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Heatwaves Hit Parts of U.S. and Europe; Heatwave Causes More than 1,700 Deaths in Spain and Portugal; Secret Service Says It's Unable to Provide Text Messages from January 6th, 2021, Due to Technology Changeover; Former Adviser to President Trump Steve Bannon Found Guilty of Contempt of Congress for Refusing to Testify before House January 6th Committee; President Biden Recovering from COVID-19. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired July 23, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:34]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It is Saturday, July 23rd. I'm Amara Walker.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Alex Marquardt. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

And we begin this morning with relentless and scorching heat that is gripping much of the United States and Europe this weekend. Right now, more than 85 million Americans are under heat advisories and excessive heat warnings. More than two dozen cities are going to be reaching record-breaking temperatures this weekend, which includes some in the triple digits Fahrenheit.

WALKER: New York City could soon see its longest streak of 90-degree days since 2013. Officials there have shortened their triathlon course for tomorrow. And in Boston their triathlon has postponed altogether. One woman describes how the unbearable heat feels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's it like in your apartment?

DEBBIE WALSTEIN, NEW YORK, RESIDENT: Hell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like hell?

WALSTEIN: Yes. Horrible. It's horrible. I sat outside here from 10:00 to 4:00 this morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And as Europe's heatwave moves eastward, wildfires have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. You can see here parts of Greece and Slovenia are blanketed with flames and smoke, just terrifying scenes there. According to the WHO, the heatwave has caused more than 1,700 deaths in Spain and in Portugal.

WALKER: These heat waves are dangerous. We've got a look at the impacts of this extreme heat here in the U.S. and, of course, overseas, and how much longer it will last. Let's begin now with Polo Sandoval in New York. Hi there, Polo. So we know New York is under a heat advisory until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night. How are people coping?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Alex, this is how some of the 85 million Americans that are affected by this heat wave are actually -- right now here in Brooklyn. That is -- after this heat wave has really just scorched the south, it is now the turn of the northeast here where experts here, at least meteorologists are expecting a high here in New York to be in the upper 90s. Tomorrow will be the peak of the heat.

When everything is said and done, by the time we potentially get some relief in the middle of the week here in New York, it is quite possible, according to forecasters, that we will have a total of seven days when we have seen 90-degree-plus days. The last time we saw a stint that long was back in 2013. That's why health officials here in New York City, cities like Boston, cities like Philadelphia, they're issuing that alert not only to take care of yourselves but also of others.

Yes, there are many people who are making the best of it today, but at the same time we've also seen this heat wave turn deadly for so many throughout the country. Dallas this week, Dallas, Texas, reporting its first heat-related death. In Arizona, officials there have reported almost -- well over two dozen heat-related deaths there. So they are certainly issuing those warnings throughout the country and especially the northeast as temperatures continue to ramp up today. As you mentioned, the triathlon scheduled for tomorrow, that has been reduced. And in Boston, they said we're not going to even mess with it this month. They pushed it until next month because of the historic weather conditions, guys.

MARQUARDT: Polo Sandoval in New York, thank you very much. Let's head on over to Europe where we find our Barbie Nadeau. Barbie, we just mentioned, WHO saying 1,700 deaths in Portugal and in Spain. The continent had a brutal week, record temperatures in London. We've also seen those wildfires. You are in Italy. How is Italy faring?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's so hot, and it's so oppressive. This heat is really, really difficult especially in places like this, in southern Europe. People don't have air conditioning, it's not very common. So people are trying to find any way they can to keep cool. But it's particularly dangerous because of wildfires. We had a fire outside of Rome that was contained but it was really terrifying. It started in a country club. People throw their cigarettes butts out or a barbecue, and these fires start. And these firefighters have to work under these extreme conditions to try to keep these blazes contained and from spreading into cities.

But we've had evacuations, people changing their plans. And there's no end in sight here. We're not expected to peak and reach better temperatures until maybe the middle of next week. Alex? WALKER: Barbie Nadeau, I'll take it. Thank you so much. I know how hot it is. I was just in southern Germany and Greece a few weeks ago, and you're right about the no air conditioning. And it's really tough to just keep on keeping on keeping on in those temperatures. Barbie, thank you for that.

