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Police Admit "Wrong Decision" Not To Breach Classroom Doors Sooner; Biden Set To Meet With Families In Uvalde Tomorrow; Millions Traveling This Memorial Day Weekend Despite High Gas Prices; Harris Attends Buffalo Funeral Today; Senator Cornyn: Bipartisan Gun Reform Talks "Just Getting Started"; CDC Issues Travel Alert Over Monkeypox Outbreak; U.S. Athletes And Teams React to Uvalde Shooting Massacre. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired May 28, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:15]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me.

I'm Jessica Dean. Frederica Whitfield is off today.

We begin with haunting questions in Uvalde, Texas ahead of President Biden's trip there tomorrow.

And as the families of the 19 children and two teachers killed in the school massacre prepare to bury their loved ones, heartbroken parents demanding answers and accountability as new details continue to raise confusion and prompt questions about what went wrong. Authorities facing scrutiny over conflicting information as well as the time line provided by law enforcement.

We now know the gunman was not confronted by police before entering the school and more than an hour passed between the first 911 call and when the shooter was killed.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz pressed authorities for answers during a press conference Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You say there were 19 officers gathered in the hallway or somewhere. What efforts were made to try and break through that door you say was locked? What effort were the officers making to try and break through either that door or another door to get inside that classroom?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None at that time.

PROKUPECZ: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The on-scene commander at the time believed that it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject. PROKUPECZ: You have people who are alive, children who are calling 911

saying please, send the police. They are alive in that classroom. There are lives that are at risk. That's not --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're well aware of that.

PROKUPECZ: Right. Why was this decision made not to go in and rescue these children?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, you know, the on-scene commander considered a barricaded subject and that there was time and there were no more children at risk. Obviously -- obviously, you know, based upon the information we have there were children in that classroom that were at risk, and it was in fact, still an active shooter situation and not a barricaded subject.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: That officer says there was no doubt that mistakes were made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. STEVEN MCCRAW, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: After the benefit of hindsight where I'm sitting now, of course, it was not the right decision. It was the wrong decision. There's no excuse for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: The incident commander has been identified as Uvalde School District Police Chief Pedro "Pete' Arradondo. Arradondo made two brief statements to the press on the day of the shooting and has not spoken since.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he's livid about being misled about the police response in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Abbot refused to discuss whether or not Arradondo should keep his job.

When President Biden travels to Uvalde tomorrow he's expected to meet with victims' families and other community members there.

CNN's Boris Sanchez joins me now live from Uvalde.

Boris, I just can't imagine what today is like there. What is the mood like?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Jessica, this community is still processing what happened on Tuesday. There's still disbelief. People here are in mourning. They can't believe that something this heinous, something this horrific could happen in their small idyllic town, just two days before summer break.

Instead of planning for summer vacations or camps, families here are planning funerals. It is extremely emotional to think that third and fourth graders are the majority of the victims here. And as you see behind me the memorial for those victims continues it grow. In fact, just within the last hour we saw State Senator Roland Gutierrez escort a family who actually came from out of town to pay their respects. That young boy you see there telling the state senator that he wanted to say good-bye to these kids.

It made State Senator Gutierrez emotional. And as you can imagine that is just one slice of what we're seeing across this community.

There's also intense anger, frustration because parents are coming to the realization that there are discrepancies between what police initially told them happened here and the time line, the actual break down and the decision making that went into the police response, the delay.

The time that was spent waiting as children inside a classroom were calling 911 hoping for police to breach the classroom that the shooter was in as officers waited outside.

[11:04:52]

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss that aspect of this further with CNN's Jason Carroll. He joins us now in Uvalde. Jason, what are you hearing from people in the community?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think of people like Alfred Garza. I spoke to him yesterday right after that press briefing where we heard these officials admitting the mistakes that were made.

