Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Ukraine Forces Reclaim Key City of Izyum in Sign Offensive is Working; Queen's Coffin Arrives in Scotting Capital after Six-Hour Journey; New York Marks 21st Anniversary of 9/11 Attacks. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 11, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Saw each other, they did not interact.

But on Saturday, they seemed to, at least temporarily put their differences aside; kneeling to pay their respects to a monarch who united the country in mourning.

Scott McLean, CNN --

PRINCE WILLIAM, PRINCE OF WALES: Goodbye, everyone. Thank you so much.

MCLEAN (voice over): At Windsor Castle.

[20:00:18]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour in Ukraine and in a sign its new counteroffensive is working, Ukrainian officials are saying they have recaptured the key City of Izyum. They also say Russian forces have fled a strategic town in Kharkiv in the Luhansk region.

That area has been important to Russia's ability to supply frontline forces in the region. Ukraine's military chief says his forces have now recaptured more than 1,800 square miles from Russia so far this month.

Let's go to Melissa Bell in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Melissa, does the Ukrainian military seem to think that they can keep this momentum going?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, what we're seeing, Fredricka is a far more complicated picture on the ground just within the last half hour here in Kharkiv City, a complete blackout, electricity blackout; also in Donetsk, what we're hearing is that here in Kharkiv City, there have been two cruise missiles that have hit.

Look, today we had the opportunity to go with Ukrainian Police to some of those areas of the wider region, Kharkiv region that have now been liberated, traveling with them to see those areas where even now, investigators are beginning to look into possible war crimes.

Remember that these are parts of the country that have been under Russian occupation for six months now. Parts of the country that were taken within the first few days of the war, and where today, we watched investigators dig up some of the very first victims of this invasion, the possible also first evidence of war crimes here in this part of the country now being retaken as a part of the offensive.

This is what one man had to say to us about what he saw of Russian troops leaving these last few days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I never expected that it would be so fast. I went to the store and when I returned, everyone was running away. They even drove through the cemetery.

Can you imagine? My wife was there and also saw how they rushed straight through the garden. She was worried the house would be demolished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: But Fredricka, a much more complicated picture in the whole region. We've been traveling today to Kupiansk, one of those towns that Ukrainians had believed was entirely liberated. And in fact, there is still a good deal of fighting happening inside the city center.

WHITFIELD: And Melissa, I mean, Ukraine says it has liberated dozens of villages and towns in the area and are now, you know, now rather we are hearing reports of war crimes that may have been committed during the months of this Russian occupation. What more did you learn or can share?

BELL: That's right, Fredricka, in those parts of Kharkiv region that have been liberated, so for instance, you just heard from one man speaking from here, a place that we visited today, it was a grave being dug up, two civilians that had been shot in the very first few days of the war.

And of course, you have to remember that these are parts of the country that have been under Russian occupation for six months, think to Bucha. Think back to those towns that were kept for only a month under Russian occupation. Remember what the world found there.

This is the very beginning of what we begin to see in this region, and yet, the fighting continuing in parts of it that we had imagined already to be under Ukrainian control -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Melissa Bell in Ukraine. Thanks so much.

All right, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy spoke with CNN's Fareed Zakaria and explains why he believes there was no us trying to negotiate with Russia at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, setting ultimatum conditions, you meet them all, we will keep invading, so that's their strategy. The gradual very slow dinner. Well, they are dining, they are eating you piecemeal, bit by bit. Russian cannibalism, I would call it this way.

And I don't want to play this game. I don't like this. I cannot tell you right now all the details about certain operational plans, but you understand what I'm talking about.

We will not be standing still. We will be slowly gradually moving forwards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that determination there.

Let's bring in Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. He is a CNN military analyst and former Commanding General of the US Army in Europe and Seventh Army. Thanks so much, General. Good to see you.

