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Five Injured In Military Aircraft Crash In Texas, Homes Damaged; Border Entry At Del Rio Texas Temporarily Closed; Interview With Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL). Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 19, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Oh, my gosh. Well, Clayton Jordan, thank you so much for being with us. We are wishing you the best, all your colleagues, other personnel, of course the trees and the wildlife hoping the best.

CLAYTON JORDAN, SUPERINTENDENT, SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS: Thank you very much.

[15:00:18]

WHITFIELD: All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with this breaking news: A military aircraft crash near Fort Worth, Texas. This is video smoke billowing into the sky after the jet slammed into a residential neighborhood damaging three homes in Lake Worth.

We now know that the two occupants of that military training jet are being treated at a local hospital after ejecting from the plane before the crash, and at least three other people on the ground suffered injuries and were treated at the scene.

We heard from officials who said miraculously, none of the residents of the three homes that were impacted were actually injured. Images from the scene of the crash showing parts of the military jet and some of the damage to the structures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our office, our communication center received a call at 10:53 this morning in reference to a downed military aircraft between the 4,000 block of Tejas and Dakota.

Our police units responded and initial units reported that one pilot had ejected and was caught in some power lines, and another pilot had ejected and was found in the neighborhood nearby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Camila Bernal is covering this for us. Camila, what more do we know?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. So let's sort of recap. We know that this was a military training mission. It's unclear exactly what this mission was, but it ended up in a crash basically, in a residential area in someone's backyard.

So of course, this was very surprising for the residents in this area in Lake Worth. But what we know is that these two pilots were able to use their ejection seats. So after that, they were also able to use the parachutes. Unfortunately, as you just heard there, one of those parachutes, essentially got stuck in the power lines.

The other pilot, we are told, was able to land in the neighborhood. So, we know according to our affiliate WFAA that one of those pilots is in critical condition, the other one in serious condition.

So, we are still waiting for authorities to really give us details as to how these two pilots are doing. They are the only ones that are going to be able to tell us exactly what happened and why this happened.

We also know that at least three homes were damaged. But thankfully, none of these homes were directly impacted by this jet. So, what we're told is that it was a debris and the wings of this jet that really caused the damage to these homes.

Now, as you mentioned, three people were treated at the scene from the neighborhood, but they were okay. So they were immediately released there in the neighborhood. And we are also being told that the problem now is the power outages.

So there's about two to three blocks that are affected by this. They are still cleaning up and trying to figure out exactly what happened, piecing everything together. But in the meantime, they are being -- or the residents there are being told to have patience in terms of the power outages, and to report any sort of debris or anything they find from this crash, because it could be useful to the investigation, but they're also telling people to just stay away from this area, because the debris can also be dangerous, it could be explosive.

And so it is going to take some time before they're able to clean this up and really tell us why this happened in terms of the investigation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Sure. And if anyone comes across any of that debris, they need to call local authorities there because that information will help them piece together exactly what happened, what precipitated it, et cetera.

All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Joining me right now on the phone is Mike Drivdahl, the Public Information Officer for the Fort Worth Fire Department, so glad you could be with us and so glad that these two pilots ejected to safety, even though they are being hospitalized with some injuries. What can you tell us about what you think caused the pilots to eject?

MIKE DRIVDAHL, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, FORTH WORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT: You know, that's going to be one of those things that comes out in the investigation and the government and their agencies are going to be -- you know, on scene for several days looking at that.

I think what you guys have said, very lucky that our community didn't suffer any other major injuries or any other major damage for an incident like this to occur in a residential neighborhood. Very lucky on this one.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So what can you tell us about the debris field because when you're talking about planes going down, often that means a debris field can, you know, span miles, if not blocks long. So what is the situation there?

[15:05:06]

DRIVDAHL: So from my understanding, there's a total of probably six houses that are actually affected by the incident, three of them do have that heavy damage, some either debris damage or fire damage.

