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Mississippi Governor Urges Residents To Flee Amid Massive Flooding Event; NASA's Artemis Launch Prepares For Liftoff Tomorrow Morning; Bills Release Rookie Accused In Gang Rape Of Underage Girl. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 28, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:15]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone.

Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, we begin with the record-setting rains expected to flood parts of the Mississippi -- or parts of Mississippi over the next two days. Governor Tate Reeves declaring a State of Emergency as Mississippi's Pearl River is expected to crest over the next 24 hours.

CNN's Nadia Romero is live for us in Jackson with the latest.

And Nadia, what are you seeing at this hour?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, we are already seeing some flooding happen in the northeast side of Jackson, Mississippi. This is a neighborhood that saw a lot of flooding back in 2020.

I want to bring in the Mayor of Jackson, Chokwe Lumumba, who has been the mayor, second term now and when I spoke with the residents in this neighborhood, Mayor, they told me they feel more prepared. That the city officials told them more about the flooding that was coming than what they had back in 2020.

What have you done differently to prepare your residents this time around?

MAYOR CHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: Well, unfortunately, we've had this experience within a short period of time and so we've learned a lot.

So, we've communicated early and often. We've been able to better instruct the things that residents need to prepare around, taking pictures of their items, making sure that they take their critical documents.

We've had a strong coalition of not only city departments, but the county and the state. And so it's been an all-hands on-deck process, and hopefully that allows us to save life and property that would be not be spared otherwise.

ROMERO: And we know that we're not expecting the river to crest as high of a level as we saw in 2020, but this isn't a moment to underestimate the floodwaters.

LUMUMBA: Absolutely not. We want residents to heed these warnings this water can be around longer than is expected, and so we want them to over prepare. Whether or not we have the same number of homes that are affected this time, for those homes that are affected. That's a handful too many that can be impacted.

And so, we want to make certain that we have the mitigation after we have recovery, that this no longer has to be commonplace in the City of Jackson.

ROMERO: We know that there are several sandbag locations all across the city. The shelters are opened by the Red Cross. What else are you doing to help people because in this particular neighborhood, they have been without power for at least two hours?

LUMUMBA: Well, there is ongoing rescue efforts with not only the Jackson Fire Department, but Wildlife and Fisheries and MEMA have all been to task. We've used our public transportation, JTRAN to help provide transportation to those residents that weren't able to do so.

We've had the support of local churches, a church not far from where we stand. New Jerusalem has offered their parking lot for people who have additional vehicles and want to avoid sustaining damage to those vehicles.

We've had church groups knock on doors and emphasize the critical importance of getting out and evacuating.

ROMERO: It's already very hot, and you talk about not having power, food spoiling. This could be a really dire situation, especially for the elderly or those who are unable to really move around.

LUMUMBA: Absolutely. And that's why our early communication was so necessary. We know that our ambulatory services have been supportive in this time to help move some of those elderly residents and make certain that they have shelter either with family, local hotels or in the most critical circumstance, the local shelters that we provide.

ROMERO: Mayor Lumumba, the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, thank you for joining us.

LUMUMBA: Thank you.

ROMERO: Fred, we will continue to see these floodwaters rise. We expect that river to crest over the next 24 hours to about 35-and-a- half feet, the Pearl River -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh boy. All right, Nadia Romero. Thank you so much. Keep us posted.

All right, meteorologist, Britley Ritz is tracking the latest from the CNN Weather Center. So Britley, what are you seeing from your view?

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the Barnett Reservoir actually peaked earlier this morning. That crest happening early this morning is actually a good thing when it comes down to the Pearl River. Current levels 35.19 feet, forecast to crest at 35-and-a-half feet just below major flood stage coming into tomorrow morning.

Rain chances have finally started to come down a bit, so that heavy steady rain less likely, but we're still dealing with flood warnings along the Lower Mississippi Valley until further notice, all the way down into parts of Louisiana where near record levels are expected. So there's that scattered shower and storm chance along the Gulf Coast, trying to pump back into the Lower Mississippi Valley within the next two days with that area of low pressure hanging nearby.

A lot of rain, no, not much compared to what we've picked up over the past few days. Rainfall totals anywhere between one and two inches with isolated higher amounts possible here just within the next 48 to 72 hours.

[15:05:12]

RITZ: Now, here is the deal. We're coming into peak hurricane season over the next two weeks, the beginning of September, a lot of action starting to fire up in the main development region. One area in particular given a 70 percent chance of development, and it is trying to get closer to the Caribbean.