And when I spoke to him about his daughter Amerie, she went to school here. She was a fourth grader here. She died during the shooting. And when I spoke to him about what had happened, what law enforcement officials were saying he said at this point what he's looking for is accountability. He wants to make sure that what happened to his daughter doesn't happen to anyone else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALFRED GARZA, FATHER OF SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIM AMERIE JO GARZA: They should have acted more promptly and more quickly. You know, time is of the essence with stuff like that. You know, time it's -- and they should have just acted quicker, and that's the bottom line.

They should have reacted quicker, faster, you know. You know, had they done, you know, maybe we would have a different result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And that's what we're hearing from a number of parents out here as they deal with not only grief but anger and a whole host of emotions, but what if they had acted more quickly?

Just to point out his daughter, he believes his daughter was one of those children inside who may have been trying to call 911, and so the family is now having to deal with that as well. But the big question is what if they had acted more quickly? SANCHEZ: And Jason, one of several discrepancies that we heard from

law enforcement over the last few days, soon after investigators came to a podium and gave a press conference declaring that there was a school resource officer on campus that responded to the shooting, within 24 hours they came back and said --

CARROLL: Not the case.

SANCHEZ: -- not the case.

CARROLL: Correct.

SANCHEZ: What have you learned about that?

CARROLL: Right. And again that was just one of the many twists in the story to be told, yes, there was a resource officer that was here. And in addition to that they told those of us in the media that this resource officer had actually engaged with the shooter.

So at that point, Boris, like you, like the rest of us -- we were just waiting to see in what way that this officer had engaged with the shooter. Well now, it turns out that resource officer wasn't here in those first moments but did end up showing up here.

And here's how that explanation went down during that particular part of the process (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCRAW: That officer was not on scene, not on campus but had heard the 911 call with a man with a gun, drove immediately to the area, sped to what he thought was the man with the gun to the back of the school who turned out to be a teacher and not the suspect. And doing so he drove right by the suspect who was hunkered down behind the vehicle where he began shooting at the school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So there are going to be a lot of questions going forward, Boris, as you can imagine about, ok, why would the resource officer -- an armed resource officer not here. Understand this is a small community. They don't have many, but the questions are going to be why wasn't he here when he was supposed to be?

So perhaps that will be one of the changes made in the future. The governor has said that he expects laws to be enacted as a result of what happened here. Perhaps that will be part of the accountability, but that's what a lot of the people here in the community, parents -- those who had a loved one and those who didn't have a loved one here but those who knew someone here -- these are the things that folks here are going to be asking and demanding.

SANCHEZ: And it was shocking to hear Governor Greg Abbott declare yesterday that he was misled when he was trying to get answers. You can imagine that is little consolation to families that are grasping for any answer that they can get right now as to what happened. Jason Carroll, thank you so much.

We do want to get some expertise now from former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. He's with us right now.

Ed, thank you so much for sharing part of your weekend with us.

As you heard officials here in Uvalde have acknowledged that the incident commander made a mistake. He made the wrong decision to not breach the classroom sooner.

You've called that an abject failure. I'm wondering what reasons could you imagine that that incident commander would have decided that this was a barricaded suspect situation as opposed to an active shooter scenario.

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good morning, Boris. So these are -- these are horrible questions to be looking at in a tragic situation. The chaos of these events and misinformation most likely will play a role in this when all of the facts come out. It's impossible to be definitive about exactly what happened.

In a situation like this the commanding officer should be very close to the scene. We don't know where the chief was at that particular time.

[11:09:55]

DAVIS: We do know a sergeant was on scene in about 10 or 15 minutes. That sergeant should have been in constant contact with the commanding officer to tell that chief exactly what was happening so that he could make good decisions.

You'd like to think that the chief was in constant contact with the dispatchers who frequently have the best information as these situations unfold so that he could make good decisions. Clearly good decisions were not made here.

But one of the troubling things I see is that people -- police officers arrive there by 12:15 with ballistic shields. And so it still was another 35 minutes before the entry was made.