We're just going to have to continue to do that investigation and to do that search to figure out exactly how far out that debris is. So Lake Worth is a community that's just outside of the city of Fort Worth. We provide automatic aid response to them. So we are very thankful for them being on scene for the partnership that we've got with them, and really all the agencies worked very well today to have the best outcome possible.

WHITFIELD: What about eyewitness accounts before the plane went down?

DRIVDAHL: So I'm still getting some of those. I do know that two of my firefighters that were off duty are reported to have been on scene in just the first few minutes actually assisting with the incident. So you know, obviously a very proud moment for us.

And again, there's going to be a lot of information that comes out in the next several days as we continue to sort through this and to support the government and in the community of Lake Worth.

WHITFIELD: Mike Drivdahl, thank you so much for being with us. I know you all have a lot that you're tasked with. But again, we are all grateful and thankful that the injuries are not more extensive or wishing the best for the recovery of the two pilots who ejected to safely.

DRIVDAHL: Yes. Thank you, guys.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

All right, the port of entry in Del Rio, Texas is being temporarily closed as the Department of Homeland Security deals with the growing migrant crisis there. D.H.S. says it needs more help and plans to ask The Pentagon to assist with transportation as 600 more Border agents are sent in to help. More than 3,000 migrants have been moved in the last two days. And a short time ago, the U.S. Border Chief gave this update.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL ORTIZ, CHIEF, U.S. BORDER PATROL: We're working around the clock to expeditiously move migrants out of the heat elements and from underneath this bridge to our processing facilities in order to quickly process and remove individuals from the United States consistent with our laws and our policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Right now, there are roughly 15,000 migrants staying under a bridge in Del Rio waiting to be processed. CNN's Rosa Flores is in Del Rio for us.

So Rosa, what more can you tell us about how people are being processed? What are they facing?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, we're really starting to see the surge of state and Federal resources arriving here in Del Rio to deal with this humanitarian crisis.

Yesterday, we saw a mini army of Texas State Troopers arriving and today, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz announcing that not 400 agents and officers, but 600 agents and officers are expected to arrive here in Del Rio to expedite the processing.

We've seen some of the buses beyond the border fence that you see behind me loading up those migrants and taking them to various facilities around the Rio Grande to make sure that they're processed expeditiously.

Now Ortiz also adding that the number of Title 42 flights will be increased. Now, what that means is that this is the Trump-era pandemic health rule that's being applied to expel these migrants back to Haiti.

Now, one of the big questions that we're all wondering is why the surge of migrants here in Del Rio? Why now? I asked the Chief that question, and here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ORTIZ: There's a couple of things that our Intelligence are telling us about the Haitian migration flow. When I was a Chief here in 2019, we faced a similar influx, it just wasn't to the same magnitude of what we've seen over the last four or five days.

Haitians, and folks from Western Africa traditionally cross in the Del Rio sector area, because they have known individuals previously who have crossed in this area. They say that community across the border, Acuna, is relatively safe. And so traditionally, it is because of word of mouth.

Certainly, what happened this time is that number doubled and then tripled relatively quickly, and so we had to move resources in here as quickly as we could to manage that and we are getting to that point where we've got a pretty good handle on the migrant population that's under the bridge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Thousands of migrants are still waiting under this bridge. They are waiting in squalor.

Take a look at this video. It was obtained by CNN. This is from Texas Department of Public Safety. You're able to see some of the conditions, very crowded conditions, people sleeping in the dirt. They even built huts made out of branches and trees.

[15:10:05]

FLORES: And Fred, this is what the world has been watching now for days. And now we're seeing the surge of resources both from the state and from the federal government to deal with this crisis.

The local Mayor saying that he finally has the resources that he needs -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rosa Flores in Del Rio, Texas. Thank you.

Still ahead, what Facebook knew and when and why one lawmaker says they should not be launching an Instagram app aimed at kids. We will talk to her, next.

Plus, the COVID deaths return to a crushing number, nearly 2,000 deaths a day, a figure we haven't seen since March.

