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At Least Seven Dead After Car Hits Crowd Outside Texas Shelter; First Victim Identified In Texas Mall Shooting; At Least 201 Mass Shootings In 127 Days In America; Interview With Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX); Gun Violence Epidemic; Buttigieg: FAA Is About 3,000 Air Traffic Controllers Short; Hollywood On Strike. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 07, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: At least seven people are dead after a car plowed into a group of people outside a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas, earlier this morning. That shelter has been housing migrants. But first, we want to play the moments leading up to the incident in Brownsville. You have to look very closely at the scree, but you'll see what happens here as this car plows into what is believed to be a group of migrants.

Now we've frozen that video right before the most graphic moment, but this video comes from Congressman Henry Cuellar's office, and I'll be speaking with him later on this hour, but for the moment, let's go now to CNN's Rosa Flores.

And, Rosa, when you look at that video and it's a little grainy, a little difficult to make out, but my goodness, it just -- what it tells you is that these migrants were the folks who were waiting there on the side of the street there, really didn't have any chance whatsoever to get out of the way. It happened that fast.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was so fast. And I talked to the director of the shelter. And he says that he was able to capture a different angle from his shelter, and he says that what he witnessed happened at about 8:30 Central Time this morning. He says that it captured about 20 to 25 migrants who had just finished breakfast at a shelter and had crossed the street and they were sitting on the curb waiting for a bus.

And then he says that the video shows that a 2007 Range Rover at a very high rate of speed ran the red light and hit a curb about 30 feet from where those migrants were, and then that the vehicle got out of control. Now this director says that some of the migrant witnesses say that it looked like an intentional act. So I asked him, based on what he witnessed in that surveillance video, to the director, if he thought it was intentional.

And he said no, that, again, what this video shows from his angle, from his surveillance camera is that this vehicle ran a red light, hit a curb close to the migrants, and then hit the migrants as this vehicle got out of control. And again, that it was very fast. Now police say that the driver was arrested and is being held on reckless driving charges. That those charges could be escalated. And that the individual is not cooperating with authorities.

This individual has given authorities multiple names and so they're having to fingerprint him to get his identifying details. Now, police say that they're still investigating the motive. They have not released a motive, but they are investigating, and the FBI, Jim, is also assisting in this case -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Rosa Flores, thank you so much. Keep us posted on any new developments that come in.

Now to the mass killing in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas. Just minutes ago, CNN learned the name of one of the eight people killed. His name is Christian LaCour. His family tells CNN he was a sweet and caring young man who was greatly loved. Like all the victims, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A dashcam video captures the moment the killer hops out of his car. We are pausing it before you see him gun down men, women, and children on a busy sidewalk there at that outlet mall. A police officer already at the mall on an unrelated call, we're told, killed the shooter. And CNN obtained this photo that appears to show the dead shooter heavily armed and dressed in tactical gear. A senior law enforcement official source familiar with the investigation tells CNN that the gunman is 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia.

And CNN's Ed Lavandera is at the scene of this senseless attack.

Ed, there's a lot more that we're learning about this gunman. What can you tell us?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that senior law enforcement source is also telling CNN that they have discovered and uncovered that this gunman had connections to right-wing extremism, that on his body, they found the insignia with the letters RWDS, which stands for right-wing death squad, and that they've also found social media posts that have to do with right-wing extremism as well as white supremacy.

So that is what investigators are looking into at this moment. But we don't have a clear picture yet as to what that might have to do with the motive of this particular shooting and why this particular location. The scene here is still a massive crime scene, as investigators have kept this outlet mall in Allen, Texas, shut down throughout the entire day.

The city of Allen just announced a little while ago that they will begin allowing people to come here to retrieve their cars later tonight. But, you know, there are still dozens if not several hundred cars there inside that parking lot. We've also been trying to piece together to give people a better understanding of how all of this unfolded.