So the time line needs to be examined. The tapes of the calls and the radio dispatchers need to be examined. The commanding officer needs to be interviewed to find out exactly what information he was operating on.

And then after all that is determined we have to look at whether or not the system of allowing someone who might not have the requisite experience here actually run a thing like this. You know, if there's somebody on the scene with tactical experience, there should at least be coordination and communication with that particular individual so that commander can make good decisions.

So there's a lot going on here. SANCHEZ: I want to zero in with you on that break down in

communication because as we understand it there were kids inside the classroom that were calling 911 pleading for officers to breach the room, to go in. And some 19 officers were still in the hallway waiting.

There were parents out here who said that they could hear children screaming, that they heard gunfire, and yet the incident commander decided that this was, again a barricaded suspect situation as opposed to an active shooting situation, which led them to wait. What reasons would they have for waiting?

DAVIS: Well, again, we're not certain, but let me try to put this in context as to what it's like standing in the shoes of that commander. That commander is getting information from the radio system, so there are people squawking on the radio about what they're doing and where they're going.

At the same time there are people around the commander feeding them information and trying to cut through that fog of war is extremely difficult. And then you're pointing out one of the major issues we've had in policing for many years which is the old-fashioned way we get information to people in the field who are dealing with what's going on.

We have a telephone call come in. That goes to a call taker, and then the information is sent to a dispatcher, and then the dispatcher sends that information onto the field over the radio.

There's no reason in this day and age why we can't get that actual caller in touch with the people that are actually in the field. And we've talked about this for decades, but we've never been able to solve that.

So some of these issues that are being pointed out may be able to be solved by technology. It's time for a solid look at that. That commander is getting way too much information. There's an overload of incoming information and clearly something happened that he wasn't able to cut through to the core of what was going on here.

The bottom line is this if you're in a situation where you secured everything and then you start to hear gunfire again, there's no excuse not to move immediately.

SANCHEZ: Ed, I do want to ask you about something that a parent told the "New York Times", a parent of one of the victims. He said, quote, "We live in this really small town in this red state and everyone keeps telling us, you know, that it's not the time to be political. But it is. It is. Don't let this happen to anybody else." They go on, "Our baby wanted to be a lawyer. She wanted to make a difference."

This is Ms. Rubio, the mother of one of the children that was killed. "Please make sure she makes one now."

Do you agree? Is it time to be political with this tragedy, with what just happened given that parents in this community are calling for it? DAVIS: I've heard those statements, Boris, and I'm telling you they're

pathetic. A political fix is what's needed here. We need to have a law that tightens up and puts realistic controls over people who are trying to get their hands on thousands of rounds of ammunition and weapons of war who may have psychological problems.

[11:14:57]

DAVIS: The idea that this is political is a ridiculous statement. Of course, it's political. We need a politician to pass a law. And I bristle when I hear this after seeing bodies of children in a school. It's insanity.

Commissioner Davis, we have to leave the conversation there. We hope you'll rejoin us further down the road as this investigation expands and hopefully we get more answers. Thank you.

DAVIS: Thank you, sir.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

We still have plenty more to get to from Uvalde, Texas as we continue to learn new details about the mistakes that police acknowledge were made. And of course, we want to bring you the stories of the innocent lives, 21 that were lost -- two schoolteachers and 19 children. Most of them not any older than 10.

Much more straight ahead. Stay with us.

[11:15:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Despite painfully high gas prices, millions of Americans are traveling this holiday weekend. The average price for a gallon of gas is $4.60. That's about 50 percent higher than last Memorial Day weekend.

CNN's Nadia Romero joins me now live for more on this. And Nadia, I know you're at a gas station in Atlanta. What prices are you seeing there?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're about 30 cents cheaper here in Atlanta, Jessica, than that national average. But you mentioned it, $4.60 per gallon for regular unleaded. That is the highest we've seen on average this year today, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

AAA is still estimating some 35 million Americans will hit the road. They will travel by car throughout this weekend, and that's up about 5 percent compared to this time last year.