So let's get a look at the overall forecast now. CNN's Allison Chinchar is in the Weather Center.

[10:05:04]

Of course, everyone wondering how long this heat wave is going to last.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and unfortunately for some of these areas you're talking at least another week of having triple- digit temperatures every single day. For other areas, it's more of a short-term concern, but the short term, those temperatures are going to be at record levels.

Here's a look at the map. We are showing all of these areas that are under heat advisories, excessive heat warnings or watches. So it's a pretty widespread location. When we take a look at the northeast, because this is the newest area to be dealing with these extreme temperatures, it's not just the temperature but also the humidity too. So take a place like Richmond, Virginia, for example. The high temperature today, 95. But that feels-like temperature up around 102. You have several other locations including D.C. and Norfolk where that feels-like temperature will be in the triple digits.

But then tomorrow the temperature gets even warmer. D.C., Philadelphia, even Boston, that's when they'll peak, is on Sunday. Boston forecast to get to 98 degrees on Sunday. If they do, that would break a 90-year daily record, and it's one of over 30 locations that has the potential to break record highs not just today but also tomorrow.

Now, some areas are going to get some relief in the short term. Omaha, Chicago, St. Louis, it's still hot today, but we have a cold front system making its way through the area. When it does, finally those temperatures will drop back. But even then, it's just temporary. It's not going to be long term. And on the flipside, you also have to contend with some strong to severe thunderstorms. We're talking places like Minneapolis, Green Bay, Chicago, Des Moines, Detroit, Columbus, Ohio. Damaging winds, very large hail. We're talking golf ball or even larger, and yes, the potential for tornadoes.

Some of these storms are already ongoing. This morning we had storms move through areas of Chicago down through Indiana and Ohio. But a second wave really starts to push through this afternoon and will continue into the evening. So again, Amara and Alex, yes, you get the benefit of having those cooler temperatures, but at the cost of having some severe thunderstorms.

MARQUARDT: Triple-digit temperatures, hail, and tornadoes, this could be a long, long summer. Allison Chinchar in the CNN Weather Center, thank you so much.

Now, the extreme heat has some cities taking a major step when it comes to tackling this climate crisis. Later on we're going to hear from the director of a group that is helping to appoint chief heat officers around the world.

WALKER: An important conversation in light of what's going on now.

When the January 6th committee resumes its hearings in September, some possible key evidence will likely be missing -- text messages from Secret Service agents at the time of the insurrection.

MARQUARDT: Now, those missing text messages have put the agency under fierce scrutiny. It began when the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general asked for the text records last year only to be told that they had been deleted. CNN's senior justice correspondent Evan Perez joins us now. Evan, it's not just a congressional subpoena that we've seen. It's also a criminal investigation.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alex. This is now a criminal investigation by the Office of Inspector General from the Homeland Security Department which oversees the Secret Service. And as you pointed out, they requested these messages for a group of people who would have been key to understanding what happened on January 6th. And what they heard is, they said, they got some pushback from Secret Service. They said they got a lack of cooperation, which is why just in the last few weeks they went to Congress to report what they were receiving from the Secret Service.

And now we find out that the messages, which Secret Service says were deleted, there are now indications that at least 10 of 24 people that they had sought to get these messages from, there is metadata that indicates that there were messages sent and received. We don't know the content of those messages, which is what the Secret Service is now going to try to figure out. We know that 10 of those people, there were no messages exchanged, and then there were three who they found there were only personal messages that were exchanged.

Obviously, there's still so much that the January 6th committee now wants to know, because in particular, there's a sequence of events. They sent a request for the preservation of all communications, all documents, shortly after the January 6th attack. And it turns out days after that, the Secret Service began this migration of documents -- I'm sorry, of devices. They were changing over phones. And it's during that process that they say these messages were deleted, they were erased. So the question now is, is there any way, any technical way that the Secret Service or somebody else could try to help retrieve the messages that they say were erased, Amara and Alex.

WALKER: The timing of that migration notable. Evan Perez, really interesting stuff. Thank you.

