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Nine Dead, 150-Plus Still Missing In Florida Condo Collapse; Interview With Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) About Condo Collapse; Trump Organization Charges Could Be Filed Within Days; Family That Escaped Collapsed Condo Building Speaks Out; Trump Speaks At Rally; Greene Speech; Tucker Carlson Rails; Heat In Oregon Hits All-Time High. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 27, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:20]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington, joined by Wolf Blitzer in Surfside, Florida, at the scene of that deadly building collapse.

This hour, the death toll in Surfside is growing. Overnight four more bodies were found along with human remains, bringing the death toll to nine, with more than 150 people still unaccounted for. The rescue and recovery process is tedious and slow-going. Crews have been brought in from as far away as Israel and Mexico to assist. And a trench has been dug through the rubble for better access.

The mayor of Surfside today calling what happened here a, quote, "third world phenomenon." And Wolf Blitzer is down on the scene, and he obviously has been taking it all in over the last couple of days.

Wolf, what are you seeing?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, it's really a depressing scene as we go through meeting with families and loved ones. It's really hard to go through all of this, as you well know, Jim, and you know this area very, very well, as do I.

We just learned, by the way, Jim, just a little while ago that family members of the victims were bused into a site for a private visit. Many of them still searching for answers, not knowing if their loved ones are among those lost in the rubble. Crews there aren't just searching for victims. They're also searching for evidence. Florida's governor says pieces of debris are being taken to a nearby warehouse so they can be forensically analyzed.

Let's get right to CNN's Brian Todd, he's very near the search and rescue site where crews are continuing their heroic efforts right now.

Brian, family members, people at home, they are praying, they are hoping for any signs of life, for any reason to be hopeful, for that matter. What's the latest that you can share with our viewers?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the latest I can share with you is that two busloads presumably of family members under police escort just passed us again, going south on Collins Avenue toward the site of the collapse. That is at least the second set of two busloads each that we have seen either going to the site or from the site and under police escort. So it appears at this hour like they are shuttling family members back and forth to get a look at the site, to maybe be briefed by officials as to how the progress is going.

You know, whether there's hope for survival, we have heard fire and rescue officials, veterans of this kind of work, say that there is still hope. But it's not clear when they're going to move this from a search and rescue operation to a search and recovery operation. They still have not given a timeline for that, Wolf. And we can update our viewers with the latest count we have of at least nine confirmed dead, 156 people unaccounted for.

Now one of the key components of this search and rescue effort is a massive trench that they have dug, and they're still digging. At least 125 feet long, several feet wide, several dozens of feet deep. The fire chief of Miami-Dade County, Alan Cominsky, talked to CNN about that trench and just about some of the dimensions and what it's like to be kind of in that trench and working inside it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN COMINSKY, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY FIRE CHIEF: I mean, it's horrific. You know, that can be one word that I'll say in the midst again (INAUDIBLE) collapse, one of the most difficult collapses to deal with. The operation of what we're seeing, it's just an extremely difficult situation.

The type of debris, unfortunately, that we're coming across, this is extremely -- it's tough to describe. It's just, you know, we don't have the voids that we would be hoping for, things that we're looking for. You know, not that they're there. You know, we're still looking. You know, and so that's what I mean by horrific. It's just -- it's a very difficult, difficult situation.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Very difficult and indeed dangerous. That work that's going on there. And what he said near the end of that sound clip is crucial, when he says that they don't have any voids that they're finding, that's some bad news and that's a very crucial piece of information because that's what rescue teams look for in these situations.

My team and I were in Haiti, we were in Japan, after those earthquakes. Voids in these collapsed buildings, that's what the signs of life are -- that's where the signs of life are. That's where they can find air pockets, that's where they can find people possibly making noises. If he says they're not finding any voids right now, that's not a good sign. But again, they're still working doggedly 24/7 to look for victims here.