And I spoke with a ride-share driver. She's an Uber driver and she says that she watches gas prices go up and down because she makes it her business to get on the road and give people rides. She says she wants gas companies to be held accountable. She believes that they're price gouging right now.

She also wants the government to do more. (AUDIO GAP) why are we seeing this dramatic spike in gas prices, they say it's really a two- fold problem. One of those issues is the war in Ukraine and the oil sanctions on Russian oil. Take a listen to the other problem that we're dealing with right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK DE HAAN, HEAD OF PETROLEUM ANALYSIS, GASBUDDY: And so we are dealing with a global supply and demand imbalance due to loss of Russian oil. Not only that but refineries here in the United States due to events like COVID, Hurricane Ida, we've seen a tremendous amount of refining capacity lost over the last three years.

And so going into the summer driving season not only are oil prices up but there's less capacity to produce things like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And you just heard it jet fuel there. AAA expecting a lot of people to hit the road this weekend, but we're also seeing Atlanta's airport sending out tweets reminding people that you should expect long lines at TSA.

They're expecting some 2 million people from this past Thursday through Wednesday. So they have a longer holiday weekend at the airport. They're expecting 2 million people to pass through with the highest number of projected passengers yesterday at 311,000.

Jessica, you have beautiful weather at least here in Atlanta. It's warm, it's sunny, there's a nice breeze, and you have this pent-up demand for people who haven't been traveling due to the pandemic who want to get out there. But if you do you're going to encounter those much higher gas prices, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Nadia Romero for us, thanks so much.

And still to come this hour both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveling to opposite corners of the country this weekend to honor and mourn the victims of the latest mass shootings in America. We have their plans in Buffalo and Uvalde.

That's next.

[11:22:57]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: This weekend President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on opposite sides of the country honoring victims from two different mass shootings. Biden will go to Uvalde, Texas tomorrow to meet with victims' families reeling from the elementary school massacre there. And in Buffalo, New York a funeral for one of the victims of the grocery store mass shooting is under way right now. The vice president and second gentleman are there honoring the life of Ruth Whitfield.

I want to bring in CNN's Joe Johns for the latest on this. Joe, you're there in Buffalo. Tell us about today's events.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is Mount Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo. And it is the scene of a memorial service for 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield who was one of ten people killed in that grocery store shooting two Saturdays ago.

She, we are told and were told initially, had been to the nursing home to see her husband, and then essentially went to the grocery store to buy some groceries and that's where she was shot.

Now, she's a well-known person in this community in no small part because her son is a former, now retired, fire commissioner. So the fire department well-represented at this memorial service.

The vice president we're told is not expected to speak at this service, but we are told she has been meeting with family members of Ruth Whitfield and is likely to also meet with some of the survivors and family members of others who were shot at the grocery store.

This service is expected to include the Reverend Al Sharpton who was speaking we're told, a variety of others here. In fact, the junior senator from New York flew up on the plane with the vice president along with the governor.

And we're also expecting to see some of the lawyers who were involved in this thing including civil rights lawyer Ben Crump who's been called in to represent the Whitfield family and some others. So getting some idea of what the service is going to be, probably not a lot of talk about the legalities and the lawsuits, but that's something that's going to come down the road.

Back to you.

DEAN: All right. Joe Johns in Buffalo for us. Thanks so much.

[11:29:52]

DEAN: Republican Senator John Cornyn says bipartisan talks on gun reform legislation are, quote, "just getting started". Democratic Senator Joe Manchin who met with the bipartisan group this week says so far it's been very encouraging.

CNN's Daniella Diaz is on Capitol Hill for us. And Daniella, what else do we know that Senator Manchin said about that meeting? And just how real is this optimism?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me read you what he Told reporters on Thursday after this bipartisan group met, Jessica. He said he called it, quote, "very encouraging" that this group met. And he said the atmosphere, quote, "feels different" than it did in the days after Sandy Hook, that horrific shooting that also took place at an elementary school.