And tonight on CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks with scientists about the origins of COVID-19. This new CNN Special Report begins at eight o'clock Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:02]

WHITFIELD: More than half of the U.S. is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, yet, despite that, deaths are still rising among the unvaccinated.

The U.S. is topping a daily average of nearly 2,000 per day, the highest it's been since March. The rate of the spike in new cases has slowed, but so have vaccinations and some states are suffering far greater than others.

Joining us right now Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Florida's 14th District representing the people of Tampa. Congresswoman, so good to see you.

REP. KATHY CASTOR (D-FL): Thank you for the chance to be here today.

WHITFIELD: So COVID cases are down slightly. Hillsborough County, which encompasses Tampa, but the C.D.C. says transmission rates remain high even with 58 percent of the eligible population vaccinated there. So the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been adamantly opposed to

almost any mask or vaccination requirements. What are you doing or what can you do to help your constituents?

CASTOR: Fredricka, it's been a tragic summer here in the State of Florida due to COVID-19. Thousands and thousands of Floridians have lost their lives during this COVID surge. It is -- so God bless all of the families out there and the healthcare workers who have been struggling to provide care in our overwhelmed hospitals.

It's especially tragic because this was preventable. And one of the contributing factors has been Governor Ron DeSantis's refusal to follow public health experts. In fact, when the COVID delta variant surge took hold, he was disparaging public health officials. He was -- he took away the ability of our local mayors and officials to institute public health protocols.

He stopped providing the public health data like death rates and testing rates and vaccinations on the websites of the State of Florida. He has threatened universities and community colleges as kids came back to school not to have vaccination mandates and when local school board members during the delta surge early in the school year said we want to institute masks on a temporary basis, he bullied them and threatened them with retribution and is still threatening to withhold salaries and moneys from the public schools.

This is unfortunate and tragic.

WHITFIELD: So what kind of atmosphere does that -- yes, what kind of atmosphere does that promote in your district? Does it make you at all reticent? Nervous? Concerned about your safety or even that of your neighbors and friends in your district knowing that masking or getting vaccine is not being encouraged by the Governor?

CASTOR: You bet it does. People don't feel 100 percent safe. I have one of my very good friends, who is a nurse at Tampa General Hospital. She has worked there for decades. A couple of weeks ago, she said that was the first time in her career she didn't want to go to work. And when I saw her on Friday, she said this was the first time she was just overwhelmed because people are dying. So many people are dying in the hospitals.

And it's tragic because this was preventable. We have a safe and effective vaccine. But tragic because more people now have died since that vaccine became widely available in Florida than before that time.

WHITFIELD: And then now you've got coming from the White House, the President who is mandating all Federal employees be vaccinated, but Members of Congress are not in that group.

I mean, they don't have to be vaccinated. Do you think it should be the case? That with the new White House policy that even Members of Congress being Federal employees, they too should be vaccinated?

CASTOR: You bet, and they need to provide a good example to their constituents. Sometimes, in committee meetings, we don't really know who is vaccinated or not. That's unfortunate, but this isn't very important now that employers should take it into their own hands. People really need to take personal responsibility and go out and get vaccinated, help your family members and friends.

But boy, Governor DeSantis has just been cruel at this point in time when we know what works and disparaging public health experts and threatening retribution on local officials that simply want to keep people healthy and safe is just going way too far.

WHITFIELD: Well, let me get your point of view on other matters that involve young people, in particular this week, we learned from a report in "The Wall Street Journal," that Facebook is keenly aware of the negative mental health effects its platforms have on people, especially teenagers, and you actually signed a letter with Congresswoman Lori Trahan and Senator Edward Markey calling on Facebook to cease plans on developing an Instagram for kids under 13.

Why is this a priority for you?

[15:20:06]

CASTOR: Yes, Fredricka. This is a damning expose a in "The Wall Street Journal" for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, and Instagram because it is their own research, their own employees now who've turned into whistleblowers to say, okay, we actually knew that Instagram was causing mental health harm to our kids, especially young girls, with anxiety, depression, problems with body image, even there's a correlation out to a higher suicide rate since young people started on Instagram.