And, you know, you mentioned, Wolf, it is an international effort. There is a rescue team from Israel. The Israeli National Rescue Unit is on site. A Mexican team is on site. The evidence from this collapse is being taken to a warehouse. We have heard from officials earlier that at any given moment here you've got at least 200 rescuers combing through the rubble. They're using dogs as well. So I mean, this is a massive effort.

[16:05:02]

I believe one of the officials that you spoke to, Wolf, said this is the biggest non-hurricane rescue effort possibly in the state's history. So you get a sense of what's going on down there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a huge operation under way right now. These are very, very courageous men and women who are engaged in this rescue -- search and rescue operation. It's very dangerous out there, as you know.

All right, Brian, we'll get back to you.

Joining us now on the phone is Florida Senator Rick Scott.

Senator, thank you so much for joining us. As you know, Senator, some families have told me and others they're very upset, they're frustrated at the pace of the search and rescue operation. Have you spoken to members, to some of the family members? And what are you telling them?

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): So I'll tell you, I was -- I met with a lot of family members multiple times. And, you know, in the beginning, you know, rightfully, they're asking for more information and I know everybody is working hard to give them as much information as possible. They also want to understand, you know, the amount of effort. And so, as you know, there's unbelievable numbers of people that are working.

And so I think it's important, and I think everybody is doing it. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue does a great job. You know, state fire and rescue does a great job. We've got a group from Israel. I called the State Department to make sure the Israeli group could get in. We've got a lot of people working. And we're still optimistic. But your heart goes out to these family members because they want to have -- they want their family member found.

They're praying that there's going to be pockets where family members will be. I'm with them. You just hope this happens. But I'm going to tell you, I've been down there, everybody's working hard, everybody's hopeful, but it's a tough -- it's a tough environment. And I feel sorry for these families.

BLITZER: Yes. So do I. And it's just heartbreaking. We keep hearing, you know, Senator, from officials that they don't have what's called a resource problem, they have what they're now calling a luck problem. They've been dealing with fire, rain, smoke, the risk of further collapse at the scene. It's a very dangerous situation. I know you received a briefing from FEMA earlier this morning. Are you satisfied with the response so far?

SCOTT: I think everybody -- you know, Wolf, everybody's working hard. You know, it's unprecedented. I was really impressed with the Israeli team that came in because they've done this a lot. And they said, look, we've found people many hours and many hours after people didn't think we would find them. There's, you know, been people found in Haiti days after. So I think everybody's working hard, they're trying to do it in a safe manner.

So I know everybody's -- you know, everybody I talk to, they're working hard. Fire and rescue, everybody's working their tail off. Miami-Dade Police. I mean, you can see it in their eyes, they want to find people.

BLITZER: They certainly do. We learned, as you know, Senator, that back in 2018, what, some three years ago, an engineer actually warned of what was described as major structural damage at the complex, at this condominium building here in Surfside. What can you do to get answers as to why the repairs weren't made? And put your hat on as a former governor.

SCOTT: I think what's going to happen is, rightfully, everybody's going to go back and say, OK, you know, one, we don't ever want this to happen again, so what happened here and let's make sure this doesn't happen again. I think the mayor of Surfside did the right thing by -- you know, there's a sister building, saying, look, you know, let's make sure we get that one inspected, in the meantime no one should be in there.

But I know this is what's going to happen. Everybody's going to go back and say, wait a minute, let's make sure this never happens again, what do we have to do, do we have to change anything. And I think all the building owners are going to be doing the same thing. They're going to say, OK, let's learn, in the meantime, even as we learn what happened here, let's see what we need to do for our buildings to make sure people are safe. We don't ever want this to happen again.

So, you know, Wolf, as you know, we'll find out over time, but I think right now everybody is taking this very seriously in their buildings and saying, what should we do to make sure people in our buildings are safe.

BLITZER: Yes. You're absolutely right, priority number one is saving lives. And hopefully they will find individuals alive. Priority number two is learn exactly what happened to try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

SCOTT: Never, never, never again.

