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Trump Asks FBI To Return Attorney-Client And Executive Privilege Documents; U.S. Congressional Delegation Makes Surprise Trip To Taiwan; Five Americans Among Injured In Jerusalem Shooting. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 14, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:35]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Alex Marquardt, in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

New today: Former President Donald Trump is now asking the FBI to return some of the documents seized by agents during that unprecedented search of his Florida home.

Trump is now claiming without evidence, we should say, on his social media platform that some of the materials taken last week fall under attorney-client and executive privilege.

Meanwhile, House Democrats are also issuing demands of their own. The Chairs of the House Intelligence and Oversight Committee saying they want a full Intelligence damage assessment after classified documents were seized from Mar-a-Lago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Some of those documents were marked "Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information" that is among the highest designation in terms of the extremely grave damage to national security that could be done if it were disclosed.

So the fact that they were in an unsecure place that is guarded with nothing more than a padlock where whatever security they had at a hotel is deeply alarming, and I have asked for, along with Chairman Maloney, a damage assessment by the Intelligence Community and a briefing to Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Last week, the FBI seized 11 sets of documents marked as classified from the Mar-a-Lago resort including one that was marked as "Top Secret/SCI" one of the highest levels of classification, and this is coming, as sources are telling CNN that the DOJ received assurances from one of Trump's attorneys back in June, that the former President was no longer in possession of any classified materials. That clearly was not the case.

CNN's justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider is with me now. Jessica, we have members of Congress on both sides, demanding answers. Republicans of DOJ, Democrats of the Director of National Intelligence.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, all coming out over the weekend. You know, the Republicans, they are demanding more from the Attorney General Merrick Garland, in particular, they want that affidavit that served as the basis for the search warrant to be unsealed.

Now, that's highly unlikely it would happen because that affidavit provided the basis for the search warrant, including sources that Federal investigators relied upon to argue to the Judge that there was probable cause for this search warrant.

Then you bring in what Democrats are demanding. You know, in particular, they want the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines to conduct this immediate review because of the national security implications of what was found at Mar-a-Lago.

So this was the letter that was sent from Congressman Adam Schiff, also Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Here's part of it. They said: "A recently unsealed Court authorized search warrant and the inventory of property recovered at the Mar-a-Lago club described numerous classified documents held by former President Trump, including Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information material among the most sensitive and highly protected information in the U.S. government. Former President Trump's conduct has potentially put our national security at grave risk, this issue demands a full review, in addition to the ongoing law enforcement inquiry.

And you know, Alex, both of these Members of Congress, for their respective Committees, they are also requesting a classified briefing. And of course, that's because of the volumes of classified information that were found, 11 different sets, including that "Top Secret SCI" classification. You know, that requires -- that material to be kept in and only viewed in these very secure government facilities and rooms. You know, people aren't even allowed in there without cell phones.

So a lot of demands, both from Republicans and Democrats this weekend. We'll see which ones get answered.

MARQUARDT: We saw also, of course, DOJ request the unsealing of the warrants, which the Judge in Florida did, and in that warrant, we saw that the investigators were looking for evidence for three possible criminal statutes. So what are the criminal implications?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, I mean, and the question is what comes next here? You know, they have this material back, do any criminal charges result? Could that implicate the former President or even the people around him, maybe his attorneys?

I mean, as you mentioned, three different criminal statutes that were referenced in this search warrant, including sections of the Espionage Act, also obstruction of justice, the criminal handling of government records, and we've heard throughout the weekend that Trump has been defending his action on multiple fronts here.

He said that he declassified these documents, but there is nothing in the records that indicated how he did that, when he did that.

[15:05:10]

SCHNEIDER: He has also talked about, you know, these are subject to executive privilege, attorney-client privilege, presumably, if that's true, they would still fall under the Presidential Records Act. They would still have needed to be turned over. And also, you know, there might be a taint team that would separate this if there were attorney- client privilege implicated here.

You know, notably, the three statutes that were referenced, none of them required the classified information be at stake here. So you know, these criminal statutes are still in play. Next move, Department of Justice, we'll see what happens.

