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U.S. Private Citizens Shouldn't Expect Evacuation; Wrong Place, Wrong Time: At Least Six Americans Shot This Week; DeSantis Threatens To Build Prison, Competing Theme Parks Next To Disney; NFL Suspends Three Players Indefinitely For Gambling; King Charles To Debut On CNN This Fall; Seven Miles Of California Beach Closed After 250-K Gallon Sewage Spill. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired April 22, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

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[19:00:37]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this hour in the African country of Sudan, where thousands of Americans are caught up in an escalating crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNSHOTS)

ACOSTA: The U.S. State Department has announced it will carry out a military-assisted evacuation of government personnel if the crisis worsens.

In the past week, more than 400 people have died since two rival generals first led their forces into a battle for control of the country. That death toll includes at least one American. Both Sudan's army and its paramilitary rival, RSF, say they will help evacuate foreign nationals.

In fact, minutes ago, the RSF commander says he has talked to U.S. officials and pledged his assistance when it comes to evacuating Americans. The U.S. is making preparations, we understand, to get diplomatic personnel out right now. But the White House says private citizens should not expect an evacuation.

And CNN's Larry Madowo has the latest for us.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, evacuations continue out of Sudan after both sides of this conflict, the two warring generals agree to pause fighting to allow countries like the U.S. and the U.K., France and China to pull out their diplomats and the citizens out of the country for their own safety.

We've already seen several ships arrive in the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, that's across the Red Sea from the Port Sudan. That's the Eastern main seaboard of the country where convoys have been leading into the seaport to try and get out of the country.

But this is also fueling a refugee crisis for those who can make their way to Port Sudan or two border points to Egypt. They're crossing over into neighboring Chad, and already 10,000 to 20,000 Sudanese refugees have made their way there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERRE HONNORAT, COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR CHAD, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: We were all surprised to see so many children crossing, being there with these women under the trees. There really is nothing else. It's really harrowing, really heartbreaking to see that. We also feel that they have suffered a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The refugee crisis aside, the death toll continues to climb in this conflict that on Sunday will be the last day of the ceasefire. The World Health Organization citing Sudanese Health officials say more than 427 people have died. And that number will just keep increasing the longer this grinds on. That is a true tragedy. There could be people who are still undercounted because it's just not safe to go out to the streets and take a full account of what's happened here, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Our thanks to Larry Madowo for that report. Let's talk more about Sudan with CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel, Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, great to see as always.

As you watch this situation unfolding right now, what concerns you the most at this hour?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think, Jim, the biggest thing is that this is a very difficult situation with the RSF. And the government forces, really fighting it out in a very inhospitable environment. You know, when you think about Sudan, it's a very large country.

In fact, the distance from where U.S. forces are based in Djibouti to Khartoum, it's about 765 miles. So that's in a straight line road distances about, you know, a little more -- a little less than double that. So it is a very difficult environment.

And the fact that this ceasefire is really very fragile and upholding at all makes it even more difficult for U.S. forces or other forces to go in and rescue a diplomatic personnel or other personnel in a place like Khartoum where the airport has shut down. So it's a very, very difficult situation.

ACOSTA: Well, that leads me to this question of where are the challenges of getting Americans out at this point if they're sheltering in place. Shouldn't that be the best option at this point? Or is it getting to the point now where we'd have to, I guess, put that to the side not shelter in place and hustle to the airport? Is that what we're talking about here? LEIGHTON: It's probably going to be the airport. So with Khartoum, there -- near there, there are -- there's a major airbase that has been around for quite some time, that would be the probable location of any type of air -- and if you will, for that kind of an evacuation.

[19:05:03]

So if there is a need or a noncombatant evacuation that is going to happen here, it would require the U.S. to secure the airfield and then bring people from their various locations to a central point, and from that central point to the airport. So that would require a lot of -- a lot of work, a lot of security and, of course, the goodwill and guarantees from both the RSF and the army. So that's going to be a big challenge.

ACOSTA: And if the U.S. does start to evacuate Americans out of Sudan, out of Khartoum, I guess diplomatic personnel might be the first to go. It sounds as though the administration is saying they're not going to be evacuating American citizens at this point. That would be a much larger endeavor.

But in terms of evacuating diplomatic personnel, what would -- what would go into that Colonel Leighton? And how might that get complicated?

