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National Security Tension After FBI's Raid At Mar-a-Lago; One Dead And 17 Injured As A Car Plows Into A Crowd In Pennsylvania; FBI Releases Forensic Report On Alec Baldwin's On-Set Deadly Shooting Incident; Study Reveals Arctic Is Warming Faster Than Previously Thought; Inflation Peaking As Wall Street Extend Wins; At Least 41 Dead In Cairo Church Fire. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 14, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Tensions nationwide this evening as officials monitor an uptick in violent rhetoric and threats in response to the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Video taken outside this phoenix FBI office over the weekend shows armed Trump supporters protesting, some wearing tactical gear and holding up a sign that says abolish FBI. The protest ended without incident.

Meantime, the Democratic chairs of the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees are asking the director of National Intelligence for an immediate damage assessment after top secret documents were uncovered at Trump's Mar-a-Lago compound. CNN's Jessica Schneider joins me now. Jessica, what are lawmakers on both sides of the aisle demanding? It sounds like everybody wants an answer to what's happening right now.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. That's right, Jim, demands are coming from both sides here. Republicans, they want more information from the attorney general. In particular, they actually want to see the affidavit that laid out the basis for the search warrant.

It is highly unlikely that that will be unsealed since it really lays out the inside information and the sources that federal investigators relied on to get the federal judge in Florida to approve the warrant.

Then on the other side, Democrats, they want the director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, to conduct what they're calling an immediate review because of the national security implications of what was found at Mar-a-Lago. So, it's the top Democrats from House Oversight and House Intelligence. And they wrote this in the letter to DNI Haines.

They said a recently unsealed court authorized search warrant and the inventory property recovered at the Mar-a-Lago club describe 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. The issue demands a full review in addition to the ongoing law enforcement inquiry. So, Congressman Adam Schiff, Congresswoman Caroline Maloney, they are the ones who wrote this letter. They are also asking for a classified briefing.

And, Jim, of course, that's because numerous sets of classified documents were taken by the FBI last Monday. That's 11 sets of documents. And it even includes that one set that was marked top secret SCI. You know, these are documents that are only supposed to ever be viewed in a secure government facility.

So, they want more answers and they said that because this is really a threat to national security what information is contained and maybe if it got into other people's hands. So, Jim, a lot of questions and demands coming from lawmakers really on both sides of the aisle. Jim?

ACOSTA: Alright, Jessica Schneider, we know you'll stay on top of it. Thanks so much. We appreciate it. And joining me now broadcasting legend, former ABC News anchor and White House correspondent, Sam Donaldson. Sam, my friend, thanks as always for being with us. It's always a pleasure to have you on.

SAM DONALDSON, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Glad to be here, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. Great to see you. And this is a perfect subject, I think, for both of us to talk about. Over the course of your career, you've seen it all from Vietnam to Watergate to the Clinton impeachment and the Iraq war, and now we have top secret documents recovered from the home of a former president who still refuses to admit he lost an election. How should this story be covered in the eyes of Sam Donaldson?

DONALDSON: Well, you know, when I heard about it, the fact that the FBI had seized from his safe and other places these documents which should be held someplace else, particularly the top-secret ones which must be held someplace else. It may be a violation of the Espionage Act of 1917. That's a very serious crime.

I thought of Al Capone. Now, Al Capone was a great big gangster in the 1920s and '30s, bootlegged millions of gallons of whiskey that was illegal, but more than that, lot of credible evidence that he had ordered the murder of many people. But they never brought him to justice on that.

But wait a moment. The IRS discovered that Al Capone was cheating on his income taxes, and so they brought him to justice on that. He went to prison, that's where he died.

If the attorney general cannot bring himself because of lack of evidence or belief that the country is not ready to bring a president on charges of insurrection or obstruction of justice, how about violation of laws which keep this country safe like the Espionage Act?

If there's credible evidence, I think more of the American public would say, well, yeah, he shouldn't have done that. Let's see what the jury of his peers provides for. I'd like to see it.