[10:10:00]

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon could soon be headed to jail. MARQUARDT: And in under three hours of deliberations, a federal jury

handed down a guilty verdict for Bannon in his criminal contempt trial. CNN's Sara Murray has this report.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Alex, a jury here finding Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's longtime ally, guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to show up to testify before the House select committee investigating January 6th and failing to turn over any documents. They did not buy into team Bannon's argument that somehow the date of the subpoena was flexible. They were not distracted by his last-minute offer to testify publicly before the committee. Instead, they went along with the prosecution's view of the case, the view that if you get a subpoena, you have to show up.

The prosecution argued that Steve Bannon valued his allegiance to Donald Trump more than he valued the rule of law. Now, Bannon faces, at a minimum, 30 days behind bars as well as fines. But his sentencing is not going to be until later in October. In the meantime, his attorneys have already said they plan to appeal.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Sara Murray. And the January 6th hearings will be a major topic of discussion on STATE OF THE UNION when the vice chair of the committee, Liz Cheney, joins Jake Tapper. You can catch that conversation tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. right here on CNN.

WALKER: New this morning, White House officials say President Biden is in a very good mood and keeping busy in isolation as he weathers a COVID-19 infection. But according to the president's physician, he is taking additional medications for his temperature and cough. Earlier we spoke with Biden's chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci who says that despite the president using an inhaler, Biden isn't having any trouble breathing.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: He has an upper respiratory infection right now. Having a runny nose, having someone who he has a history when he gets colds that have nothing to do with COVID, he has a history of asthma, and he uses the bronchodilator to make sure he breathes well. He has no trouble breathing at all right now, and I think that would be a misinterpretation to say that. That's something he does regularly when he gets an upper respiratory infection.

The president continues to improve, and we have every reason to believe that he will do very well for the obvious reasons he's vaccinated, doubly boosted. He's on an antiviral drug that has a very good track record of preventing people to progress to disease that is serious. So he's doing very well and he continues to improve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Dr. Fauci also discussed whether the CDC needs to change its recommendation to a longer isolation period. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: People have different circumstances in their lives. And it may be very difficult sometimes for people to have the access to keep testing before they can go back or to be out for the entire 10 days. Some people need to put a mask on and get back to work because of their social or economic situation. So it really is a heterogeneity of circumstances, and you have to really go by the circumstances that you're in. The president is in a position to be able to test every day and wait until he becomes negative before he goes back. But that doesn't mean that everyone has to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Currently CDC guidelines say that regardless of vaccination status, a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 can end isolation after five days if they are free of a fever for 24 hours and have symptoms that are improving.

Still ahead, a violent arrest was caught on camera in Tennessee. Now at least one of the officers involved is on leave. That will be coming up right after a quick break. Stay with us.

WALKER: Plus, a wildfire explodes in size overnight in California. Details just ahead as NEW DAY continues after a quick break.

MARQUARDT: Plus, in case you haven't heard, someone's been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty. How a new ruling by the FCC could finally mean an end to those awful, those annoying robocalls. We'll be right back.

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[10:18:22]

WALKER: A special school board meeting set for this morning in Uvalde, Texas, to consider whether or not to fire the district's embattled police chief has been cancelled. Chief Pete Arredondo will be on unpaid administrative leave until a new date for the meeting is determined.

MARQUARDT: Arredondo is facing intense criticism over his conduct during the Robb Elementary School massacre which left 19 children and two teachers dead. The school's district superintendent who has recommended the firing of Arredondo, but outraged parents are calling for his resignation as well. The debate about Arredondo's future comes just a month before students in Uvalde are expected to return to school. Parents and students, understandably, still have questions and significant concerns about school safety in that district.

So joining me now to discuss this is Ken Trump who is a national school safety expert. Ken, thank you so much for being with us this morning. The school district has announced that it could be making what they call enhancements going forward, among them new eight-foot- high fencing, new locks for doors, upgrading access points, hiring additional officers and personnel. You talk about the term "security theater" which you define as the show of making changes but not really making plans for sustainable, longer-term change. Those things that I just outlined that are being proposed in that school district, do you consider that to be security theater?

KEN TRUMP, NATIONAL SCHOOL SAFETY EXPERT: What we know is that the allegations after high profile school shootings and other incidents, similar, elsewhere in society, are allegations of failures of people, policies, training, human factors, not allegations of failures of security hardware and equipment.

