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Hearing on Trump's Special Master Request Set for Thursday; Growing Concern as Shelling Continues near Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant; Ukraine Fears Western Support Could Waver as Winter Approaches; Clashes between Rival Libyan Militias Kill 23 and Injure 140; Thousands Rally to Support Embattled Former Argentinian President; Massive Flooding Expected in Parts of Mississippi; Thousands of Migrants Bused from Texas to Northeast U.S.; Artemis I Launch Pad Struck by Lightning. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 28, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause. This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, damage assessment. CNN learns U.S. intelligence officials now reviewing that were at Donald Trump's Florida home, to assess potential damage to national security.

Nuclear fears ongoing: shelling around a Ukrainian nuclear power plant adding urgency to calls to allow international nuclear inspectors' access to the facility.

Also:

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are capable of getting out now, get out now.

VAUSE (voice-over): The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, with an ominous warning. Flooding in parts of the state capital.

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VAUSE: A Trump appointed federal judge has indicated she's likely to grant a request from the former president's legal team to appoint an independent legal expert or special master to review evidence taken to an FBI search of Donald Trump's sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate.

A hearing for a final decision scheduled for Thursday. The application for a special master is seen by many experts as having no legal benefit and it's possibly a delaying tactic. Meantime, the Director of National Intelligence will advise senior

lawmakers on the potential risk to national security posed by top secret documents being kept in Trump's Florida residence.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand has more.

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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned that the director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, confirmed to lawmakers on Friday that the Intelligence Committee is working together with the Justice Department to review all relevant documents retrieved from former president Trump's Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.

In a letter to the House Oversight and House and Senate Intelligence Committees, Haines said her office and DOJ are conducting a classification review of relevant materials, including those recovered during the search of Mar-a-Lago earlier this month.

She also noted that the Intel Community will conduct, quote, "an assessment of the potential risk to national security that would result from the disclosure of the relevant documents."

The letter came after several lawmakers called for the Intelligence Community to carry out this kind of damage assessment. And notably, it was sent the same day the FBI affidavit was released.

That revealed that Trump kept documents at his home that appear to include information about human sources, and other extremely sensitive intel sources and methods.

Now, according to that affidavit, the FBI's preliminary review of 15 boxes that Trump returned earlier this year revealed that 184 of these documents contained classified markings. Including 67 that were marked as "confidential," 92 marked as "secret" and 25 marked as "top secret."

Some of the documents retrieved even had "HCS" markings, which, according to the office of the director of National Intelligence, are designed to protect, quote, "exceptionally fragile and unique human intelligence operations and methods."

Now, Trump and his allies have given numerous and sometimes conflicting explanations for why he kept the documents, including that the former president has issued some kind of blanket declassification order before he left office.

Now the FBI did acknowledge that argument in the affidavit but the rest of that section is redacted. So it is not yet clear why they cited it -- Natasha Bertrand, CNN, Washington.

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VAUSE: Ongoing shelling around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant continue to raise fears of a nuclear disaster. The facility remains under Russian control while Ukraine technicians keep the nuclear plant in operation.

Thursday it was knocked off a power grid for a day. Artillery fire is being blamed for damage to a crucial power line. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says he hopes to lead a team of experts to the site within days.

Meantime, Anthony Ruggerio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, spoke to CNN about what's needed to keep the plant safe.

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ANTHONY RUGGERIO, SENIOR FELLOW, THE FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: What we really need is we need some kind of demilitarized zone around that nuclear power plant so that we don't go toward an ecological or humanitarian disaster.

Nuclear power plants are not military bases. That's what the Russians are trying to use it as. It's not a military base, it shouldn't be a military base.

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VAUSE: The latest now, live from London, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

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VAUSE: What more is known about the specific timing of an IAEA visit and how crucial is it that this inspection happen as soon as possible?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an absolutely critical inspection, one that Ukraine has been pleading for, for weeks now. They want to see those inspectors on the ground.

And that is expected this week so that they could take a look at what's happening inside, get an understanding of the situation on the ground, get an understanding of the safety aspect, of course, of this all-important nuclear power plant.

Now the Russians for their part say they will welcome these inspectors but they're not going to pull out of that plant, they're not going to pull out of that area and create a demilitarized zone, which is what was requested by Ukraine.

All of this has ramped up in recent days, John. In the last 24 hours alone, Ukraine has accused Russia of repeatedly shelling the area around that location, the complex of this nuclear power plant.