MARQUARDT: That is a very important point. It is shaping up to be another major week, and we know you'll stay on top of it. Jessica Schneider, thanks so much.

All right, here now with me to discuss more of this is CNN presidential historian and the former Director of the Nixon Presidential Library, Tim Naftali.

Tim, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. We come to you for context. We come to you to tell us where in history, moments stand.

Tomorrow will be a week since this search at Mar-a-Lago happened and this firestorm shows no sign of abating. So do you have any sense now almost a week on of how pivotal moment this is going to be in U.S. presidential history.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, as so often was the case, during the Trump presidency, we are in an unprecedented moment.

When Richard Nixon left the White House in August of 1974, he did not take his celebrated notorious tapes with him. He did not pile boxes of documents into Marine One when he left from the South Lawn. The struggle that President Nixon had with U.S. government, he carried out using lawyers and using the Courts. And during the time of the struggle, the documents were under the control of the United States government.

So we actually have no precedent for this. No modern President has sought to take classified materials with him after he left office and no former President has refused to return whatever materials classified or not, he may have with him, refuse to turn them over at the request of the United States government.

The chronology of this story is very telling. This is not a story of inadvertence. This is not a case of the Trump team rushing out of the White House in a rushed transition because the President never accept that he had lost the election.

The Trump team has had several opportunities to return this material. So at this point, I am asking the question, what was the motive? And I think the answer to that may determine the extent to which this is pivotal in presidential history. Why did President Trump and his closest associates want to keep these materials? And then keep the fact that they have these materials secret after the U.S. government asked twice for them?

MARQUARDT: Do you have any thoughts on that? Because as has been noted by a number of people who have been in the Oval Office, giving him briefings, watching him get briefings, there have been a lot of people saying that he didn't have much interest in those briefings. So why would he want to hold on to these highly classified documents? Any thoughts on that?

NAFTALI: Yes, I have a few. One is that Presidents historically until Watergate and until Congress, the American people and the American people decided President shouldn't treat their materials as private property. To that point, Presidents were very interested in having their materials close to them so that they and their speech writers and allies could write a memoir.

Donald Trump has never shown us an inclination in writing a memoir. So, the historical interest that some of his predecessors had in keeping documents close doesn't seem to apply to him.

There is of course, the possibility that he wanted trophies. He apparently held on to the so-called love letters between him and Kim Jong-un. He held on to the famous map, the NOAA map, where he included using a Sharpie, Alabama, but I believe he gave those back.

Why would he want to keep highly classified materials, which "The Washington Post" reported earlier this week were actually nuclear, in some cases, nuclear materials. Why would you want to keep those close?

I am hoping that the U.S. government will find a way to declassify the titles of these documents and that would help us assess if there was any commercial interest that the family -- the Trump family might have had and holding on to them.

I'm not going to allege that. I don't know enough to know that, but I think it would be very important for us to know, to see the titles. I think it's extremely important for the Intelligence Community to assess the counterintelligence value of these documents. In others words, were foreign countries potentially interested in them? That would require a very deep reading of these documents.

[15:10:14]

NAFTALI: I don't suspect that we on the outside will be allowed that for decades to come. So, I look forward to two different kinds of assessments, one from the inside by both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees about the counterintelligence threat posed by the lack of control of those documents until just now, and a discussion among those of us who can at least see the titles about what possible interest the Trump family might have had in holding on to these materials because of their future value.

MARQUARDT: And, of course, we've heard some arguments, a big argument from President Trump and some of his allies and aides that some of these documents were declassified, but he could still get into a lot of trouble for that.

Tim Naftali, thanks as always, for your perspective. We have to leave it there. Appreciate you joining us today.

NAFTALI: My pleasure, Alex. Thank you.

MARQUARDT: All right, let's turn now to Taiwan and a surprise visit today by a U.S. congressional delegation. Now the group is saying that this trip that they're on, you can see the delegation there, it reaffirms American support for Taiwan and of course comes right after that controversial visit by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

That visit sparking a furious response from China, which included live fire military drills off the coast of Taiwan, missiles flying over the island.

The delegation that arrived today is being led by Democratic Senator Ed Markey, and they're set to meet Taiwan's President during this two- day visit.