[15:05:10]

WHITFIELD: So, what do you make of these Ukrainian victories that we're seeing?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Not -- truthfully, Fred, and good to see you, too. It's not a surprise to me. It was eventually going to come.

We've been talking about this for many years, the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian Army are fighting for their sovereignty. They have a distinctive will that is contributing to that, and whereas their strength was not as mighty as it is right now a few months ago, they're certainly bringing it back to the forefront, and they are trying to push these Russian occupiers out of their country to regain their sovereignty and reestablish their borders.

It is not a surprise to me, the Ukrainian Army has become very strong and very professional over the last two decades, and we see certainly they have the will to protect their people and to protect their land.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and besides that will or maybe perhaps reinforcing that will, is this continuous flow of US arsenal. How much of a bigger deal did it make for Ukraine to defend itself?

HERTLING: Well, certainly in each phase of the operation, not only the US, but NATO and other European nations contributed equipment, sometimes not as much as Ukraine wanted, but certainly enough to conduct the phase of the operation they were in.

Early on, it was technologically advanced antitank and anti-air weapons, then it became the long range artillery that are very precise in terms of targeting, going after the kinds of things that Russia was using to their advantage to bomb Ukrainian people and infrastructure as opposed to taking it to the Ukrainian military.

It all has been significantly helpful. A report recently in "The New York Times" suggested that there was an increasing collaboration between US and NATO out of European Command, helping the Ukrainian forces plan these kinds of attacks, and we've seen the Ukrainian Army and the Ukrainian military be brilliant in their execution of shaping operations over the last several weeks, so they could conduct these operations.

These attacks both in the north in the Kharkiv area, but also in the south in Kherson, while also holding the eastern provinces of the Russian supporters in Donetsk and Luhansk at bay.

So, it's been a pretty good operation, the contributions of a lot of allies to Ukrainian success, but it always depends on the backbone and the will of the Ukrainian military people.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's break down the situation thus far. The Ukrainian military says it has reclaimed some 1,800 miles of territory. And we can see a comparison of Russian occupied territory in just the last week. What has Ukraine been doing differently here?

HERTLING: Well, they've been conducting, as I just said, shaping operations. We've reported that multiple times over the last several weeks on CNN, but then what they've been able to do is they've conducted a reconnaissance in force, with a small force to find the areas where they could conduct a much larger breakthrough pushing tanks and infantry carriers and artillery, through small holes in the Russian fronts, and then getting into the Russian rear areas.

When you have that happen as a military force, when you know, the people you're opposing, in this case, Ukraine are in your rear areas are in your areas where you have logistics and supplies and ammunition, it has a tidal wave of effort against the enemy force, in this case, the Russian.

It causes them to increasingly lose morale, and what we also have to remember is the Russian force that was facing Ukraine has been decimated over the last six months. They are a much smaller force than they went in with. And even at the very beginning, they were not a large enough force to occupy to seize and secure the towns that vary in size, anywhere from Izyum like is a town of 25,000 people all the way up to Kharkiv, which is a town of close to a million.

So, it's very difficult to have a military force not only occupied, but then secure that town. The Russian just did not -- the Russian forces just did not have enough people to do that, and we've also seen the very dysfunctional logistics that the Russians have had, the untrained personnel and the exceedingly poor leadership from the Sergeant level up to the General level of the Russian force. That's why from the very beginning, I thought that Ukraine was going to certainly hold their own early on and then take the fight back to the Russians, as we're seeing they're doing now.

WHITFIELD: Do you see evidence of Vladimir Putin losing touch with how the war effort is going in Ukraine? HERTLING: Yes, I do. And that started about on the 20th of February a

couple of days before the war started. President Putin was not aware of the capability of this force he had been lied to, not only by his Generals in the in the field, but also by his Minister of Defense as they've acquired equipment over the last two decades, as they grifted and been a corrupt government taking money away from the military.

[15:10:21]

HERTLING: Their military forces, I saw firsthand was untrained. They were not conducting the kind of exercises or training for their military that a modern day military force needs, and the equipment they had was actually in terrible shape.