[10:20:12]

I've been a civil litigation expert witness in the nation's highest profile mass shootings and have yet to see that the allegations of failures go back to anything other than the human factor. So parents understandably want something visible, tangible to point to, to say schools are safer. Administrators, excuse me, want to point to things as well to appease the community and release those tensions and stress. But if it doesn't really address the underlying problem, it's security theater. We need to focus on people more so than products and hardware if we really want to make schools safer. And the best security oftentimes is less visible or invisible versus those bells and whistles and shiny objects that we can point to just to appease the emotional security needs.

MARQUARDT: When you say focusing on the humans, you mean more training?

KEN TRUMP: Training is a major thing. What I've seen in recent years is there's a quick fix to target hardening, one-time shot in the arm grants, throw money from state or federal government, add equipment and hardware and say we've made the schools safer. In reality, what is harder to get is time on the agenda to train not only teachers but support staff members, school secretaries, bus drivers, custodians, people who are out working, to see a stranger on campus, to know what to do when something goes in the wrong direction and needs to take action. And we are not doing that. It's hard to get time on the agenda.

I've had people tell me, we want to bring you in to train our principals in our district. We have a three-day professional development session. How much time do you need? I say I would like a day. They say, you have an hour, we'll pay you for the full day. That's not the way to train your staff. There has to be a commitment of time and leadership to doing planning, preparing, and practicing, as much as there is a commitment of money just to put out security theater and bells and whistles.

MARQUARDT: So Ken, as we were just saying, there is a movement among parents and many in the community in Uvalde to see the school police chief, Pete Arredondo, fired from his position. If they succeed in that, what would be the next step for the school district?

KEN TRUMP: There are due process requirements for people who have contracts that you legally have to go through. But here are the issues. Number one, I was shocked that the officers involved were not put on paid administrative leave from the immediate time of the shooting to have the investigation continue. That's the standard.

Secondly, the officers themselves have undergone a great deal of trauma, one of the most traumatic incidents you can experience. They need time to process for their own stability and mental health and social and emotional needs.

And the third part is public accountability and trust and confidence. It's going to be hard for those people who were in those positions to sustain their job even if they're cleared technically in some investigation because the public has lost confidence. They need to have an independent assessment of their security and emergency planning and policing, take a look at whether or not reorganization of structures needs to change, certainly take a look at personnel change, and make sure most of all, that the policy and procedures are in place, the training and the commitment for true leadership, and they're communicating honestly, openly, and transparently with their parents and school community, their students, and their staff.

MARQUARDT: You were just criticizing the bells and whistles that so often come in in the wake of these things. Given the number of school shootings that we have seen recently, are you worried that these schools are going to soon look like mini-detention facilities?

KEN TRUMP: Well, schools are different from other environments, from a government office facility, a military installation, a corporate factory somewhere. Schools are community centers. And the challenge I've had in more than 30 years, three decades of working in pre-K through 12 school security, is striking that balance, helping school leaders strike that balance of having a warm, welcoming, supportive school for students, staff, and the community.

And think about it, schools are used after school and on weekends for hours, performing arts, athletics, as recreational facilities, athletic events and games. It's a different entity to try to secure versus a TSA, sterile security environment where you're going through to get on an airplane. So you need reasonable security measures, you need to make sure that you have the appropriate training. If you have school-based police officers, making sure they're trained, and you have the right officers to work in a school environment. Having reasonable security, emergency preparedness plans, but not going over the top with drills that could cause more trauma to kids.

[10:25:06]

So yes, it's a very unique environment, and I'm concerned that we're going too much on skewed in one direction on target hardening. Any type of security technology and hardware is only as good as the weakest human link behind it. The number way we find out about weapons, plots, kids who are going to cause harm to themselves, is when a kid comes forward and tells an adult that they trust, relationship. And that stuff takes time and is worked behind the scenes sort of as an inside job as some of our colleagues say, that's harder to point to but really makes a true difference in school. It's a balancing effort. It requires leadership. It requires schools not to try to do school safety on the cheap by not allocating the time for planning, preparing, and practicing, not doing the training that they need to do, but just taking a quick fix that's a one-time shot in the arm to get the pressures off from the community until attention shifts elsewhere.