So CNN's Blake Essig is in Taipei.

Blake, how much of a surprise was this visit?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, Alex, of course, it was a surprise anytime these kinds of visits happen and they do happen from time to time often. We don't hear about them until after the delegations arrive.

And in this case, while Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the visit was unannounced, it is the timing of this visit, as you pointed out, that's perhaps the biggest surprise here, especially after China reacted so strongly against Speaker Pelosi's visit just about two weeks ago, and that reaction involved nearly a week of live fire military drills surrounding Taiwan and following those drills, Beijing issued a new version of its white paper addressing the "Taiwan question."

In it, China proposes one country two systems model for unification, which is similar to the one used in Hong Kong and essentially said in that paper that they won't rule out using force against Taiwan to achieve reunification. Unsurprisingly, Taiwan rejected that proposal.

Now, this most recent U.S. congressional delegation visit marks the second time just this month that Taipei has welcomed U.S. lawmakers. Nearly two weeks ago, it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This time, it's a delegation led by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey.

According to a statement from Senator Markey's office, the purpose of this visit, to reaffirm the United States' support for Taiwan and to encourage peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. And during their visit, which is supposed to last about two days, as you mentioned, the group is going to meet with the Democratic self- governing Island's President/Foreign Minister, as well as they plan to discuss security and trade issues with members of Parliament -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense is saying that right before the delegation showed up, six Chinese vessels and 22 Chinese aircraft were detected in the area. Of course, there was a furious reaction military and political to Speaker Pelosi's visit and so it'll be very interesting to see how China reacts to this U.S. delegation visit as well.

Blake Essig in the Taiwanese capital, thank you so much for joining me.

Now coming up, a new forensic FBI report on the gun that was used in the fatal "Rust" movie set shooting determines that the shooting could not have happened without the trigger being pulled. How Alec Baldwin's attorney is responding, that's coming up next.

Plus, five Americans are among those who were injured in a shooting attack near the Western Wall in East Jerusalem. We'll have a live report from there coming up ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:15]

MARQUARDT: The FBI test on the gun that was used in the fatal shooting on the movie set of "Rust" that test has found that the weapon that was handled by actor, Alec Baldwin, who you see right there could not be fired without pulling the trigger when it was cocked.

Now, back in December, Baldwin told ABC News that he never pulled the trigger of the gun that killed cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins and injured the director, Joel Souza.

CNN's Mike Valerio joins us now. Mike, this development, the results of this test how does this impact the investigation and has Alec Baldwin said anything about it?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NEWSOURCE NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, he has.

His team has put out a statement and they're disputing, Alex, parts of these findings right here. But Alex, what I think you really need to know in terms of understanding how this works is to understand the mechanics of a revolver, how a revolver works.

So it is designed so that it can only fire when you pull a lever down at the top. It's called the hammer. A revolver is only able to fire designed as such that you pull the hammer down and you pull the trigger. That is how a revolver is supposed to work.

So Alex, what the FBI did here is it tested the weapon. It tested the weapon when the hammer was at a quarter way down, halfway down, and then all the way down. And Alex and all of those tests, the revolver was not able to fire until the trigger was pulled, except for one instance. After all of those tests, there was one moment where two parts inside the gun fractured and the gun was able to fire without the trigger being pulled. [15:20:00]

VALERIO: The Baldwin team is seizing on that moment releasing a statement to CNN that says in part: "The FBI report is being misconstrued. The gun fired in testing only one time without having to pull the trigger, when a hammer was pulled back, and the gun broke into different places." So that's true, but only after all of the tests showed the gun was not able to fire without the trigger being pulled.

And you know, Alex, before we came on the air, I was speaking with our Josh Campbell who brings a wealth of perspective and knowledge from his time as an FBI agent, and the larger point stands from his reporting and just the story going on for almost 300 days, that it is still not known why live ammunition was brought on this set. That is the larger question here why there was live ammunition there in the first place -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, Mike Valerio, thank you so much for breaking that down in so much detail. It is very important to understand and of course very important to remember that a life was lost here in what appears to be a really tragic accident.