As that moves over the next few days, there is possible development into a depression, which means some of these locations, Fredricka, could be dealing with more rain.

WHITFIELD: All right, Britley Ritz, thanks so much.

So in Florida, the countdown is on as the Artemis 1 mission prepares for a launch tomorrow to the moon. The uncrewed spacecraft will be the first in 50 years to make a lunar journey that is designed to carry humans paving the way for human exploration of Mars.

The rocket is expected to launch tomorrow morning from the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and so far -- so far, the weather looks promising.

CNN space and defense correspondent, Kristin Fisher is live for us at the Kennedy Space Center. So, how are all the preparations going right now?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, before I get to the good news and there is quite a bit of good news, I just feel compelled to share this caveat that it is a test flight. This is the very first time that this rocket has ever flown and there are so many things that can go wrong because this is an enormously complicated vehicle.

It is the most powerful rocket ever built and I know it may not look like much standing on the launch pad right behind me, right over there, but that is miles away.

This vehicle is about the height of a 42-storey skyscraper. It is taller than the Statue of Liberty. It is absolutely massive, and there is so much that can go wrong, so many little technical things.

But with that said, NASA officials are very confident about this first launch attempt tomorrow morning at 8:33 AM Eastern Time. They say that the vehicle is performing beautifully so far on the launch pad and, Fredricka, perhaps even more impressive for Florida in August is the fact that we have an 80 percent favorable weather conditions at the very beginning of that launch window.

Here is one of the lead test directors for the Artemis Program speaking about how he is feeling about this this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF SPAULDING, SENIOR NASA TEST DIRECTOR FOR ARTEMIS: My thoughts are that we look great for tomorrow. Love the fact that the weather looks really like it is going to cooperate in the beginning of the window and our job is to get to the beginning of the window and that's what I'm going to try to get the team to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: You know, Fredricka, I was here for the very last space shuttle launch back in July of 2011. It felt so sad.

People here at NASA, the contractors, people who live in just enjoy launches on the Space Coast, we are so sad about it because NASA didn't have a concrete plan or a next vehicle to replace the shuttle.

It has taken more than a decade to get here. It's cost billions of dollars more than expected, but there is such a sense of excitement here that NASA now finally has a new rocket designed to carry humans, not just up to space, but all the way to the moon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it is exciting. All right, Kristin Fisher. Thank you so much.

Fingers crossed. Keep that weather good or superb in time for launch. Thank you.

Joining me right now is retired NASA astronaut and former Commander of the International Space Station, Leroy Chiao. All right, Leroy. So, good to see you.

I mean, this rocket, as Kristin was describing. I mean, it is huge, and it is designed to go further than any previous rocket designed for human flight.

So, walk us through what makes this such a remarkable time.

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT AND FORMER COMMANDER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: It's been a very long time, as was pointed out. Since the last space shuttle launch in 2011 and even longer, since we flew a mission to the moon that was intended to carry humans, last time was 1972. Of course, with Apollo 17, so almost 50 years later, here we are, finally, about to launch the first large rocket from US shores, 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, although it carries a little less payload to orbit than the Saturn V, but nonetheless a huge rocket.

Always exciting when there is a launch of a new vehicle. I believe there are record numbers of people down in Florida now about to witness this hopefully good morning.

WHITFIELD: Oh, I know, this has been an incredible road trip for a lot of folks. I mean, this is quite the occasion to like get in the car and just get there and find a parking space or whatever you can do to be there to witness it.

So this mission, it is a prelude to what NASA is hoping are even bigger things like helping to establish a sustainable lunar presence and possibly take vehicles to the moon for long-term checkouts.

Why is that idea or those ideas so exciting to you? Why should people get on board with this?

[15:10:12]

CHIAO: The idea, of course, is to ultimately sustainably explore Mars, and so the first step would be to develop our infrastructure farther out, and the moon is the logical place to go.

There are several reasons to explore the moon beyond the scientific ones, just the operational ones are preparing for Mars, you buy down risk by testing everything, developing everything on the moon, which is a lot closer to the Earth about three days away, as opposed to six months at closest approach.

And it is also a great place to train astronauts. You don't necessarily want your first astronauts setting foot on Mars to have never operated in that kind of an environment before.