But here's the problem. They continue to say that they want to expand Instagram for kids, to get kids hooked early in life. This reminds me directly of the cigarette and tobacco companies decades ago when they were marketing surreptitiously to children and young people to get them hooked at a young age.

So here's -- there are a few things that we're going to need to do. First, Instagram needs to -- and Facebook needs to tank any idea of Instagram for kids. And then at the end of July --

WHITFIELD: How do you, as a Member of Congress try to impose that point of view, that thought process on private enterprise on how to run their business? Because just as you mentioned with tobacco, that was a delicate balance that Congress, you know, had to tight rope. How do you do this in this case? How do you tell Facebook, Instagram not to have a separate app for kids under 13?

CASTOR: Well, we're going to bring a lot of political pressure, bipartisan pressure. It was heartening to see that the outrage on the Facebook files, a "Wall Street Journal" reporting was broad, deep, and bipartisan.

And then we've got to change the law. Congress also here has been derelict in its duty in updating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. At the end of July, I filed a new bill, the Kids Privacy Act that's been endorsed by fair play common sense, the American Academy of Pediatrics that would prohibit online apps from targeting our kids gathering their personal information. It would prohibit any behavioral advertising targeted towards kids. It would empower parents. It would allow them to sue for breaches in privacy and allowed the Federal Trade Commission to go after them imposing large fines.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Congresswoman Kathy Castor, a pleasure you could be with us. Thank you so much. Come back.

CASTOR: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead. As deaths due to COVID surge in the U.S., a startling new statistic from Alabama officials. For the first time in the state's history, deaths have surpassed births.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:25]

WHITFIELD: The U.S. experiencing surging numbers of COVID cases and a death toll not seen since March of this year. According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. is now reporting nearly 2,000 COVID deaths a day. That's the highest seven-day average since March 2nd.

Alabama announcing that for the first time in its history, deaths in 2020 will surpass births.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOTT HARRIS, ALABAMA STATE HEALTH OFFICER: We have tally going back to the first decade of the 20th Century, so more than a hundred years and it's never -- that's never happened before nor has it ever even been close before.

In World War II or during the flu pandemic of 1918 or World War I, we've never had a time where deaths exceeded births, until this past year and it's certainly possible that could happen this year as well if we continue in the same rate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, in Idaho, COVID patients are taking up more than 62 percent of the ICU beds. Hospitals across the state now preparing to make tough treatment decisions due to an overflow of mostly unvaccinated patients.

CNN's Dan Simon has more on the health crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are being absolutely crushed by COVID.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am scared. I'm scared for all of us.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Idaho, healthcare workers are beginning to triage the worsening COVID-19 crisis.

DR. STEVEN NEMERSON, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, ST. ALPHONSUS HEALTH SYSTEM: We are going to have to start and are starting ranking how things are being done.

SIMON (voice over): State officials say hospitals are now allowed to ration treatment in order to meet an overwhelming surge of unvaccinated COVID patients.

DR. JIM SOUZA, CHIEF PHYSICIAN EXECUTIVE, ST. LUKE'S HEALTH SYSTEM: You get the question, if my husband, if my wife, if my son, if my daughter had been vaccinated, would this had happened? Then the answer of course is, no.

SIMON (voice over): The influx is forcing providers to make unimaginable decisions determining who gets care and who must wait.

NEMERSON: While we are currently able to tread water, it's going to decline simply because a caregiver can't get to a patient fast enough.

SIMON (voice over): Everyone from cancer patients to people on a transplant list can see delays and treatment as resources are diverted to urgent COVID cases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): A new delta variant is spreading twice as fast --

SIMON (voice over): Despite a month's long push of public service announcements like these from the state health department --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Protect yourself and others. Get vaccinated today.

SIMON (voice over): Barely 40 percent of the Gem State is fully vaccinated, nearly 14 points less than the national average. A statistic healthcare workers blame on misinformation.