Russia, for its part, has turned those accusations on Ukraine itself and says Ukraine is actually to blame; it is the Ukrainian military that is shelling this area.

Let's remember where it is in the battlefield here, John. This nuclear power plant was seized by Russian forces in March, in recent weeks. Ukraine says Russian troops have been using it essentially as a

military base, firing upon Ukrainian positions, using it as an artillery hub, knowing full well that Ukrainian forces can't fire back without risking the possibility of nuclear disaster.

That specter was really raised in recent days when that power plant was cut off from the main electricity grid and the emergency system was triggered for the first time in its history, to keep those nuclear reactors cool.

President Zelenskyy has spoken on this several times, saying that that possibility of nuclear disaster is a very real possibility as long as this plant remains under Russian control.

So all eyes on the possibility of the next few days, during the course of this week, of those inspectors arriving on the ground, providing a clear assessment of what needs to happen. But then you still have these pleas, these calls; look, a nuclear power plant can't be part of the front line, right, John?

VAUSE: The first time an active nuclear power plant has been part of an active hot zone war and this is not a good situation for anybody. Thank you, Salma Abdelaziz, live in London.

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VAUSE: To Kyiv, with us, the former Ukrainian defense minister, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, who is also chairman of the Center for Defense Strategies and is a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Sir, thank you for being with us. I'd like to begin with the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

How precarious is the situation right now?

It's back on the grid.

But for how long?

ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK, CHAIRMAN, CENTER FOR DEFENSE STRATEGIES: No one knows because Russians are desperately trying to use that occupation of the power plant as a weapon.

And of course, this is something new to humanity because this is something we've never seen before. And I believe they're deciding what they're going to do as we speak. And so, yes, the situation is still quite unstable.

VAUSE: You've argued for the need for a counteroffensive to take place, sooner rather than later. But it would seem that Ukraine lacks the number of combat-ready troops. There's no evidence of a troop buildup on the front lines, no signs of additional military vehicles or armor heading toward the front.

Ukraine certainly lacks the manpower and the hardware, at least for a counteroffensive in the traditional sense, right? ZAGORODNYUK: Yes, we do have manpower; the key problem is weapons. We still don't have enough weapons, which we've been asking to provide us. That includes artillery and multiple rocket launchers, most of all. That's something which is still -- we don't have in sufficient numbers.

But from the other side, we need to understand that a counteroffensive may not take place in the traditional sense. What we do right now, we decrease the capacity and capabilities of the enemy, of Russia.

And as soon as we see that this is a degree sufficiently enough, then we can do the next step. But currently we are destroying their weapons, destroying their positions on a daily basis, including in the Kherson area.

VAUSE: Do you have enough combat-ready troops for an offensive like that?

ZAGORODNYUK: Yes. Yes, we do have manpower; we will have troops ready, absolutely, yes. So it's all about the weapons. But also, it's about the tactic.

The tactic may not be as a large, decisive battle. The tactic may be a series of attacks, a large series of attacks, a multitude of attacks, which would be decreasing their battlefield potential and their capabilities in the area.

VAUSE: Putin's strategy seems to be to try to turn this conflict into some kind of frozen conflict, if you like; both sides bogged down, going nowhere and that is where it stays.

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VAUSE: What's the timeframe for Ukraine to begin that operation, to continue to have a real shot at actually pushing back the Russians, retaking territory?

How long do you have?

ZAGORODNYUK: We have time; within a month, I would say. But at the same time, of course, we want to use that window of opportunity which we have. But at the same time, we have to play safe. To be honest, it's more important that we do it right than we do it sooner.

VAUSE: If this operation is launched and it is not successful, how much damage could be done?

ZAGORODNYUK: Well, that's the problem, right?

So Ukrainian people are looking very attentively at the -- at this safe way of approaching these things, as safe as possible. So obviously our commanders understand that they need to make sure that, as soon as we start to move troops in, Russians don't have a sufficient way of -- like firepower support to stop it.

So we need to address their capabilities in the area first. That's what takes place right now.

VAUSE: And there's a lot of talk from the United States, from the European Union, NATO, about standing with Ukraine, in it for the long haul.

Do you have concerns, though, that, come record-high energy prices, maybe even power cuts across Europe, that that unity with Europe may eventually begin to crack?

How much of a factor is that for Ukrainian military planners in terms of timing?