LEIGHTON: It could get very complicated, Jim. One of the things that has to happen is you have to do some pretty meticulous planning. It's not like flying a commercial airliner into, you know, say Dulles Airport or JFK or an established airport like this.

Once the airports shut down, the civilian airports shut down. The military would have to provide their own air traffic controllers. They would have to secure the perimeter around the airport or the airbase depending where they go. And it would also require them to have continual security around those areas.

So I -- you know, kind of what you saw in Kabul back in August of 2021. But hopefully with less, you know, less of a non-permissive environment there. So they'd say, it's a big challenge from that perspective.

So security would be number one, making sure the airplanes have the right fuel, and can get not only to Khartoum, but out of Khartoum to a safe location, whether that's Djibouti or Saudi Arabia, or Egypt or some other place. That would have to be done in cooperation with all those other countries.

So it's a diplomatic challenge, it's a military challenge. And it's obviously a security challenge right on the ground. And just follow up on that, Colonel Leighton, I mean, as we just read and heard from Larry Madowo talking about how some of the local forces there on the ground are offering to help the Americans in terms of any evacuations that might be needed.

But I would assume, based on what you're saying -- what you were just saying a few moments ago, that you're going to want American military personnel to essentially secure any airfield where you have American diplomatic personnel being evacuated. I mean, I assume you're going to want to have that in place, I would think, right?

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. That is really the first job (technical difficulty) where the airfield -- where these people would be disembarking. And once they -- you know, once they secure that, then it would be possible for both the army and the RSF to help Americans get to that at that place, either a central location like the U.S. embassy or to the airport itself.

That, of course, would require a lot of coordination to -- you know, there would be a lot of work with the local efforts there. So it would require a lot of brokering, a lot of understanding of what the local situation is. And that's sometimes really hard to do in a very fluid moment like this.

ACOSTA: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it. We'll get back to you if things start developing there in Sudan. We'll, of course, lean on your expertise if that happens. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet.

ACOSTA: Now, to the crisis involving gun violence in this country, wrong doorbell, wrong driveway, wrong car, wrong yard. Those are the reasons that at least six Americans were shot this week.

For 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis, it was a deadly mistake. She was killed when the car she was riding and turned into the wrong driveway in Upstate New York and the homeowner began firing.

Stephen Gutowski is a CNN contributor. He is also a gun safety instructor and founder of the reload.com, a website that says it is dedicated to accurately reporting the details and nuances of big gun stories.

I guess, Stephen, we'll ask you about some of that nuance here. You know, help us understand the mind of a gun owner here. Why do so many people -- why we've seen so many cases of people reaching for their guns because somebody's at the door they don't recognize or somebody just pulled into their driveway?

I mean, what you're -- I'm sure you've come across this, looking at social media, picking up on conversations and newscasts and so on. The common refrain is from people who see this and think that this is a little nutty or very nutty, is that there are just too many guns in this country and that is why you are seeing these kinds of tragedies like this. What do you say to that?

[19:10:00]

STEPHEN GUTOWSKI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean I think that most gun owners are looking at these situations and thinking the same thing in terms of this is not an appropriate response to the details that we've heard, right? Someone knocks on your door or rings your doorbell and late at night, or drives up your driveway unexpectedly, that might be cause for a concern, it might be caused to go and figure out what's going on. You even call the police if you're really concerned, but it's not cause to just shoot somebody without discerning that they're even a threat to you first.

I mean, these are situations I think we've seen that are really criminal acts. These are -- these are situations where there isn't a reasonable threat to the person's life. From the details, we know maybe there'll be some that come out that change the story. But from what we know now, it's going to be hard for any of these people in the incidents that you've discussed to claim self-defense in these cases.

ACOSTA: Certainly. And according to the gun violence archive, there have been more mass shootings than days so far this year, more than 160 of them. Last Saturday, we were here doing a newscast about this. We saw seven mass shootings more than any other day this year. We could be on a record pace for mass shootings in 2023.

How do you propose that this trend be reversed?

GUTOWSKI: Yes, certainly, it's a difficult situation to deal with, obviously. I don't think there's one light switch that you can flip that's going to solve these mass shootings, especially when you look at -- there's a lot of different counts. We can't even really agree on what a mass shooting is. You have the gun violence archive count that's four more injured in a shooting. That includes basically all motivations or incidents,

Then you have, for instance, the Violence Projects count, which is for more killed in a public shooting where, you know, sort of an active shooter situation. And there's been four of those and these --

ACOSTA: No matter how you slice those there's a lot of mass shooting.