BLITZER: Because, as you and I well know, Senator, there are so many buildings along the coast here that are similar to this building.

SCOTT: Miles.

BLITZER: And we got to deal with this problem. And a lot of Floridians are pretty nervous right now about where they're living. So we got to get to the bottom of it and do so quickly. I know you're going to try your best to do so.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us. SCOTT: Thanks, Wolf. Thanks for being down there. Bye-bye.

BLITZER: All right. Thank you very much.

For more information, by the way, on how you, you, can help the victims of the Surfside building collapse, go to CNN.com/impact. CNN.com/impact.

[16:10:01]

We'll have more of our live coverage from here in Florida right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Criminal charges could be coming this week as part of the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into Donald Trump's family business, the Trump Organization.

CNN's senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid is with me now.

Paula, what kind of allegations are we talking about here? This sounds like this could be a significant week.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It could be a very bad week for the Trump Organization. We know the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has informed the company that it could be criminally charged as soon as this week. And this case would really focus on benefits. The allegation being that the company was trying to avoid paying payroll taxes on fringe benefits like free apartments, cars and even school tuition.

But, Jim, I've got to say, it's highly unusual to charge a company for failing to pay taxes on perks like this. So we're going to wait for any charges that are filed, look at exactly how they're supported.

[16:15:05]

But we're also watching for potential criminal charges against longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. The allegation there is expected to be that he received some of these perks. There's been a pressure campaign Weisselberg for quite some time to flip against former president Trump or anyone else that he could potentially have some evidence against. But our colleague Kara Scannell, she reports Weisselberg's lawyers have told prosecutors, look, I'm not going to cooperate, I'm not going to flip.

ACOSTA: That's going to be very interesting to watch. It seems like this is all coming down to Allen Weisselberg and whether or not he's going to cooperate and whether or not this pressure is enough to change his mind. It appears that it's set at this point that he's not going to cooperate with prosecutors.

Of course, Paula, you're on top of all of this. We'll be watching your report and closely all this week. Thanks so much for stopping by. We appreciate it. Joining us now is someone who has spent a lot of time working with

Donald Trump on some of his biggest projects. Barbara Res is a former Trump Organization executive vice president. She's also an attorney, engineer, and the author of "Tower of Lies: What My 18 years of Working with Donald Trump Reveals about Him."

Barbara, you know, the public has gotten used to a rinse, wash, and repeat cycle with Trump in which he is let off the hook including by many Republicans who see no evil, hear no evil, and embrace conspiracies and election lies in the wake of January 6th, as you know all too well.

Based on what you know about how the Trump Organization works, do you think that Donald Trump himself is in legal jeopardy here? What do you see happening this week?

BARBARA RES, FORMER TRUMP ORGANIZATION EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: It depends on what they have and what they're going after. You know, I hear them talk about going after the Trump Organization. But the Trump Organization is not General Motors. It was just a kind of loose thing that we called ourselves. And I think it was incorporated, but later, after I started there.

I'm sure that everything -- every operation that he has, is held in a holding company or an LLC. So I'm not exactly sure what entities or where they're going with this. Now as far as Trump is concerned, if they were to get evidence against Trump, it would be to the extent that really nothing major has ever happened, to my knowledge. And this is confirmed by other people that worked for him much later, that he doesn't know about, nothing major.

So he is in this with his, you know, both legs. And I think that if they get something, it will be to go after Trump. Weisselberg, I'm surprised he's not talking. I don't understand. He can't get a pardon. I mean, it sort of explains some of the other people, but Trump has something on him, I would imagine. That's the only thing I can think of. And if he does consider, you know, refusing to flip, and, you know, the expression "flip" implies guilt.

ACOSTA: Right.

RES: I mean, why would Trump say, oh, he won't flip? Of course flip, that means he's got something.

ACOSTA: Yes.

