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Reports Indicate Secret Service Deleted Text Messages Sent Day Before And During January 6th Insurrection; President Biden Meets With Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman During Middle East Visit; Indiana Attorney General Still Reviewing Doctor Who Performed An Abortion On 10-Year-Old Rape Victim From Ohio; Los Angeles County May Reimpose Mask Mandate As COVID-19 Cases And Hospitalizations Continue To Rise; Cases Of Monkeypox Increase In U.S. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired July 16, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:11]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're following new developments in the Capitol riot investigation. The U.S. Secret Service is now vowing to respond swiftly to a subpoena from the January 6th Committee. The House committee probing the insurrection issued that subpoena to the Secret Service on Friday for text messages sent on January 5th and 6th of 2021. And this comes after the Homeland Security's inspector general accused the Secret Service of erasing those texts after his office requested them. The Secret Service denies deleting any texts maliciously.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us now. So Katelyn, where do things stand right now?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Fred, this is a pretty fast-moving story. We didn't even know that this was an issue with the Secret Service losing text messages from January 5th and 6th until about 72 hours ago. That is when the Department of Homeland Security inspector general said this independent watchdog over that agency had announced essentially in a letter to Capitol Hill that they had learned that the texts were missing, that there was a data migration in process at DHS at the Secret Service that caused the erasure of some text messages on Secret Service phones.

So the DHS inspector general announced that to Capitol Hill, several committees there. And then the House Select Committee investigating January 6th took interest in it very quickly. They received a briefing from that watchdog agent on Friday. All nine members sat for several hours trying to figure out what happened here with the Secret Service, what was going on in this other investigation. And the committee members emerged from that briefing quite concerned. Here is representative Zoe Lofgren yesterday after that briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ZOE LOFGREN, (D-CA) HOUSE SELECT JANUARY 6TH COMMITTEE: I will say that the explanation that you have to factory set and eliminate your data without backing up your data just seems -- I'm skeptical. I wouldn't do that. The argument about when the request was made is largely irrelevant. The Secret Service was aware that this was one of the signature events of our country and that there would be a need to preserve all of the evidence because of that, and also there's an obligation for federal agencies to retain records.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So the Secret Service has been saying they weren't deleting these maliciously, that even the things that the DHS inspector general was seeking, those weren't the text messages that were deleted. But Zoe Lofgren there, she is underlying that it is an obligation of federal agencies to retain records. And so that's what precipitates this subpoena that we saw the House select committee issue late last night, asking both for the text messages as issue here as well as any after-action reports that could explain what happened at the Secret Service.

And I should add, the Secret Service is important in this House select committee investigation. This isn't just a committee parachuting in. What Secret Service agents saw, what they witnessed, what the said about January 6th around Donald Trump, that is an important part of their investigation, especially after some of the recent testimony that we've seen, like from White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson in recent weeks. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much.

Let's talk more about this now with former Secret Service agent Christopher McClenic. Christopher, good to see you. So I wonder from your experience, is the claim that the text messages got deleted as part of a device replacement program possible, this data migration, that it would delete or get rid of records?

CHRISTOPHER MCCLENIC, FORMER SENIOR SPECIAL AGENT, U.S. SECRET SERVICE: First off, thank you for having me, Fredricka. Yes, it is plausible. If for no other reason, the fact that during that time period, there was in fact an equipment rollout. I know this because I was a senior special agent at that time. I hadn't retired at that moment yet. And I was witness to a bunch of different electronic equipment being rolled out from radios to phones to computers. So it does coincide at least factually with their argument that the texts were, unfortunately, deleted due to said rollout. So it's possible.

WHITFIELD: So while the migration is customary, that's not what's so unusual, that there would not be some sort of preservation of data, knowing that the migration was going to happen -- I guess I'm asking you if you can respond to how important is recordkeeping for the Secret Service?

[14:05:08]

MCCLENIC: Very. Having been there for 23 years, it was, unfortunately, almost all but commonplace to receive emails and text messages asking agents to retain information for various reasons, Freedom of Information Act issues, and the like.