When you're talking about treating recruits like Russian does with harassment and hazing and beatings as has been reported over the last several years in the Russian military, you can't generate a force that will fight for the country.

If the country and the national values are such like Russia has right now, with a leader like Putin who is a kleptocrat and corrupt and a criminal, you're not going to have a military that fights for him. That's just an indicator of what modern day warfare is like.

The soldiers of an army have to believe in their government. They have to believe in their leaders. And unfortunately, the Russian military has not done this from the very beginning.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. Good to see you. Thanks so much.

HERTLING: Pleasure, Fred. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead.

Queen Elizabeth's coffin is now in Edinburgh after a historic six-hour journey through the Scottish countryside. We'll show you the scene along the city's iconic Royal Mile as thousands bid farewell to the Queen, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:45]

WHITFIELD: The Queen's coffin arrived in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh today. It's the first leg in her journey back to London. She is now laying in rest at the official Scottish residence of the British Royal family, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The Queen's coffin making a solemn six-hour trip from her Balmoral estate. Huge crowds gathering along Edinburgh's iconic Royal Mile, bidding farewell to the Queen who died on Thursday at the age of 96.

We've got full coverage of today's events.

Nina dos Santos is at Buckingham Palace in London, and also Nic Robertson is in Edinburgh.

So Nic, let's begin with you. It was quite the farewell for the Queen through the streets of Scotland today.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It really was, and it wasn't really like this when the Queen arrived. This whole area here was packed with people straining at the barriers to get a better look.

They've come to pay their respects. They knew that the Queen had been traveling down through the villages of Scotland all the way from Balmoral and they really were -- the sense of anticipation that they had waiting here for their chance to see the cortege go by.

It was really palpable at the moment that it happened. We were talking here to some -- to younger people, to older people, and memories were being made here today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was actually named Georgia Elizabeth after the Queen. So, we thought it would be nice for her to grow up and be told that she was here today.

ROBERTSON: And you have memories of the Queen yourself?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, I do. Just -- so we've ever known and my Gran, she is not with us now, but she loved the Queen so much. So it just kind of makes me think of her as well.

ROBERTSON: What does it mean to you to be down here today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very sad.

ROBERTSON: You have good memories of the Queen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And it is true, I feel very sad today.

ROBERTSON: And what you remember about her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clothes and her elegance.

ROBERTSON: Do you have any good memories of the Queen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, when seeing her, do you know when I see young lad, Matlock's my mum, that generation. Yes, so as I'm here today and just -- yes, it is good to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And that was really the feeling here, this idea that the Queen had given the country so much service through all the years that the opportunity here was to sort of pay those respects, but pay back what the Queen had given so much.

She has given it throughout her life, not directly into people's lives here, yet they knew it and felt it -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, we can feel what they are feeling so many miles away. It really is palpable. Thank you, Nic.

And Nina, the Queen's coffin will return to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. So, what is the scene there now as crowds pay their respects, they leave flowers. What have you been seeing?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: Well, we've seen thousands, perhaps even 10,000 people, if not maybe more line the streets near Buckingham Palace, waiting in line, Fredricka, for up to four hours at a time just to get as close as they can to the gates of Buckingham Palace to lay down their floral tributes, some of them -- many of them indeed having their own personal messages attached and have that private moment to mark this significant moment in time with the passing of a monarch who has been the only one that they've ever known, many of them, throughout the course of their lives.

Yet, generations young and old were in the crowd. The youngest I met was eight months old; the eldest person was well into their 80s. Here's a snapshot of how they say they felt and why they said they had to be here on this day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he comes across really, really well. I think he has also aged like fine wine. I think he's doing well. I think he comes across really, really nice. He's done a lot of work for charity. So yes, I'm quite excited to see what Charles will do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She used to be considered like a relative to every British family basically, even we felt like when she had gone, unfortunately, sadly, that it is like a member of the family would had gone, basically, it is really shocking news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:20:14]

DOS SANTOS: And tomorrow is an important day for the new King, King Charles III. He will start the day off in Westminster Hall, which is part of the Parliamentary Complex, to hear lawmakers from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords pay their condolences to his late mother.