ZAGORODNYUK: What we would like to see is that Europe understands basically -- or European politicians understand, the best way to return to the normal life -- and we want to return to the normal life more than anyone else -- the best way is actually to win the war.

So it's not like to find some other solution, because Russians are resolved, so far, to keep fighting, to keep trying to occupy more of Ukraine. And of course, we understand that Europe may be tired.

But let's just get us all weapons we ask and then we can deliver better results and actually finish it, finish it by pushing Russians out or at least changing dynamics substantially so that they start to retreat.

We have seen them retreating from other regions of Ukraine, so it's possible, doable. We did that before. We've liberated a very substantial amount of territory. So we can do it again. But we do need weapons for that.

VAUSE: Very quickly, define winning the war.

What does it look like?

ZAGORODNYUK: Well, first of all, it's clearing the area which they occupied since 24th of February this year. So that's a first. Of course, we'll be looking further. But at minimum, we need to do that. If that happens, we clearly will see the massive change of the dynamic and, to a great number of areas, it would be returned to the normal life.

VAUSE: Andriy Zagorodnyuk, thank you so much for being with us, we appreciate it.

ZAGORODNYUK: Thank you.

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VAUSE: Two U.S. Navy cruisers are passing through the Taiwan Strait, what officials call a routine transit. The ship's on a course which the U.S. says is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state in accordance with international law.

In the past, Beijing has loudly protested when U.S. warships transited through the Taiwan Strait. This time Beijing said it's monitoring it, ready to thwart any provocation.

The U.S. military says the movements demonstrate the American commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Tensions have been high in the region after a visit to Taiwan by the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month. China responded to that visit by holding military live-fire exercises around the island.

Coming up, Libya's worst violence in years. Deadly clashes raising fears the country may be spiraling toward greater turmoil.

And calls growing louder for the Nicaraguan government to release priests and other critics being detained for alleged subversive action.

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VAUSE (voice-over): Gunfire and explosions echoed around Tripoli in Libya Saturday, the worst fighting in years between rival militias. Libya's health ministry says the clashes killed at least 23, injured 140. The U.N. mission in Libya says neighborhoods were hit by shelling, destroying dozens of buildings and homes.

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VAUSE: For more, CNN's Nada Bashir joins me, live from London.

Has the violence been sort of on a slow boil for some time?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly isn't the first time we've seen this sort of violence in the capital, in Tripoli. But it really has intensified over the last few days.

And it has come off the back of a month-long political stalemate between rival factions in the east and the west. In Tripoli, you have the U.N.-backed, internationally recognized government of national unity, led by the prime minister.

In the east, you have a rival administration, which has essentially appointed its own prime minister. Tensions between these two rival fiscal administrations have been bubbling over the last few months.

Back in May, we saw one side attempting to seize control of Tripoli, a failed attempt. Over the last few weeks, we've seen his forces mobilizing in the capital.

But on Saturday, we saw those tensions really coming to a head. Clashes between the two rival factions, using small arms fire, machine guns, even mortars being deployed in some central parts of the capital.

And there are real concerns now this could push Libya back into a state of sustained violence between these two rival factions. But while there are concerns around the political fallout over this latest round of violence, there are more immediate, devastating implications and consequences from these clashes, as you laid out there.

At least 23 people killed, more than 140 injured. We heard from the Libyan Red Crescent saying that they have been engaged in evacuating civilians living in areas directly impacted by this violence. Even hospitals are being forced to evacuate patients from their wards and return them to their families for fear of nearby clashes.

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BASHIR: We've heard from the United Nations, calling for a return to peace, a return to open political dialogue between these two factions. But we also yesterday heard from the GNU leader. He shared a video late last night of him visiting his allied forces and troops in Tripoli.

And he commended them, praising them for, in his words, defending the capital and the country. And he commemorated those who had lost their lives and says the GNU remains committed to democratic elections.

But he also issued a stark warning to members of the opposition. He said the time for political coups is long gone. He also said that anybody looking to seize power of Tripoli, to take control of the country by any means other than a democratic election, would meet his fighters in the field.

VAUSE: Nada Bashir, live in London, thank you for that.

Among 20 new cardinals appointed by the pope, Vatican watchers say, after this weekend, the pope will have chosen 83 out of the 130 cardinals qualified to elect a new pope, people who would choose his successor.

