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New Filing: Favre Pushed For Funds Despite Legality Concerns; NFL Players Assn Wants Review Of Dolphin QB's Injury; NASA's DART Spacecraft Nearing Impact With Asteroid; Growing Spotlight On U.S. Aylum Seekers Amid Worker Shortage; Biden To Propose New Rules For Airline Fee Transparency. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 26, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course, it is again, this is a massive scheme, $77 million meant for the neediest people of the poorest state in America. Instead, going for the pet projects and the politically connected and celebrities.

Brett Favre associated with several aspects of this, including the volleyball center, and about $1.1 million for speeches that the state auditor says he never gave. Favre has paid back some of that but has not paid back the interest, according to the auditor.

Now, if we go to these text messages, I want to read one of them that, according to this filing, took place after the original welfare agency head, John Davis, was fired. He pleaded guilty just last week to both state and federal charges connected to the scheme.

There was a meeting with the new head of the welfare agency, and this text took place afterward.

Favre, quote, "We obviously need your help big time, and time is working against us. And we feel that your name is the perfect choice for this facility and we are not taking no for an answer. You are a Southern Miss alumni and folks need to know you are also a supporter of the university."

Former Governor Phil Bryant replying, "We are going to get there. This was a great meeting but we have to follow the law. I am too old for federal prison, smiley face, sunglasses emoji."

Brett Favre has been named in a civil suit from the state but he has not been criminally charged. His attorney says he did not know the funds came from welfare funds for the project.

Phil Bryant has not been criminally charged, nor has he been named as a defendant in the civil case, Ana.

One of the players, the head of a nonprofit, who has already been charged in this as well, says that she was directed by Bryant to give the money to Favre for the speeches. That is an allegation that the former governor denies.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Dianne Gallagher, thank you.

Scary moments involving Miami Dolphins quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, during Sunday's game. And now calling the NFL Players Association is calling for a review into how the incident was handled.

Tua appeared to suffer a head injury after he fell backwards from a hit. His helmet hits the ground hard. As he tries to make his way back to the line of scrimmage, you can see he stumbles, looks like he loses his balance.

Here's the thing, he ended up returning to the game.

CNN sports anchor, Coy Wire, has the details.

Coy, there's obviously a big concern over whether this was a serious head injury that should have warranted more caution. What are you learning?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, scary looking situation, right?

Good to see you, Ana.

Tua Tagovailoa, here's the situation. He had the best game of his career a week ago, throwing for six touchdown passes, a massive rally over the ravens.

And here his Dolphins are undefeated, they're hosting the undefeated Bills yesterday, emotions running high. They're playing against a divisional opponent in a game with big implications.

Tua said any competitor who wouldn't want to come out of the game would get up and continue like he did. Tua had to be escorted to the locker room.

The Dolphins announcing during the fame, Ana, that he was questionable to return with a head injury. But then they allow him to come back out to play the second half. Many shocked.

After the game, Tua told reporters it wasn't his head that he was concerned about, rather it was his back giving him issues. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUA TAGOVAILOA, MIAMI DOLPHINS QUARTERBACK: I kind of hit my back, and kind of, you know, kind of hurt. And I got up, and that's kind of like why I stumbled. My back kind of locked up on me.

For the most part, you know, I'm good. Passed whatever concussion protocol they had. So I'm good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Concerned former NFL players take to the media.

Two-time Super Bowl player, Torrey Smith, tweeted, "Tua had a concussion. I don't care what the doctor or even Tua says about yesterday's injury. You need people that will protect you from you.

Another tweeting, in part, "I pass a concussion once, finished playing in the game, flew home, drove to my neighborhood, and had no idea which house was mine. Test or not, the man couldn't walk straight," unquote.

I can relate to that. I can echo that sentiment. Ana, during my playing days, pre-season game against the Lions, I was knocked out. I don't remember the series of plays before or after that until I saw it the next day on film.

According to the NFL's concussion protocol, a player has to be evaluated on the sideline via a six-step process. And that includes video replay, a neurological exam, and the Maddox questions, things like, where are we, what happened, who scored last, did you win your game last week?

If any show signs of concussion or symptoms, the player goes to a locker room for the full comprehensive review with a team physician and unaffiliated neurotrauma consult.

Clearly, the NFL Players Association is concerned that the concussion protocol was not followed in this case. Ana, the NFL confirmed to CNN that a joint investigation will happen. We will continue to follow this story. And we'll hope that Tua Tagovailoa is OK.

They have a short week. They're playing Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. So not much time for him to heal from his back injury or if it was head issue as well.

[13:35:02]

CABRERA: Well, either way, it sounds like it's no good. And I do hope it was his back and not his head given what we've learned about CTE and other concussion-related long-term effects.

Coy Wire, thank you so much for bringing us this that update.