Then, he will head up to Scotland to take in a tour of all of the four parts of his United Kingdom that includes Scotland, but later on the week, it will also be Wales, Northern Ireland, and of course, back to England where I am.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nina dos Santos, Nic Robertson, thanks to both of you. We'll check back with you all later. Thank you.

So, President Biden says he will attend the Queen's funeral next Monday, September 19th. Tim Naftali is a CNN presidential historian and the former Director of Nixon's Presidential Library.

So, good to see you, Tim.

So, the last time a British monarch died back in 1952, President Truman did not attend the funeral, right, instead sending his Secretary of State.

So, talk about the significance of President Biden who promised that he is attending even before he even knew the date.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, something very dramatic happened in the relationship between the monarchy in Great Britain and the United States over the course of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

Her father and mother were the first to visit the United States while sovereign, the father was a sovereign, and that was very important to the World War Two generation of Americans. But it is Queen Elizabeth, who came to this country repeatedly, who developed a bond to many Americans in a way that no previous British monarch had ever done.

Indeed, our history is structured around the rejection of a British monarch, George III.

So, there is actually in a bond, an emotional bond for some Americans with Queen Elizabeth. She is part of our political culture.

And so unlike 1952, when Queen -- sorry when President Truman did not go to London for the funeral of King George VI, it's much more expected that the American President would actually be one of the mourners at the death of a British monarch. It's part of the change that Queen Elizabeth actually brought over the course of her seven years as monarch.

WHITFIELD: So, the Queen I mean, she met with 13 of the last 14 Presidents and Biden first met the Queen as a young senator, back in 1982, and then he would see her again and here are some of the pictures right here when she hosted a tea for President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden in June of 2021.

So, to talk about, you know, the importance of perhaps their bond and why President Biden is so resolute on making sure he is there.

NAFTALI: Well, President Biden at the time, and he did this with a chuckle, he said, I don't want the Queen to take this the wrong way, and I don't want to be disrespectful, but she reminds me of my mother. And the Biden's apparently had an excellent visit.

By the way, every American President later would report that they had an excellent visit.

WHITFIELD: Yes, no one is complaining.

You can tell, some presidents actually developed an emotional attachment of sorts, President Obama did, for example.

WHITFIELD: Yes, he has said, she is one of his favorite people. I mean, what a statement.

NAFTALI: President Bush, the first Bush and even the second President Bush, but not every American President developed a close emotional bond to Queen Elizabeth. John F. Kennedy did not, for example, but Joe Biden apparently did.

And so it can make sense from a personal standpoint, but I also think as representative of the United States, as our Head of State, to actually be there in London for the funeral on September 19th.

WHITFIELD: So, he wouldn't go alone, President Biden. He has a delegation that he can take, and one would wonder, does he take former Presidents who have met with her? Or how does he calculate who he should appropriately bring?

NAFTALI: Fredricka, I assumed you'd ask me. This is --

WHITFIELD: Okay, and I know you have the answer.

NAFTALI: Well, I don't have the answer, but I can lay out the challenge because it's a tough diplomatic problem.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NAFTALI: If this were an issue of Joe Biden saying, "Who do I want with me?" He should be the bigger person and bring Donald Trump, but it's not. The question is who will represent the United States? And that's what this is about.

[15:25:00]

NAFTALI: Now, Ronald Reagan when he was thinking about who should represent the United States at the funeral of Anwar Sadat included Richard Nixon. He included Richard Nixon because Richard Nixon had a close relationship with Anwar Sadat. And they had been part of a peace process. He also included him, I think, because the Egyptian government wanted Richard Nixon to go.

