.

For the 27th day in a row, the United States has surpassed 100,000 new coronavirus cases and holiday gatherings underscore the possibility that infections will keep rising to new levels, something the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, describes as a surge upon a surge.

CNN Medical Analyst, Dr. Megan Ranney joins me now. And, Ranney, she's an emergency physician and associate professor at Brown University.

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us tonight. You've been taking care of COVID patients for months now and you've said that there is no way that hospitals can be fully prepared for what we are about to face. Why is that?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You know, Boris, we have to be talking for months about the need for increased supplies of personal protective equipment, about the need for increased testing supplies. We still desperately need those but even if those were all available, the trouble is, is that the surge in COVID-19 patients right now is so great that it is overwhelming hospitals, it's overwhelming available beds, and worst of all, it's overwhelming the number of available staff.

[18:35:04]

My colleagues, whether doctors, nurses, techs, are getting sick, just like folks who are not in health care, and of course, we're getting sick at a higher rate. So that means that even if we had beds, we wouldn't have staff to treat the patients and to provide the care that's needed. Without a comprehensive national strategy, it is going to be so difficult for us to adequately take care of all the patients that are in the hospital right now, much less the ones that we anticipate seeing come to us over the next two to three weeks after this Thanksgiving surge.

SANCHEZ: Yes. We hear all these numbers and yet you look at that one image of a medical professional tending to a COVID patient and it just cuts you to your core. The good news is of course that there is a vaccine on the horizon. Several vaccines on the horizon. And on Tuesday, the CDC's Vaccine Advisory Committee is going to make recommendations on who should get those vaccines first.

As a front line worker, you will likely be among the first to get vaccinated. Would you have any hesitations about getting this vaccine?

RANNEY: Boris, it's a great question. I, based on the data that I have seen, have no hesitations about getting this vaccine. Listen, Pfizer and Moderna did the trials that they were asked to do. They each had more than 30,000 people in their trials. So more than 15,000 people in each of those studies received the vaccine. Those folks were all followed for more than two months with very minimal side effects. Folks reported fevers or kind of body aches right after getting the

vaccine, but other than that, nothing serious, and oh, my gosh, I see the effects of COVID every day. I spent the weekend working in the ER taking care of sick COVID patients who were being admitted to the hospital, admitted to the intensive care unit. I would do just about anything to avoid getting COVID, and based on the data I've seen these vaccines are the best possible strategy for me to avoid that.

I will take it, be one of the first people in line based on what I've seen so far from the data.

SANCHEZ: And Doctor, I want to pull up this picture that we were talking about. It's -- I mean, just contemplate that for a moment. You know, we talk about the numbers. We talk about warnings that we offer folks. This is a Texas doctor that's comforting a lonely patient on Thanksgiving.

I have to imagine that for you personally, when you see scenes like this whether in this photograph or in your own practice, and you hear that there are people who refuse to wear a mask, that are skeptical and angry about even the suggestion they are getting a vaccine, that they're tired of not being able to do the things that we used to do before COVID, what do you want to say to them?

RANNEY: I want to implore on them to think about this not as a political problem, but as a health problem. Wearing a mask, taking this virus seriously, is the best thing that we can do to protect our country, to protect our freedom. You know, we talk about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The first of those is life. And that requires us not catching COVID-19.

I would invite any of them to come and spend a day with me or even an hour in my emergency department. I sat next to my colleagues this weekend and we were having exactly this conversation about how frustrating it is to see our patients, to have them be alone and then to walk out and have patients or folks kind of out in the grocery store refuse to wear masks.

This is a failure of messaging on the part of our national leaders. And I would love people take it as seriously as everyone in health care does. You cannot stand at the bedside of one of these patients and not wish to God that there were more that we would do to prevent it.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Megan Ranney, we appreciate what you're doing both in your practice and here with us sharing this message and trying to make sure that lives are not lost needlessly. Thank you so much for your time.

RANNEY: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Up next, a video you have to see to believe. A Formula 1 driver barely escaping a fiery crash, a terrifying and yet miraculous moment next.

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[18:43:30]

SANCHEZ: New today, Iranian media says a remote-controlled machine gun was used in the assassination of a top nuclear scientist. That scientist credited with being the master mind of Iran's nuclear program. He had reportedly been traveling with his wife in a bulletproof car when he heard gunfire, got out of his car to check out what happened, and that's when a remote-controlled machine gun, no gun man on the ground. This was attached to a Nissan pickup truck and it opened fire, gunning him down.

The Nissan then exploding in what Iranian media is claiming was a self-inflected mechanism. Again, according to Iranian media the attack lasted all of three minutes. It's not clear who was behind the ambush, although Iran has publicly blamed Israel and vowed vengeance.