ACOSTA: Alright. And, you know, Sam, I'm sure, you know, you and I both have the same kind of detector when it comes to B.S. and the Trump team has offered up a slew of shifting explanations that don't pass the test, they don't pass the smell test. They were -- this is what they were saying. That they've been cooperating already.

[17:05:00]

That the FBI and the Department of Justice could have gotten these documents if they had just asked nicely. The Trump team has been saying that these documents have been planted and that they've already been declassified and that they were already in secure storage. And now Trump is saying today that they were protected by attorney/client privilege. Sam, it's hard to keep up with all of these shifting explanations.

DONALDSON: Yes, it is. But you know, I'm for both sides call on the examination of this. There should be an investigation. The Justice Department should and everybody connected with this including the FBI should explain exactly what they did, why they did it and why it was legal and necessary.

But assuming that is done, all of this explanation, if we haven't in the last five years or more heard from Donald J. Trump and the people who believe in him regardless of the evidence, regardless of what anyone else says, regardless of whether their own eyes show them something else, we're not going to be able to convince them. We're not going to be able to conclude that, hey, look at the evidence, look at the proof here. They're not going to look at it.

And so, I think they're lost and I regret it because, you know, their respects, they're American citizens and in many respects, really good neighbors. But in this respect, we're not going to allow them to control the country, they're not going to seize the United States. Donald J. Trump and his merry band really have lost.

We're going to have another dip, maybe 2024 is the dipping point, but the majority of Americans quite clearly want to preserve the country, the democracy, the ideals, the opportunity for everyone regardless of the color of their skin or their way of religious faith to rise. I think truly this glass may be half full at the moment but it's filling up and not draining down.

ACOSTA: Well, I hope you are right, Sam, but you know, I have to tell you, this leads me to my next question. That Trump's defenders have been flooding the zone with some pretty disturbing rhetoric when it comes to discrediting the Justice Department and the federal law enforcement community on this country.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said of the FBI, quote, "We'd be better off to think of these people as wolves, wolves who want to eat you, wolves who want to dominate." Fox's Jesse Waters wondered, "How do we know they're not planting evidence right now?" Fox's Mark Levin said, "This is the worst attack on the republic in modern history period." Sam, I remember, I'm old enough to remember just a few weeks ago when

people were saying that, oh, maybe Rupert Murdoch was giving up on Donald Trump and yet numerous Fox News personalities and people who appear on Fox regularly have jumped to Trump's defense. Really, I think, dovetails with your point you were making a few moments ago about how we're living in two realities, multiple realities right now.

DONALDSON: That's right. The fact that they say it, the people that you cited and others, doesn't make it true. What is the truth? Well, you look at the evidence. Sixty judges at the end of the 2020 election found suits at their court that said there was fraud, that the ballots were unfair, that Trump had actually won. They said, well, alright, show us the evidence. None has ever been produced.

And if you say, well, yes it has, why do you say that? Because he says it. Who is he? Donald J. Trump. Well, with all due respect, your highness, you don't have the proof either. So, don't pay attention to these voices that haven't proof. Look at the evidence. Keep an open mind.

If they can come forward and show that the FBI is corrupt, a great organization that has kept us safe since, I mentioned the '20s, since the '20s and '30s. Yes, some hiccups and once in a while there is a bad reporter, right, Jim. We hope it's not us.

ACOSTA: That's right.

DONALDSON: But the point is, to say that maybe one or two FBI agents, well, what about the file, you know? What about the rest of the evidence? I get tired of it but we have to live with it, but we don't have to live with it in a sense of giving them a victory. They're not going to have it. Americans are not going to have it. You have my word for it.

ACOSTA: But -- and I appreciate the optimism, but Sam, I mean, help the viewers understand what was happening during Watergate, during Iran-Contra. You did not have senior Republicans. I'm sure maybe you had a few here or there who would question the credibility of an investigation. By and large you had very respected figures in the Republican Party who would go to Nixon and say the jig is up. Who would say --

DONALDSON: At the end.