You saw in that video where you see the dashcam video of the gunman arriving here at the scene. And based on witness interviews that we've done over the last two days of reporting on this, we can show you kind of this map that shows a building that's essentially inside this parking lot area. It's on stand-alone structure.

[19:05:01]

And you can see on this map that the path that was taken by the gunman, around the northeastern corner of that building, and then ending where he was shot and killed by an Allen police officer. You know, so that is kind of gives you a sense of just how long this lasted. Several hundred yards that this gunman was able to maneuver and through this parking lot, and one witness told us that he saw the gunman pass by the store front that he was in, shooting deliberately at people in the parking lot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOISES CARREON, NEIGHBOR TO ALLEN, TEXAS SHOOTING SUSPECT: No, I never really saw anything that seemed suspicious or out of, you know, out of whack with the guy. I mean, he would get in, park his car, and then just walk in like anybody else. So nothing, you know, nothing of a red flag. I think he was a real loner. A lot of times he would walk up and down the block, and always with those Converse.

You know, he liked those. I guess those were his favorite, those Converse. So, I think, you know, just liked to walk up and down the block with his little hoodie on and just -- you know, just didn't really say anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Jim, the person you just heard from there is actually a neighbor of Mauricio Garcia's family who was describing to us kind of their interactions over the last several years with him in that neighborhood and how they were able to identify him from the shoes that he was wearing in that picture that we've been able to show you from the crime scene here -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Ed Lavandera, thanks for all the reporting today. Really appreciate it.

Let's bring in CNN contributor Jennifer Mascia. She is a staff writer for "The Trace," a nonprofit news outlet dedicated to the American gun violence crisis.

Jennifer, thanks for joining us. There have been I guess 201 mass shootings this year so far. We're barely into May. It's 127 days, 201 mass shootings. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive. Do you see a common thread in all of this? Is it the AR-15 assault style rifles or rifles like that that we see in so many of these shootings over and over again?

JENNIFER MASCIA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: AR-15s are definitely the deadliest weapon used in these shootings. What I see is that it's very easy to get guns in the United States, and especially in Texas. You can buy a gun from a stranger in Texas, and there's no record of it, and it's totally legal. And you can walk up to a mall with a displayed gun, and you're just, you know, exercising your Second Amendment rights until you use it, and then you cross the line into criminality. So these things aren't black and white where there are good guys and

criminals. The truth is most mass shootings are actually perpetrated with handguns, but the deadliest mass shootings, the ones that we're all familiar with, Sandy Hook, Sutherland Springs, El Paso, Buffalo, Uvalde, those are all perpetrated with these semiautomatic rifles. And it's because they're designed to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.

ACOSTA: Right, and even yesterday, there was a police officer who was on a different call there at the outlet mall, and yes, according to authorities, he was able to take down the gunman, but it was after that gunman had caused so much carnage, and so even if somebody is there with a weapon like that, and is able to neutralize a shooter, with these kinds of high-powered rifles, it may not be enough. Even having the so-called good guy with a gun there, you might not have enough time before that person takes down a bunch of people.

MASCIA: Yes, I mean, is that, you know, an acceptable loss that eight people have to die before a mass gunman is stopped? Yes, that police officer was a hero. If he hadn't been there, 25 people might have died. But, unfortunately, we see casualties before any good guy with a gun can get there. If there were police stationed there all the time, there is a good chance that there would have been casualties before the gunman could be taken down.

And that's where the logic of that argument kind of starts to fall short. And the argument that we should get rid of all gun laws because we need good guys with guns, you really kind of see in real time that that's being proven inaccurate.

ACOSTA: And more than half the states in this country now have these permit-less carry laws, meaning most residents are eligible to carry a weapon without certification or training. What's the impact of that?

MASCIA: The impact to that is that, you know, gun culture is more accepted, more permissive. People can walk around with guns and if you call a police officer, they don't really have a proper cause to search somebody just because they're carrying a gun. You know, it really lowers the bar or raises the bar really for what's acceptable.