And in a state where some residents and their children staged a fiery mass protest in March, there are still no statewide mask mandates.

[15:30:09]

SIMON (voice over): There is a strict mask mandate just across the border in Washington State and frustration is spilling over.

MAYOR JENNY DURKAN, SEATTLE: Get the damn shot. We need to be safe.

CASSIE SAUER, CEO, WASHINGTON STATE HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: Health care is not an unlimited resource.

SIMON (voice over): As some of Idaho's patients arrive at Spokane and Seattle area hospitals.

SAUER: People are just counting on Washington hospitals to be available to them while their own hospitals are overrun. To rely on our state and our state's hospitals is the backup plan just is really unacceptable.

SIMON (voice over): The Idaho Hospital Association says some 400 healthcare workers are out this week due to COVID exposure worsening a dire situation.

SOUZA: I think the only thing that could make things worse is to act like this is not happening. If you went out and got a vaccine today. It's not going to help us for weeks, but it'd be a start.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Dan Simon, thank you so much for that.

Joining me right now to discuss is Dr. Henry Bernstein, a pediatrician at Cohen Children's Medical Center, joining us right now. So he is also a former voting member of the C.D.C.'s Vaccine Advisory Committee. So glad you could be with us.

So Doctor, things are really bad right now. I mean, in every hospital across the country, you would think that that is impetus enough to encourage people to get shots if they have it. And if they are eligible. Is this what it's going to take to get people to vaccinate themselves in your view?

DR. HENRY BERNSTEIN, PEDIATRICIAN, COHEN CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER: I think it will contribute, and I hope it really does make a difference because it is the unvaccinated that are driving this present surge that's resulting in many hospitalizations, need for Intensive Care Unit, and also the record number of deaths that we're seeing close to 2,000 a day.

We know that the delta variant, the variable implementation of mitigation factors like masking, and then of course, these unvaccinated individuals are what's driving this.

WHITFIELD: And if this doesn't encourage people to get vaccinated, then what would?

BERNSTEIN: That's a million dollar question that I wish I could answer. I know that there are a lot of people that are interested in being vaccinated and have been, there are some that are adamantly opposed. And then there's a number of people that are quite hesitant, and it's in our -- it's important for us as healthcare providers to provide information using the Vaccine Information Statement or the Emergency Use Authorization sheet that comes with each COVID vaccine.

We need to listen carefully to each and every individual and that's why happening on the local level can really make a difference and change people's thinking. We do want to respect their concerns, but we also want to discuss the risks, as well as the benefits of the vaccine.

And most importantly, we want to correct any misperceptions or misinformation that they may have gleaned from websites, friends, neighbors, et cetera and we can send them to reputable websites like the C.D.C. and the American Academy of Pediatrics. WHITFIELD: The C.D.C.'s Vaccine Advisory Committee will meet this week

to review the F.D.A. panel's decision to approve booster shots for the elderly and other at risk Americans.

You were a voting member of that C.D.C. panel up until recently. What are the things that are -- what's the criteria that is being evaluated?

BERNSTEIN: Well, the ACIP, the Advisory Committee of the C.D.C. focuses on the science as the F.D.A. does, but also focuses on implementation and equity. And so there will be quite a robust discussion covering the idea of booster shots and which groups should get those booster shots.

It does seem that the data that was presented to VERPAC, the independent advisory committee of the F.D.A., the information that was presented really was not compelling enough in my mind that boosters should be available for everyone.

I think identifying risk-based approach and identifying those that are at highest risk would be the direction to go at the beginning, such as those 65 and older, those that have occupation risks such as healthcare personnel, and also frontline workers. And I think there will be a robust discussion among the members of the ACIP in that regard.

WHITFIELD: Okay, and if it's the collecting of data and science that will determine when and if a third booster shot should be extended to everyone. What is your point of view on when the White House gets ahead of that, and sets dates, perhaps raising expectations for people only to be disappointed when the F.D.A. and/or C.D.C. are in disagreement on how to read the science and the data?