ACOSTA: --no, what happened with Iran-Contra was not appropriate.

DONALDSON: At the end. Watergate began to come apart not just with the great reporting by Woodward and Bernstein and other reporters, but when the maximum John Sirica, the judge, a Republican appointee by the way, brought those people to court who were the burglars and said, you got to come clean. It's clear you're not looking for jewels in the office of the Democratic Party chairman, and one of them did. Then he goes to the Senate with the Senate Committee.

[17:09:55] Sure, controlled by Democrats, but the Republicans on the committee led by Howard Baker, a fine, fine governor, rather a senator, and a good Republican conservative, started out believing in Nixon and came toward the end of his own hearings knowing that Nixon was a crook in his heart because of all the evidence. They looked at the evidence.

And at the end when the smoking gun appeared and the Supreme Court unanimously, with most of them Republican appointees, by the way, said you will turn over those tapes. Richard Nixon turned them over. When Donald Trump is faced by subpoenas or faced by courts, he says no, I don't have to do that. He's saying it right now. I don't have to turn them over, these papers.

That's why the FBI finally, after asking for them politely, after making the point, after subpoenaing him and he didn't do it, raided him. So, I think at the end it's different. In Watergate, as the evidence accumulated against Nixon, some of his most faithful supporters looked at the evidence and said, gosh, it's true.

And you're right. Three of them led by Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott and John Rhodes of Arizona went down to the White House at the end and said, sir, you have two choices. You can resign now one step ahead of the sheriff or go to the Senate and lose dramatically in which case not only are you never able to hold an office, but now the courts will go after you big time. And so, he resigned.

ACOSTA: Ye.

DONALDSON: And today Donald J. Trump continues to thumb his nose and his supporters support him including members of the Senate, including people who know better. They're afraid and they are cowards. And history will show it.

ACOSTA: Well, and that leads me to the next question, Sam. I know you have been speaking to this already, but let's delve into this further. President Biden recently met with historians who warned him in recent days that our democracy, the American democracy is facing an existential threat on the level of the civil war or World War II era fascism.

What can we in the media do to better lay out the stakes for the American people and I guess, you know, I heard you say a few moments ago that you were confident in the American people. Is that what it boils down to? At the end of the day, we just have to have faith that the American people will sort this out? But how concerned are you at the same time that major historians would go to the president and say this?

DONALDSON: Well, you have to be concerned -- you have to be concerned, but remember, we were at the brink of the civil war and the union won. Remember, you've pointed out we were brink against fascism in this world, we won. So, to say because they are there and the opposition is formidable, does not say, no, and we can't defeat them. We will defeat them. We'll defeat them at the ballot box.

And if you tell me some states are already Republican state legislature, already trying to make it certain that it's not going to be a fair election in their state --

ACOSTA: Right.

DONALDSON: -- unless Donald J. Trump or the Republican nominee should win fairly. No. A few states might go bad that way in 2024 if I say, but the majority of them won't. The law still holds. If you look at the decisions, if you look at the evidence that has not been presented and judges have turned down the supposition that it was a fraudulent election.

If you look at what happened wonderfully in Arizona, what happened wonderfully in Georgia, when Republican record keepers and election officials held to the truth, despite their own votes for Donald J. Trump. We need those people. Liz Cheney is one of them. She's probably going to lose her primary. She's a good Republican, though, because when that vote came up, that's one of Biden's big successes.

Yesterday was it or Friday, in the House of Representatives along with every Republican, she voted against the bill that would lower prescription drugs for Medicare, that would give us more money for climate change which is very important, that would actually help in so many ways people who are poor. She voted against it. That's okay.

I've always admired conservatives who believe in conservatism because they think on principle the government is encroaching too much, spending too much, et cetera, et cetera. But the ones who now are supporting Donald J. Trump and Trump-ism when they know better, if they're simply ignorant in the dictionary definition of the sense, I feel sorry for them.