GUTOWSKI: Yes, absolutely. No matter how you look at it, there's too many. I mean, one would be too many. And I think that, for me, I'd look to that Violence Project suggestions of how -- especially the kind of mass shootings that get intense media coverage can be prevented in the future with a combination of things like mental health into interventions when warning signs -- signs are shown or trying to intervene in ways that can ensure that somebody doesn't get a gun if they've -- are showing that they may be a threat to themselves or others.

There's certainly things on both sides of that question that can be done. And that probably there's a lot of agreement on beyond sort of the things that we commonly discuss, the policies we commonly discuss. And I think that that's an area where we need more discussion, more conversation.

ACOSTA: Speaking of discussion, last hour, I spoke with Ryan Busse, he's a former gun industry executive. I'm sure you know who he is. Who says the discussion on gun rights has far outstripped any discussion on gun safety. And let's listen to a little bit of what he had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN BUSSE, FORMER FIREARMS EXECUTIVE: You can't have 415 million guns, many of them -- maybe as many as 25 or 30 million assault weapons now and pump hatred and conspiracy through certainly the right side of our media now. You can't have a political system that profits and propagates irrational fear and hatred have all these guns. And then roll back restrictions like we have in 26 states. Florida just did it. So there's now permitless carry in 26 states. You can't do all that and think you're not going to have these issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I mean, is that a problem that we have in this country that you -- we just have too many guns? I mean, that's what Ryan seems to be saying. And he used to work in the industry.

GUTOWSKI: Sure. Of course, he works for a gun control group now.

ACOSTA: Yes.

GUTOWSKI: But, yes, certainly, that's a perspective that a lot of Americans have on the issue. I think that even more popular perspective is that we have too many guns in the hands of people who shouldn't have them, criminals, people with severe mental illness that are a threat to themselves or others. And the question becomes, how do you remove guns from those people?

And it's not necessarily an easy answer, right? But there, I think there's more that can be done under the current laws, as you hear gun rights advocates saying and there's probably more that can be done in crafting solutions, including on, you know, guns -- efforts like red flag laws that address some of the legitimate critiques that you've seen from the -- right on those issues, too.

You're seeing sort of an attempt at this in Tennessee right now.

ACOSTA: Yes, Governor Bill Lee.

GUTOWSKI: Yes. And there's still going to be critiques of the way that they're going about it. But perhaps something more will come out of that that will be a bit more of a proposal that's acceptable to either side of the issue where you have the due process protections that gun rights advocates want, but you also have the ability to take firearms away from somebody after going through those due process protections, who is a threat to themselves or others, who's showing clear signs of that. And that's something I think that progress could probably be made on.

ACOSTA: And what about, I mean, other items? I mean, one thing that Ryan mentioned in our conversation with him in the last hour is universal background checks. It's an issue that has, you know, some 80 to 85 percent of Americans approving that. Why can't we get -- why can't this country get to the finish line on that? What about an assault weapon ban? You're seeing states, Washington State, for example, going down the road of an assault weapon ban. What about raising the age to buy an AR-15? Are all of those things off the table as far as you're concerned?

[19:15:15]

GUTOWSKI: Well, you know, I think those issues are some of the ones that have been the sticking points for 30 years, right? These are the policies that everyone has entrenched positions on universal background checks, assault weapons bans, you are seeing some progress or some momentum for solvents, bans. But you did also see, for instance, Michigan, Colorado, New Mexico, states that are triple blue states didn't pass their version of assault weapons ban.

And you also run up against, I think, some kind of --

ACOSTA: What about universal issues, background checks?

GUTOWSKI: Universal background checks is a more popular policy and polling as you -- as you mentioned there. And I think that you do see it adopted more widely than assault weapons bans. And but, you know, there obviously, are those in trench positions where people think that universal background checks, one, aren't going to solve the problem because they're difficult to enforce unless you have a registry and gun rights advocates don't want a registry because they --

ACOSTA: But why not give it a shot? Why not try the background checks?

GUTOWSKI: Well, certainly, we have background checks on most sales on the vast majority of sales.

ACOSTA: The universal.

GUTOWSKI: Yes. Private sales don't have them, but most people buy their guns through gun stores. It's not really -- if you look at surveys, for instance, from the University of Chicago, criminals who've committed gun crimes in Chicago area prisons, the way they get their guns isn't necessarily through, you know, gun shows or buying through private sales from people, they get them from people they know, and people know that they're selling to people who shouldn't be allowed to have them, right? That's sort of a more significant problem, I think, with where crime guns come from.