RES: That means he deserves to go jail for a long time.

ACOSTA: And CNN tried to get him on the record about this yesterday. Let's listen to that, Barbara.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is there any information that you would like to give us regarding the case?

ALLEN WEISSELBERG, TRUMP ORGANIZATION CFO: No comment.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you currently pay taxes on the apartment or car that you own?

WEISSELBERG: No comment. That's not nice.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Sometimes the questions aren't very nice. As you know, Weisselberg's cooperation could be a turning point in this investigation. How valuable would Weisselberg be, do you think, knowing what you know about the organization?

RES: Well, in its present form, Weisselberg is probably the most informed person there, the person that knows the most. As they say, where the bodies are buried. I think that Allen is essential. They did interview Jeff McConney, who works for Allen. He's the comptroller, the controller they call him. And he probably had a lot of information. He may have had information on Allen and Trump both.

So, you know, it's hard to say. They play it close to the vest. You don't know what they have. But Allen is definitely the key guy.

ACOSTA: And Barbara, knowing what you know about Donald Trump after all of these years, do you think he belongs in jail?

RES: You know, it's not only what I knew of his personality and the way that he operates, but what I've observed over, you know, 20 years, really the last five or six, certainly. I mean, that's an opinion of a citizen, not even somebody that knows Trump. But I do know him, and I know that he's very deliberate, very measured, and very vengeful. And he doesn't follow the rules. He never did follow the rules. So does he deserve to go to jail? I imagine he does.

ACOSTA: Are you surprised by what happened on January 6th and everything that's happened after that?

RES: I was horrified by it. I didn't expect anything like that. What happened afterwards is just a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace.

[16:20:02]

And now, in retrospect, it looks like Trump and other Republicans may very well have been involved in that insurrection, as we call it. We'll see.

ACOSTA: We shall see, that's right. All right. Barbara Res, thanks so much for coming on this afternoon. We appreciate talking to you. We hope to talk to you again in the future again.

Again, Barbara's book is called "The Tower of Lies: What My 18 years of Working with Donald Trump Reveals about Him." I would say working with the former president for 18 years would say a lot. Coming up, we hear from a family that was inside the building when

part of it collapsed in Surfside, Florida. Their dramatic escape from the 11th floor, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:06]

BLITZER: This just coming in at CNN. We've just learned that the city of Miami has sent a letter to buildings that are over six stories tall and more than 40 years old, urging them to get an immediate inspection from a qualified structural engineer. The city wants the buildings to then send back a status report on the status of the structure.

This comes, sadly, as the death toll here in Surfside continues to rise, as rescue teams continue their urgent efforts to try to locate survivors. Crews recovered four bodies overnight. More human remains, bringing the confirmed death toll right now to nine with more than 150 people still unaccounted for.

Just a short time ago the families of the missing and those killed in the collapse were allowed to visit the disaster site in what the mayor called a very private event.

And joining us now is a family who was staying inside that building when most of it collapsed and they had to immediately rush out to save their lives. Albert and Janette Aguero, their daughter Athena and their son Justin are all joining us right now.

Thanks to all of you for joining us. I'm so grateful, and I'm sure our viewers are as well, that you all survived this disaster.

Albert, let me start with you. I know all of you were asleep that night. It was the middle of the night, 1:30 a.m. You hear this thundering sound. Walk us through, take us through the first frantic minutes.

ALBERT AGUERO, SURVIVED CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE: I looked up. The walls of the apartment were shaking. I remember Jeanette jumped out of bed quickly to check on the kids. The kids had been awake, watching Netflix at that time. But she called me out because the chandeliers and the pendant lights that are in our dining room were swaying back and forth. So she was like, I think we need to get out of here.

A few minutes later, the fire department showed up. It was -- the response was incredibly quick. I walked out onto the balcony and yelled down to them to ask whether we needed to evacuate. And they said we need to evacuate as quick as possible. So at that moment we just grabbed our phones, our wallets and keys, and went to open the front door.

