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Caucus Season Kicks Off For GOP In Iowa; U.S. And China Trade Accusations; Directors' Guild Of America Reaches Tentative Deal; Dodgers Apologize, Reinvite Drag Charity Group To Pride Night Event After Backlash; At Least 275 People Died When Trains Collided. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired June 04, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:01:24]

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: Hello. Thanks for joining me. I'm Paula Reid in Washington, in this weekend for Fredericka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with the race for the White House.

This weekend marked the unofficial start to the caucus season. On Saturday, eight GOP presidential hopefuls gathered in Des Moines, Iowa. The event gave the candidates a chance to introduce themselves to Iowa voters.

The expanding GOP field is expected to get even more crowded this week as three more candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Trump ally-turned critic Chris Christie are poised to officially join the race.

The current front runner, former President Donald Trump chose to skip the Iowa gathering, giving his challengers plenty of opportunities to make their pitches and take their shots at the former president.

The Republican presidential race picks up more steam tonight as CNN hosts a town hall with GOP candidate Nikki Haley in Iowa.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Des Moines for us.

Jeff, what is your takeaway from this weekend's event?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well Paula, it certainly was an opportunity for most of the Republican field of presidential candidates to give their first impressions in many cases to almost a thousand Republican voters and activists who gathered at the Iowa state fairgrounds for Senator Joni Ernst's annual "Roast and Ride".

It's a political event -- a political theater. There's a side of barbecues and motorcycle riding but also a chance for these candidates to really begin showing who they are and why they want to win the Republican nomination. But of course, as you said, Donald Trump was not in attendance. He was

invited. He declined to attend. But he was, indeed, hanging over the room as he's hanging over this race. That these individual candidates, they're really trying to appeal to voters.

The enthusiastic applause really sent the signal that many Republicans are indeed looking for an alternative.

Of course, the Trump base remains deeply fixed with him. But we caught up with Senator Joni Ernst, the Iowa Republican, after her event yesterday and we asked her about the balance of looking forward versus going back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JONI ERNST (R-IA): I think there are a lot of folks that want to move forward. I know that President Trump has a great base here. It is strong. But at the same time, people don't want to hear about what has happened in the past because we've had two years of a Biden administration that is just destroying our nation.

And so they want to know, what are the future decisions that will turn our country around and who is going to lead us forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELDIN: And that really frames the discussion that will be happening over the next six or seven months or so before the voting begins here Iowa and then on to New Hampshire and other states.

Are Republican voters going to want to turn the page and look forward or, perhaps go back to Donald Trump? So this -- you know, the summer campaign season is when much of this will be litigated. But former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, she was one of the contenders on stage yesterday and she will be here at Grandview University on stage behind me here tonight with our own Jake Tapper, taking questions from Iowa voters as these candidates begin and continue to show some differences with themselves.

And we'll see how much they're willing to confront and draw distinctions with the former president. Yesterday his name was not really mentioned but, of course, to win this Republican primary, they all need to confront the elephant in the room, quite frankly, and he still is Donald Trump, Paula.

[14:04:54]

REID: Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

And with me now to talk about these developments and more is Jennifer Horn. She is the former chairwoman for the New Hampshire Republican Party and the co-founder of the anti-Trump group, The Lincoln Project. Also joining us is Shermichael Singleton. He's a Republican strategist.

Shermichael, let me start with you. The other major candidate, obviously we haven't talked about, is former President Trump. He was not in Iowa yesterday. What do you think of his decision to skip this event?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'm not surprised. I mean I think from Trump's perspective and his campaign's perspective, he's leading by 30, 40 points depending on which candidate you compare him to and so from that position, he's looking at this as why do I have to be there for this process? I have the strongest base. I don't think being there is really going to change too many minds.

And so I understand that. However, I would say, if you're Ron DeSantis in particular, this gives a good opportunity. The DeSantis campaign, they say that they have knocked on 50,000 doors. That's a good sign. From individuals that I've spoken with, they're building up a pretty robust ground and targeting operation there.

And so I think there's a lot of room for some of the other candidates to potentially see their ground game increase and their numbers increase.