We saw in Cleveland, Texas, we had a whole neighborhood of people who fired off guns, and this didn't raise the alarm of police officers. In fact, it took them an extra long time to get there during last week's mass killing because they were so used to these calls.

[19:10:08]

It becomes where it obscures criminality, this permissive gun culture can obscure the people among us who shouldn't have guns, and the behavior that can veer off really easily into criminality.

ACOSTA: All right, Jennifer Mascia, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

Coming up, Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar will join me live to talk about these two tragic incidents in Texas as well as what border cities are doing to prepare for a surge in migrants with COVID era border restrictions ending this week. We'll talk to him in just a few minutes. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: We're following the latest developments out of Brownsville, Texas, where police say this morning a speeding car plowed into a crowd of migrants near a homeless shelter. An official tells CNN's Rosa Flores it does not appear that the driver did it intentionally.

[19:15:02]

CNN has new footage of the incident and we've frozen it just before impact, out of respect for the victims. Take a look.

Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar joins us now.

Congressman, that video came from your office. We appreciate you sharing that with us. I have to ask you, what more are you learning about this horrific incident? Have any new details come in? Do you think it was intentional?

REP. HENRY CUELLAR (D-TX): Well, we don't know at this time. You know, they are doing the drug and alcohol tests. He's not being very cooperative, and we don't know -- we got that video. There's other videos that I did not want to send over to you. They're a lot more graphic, but I think law enforcement will have a better idea tomorrow. I think they're having a press conference.

ACOSTA: But at this point, you know, what does this tell you about the situation in Brownsville? I mean, it sounds as though these were migrants who were lined up outside, just standing there, and they didn't have a chance. I mean, the car was coming in there so fast, they didn't even have a chance to move.

CUELLAR: No, they didn't. I mean, if -- you know, I'm sure you've seen the video all and in play. I know you didn't play all of it out of respect for the families and the individuals, but yes, that vehicle was traveling at a very, very fast pace. Now, whether he did it intentionally or lost control, we don't know at this time. But we do know that any time if you're driving that fast, and there's people around there, there will be some sort of reckless, maybe criminal action against that individual.

But we'll leave that up to the local law enforcement, but again, you know, I just feel bad for those migrants who were just standing there, waiting for the bus, and many of them did not make it, and some of them are, of course, in the hospital with very, very serious injuries.

ACOSTA: And Congressman, I want to ask you about Title 42, which is expiring pretty soon in just a few days from now. You represent a number of border towns. Do you think the U.S. is prepared for the end of Title 42? And what is your response to the Biden administration sending, planning to send 1500 troops down to the border? Is that going to help?

CUELLAR: Well, you know, first of all, are we ready? The answer is no. I think there are certain steps, policies that haven't been implemented and will be implemented, but I think they should have done that a long time ago, quite honestly. For example, the agreement with Panama and Canada to hold some of the folks from passing through the Darien Gap.

Some of the processing centers outside the U.S., the new policy rule that will come into place probably sometime next week that says that people -- there should be incentives for people to come the right way, through the ports of entry or through the app, and not in between ports or they will be returned.

Using asylum officers at the Border Patrol station, that is a first. I personally think that we should have judges there, and, you know, with all due respect, we've got to get those immigration judges out of their comfort zones and go there in the Border Patrol stations because the decisions that those judges will make will be final, one way or the other. Either they come in or they stay out.

But to let people come in on a notice to appear, it's unfair to them because most of them, quite honestly, doesn't matter if they're coming in for a better life or they're coming in because of crime, drought, or whatever the case, I have heard all those reasons why they're coming in, 88 percent to 90 percent of them are going to be rejected. So I don't think it's fair for them to come in and then be rejected at a later time.

But, again, we have to think outside the box. So to answer your question, are they ready? No. Do they have some good policies that I think if they implemented right, yes, it's going to help, but they should have done that earlier instead of waiting until the last minute. Playing defense on the one-yard-line called the U.S. border is not the right strategy.