One new American cardinal, San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy, and the 85 year-old pontiff had suggested he actually may retire if failing health interferes with his work. He currently suffers from knee pain and sciatica and has recently been seen using a wheelchair.

International concern is growing over Nicaragua's crackdown on dozens of civilian organizations as well as journalists and political rivals of the president and now you can include the Catholic Church. Stefano Pozzebon has the story.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A cry of pain is rising from the pulpits across the Americas, from Costa Rica to Miami.

MONSIGNOR SILVIO BAEZ, AUXILIARY ARCHBISHOP, DIOCESES OF MANAGUA (through translator): Let the prisoners go. My thoughts go to my brother, Bishop Alvarez, who is wrongfully detained and all the priests behind bars in Nicaragua.

POZZEBON (voice-over): The detention of Bishop Alvarez, a Nicaraguan clergy man and a critic of the government of Ortega, is the latest in a year-long crackdown against Ortega opponents. The media, now the church.

Catholic radio stations have been shut down. Nuns, including Mother Teresa's missionaries of charity, expelled. Before arresting the bishop, Nicaraguan police stood guard outside his residence for almost two weeks, preventing him from leaving.

The government accuses Alvarez of subversive actions and says that the detention was necessary. Calls to release the bishop and seven other clergy men arrested with him are mostly coming from abroad.

That's because, at home, dissent can lead to arrest. The tension between the church and the government began in 2018, when the clergy acted as mediator during an intense wave of anti-government protests.

In the years since, Ortega has moved against opponents with brutal efficiency. In 2021, he won a fifth presidential mandate almost unopposed, his main rivals either jailed or exiled.

The church, critics say, is the only institution standing up to the government after political parties and a free press have been quashed. Martha Sanchez knows this reality from experience. She used to work for a television station run by Bishop Alvarez.

MARTHA SANCHEZ, JOURNALIST (through translator): He asked me to be in charge of the news because the government censorship on traditional media was rampant. He saw our role as much more important than just spreading the gospel.

POZZEBON (voice-over): In 2019, Sanchez says she had to flee the country due to government repression. She now lives in Costa Rica.

When she found out the bishop was being arrested, she was sad but not surprised. Pope Francis has expressed concern for the church in Nicaragua and called for dialogue to resolve conflicts in the country.

But for those in exile like Gabriel Putoy, a Catholic teacher who said he served prison time for taking part in protests, the Vatican just seems too distant.

GABRIEL PUTOY, TEACHER (through translator): Holy Father, we pray you, step in.

POZZEBON: Bishop Alvarez is currently under house arrest in Nicaragua's capital.

Will he appear in front of a court or, like so many who dare to question Ortega's rule, will he be forced to leave the country?

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: In Argentina, at least 14 police officers were hurt as thousands of people crowded the streets of Buenos Aires to show support for former president and current vice president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Protesters tore down metal barriers, clashed with police, who used water cannon to disperse the crowd.

Local media reports four protesters were arrested.

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VAUSE: Fernandez de Kirchner spoke to reporters near her home once the march was over.

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CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER, ARGENTINIAN VICE PRESIDENT (through translator): Finally, I want to thank you and to ask you to have a rest, as it was a long day, a long day. I love you a lot.

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VAUSE: This protest comes days after prosecutors called for Fernandez de Kirchner to be sentenced to 12 years in prison and banned from public office for corruption while she was president.

Brazil's presidential campaign is in full swing and we know this because president Jair Bolsonaro was seen riding a horse around the arena during Latin America's biggest cowboy festival in Sao Paulo.

He thanked Brazil's agriculture agency for helping put the country on the global stage. Bolsonaro will face off with his main rival, Lula da Silva. They will debate Sunday night.

A 3,000-year-old Egyptian artifact has turned up in the port of Memphis; not the ancient Egyptian capital, no, the one in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Experts determined the stone sculpture is a jar used to hold a mummy's liver.

Custom officials seized the artifact after the person who shipped it made conflicting statements about what it was worth. Homeland Security is investigating the shipment and the mummy's liver.

Facing Canada's capital are looking to grab one of the most famous photos of the 20th century. The original image of a scowling British prime minister Winston Churchill had hung for decades in a hotel in Ottawa before someone apparently swapped it out for a copy.

Valued at more than 100,000, it was shot in 1941 by a famous photographer Yousuf Karsh. It took staff months before they discovered the fake.