WHITFIELD: So then for something, an occasion so historic, so pivotal, so incredibly important, January 6th, it would seem all the more reason, would it not, that any kind of correspondence on the day preceding, the day of, and the after recordkeeping as well, that all of that would be retained, that that would be so paramount, the Secret Service knowing that at some point there are going to be questions. We better have our stuff to deliver, because this was a horrible day for America.

MCCLENIC: Absolutely. And you're 100 percent correct. Unfortunately, hindsight often is 20/20. And the fact is that afterwards, after the event we can look back and say why didn't you do a better job of preserving this information, why didn't you do a better job of maintaining it, knowing full and well that it would be necessary in the future? But I don't know if that's so much the question as whether or not the information, if in fact was deleted, was done intentionally or not. And --

WHITFIELD: It's suspicious, though, is it not? Isn't it kind of strange?

MCCLENIC: One more time, I'm sorry.

WHITFIELD: Is it suspicious? Is it kind of strange?

MCCLENIC: Strange, yes. Suspicious, I'm going to go out on a limb and say no. I will defend until it's indefensible. I don't believe that such actions were taken maliciously, at least not at this point, because their argument with regards to there being a migration just happens to coincide with the fact that the information may have been deleted. They didn't come up with that argument out of the blue. It just happened to be an explanation that was given immediately. And I'm going to stick with that for now.

I have a hard time believing that the agency as a whole would do such a conspiracy to delete information. And I have a hard time believing that agents who have the highest work ethic around and who understand what the repercussions of violating an order to maintain those records intentionally would lead to.

Let's not forget, these are investigators of federal crimes. They know what could happen in the event that they are found guilty of deleting information that they should have held onto. So I have a hard time believing that they would do it intentionally.

WHITFIELD: OK. So then, now there is this subpoena. Do you believe the subpoena will help bring answers to what the texts perhaps may or may not have included that are now gone? But do you think a subpoena is going to help fill the blanks?

MCCLENIC: Absolutely. Along the same lines of why I believe there's no coverup, that the service nor individual agents have intentionally deleted this information because they're going to adhere to the Constitution, I believe that they will do the exact same thing with regards to said subpoena. They will provide any and all information that they have and do so expeditiously.

WHITFIELD: So can I ask you, just to go back and reflect, that testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson where she described what she had learned about this conflict in the beast, in the president's vehicle involving Secret Service and allegations that the president was actually reaching for, allegedly assaulting one of the Secret Service agents. So now D.C. Metropolitan police member has corroborated her story even after the Secret Service says, no, we don't know anything about that incident happening. What was your reaction? Who and what do you believe?

MCCLENIC: Well, I have the utmost respect for the Washington, D.C. police. I have personal friends on the D.C. police department. And I believe that what they've said, they believe it, in their minds it's accurate.

And you mentioned Ms. Hutchinson. As a prosecutor and as a former federal prosecutor, I can tell you, Ms. Hutchinson was a powerful witness. She was, for lack of a better expression, the perfect witness, someone who was in the know, someone who had access to that information and would have knowledge of it.

[14:10:06]

Ultimately, when you're an investigator, and when you're a prosecutor, you want not just good witnesses, as both the D.C. police officer and Ms. Hutchinson are, you want the best witnesses. And unfortunately, the best witnesses were the people who were in that vehicle, in this case the Secret Service agents.

And I have to tell you, whatever it is that the Secret Service agents are testifying to and saying took place, I have to believe them. At the end of the day, for the same reasons I spoke on with reference to the deleted text messages, I feel the exact same way towards these agents testifying, that if they said -- whatever it is that they say took place, that's what took place.

WHITFIELD: Your allegiance is very clear. Christopher McClenic, thank you so much, pleasure talking to you. And I look forward to the next time as well, thank you.

MCCLENIC: Thank you so much, pleasure being here.