So, there are a number of scientific and operational reasons to go to the moon first, and build up that infrastructure before we head on to Mars.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned, you know, Apollo 17, but NASA's Apollo 11 Mission, Neil Armstrong. I mean, going to the moon that was 50 years ago. So, how do you see this mission of Artemis reinvigorating space exploration as a whole?

CHIAO: I think going back to the moon will rekindle interest in space exploration, particularly among young people. During the Shuttle Program, which was very successful and even during the ISS Program, which is ongoing, you know, we are a little bit victims of our own success. We made it look easy. It became routine to the public, even though it's not really routine, as we've seen over the years.

But hopefully, this new program, this new push to go back to the moon first, and then onto Mars, will catch the imagination of the younger generation.

WHITFIELD: And it's not just going, but it is potentially staying, right? I mean, at least for a period of time.

CHIAO: Yes, that's right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson said, and I'm quoting him now, "Now we're going back to the moon to stay, to live, to learn, to build." So, if this phase is successful, NASA is boasting of how the plan is to lead to sustained existence on other planets like Mars. Help people envision what would that entail, exactly?

CHIAO: So, a sustainable exploration and colonies are two different things. A sustainable exploration doesn't mean that you always have humans there, like we have onboard the International Space Station. So, what is envisaged for the moon is that we have a base there, but it is more of a human-tended base. That is we send crews there periodically, but when they leave, they kind of lock it up.

I mean, a poor analogy, but maybe it's like the lake house, when you kind of lock that up and go away until the next time. And same with Mars, the idea is to go and sustainably explore Mars, which means we sent several missions to go and achieve hopefully different scientific objectives. It doesn't mean that we're putting a colony there.

Now SpaceX, of course, Elon Musk does want to put a colony on Mars, and frankly, he is doing some very exciting things with the Starship and Falcon Super Heavy. So, I think we're in for some very exciting years ahead of us.

WHITFIELD: Right. Well, there is the private money that you mentioned, and there is the public money. And there, of course, has been, you know, some criticism over the fact that this, you know, has been -- has come with a really big lofty price.

I mean, the first three flights of the SLS Rocket will cost $4.1 billion each. So, what do you say to folks about whether this is money well-spent, or whether it really is going to take a collaboration with private companies in order to keep this going?

CHIAO: Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, this program has been going in one version or another since around 2004 -2005. So, you know, that's a long time, about 18 to 17 years. For reference, the first from the creation of NASA in 1958 to landing humans on the moon in 1969, barely, just a little bit under 11 years. Put that into context.

Also the money, yes, absolutely. NASA and the contractors, as is the nature of large organizations, they've become more bureaucratic, less efficient, and so the $20 billion or so that we've spent on development on just the Space Launch System Rocket, as well as the Orion spacecraft, you know, an additional amount and the amount of time it's taken , you know, it's not a good situation. It's not ideal.

Now, SpaceX is much more nimble, they have a much more flat management structure.

So, the ideal situation would be that NASA and SpaceX collaborate to go to Mars.

Now, they are already collaborating in a sense, because SpaceX is one of the contractors developing a lunar lander for NASA based on their starship technology. And so hopefully, that will continue and expand and we can actually leverage NASA's years of experience with SpaceX's innovation and nimbleness and get to Mars sooner rather than later together.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, so many ways to look at it.

Thank you so much, Leroy Chiao, nonetheless everyone seems to be very excited about what is possibly going to happen come 8:33 scheduled liftoff for tomorrow morning. Thank you so much.

[15:15:09]

CHIAO: Absolutely. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, NFL rookie punter, Matt Araiza released from the Buffalo Bills, it comes days after he and two other players were accused in a lawsuit of raping a 17-year-old girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

The Buffalo Bills releasing rookie punter, Matt Araiza after he was accused in a civil lawsuit in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl. The alleged attack happened last October while Araiza was a junior at San Diego State University.

CNN's Chris Nguyen joining us now live. So Chris, what more did the Bills say about this?

CHRIS NGUYEN, CNN NEWSOURCE NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, good afternoon.

The Buffalo Bills making the decision to release Matt Araiza just days after he and two of his former college teammates were accused in that lawsuit.

The team general manager is saying this was their best action to take and that their culture in Buffalo was more important than winning football games. Take a listen.