The question now is, does the British government want Donald Trump to go? And if the United Kingdom -- if that government does not want him to go, it wouldn't make sense for him to be part of a US delegation?

WHITFIELD: And how would they express that? I mean, after all, the former President is under investigation. When you're talking about national security and information that may also potentially compromise British Intelligence.

I mean, I think everyone would understand there is some reticence about why he would be invited. But are you also saying that the British government or the monarchy would say, and so President Biden, this is who we would want or not want on your list in terms of the delegation.

NAFTALI: I think, we are -- the United States government and His Majesty's government are close enough that you don't have to be that direct. I think there are ways of doing it. But that's part of the story.

The other part of the story is very important, which is, do you include in a delegation that represents our country someone who stimulated and arguably led an armed insurrection against the United States government? And that, I think, is a very important question.

So, it's not an issue of Joe Biden's -- what he likes. This is a question about who should represent the United States at the funeral of the Head of State of our closest ally or arguably one of our closest allies?

WHITFIELD: Sure. All things being considered. Tim Naftali, great to see you. Thank you so much.

NAFTALI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up. The nation marks 21 years since the 9/11 terror attacks on this country. How the victims were remembered in New York, Washington, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:34]

WHITFIELD: It has been 21 years since the September 11th attacks. At the Memorial Ceremony in New York today, one victim's family member made an impassioned call for unity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW COLABELLA, COUSIN OF 1993 WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING VICTIM: It took a tragedy to unite us, and I want to remind all of you there, it should not take another tragedy to unite our nation because if I have to stand at this podium again or another podium for another event because of lives lost because of dereliction of duty, it's going to hurt just like it hurts me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: At the Pentagon, President Biden took part in a wreath laying ceremony and paid tribute to the lives lost on one of the nation's darkest days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We regained the light by reaching out to one another and finding something all too rare, a true sense of national unity. To me, that's the greatest lesson of September 11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Joe Johns is at the White House. Joe, how did other leaders commemorate today's anniversary?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, we had the President at The Pentagon, as you saw right there. We had the first lady in Pennsylvania, and we had the Vice President at Ground Zero at the National 9/11 Memorial. She was accompanied there by the Mayor and the former Mayor.

The Vice President did make a little news, but it was in a pre- recorded interview with NBC in which she expressed some concern that baseless claims about the 2020 election could potentially undermine the US role in the world.

The President for his part really stayed away from politics in his speech, however he did allude to something he has talked about before that is the idea that democracy must be protected and preserved. He also stayed away very much from some of the more inflammatory language that the President has used that has created controversy in the run up to this year's midterm elections -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Joe Johns at the White House. Thanks so much.

So, for so many, the pain of 9/11 never goes away. That includes the countless first responders who rushed to the scene of the attacks.

Joining us right now is a firefighter who served on that fateful day and still continues to serve New York, Lieutenant James McCarthy. He is the President of the FDNY Fire Officers Association and Line 11 First Responder Works.

Lieutenant, so good to see you.

LIEUTENANT JAMES MCCARTHY, PRESIDENT, FDNY FIRE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: Good evening.

WHITFIELD: So, what is today feeling like for you?

MCCARTHY: Well, once again, we approached this date, and the rest of the nation commemorates September 11, 2001 and the anniversary and remembers where have they been and what they were doing at the time, but here in the FDNY and certainly with fire officers, firefighters here in New York City, we remember it every day.

[15:35:02]

MCCARTHY: Just the last week of August, we had four funerals for members that died from Trade Center illness and we're currently at 299 members that have died since September 11, 2001 from Trade Center illnesses.