We send our best to Tua Tagovailoa. I hope I got his name right the second time.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Because I know I really butchered it the first time.

WIRE: Well, you're a Broncos fan so you get a pass.

CABRERA: Yes, go Broncos. They won last night, too. Yea.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Thanks, Coy.

You know the 1998 movie plot, an gigantic asteroid on a collision course with earth and NASA picks Bruce Willis to stop it. Well, fast forward to 2022, and NASA really is trying to change an

asteroid's path. Thankfully, unlike "Armageddon," this isn't headed for us. More on this incredible mission next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:28]

CABRERA: It's a plot right out of a Hollywood block buster. NASA plans to crash a school-bus-sized spacecraft into an asteroid. Scientists say the mission could save the planet from future threats.

But it's on course to make history today. This mission is called DART, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test. The space craft will accelerate to about 13,000 miles per hour at the time of collision and will try to effect the asteroid's motion.

Joining us is former NASA astronaut and retired Air Force colonel, Terry Virts.

Colonel, this has never happened before. We have never done anything like this. So explain how it's going to go down.

COL. TERRY VIRTS, RETIRED & FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: That's true, that something you don't say very often. There's not a lot of things weren't done we haven't done before. But this is the first of its kind.

The spacecraft is flying towards -- it's actually a double asteroid, which is why it's called the Double Asteroid Redirect Test. It's going to hit the smaller one head on.

When it hits the smaller asteroid orbiting the bigger one, it's going to slow it down by about 1 percent. And when that happens, the orbit will shrink a little bit, which will speed it up. So we should see the time it takes to go around the big asteroid reduced by about 10 minutes.

That's after, like you said, the bus-sized asteroid or spacecraft hits this kind of high school track-sized asteroid.

CABRERA: So, again, the asteroid stuff is still big even though it's the smaller of the two.

VIRTS: Yes.

CABRERA: And so it's going to put maybe a dent in it, versus tearing it apart.

And I do want to be clear to our viewers, this particular asteroid poses no threat to earth, right?

VIRTS: Right.

CABRERA: So how realistic is the potential threat in the future? VIRTS: Well, it's a big threat. It happens, you know, every few

hundred thousand or few million years or so where earth gets hit by an asteroid. When it does, it's usually bad for those who are around where the asteroid hit.

So it's something that, you know, when we -- at some point in the future, there's going to be something that's going to hit earth. If we know how to redirect it, even if it just barely misses earth, a miss is a miss and that's key.

NASA is hoping to launch a satellite in a few years that would look for all of the near-earth orbit objects, which we call near-orbit.

Because, right now, we really don't know where the majority of these asteroids are and we need a better idea. The first step is to get a better idea of where these asteroids are.

CABRERA: I'm all about being proactive in this case.

VIRTS: Yes.

CABRERA: The spacecraft --

(CROSSTALK)

VIRTS: We don't want an "Armageddon" movie scenario.

CABRERA: No, "Armageddon." No, thank you.

And you have to be really proactive because it takes so long to get to where these potential threatening asteroids are, right? The spacecraft involved here today was launched last November. So it took almost a year to get here.

VIRTS: Right.

CABRERA: Would we know that far in advance if an asteroid were headed towards earth?

VIRTS: That's why I think this next satellite, the near-earth object satellite that's going to look for these things is so important. The first step is knowing they're out there, and I hope this happens.

This is, like you said, a joint collaboration between the Applied Physics Lab and NASA's Planetary Defense Office, which is a pretty cool office to work in.

CABRERA: Well, thank you so much for offering your insights. Such a fascinating discovery here and mission. And it's supposed to actually make contact I believe around 7:30 Eastern time tonight. So we're going to continue to follow this.

Colonel Virts, good to see you.

VIRTS: Thanks. I can't wait to see that video. It's going to be pretty cool. CABRERA: Me, too.

[13:44:14]

Fed up with all those extra airline fees. Well, so is the president. What he's set to announce today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Critics called it a political stunt. But for some Florida business owners, it stung. Governor Ron DeSantis literally flying people who wanted jobs out of the state. In his worker shortage, companies scrambling to fill positions.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich have details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA COOPER, OWNER, SUGAR TOP FARMS: It didn't make any sense.

JAN GAUTEM, PRESIDENT, IHRMC: Why are they sending them there when we need the people here?

MARCELA RESTREPO, OWNER, SKY BUILDERS USA: Help us to help the economy grow.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Dozens of asylum-seekers were sent on flights from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, lured with the promise of a job. While Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis arranged the flights, business owners in his own state are struggling to find anyone to fill their open jobs.

COOPER: We know that we have a massive labor shortage in Florida.

YURKEVICH: There are at least 670,000 asylum-seekers in the U.S. awaiting their cases to be heard. The average wait time, four and a half years.