A lot more news in a short moment. For those watching CNN International, "INSIDE AFRICA" is up next.

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VAUSE: Welcome back to viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

We're following dramatic new details over the top secret documents seized from Donald Trump's Florida mansion. A Trump-appointed federal judge has scheduled a hearing for Thursday to consider the former president's request for a special master to oversee the FBI's review of evidence seized at Mar-a-Lago.

The judge put the parties on notice that she had a preliminary intent to appoint Trump's demand for this special master and independent expert, a third party attorney, who would filter out privileged material seized during the search.

The U.S. national intelligence officials are conducting a damage assessment to determine if national security was put at risk. CNN has obtained a letter sent by the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, to lawmakers, alerting them the assessment was underway.

On Friday the Justice Department released the heavily redacted affidavit, which led to the search of Mar-a-Lago. Details on why the Feds wanted to take this unprecedented action.

The FBI said it had probable cause to believe classified national security materials were taken to unauthorized locations at the resort. The affidavit gave specifics about the 184 classified documents retrieved in January, notably before this month's FBI search; 67 were marked confidential, 92 marked secret and 25 marked top secret.

Donald Trump's former White House press secretary is warning about why mishandling the materials at Mar-a-Lago could be so dangerous. Stephanie Grisham spoke to CNN a short time ago.

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STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Everybody wants to know, how does this affect me?

Bottom line. And I've been really disappointed to see a lot of my Republican colleagues already downplaying it, saying, oh, they only found documents. I'm not sure what they were expecting.

But right now, if this very second there are people in our country and around this world, who are protecting us, they are undercover and they're protecting us, whether working for an intelligence agency or the military.

They are in dangerous situations all the time, protecting us from things that we have no idea about. And the fact that there were documents there that could blow these people's cover, it should worry people because it puts your families at risk. So I think that's something for people to really try to understand.

It's not just some documents that were thrown in a box; these are people's lives. And these are the lives of people's families.

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VAUSE: Rivers continue to rise ever higher in Mississippi. Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency Saturday in anticipation of more heavy rains and more flooding to follow. The Pearl River, which runs through the heart of Jackson, the state capital, expected to rise to at least 36 feet by Monday.

Jackson's mayor had a dire warning.

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MAYOR CHOKWE ANTA LUMUMBA (D-MS), JACKSON: If you are capable of getting out now, get out now. Get out as soon as possible to prevent any incident or challenge with people trying to leave the area all at once. It is possible for approximately 100 to 150 homes to be impacted by this year's event.

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VAUSE: Dire flooding in Pakistan. Over 1,000 people dead. That includes 348 children. Estimated 33 million in total affected by the rising waters. Pakistan's minister for climate change posted this video online.

Officials told her that bridge was built five meters higher than the one destroyed 12 years ago in a superflood. She says these current floods are a climate-induced problem.

Some 200 people are dead across the border in affecting after weeks of severe flooding. Taliban officials say hundreds more have been injured and thousands of homes destroyed. They're appealing to aid organizations to send emergency assistance and long-term aid.

While many places are dealing with flooding, others are dealing with a different weather extreme: drought, making life difficult but also uncovering some ancient treasures. CNN's Michael Holmes has that story.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of Europe's largest rivers, the Rhine in Germany, dehydrated and shallow. Swaths of farmland in northern Mexico parched, dotted with dead livestock. Millions in the Horn of Africa facing starvation, aid agencies warn. From Europe to the Americas to Africa to northern Asia, extreme heat waves and little rain is impacting communities thousands of kilometers apart.

After a month or more of unrelenting droughts across much of the Northern Hemisphere. But amid the global hardship and scenes of devastation, blistering temperatures and water shortages are also revealing prehistoric secrets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see claw marks.

HOLMES (voice-over): Emerging from the receding waters of the Paluxy River in Texas, dinosaur tracks, thought to be 113 million years old. The prints have been long preserved by sediment underwater. But amid ongoing drought in the southern U.S. state, they are now visible for what is likely the first time.

JEFF DAVIS, SUPERINTENDENT, DINOSAUR VALLEY STATE PARK: It's kind of a double-edged sword. Without the river, we wouldn't be able to see them, wouldn't know they were there. But once they're exposed, that's when they start to degrade, just like any other rocks. They're going to break down over time.