[15:20:11]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON BEANE, GENERAL MANAGER, BUFFALO BILLS: We don't know, you know, all the facts and that is what makes it hard. But at this time, we just think it's the best move for everyone to move on from Matt, and let him take care of this situation and focus, you know on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: The NFL rookie and his co-defendants, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin Ewaliko were on the San Diego State football team at the time of the alleged incident last October. According to a lawsuit filed last week by the plaintiff's attorney,

the three men are accused of gang raping a then 17-year-old girl during a Halloween party off campus.

The complaint alleges that the girl was separated from her friends at the party, and then met Araiza who could observe that she was heavily intoxicated and handed her a drink anyway. The filing states that Araiza eventually led her to a bedroom, where there were at least three other men already in there, including Leonard and Ewaliko.

The lawsuit alleges that she was raped for about an hour and a half until the party was shut down and then stumbled out of the room bloody and crying.

According to the lawsuit, the girl reported the alleged incident the next day to the San Diego Police Department and underwent a rape exam at a hospital.

Araiza's attorney is disputing the claim, saying his client did not rape the accuser, never used any force against her, and maintains that she was not visibly intoxicated. Araiza releasing a statement through his attorney saying: "The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight."

As for the two other men, Fred, Leonard's attorney declined to comment, but Ewaliko's attorney told CNN that he sees some issues with the accuser's credibility and the circumstances under which she reported the incident.

The San Diego County District Attorney's Office says police have submitted their investigation and they're reviewing it, but did not say when a charging decision might be made. The university is also investigating -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Chris Nguyen, thank you so much.

All right, still ahead, a Federal Judge says she has preliminary intent to appoint a Special Master to oversee the FBI's review of evidence seized at Mar-a-Lago. What's next on the investigation into former President Donald Trump, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:04]

WHITFIELD: All right, we are following major developments in the investigation into former President Donald Trump following the seizure of classified documents by Federal officials from the President's home.

A Federal Judge overseeing the case says she has preliminary intent to appoint a Special Master as Trump requested. The third-party attorney would then filter out privileged material seized in the search.

For more on this, let's bring in CNN politics reporter, Jeremy Herb. So Jeremy, what can you tell us about this Special Master?

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, that's right.

The Judge has not made a final decision yet, but she indicated yesterday, she appeared inclined to support Donald Trump's motion to try to get a Special Master and that is effectively legal jargon for having someone outside the Justice Department who will go through the material that was taken at Mar-a-Lago and decide whether it is privileged attorney-client privilege, and if that can be used or not used in the investigation.

The Judge gave the Justice Department until Tuesday to provide a sealed list of what was in those documents, and then the Judge will hold a hearing on Thursday to sort this out.

Now, it is worth noting that the Justice Department is already using what it has called a Filter Team internally to go through these documents, still at the same time, if this motion is granted, it would be a bit of a win for Donald Trump in this case, although that is still -- it is a separate kind of process matter from the heart of the FBI's investigation into these documents -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And the Director of National Intelligence is now telling Congress that she is conducting a damage assessment of the classified documents seized, so what can you tell us about that assessment?

HERB: Yes, this is a separate development that we learned about yesterday. And effectively, the Director of National Intelligence is working with the Justice Department for a classification review of what was in these documents.

In addition, the Director is going to be conducting an assessment of what "the potential risk to national security" that would result from the disclosure of these documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago in January by the National Archives.

Now, what is notable here, this letter was sent on Friday to Congress, as the public learned more about what exactly was in these documents and that included 184 classified documents. Twenty-five were marked as top-secret with material that had markings including human sources, foreign intelligence, and now they're highly classified material.

So, the bottom line here is this review that the Director of National Intelligence is now taking, they're going to try to find out whether any sources and methods were jeopardized or any other potential damage to national security as a result of these documents being housed at Mar-a-Lago -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Herb, thanks so much.

And in the last hour, I spoke with former deputy FBI Director and now CNN senior law enforcement analyst, Andrew McCabe about these developments and he says Trump has backed himself into a corner with his differing explanations for why he had the classified material in his home. [15:30:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It's inconceivable to me that he is going to be able to come up with a rational explanation or narrative to explain this that makes any kind of sense whatsoever, especially when you talk about things like human intelligence and signals intelligence, which is information that's derived from our covert ability to listen in on foreign conversations, things like that.

This is just the most sensitive stuff that we have and there is really no rational explanation as to why any private citizen, even one who is a former President would need that in their house.