And, you know, it's -- and I would also note that when you put universal background checks on to a vote, right, you saw this in Maine, and you saw it in Nevada in 2016, it doesn't -- you don't get that 80 percent, 90 percent support, you get right around 50 percent. In Maine, it failed. In Nevada, it barely passed.

So, you know, there's also practical political constraints when you're talking about implementing these sorts of policies as well.

ACOSTA: So it sounds what you're saying is that there's just really no proposal that's on the table right now that is supported by proponents of new gun restrictions that you would be comfortable with or that you think gun rights supporters would be comfortable with.

GUTOWSKI: Yes, I mean -- ACOSTA: I mean, the two sides -- I mean, they're so entrenched. And eventually, it always seems -- the conversation always seems to leave, well, they're going to confiscate my guns, they're going to take my guns.

GUTOWSKI: There is a lot of distrust, absolutely. I think that's a significant hurdle when you talk about trying to --

ACOSTA: But isn't that kind of -- isn't that just sort of a red herring that's just always thrown out there in the conversation?

GUTOWSKI: Well, I mean, you know --

ACOSTA: With that tighter gun restrictions.

GUTOWSKI: Obviously, some people feel that way. Certainly, gun control activists feel like the gun rights side is not being reasonable. And at the same time, you have the gun rights side pointing to things like, you know, micro stamping requirements in California where it's not even a technology that exists, but they put it on the books is you can't buy a new handgun unless it has this technology that doesn't yet exist.

And so there -- there's sort of this lack of trust that's developed from those efforts where, you know, you might hear some lawmakers saying, we just want people to -- we just want to limit the number of guns or we want to get rid of certain kinds of guns. And then they do things like that, where they make it effectively impossible to buy a new handgun. The California list hasn't had a new model. [inaudible]

ACOSTA: I guess -- I guess my point is -- I guess one of the questions I have is that when the conversation turns to, what about this particular proposal or that particular proposal? It seems as though the conversation and in the response that you give, always seems to drift to the most, you know, extreme possible outcome of pursuing new gun restrictions that it's going to be gun confiscation, it's going to be all these onerous things, when really, there's just, you know, isn't seen -- there doesn't seem to be any willingness to come find some common ground on the issue.

GUTOWSKI: I mean, I think that's probably true on either side, right? There's not a lot of these proposals that come up where they say, we'll let you have one of your goals, like National Reciprocity, for instance. It's a big goal for gun rights advocates. You don't really see that as a counter offer given when talking about universal background checks or assault weapons bans.

It's really in either side, frankly, only once their view. And I think that's something that's you built a lot of distrust, and it's going to be hard to break through that if -- to make it through to any reasonable policies. Obviously, it's not impossible because we saw the first federal gun control -- first new federal gun restrictions in 30 years was passed just last year.

ACOSTA: Yes. GUTOWSKI: They're relatively minor in the grand scheme of things of what gun control advocates want. But, you know, there were some areas of agreements that Republicans and Democrats were able to get to. And so it's not impossible, I guess would be my point.

[19:20:01]

ACOSTA: All right. Well, we'll keep the conversation going. Thanks so much, Stephen Gutowski. We'll be right back.

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ACOSTA: Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, is escalating his feud with Disney after learning of a deal with the ongoing board to maintain Disney's power in their district. The governor's new handpick board is now floating the idea of raising taxes, raising utility rates, even building a prison or competing theme park around Disney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): They tried to do agreement with it -- with themselves basically saying, you're not allowed to touch any of this land or anything like that. And so, you know, we're in the process of nullifying that. It's not valid and there's provisions of Florida law that let us do that. But it just shows you how arrogant, you know, that they were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN political commentator, Ana Navarro, joins us now. Ana, great to see you. What is going on with Ron DeSantis and Disney?

[19:25:58]

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, he's trying to say face. What's going on is that he's using a political vendetta against Disney to give himself airtime. It's counterproductive Jim because it's very hard to make the argument that it is a conservative policy to weaponize government against a private business for voicing an opinion.

ACOSTA: Ana just froze there. Ana, are you still there? Ana Navarro, are you still there?

NAVARRO: Hear me? Yes, do you hear me?