And I'll tell you about a couple of things real quickly. The numbers that I have right now, there's about over 150 to 2,000 people that are staged on different parts of the border and people that are in shelters are waiting outside of shelters, doesn't include the type of people that you got in. This is only the border states, the northern border states with the U.S. Then you got the ones that are in Mexico, then you got the ones that are in Panama, Guatemala, the other countries, and you're talking about easily somewhere about 250,000 to 300,000 people that we know of, that we know of.

So it's going to be a rough patch for a while. You know, the 1500 soldiers, active soldiers that are coming in, you know, we've done this since Bush, Obama, or Trump. It's been done.

[19:20:05]

Keep in mind that on enforced immigration law, they just come in to provide support. It doesn't matter if it's a Democrat or Republican president, they're here to give support, so the agents can go out there and do their work instead of being sitting behind a desk. ACOSTA: Let me turn to this latest mass shooting this time in Allen,

Texas. We've seen mass shootings at malls, schools, churches, grocery stores, medical facilities. We had that one in Atlanta just several days ago. It feels like no one is safe really anywhere in this country now, Congressman. Has Congress just let the American people down on this issue?

CUELLAR: You know, I think if you look at the bipartisan bill that we did on firearms, it did provide some of it, but when you look at it, you know, keep in mind that it's not only Congress. It's really society as a whole.

Let me explain by that, if you look at the different factors, it's a complex multi-faceted type of factors from mental illness to social isolation to easy access to guns, to, you know, trauma for childhood experiences, cultural factors, extremism like, you know, some of the ideology I think we might see in Allen. So there's different things, factors out there. You look at the different studies, you know, there's a strict gun law provide better safety.

You know, you know, and I have heard some of your guests already talk about, there is a Journal of Public Health that has one position, the Journal of Criminology has another one. Look at California, look at the ones in red states. So again, to look for a single bullet to say this is it, this is the reason, I think it's going to take a multi- faceted approach by not only Congress but really by society as a whole.

ACOSTA: And if you don't mind, I'm just going to jump in because I know that you voted against assault weapons ban. Is that correct? Are you rethinking that vote at all in light of what has taken place in Allen and so many other places where you see the AR-15 or AR-15 style assault rifle used in so many of these mass shootings? Why not halt those sales for a bit?

CUELLAR: Yes, look, I believe in the Second Amendment. Yes, I believe in the Second Amendment. I did vote for red flags. I did vote to raise the age to 21. I did vote to put more money into mental health. I did vote for the bipartisan gun violence bill that we have. The Charlotte loopholes, universal background checks. I have done all that.

But, again, you know, if we focus on guns, as I said, it's a multi- faceted factors. What about the other issues? Social isolation, what about, you know, the ideology that involved? It's not a single approach to this, but I think if you look at it, if we look at the research, the research out there says that it's a multi-faceted approach that we need to look at.

ACOSTA: I hear you.

CUELLAR: And one more thing.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CUELLAR: One more thing. A lot of these folks, they indicate, they give telltale signs. They'll get on social media. We just have to do a better job in making sure that we look at those signs in the future.

ACOSTA: I hear you. And just -- if I can slip in one last very quick question. Get a quick response from you. Are you OK with officials in Texas not holding any kind of a news conference today about what happened in Allen, not to update the public at all today? Does that make any sense to you?

CUELLAR: Well, again, we -- again, you know, I got three brothers who are law enforcement. They have to put things together. Again, I don't know why they're not doing this at this time, but I hope that they provide the information as soon as they have it to the public. I'm sure there are state, federal, and local law enforcement all working together, and hopefully they can put that information out to the public as soon as possible.