HOLMES (voice-over): Another ancient site revealed in a diminished reservoir in Spain, as the country battles its worst drought in decades. Dubbed the Spanish Stonehenge, this vertically arranged stone formation is thought to have been created by humans roughly 7,000 years ago.

And as drought drags on in China, another rare sight: receding waters of the Yangtze River uncovering ancient Buddhist statues, thought to be hundreds of years old.

GU YUNFENG, CHONGQING RESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I think the reason why our ancestors built this was because they wanted to pray for a peaceful world and a beautiful country. I hope that wish can be passed on forever. I hope the water levels can go up naturally and we may have a peaceful and healthy world and country.

HOLMES (voice-over): Ancient discoveries among the rare benefits of blistering temperatures and water scarcity wreaking havoc across the globe, one small consolation for millions, who are suffering in the new extremes of an increasingly warming world -- Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: When we come back, they're caught up in political games in the United States between red states and blue states.

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VAUSE: Migrants loaded onto buses in Texas, sent to northeastern cities. We'll follow one family's journey when we come back.

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VAUSE: Welcome back.

In what is perhaps one of the most heartless political stunts in recent times, the governor of Texas has sent nearly 9,000 migrants to New York City and Washington, D.C., in recent months, a not so subtle criticism of the Biden administration's immigration policies.

Governor Greg Abbott says it gives relief to overwhelmed border communities in his state and says the White House is ultimately to blame for refusing to secure the border.

What about the migrants themselves, the people?

How are they coping with an arduous move?

CNN's Polo Sandoval spoke with members of a Venezuelan family that was bused to New York.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The number of families seeking asylum in New York City, it is a number that continues to grow. Meanwhile, many of these family families are quickly learning the hardships they've experienced, they are far from over, even after arriving in New York City.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): To get merely an idea of what many of the people stepping off these border buses in New York City have experienced, just look at the images they're willing to share.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're resting here in order to continue our journey.

SANDOVAL: This video taken by Chrisman Urbaez and his partner, Anabel Gonzalez, earlier this summer. The young Venezuelan couple kept a video diary during their two-month, 10-country journey from Lima, Peru, to New York City.

They carried only their few belongings on their backs and occasionally their 6- and 9-year olds as they trekked through the infamous Darien Gap linking South and Central America.

It's a place where the northerly path for many migrants often ends in tragedy but not for this family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made it. We made it alive. We made it, thank God.

[03:45:00]

SANDOVAL (voice-over): During the rest of their journey north, they swaddled their dog Max (ph), still a pup at the time, like a baby to sneak him onto buses and into hotels, fearing that they would be separated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There goes Sebastian and Criszanyelis.

SANDOVAL: But the actual blood, sweat and tears were all worth it for this moment, as they recount, the day they waded across the Rio Grande and onto U.S. soil for the first time, officially requesting asylum. After a brief stop in Texas, it was onto a bus and the three-day drive to New York City where they wait for the asylum cases to be heard.

What was your first impression of New York?

Anabel tells me reality set in once they reached the urban jungle that is their new home, that as much they want to start earning a living, they can't.

You see, they're among the thousands of recently arrived migrants who have to petition for a work permit after submitting asylum applications. It's a process that is taking up to a year according to New York City leaders.

Chrisman says he hopes the government can help him be a better provider for his family but more than anything else, he's pleading for the federal government to free his hands of the red tape that's keeping him from working legally.

MANUEL CASTRO, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR'S OFFICE OF IMMIGRATION AFFAIRS: Most of the families that I've spoken to, they want to get to work. They don't want to stay in shelters. They want to contribute to society.

SANDOVAL: Immigration Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro, an immigrant himself, echoing calls for a fast track solution.

CASTRO: Immigration advocates across the country are calling on the federal government to make it easier and make it quicker for asylum seekers to obtain their work permits. That's by far the biggest obstacle.

SANDOVAL: The Urbaez family says they won't risk their asylum cases by working off the books. They'll have to depend on the city's already strained shelter system until they can get the government's green light to start living their American dream.

New York governor Kathy Hochul expressing interest in assisting these migrants but also calling on President Joe Biden to issue some form of executive action that would allow her to do that.

These families certainly well aware of the fact that, the sooner they can provide for themselves, the sooner they can pull themselves out of the New York City shelter system that is already nearly at capacity -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

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VAUSE: When we come back, just over a day away from the planned launch of the first mission of the Artemis I. We'll have a preview of the mission heading to the moon and ultimately beyond.