ACOSTA: There you are, Ana. OK, great. All right. Good to see. But let me ask you this. I mean, you know, this is something that even Republicans are asking right now. If Ron DeSantis is going to continue to have this fight with Disney, and he's not going to win this fight with Disney, you know, even some Republicans saying, how is he going to take on Vladimir Putin? How is he going to take on China?

NAVARRO: Of course, people need to ask themselves that. Republicans need to ask themselves, is this conservative? Is this a conservative flag bearer? Or a person who is weaponizing governments against a private sector, against a private business, the largest employer in Florida for political purposes?

Sure it is known this has nothing to do with the merits. Floridians know this has nothing to do with how Disney has governed itself for decades and decades and decades now. Floridians know that this is a political manufactured culture war, because Disney dared raise their voice in defense of their LGBTQ customers and employees. And that was unacceptable for Ron DeSantis.

And so he has -- he's waging this crazy war, which is costing Floridians, God knows what, because this is going to -- if he continues this way, this is going to end up in court, obviously, you know, Disney is not going to back down.

Disney is going to challenge the legality of the -- of what the legislature is trying to do in nullifying what they. It is cuckoo crazy, cuckoo crazy to the point where I think Ron DeSantis is doing himself great harm with mainstream Republicans, actual conservative Republicans who realize that this is insane, and counterproductive, and costly, and stupid, and vindictive.

And people have to ask themselves, you know, what is the thing -- the only thing scarier than a governor weaponizing government? A president weaponizing government. Is this the guy you want for President of the United States?

ACOSTA: Well, let me ask you about that. Because, Ana, do you think this has anything to do with why there are even some Florida Republican House members, even after meeting with Ron DeSantis in Washington this past week, are now endorsing Donald Trump? I don't think that's how Ron DeSantis envisioned this going.

NAVARRO: Look, I think this is part of it. I think, you know, people see his war in trying to pull the liquor licenses away from drag shows. They see his war against Disney.

I also think, and the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, said the quiet part out loud this week. I think Ron DeSantis is an awkward human being. He's an odd duck who really hasn't invested much in developing relationships with other politicians, even people he served with in Congress. And I think that's coming back to haunt him.

ACOSTA: All right. Ana Navarro, great to see you. Thanks so much.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it, Ana.

All right. In the meantime, the NFL has suspended five players for gambling, but gambling companies are some of the biggest sponsors of the league. Are they sending mixed messages? We'll talk about that with former NFL linebacker, Chad Brown. There he is. He joins us next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[19:3:19] ACOSTA: Three NFL players are banned indefinitely and two others are

hit with lighter sanctions after the league accused them of violating its gambling policy. The NFL said Quintez Cephus and CJ Moore of the Detroit Lions and Shaka Toney of the Washington Commanders are facing an indefinite suspension. Shortly after the NFL's announcement, the Lions released Cephus and Moore from their contracts.

Two additional Lions players, Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams are suspended from the team's first six games of the season.

And let's talk now with the former NFL linebacker, Chad Brown. He joins us now. He played more than a dozen seasons with New England, Seattle, and Pittsburgh.

Chad, great to see you. What do you think about this gambling situation? Does the League have a problem with this? Is that what we're starting to see emerge?

CHAD BROWN, FORMER NFL PLAYER: I think we are beginning to see the beginnings of a problem for the league. When the league decided to make relationships and partners with sportsbooks, they knew the slippery slope was going to be there.

So there was a player suspended last year for the entire season. Now we have news of this Washington Commander player and Detroit Lion players, but there's also been coaches who have been suspended. There were low level staffers from Detroit Lions earlier this year who were fired due to their gambling connection.

So, this partnership while the owners are certainly making money, I think from a public perception standpoint, it begins to chip away at the integrity of the league when players and league office personnel are getting busted for their gambling outside of League protocol.

ACOSTA: Yes, and Chad, I mean you and I watch a lot of games and when fans watch, they see and hear a lot of gambling ads. I mean they're almost on constantly and people are encouraged to place bets on these games. Do you think that could be having an impact on the players?

I assume the players watch some games, too they're not on the field all the time, and they are seeing these same gambling ads, too.

[19:35:13]

BROWN: Well, not only are they see the gambling ads, but in some Stadiums across the League, there are actually the sportsbooks at the Stadium.

ACOSTA: Right.

BROWN: So the League and the owners who are certainly happy to take the money from these partnerships, have put their players and the League personnel in a pretty precarious spot.