In the meantime, they can apply to legally work, a process that can take several months.

DeSantis said he believes these asylum-seekers were coming to Florida from Texas. So he used funds allocated to move migrants out of Florida where the planes made a stopover.

[13:50:03]

COOPER: It is hard to watch willing workers leave your state with tax dollars.

YURKEVICH: Jessica Cooper owns a small farm outside of Orlando. She sells to restaurants and major attractions, like Disney World. It is a year-round operation.

COOPER: We're finding that it is hard to keep domestic labor. This is a hard job, right? This is not for everyone. YURKEVICH: It is a problem throughout the agriculture industry, the second-largest industry in Florida. Cooper says she's advertised everywhere to find help with no luck.

Whether these asylum-seekers were intending to come to Florida on their own --

COOPER: Actually, I would have welcomed them. Why not lift up the small businesses in a way that they're also being helped on their labor?

YURKEVICH: The construction industry is facing an aging workforce. The average age of asylum-seekers, 35. The industry is short 650,000 workers but has an average wage of $35 an hour.

MICHELE DAUGHERTY, PRESIDENT, FLORIDA ASSOCIATED BUSINESS & CONTRACTORS: If they are able to legally work here, we have jobs for them. We have opportunities for them to not just take care of themselves, but their families.

YURKEVICH: There are major construction projects underway in Florida, like Universal Epic in Orlando, aimed at attracting tourists to the state, and billions of dollars more allocated to state projects but not enough people to do the work.

And it is not just in Florida. There are 11.2 million open jobs in the U.S., more than last year.

RESTREPO: You just see Orlando, the way that it is growing, the way the construction is growing, the job is there and there is a quality people coming from other countries.

YURKEVICH: The hospitality industry has been slow to recover from the pandemic. There are still 1.5 million open hospitality jobs in the U.S. and about 1,800 at Jan Gautem's hotel management company.

GAUTEM: And 60 percent of the employees, they decide to go back and work from home.

YURKEVICH: Leaving Gautem with very few people to run 50 of his Florida hotels.

GAUTEM: It is very tough to find those employees. I mean, I was making beds a couple of days ago.

YURKEVICH (on camera): You, as the president, were making beds?

GAUTEM: That is correct. Yes, that is correct.

YURKEVICH: Because you couldn't find anyone to do it?

GAUTEM: No.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): As an migrant from India who arrived to the U.S. with just $6, he says he understands the value of a job and the chance to work to achieve a dream. He says if he were DeSantis, he would have done things differently.

GAUTEM: I would have kept them here. I mean, I would have used them in my hotels, trust me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Thanks to Vanessa for that reporting.

Most of us have been there. You think you're getting this amazing deal on a flight and, bam, here come the additional fees and your great deal takes a nose-dive. Well, the Biden administration is now doing something about it.

CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, joins us to explain.

Pete, what's changing?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Ana, everything went from "free" to "fee" on the airlines about 15 years ago. Kind of background noise for those of us who fly a lot these days.

Now the Biden administration wants all of these fees up front when you buy a ticket from the airlines so you can see the true cost of your ticket.

We're talking about things like this. Look at this breakdown. It actually took us a couple of hours to pull this together. This is hard to find.

So $30 for the first checked bag on United Airlines. We're talking about other checked bags. Allegiant Airlines, $50 for a checked bag. To change your flight, a lot of airlines did away with this. But there's a same-day change fee on Delta set at $75.

Seat selection, that's another big thing. On Spirit, that's $50. It can be as high in main cabin extra on American Airlines, a bit of an upgrade, to select your seat at $280.

Airlines are really profiting in a big way from these fees. Look at this data from FlightAware. Airlines have made about $436 million in the first six months of this year in cancelation and change fees, $3 billion in fees when it comes to baggage.

So this is what the Biden administration is after. It's really trying to score points here after a really bad summer for the airlines. We've seen about 55,000 cancelations in the U.S. from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

And the Biden administration pressured airlines to rewrite the fine print on your ticket about what you're entitled to if there's a cancelation or delay.

Now airlines do push back here. They say they have changed some of their fees. It's a pretty competitive industry and they say they're transparent about the fees. You can find them online. Although, the big tip here, Ana, until these proposed rules become

real rules in writing, don't book that dreaded basic-economy ticket. That is when the fees really start to add up.

[13:55:02]

CABRERA: No doubt. I feel like we should be able to charge them fees when they delay our flight or a cancelation, they can't get you to where you're going until the next day. It can be maddening.

MUNTEAN: You're not alone there, Ana.

CABRERA: Thank you. Thank you for your reporting.

That does it for us today. Thanks so much for joining us. See you back here tomorrow. Same time and place. Until then, you can always join me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera.

The news continues with Alisyn Camerota right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)