ACOSTA: Right.

DONALDSON: I'd like to help them. But those people who know better not only are they cowards, but they're the ones who are not Americans. Donald Trump has said we in the press are Americans -- we're not -- un-American. All Democrats are un-American and the enemies of the state. We're the enemies of the state.

Now they're calling the FBI, our principle national law enforcement agency which keeps us all safe and has for decades and decades un- American. How dare they? How dare they? Who are these people? Pardon me. I'm now going to paroxysm (ph).

ACOSTA: That's, no, you're --

DONALDSON: I've just lost it.

[17:15:00]

ACOSTA: -- you're absolutely right, Sam. And that is -- that has always been the danger when the president of the United States refers to one segment of American society as the enemy. What's to say he won't come to your segment of American society next? And that is why I think it's so important, Sam, as you lay out the stakes. It is good to do --

DONALDSON: As Pastor Niemoller once said.

ACOSTA: Yes.

DONALDSON: When they came for me there was no one left to protest.

ACOSTA: That's it. That's it. Great wisdom as always. Sam Donaldson, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Good to see you, sir.

DONALDSON: Pleasure. Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thank you, my friend. Coming up, shocking moments in Pennsylvania when a car plows through a crowd at a fund-raiser for fire victims. One has been reported -- one person has been reported dead so far, 17 people injured. And police are now investigating this second crime scene as well. We'll get the latest on all of that next.

Plus, what an FBI report just concluded about that deadly shooting on the set of an Alec Baldwin film.

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ACOSTA: One person is dead and 17 others injured after a car drove through a crowd in Pennsylvania. Police say the suspect who is now in custody also used a hammer to kill a woman in a separate incident. CNN's Nadia Romero is following all of those for us. Nadia, walk us through this timeline. Very disturbing case.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is, Jim, and it all started last night in Pennsylvania. But I want us to get our bearings. Let's take a look at a map to show you exactly where we're talking about. As this time line begins Saturday night in Berwick, Pennsylvania which is about 120 or so miles from the city of Philadelphia. The next incident happening just a county over in Nescopeck. So, let's start with the first incident.

There was a community gathering outside of a bar to really honor the victims of a deadly house fire. Some 10 people were killed in a house fire earlier this month, so people were gathering to support the victims and their families when police say a man driving a car drove through that crowd killing one person and injuring 17 others. And listen to one state trooper talk about what this means for this community already dealing with so much loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY PETROSKI, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: This is a -- as the major said, this is a complete tragedy in a community where there's already been tragedy. We are going to do our job to the best of our abilities to conduct a thorough investigation not only for the families but the community members. They are already hurting. And if there's anything we could do to help those families beyond our investigation, we absolutely will do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMERO: So, the investigation then heads to another crime scene because shortly after that suspect drove his car through the crowd, state police say they received a call about a man assaulting a woman. And when they arrived, they found the woman's body. She had already died. And then they also found that this suspect had been detained by municipal police.

Well, here is what we know about that victim; 56-year-old Rosa Reyes. And the autopsy results from the coroner's report shows that she died because of multiple traumatic injuries. Manner of death, they coroner said, homicide. And they said it happened after she was struck by a vehicle and assaulted with a hammer.

This is the suspect in question here, 24-year-old Adrian Reyes. And you'll notice that Adrian Reyes and Rosa Reyes have the same last name, but authorities have not yet told us if there is a connection, a relationship between him and that victim or any of the other victims from earlier in the day.

Reyes now facing two charges of criminal homicide. He was denied bail at a hearing earlier this morning, and he has another court date for later this month. Now, this investigation has rattled this community, Jim. And police are trying to figure out the why, the when, how all of this happened. So, they're asking the public, if you were at that community gathering or if you saw Reyes with Rosa Reyes during what they believe was him assaulting and killing her, to please send them any videos, any images or come forth with any information. Jim?