[15:35:27]

BERNSTEIN: Again, you're raising a wonderful point. It was disappointing that a specific date was put into place and raised that the boosters would be available for everyone.

The process has always been that the VERPAC, the independent committee of the F.D.A. and the F.D.A. make decisions about authorization or licensure, and then it goes to the committee, the Advisory Committee of the C.D.C. before the final recommendations are made.

So sort of circumventing that or jumping ahead and making decisions that boosters would be available for everyone on tomorrow actually only created lots of confusion.

But the public should know that the science is driving the decisions in order to make the best decisions necessary so that we can move ahead and around and put this pandemic behind us.

WHITFIELD: We all look forward to that day, don't we? Boy, put this pandemic behind us. All right, but right now it's just one foot in front of the other just, you know, go slow and carefully.

All right, Dr. Henry Bernstein, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BERNSTEIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, the search intensifying for Gabby Petito and her fiance who disappeared after returning home from a road trip without her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:38]

WHITFIELD: All right, an update now on the breaking news that we've been following in Lake Worth, Texas.

We just learned the Navy training jet that crashed into a residential neighborhood was carrying an instructor and student. Both of them ejected from the plane and one of them was caught in some power lines with the parachute.

And at this hour, the instructor is listed in stable condition and the student is alive and receiving medical treatment at a local hospital. Investigators say debris from the crash litter the backyards of three homes. No residents of those homes were injured.

All right, the case of missing 22-year-old, Gabby Petito and her fiance Brian Laundrie continues to be quite the mystery. Today, authorities continued their search for Laundrie in a 25,000 acre Florida wilderness preserve.

CNN's Leyla Santiago is in North Point. So Leyla, any clues?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we have been here all day watching as search crews go into this gate right here to get to the Carlton Reserve, as you mentioned, 25,000 acres of a wildlife preserve.

We have seen a helicopter circling above, we've seen K-9 units, all sorts of different agencies taking part in this search, and when you see ATVs coming out, you also can take note that they are very muddy, have grass hanging from the bottom so clearly, they are not staying on any sort of well-established path to try to find 23-year-old, Brian Laundrie.

Now, the search here began after Friday, his family located or reached out rather to police and said this is where they should be searching. You can see behind me right now that the Sheriff's Office, a big van is actually coming out. First time we've seen this one here.

But the family reached out to law enforcement saying Tuesday was the last time they saw him and that he said he would be coming here for a hike. Why they didn't notify law enforcement earlier? That still remains a big question.

But you have the search here for him, and then 2,000 miles away, you have the search for 22-year-old Gabby Petito where search crews, law enforcement, and loved ones are begging anyone with information to help them find her.

WHITFIELD: This mystery just gets even more sordid. Leyla Santiago, thank you so much.

All right, a book ban in Pennsylvania on literature that focuses on social justice history, American history and race has students and parents fighting back. We'll talk to the author of one of the banned books, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:49:12]

WHITFIELD: All right, students and teachers in Pennsylvania are fighting back against a ban on books that focus on issues of social justice and American history. The ban started last October when the York School District voted on it, but a meeting was held last week to address growing concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDHA GUPTA, STUDENT PROTESTING BOOK BAN: This is a board that after hearing their students concerns about diversity in the district, hearing my struggles with race being an Indian-American and consistently feeling like I didn't belong. After all those conversations for weeks on end, they still pursued this book ban.

OLIVIA PITUCH, STUDENT PROTESTING BOOK BAN: I want to learn genuine history. I don't want you to learn a whitewashed version. I want to hear all of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Teachers also say they are worried about broader implications.

[15:50:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN HODGE, THEATER TEACHER, CENTRAL YORK HIGH SCHOOL: I have to now with this resource ban, think twice about whether or not I should or could use a James Baldwin, quote as an opening for my class.