WHITFIELD: President Biden now on his way back to Washington after spending his last day in the Middle East meeting with Arab leaders and laying out his strategy for strengthening the U.S. role there, including a pledge for $1 billion in food aid to the region. The president did face criticism for this moment, this controversial meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who is believed to be behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And of course, that fist-bump right there. President Biden addressed it earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time and what I think of it now. And I was straightforward and direct in discussing it. I made my view crystal clear. I said very straightforwardly, for an American president to be silent on an issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am. I'll always stand up for our values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Phil Mattingly is in Jeddah for the president's trip. So Phil, did president Biden accomplish what he set out to do on this trip?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. If the question going into the trip was, is it worth it to take the short term blast of criticism to reverse the position on the perspective on both Saudi Arabia and on the crown prince, going from calling him a pariah to giving him a fist-bump, walking with him throughout multiple events, today was a great example as to why the president and his advisers thought the answer was yes.

The president detailing a thought-out, a developed Middle East policy through five different points of framework, new strategic framework that the White House says will reengage the United States in the region not just for now but for the future. And I think when you talk to administration officials, they have made clear the future was what the last 48 hours were supposed to be about.

They understood that they were going to get criticism for the president's meeting with the crown prince in the wake of the intelligence community's finding that he ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. But they calculated that the long-term risks to a fractured relationship certainly weren't worth taking anymore.

And I think when you look at the region, a very fluid, very dynamic region that has changed dramatically just over the course of the last four or five years, if the U.S. wants a significant role in the Middle East, White House officials believed, they obviously had to have a rekindling of the relationship with its most powerful player, with one of its most important players, and that is Saudi Arabia.

The president detailing that strategy today. It's a message that many leaders here, or many officials here from the region made clear they wanted to hear. They had been concerned for the better part of the last 18 months about an administration that appeared to be moving away from the Middle East. But they also acknowledged that more will need to be done, they will need to see some tangible efforts beyond just words. That will be what the administration is working towards going forward.

No question the administration feels like they've taken an important step here. Was that step worth it? They think yes. Obviously, some of the critics think very much no.

WHITFIELD: All right, Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. Coming up, an Indiana doctor is fighting back after the state's

attorney general announces an investigation into abortion services the doctor provided to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. What the doctor's attorney told CNN, after this.

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[14:18:30]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The attorney general in Indiana says his office is investigating the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10- year-old Ohio girl who was raped and had to travel to Indiana for the procedure because of Ohio's abortion ban. That doctor is fighting back today. CNN's Polo Sandoval is following the story for us. So Polo, what is the doctor saying?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, no doubt that we also need to be clear, there are so many stakeholders that have now come out of this story, the most important of which continues to be that 10-year- old who was raped and victimized.

But now we're learning Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the OBGYN in Indianapolis that assisted her by terminating her pregnancy is now the subject of an investigation that's headed by the Republican attorney general in her state of Indiana, Todd Rokita.

By the way, what we're hearing from Dr. Bernard is if you simply look at the records that are filed with the state's department of health, that you will clearly see that she actually did report that procedure only two days after it was carried out. We actually pulled those records ourselves, and it does show that Dr. Bernard did report that procedure on July the 2nd, basically complying with the state's requirement.

We did reach back out to the attorney general who says that they are still collecting evidence right now, that they are still continuing with their legal review of the evidence. At the same time, when you hear from the attorney that's representing Dr. Bernard, they basically maintain there should be nothing left to review, especially if you pull those records.

[14:20:00]

It is why they have filed just yesterday a cease and desist letter, sent it to the attorney general, asking for the A.G. to, quote, stop making false and what they described as misleading statements as well. That attorney, in a conversation with our Erin Burnett last night, this is a bit of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN DELANEY, ATTORNEY FOR OBGYN WHO TREATED 10-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM: We want Mr. Rokita to stop lying about Dr. Bernard and stop smearing her reputation and making ridiculously unsupported accusations, when even the barest minimum of homework on his part would have found that that report had been timely done. We're going to do the opposite what have Attorney General Rokita did.