ROMERO: Alright, Nadia Romero, thank you very much. Months after a cinematographer was killed on the set of Alec Baldwin's film "Rust" the FBI is out with a forensic report on the shooting. Our Mike Valerio is following developments on that story. Mike, tell us what's in this report and how Alec Baldwin's team is responding.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Jim. Well, Baldwin's lawyers are certainly disputing part of these findings but, Jim, what you really got to understand when you look at this report is how a revolver is designed to work. So, there are two things, Jim. A revolver is only designed to fire when a lever at the top of the gun called the hammer is pulled all the way back and when somebody pulls the trigger. That's what a revolver is designed to do.

So, what the FBI did here, Jim, they tested it in several different situations, circumstances. They had the hammer right here about like a quarter of the way up, halfway up and then pulled all the way back. And in all of these tests the gun did not fire unless the trigger was pulled. With the exception of one test.

So, the Baldwin team is looking at this test when two small parts of the gun fractured and they are putting out this statement saying in part to CNN, quote, "The FBI report is being misconstrued. The gun fired in testing only one time without having to pull the trigger when the hammer was pulled back and the gun broke in two different places."

But, Jim, what that leaves out, as we just talked about, in all of these tests beforehand, the gun would only fire when the trigger was pulled. Listen to what Alec Baldwin told ABC News in December of last year. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: But the trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: So, you never pulled the trigger?

BALDWIN: No, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never. That was the training that I had. You don't point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: Okay, so we have this issue, the new FBI report that we're talking about. But there is still, you know, I was on the phone with Josh Campbell, our FBI veteran before we, you know, came on live T.V. here.

[17:24:58]

And we were talking about the larger issue, Jim, that is still unresolved more than or I should say nearly 300 days later, is why live ammunition was able to get on this movie set. That is still an open question. That is still the central focus of New Mexico officials. And in the process, because that happened a life was lost. Jim?

ACOSTA: Alright, Mike Valerio, thanks for following up on that. We appreciate it.

Coming up, the Trump team shifting excuses about the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and whether it signals real legal jeopardy for the former president. CNN's Elie Honig is standing by.

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ACOSTA: Donald Trump said he would have just turned over those documents if the Justice Department would have asked, but we have new CNN reporting about those classified documents that former President Trump was keeping at Mar-a-Lago. Two sources tell CNN that Trump lawyers signed a letter back in June saying that all classified materials had been given back. But as we learned this past Monday, that wasn't true because the FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents.

The Justice Department is now investigating three possible federal crimes, violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and criminal handling of government records. And joining us now to talk about this, senior legal analyst for CNN and former federal prosecutor Elie Honig. He is back with us. As always, great to have you on.

Elie, do you think that the June letter from the Trump lawyer is why the Department of Justice is looking at obstruction of justice?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jim, it could be one of several reasons why DOJ included obstruction of justice as one of the statutes underpinning the search warrant. If in fact Donald Trump's lawyers wrote that letter saying there's no classified documents and they knew there were classified documents, that in itself would be obstruction of justice.

Also, though, Jim, if one of the reasons that the documents were taken from the White House down into Florida in the first place was to keep them out of the hands of investigators, that would be obstruction of justice. And I think most seriously, if there is evidence that those documents were being altered, taken out, destroyed, removed, anything like that, that, too, could be obstruction of justice. So, I think it's telling here that there are multiple possibilities that could support that law.

ACOSTA: And Elie, we've heard multiple excuses coming from Trump and his team. First it was the FBI planted evidence. Then Trump claimed on Truth Social that it was all declassified, that they didn't need to seize anything and that they could have had it anytime that they wanted.

I think today he is saying some of the stuff is privileged, attorney/client privilege material. It reminds me of John Belushi in the "Blues Brothers" explaining to Carrie Fisher why he didn't show up for the wedding, that there was an earthquake, a terrible flood, locusts. You know, they're running out of excuses here, Elie.