So, it is every day a reminder of the things we went through and what we did for the nation and the city back in September 11, 2001 until the end of the closing of the rescue and recovery effort.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, grim reminders, you know, more than two decades after the attack, the health effects from this tragedy continue to devastate, 299 firefighters who went to Ground Zero have died after September 11th. I mean, that's approaching the same number, 343, who died on that fateful day. So, what are your concerns about people who continue to suffer in so many different ways? MCCARTHY: Well, we're very concerned about that and that is why we

are trying to make sure that the funding for this Zadroga Bill gets passed in Congress, funding will run out in 2025, and approaching that date, the services rendered to the people that responded to September 11, 2001 will be reduced.

And there is a person in every congressional district in the United States that responded to Ground Zero and helped in the rescue and recovery effort, whether they were volunteering or police or fire, EMS, or many other services, so that funding is important to get medical monitoring and prescription drugs because earlier, were diagnosed with cancer, the better it is to treat it, and the more survivability for the members that do come down with these illnesses.

WHITFIELD: So, how might that be reversed that this Federal fund that pays for the care of 9/11 survivors and first responders would stop accepting new members? What are your hopes about? What can be done to suspend that possibility?

MCCARTHY: Well, we're hoping that the Members of Congress and as we talked before, there was funding to Build Back Better bill that did not pass, and Chuck Schumer -- Senator Schumer has promised us that there would be a standalone bill with the funding, and Members of Congress, many of them have promised to support that bill. And then you'll see today a lot of those members on social media will be remembering September 11th with their photos, or their good wishes, but we need them also to be there when it comes time for a vote, to make sure that this funding gets into Zadroga Bill to cover this medical monitoring and prescription drugs for everybody around the country because it was an attack on the nation, not an attack just on New York City.

WHITFIELD: In addition to, you know, renewing that support, as you just mentioned, the anniversary of 9/11 does serve as a moment for people to pause and reflect. How do you want Americans to remember today?

MCCARTHY: Well, there is a lot of things you can -- you know about the tragedy and the violence and the death of so many people, but you also need to remember the heroism and the self-sacrifice for the people who came down and volunteered or came down to work at the Trade Center site rescue and recovery effort, to help bring people -- bring their remains back to their families, and bring a little bit of closure to those lost their lives, their families that lost their lives.

So, let's remember the sacrifice of the people and the people who came down and rushed down to the site to help and to try and save lives, and if not, at least bring the remains back to people.

So the positives coming out of it are essential to be part of that whole day. Remember the tragedy, but also remember the heroism.

WHITFIELD: Lieutenant James McCarthy, thanks for all you have done and all that you continue to do.

MCCARTHY: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, firefighters in California battling yet another wildfire. Multiple communities in Eldorado and Placer Counties are threatened and thousands have been evacuated. The latest on the Mosquito Fire next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:35]

WHITFIELD: Firefighters in Southern California are hoping better weather conditions will continue to help them in their battle against the Fairview Fire. The fire is burning in the City of Hemet about 90 miles outside of Los Angeles. That's where we find CNN's Camila Bernal.

Camila, are firefighters able to make any progress?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred.

Yes, some progress, but what they say today is all about is a test day because they say that now, they will be able to assess whether or not that rain really helped them and will continue to help them make progress or if they're back to square one because again, it is hot and it is dry.

One of the firefighters that I talked to told me, look, yes, it may rain a little bit, but an hour after it is dry again. What was really beneficial about yesterday was the cloud cover. So, the fire did not grow in size and we saw containment numbers going up. It's now at 45 percent containment. But that cloud cover is not really helping today because there is not much of that cloud cover as we speak.

One thing that they did accomplish yesterday is that they began those assessments and or they continued those assessments and unfortunately, we now know that more structures were destroyed. At least 30 structures destroyed. So, we're seeing that number multiplying.

And look, it is hard for families that have to come back to an area that looks like this. You essentially have nothing left. It is ashes because everything melts and that's what you see over and over again in these properties.

It is also really important to point out that two people were already killed as a result of this fire, and just yesterday, a helicopter crash as well. This was a helicopter -- a private helicopter that coordinates other helicopters in the area and the drops, so it was finishing the day and then instead crashed in a residential area. No one in that area was injured, but the people inside of the helicopter were.