ACOSTA: All right, Congressman Cuellar, we covered a lot of ground there. Thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

All right. In just 2023 so far this year, there have already been 202 approximately mass shootings in America. The one in Allen, Texas, is just one of the latest. So what can we done to stop these horrific attacks? We'll discuss that, next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:51]

ACOSTA: Returning to our top story this hour. Texas police have identified the shooter in a horrifying rampage in Allen, Texas. And in the wake of yet another mass shooting, the same questions are being raised again. How does this keep happening? How should we respond as a nation?

Let's dive into this more with Dr. Jonathan Metzl, he is the director of Vanderbilt's Department of Medicine, Health and Society. He's also a professor of psychiatry.

Dr. Metzl, I mean, we were talking to a gentleman in the previous hour about what he and his daughter went through. I just can't imagine the fear and the anguish that people are going through after something like this. And you have previously said that you think that the country, the U.S., has PTSD as a nation due to this rampant gun violence. What did you mean by that?

DR. JONATHAN METZL, DIRECTOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE, HEALTH AND SOCIETY: You know, I have been studying mass shootings for about 15 years now. And what I meant was that the original studies of post-traumatic stress disorder were done with Vietnam vets. And basically, it was the amount of time you were in combat, the amount of time you thought you were going to die, that correlated with the percentage chance that you were going to develop something like post-traumatic stress disorder.

[19:30:02] So if you were in combat for 10 hours, you have a 10 percent chance;

if you were in combat for 50 hours, you have a 50 percent chance.

And, and now, we feel like we could die at any moment. And so people are living through a world in which just dropping your kids off from school or going shopping on a weekend or going into the office, this threat that something bad could happen leads to a kind of hyper vigilance, a kind of despair, a kind of being on guard.

And really, that's what we know from warzones, and so really, what we're doing, I think, is turning our civilian engagements really into warzones. That's the framework.

ACOSTA: And opponents of new gun laws say this is a mental health issue. You have noted that people who struggle with mental illnesses are more likely to be the victims of violence, not the perpetrators.

But we hear this over and over again, it's a mental health issue, particularly from folks who are opposed to new gun laws, or stricter gun legislation. They keep going back to those talking points about this being a mental health issue.

And of course, mental illness is something we have to deal with as a country, no question about it. But how has that altered public perceptions of this issue? Of this problem? To have that hammered into folks' heads over and over again, it's mental health, it's mental health, not the guns.

METZL: I mean, nobody wants this. We're living through such despair right now. The regularity of these shootings is just honestly unimaginable. It is literally more than our brains can take. So people turn toward the answer that makes sense to them.

But I think yesterday was a perfect example. We knew nothing about what caused the shooting in Texas. We actually had no information whatsoever, and before we had any details about what motivated the shooter, what the effects were going to be, the right-wing talking points were all this is about mental hospitals and there were politicians who were out there saying, this is about untreated mental illness.

And I can just tell you, having studied mass shootings for quite a long time now, that if you look at kind of the hundred leading factors that lead to many of these high-profile mass shootings, there is no doubt that there are some psychological issues for people.

But usually, that's like, case number 50 of other kinds of factors like access to firearms, being radicalized on the internet, a history of violence, a history of misogyny, a history of substance abuse. There are so many factors that have nothing to do with mental illness. And really, it just becomes this kind of catch-all phrase that fills the gap and plays to stereotypes.

And as you say, it's often not true. It's often not true, people with mental illness are much more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of violence. But I just think this narrative kind of -- it does a lot of work for people who want to deflect away from the issue of just being more guns and bad policies, which really is underlying so much of this.

ACOSTA: And a quick one from you. I mean, what is the answer? I mean, you've been studying this for such a long time. You've been dealing with this issue. Is there something that stands out?

METZL: Yes, I used to get asked a lot like, why can't we do like what Australia did or Scotland did? You know, other societies have faced this nowhere near what we're going through right now. And it may be in the beginning, when I started thinking this. I thought, well, let's look at what the policies were that they did in Australia.

I don't think that anymore. I think the lesson of other countries dealing with this is that people decided they'd had enough and they got together around a table. People have different viewpoints. And it wasn't like there was any kind of magic policy and a magic answer.