Mike Valerio in Los Angeles, thank you very much again.

Now, a shooting attack near the Western Wall in Jerusalem left at least eight people injured including five Americans. We'll have a live report from Jerusalem coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:39]

MARQUARDT: At least eight people, including five Americans were wounded in a shooting attack that targeted a bus in Jerusalem's old city that happened early on Sunday morning. At least two of the injured were American tourists according to the hospitals, where they are now being treated.

CNN correspondent, Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem. Hadas, what more are you learning about this horrific incident?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alex, we understand that this attack took place around 1:30 in the middle of the night near one of the main entrances to the holiest sites of the Old City of Jerusalem. The shooter targeted a bus while it was loading/unloading passengers and also shot at parked cars and along the street.

This is a major area not only for religious pilgrims, but also for tourists who are coming to visit the holiest sites of Jerusalem. We know that at least eight people were injured, at least two of them were seriously injured, including a woman who was pregnant. She had to undergo an emergency C-section. Both her and the baby are in serious condition.

We also know that at least five of the victims were Americans or held American citizenship, and at least two of them were American tourists. The others were likely dual nationals, American and Israeli citizens.

The U.S. Embassy said that they are in touch with the families. They said that they are shocked and saddened and that they condemned all acts of terrorism and actions that exacerbate tensions.

Now as for the suspect, he initially fled on foot into a neighborhood of East Jerusalem, but then that launched a massive manhunt. Hundreds of police were out in force. There were helicopters on the lookout, but then earlier this morning, he actually turned himself in to police and police say they also got the weapon that was used in the attack.

Now, the Israeli media saying that he is a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship and a security source tells CNN that the suspect is from East Jerusalem, and that he does hold Israeli citizenship.

Now, in terms of the context of this taking place. There hasn't been an attack in Israel like this since May when there was that wave of attacks that killed 19 Israelis. But this is coming less than a week after that recent conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza that saw dozens of Palestinians killed and more than a thousand rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.

But as far as we know, so far, this suspect has no known connections to militant groups -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, Hadas Gold in Jerusalem. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Now, moving to Egypt where Egyptians are in shock today after 18 children and 23 adults died when a fire swept through a Coptic Church just outside the capital of Cairo. The church in Giza, the neighborhood of Giza was packed with worshipers attending Sunday Mass.

Egyptian officials say that an electrical failure in an air conditioning unit sparked the deadly fire. Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by smoke inside church classrooms.

Now in Afghanistan, images of Taliban fighters firing into the air to disperse a rare protest by women this weekend. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: That firing from the Taliban coming after more than 50 women took to the streets of Kabul demanding rights as well as food, work, and freedom. Their protests are happening almost a year after the city fell to the Taliban after the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz looks at how Afghanistan's female Judges have been among the first targets of the Taliban after they took over that country.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (voice over): Chaos at Kabul's airport as the Taliban grabbed power. One of the first tasks after last year's takeover, erasing women from public life.

Fawzia Amini is one of those women.

FAWZIA AMINI, FORMER AFGHANISTAN JUDGE: That's a big problem for all of women Judges and that's the very darkest day in our lives.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): She is now safe, living in London, but her colleague and friend Samira, not her real name remains trapped in Afghanistan.

For security, we are not revealing her identity.

SAMIRA, FORMER AFGHANISTAN JUDGE (through translator): It was a black day for me I couldn't believe that one day I would be banned from my job.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): These two women were once among the trailblazers of Afghanistan, female Judges that sat on a Court for the elimination of violence against women. It presided over cases of femicide, sexual assault, and early marriage among others.

[15:30:10]

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): It was dangerous work.

In January of 2021, two female Supreme Court Judges were shot dead by unidentified gunmen.

After the Taliban seized power in August of last year, the Women's Court was shut down. The Judges fired and they tell us their bank accounts frozen.

The women say they felt afraid and wanted to seek asylum.

FAWZIA AMINI: We are worried about our -- everything -- our situation, our lives, for our security, especially, it was very hard time.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Leading British lawmaker, Baroness Helena Kennedy says her phone was inundated with messages from dozens of desperate Judges.