When we opened the front door, that's when we really were made aware of the devastation to the building. I looked to the left, and the apartment is half sheared off. I looked right ahead, which is where the elevators are supposed to be, it was just two empty elevator shafts. And thankfully, the emergency exit light to the staircase was lit up, so we sprinted to the staircase and opened that door, only to realize that the wall had partially collapsed there.

At that moment is where it really hit me that we were racing against time to get to the bottom of the building before the entire thing caved out -- caved in. At least that was my initial gut.

BLITZER: Yes. I know, Janette, you were staying way up, on the 11th floor of this 12-story building, you were right below the penthouse. As you were trying to escape with your husband, your kids, what was going through your mind?

JANETTE AGUERO, SURVIVED CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE: First at that moment, I supposed survival, right? It kicks in, I don't know how. There's no explanation. All I was thinking was, we need to get out of here before this building completely comes down on us.

After seeing the walls and how badly and violently they swayed, I honestly don't know how it didn't come down when we were startled basically out of our sleep. So yes, that was the only thing on my mind, let's get down and let's get down as quickly as possible and away from the building.

BLITZER: And Justin, I understand that when you made it down, what, about eight floors or so, you came across an elderly woman who clearly needed help. So what happened next?

JUSTIN WILLIS, SURVIVED CONDO BUILDING COLLAPSE: I think we just kind of came to a little bit of a halt, and just tried to help her get out as quickly as possible because if she doesn't get out, we don't get out. And, you know. I think she was kind of a blessing in disguise when you think about the whole situation because it takes your mind off of it, kind of going towards her and finding a way to get out collectively.

And, you know, you just try and help people out. And it takes your mind completely off of it. You know, we had to get her above the wall that had collapsed initially in the garage, and then, you know, we were on one side of the wall. My dad was on the other side. We threw her kind of over. It was the only way we were going to do it. And then trying to get her onto the pool deck was the next kind of challenge.

I just put her around my shoulder and did kind of the same thing. We just tried to toss her up onto the pool deck.

[16:30:00]

JUSTIN WILLIS: And I think once we got up to that, we all started to get a sigh of relief. And you feel a little bit safe, once you see the beach and got to the sand, and you just -- you just count your blessings.

BLITZER: You know, Athena, this must have been so incredibly scary. I can't imagine what you were going through. When everyone did get out safely, you could look up and get a grasp of that whole building. What it looked like. Athena, what went through your mind?

ATHENA AGUERO: Well, thankful we got out. And I was grateful that we had everyone with us. That we even saved people. That there were people coming out with us. That were -- like, it wasn't just us. There were other people. There was hope that there were more people.

BLITZER: Yes, that was the hope, obviously, more than 150 people are still missing. Nine confirmed dead, so far.

You know, Albert, what do you know about any construction that had been going on at the building before the collapse? Were there any problems, any indications, from your vantage point? How long have you guys lived in that building?

ALBERT AGUERO: We used that apartment as a vacation home. My parents bought it in -- about three years ago. They had just renovated it. And going through COVID, it was actually a nice escape. We had used it four or five times to just get away. You weren't in a hotel. We could be there safely, or at least we felt that way.

My wife and I visited in February. And in February, around Valentine's Day, there was a construction project on the roof that would wake us up every morning with drilling and pounding on the -- on the roof. I expected that to be complete, but when we came back down here now in June, it was the same sounds at 8:00 a.m., promptly.

I know they also had built the building next door. I'm not sure if there was anything that may have happened with the construction there. I have heard from neighbors that after that building was put there, you know, the building began to sway a little bit more and things like that.

So, I'm not really sure. We have been there I think four or five times over the course of the last 18 months. And, honestly, you know, it was a building that seems -- you know, I -- it's a building on the beach. It shouldn't collapse when you go to sleep, right?