And also, he has backed himself into a corner here by saying that he declassified all of this material, which is a claim that we've seen no evidence of so far, but nevertheless, he can't say that he declassified all these things intentionally and then turn around later and say, "Well, I didn't know I had them."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A hearing again on Trump's request for a Special Master is set for this coming Thursday.

All right, still to come, President Biden facing criticism over his student loan forgiveness program from members of his own party, while others are concerned about potential legal challenges to plan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:17]

WHITFIELD: President Biden's plan to forgive $10,000.00 in student loan debt is getting some major pushback not only from the GOP, but from some in his own party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): People are getting crushed with inflation, crushed with gas prices, food prices, and all the rest and I think a targeted approach right now really does send the wrong message.

There is a lot of people out there making thirty to forty grand a year that didn't go to college and they need help as well, which is why I've been proposing a tax cut for working people that will affect everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And while many are applauding Biden, groups like the Democratic think tank, Third Way are pushing back because of potential legal challenges to the plan saying: "We are still extremely concerned that these actions will be struck down in Court." CNN White House correspondent, Arlette Saenz joining us right now. So,

Arlette, how is the White House responding to that kind of criticism? And are they working on a plan to defend the plan potentially in Court?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the White House has said they are not going to engage in hypotheticals relating to possible core challenges to the President's Student Loan Forgiveness Program, but they have sought to try to explain where they think their legal basis for this program comes from.

Now, the Department of Education has pointed to something called the Heroes Act. That is a 2003 law that was initially passed to help waive some Federal loan requirements.

In a case of emergency, specifically, that came after the attacks of 9/11, and as service members were serving in the wars in those years following.

Now, the Trump administration had also used this Heroes Act as the legal basis for why they extended that pause on Federal student loan programs, something that President Biden has continued and ultimately, the Department of Education at this time believes that that is where they have the legal grounds to enact this Loan Forgiveness Program.

Now, the White House has insisted that among the top priorities for President Biden was ensuring that this plan would be legally sound.

Here is one of his top economic advisers, the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, Bharat Ramamurti talking about that earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BHARAT RAMAMURTI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: The President was clear from the beginning that he did not want to move forward on this unless it was clear that it was legally available to him.

And, you know, one of the first things that he did when he came to office was ask for that legal opinion and got the answer that, yes, options were available to him that were legally permissible under that law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, on the other side, there are also questions about who exactly would have the standing to raise such a challenge or a lawsuit to this executive act or this program enacted by the Biden administration.

But there have been successful challenges to President Biden's executive actions in the past, including on that Federal vaccine mandate for large employers, as well as immigration laws relating to deportation, but the White House at this moment is continues to insist that they believe they have the legal basis to enact this program. And they also continue to push back on those who are launching those

economic criticisms of the proposal. President Biden himself insisting that it will not cause more inflation and also arguing that it would be an economic driver as more people would have access to funds to be able to spend on big ticket items like homes or other purchases.

So, the White House at this time continuing to defend their program even as they are facing criticism from both sides of the aisle, including for people in their own party.

WHITFIELD: All right, Arlette Saenz at the White House. Thanks so much.

All right, still ahead the price of the American Dream will take a closer look at the human toll from migrants crossing into parts of Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:32]

WHITFIELD: All right, this year has become one of the deadliest in recent history for migrants trying to come to the US. Officials say at least 218 people have died trying to illegally cross the Southern border.

CNN's Rosa Flores is following the story for us and we must warn you, some of the images are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This 22-year-old Mexican construction worker crossed into Texas with his brother last week authorities say.

DR. CORINNE STERN, WEBB COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: They'd been walking for three days without any food.

FLORES (voice over): The patches on his body --

FLORES (on camera): Now, did he get medical attention?

STERN: He did.

FLORES (voice over): Signs paramedics tried to save his life.

Migrants have tried entering the US Southern border, a record breaking nearly two million times since October, and this man's tragic story is far from unique.

Webb County Medical examiner, Dr. Corinne Stern says this year is on pace to be the deadliest year for migrants crossing into this region of Texas in recent memory.

STERN: I'm seeing an extreme increase in the number of border crossing deaths compared to other years. FLORES (voice over): So much so, Stern recently did something she says

she has never done in her 20-year career. She told officials in the 11 border counties she serves that her office is at capacity.

STERN: And so, we're asking them to store them at their funeral homes until we have a space available.