We're actually going to take our time and gather the facts and research the law and put together our case thoughtfully and deliberately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: In light of this cease and desist letter, we have reached back out to the attorney general, who announced the probe on FOX News just a few days ago. We're still waiting to hear back, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Let us know. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

Let's talk more about this right now. Joining me right now is CNN legal analyst and civil rights attorney Areva Martin. Areva, always good to see you. This is a heartbreaking case, though. Just from a legal standpoint as well, does the Indiana attorney general have any legal grounds to be investigating the doctor behind this child's abortion when the doctor's attorney, we just heard her, say all the proper records were filed in the proper timeframe?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Fred. It doesn't appear that the attorney general has any legitimate reason to be conducting an investigation. Not only is the doctor's attorney confirming that the proper reporting has been done, it has been verified by independent media sources in Indiana as well.

And as the lawyer said, a simple public records search by the attorney general would have revealed that the proper reporting was done by Dr. Bernard in the timeframe that is required by the law in Indiana. It seems like this is just a smear campaign, as the lawyer said, on the part of the attorney general, and an effort to vilify this doctor that performed a legal abortion for this 10-year-old.

WHITFIELD: And this case is shining a spotlight on a lot of stuff, but particularly the real consequences of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. As a legal matter, could Ohio, the state where the little girl was originally from, pursue its own case against the girl, her doctor, and the people who helped get the 10-year-old to Indiana?

MARTIN: Well, we know, Fred, that many states, Republican states in particular, have indicated, their attorney generals, their state legislatures have said they want to criminalize doctors, they want to criminalize patients, they want to criminalize those involved in helping women travel from states where abortions are banned to those states where abortions are legal. But we know the president signed an executive order giving the Department of Justice more power to push back on those states that are trying to restrict and constrain travel.

When you think about this, Fred, it's really ironic that this effort is only being made with respect to controlling women's reproductive rights. When states legalized marijuana use, we didn't see attorney generals going after individuals who traveled from one state where marijuana wasn't legal but who traveled to another state where marijuana was legal. So this effort to somehow criminalize travel I think is not going to be effective, and I hope the Department of Justice uses all of its power to make sure that individuals, including women seeking abortions in states where it's legal, are not confined or threatened with criminal prosecution.

WHITFIELD: Yes, what are your thoughts on the trauma that this little 10-year-old girl and her family have already, a, gone through as a result of rape, and then what it meant and what it took to cross state lines to have this abortion, and then now be the centerpiece of this kind of discussion and dispute? And at the center is a 10-year-old girl. What are your thoughts on just digesting all of the trappings here?

MARTIN: Yes, it's really, really heartbreaking and disheartening to me, Fred. As you know, I have two daughters myself, so I remember what it's like to have a 10-year-old girl in your home. And let's not forget that the rapist that came forward to confess that he raped this little girl confessed not to raping her once but raping her twice. And to have these Republican lawmakers and attorney generals make the focus of this horrific case the doctor that performed the legal abortion, the family members, and this little girl, rather than on this rapist, and rather than looking at these laws that would have forced a 10-year-old girl to carry a child, it's really unthinkable to me.

[14:25:17]

And I'll share this with you, Fred. I had an ectopic pregnancy myself. And I think about, if I lived in a state now where there are no exceptions for abortions, I would have been, like so many women, forced to carry to term or carry a pregnancy that could have cost me my life. So we're talking about women being able to survive. And we know black women have the highest maternal mortality rates in this country. So this case I just think highlights how dangerous it is going to be for women who live in states where you are going to be forced to carry a baby even if it means you die in the process.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's so disturbing on so many levels. Areva Martin, thank you so much, and thank you for sharing your personal experience.

Coming up, as COVID cases surge across the U.S., the country's most populated county is considering reinstating indoor mask mandates. Details straight ahead.