BARONESS HELENA KENNEDY, MEMBER OF HOUSE OF LORDS: It started with receiving these really terrified missives from people saying "Please, please help me."

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Determined to help, Kennedy and her colleagues raised money privately for evacuations, eventually getting 103 women, most of them Judges and their families out of the country.

But the journey to safety was terrifying. Amini and her family boarded a bus from Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif, a 12-hour drive with headlights switched off. ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Were you scared?

AMINI: Yes. It was very hard for me and my family.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Hidden in her clothes was Amini's greatest treasure, her education.

AMINI: So we had four or five degrees. It's very important for -- it was very important for us. We put on my back in my dresses.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): So you hid your degrees?

AMINI: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: What? Did you sew them in the back?

AMINI: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ You sewed your degrees in the back of your dress?

AMINI: Yes. In my dress. Yes.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Amini eventually made it to the UK, but Samira and her family are among roughly 80 other female Judges still in Afghanistan, some living in hiding.

SAMIRA (through translator): My life now, I live like a prisoner. Please help us and don't forget us.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): And with the Women's Court now shuttered, Amini, he fears for those she once protected.

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Who will defend women now?

AMINI: Not --

ABDELAZIZ: There is no one.

AMINI: No.

ABDELAZIZ (voice over): Little hope left for the women and girls of Afghanistan.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Salma for that report.

We do have an update on the condition of acclaimed author, Salman Rushdie. He has been taken off the ventilator after he was violently attacked on stage earlier this week. We'll have the latest on his condition coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:36:52] MARQUARDT: The agent for Salman Rushdie says that the acclaimed author

has started to speak again after the brutal attack against him. His agent is saying that the 75-year-old is still in critical condition, but is breathing without a ventilator following several hours of surgery.

Now, the award-winning author was stabbed more than half a dozen times at a speaking event on Friday. That took place in Western New York.

The name of the attacker is Hadi Matar. He was charged with the stabbing and pleaded not guilty to attempted murder in the second degree and other charges.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has been on the story and joins us now.

Polo, there is some good news about Rushdie's condition. What more are you learning about him and the suspect?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a badly needed positive news for the family of Salman Rushdie who continues to recover at this hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania. That is that the celebrated author is on a slow, but steady path back to recovery.

His son, Zafar releasing a statement today saying that "Though his life-changing injuries are severe," he wrote "That his usual feisty and defiant sense of humor remains intact." That's certainly something that's so many of the intellectual community and just the writers community who wanted to hear obviously that his condition continues to improve.

Family members close to the celebrated author also breaking their silence to thank some of the audience members that were present at the event on Friday that sprang into action, not just to fight off the attacker, but also to rush to his aid.

We are also hearing for the first time from Henry Reese, the man who was sharing his stage that day. He spoke to our colleague Brian Stelter today on Reliable Sources" saying that in the moment, there was no sense of reality. It wasn't until he saw his friend bleeding that that reality set in.

Reese also talking about what is the tragic irony in all of this, what was supposed to happen on that stage was a conversation about the need to provide support and sanctuary to persecuted writers just like Rushdie and that is when a knife-wielding man jumped on the stage, attacked even before the 75-year-old man can share a word.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY REESE, WOUNDED DURING ATTACK ON SALMAN RUSHDIE: I think that's the gist of the meaning of that event that here we were about to talk about a movement, City of Asylum that Salman Rushdie actually originated. That it was the original threat against him from during the fatwa period that led to the formation by a group of writers in Europe to start the City of Asylum. That is the grim sort of irony or maybe intention to not only assault his body, but to assault everything that he represented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: In that interview, it's very clear that Reese is also dealing with physical injuries of his own, and with his own recovery. The New York State Police, Alex, they are handling this investigation right now. It's important to point out that it's still not completely clear whether or not that death decree that was issued decades ago after the publication of "The Satanic Verses" played any role or at least was a factor in this attack.

[15:40:10]

SANDOVAL: It's important to point out also that the suspect involved, the one that has pleaded not guilty of this attack, he wasn't even born when that publication went out. So, it'll be interesting to see exactly where the investigation leads. We are expected to hear from Governor Kathy Hochul in the State of New York in the coming hours, could potentially hear an update on the investigation -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes, that suspect just 24 years old, so many questions remaining, but nice to hear that Rushdie is speaking again.

Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

We know you'll stay on this story. Now, still ahead, new evidence suggests that poliovirus is circulating in New York wastewater. Experts are worrying that this is "Just the tip of the iceberg." We'll be discussing those growing concerns, next.

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[15:45:17]

MARQUARDT: Welcome back.

Health authorities in New York City say that they have detected the poliovirus in the city's wastewater. They say that the virus which hasn't been seen in the U.S. in a decade is quietly spreading among the unvaccinated, and a CDC official is warning that this could be the tip of the iceberg.

So let's discuss this with the Chief Policy Impact and Government Affairs Officer at Global Citizen, Michael Sheldrick. His organization has long fought to eradicate polio and has helped the world get very close.

Michael, this is not something that we are used to talking to when it comes to medical news. What was your reaction when you heard about the reemergence of polio?

MICHAEL SHELDRICK, CHIEF POLICY IMPACT AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICER AT GLOBAL CITIZEN: Well, I think my initial reaction was the fact that when we look globally, we've seen less than 20 cases of poliovirus this year. And yet, what we have seen is that this virus has been able to spread because at the end of the day, so long as the virus remains anywhere, it is a threat everywhere, which is why we've been encouraging governments, including the United States to fully fund the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is the body at the center of eradicating polio worldwide.

And I would say, notwithstanding what we've seen here in New York and London, compared to what has just happened over the last two years, incredible progress has been able to be made. We are at historical lows, polio has been reduced by 99.9 percent. But if we let our foot off the accelerator, then polio is bound to come back, which is why we need to complete the job and eradicate polio.

MARQUARDT: There is a very effective vaccine. We here, in the United States and much of the Western world have access to that vaccine. So what's happening? How is it even being given a chance to reemerge?

SHELDRICK: So what we've seen is that the polio vaccine is incredibly, incredibly effective and we've seen that really, these incidences only really occur in communities with low rates of vaccination coverage, which is why in communities with strong vaccination coverage, we see that polio isn't able to spread, we're able to stop it in its tracks.

And if we look historically, these vaccines, which have been incredibly powerful have prevented more than 20 million deaths amongst children around the world.

And thirdly, we see that constantly innovation and science is bringing us more effective vaccines. And in actual fact, a more effective vaccine has been deployed in the field right now. But polio health workers can only do this with our support, which is why we're calling on the global community to urgently back a plan worth $4.8 billion to eradicate this disease once and for all by 2026.

MARQUARDT: Are you seeing any of the effects of disinformation, the likes of which we've seen really spike during COVID and that fuels an anti-vaccine sentiment? Is that happening when it comes to polio?

SHELDRICK: Look, it's ultimately about building trust and we have seen this in communities around the world, whether it's here in America, or in Pakistan or Afghanistan, when you're able to meet with community leaders address their concerns, go to households door by door, with people in positions of trust, who is literally able to convince mothers to vaccinate their children that vaccines are safe, effective, and healthy.

You know, we see that the usage of vaccines goes up and one of the ways that we see this being employed in communities around the world is through the hiring of women as vaccinators. It is no surprise that in at high risk communities and say Pakistan, 90 percent of the vaccinators are women because they're able to earn the trust to meet with mother -- mother to mother have these conversations and promote them to, encourage them to use the vaccine.

But again, these health workers, these incredible frontline health workers, the Rotarians who go door to door are only able to do this with our support and funding, which is why we need the international community to provide $4.8 billion to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

MARQUARDT: Right. It's still just stunning that we're even discussing polio here in the United States.

Michael Sheldrick, thank you so much for your efforts. Best of luck to you.

SHELDRICK: Thanks for having me.

MARQUARDT: Coming up, we have a remarkable story of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She just looked at the camera and it is her and I was like, how is she here? Like, this is impossible that she is still alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: How a dog that was missing for more than two months was finally found.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:54:37]

MARQUARDT: W. Kamau Bell is back with a new episode of "United Shades of America" and this week, Kamau is traveling to the Black Hills of North Dakota to speak with Native people trying to reclaim their culture and their lands. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA": So what is the scope of your work?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Allison's case is a really good example of that. This is one of them in my W cases in my family. She is actually one of the cases that we're working on pretty hard right now.