MARQUARDT: Ken Trump, some important thoughts, important advice, appreciate your time.

KEN TRUMP: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Amara?

WALKER: In Tennessee this morning, a police officer is on administrative leave and the state's bureau of investigation is investigating after video showing the violent arrest of a black man caused national outrage. Twenty-five-year-old Brandon Calloway says he's still experiencing health issues after police allegedly beat him with a baton and tased him in his own home after they say he ran a stop sign, then drove back to his house and went inside.

CNN correspondent Nadia Romero following this story for us. So walk us through what we know, what happened.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And as you mentioned, this is a story that we're seeing really spreading on social media, because his girlfriend inside his home at the time took a video. And that's what's being spread on social media. So people are all having their opinions and their thoughts about what happened.

Here is what we know. Police tell us that 25-year-old Brandon Calloway did not stop say stop sign in his neighborhood, and when they tried to pull him over, he kept going, then went inside of his home. That's when police said that they believed that he needed to be detained, so they went through, broke down his door, ran upstairs to grab him. And I want you to take a look at the video to see what happens next. And this is disturbing video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop! Stop! Brandon! Brandon! Brandon! Stop! Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him! Stop! Stop it! Stop it! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop it! Stop! Why are you tasing him and hitting him? He has no weapon! He has no weapon! Why are you tasing him? You're beating him and tasing him? He has no weapon, sir, there's no weapon. They're being aggressive, I have all of this on video. No, I need to report this. No, you will not --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't put your hands on me! Do not put your hands on me! I need to call my mom. need to call his mom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't do nothing!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look what they're doing. Stop hitting him! Stop! Brandon, stop resisting. Just stop. Just stop. Get on the ground! Get on the ground, baby. Get on the ground. Get off of his neck!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: So hard to watch and hear the screams there. And so what you saw in the video was the police officers rushing inside the home of Brandon Calloway. They say that they needed to tase him and that that didn't work, so they had to pull out their baton to get him to stop resisting arrest. We are expecting to hear more from his attorney, Amara, who believes that they used excessive force and that they did not have to go to those lengths to detain him.

WALKER: I'm glad you told us it was disturbing, because the screaming was tough to listen to. But yes, I'm sure this is just the beginning what have we're going to hear. Thanks so much, Nadia Romero, appreciate it. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Very disturbing video.

Faced with more deadly heatwaves, U.S. cities are taking an unprecedented step when it comes to tackling the climate crisis. We're going to be taking a look at the role of what are being called chief heat officers. That's next.

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[10:34:06]

MARQUARDT: And here's a look at some of the top stories that we are following this morning. Police in Oxford, Mississippi, have arrested and charged 22-year-old Sheldon Timothy Harrington Jr. in connection with the disappearance and murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmy Jay Lee.

WALKER: Lee went missing on July 8th and his vehicle was found three days later but his body still hasn't been recovered. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and they're asking the public to contact them with any tips.

In California, a large wildfire spreading dangerously fast is destroying parts of Mariposa County. Right now, the Oak fire is zero percent contained, and authorities say more than 4,300 acres have been burned. The fire started yesterday in the afternoon and has already spread all the way to the Sierra National Forest. The county sheriff has forced vacancies and road closures for some surrounding areas.

[10:35:01]

This morning, more than 85 million people are under heat alerts as record breaking temperatures are expected across the northeast United States throughout the weekend. Many of us have noticed that these recent heat waves have been more dangerous and happening more frequently. But to raise public awareness and protect lives, cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami have appointed chief heat officers to address the threat of rising temperatures.

Here with me now is Kathy Baughman McLeod, the director of the Arsht- Rockefeller Resilience Center which is the group leading the appointment of chief heat officers around the world. Welcome to you, thank you so much for joining us. I want to talk more about what exactly the role is of a chief heat officer. But let's talk first about this fact. Heat already kills more Americans than any other weather-related disaster. Are elected officials, do you feel, taking this crisis seriously enough?

KATHY BAUGHMAN MCLEOD, DIRECTOR, ADRIENNE ARSHT-ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION RESILIENCE CENTER: Sadly, seeing these temperatures and watching the death count go up, I think the answer will increasingly be yes. But on the whole, I would say no, we're generally not ready. Our elected officials, our business leaders and citizens writ large, we're not ready. We're still thinking in that nostalgic way of summer when actually it's heat season, and it's potentially deadly.