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[14:30:56]

WHITFIELD: Indoor masking may be returning to Los Angeles County. A surge in cases has officials there looking at reinstating mask mandates within two weeks. CNN's Camila Bernal is live for us in Los Angeles. So Camila, what's the latest on this COVID surge returning?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. So officials here in L.A. County are saying that they've seen an 88 percent increase in hospitalizations from a month ago. They say that for every 100,000 people, they're seeing about 10.5 hospitalizations. So if the numbers stay as they are or if they increase, what will happen is that in two weeks, everyone in L.A. County will have to wear a mask when they are indoors.

Now, it is possible that these numbers go down. But even officials here are saying it's very unlikely. L.A. is hosting the MLB All-Star game this week. There are so many events, so many people flying from all over the country just to be here. And so you are having more and more people gathering and celebrating together. I talked to some of the residents here in L.A. County, and here's what they told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INA ZALEVAKY, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: We are not worried about COVID, but unfortunately COVID finds us. We just went to the wedding and half of the people got COVID after the wedding. So I feel like we don't want COVID, but it keeps appearing.

LISA RADIST, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: I have a daughter who's pregnant, and my other daughter-in-law just had a baby. And I wear a mask in any indoor place. And I hear mask mandates may be coming back here, and I'm happy for that.

MARGARET SINGLETON, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: I think that within like really tight quarters, a mask is important. If you're out like this, I think it's OK, but I've personally had COVID, and it's real. And it's not something that I take lightly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And the increases that we're seeing here in L.A. also mirror what's happening all over the country. The CDC for the first time in weeks also saying that they're forecasting an increase in hospitalizations instead of those steady numbers. So really, it's all over the country. The BA.5 variant is spreading quickly. And that's what has officials here in L.A. and really all over the country concerned, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Camila, COVID has caused a major mental health crisis as well. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline just launched a new code 988 today. What do we know so far about the correlations?

BERNAL: Look, the idea is to have resources where people can call and get the help that they need whenever they need it. The idea is to have those mental health resources, have counselors, have people who can help. COVID and the pandemic overall has been very difficult. But in general, mental health is something that a lot of people around the country want to see action and preventative action. So this is something that, of course, is available and is rolling out today. But of course, we'll have to wait to see how this works out and whether or not they can handle the call volume in the coming days. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Camila Bernal, thanks so much.

Joining me right now is Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. Barbara, always good to see you. First off, you're not inside, this time outside, and you're standing in front of a vaccination site. Have you seen an uptick in people coming for their COVID vaccines or boosters because of this latest surge?

BARBARA FERRER, DIRECTOR, L.A. COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yes, we're really -- and good day. We're really glad to be here with everyone. And yes, we are seeing more people coming in to get vaccinated. This is a full service site, so people can actually come here to get vaccinated for COVID. They can come here to get those boosters. We vaccinate everybody six months and older here. We also provide rapid testing here.

[14:35:00]

People can also pick up test kits to take home because we, like everyone else, are worried with the big increases. We're averaging almost 9,000 new cases a day here. Hospitalizations way up, over 1,200 hospitalizations every day. And as you noted, our admissions, our new admissions are also way up. It's very concerning, because there are a lot of people who are vulnerable. And we all know with BA.5, you're more likely to get infected even if you've been vaccinated, even if you've had a previous infection with COVID. So we've got to layer in the protections that we know can help us really slow down the spread again.

WHITFIELD: Now, you're outside, you're wearing a mask, but we are also talking about how L.A. County might be bringing back mask wearing for indoors. Talk to me about your approach and what you think is likely imminent in terms of how people have to continue to protect themselves and others?

FERRER: It's such a good question about protection, and particularly about protecting others, protecting those that are actually most vulnerable. Masks work. They protect the person who is wearing them from inhaling a lot of virus particles. And they protect us from exhaling virus should we be asymptomatic and not know it. So masks are a good layer of protection, not perfect.

But obviously when we have very high rates of transmission like we do now, it's a sensible step and an easy step for us to take to keep ourselves safe, and just as importantly, to keep the community safe with these very high rates. Unless we start seeing a slowdown in spread, a slowdown in what's happening in our hospitals, in two weeks we will do a universe indoor masking here. And again, that will be aligned fully with CDC.