PATRICIA JACKSON, ENGLISH TEACHER, CENTRAL YORK HIGH SCHOOL: There are teachers looking over their shoulders wondering if someone is going to be at their door, darkening their door that you said something or you mentioned something or you used something that you were not supposed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The school district says it isn't a ban as much as it is a freeze on the materials outright so that they can be reviewed. But the review process has already been a year-long and some of those materials include books on Malala Yousafzai, her autobiography, CNN's Sesame Street Town Hall on racism and a children's book about Rosa Parks. That's just to name a few.

The author of that book about Rosa Parks, Brad Meltzer is joining me right now.

Brad, so good to see you.

BRAD MELTZER, AUTHOR, "I AM ROSA PARKS": Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So you wrote the book, "I am Rosa Parks," and it is part of a series of a number of other "I am's". "I am Muhammad Ali," "I am Walt Disney." I mean, it's just a variety of books with beautiful illustrations and easy to digest words to help teach audience of children.

So, what was your reaction when you learn that this was among the books banned?

MELTZER: You know, all my friends were so angry, but I was heartbroken. I was heartbroken because it means that there are all these students that will never hear the story of Rosa Parks. And that's exactly why I started writing these books with Chris Eliopoulos, our amazing artist who draws these beautiful pictures. So kids can see these amazing members of history.

They can learn empathy. They can learn kindness. They can learn compassion. And now, this school district, the Central York School Board has taken that away. They can call it a freeze, but when kids can't get these books, it's a ban. And these kids can't get stories of Rosa Parks or Malala or "I am Enough" by Grace Byers, a story about empathy. It breaks my heart.

WHITFIELD: And what's behind that decision, that ban, in your view?

MELTZER: Personally, I think it is fear. You know, what you're seeing right now and when the ban happened, people in all of our Facebook page and our Twitter page, and what they kept saying we heard over and over from teachers is "I'm scared." Because race is a hard subject matter, it is.

But nothing good comes from not discussing something that's hard. And to me, that's what these great leaders always stand for, is you have to deal with these issues. If we don't, we can't go forward.

And so what you're seeing right now is a push back against that Boogeyman of critical race theory, where you're watching people, just teachers and principals and school board members are scared of what to do. And you know what? We have to fight that fear.

WHITFIELD: So some members of the school district say the material is being prohibited because it hadn't been fully vetted, and that it will be reviewed. Do you buy that?

MELTZER: Listen, you have an all-white school board who bans a list that is basically almost every person on there is a book about someone who is black or by a black author. Do the math on that. And when you hit Rosa Parks, a children's book about Rosa Parks, the

reason I'm talking to you today is because that's when you realize that in all the fighting back and forth and pointing fingers, we've lost commonsense. It is Rosa Parks.

You're messed up if you're banning Rosa Parks.

WHITFIELD: Brad Meltzer, thank you so much. Thanks for bringing your passion to the screen and through your books. Appreciate it.

MELTZER: Thank you so much, and I encourage everyone go buy not just our books, buy all the books on the list. Show that school board that there is no victory unless like Rosa Parks, you protest and show them this ban cannot stand.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Brad.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and when offenders are released, they face challenges that make it very difficult to earn a livable wage.

Today's CNN Hero is a personal trainer on a mission to help other formerly incarcerated men and women.

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HECTOR GUADALUPE, CNN HERO, FITNESS TRAINER: After surviving prison, you come home thinking you're able to start over. You want to be part of the society, but there's just so many layers of discrimination. Boxes you have to get through just to get an opportunity.

Society thinks, oh, you should just go get a job and it's not that easy. Once you have a record, nothing is set up for them to win.

At the Second U Foundation, we get formerly incarcerated men and women national certifications in job placements in boutique gyms or corporate health clubs throughout New York City.

You ought to be thinking outside the box.

You can't give someone a mop and say this is your future, take minimum wage and deal with it.

When you provide people with livable wages, they are able to be productive members of society.

And that's why we are a Second U. We want to give you a second chance at life.

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[15:55:10]

WHITFIELD: Second U. For more information, visit CNNheroes.com.

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta, right after this.

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