FLORES (voice over): And in Maverick County, one of the deadliest counties, says Stern, a funeral home there tell CNN they are capacity, too, and with the Medical Examiner not taking the deceased, they are now burying unidentified migrants.

[15:45:10]

FLORES (on camera): In the back of the county cemetery, there are 16 fresh graves. There were no funerals, no family, no flowers -- all the graves are marked with partial crosses made out of PVC piping, all of these are migrant Jane and John Doe's, except for one. There is a Baby John Doe.

FLORES (voice over): Stern says she has 260 deceased migrants in her custody. The majority died this year from drowning or hyperthermia and are pending identification.

Despite the dangers, Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber says the arrival of migrants is not stopping and neither are the deaths.

He shows us post mortem photos, some too graphic not to completely blur including of a child of just some of the migrant deaths in the past seven months.

SHERIFF TOM SCHMERBER, MAVERICK COUNTY: This is across the area.

FLORES (on camera): And it is every day that you're finding bodies.

SCHMERBER: Every day.

FLORES (voice over): And then shows us --

FLORES (on camera): A three-year-old in this area.

SCHMERBER: This area.

FLORES (voice over): Where a three-year-old drowned, Monday.

SCHMERBER: I was informed that he was taking out, given CPR, but he died.

FLORES (voice over): Tuesday, our cameras were there as another body was recovered from the Rio Grande. This time a man. Yards away, dozens of migrants who had just crossed the river waited for Border Patrol, including two Cuban women in their 20s who did not want to be identified for fear it could impact their immigration cases.

FLORES (on camera): How deep was the water for your daughter?

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

FLORES (voice over): She shows us it was about waist deep and then got emotional, when asked about children dying on the very river she had just crossed.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

FLORES (voice over): She says, it was a tough decision for her daughter's future.

Most likely, the same hopes and dreams this man had. His, cut short, but Stern says he was fortunate not to die alone.

STERN: His brother stayed behind and was with him at that time Border Patrol found them.

FLORES (voice over): Which means, unlike the hundreds of other unidentified migrants in her custody, he will reunite with his family soon, says Stern and has this message for anyone thinking about crossing the border.

STERN: Politics aside, all of these deaths are ruled an accident. An accident by definition is preventable. One hundred percent, stay home.

FLORES (voice over): Rosa Flores, CNN, along the US-Mexico border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:24]

WHITFIELD: State Agricultural Departments across the nation have a new bug on their most wanted list. This is the lanternfly. And if you see one, you are urged to kill it by any means possible. Squash it, smash it, just get rid of it because of the damage that it could do to plants in the US.

So far, six states -- Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are all reporting lanternfly infestations.

So, with its needle like mouth, the brightly colored bug can suck the life right out of trees and plants including grapes, apples, and hops.

Pennsylvania alone estimates the lanternfly could cost it $324 million annually if the pest is not controlled. So, let's bring in biologist and entomologist, Phil Torres. He is also the host of "Expedition X" on Discovery Channel, also owned rather by CNN's parent company.

So Phil, good to see you.

PHIL TORRES, BIOLOGIST AND ENTOMOLOGIST: Good to see you, Fredricka. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Okay, so tell us about this lanternfly because I mean, on the surface, it's kind of pretty. You look at it, and you think, "Oh, this is really amazing." Who would want to kill it? But it is a killer.

TORRES: It is very deceiving.

WHITFIELD: Yes, so tell us about it. Where did it come from?

TORRES: It is, you know. So, it's probably the number one thing that I get sent all summer long, people saying "What is this bug?" Because it is so spectacular looking. It's not from here. It's originally from China.

But the thing is, there's -- to put it in context. There's a lot of nonnative insects that end up in the United States. Many of them get established, but they're not considered invasive until they're proven to cause such bad ecological damage to our native ecosystem, but also agricultural damage to our crops and that is what they are doing, and they are doing it very effectively. They are able to spread so, yes, if you see them, you've got squash them.

WHITFIELD: Oh, okay. So, unlike the -- I guess, the you know, nuisance flies that we're used to that are you know, pretty fast and hard to kill, this one looks like it's kind of crawling on the trunk of the tree. So, it's fairly easy to squash and kill. I hate that, I'm asking -- actually asking you like how do we kill the fly?

TORRES: I know, you know, one technique I've used personally with these thing is just take off your shoe and give it a whack. But when there's a lot of them, the good thing is they tend to all congregate around a single tree in an area, they call it a hot tree.