WHITFIELD: So you do see -- it sounded with certainty, you do see that that's going to happen in two weeks.

FERRER: Well, our numbers are really high. It would take a lot in the next two weeks, because -- to slow down hospitalizations. Just because hospitalizations lag behind case increases. So we start seeing steep case increases, a couple of weeks later you know that's going to be followed by some increases in hospitalizations. So I am fearful that because we continue to see those increases in cases, in two weeks our hospital numbers will not have come down.

WHITFIELD: Let me also ask you about monkeypox. With nearly 1,500 cases in 42 states, and the Biden administration announced a plan to deliver 700,000 vaccines to the national stockpile, what are your concerns about the spread of monkeypox, and what are you seeing specifically in L.A. County?

FERRER: Again, monkeypox is an infectious disease. It can spread with very close contact with someone who is infected or close contact with their belongings, their towels, their sheets. In other places it has spread from animals to people. We have about 100 cases here in L.A. County and are aggressively moving to make sure that with a limited supply of vaccine, it gets out to those who are at highest risk. So we're building out a network of providers. At this point I think we have 40 providers that are contacting their patients who may be at higher risk.

This site that we're at today is actually one of the sites where folks who are at higher risk can come and get a monkeypox vaccine as well. And again, I think the message is, limited supply of vaccine, everybody needs to be careful. Know what the signs and symptoms are of monkeypox. Contact your provider if you have those signs or symptoms. And then if you do have signs or symptoms, please avoid close contact with other people.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbara Ferrer, thank you so much for your time today.

FERRER: Yes, thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely.

All right, still ahead, summer air travel, it's a mess. And it's showing no signs of letting up. After the break, we'll tell you which airports lead the nation in flight cancellations and delays.

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[14:43:36]

WHITFIELD: It was another miserable week for air travel. Hundreds of daily cancellations and thousands of delays making flying seem nearly impossible for so many people this summer. CNN's Pete Muntean has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The summer of travel pain keeps growing with struggling airlines canceling 30,000 flights since Memorial Day. Now new data shows where issues are the worst. A FlightAware analysis for CNN shows New York airports leading the nation for flight cancellations, eight percent of all flights leaving Newark have been canceled since Memorial Day.

KATHLEEN BANGS, FLIGHTAWARE: The pain is not spread out evenly. Some airports have much bigger problems than others.

MUNTEAN: Florida airports take three of the top 10 spots for flight delays. A third of all flights from Orlando have been delayed this summer. This new breakdown comes as passengers are packing planes in levels not seen since before the pandemic. But short-staffed airlines say the federal government is also short-staffed at air traffic control facilities.

SCOTT KIRBY, CEO, UNITED AIRLINES: New York, Newark, and Florida really are air traffic control challenges. They're different issues at some other airlines, but those two places are really struggling.

MUNTEAN: The FAA puts blame back on airlines staffing issues as well as bad weather and heavy air traffic.

JOHN LUCIA, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: We may have to slow this stuff coming out of Florida.

[14:45:00]

MUNTEAN: At its around-the-clock Command Center in Virginia, the FAA showed us how Florida airspace can become clogged with flights like a traffic jam on a highway.

LUCIA: If you have a couple of thunderstorms right over the center of the state, now you got limitations on where you can go, especially in the summertime. If you want to get there on time, try to get there before lunch.

MUNTEAN: Airlines argued $50 billion in pandemic aid would make them ready for this rebound.

BILL MCGEE, SENIOR FELLOW, AMERICAN ECONOMIC LIBERTIES PROJECT: The airline industry is broken right now and it's failing every taxpayer.

MUNTEAN: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tells CNN he is seeing improvements, but still expects airlines to do better.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Look, we are counting on airlines to deliver for passengers and to be able to service the tickets that they sell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN: This problem is a global one because Newark is also a big international hub. United Airlines says it's scaling back its summer schedule here because there are simply too many flights scheduled here for the airport to handle. The top destinations with the most cancellations in the United States since Memorial Day, Newark is number one, LaGuardia is two, Reagan National Airport in D.C. is number three, followed by Raleigh, North Carolina, and Cleveland, Ohio.