WALKER: You have said extreme heat is an infrastructure crisis, a health crisis, a social and equity crisis. Help us understand the sense of urgency and the kind of havoc these kinds of heat waves cause and could cause.

MCLEOD: If you think about it, your smartphone will shut down at 95 degrees, and airplanes can't fly past 120. Kids' aptitude goes down with every degree above 73 degrees, so they can't perform on tests. And we used to think of elderly and pregnant women as vulnerable to heat, and now it's all of us. So we can't quite comprehend how hot it is, and fit, healthy young people are coming into emergency rooms like crazy this summer.

And we just have to get our minds around what this is. And we think that having somebody at the local level, working closely with elected officials with that influence to wake up every day focused on helping protect people from heat, is the way to go. These chief heat officers can really get in front of the crisis and bring solutions, because there are lots of solutions.

WALKER: Right, so tell us more about the tasks of a chief heat officer, especially in the context of these heat islands, right? Educate us about that, because we know it's the low-income neighborhoods and people who are homeless who are disproportionately impacted and hurt by heat waves.

MCLEOD: You're so right. And when we live in cities, the materials we've built our cities with, including black asphalt that absorbs heat and then radiates it at night, roofs that are black that absorb heat, and glass that is reflecting and radiating onto the street, cities are hotter. And that's the heat island effect. And so you have climate change super charging heat in the city.

And then you have people in neighborhoods that have been historically victims of racist housing practices, underinvestment, food deserts. And so those neighborhoods are hotter. And one of the biggest solutions is nature and trees. And low-income communities and communities of color are traditionally in neighborhoods without trees. All asphalt. And so they're up to 14 degrees hotter. And so a chief heat officer focuses on the most vulnerable people and maps where they are and prioritizes solutions, and -- yes.

WALKER: What -- 14 degrees hotter, that's astronomical. When you're talking about a heat wave where it's 85 degrees, and you add 14 degrees to that, that's nearly 100 degrees. So what kind of solution -- what would a solution potentially look like, let's say, for this particular issue of heat islands?

MCLEOD: You think about the immediate solution is early warning systems. So CHOs and our organization, Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center, we're advocating and testing heat wave naming and categorization. That's a short-term solution. We've got to get people educated right now about how hot it is and provide relief.

But medium and long-term solutions are, as I said, nature, tree canopies, open space, green space, lighter surface roofs, green roofs with plants on them, changing the way we design the buildings for air flow, policies that help people work during hours, not during the hottest hours when they're working outside. Our dress code should change in what we wear. All sorts of things, tax policies that incentivize all of those good things.

[10:40:03]

So there is a raft of good things that have evidence that we can do, and we've got to start mobilizing money into those things and getting people, we need armies of people activated, because this is not going away.

WALKER: It's so fascinating to hear you talk about this. I'm learning a lot. It's a really relevant issue, and also the naming of these heat waves and having this warning system, fascinating stuff. And we know that hurricanes also become more frequent when the water is warm and we're in a warming climate. We could go on and on. Out of time. Kathy Baughman McLeod, appreciate what you do, thank you.

MCLEOD: You bet, thanks. Name the wave.

MARQUARDT: Well, it's a battleground state that went blue in 2020 for President Joe Biden, but former president Trump and former vice president Mike Pence are on the campaign trail in Arizona, except now they're backing two different candidates for governor there. A look at the GOP divide, that's coming up next.

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MARQUARDT: Welcome back. This just in, the head of the World Health Organization has now declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Now, for the WHO to do this, this is an extraordinary step. It's the highest alarm that they can sound. The last time this was done was two years ago for COVID-19. Monkeypox is a much less severe cousin of the now-eradicated smallpox virus, usually seen in parts of west and central Africa. It has begun spreading to other parts of the world, however. According to the CDC there are more than 2,800 probable or confirmed monkeypox cases in the U.S. and its territories. Globally there are over 16,500 reported across 74 different countries.

WALKER: The Republican primary in Arizona's governor race is shaping up to be a battle between former president Trump and his once righthand man, Mike Pence. Trump and Pence have endorsed competing GOP candidates, emphasizing a split in the Republican Party and setting up what could be a preview of 2024.