He said, quote, "It's just encouraging to see that there's a way, a path forward."

So that's what he says, but really it's going to be an uphill climb, Jessica. You know better than anyone as a congressional correspondent as well that it's going to take ten Republicans at least to sign-on to any legislation and that's if every single Democratic senator supports any sort of gun safety legislation as well to get the 60 votes needed to advance legislation.

But look, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a huge move actually gave his blessing to Senator John Cornyn, another Republican senator who's in these bipartisan talks to negotiate with Senator Chris Murphy, Senator Kyrsten Sinema -- these senators that are in this bipartisan group to try to find a solution to try to prevent these horrific mass shootings from happening.

But in contrast, of course, there's Senator John Cornyn from Texas where the Uvalde shooting took place. In contrast there's Senator Ted Cruz who was not at the negotiating table on the issues and actually spoke at the NRA convention last night and blamed everything but guns for what happened in Uvalde. Take a listen to what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Ultimately as we all know what stops armed bad guys is armed good guys. We must not react to evil and tragedy by abandoning the constitution or infringing on the rights of our law- abiding citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: Jessica, I really think that the sound shows how much of a divide there is right now in the Republican party with, for example, Cornyn negotiating with Democrats and Senator Ted Cruz was blaming anything but guns for what is happening.

So it's going to be incredibly difficult for Democrats to get ten Republicans on board. But that's not stopping them from continuing to negotiate. But do want to remind our viewers that right now the senate is in recess. They left town Washington, D.C. Thursday night to return back to their homes, so this is going to take a long time. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is giving Democrats that time to figure something out.

DEAN: Yes. Daniella Diaz for us. Thanks so much. Good point, too, they're out on recess and a lot of gun advocates and senators hoping that they can keep the progress going on that recess because a lot of times things slow down when they're not there.

All right. Daniella thanks so much.

There is a good opportunity to stop monkeypox transmission now. Hopeful words from the World Health Organization on the growing outbreak. Next details on the CDC's latest travel warnings Americans. [11:33:11]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: The Department of Health and Human Services has invoked the Defense Production Act for a third time this week to give formula companies the raw materials they need to boost production. This as shipments from the Biden administration's Operation: Fly Formula will soon be hitting store shelves.

Nestle says 40 percent of its Gerber hypoallergenic specialty formula that arrived in the U.S. Wednesday will be shipped to stores by the end of the day tomorrow. And Danone Food Company says half a million cans of its specialty formula should get to families in the first half of July.

As millions of Americans make summer travel plans, the CDC is issuing a travel alert after cases of monkeypox were reported in at least 12 countries including the United States. That alert noted that almost none of the people infected had recently been to central or west Africa which is where monkeypox most frequently occurs.

Joining us now Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of medicine and the author of "Preventing the Next Pandemic".

Dr. Hotez, great to see you. Thanks for making time for us this morning. Do you believe this is a necessary alarm that the CDC is raising here?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, they've raised it one level up. So they're not saying avoid non-essential travel. They're basically saying enhance precautions if you do travel to one of the countries, which by the way includes the United States, where people are becoming infected with monkeypox.

So there's about 400 confirmed or suspected cases right now globally, roughly half of them are in Portugal, Spain and the U.K. And I think the most important piece of this is to avoid individuals who are sick or have known genital or skin lesions, which is really common sense.

And then there's some other more specific things about avoiding contact with exotic live or dead animals and that sort of thing. But I think the most important piece of this is to try to avoid intimate contact with partners who are not feeling well or have suspected lesions that resemble the monkeypox rash.

[11:39:52]

DEAN: And in its travel warning, the CDC noted there were cases reported in at least 12 countries where it wasn't endemic. Help us understand why that distinction matters. Why it is and why it matters, that distinction?