HONIG: Yes, Jim. So, let me just address some of the excuses that we've heard. First of all, the declassification argument. It is possible Donald Trump declassified some of these documents before he left the White House. You would expect that there would be some record, some evidence, some paper trail some witness to support that. We've not seen it yet. So far, all we've seen is conclusory statements that, yes, we declassified. Remains to be seen.

Also, important to note, of the three laws that DOJ listed on their search warrant documents that justified that search, none of them have anything to do with whether these documents were adequately classified or declassified. The other thing, this idea that well, they could have just asked. They didn't have to do a search warrant. That is nonsense. They did ask many times over.

The National Archives asked and they only got some of the documents. DOJ asked. They tried to subpoena. That's the easy way. They still didn't get all the documents. So that defense holds no water. And finally, Jim, there is this notion out there Donald Trump has said this was, quote, a break-in.

This was not a break-in. We've seen the paperwork now. DOJ did the same paperwork that I did many, many times on a search warrant and a judge signed off. So, this is a lawfully authorized search warrant. It should not be called a break-in.

ACOSTA: Yes, I can't believe that he got that one wrong, Elie. And can you break down the Espionage Act for us? What are we talking about here? Some people may not understand, you know, what the possibilities are with that.

HONIG: Yes, so look, the Espionage Act sounds quite dramatic and there are portions of the Espionage Act that bring to mind sort of cinematic cloak and dagger type of things. But the limited subsection that's alleged in these papers relates to mishandling of defense information.

It essentially makes it a crime to mishandle, to take, to transmit national security information if you know or have a reason to know that dissemination of that information could be harmful to U.S. national security interests. So, it's not necessarily James Bond stuff, but it's still vital. It deals with how we store and protect our most sensitive national secrets.

ACOSTA: And finally, let's play something that conservative lawyer George Conway told me yesterday.

(BEGI VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CONWAY, ATTORNEY: I think the shortest distance between Donald Trump and an orange jumpsuit is this investigation with the documents. And it's really kind of -- because it's so simple. And we haven't heard anything remotely approaching a rational, logical defense. The craziness of some of the assertions that they made. And so, I just think that this is -- he realizes the jeopardy he's in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, Elie, what do you think of that assessment?

HONIG: Well, I'm going to agree with my friend, the honorable George Conway in part and disagree in part as well. I do agree that the excuses and defenses we've heard so far are not convincing and at times internally self-contradictory. That said, it is ultimately the prosecution's job to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that there was criminal intent, criminal knowledge here.

[17:34:55]

I don't think we are there yet and I don't think we are talking about sort of visions of orange jumpsuits just yet. There's an awful lot of water between where we are now and an indictment and a conviction and imprisonment. So, I think we should not get ahead of ourselves. This conduct has raised all sorts of questions.

We got some answers, some important answers last Friday. They don't look good for Donald Trump. Merrick Garland is going to have a very difficult decision to make.

ACOSTA: Alright. Yes, we cannot use the cliche the walls are closing in because we've said it way too many times.

HONIG: Right. Please let's not.

ACOSTA: You put a dollar in the walls are closing in jar if you do that. Elie Honig, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

HONIG: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Just 12 days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi provoked outrage in China by visiting Taiwan, a second congressional delegation has arrived in Taipei for a two-day visit led by Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts. The group says it is visiting the island to reaffirm U.S. support for Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory despite having control or, excuse me, never controlling the self-governing island. So far, no comment from Beijing. But when Speaker Pelosi visited Taiwan earlier this month, China launched military exercises and warned President Biden that those who play with fire would perish by it.

Coming up, alarming new research shows the largest ice sheet in the world is melting faster than previously thought. The latest developments on the climate crisis next.

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[17:40:00]

ACOSTA: Startling new research shows the Arctic has warmed four times faster than the rest of the planet over the past several decades. That's according to a new study published by the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Researchers say it's all caused by heat trapping emissions and the burning of fossil fuels.