BLITZER: Yes, it should not collapse at all. Albert, Janette, Athena and Justin, we're so grateful, so appreciative that you joined us. And so grateful that you made it out of that building on time. Good luck down the road. We will, of course, stay in close touch with all of you. Thanks so much for joining us.

ALBERT AGUERO: Thank you.

JANETTE AGUERO: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue to cover what's going on here in surfside.

Also, other news we're following, former President Trump returns to the stage with rather dangerous rhetoric about the election that he lost fair and square.

[16:33:26]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: The rhetoric was red-hot and the revenge ice cold. But, of course, that would be the case. We're talking about former President Donald Trump. He used his first rally, since leaving the White House, to repeat lies about the election and rail against his enemies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The 2020 presidential election was rigged. We won the election in a landslide. Ballots were wheeled in through back doors in swing states days after the election. All of the dead people that they're finding. These are dead people. They used COVID in order to rig the election and in order to steal the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Those were all lies. But, anyway, let's bring in our CNN Political Commentator, former White House adviser, Paul Begala, and Republican Strategist Alice Stewart. Paul, I mean, we have to at least put up a -- I always describe it as a surgeon general's warning, when Trump would talk at -- when I was at the White House, I would describe it that way. Because you, basically, need that every time he talks.

But this is not Trump's only event. He's going to the border later this week. He's going to have these rallies later on this summer. You know, putting to the side what Trump is saying at these events, the sheer size of them, he is bringing people out to these rallies. Do Democrats have to worry about that?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You should always worry, yes. I think Republicans should worry too, though. Because this -- at this stage of an election cycle, the most important thing is recruiting. It's like Texas Longhorn football, right. Who are we getting to come to our team?

Donald Trump is spending time recruiting Republicans to run against Republicans instead of recruiting Republicans to run against Democrats. In that district, which is trending Republican but it's a swing district, he attacked the incumbent Republican Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who is one of the few Latino Republicans in the House. He's a former NFL player. He's a pretty tough candidate to beat.

So, he's weakening this Republican. He's dividing his party, pulling it to the extremes and weakening it. So, I say, great. Good job, Donald.

ACOSTA: What do you think, Alice? Is this bad for the GOP?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's not great. Because, as Paul said, what he's doing, this is a grievance tour. He is going across the country, and he is finding incumbents, candidates or challengers for Republican incumbents, for the people that voted for Donald Trump to be impeached. There are 10 of them. He's committed to doing this.

My view on this is I wish he was as committed to infrastructure week as he is to his revenge endorsements. We would have gotten a lot done. But here's the thing that's important to keep in mind. While the rhetoric, I have never liked. The tone, I have never liked. The lies about the election, I have never liked.

[16:40:00]

STEWART: We have to keep those people on board. We need to keep Trump's base engaged and energized and out to the polls.

And what we also need to be doing, simultaneously, is trying to bring back the disaffected Republicans that he pissed off and went another way in the 2020 election. So, keeping these people engaged and energized is really important.

But I question how effective this is going to be in the midterm, with regard to going after -- shooting within the Republican tent. I think it's not productive. But --

ACOSTA: He's not bringing the party together, that's for certain.

STEWART: No, exactly.

ACOSTA: And, Paul, Trump was not the only speaker last night. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was there. It was sort of the Trump all-stars last night. She used her remarks to launch an attack on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R), GEORGIA: The Democrats are now controlled by the Jihad Squad led by AOC, the little communist from New York City. That's right. Yes, lock her up, too. That's a good idea. She's not an American. She really doesn't embrace our American ways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: That is not American, to say something like that. But Ocasio- Cortez responded to the little communist remark by tweeting. We put this up on screen. First of all, I'm taller. I mean, that is not a bad way to respond, Paul.

BEGALA: Yes, it's better to just laugh it all. The problem is, there could be security implications.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

BEGALA: I -- now, I bet Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene probably needs security, too. I want to protect her. I want her to be safe, as well. But when she says those very hateful, bigoted things about an American member of Congress, there are security implications.