DR. HOTEZ: Well, we haven't seen this before. I mean typically this is a virus that circulates in one of two forms. One of the forms in Central Africa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, another one in West Africa in Nigeria. And sequencing of the virus are preliminary indication and suggest that it's likely the variant that comes out of Nigeria.

But you're seeing what looks like ongoing human to human transmission in, as you point out, at least a dozen countries. And so that the concern is that this will continue to accelerate and will go considerably above the 400 current suspected and known cases.

I think the good news to consider though is that this is a virus that's far less transmissible than COVID-19. It's not a virus that you inhale in aerosol. It's close, intimate contact.

There's a long incubation period so it's possible to isolate individuals. And if necessary, in the U.S., anyway, we have two vaccine stockpiles that were initially stockpiled for purposes of smallpox but we believe this will cross protect against monkeypox as well. So there's nowhere near that level of alarm as COVID-19.

On the other hand, the cases, we will continue to see more cases. And exactly what the end game is still a little bit murky until this eventually burns itself out.

DEAN: And to that point the World Health Organization says there is a good window of opportunity to stop that outbreak of monkeypox if the right measures are put into place. And you kind of just outlined some of those.

Is there anything else you think they need to be focused on doing right now? What's the most important thing to be doing?

DR. HOTEZ: Well, I think you know, we still don't have details on transmission. There's been significant numbers of individuals who are gay or bisexual men so potentially intimate partner contact, but there's also been some household transmission as well. So I think we need to pin that down better.

And number two, advice people appropriately and if possibly do what's called ring vaccination which is what was done to contain smallpox to identify contacts and vaccinate and halt the spread.

They haven't felt the need to do that yet given the very, very small number of cases. And I think that's what we have to emphasize is that we're talking, you know, 400 current and known and suspected cases. Those numbers will rise, but I think given the fact that it's far less transmissible than something like COVID, you have a long incubation period that makes contact tracing so much easier that we can isolate those individuals. It may not become necessary to deploy that vaccine.

So I have a lot of optimism er will be able to contain it, the numbers will increase before they start to go down.

DEAN: Yes. It sounds -- just the way you're describing it -- it's so, so different than what we were dealing with this COVID-19. Although I do think a lot of people hear monkeypox and they've never heard of it before. They're not sure exactly what it is, they start to think is it similar to chickenpox? If I had chickenpox do I have immunity or something like that? Is it connected at all to that disease or this is something totally different?

DR. HOTEZ: Yes, it creates a lot of confusion because they both have the word pox in it -- pox. But chicken pox is a totally different type of virus. It belongs to the herpes virus family where as monkeypox belongs to the (INAUDIBLE) family which is like smallpox and no relationship or protection afforded by chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine.

But it does have some similarities to smallpox. And there's some belief that the reason we're seeing a rise in monkeypox cases globally is because we stopped vaccinating people against smallpox in the 1970s.

So people born after that time were not vaccinated against smallpox and that creates an opportunity for monkeypox. Important to emphasize this is a far less severe disease than smallpox, more difficult to transmit. But that's the reason why we have actually two vaccine stockpiles and antiviral drugs. It wasn't for monkeypox it was done because in the early 2000s the Bush administration had a lot of concern about bioterrorist attacks after getting intelligence information from the former Soviet Union that there were efforts to create weaponized smallpox and other countries possibly as well.

So those kind of measures were stockpiled but the good news is they'll likely cross protect against monkeypox as well.

DEAN: All right. Dr. Peter Hotez, thanks for breaking it down for us there. We appreciate it.

DR. HOTEZ: Thank you.

[11:44:48]

DEAN: Still ahead, professional sports teams demanding change in the wake of yet another mass shooting in America.

And also this quick programming note. "NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY" explores our neighbor to the north, Toronto, with such a diverse immigrant influence, eating out in Toronto is like dining around the world. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLTON MCCOY, CNN HOST: Oh, my gosh, such a bad idea.

I'm a little concerned. The closest I've been to an ice rink is watching the Mighty Ducks. Am I wearing these things right? First steps are the toughest.