We have so many guns in circulation right now that I don't think there's any issue. There's not one policy that's going to fix this.

But I do think the lesson of places like Australia is that people got together around the table and said, let us make some hard compromises. Let's make some hard choices and I think that's what we need now. We need a national guideline --

ACOSTA: That's why they did a gun buyback program for example, not to cut you off, but that's where they did, a gun buyback.

METZL: And a bunch of other things, too. I mean, it was contentious at the time, but we have more guns than people in our country. And so a gun buyback is not going to work.

But I do think getting people around the table and just saying, look, let's get in a room and figure this out. Let's figure this out in a way that works for our country. I think that's going to be the lesson because unfortunately, I wish there was some magic policy, but we don't have that.

ACOSTA: All right, Dr. Jonathan Metzl, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

METZL: Thanks so much.

ACOSTA: All right, and up next, it is one of the most critical jobs in aviation, what the FAA is doing to address the shortage of air traffic controllers across the country. Yes, we need them.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:38:43]

ACOSTA: This just in to CNN: Former President Donald Trump will not testify in the civil battery and defamation case involving E. Jean Carroll. She alleges that Trump raped her in the mid-90s. The judge had given Trump's legal team until 5:00 PM today to confirm if he was testifying and Trump's team did not make any filing with the court.

Closing arguments in the case are set to get underway tomorrow and the jury will begin deliberating on Tuesday.

Your summer travel plans could be interrupted as airports across the country are facing severe understaffing. Right now, about one in five air traffic controller positions are open. That comes out to about 3,000 jobs.

But this issue isn't one that can be fixed that easily. There is an intense training program that can take several years to complete, and CNN's Pete Muntean shows us what it takes to become an air traffic controller.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Warnings of not enough workers for your next trip stretch from cockpits to control towers with the FAA's own air traffic controllers now in short supply.

The agency says nationwide, two in every 10 controller jobs are empty. The problem is so severe at a key facility in New York that the FAA is warning summer delays at the area's three main airports could rise by 45 percent.

[19:40:02]

PAUL RINALDI, FORMER PRESIDENT, THE NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: It's a chilling message that we're not able to fly the routes at that level because we don't have enough aircraft controllers.

MUNTEAN (voice over): Now, the federal government is scrambling to play catch up, opening a rare hiring window Friday.

Last year, it was flooded with 58,000 applications. That's 38 candidates for every one opening.

CAMERON SMITH, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL STUDENTS, EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY: It's the backbone for aviation.

MUNTEAN (voice over): Cameron Smith is one of the air traffic control students here at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida hitting submit on his application.

FAA hiring slowed down during the pandemic. Professor and former FAA official, Michael McCormick says compounding the problem, the agency shuttered its training academy.

MICHAEL MCCORMICK, PROFESSOR AND FORMER FAA OFFICIAL: Over time, this builds and that's why we have such a gap now in the training of controllers and a need to hire so many more.

MUNTEAN (voice over): To see if I have what it takes, I stepped into this control tower simulator to give it a try.

MUNTEAN (on camera): 3455 Yankee cleared for departure one-six.

MUNTEAN (voice over): Students practice lining up flights for takeoff and landing, issuing fast specific instructions with no margin for error.

MUNTEAN (on camera): There is so much to keep track of. This is a tough gig.

SMITH: That's probably every single time I ever hear someone say that's such a stressful job and I'm sitting here and I'm like, I can do it.

MUNTEAN (voice over): Clearly the students here are more accustomed to the intensity of this job than I am. It can take three years for the FAA to fully train recruits.

Acting Administrator Billy Nolen insists hiring is on schedule, but it might not be fast enough to keep flights on schedule this summer.

BILLY NOLEN, ACTING FAA ADMINISTRATOR: We're hiring over the next two years 3,300 additional controllers. That will give us a net plus up about 500 accounting for retirements and attrition.