Some terrifying moments now to share with you at the Bahrain Grand Prix today. Look at that, Formula 1 driver Roman Grosjean narrowly escaping a fiery crash that ripped his car in two. His car veering off the track on the first lap after coming in contact with another driver. Look at this, he plows into the barrier, it explodes on impact, and somehow he's able to scramble off. The French driver emerging from the flaming car after several seconds walking away with minimal assistance. He's said to be doing OK with just light burns on his hands and ankles.

Legendary actor David Prowse who played one of the greatest movie villains of all time has passed away.

[18:45:02]

The British actor known for his role as Darth Vader in the original "Star Wars" trilogy was 85 years old. His agent says he died after a short illness but provided no other details. CNN did report that back in 2018 that the actor was treated for prostitute cancer. Today his co-star Mark Hammill who played Darth Vader's son Luke Skywalker tweeter this, in part, quote, "He was a kind man and much more than Darth Vader. He loved his fans as much as they loved him." May he rest in peace.

Coming up, a prison and a prep school. Lisa Ling shows us how these two unlikely worlds come together as her new season of "THIS IS LIFE" premieres.

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[18:50:10]

SANCHEZ: Two worlds, one of promise and one of punishment, coming together for an unlikely experiment. On tonight's season premiere of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING," Lisa brings us a unique look at a prison and a prep school that formed an unlikely bond over literature. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bet you every man in blue here has been told the same thing. Be a man, be a man, be a man. We're taught this through so much multigenerational dysfunction. My dad beat into me not to cry. A grown man hitting a kid. That was the answer to everything at that time.

So I look at the youth and like you guys should not be learning that kind of lesson. You guys don't need that. It took coming to prison for me to understand and that is loving and that is understanding. A man treasures his family and friends, a man is selfless. These are the things that you should be taught. We weren't. So I'm now teaching it to you today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Very powerful words there. Joining us now the host of "THIS IS LIFE," Lisa Ling.

Lisa, thanks so much for joining us. As you know, I'm a fan of the show. And I noticed that you're actually kicking off this season with back-to-back episodes. The first as we just saw focuses on prep school students and on prisoners. The second episode focuses on an intense retreat for boys in crisis.

And when we spoke the other day, you mentioned that this wasn't intentional, but it's still notable that you're starting this season with two episodes that are focused primarily on young men. What was it that struck you about their experiences?

LISA LING, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND HOST, "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING": Well, you're right, Boris. First of all, thank you for having me on the show. And no, we didn't intend for these shows to air back-to- back, but in many ways they kind of go together. They take place in totally different environments, one in a prison, another deep in the wilderness. And really there is kind of a thread and a theme through both of them which is young men and boys really need to be given permission to feel.

You heard from Raul in that clip, so many young boys when they're growing up, they're told, don't cry, be a man, man up, don't feel. And that's really the opposite of what young boys and young men should be encouraged to do. And when you think about it, we haven't exactly had the best models for manhood out there, at least in government and business. There's been a lot of name-calling and bullying and a lot of greed.

And in these two episodes, you will meet men from very unlikely places who are becoming models to young men who need it.

SANCHEZ: Yes. So tell us more about this program that brings together the prep school students and the prisoners at a state correctional facility. How exactly does that work?

LING: So it's an elective course at a private prep school in Salinas, California, called the Palmas School, and they go into the CTF prison in Soledad, California, for eight weeks and throughout the duration of that eight weeks, they will read a novel and discuss it and interpret it. And it's powerful the transformation that occurs.

And one might think that the benefit would really be among the incarcerated men. But what actually happened was these incarcerated men were so in touch with their emotions and so remorseful and so candid about their crimes and about trauma they may have experienced as young men themselves.

And by sharing their hearts, in many ways, that gave the young prep schoolboys permission to dig deep and share with the crowd things that they may have not even shared with their close friends. In fact, I heard some of the boys afterwards say, you know, I knew Aiden, I've known him my whole life and I never knew that his father had ALS and passed away. And so it was just this opportunity for men together to be able to really feel and there was tremendous benefit that came of it.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And very quickly, I want to ask you about the second episode. It was an exclusive retreat for young men struggling with a host of issues. You're actually the first woman ever allowed to attend.

LING: That's right. So it's this camp where about 60 or 70 men from the community will come and volunteer their time. And look, the statistics bear out that young men are struggling right now. The dropout rate among men -- young boys is higher than females.

The suicide rate among young men between 15 and 24 is four times higher than females, and in many cases I think there are a lot of young men who are struggling and very confused about what -- you know, how to be muscular or what masculinity means, and these men come and they kind of guide them along. And as I said earlier, they sort of become the models that a lot of these young men really need.

SANCHEZ: I can't wait to watch it. Lisa Ling, thanks so much for joining us tonight.

[18:55:02]

LING: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Another powerful season of "THIS IS LIFE" with Lisa Ling premieres with back-to-back episodes tonight at 9:00 right here on CNN. You will not want to miss it.

Hey, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I'm Boris Sanchez. My colleague Jessica Dean picks up our coverage after a quick break. Have a good night.

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