MARQUARDT: And Kristen Holmes is all over this race and joins us now. Kristen, this race once again pitting the former president against his former vice president.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alex and Amara. That's exactly right. And this race, like so many of these Republican primaries, has really turned into a fight over the future of the Republican Party. On one side, you have former president Donald Trump and his endorsed candidate, Kari Lake. She has made lies about the 2020 election conspiracy theories the center of her campaign. She refuses to acknowledge that Joe Biden is the legitimate president.

On the other side, you have former vice president Mike Pence and his candidate Karrin Taylor Robson. She is backed by the establishment this group of Republicans within the party that wants to move forward from the 2020 election. She's supported not only by Pence but also by former New Jersey governor Chris Christie as well as outgoing term limited governor here in Arizona, Doug Ducey. And of course, you will remember that Ducey was attacked relentlessly by former president Trump for refusing to overturn the 2020 election results in this state here.

And as this is unfolding in the state of Arizona, it looks like Pence and Trump are set for a collision course in 2024 on the national stage. Pence in recent weeks has really signaled a strong -- strongly a potential run in 2024. And of course, as we know, Trump has continued to tease that run. So this would set up an epic showdown between the two of them who once served together in the White House and now haven't spoken in more than a year.

WALKER: Fascinating stuff there. Kristen Holmes, appreciate it.

We've all gotten plenty of them, those annoying, really annoying robocalls about car warranties. But the FCC might be disconnecting them for good. We'll explain, next.

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[10:52:46]

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been trying to reach you concerning your car's extended warranty. You should have received something in the mail about your car's extended warranty.

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WALKER: I have these voice messages, like I haven't even checked them, I just see they're there, I need to delete them. But oh, my gosh, so annoying. Anyone with a phone has probably heard that message before, right, Alex?

MARQUARDT: And there may be end in sight. Finally, we're hearing from the FCC saying that they are going to be cracking down on billions of these robocalls, which really are quite clever. They can fool you into thinking that this might be someone you know who is calling you. CNN Business Correspondent Rahel Solomon has the story.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Alex, good morning. The Federal Communications Commission cracking down on those annoying auto-warranty robocalls, announcing Thursday that it is ordering U.S. telecom providers to block millions of robocalls a day that advertise extend vehicle warranties.

Robocalls about an extended car warranty were the single largest source of consumer complaints to the FCC each of the past two years. The FCC identifying 13 people and six companies, mostly based in Texas and California, but also Hungary. Together the group is blasting out millions of illegal calls each day according to the FCC. The group bought access to nearly half-a-million phone numbers from more than 200 area codes to try to make it look more realistic and like local calls.

This is the first order by the FCC to actually force carriers to stop allowing the illegal calls. In the past, it notified companies. So this is a step further. The chairwoman of the group saying in the release, "We are not going to tolerate robocalls, scammers, or those that help make their scams possible. Consumers are out of patience, and I am right there with them."

I talked with a reporter with "Consumer Reports," that's a nonprofit publication, that advocates for consumer rights, about why this is still such a huge problem to solve. And he said that the people and companies behind these robocalls have been able to stay one step ahead of phone companies and regulators, both in terms of technology and legislation. It's also difficult for some of the phone companies to tackle because there are some robocalls that are legitimate, like your doctor's office.

[10:55:00]

Whether people actually notice a decline in calls after this announcement, well, he told me, it's a step in the right direction, and overall, we are seeing robocalls decline. But billions of unwanted calls are still getting through. Alex, Amara?

MARQUARDT: All right, fingers crossed. Our thanks to Rahel Solomon for that report.

Before we go, be sure to catch an all-new episode of "United Shades of America." W. Kamau Bell is heading to legendary sports town of Boston, Massachusetts. Be sure to tune in tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. eastern time right here on CNN.

WALKER: Will you come back tomorrow, Alex, and be with me? MARQUARDT: I'll be right back with you.

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WALKER: Good, I didn't burn it.

Thanks for watching, everyone. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning.

MARQUARDT: And I'll see you then. There is much more news ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield. She is coming up next. Take care, everybody.

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