MUNTEAN (on camera): Becoming an air traffic controller is ultra- competitive. Those who are selected by the FAA have to not only pass an aptitude test, but also medical and psychological exams.

Those who are not selected this year have an even better shot next year when the FAA plans to hire 1,800 new controllers.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: All right, thanks to Pete for that.

Coming up, a Hollywood writers' strike is underway with no end in sight. We'll bring you up-to-date on where the negotiations stand. That is next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:50]

ACOSTA: The Hollywood writers' strike will hit the one-week mark tomorrow with production halted across the entertainment industry. It is the first such strike in 15 years and there is really no telling how long it could grind on. The wide gulf between the writers and major studios was laid out in stark relief on Monday. And now, we wait for a resolution.

CNN entertainment reporter, Chloe Melas joins us now.

Chloe, I mean, any signs of progress? You know, people are getting nervous. They want their shows.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: And it looks like people are going to have to sit tight and this is having some really obvious ramifications, Jim, that I want to tell you guys about.

The newest is tonight, the MTV Movie and TV Awards that I look forward to watching every year, they have canceled a live show. It's going to be pre-taped.

Drew Barrymore, the host, she pulled out in solidarity with the writers. And then you saw other hosts and presenters like Jimmy Lee Curtis do the same.

And you're seeing this impact late night shows, "Saturday Night Live" is now replaying old episodes, but everything from ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel," to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." And there are movies and shows on Netflix, and all over the place, even Marvel is being affected. So who knows how long this is going to go on for?

For writers, really, it is two issues. They want there to be more writers for projects and also a minimum pay for writers being increased, and Jim, right now, it is at a stalemate. No signs they've come to an agreement.

ACOSTA: Well, we love our writers. We hope that they work out a deal. Any signs of progress?

MELAS: No, not really. I mean, we know that they've been going back and forth. But you know, like last time in 2008, it went on for about a hundred days. It cost the California economy about $2 billion, Jim.

So I mean, we are looking at potentially this being the same, but hopefully we will come to a resolution sooner than not because we cannot do our jobs without writers.

They are the behind the scenes magicians, and that is why you're seeing people like Drew Barrymore pull out of high profile events because they're refusing to do it without them.

ACOSTA: Yes. There is a lot of pressure on some of the hosts to stand in solidarity.

And Chloe, let me ask you about this. Let's pivot to a big anniversary. It's been five years now since the Free Meek Movement drew attention, overdue attention to America's parole system. And you had a chance to talk with Meek Mill about the movement he inspired. Tell us about that conversation.

MELAS: So Meek Mill, just this incredible person leading the way for change and that is why he co-founded the REFORM Alliance. And you saw him do that with a lot of people including Jay-Z, Michael Rubin, and he caught up with me the other day while I was covering the Ed Sheeran trial, and I broke away for a few minutes to chat with him about all the good that he's doing with these technical violations and laws and I also caught up with the CEO, Robert Rooks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ROOKS, CEO, REFORM ALLIANCE: Just deep appreciation to Meek, because as an artist, you know he could have -- got released from prison, went into a music studio made music and no one would have critiqued him at all. No one would have questioned him, but he didn't do that.

He was released. He went on stage and he charged the country.

[19:50:06]

MEEK MILL, GRAMMY-NOMINATED MUSICIAN: I come from an environment of poverty where there wasn't a lot of support. So having that type of support system changed me as a person and it helped me come up with the actual idea before, which actually helps people, you know.

It was my honor to even have the foundation as such as REFORM to be able to give back to the people and you know, help bridge the gaps in America to make it a better place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: So I encourage everyone to take a moment to check out the REFORM Alliance. They have passed 16 bills in many states and they are on their way to pass even more because they say that the probation and parole system, Jim, in this country is broken, but they have solutions and they want to fix it.

ACOSTA: All right, great stuff, great cause. Chloe Melas, thanks so much. As always, we appreciate it.