And she should know that now. It's not most. It's not many. But some tiny, tiny fraction of her audience could be deranged and could be inspired to violence. We saw the violence on January sixth. So, she knows or should know that she has the capacity to inspire some tiny percentage of her followers to violence. And so, she should be much more responsible. She should be ashamed of herself.

STEWART: Well, and the problem with that, there are plenty of policy arguments to make against AOC and the squad. There are plenty of them. We could go on all day about the policy differences that Marjorie Taylor Greene has with AOC. That's what she should be doing, and not calling her names and not threatening her.

But she knows, darn good and well, when she makes comments like that, she accomplishes two things. Donald Trump loves it, and her base starts donating money. She is raising money off that type of rhetoric.

But the key here is not to -- not to go after the other side or even Republicans on name calling. But let's stick to policy. Get away from the personality crap, and let's stick to policy.

ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, I will tell you, I tried to talk to Marjorie Taylor Greene last week, late last week. I'm sure you saw some of the video of this. And there's a "Wizard of Oz" quality to it, just like Donald Trump. When you peel back the curtain, there's not a whole lot of there, there. I tried to ask her repeatedly about this FBI conspiracy theory about January sixth, and she can't explain it.

And so, she has her talking points. She can deliver a good line on a stage at a rally. But I -- my suspicion is, is that if you were to go to her and say, oh, how do you back this up? You know, locking up Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I mean, we don't do that in this country.

But, Alice, let me ask you about this. Tucker Carlson and Fox News, they've been on this, you know, rampage about critical race theory. He tried to spin this as anti-white mania. Let's listen and let's talk about it just a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: The question is -- and this is the question that we should be meditating on day in and day out, is how do we get out of this vortex, this cycle, before it's too late? How do we save this country before we become Rwanda?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: What do you think about that? I mean, this is just the latest outrage device over at Fox. Is it not?

STEWART: It's certainly gotten a lot of traction. I, personally, don't agree with critical race theory. I think it calls attention to racism as a construct that permeates all areas of America. I totally disagree with that.

But, at the same time, I think some of the -- in the Republican Party and the right-wing media are spending too much time and attention on this and saying disparaging things about military leaders who are using --

ACOSTA: General Milley.

STEWART: General Milley. And the comments made against him, I think, were completely inappropriate.

But, again, this might be something that is important to a small facet of right-wing media. But there are many more things we need to be focusing on. Let's spend more time talking about infrastructure. Let's spend more time talking about the border and taxes and how we're going to pay for this infrastructure package. I think this is certainly something that is only pertinent and relevant with a small minority of the far right.

ACOSTA: Quick, final thought, Paul. You seem to know Tucker Carlson. There's a program --

BEGALA: (INAUDIBLE) together for many years.

ACOSTA: Yes.

[16:45:00]

BEGALA: I think that Alice makes a good point. This is diversion by distraction, right? The Democrats are busy putting shots in arms and dollars in the bank. They look like they're reaching a bipartisan deal on infrastructure.

So, they're governing the country. This is a superpower. And I'm sure the Democrats will make their mistakes, but they're actually executing on the things that people care about. The right keeps coming up with these stupid straw men, these pinatas, that they can just whack. That have nothing to do with the real lives of the real people. Which, by the way, the critical race theory is enormously useful. It's a graduate level concept. It's not taught in K through 12. But it's enormously useful.

And the notion that some of my friends on the right are so afraid of a collection of ideas. It's not the only theory that explains America.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BEGALA: But it's one of lots that we should study. That's all General Milley was saying. By the way, General Milley served in every hotspot in the last 30 years, from Somalia to Iraq to Afghanistan to Bosnia. He also has degrees from Princeton, Columbia and the Naval War College. He's a very impressive man. By the way, put in that job by Donald Trump. And, yet, he's being attacked by the right. I think it's really sad.