Now the League does have a video that they make everybody watch early in the offseason, someone from NFL security shows up and has a conversation about the League rules as far as gambling what you can and cannot do. There are placards in every locker room outlining the gambling protocols.

But even in the midst of that we know gambling can be an issue for some people, so for a league with as many people and players in it as the NFL, there is bound to be every single year a small percentage of guys who cannot help themselves and will cross over those lines the League has tried to put in place.

ACOSTA: And the league is pointing out, there is no evidence indicating any inside information was used or that any game was compromised in any way, but is there a hypocrisy issue here?

BROWN: To a certain extent there is. There is a reason why for years and years and years, the NFL wanted nothing to do with gambling, but the owners, in their quest for more and more dollars, all of those guys are billionaires, now, they want more billions. They made these partnerships, and so, in some way, the current situation is the bet that the owners made when they allowed this partnerships to go forward.

Players and league personnel are going to gamble, and at some point, someone is going to be tempted with the ease of gambling now to make a bet on an NFL game.

And now, it is the slippery slope of when someone makes a bet based on inside information. Again, that's going to chip away at the integrity of the League and this partnership, that while making money, I'm not sure if it's going to be worth the tarnish on the shield of the NFL.

ACOSTA: And how does this affect the teams? I mean, the Detroit Lions, they're going to have to adjust what they do going into the next season because they've lost some players here.

BROWN: I don't think it'll hurt the Lions too badly. None of these guys are really guys they were counting on. The one player they were counting on is only suspended for six games, but at some point, this is going to affect a big star and the team is going to be affected.

So now we're not just talking about the possible impropriety and possible integrity of the game. At some point, a player is going to be suspended that is going to directly affect the outcome of that week's or that season's games.

ACOSTA: All right. Let's hope not, but I suspect you might be right about that.

All right, Chad Brown, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

BROWN: Yes, good question.

ACOSTA: Yes, sir. I think you're right.

BROWN: Thanks, Jim. Have a good one.

ACOSTA: We appreciate it. All right, a big announcement today about a new program coming to CNN.

Gayle King and Charles Barkley together. They give us a special look at plans for their new show. "King Charles," that's next.

And a programming note, Bill Weir meets the climate experts racing against time to build innovative solutions to protect the planet from the looming effects of the climate crisis. A new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper airs tomorrow night at eight on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:16]

ACOSTA: It's official, "King Charles," a brand new show hosted by award-winning journalist, Gayle King and NBA superstar Charles Barkley will be debuting on Wednesday nights on CNN coming up this fall. They made the announcement this afternoon on TNT's NBA Tip Off. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAYLE KING, CNN HOST, "KING CHARLES": What I think is so great for the both of us is that it's live TV, and to me live TV is like working without a net. Don't you feel that?

CHARLES BARKLEY, CNN HOST, "KING CHARLES": Yes. Hundred percent.

KING: So whatever happens, happens. I like that.

Charles always says, I can't get used to you guys call him, Chuckster. I'm so used to Charles. So I'll just stick with Charles. Charles always says, I don't like a script. I like to have a little bit of a script.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He likes Charlie a lot by the way.

KING: I like to know -- Charlie? Do you like, Charlie?

BARKLEY: Please don't call me Charlie. I hate Charlie. I hate it.

KING: When Charlie and I are on TV, I just think that we're both very curious people. This thing that excites me most, neither one of us were looking, well, I'll speak for myself. I wasn't looking for another job. Were you?

BARKLEY: No. When they said something, I said hell no, I don't want to be on TV more. And then this, when they first brought it up, and they said, what about Gayle? I said Gayle who? They were like, Gayle King. I was just, oh, yes, I will work with Gayle.

KING: Yes.

BARKLEY: That's the only way.

KING: And I had the same conversation.

BARKLEY: And we called each other.

KING: Yes. Yes.

BARKLEY: She said, Chuck, I don't want to do TV anymore. I'm only going to do it if you want to do it. I said, I just told them the same thing.

KING: Exact same thing.

BARKLEY: We had a great conversation, and that's how the whole thing came about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what do you want the show to look like?

BARKLEY: I want it to be nonpolitical. Just two people --

KING; But we will talk about politics.

BARKLEY: We will.

KING: Yes.

BARKLEY: But we don't want to say we're a liberal --

KING: Exactly.