That is not stable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, Carl. MCCOY: There's dribble on your butt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

See, beautiful. Move out of the way, big guy. Big tree coming through.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Move, move, move, move.

We're going to put you in a game, Carlton. We're going to have you face-off versus Santonio (ph) and Conner right here. I'm going to shoot a puck in the corner.

Go. Go get it, boys. Go get it Carlton. Put it in the net, Conner.

They're already up 1-0.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: You can catch an all new episode of "NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY" tomorrow at a special time at 9:00 p.m. That's followed by another new episode at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN.

[11:46:20]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Growing calls for change across the nation after yet another school shooting massacre. The devastating consequences of Uvalde, Texas have enraged many, including athletes and sports teams who are now calling for sensible gun laws and action from Washington.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABE KAPLER, MANAGER, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: I don't plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel like there is -- I feel better about the direction of our country. So, that is the step.

I don't -- I don't expect it to move the needle necessarily, it is just something that I feel strongly enough about to take that step.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Kapler says he will not be taking the field while the national anthem is playing. He's one of many sports figures who have made statements in the days following the shooting.

CNN's Andy Scholes has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, in wake of what happened in Uvalde, sports figures and teams have been using their voice to advocate for change. The Warriors head coach Steve Kerr on the day of the shooting very emotional, demanding politicians to do more. STEVE KERR, COACH, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: When are we going to do

something? I'm tired, I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there.

We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put it to a vote despite what we, the American people want. They won't vote on it because they want to hold on to their own power. It is pathetic. I've had enough.

SCHOLES: Wednesday the Heat and Celtics held a moment of silence for the lives lost and then their public address announcer delivered this message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Heat urges you to contact your state senators by calling 202-224-3121 to leave a message demanding their support for common sense gun laws. You could also make change at the ballot box. Visit heat.com/vote to register and let your voice be heard this fall.

SCHOLES: The Warriors with a very similar message advocating for common sense gun laws before game five at the Western Conference Finals. And Kerr again speaking out that day saying, "We as a country need to start thinking of gun control as a public health issue".

KERR: For whatever reason it is a political issue. But it is really a public health issue. So, as soon as we could just shift the dynamic to this being a public health issue, then you get momentum.

So, what I'm asking people to do is to get involved in their local communities. I've got lots of friends who are Democrats, I have got lots of friends who are Republicans. And all I know is they all want gun violence to go away.

SCHOLES: The Yankees and Rays in Major League Baseball meanwhile teaming up, instead of tweeting about their game, they presented facts about gun violence in our country. the Rays adding "this cannot become normal. We cannot become numb. We cannot look the other way. We all know if nothing changes, nothing changes."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts meanwhile says politicians have failed the country.

DAVE ROBERTS, MANAGER, L.A. DODGERS: How there can't be a bipartisan consensus on an issue like this is very disheartening. It is very irresponsible by our nation's leaders. And something needs to be done. And be proactive about it. Because like everyone has said, enough is enough. When it enough, enough?

SCHOLES: Lebron James tweeting that there simply has to be change, has to be. While NFL Networks Rich Eisen made a passional plea for something to be done.

[11:54:41]

RICH EISEN, NFL NETWORKS: We cannot give up. We cannot give up as a society and we cannot give up on giving our two cents and keeping the pressure on those in power who do nothing about it. Children murdered in their classroom. Murdered. In their classroom. And you're already seeing the responses from those in power who refuse to do anything about it saying it is about anything else other than easy legal access to assault weaponry.

SCHOLES: And sports teams and figures have in the past been very powerful helping to enact social change. And they're once again using their platform to try to make a difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Andy Scholes, thanks so much. And if you would you like to offer support for those involved in the Texas school shooting, you can go to CNN.com/impact. You'll find several ways you can help the Uvalde community there.

Much more coverage from Texas and the latest on the investigation and the tragic mistakes made by police that day. That is straight ahead.

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