There are things like evidence in the evidence box that's never been looked at.

[15:55:09]

BELL: A lot of time, a case is unsolved because the police haven't chosen to solve it, or I'm making too much of that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, my reservation is policed by Bureau of Indian Affairs, and we went a whole year without a criminal investigator. So there's a stack of murders that never even got started investigated, because there's no one there to do it.

BELL: So there's the neglect of like, not having the resources that you need to protect your community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not just resources, but jurisdiction. What's the point of the Feds having jurisdiction if they're not going to use it.

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MARQUARDT: And joining us now is the host of "United Shades of America," W. Kamau Bell. He is also the director of the Emmy-nominated series, "We Need to Talk about Cosby," as well as the co-author of the new book, "Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book," which is available now.

Kamau, so great to be with you. Thanks so much for joining me. Could you explain what exactly the goal of the Land Back Movement is? These native activists, are they fighting for all of the lands to put back under indigenous control?

BELL: I mean, the short answer is yes. That's the short answer. They know there's lots of different ways to get there, but I mean, you just did a story about polio rise in the United States of America, and I think a lot of Native American activists would say, if we were in control of the land the way we had been, that would not be a thing we'd be dealing with right now.

MARQUARDT: And you did speak in your first episode about history and this is something that, of course, the country has been talking about a lot lately. There has been a national conversation, what is included? What is excluded? In schools, when children learn about the founding of the country, how have Native Americans been impacted? Are they telling you by the way that their history has been told for so long by nonnative society?

BELL: Well, yes, I mean, as we all know, I think most of us who grew up in school that we learned about the indigenous people whose country through the lens of Thanksgiving, or through the lens of deals that were so-called struck between the settlers and the native people. And on their side, they would say, these were not deals that were struck equally.

So I think the idea being that like a lot of people, we talked to Native American activists in that first episode about CRT and woke, and she said her whole people's history is distilled to two paragraphs in our history book as a kid.

So obviously, if we talk about history in this country, that's a big story that has not been told Native-American history from their perspective.

MARQUARDT: And so what are they doing? Well, what efforts are being made to change that?

BELL: I mean, right now, the Land Back Movement, which was started by the Indian collective as a way to sort of to make people understand that these lands that you think of as being quintessentially American. These lands being seen as defining America were native lands and one of the activists we talked to, Nick Tilson (ph), and another activist that we talked to, Crystal Tubules (ph) purposely did a demonstration and a protest out at Mount Rushmore because Mount Rushmore we think of many of us as quintessentially American is actually the site of a sacred land called Six Grandfathers.

So it is not -- so the way we think about it is completely wrong.

MARQUARDT: W. Kamau Bell, it looks like a fascinating episode. Really look forward to seeing it. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon, and you can be sure to tune in to an all new episode of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell that airs tonight at 10:00 PM only on CNN.

Now a loud boom was heard across parts of Utah and Idaho surprising some residents on Saturday. It turns out it was likely a high altitude meteor caught on camera shooting across the sky and it blew up when it hit the atmosphere.

That was caught by doorbell and home cameras that recorded the sound for about two minutes. Watch.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [Bleep] was that?

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MARQUARDT: "What was that?" The Utah Governor, Spencer Cox has also confirmed it was not an earthquake. But it was a sound that really stunned a lot of residents.

Now, finally found, a pup who has been missing for months is now back home after being rescued 500 feet underground in a cave.

Thirteen-year-old, Abby somehow wandered into an intricate cave system just north of Perryville, Missouri. That was back in June. Now two months later, a group of 30 spelunkers checking out the caves stumbled upon her and slowly worked together to get her to safety, and after she was finally free, they took her photo door to door until they found Abby's home.

Now reunited with her owners, they say that Abby is slowly getting back to normal.

One thing for sure. That dog, that cute dog, Abby is the ultimate survivor.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm Alex Marquardt. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right now.

Take care.

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