BARKLEY: We're conservative, Republican, Democrat, that's one of the things that has already ruined television in general, and I know she's going to be a straight shooter. You know, I'm going to be a straight shooter. And when we got together for lunch, we just started talking about random things and it was really curious that we had different opinions, which is fine.

Like we weren't --

KING: I was correct, he was wrong. Just continue, dear. Go ahead.

BARKLEY: But we were like, all I want is people, even if I disagree with them, I want them to be honest with me. I don't want him saying things to get clickbait. That does what drives me crazy about people in our profession right now.

We're not trying to get people to click on.

KING: Right.

BARKLEY: I know she's going to be fair and honest. And, you know, I'm going to do the same thing.

KING: I feel that about him, too. And I think, you know, you just want a civil conversation. I like it too, that it's no holds barred. You know, I'm very aware of people are watching. I don't think that I can just go on and say anything. I don't know how you feel about that.

But I -- you know, I think that you know, decorum and courtesy and kindness always works. But everybody I know has an opinion about something. I just think we have to figure out a way to have a good conversation without tearing each other down, and I think that we can do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a question. If today was the first day of the show, what's going on in the world, what's going on in sports, what's going on -- what would be the topic today? Today.

[19:45:01]

BARKLEY: I think, me and Ernie actually touched on it on the podcast the other day. I don't want to be the person that like, every time we wanted to have one of these mass shootings be like, oh, another mass shooting happened. Let's get to the next story like no, man.

We've had three mass shootings in the last week. The one in Alabama, the young Black kid who got shot for knocking on the wrong door.

KING: The girl who was in the driveway.

BARKLEY: The girl in the driveway who got -- went to the wrong house and got -- they didn't even ask for anything. They just went to the wrong house, and you have the cheerleader thing down in Texas.

KING: In her cheerleading uniform.

BARKLEY: Yes, she accidentally opened the wrong door.

KING: Stuff we've all done.

BARKLEY: Yes, and we like -- and people are just like, we need to talk about it, man. And like I can say, I'm not -- you guys know, I'm a progun guy, but it should not be easy to get guns. We've got to start doing better, so that to me is a great question.

KING: I know, Kenny, I would want to say what is wrong with us? America. You know, I was traveling overseas and they said, you know, you're from New York, and you're scared to be here. You know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, for sure.

KING: The image that people have of us around the world right now is not so good. I know friends who are thinking about leaving America, because their children are about to go to school. Just the fact that I spoke in Las Vegas last night, a teachers' convention. I was speaking that they're now having as we all know, gun shooting drills.

But I think that there's a lot to talk about. It doesn't always have to be so heavy. You know, I think Charles and I both like to eat. I'm hoping that food will be incorporated some way. I love pop culture. What are you laughing at, Ernie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking of food --

BARKLEY: I know. I've got a question for Kenny. I have a question for Kenny. You have a young, beautiful daughter is here. Have you talked to her about going to school? Because like these conversations, Shaq, you've got some young kids too, right?

KENNY SMITH, HOST, TNT'S NBA TIP OFF: Yes, I think the one thing that we talk about is protocol. You know, who should you look for to trust, because there's always going to be an emergency at some point when you're as a parent, not there.

My always -- the biggest delimiter is, I make sure that my children understood who they can trust and so it might not be a hundred percent accurate all the time, but if you're in the 90 percentile of the people that you can trust and look for, that as a person you can trust. That is a person you can't trust in that moment. You may trust him later, but not in that moment, and so I teach about teaching in the right way.

KING: And you know what, Kenny, these are very heavy topics, but I want people to tune in to see what our Charles and Gail going to do? I love the fact that it's "King Charles." I like, you know, people said, God, Gayle, your name isn't even in it. I said, well, I think King is sort of my name.

But playing off of Sir Charles, playing off there is a real King Charles, I actually think that that's very clever. I think that it'll be fun to watch the dynamic between the two of us.

SMITH: Because I like her a lot. I've known her for --

KING: I do, too. I feel the same way about him.

BARKLEY: How could you not? But no, but I am saying, I have known her --

KING: I actually like him.

BARKLEY: We've known each other for a really long time. And I said, Chris, hell yes--

KING: That would be Christ Licht.

BARKLEY: -- with Gayle. Yes, Chris Licht.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, HOST, TNT'S NBA TIP OFF: Gayle, just keep in mind, he will cut you off. He will repeat himself. He is very moody, and if you want to get him on your good side, Krispy Kreme.

KING; Krispy Kreme.

O'NEAL: Krispy Kreme wins his heart.