Another big concern, the climate models that scientists typically use to predict long-term change are not capturing the high rate of warming. Scientists say if the models do not show what's happening now, they cannot be confident in their own long-term predictions.

And CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir is joining us now to talk about this important subject. We like to have you on time and again, Bill, as always. Thank you so much. Can you explain -- let's talk about this study. Why is this all so concerning?

BILL WEIR, CNN CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we thought, I guess the consensus was, that the Arctic was warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet. It turns out its four times faster. If you put that together with a couple of new studies of the South Pole that was relatively stable compared to the Arctic, that it turns out twice as much ice has been lost, both the calving events where the ice kind of crumbles off into the ocean and these glaciers thinning as the warm water of the ocean melts them from below.

And it's just this idea that if the predictions and the models up until this point were conservative and real time is unfolding in much faster to more dramatic ways, you have to adjust the adaptation strategies for that. The seawall project in Charleston for example is built to a certain sea level rise.

The streets of Miami that they're raising, built to a certain level, but that could be thrown off if something happens faster than previously thought.

ACOSTA: That's right. And this is strange, I want to ask you about this, Bill. At the end of June, the earth broke the record for the shortest day since the invention of the atomic clock. Researchers think it could have something to do with the melting glaciers. Help us understand this.

WEIR: Yes. If you think of an ice skater when she's spinning and she brings her arms in and gets faster, as the Earth spins, the theory is as we lose that mass of ice, I mean, just in my lifetime, in our lifetimes, the Earth has lost the equivalent of a chunk of ice the size of the United States about six feet thick. And the sheer weight of that changing the balance of the Earth around the axis.

ACOSTA: Wow! And the climate crisis is melting Greenland down at an unprecedented rate, we talked about this before, but in a twist of irony, it's creating an opportunity for investors, mining companies. We've seen some pieces about this here on CNN. These companies searching for a trove of critical metals and minerals capable of powering green technology. What do you think of that?

WEIR: It's so interesting. I was up there last summer and it speaks to as the planet warms there will be near term winners and losers. Everybody loses long term. But if you're in Greenland, it's a hell of a lot better to be on sort of the defrost setting rather than you are in broil close to the equator.

And life is getting easier. You don't need dog sleds to go out to hunt anymore. You can just take a boat. But at the same time, it's exposing all of these new possibilities for not only just rare Earth minerals like zinc and cobalt and titanium and lithium that go into electric cars and all of these clean technologies, but also oil and gas.

So, Russia sees the melting arctic as not as a red flag but a green light to explore up there. And at the same time, you've got more green-minded billionaires, the Bill Gates of the world, Michael Bloomberg, that they need to find these special minerals especially in friendly countries.

You're going to see this now in sort of -- if humanity learned its lesson with colonialism, whether going out into countries in Africa in South America where there might be these precious metals, how these people were treated, what kind of agreements are made, the new Inflation Reduction Act, the big climate bill that just passed, that ties to the sourcing of the minerals in the battery in your new car whether or not you get a certain amount of tax break. They're trying to address it that way. But it's a brave new world as the world does look for alternative fuels and now has to find those natural resources. Everything is a tradeoff.

ACOSTA: Yes. And as you know, Bill, nearly half of Europe is experiencing what could end up being the continent's worst drought in history. Water levels are plummeting, rivers and lakes drying up. And I want to show our viewers some of this. Here in the U.S. this past week there have been these devastating monsoon rains that sent floodwaters flowing down the Las Vegas strip. [17:45:04]

If we could show the video of the rain coming down on the Las Vegas strip. I mean, Bill, this is just wild stuff. I mean, you know, you and I may have had some rough nights in Vegas, but this is -- this was a rough night, you know, right down into the casinos. What goes through your mind when you see something like this? They're on the blackjack table.

WEIR: Well, actually -- yes, it's crazy, right? And it -- all this is happening in the middle of the worst drought in 1,200 years in the American south. You know, these southwest monsoons are normal, but these, again, on a warmer planet event are more intense. And so, it's too much rain instead of what you're used to or it's not enough for long periods of time.