And some sad news to announce from the world of baseball. The Oakland Athletics announced that Vida Blue died on Saturday. In his nine seasons with the Athletics, Blue helped the team win three straight World Series.

Blue pitched 17 seasons with the Athletics, San Francisco Giants, and the Kansas City Royals. He finished with more than 2,100 strikeouts. An amazing feat.

And in 2019, he was inducted into the A's Hall of Fame. This afternoon, the San Francisco Giants players and staff observed a moment of silence in Blue's memory.

Vida Blue was 73 years old.

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[19:55:48]

ACOSTA: Today, now a discontinued baby powder made by Johnson & Johnson cause cancer. Next on CNN, our very own Pamela Brown hears from both sides of the multibillion dollar court case putting this everyday product on trial in a new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, and here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It started in spring and summer, I was starting to feel like I wanted to have kids. So, I saw a doctor and she told me, yes, we should do your follicle count. And the next day, I got the results. It just said, yes, your count is fine, but you have malignant masses.

So that's leaving Sloan Kettering, and then this is it healing up and then chemotherapy.

I mean, you get a mesothelioma diagnosis, right, and you don't understand how would I have asbestos? Everywhere that I've gone, I've always had some Johnson & Johnson baby powder.

I just never imagined that something that you would use on babies was unsafe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And CNN's chief investigative correspondent, Pamela Brown joins me now.

Pam, this is scary stuff. You talked to numerous women who believe the powder caused cancer. What more did you hear from them?

PAMELA BROWN, CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: A powder that has been interwoven in our lives in America for more than 125 years, it is now discontinued.

But now Jim, you have nearly 40,000 plaintiffs filing suit against Johnson & Johnson claiming that its child-based baby powder caused their cancer.

And so we followed the journeys of three women. You saw Laura there, she is one of the three, and their journey bringing suit against this multibillion dollar corporation, which has really been an institution, a trusted brand in America and we examined some of what they say bolsters their case.

We look at internal documents within Johnson & Johnson from the 1950s when the executives were talking about the concern of liability from the talc-based baby powder because of the potential for asbestos.

We look at the FDA finding in 2019 in one sample, a finding of asbestos. Johnson & Johnson counters for both of those and say that there was no -- never been any asbestos in any of its baby powder and that its product is safe -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And how is Johnson & Johnson responding to these claims?

BROWN: So Johnson & Johnson says, look, decades of studies from the very best and independent laboratory show that our talc-based baby powder was safe, and that there has never been a finding of asbestos and that the baby powder did not cause cancer.

So I sat down with Allison Brown, the outside attorney for Johnson & Johnson. And here's what else she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So I mean, Johnson & Johnson is at the center of this. And so it is essential to hear from this lawyer who has been defending Johnson & Johnson in court.

ALLISON BROWN, OUTSIDE ATTORNEY FOR JOHNSON & JOHNSON: The first thing that is most important for me, that people know about these cases is that they are doing an enormous disservice to a very important issue of women's health.

What we can say with 100 percent certainty is that we have never confirmed a finding of asbestos in any product that has been sold and that decades of scientific testing and study have shown that our talc is safe and does not cause cancer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And now Johnson & Johnson is offering $8.9 billion to pay out the plaintiffs, try to put an end to all of these lawsuits. It claims that a majority of the plaintiffs have agreed to this, that they want to go this route, but there are some including some of the women we spoke to who still want to have their day in court.

So, the legal drama continues to unfold and I asked her, Jim, whether she has ever used the talc-based baby powder or whether she would, you'll hear her answer coming up shortly.

ACOSTA: All right, we'll be watching. Pamela Brown, thanks so much.

And don't go anywhere, the new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper is next right here on CNN. Stay tuned for that.

And reporting from Washington. I'm Jim Acosta. Thanks so much for watching and joining me this evening. I'll see you here next weekend.

"The Whole Story" starts right now.

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