KING: Well, you know what, Shaq, that's my good side, too. With the jelly doughnut. We both have other jobs. I'm not leaving CBS. You're not leaving your job.

BARKLEY: I'm not leaving Turner.

KING: Yes. Yes.

O'NEAL: That's a relief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One other thing, too, think about that.

When I heard when I heard the title, "King Charles," you know what I thought?

KING: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought back to when we were doing the movie reviews in Sir Charles Theater and it was a Royal setting right here, and look at the Chuckster just being scared out of his shoes by the --

KING: Ernie, is that your suggestion for a graphic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes, King Charles.

KING: Oh God. I like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Kenny, we've got some airtime in there.

KING: I like that, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex upstairs doing a --

KING: He is not a court jester. Take that back.

BARKLEY: I just think it's hilarious that people didn't know you're not like, it wasn't -- the show's not called King Charles. It's called "King Charles." For you fools at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, it is all in how you say it, Chuckster.

BARKLEY: Yes.

ALL: King Charles.

KING: We are going to have a lot of fun. But this is the thing, Ernie. Charles -- Charles, I said to Ernie. I'm going to give 110 percent and I think you feel the same. And Ernie said you can't give 110 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not. It's not possible.

SMITH: Yes, I've been hearing that my whole life, man --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you've never given 110 percent, Chuckster, so--

KING: Thank you for having me on. Thank you guys.

BARKLEY: No question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All right, "King Charles" will be a weekly discussion of the events and people shaping our culture. We're excited to welcome our new colleagues, Gayle King and Charles Barkley to CN. That's where they get the "King Charles" from. You're going watch "King Charles" Wednesday nights launching this fall

right here on CNN.

A massive sewage spill has shut down miles of one beach in California, how it is affecting the beach goers. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:53:37]

ACOSTA: Seven miles of Southern California beaches had to be shut down after 250,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Los Angeles River when some equipment malfunctioned. The waterway flows right into the Pacific Ocean.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in Long Beach.

Camila, how are those beachgoers handling it?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well, look, some of them don't even care. They want to be here, and it is a beautiful day. So it's really hard to get people to stay away from the water.

But the lifeguard is actually walking back and forth telling people hey, get out of the water. They have loudspeakers telling people to get out of the water. It's been a very wet winter here and it is finally a really nice weekend out. It's why you're seeing so many people out here.

And when you get to the beach, this is what you'll find. It says essentially get out of here because there's sewage in all of this water. Authorities saying that they're going to continue to test the water until it's safe to be in there.

But right now what they're saying is, there is a lot of bacteria in there. You don't want to be here.

I talked to a lot of people who told me, look, we went inside and then they told us and so we immediately got out. Here is one of those residents here in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMEO VERRIGNI, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: As soon we find out, we were kind of disgusted, but what can we do now? We just walk all the way to get to the car and go home and take a shower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now that spill happen on Thursday. They were able to clean it up, but it went into the LA River which eventually came into the ocean.

[19:55:10] BERNAL: And Jim again, they are going to continue to test the water

and let us know when it's going to be safe to be back in the water. But as of now, it is not safe -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you very much. Hope they can enjoy that water soon. We appreciate it.

A wild scene in one Utah neighborhood. Take a look and you can see part of this house slide right off of a cliff. Take a look at that video just unbelievable. Why it happened, next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back.

The City of Uvalde has hired a new Assistant Police Chief, Homer Delgado is the current Chief of Police in Dilley, Texas. He'll start in Uvalde in May.

Local media report that the position was created after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary which killed 19 students and two teachers. A preliminary investigation described the approach by authorities as overall lackadaisical.

Now, to some other stories we're following. In Draper, Utah two homes overlooking a canyon moments after sliding off of their foundations. Other houses in the neighborhood are being evacuated over fears they could also meet the same fate like this. This video is just incredible.

Officials say snowpack melting and changes in conditions there in the soil could be to blame.

And in Indiana, a quiet night was interrupted by a massive boom Take a listen.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

ACOSTA: That noise you just heard was likely caused by this meteor streaking across the sky, a meteor like that usually burns up before we reaching the ground and it appears this one did just that. Officials say there was no damage reported, thank goodness, outside of a few worried residents, but that certainly was loud and would definitely get your attention in that neighborhood.

In the meantime, that's the news reporting from Washington. I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at five o'clock Eastern, if not sooner than that.

"Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico" is up next.

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