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VAUSE: NASA's way over budget and long overdue Artemis mission now set for launch in just over a day. Fueling to begin about 24 hours from now. But there are concerns about the weather.

Saturday the launch pad was struck by lightning. NASA teams are assessing what, if any, impact that will have on the schedule. I spoke with CNN's Miles O'Brien about the Artemis missions and with plans to go to Mars, what this means for NASA.

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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: This is not flags and footprints, as we saw 50 years ago with Apollo, a sprint to the moon and a photo opportunity, selfies, if you will, as we call them today.

The idea here is to build an outpost and learn how to live in space at some distance away. Going to Mars is a quantum leap beyond that. The distance is greater. The radiation exposure to the crew is greater. And we really don't know how to do it.

We don't even know how to do the entry, descent and landing for the amount of mass we need to get on the planet in a practical way.

So there's so many unanswered questions that need to be addressed, including whether we're going to go to Mars on these traditional chemical rockets or if we will build some more advanced propulsion, perhaps with a nuclear power plant, that will get us there much faster and allow the astronauts to be in fitter shape when they finally get to the surface of Mars.

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VAUSE: The full interview with Miles O'Brien in a few hours from now. Stay with us on CNN. The Artemis I's Orion capsule won't actually touch down on the lunar surface on this mission. It actually won't have any astronauts at all. NASA hopes future missions will actually put astronauts back on the moon. Kristin Fisher has details.

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KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a long time since NASA has had its own candle to light.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift off.

FISHER: Eleven years since the last space shuttle launch, 50 years since the last launch of the Apollo program. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Eagle has landed.

FISHER: But now, Apollo's mythological twin sister, Artemis, is on the launch pad and ready to fly.

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: To all of us that gaze up at the moon, dreaming of the day humankind returns to the lunar surface, folks, we're here.

FISHER: The Artemis rocket or SLS, is years behind schedule, billions overbudget. But it's also the most powerful rocket ever built. It's designed to launch people even deeper into space than the moon.

REID WISEMAN, CHIEF NASA ASTRONAUT: Our sights are not set on the moon. Our sights are set firmly on Mars.

FISHER: But first, it has to pass this test flight with only mannequins on board. Artemis I will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But Mission Control is at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Mission Control, Houston.

FISHER: The same place that controlled every Apollo and shuttle mission.

RICK LABRODE, LEAD FLIGHT DIRECTOR, ARTEMIS I MISSION: This is where it all happens as far as human space flight.

FISHER: Rick LaBrode is in charge of it all as lead flight director. He and his team have been training for this for years.

LABRODE: Flight day is a whole different ballgame. It's when it really gets real.

FISHER: After launch, the SLS rocket will separate from the Orion crew capsule on top. Orion will fly a quarter million miles to the moon and then go 40,000 miles beyond it. Farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has ever flown.

LABRODE: We're going to swing by the moon. And when we swing by it on the way there, we'll be 60 miles off the surface.

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LABRODE: It will be incredible. The pictures we get as we go by are going to be really impressive.

FISHER: After orbiting the moon for two weeks, Orion will head back to earth, hitting speeds of 25,000 miles per hour and temperatures half the surface of the sun, something engineers can't replicate here on earth.

LABRODE: The number one highest priority for the mission is to test the heat shield.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff of space shuttle Columbia.

FISHER: It was a damaged heat shield that caused Columbia to burn up on reentry, killing seven astronauts. Testing it before astronauts fly on Artemis II is crucial.

VICTOR GLOVER, NASA ASTRONAUT: For me, Artemis I is exciting. But it's really a steppingstone to get humans back to the moon.

FISHER: Victor Glover is one of 40 astronauts in the running to fly on Artemis II and Artemis III.

GLOVER: We explore for all people and now we can actually say with all people.

FISHER: As of now, weather conditions are 70 percent favorable for launch on Monday according to the U.S. Space Force. But this is Florida in August. There are tons of thunderstorms.

And today we got a really bad one rolling through the deputy space center. It was so bad that lightning actually hit the launch pad with the Artemis rocket sitting on top of it. And a NASA official says lightning towers around the launch pad appeared to do their job and protect the rocket.

But there is a team assessing if there was any damage. We hope to get an answer if that will impact whether or not this rocket can indeed attempt its first flight on Monday -- Kristin Fisher, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center.

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Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. More news in about three minutes from now.

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