And there's new science that actually came out this week. Daniel Swain, very respected scientist out of southern California, UCLA. They modeled the idea that both with the loss of snowpack and land, the loss of good soil to absorb rain when it happens due to wildfires and erosion and those sorts of things, there could be a day when the weather systems have changed so dramatically that it could rain for a month in the central valley of California and create the kinds of flooding events that literally he says humanity has never seen.

That could create basically where the salad bowl of the world is around Bakersfield huge inland sea as a result of this. These are, you know, the scary sort of apocalyptic horror movie level things. But the science is they look at what's happening unfolding faster than previously predicted and you start to connect the dots of how this new planet is working out after all the wildfires, after these pattern changes. What will that look like? We got to get ready. That's the signal for (inaudible). Get ready.

ACOSTA: Yes. And when I look at that video of the rain pouring down on the blackjack table, it makes you think of, you know, we really are gambling with our future, you know? I mean, this is an image of it right here. No better image of what's going on with our planet right now. I think you could argue than blackjack tables being flooded in Las Vegas. So strange. Alright, Bill Weir --

WEIR: But that speaks to our human nature, absolutely, Jim. That -- the urge to invent blackjack sent us to the moon, you know. And we have the capability to turn it around, you know, with the right ideas, the right sense of how we use this planet. People who made this mess are capable of cleaning it up.

ACOSTA: Let's hope so. Alright, Bill Weir, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

WEIR: You bet.

ACOSTA: And now here is one of my other colleagues, Christine Romans with your "Before the Bell Report."

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim. Four straight winning weeks now for the S&P 500. That's the longest since last fall. Investors are encouraged by signs inflation may be peaking. Consumer and producer prices are down from their worst levels. They're still close to that 40-year high for consumer prices, though.

Now the price at the pump is the lowest since March and by the end of last week. Some 18 states posted average gas prices below $3.75 a gallon. This week, more critical information about the health of the economy. On Wednesday, retail sales for July could signal how the inflation weary consumer is holding up.

And the Federal Reserve releases the minutes from its last meeting providing clues on whether the Fed is likely to aggressively raise rates again when it meets in September. Those Fed rate hikes have made it more expensive to finance a home. Mortgage rates this week rose to 5.22 percent, up sharply from less than 3 percent late last year. Several key housing reports are on the agenda this week.

Recession fears have faded a bit mostly because the job market remains so strong. On Thursday, weekly jobless claims will give us a peak into layoffs in America. Last week's figure was the highest this year though still historically low. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

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[17:50:00]

ACOSTA: In Egypt, 18 children and 23 adults were killed this morning when a fire tore through a church outside of Cairo. The church in Giza was crowded with worshipers attending Sunday mass. Egyptian officials say an electrical short circuit and a power generator caused the deadly fire. Most of the deaths and injuries were caused by smoke inside church classrooms. A priest at the church was among those killed.

A deadly blast at a fireworks warehouse in Armenia has left at least two people dead and 60 others injured. The explosion happened early this morning in a marketplace in Armenia's capital city. Photos taken at the scene show a large plume of black smoke and dozens of firefighters working to control the flames. Crews were able to pull at least 10 people from the rubble and are still looking for more survivors. It is still unclear what caused the blast.

On a brand-new episode of "United Shades of America," W. Kamau Bell travels to the black hills of South Dakota to meet with the indigenous leaders of the Land Back Campaign and learn all about the fight to reclaim their ancestral lands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

UNKNOWN: I think Allison's case is a really good example of that. This is one of the MMIW cases in family. She's 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. BELL: A lot of time with cases unsolved because the police haven't

chosen to solve it or am I making too much of that?

[17:55:01]

UNKNOWN: You know, my reservation is policed by the 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.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Be sure to tune in. An all-new episode of "United Shades of America" airs tonight at 10:00 right here on CNN.

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