WHITFIELD: Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

And on this week's episode of "United Shades of America," Kamau Bell travels to the heart of the central Appalachian hills to learn about the culture of this largely unknown population of black Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what happens when the company abandons the town.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back in the day, right, that if you had five kids, when you graduate, you get a bus ticket because they could see the change, the economic change coming, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The young people as soon as they get out of high school, they get out of here and they don't come back. What would you say to the black young girls who are here now? What do you want for them, and what would you say to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we have any?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know of any. That's sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Don't miss the all new episode of "United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell" tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

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[14:51:53]

WHITFIELD: Satellites as small as microwave ovens are circling the earth on pollution patrol. Here's CNN's Rachel Crane to explain in this week's "Space's Next Chapter."

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Orbiting far above earth, satellites as small as microwave ovens are on pollution patrol, hunting around the clock for emitters of an invisible, potent gas, methane. Emissions of methane account for 30 percent of global warming according to the United Nations, driving climate change.

FRED KRUPP, PRESIDENT, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: Methane is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years of its release. That's an opportunity. When you reduce the methane emissions, you can quickly reduce the temperature impact.

CRANE: Leaks from sources like gas pipes, oil wells, and landfills often go undetected, until now. New orbiting satellites including six from Canada based GHGSat are making the invisible visible.

STEPHANE GERMAIN, PRESIDENT, GHGSAT: Space is really important because you can go anywhere, any time and see every corner of the world.

CRANE: GHGSat's president Stephane Germain invited us inside the company's methane emission control, which is generating data 24/7.

GERMAIN: Our satellites working with third party satellites look at hotspots where there might be some areas of interest.

CRANE: What they found are some of the biggest previously undetected methane polluters in the world, including sites in Russia and Argentina, Germain said.

GERMAIN: We're looking at a high-resolution map of a landfill in Argentina where you actually see not one but two different plumes.

CRANE: They then sell the data to paying customers, many of whom are in the oil and gas sector, with the hope that the polluters will fix the leaks on their own.

GERMAIN: It's not always the aggressive sort of public shaming that will work best. Sometimes working privately with operators or working privately through diplomacy channels can be as effective or even more effective.

CRANE: If that fails, after a delay, the company makes some of the data public so that the world can hold polluters accountable. GHGSat launched three new satellites in May, and they say they identified 140 million tons of methane in 2021 alone. But identifying methane is only the start. Germain says less than two percent of those leaks were mitigated despite more than 50 percent of the emissions being potentially fixable.

That's shocking, though, the learn that the mitigation is such a low percentage at this point. That's frightening, frankly

GERMAIN: Action is the hard part. Getting people to understand and then want to change their ways takes time. It's complicated, but I'm an optimist.

CRANE: Others aren't as optimistic.

ROB JACKSON, EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE PROFESSOR, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: It's naive, I think, to assume that just because we can find a source of pollution means that it will magically go away.

CRANE: Rob Jackson, an expert on methane, thinks satellites can make a huge impact, but they aren't a silver bullet fix.

JACKSON: We'll be able to find super emitters in a way that we've never been able to before in real time. We'll know where they are and who is responsible for them. There will be cases where that happens, but there will be others, particularly internationally, when I think it will require more work.

[14:55:06]

CRANE: GHGSat isn't alone in the methane reconnaissance game. The European Space Agency has had a satellites in orbit since 2017, and the Environmental Defense Fund and other are planning their own launches, all in the hope of helping the more than 100 countries that have signed the global methane pledge to reduce emissions 30 percent by 2030.

GERMAIN: It won't be as fast as we'd like, but I think we're going to get there.

CRANE: With a lot of help from space. Rachel Crane, CNN, Montreal.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And thank you for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN Newsroom continues right after this.

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