It was three people. One was the private pilot and two others were CalFire employees. One of those employees was released from the hospital, but we are waiting to hear about the condition of the other two. And again, this just goes to show how dangerous this fire is, not just

for the people who live in this area, but also for the firefighters who are professionals, who know what they're doing here -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Dangerous every moment for them.

So now to Northern California where a wildfire has forced thousands of people from their homes there. What can you tell us about that?

BERNAL: Yes, the situation is a lot worse there because every single day we are seeing this fire growing, it has now burned more than 41,000 acres and it's only at 10 percent containment. So, so much work to be done there. And yes, the temperatures did decrease a little bit, but because it is so, so dry in that area, that fire was very active yesterday and they expect it to be just as active today.

What we know is that it will be cooler throughout the day, but they're expecting winds in the afternoon and those winds could then continue to help that fire grow, which is a concern for those firefighters -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much. Be safe.

All right, still to come, the NFL has officially kicked off and this new season is bringing some new high-tech security systems to keep fans safe and weapons out of stadiums. A look at how it works, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:26]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

After weeks of no clean water, we're now learning that a team from the Environmental Protection Agency is in Jackson, Mississippi to figure out what led to the water crisis last month.

Massive flooding took out a water treatment plant where pumps were already failing, which has led to questions about how the water system has been managed. Well, this morning the Mayor is saying he is not aware that he is under investigation, but will cooperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: No one has talked to me. I do not know the scope nor the timeline in which they're investigating. But I can share that to the extent that they will be speaking to city employees, I will direct them to cooperate with any investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Earlier this year, EPA staff reported the water system had inadequate staffing and as a result, there was a failure to perform routine maintenance. All right, some NFL teams are stepping up security at their stadiums

with a new screening process designed to keep fans safer while getting them to their seats quicker.

CNN's Nadia Romero joining us live, overlooking the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta where the Falcons are using this new technology today.

So Nadia, walk us through how this works.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, this is all about making sure that people can gather in large groups and feel safe while they're doing it. So, it'll look just like the regular metal detectors, but they are big blue detectors that have a pairing of artificial intelligence and also sensors that is coming from the company Evolv Technology.

They say their technology will be able to determine the difference between a cell phone and a weapon. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER GEORGE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, EVOLV TECHNOLOGIES: The band sensors and machine learning models to identify weapons on people while they're walking through the Pace of Life.

GREG OVERSTREET, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF SECURITY, MERCEDES BENZ STADIUM: What this does is allows for a frictionless seamless technology not only for our fans, but for our associates as well. So, the process for them is not as tiring. It's not as intrusive. You don't get that as much of that negative interaction that you get with some of the other screening technology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: So part of this technology is supposed to be able to determine the difference between what you may have in your body so that you can just continue to walk through those detectors instead of having to stop and being searched with a wand or being patted down.

Does it work? Well, if you look at the data from the Tennessee Titans, they installed this technology last season, and in just three games, the company says they were able to spot more than 250 weapons that may not have been detected otherwise -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. So the NFL, you know, the Atlanta Falcons play there at the Mercedes Benz stadium, but other events happen there. So does that mean that whenever you attend anything at that stadium, you're going to be subjected the same kind of, you know, high-tech security check.

ROMERO: This high-tech security is definitely something you're going to get at the Falcons games, but it has got a hefty price tag. So that organization is using it.

You will be able to see this in certain school districts. There are more than 20 school districts across the country that have signed up with a contract to have this put into their schools. Schools here in Georgia, schools in New York, all across the country, because we are just as concerned about shootings or weapons making their way inside schools as we are big stadiums like the one behind me. It's just another layer of protection -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Of course, all of those worries are constants. That's for sure.

All right, thank you so much, Nadia Romero. Appreciate that.

All right, and thank you for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:00]