ACOSTA: It's disgusting. And, you know, I mean, we salute General Milley's service over here. And, I mean, I just don't understand. You're not supposed to teach critical race theory in school, but it's OK to teach your kids to call a general a pig. I don't get it.

All right, Paul Begala, Alice Stewart, thanks so much. Coming up, 20 million people dealing with unimaginable heat, including triple-digit temperatures as high as 115 degrees. A live report is next.

[16:46:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Right now, people in the Pacific Northwest are baking in record-breaking heat, and the temperatures being reported out of Portland, Oregon are mind-boggling. CNN's Camila Bernal is here with us now. Camila, how hot is it? It just sounds like this is the kind of a heat that they don't see out there in that part of the country very often.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is not the kind of heat they see every day here. It's actually about 102 degrees, at the moment. And there is no relief in sight, because the high today could be 114 to 115 degrees. Now, the highest temperature ever recorded here in Portland, 107. And, yesterday, that was shattered. We hit 108 degrees.

So, really just a weekend of triple-digit temperatures and they could be deadly. They could be very dangerous. In fact, the county just giving us an update moments ago, saying they've seen more than a dozen people having to go to the emergency room or a clinic with heat- related incidents. And they say that the majority of these cases, people under the age of 65.

So, they're saying no matter how old you are, this really could be dangerous. And people need to be paying attention to what they're doing and continue to stay hydrated, because it could lead to a visit to the E.R.

Now, they have set up a number of cooling centers around the city to help people, especially people like the homeless or the elderly. We spoke to one of these directors, and here's what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER TISO, COORDINATOR, OREGON COOLING CENTER: Yes, our goal here is to really just protect health and safety by offering people a place to be. That's really like the baseline of what we're trying to offer here. Just, you know, the space, food, water, the basics. And to just keep the space calm, safe, and accessible for everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And, Jim, it is going to be hot over the next couple of days. So, really, this is not over. And this is not normal. So, authorities telling people to continue to be very careful -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, we hope it cools down soon. Camila, thanks so much.

Romance, power, feminism, she wrote the book on it. But this the only story she never told. Here's a preview of the CNN film, "Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE COLLINS, AUTHOR: Hi, I'm Jackie Collins. I write novels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She put female sexuality at the center of the world and people lost their minds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was very shy. I never really asked what she was writing but she was always scribbling away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wrote about strength and strong women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jackie was the first author to write about women who behaved like men.

UNIDEWNTIFIED FEMALE: She broke ground for all us women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) quickly made her very controversial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God forbid a woman should be writing about sex.

COLLINS: I'm not claiming to be a genius. I'm claiming to be a terrific storyteller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a little taste, Jackie.

COLLINS: Of the wine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls can do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was her motto.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was the boss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was like a character from one of her books.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course, we all love that end line, justice for all females.

[16:54:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Since the start of the pandemic, people of color have been devastated by COVID-19, dying at a much greater rate than white Americans. This week's CNN Hero is working to change that. She's a pediatric surgeon who has spent the last 14 months building trust and bringing testing and vaccinations to those in need in her hometown of Philadelphia. Meet Dr. Ayla Stanford.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ALA STANFORD, PEDIATRIC SURGEON (on camera): African-Americans were dying at a rate greater than any other group in Philadelphia so I jumped in.

(voice-over): We were intentional about getting black and brown communities the access and care they needed.

(on camera): Those who are most vulnerable, they need to have the support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm done. You were great.

(voice-over): Just seeing folks come out, day in and day out. Their presence says everything.

(on camera): Hey, she's smiling.

(voice-over): It was all this narrative; black people don't want the vaccine. But they were lined up. We had to earn the trust of the people.

(on camera): You know it's saving lives. The data shows it.

(voice-over): I could not allow one additional life to be lost, when I knew that I could do something about it.

[17:00:06]

STANFORD: Everything we did was for them.