So a lot of these images you're looking at, these are considered hot trees so you can put a systemic insecticide on that one area and that will not only get the lanternflies that are there now, but all the ones that will come back because they liked that tree for some reason.

So I would say use insecticides, but before killing them, take a photo. Your state wants your data on where these things are being found, because the one that you're seeing, it's possible that that's a record that hasn't been documented in that county or in that state before, and they need that information. And that will help them defeat them and help protect our crops and our native trees.

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WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, because if there is one, there are many lurking. Now, what about eggs?

TORRES: So the eggs, that's what you'll see in the wintertime. So in a couple of months now, they will lay eggs on the trunks of trees, it kind of looks like someone's spread some like mud on it or concrete there, that's something also to scrape off.

Yes, you could see it in the image there, it's kind of odd looking, but if you scrape it right off, you could stick in a little bag, then just make sure, get rid of it. What you don't want to do is spread this thing to other areas, but by

exposing it, by crushing it up a little bit, putting it in a sealed pack, and then throwing it away, you will make sure that those eggs won't hatch in the spring and cause more of an infestation.

WHITFIELD: Okay, so you're giving us tips and you know, how-to's on how we can help everybody out, but then the State Agricultural Departments, they have to have their own kind of plan. What are they doing? I mean, what are the States able to do, because surely the ordinary passerby is not going to be able to make a gigantic dent on this infestation of these nuisance bugs, these bad bugs.

TORRES: It's true. There is not enough people to go around squashing all these things individually, so they've had to take on a more systemic approach finding hot areas and going to certain neighborhoods where there's a lot of them and targeting the trees with insecticides in a very effective way.

So, it's not like they are spraying the entire town with fog. They're hitting the sides of these trees and so they are not going to hit other species that are native to the area, which is helpful. And then also with the crops that are being affected, we've got apples, grapes, hops are the main ones that they're seeing being targeted. They are going to spread more insecticide in that area and really monitor them.

And again, those images that you can upload make a big difference in this fight, because they need to know where that border is. You know, there's a big difference between a few sightings one summer and an entire infestation the next summer. So they want to be on the leading edge of it.

WHITFIELD: Okay, so how long has this been a problem? How long have they been you know, I guess spreading? Obviously, it must have been in one small location before it moved on to now, you know, six states.

TORRES: They were first seen here in 2014 and they've just slowly been spreading. They were seen in Pennsylvania first, and now, I believe they've been seen in 12 states, already considered infestations in about six, but it's there -- they are spreading fast.

So you know, they've been able to monitor it over time and you've seen what they've done in eight years. So what's another two years, another eight years is going to do to their population. We've got to be on it.

So that's where just getting the word out letting people know this is what this brightly colored odd bug is. I've heard of people getting in trouble by their neighbors when they kill these things because their neighbor thinks they're killing a butterfly or something.

But no, this is invasive. It's not good for the native species, and we've got to protect our native species and the crops out there.

WHITFIELD: Wow. We got the message now. Phil Torres, thank you so much.

TORRES: Yes. Happy to help. WHITFIELD: All right and I'm glad you could be with us. But folks, if

you want to catch them all the time. You can catch episodes of Phil's "Expedition X," streaming right now on Discovery+.

All right, and now a remarkable story of survival out of California. A man who was taking a stroll on top of a cliff near San Francisco tumbled 100 feet down the steep incline Friday, when the cliff unexpectedly crumbled right underneath him.

CalFire officials say a woman heard his pleas for help and then alerted authorities. Rescue crews helped get the man up the cliff and are reminding anyone taking walks along the cliff side, just avoid the edges because they are not always stable.

Lucky for him. Glad he's okay.

And for those of you who grew up in Florida, or you've spent a little time there, maybe this isn't a completely crazy sight for you, but people trying to cool off at a park in Philadelphia this week. Well, they didn't expect to splash around with a cold-blooded creature like this one.

That, yes, that's an alligator. What's really different here is it's on a leash and it has got a name Wally, and he is considered an emotional support animal of a Philadelphia man who rescued the gator back in 2016.

Of course, people of all ages stopped to actually take pictures with what's been described as an affable alligator. Some even picked up Wally to pet him.

Oh my gosh, and if you're wondering, Wally has quite the social media following, documenting his adventures including visiting kids and people will special needs.

I say no thanks. Not trying to see that alligator.

All right, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you so much.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right now. See you later, alligator.

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