REID: So this week the two current front-runners, Trump and Governor DeSantis, turned up the criticism on each other. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL); Let's just be clear. It really does take two terms as president to be able to finish this job.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't need eight years, you need six months. We can turn this thing around so quickly. If you need eight years, who the hell wants to wait eight years?

DESANTIS: Anyone that says that they can slay the deep state in six months should be asked, why didn't you do that when you had four years to try to do that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Jennifer, is DeSantis doing enough to distinguish himself from Trump?

JENNIFER HORN, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Well, he is clearly coming out stronger than he has in the past. And he knows what he -- it sounds like he knows what he needs to do.

I'm not sure that it's enough. And to be honest, I'm not sure how to define what will be enough to defeat Donald Trump. You know, the base that he has is so strong and so loyal what DeSantis is doing is trying to say, look, I'm just as authoritarian as Trump, I'm just as tough as Trump, I'm just as anti-woke as Trump, but I'm prettier than he is. I can be elected. I could win.

And he's trying to kind of undermine Trump's record with Trump's own base. I just don't think there's room for anybody else in that authoritarian Trump lane. REID: Most of the candidates though are steering clear of direct

criticism of Trump. Instead, issuing veiled criticisms, pushing a more upbeat, positive message.

Let's take a listen to Tim Scott and Nikki Haley in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TIM SCOTT (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America's greatest days are ahead of her, but it will take strong, optimistic leadership to get us there.

NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's time for a new generational leader. We have to leave the baggage and the negativity behind. We have a country to save.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Shermichael, will that type of messaging resonate with a party that has been dominated by Trump and the MAGA base?

SINGLETON: Yes. No, I don't think so. I mean I think those two individuals, Senator Scott, former governor and Ambassador Haley, are potentially positioning themselves to be possible running mates, but I don't think that they're going to see their numbers move up.

Look, I've been through this process three times -- Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Carson and they And there were a lot of very talented individuals. You have folks like Jeb Bush who raised a significant amount of money. You had other individuals like Rubio, who many argued at the time was the future of the party in terms of diversity.

And none of those candidates were able to see their numbers move up substantially enough to displace Donald Trump. And so to the point that Jennifer was making, attempting to be more like Trump I don't think works and I think being aspirational, if you will, I'm not certain that will work at all.

I think most Republican voters at least at the base level, they want someone that they perceive is a fighter. And the only person that has singly tapped into that with some level of effectiveness is Donald Trump.

REID: Jennifer, this week former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie both expected to throw their hats in the ring. Do you see a path to the GOP nomination for either of those candidates?

HORN: Well, I really still believe and I haven't seen anything to change it that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee.

You know, when he's polling -- the problem that they all have, whether it's Governor Christie or Pence or anybody else is that there are polls that are showing Donald Trump at 50 percent, 53 percent. So it's not enough to try to convince voters that you can do the job. You have to convince them why the guy that's over 50 percent can't do the job. And certainly Mike Pence isn't doing that.

[14:10:00]

HORN: If there's anybody out there who will take the fight to Trump, though, it's Chris Christie. I don't know that that is a path to the nominee, but I think that you will find that he is not, you know, a soft-spoken guy when he's on the campaign trail. And folks will remember from 2016, you know, he really was trying to bring the fight but he didn't bring it to Trump in 2016.

I suspect this might be a different -- a different Chris Christie that we see this time around.

REID: Let me pivot to the debt deal for a minute here and how it impacts Kevin McCarthy's speakership. He had been taking a victory lap for passing the deal with help from Democrats but hard liners in his party, they're not happy. They're even floating the idea that his speakership could be in danger.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEN BUCK (R-CO): I don't know if a motion to vacate is going to happen right away. I do know that Speaker McCarthy has credibility issues. He promised, when he was running for speaker, that we would use the 2022 baseline numbers as the appropriation numbers for this year. And then went back on that promise with this particular legislation where he promised and signed into law the 2023 numbers.

So we continue to see the swamp, the folks in Washington, D.C. who want to spend more money winning. And we continue to see the folks who want to spend less money and really act responsibly losing.

So, I think that Kevin McCarthy has an issue in a broader sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: So Shermichael, what is McCarthy's future as speaker following this debt bill?

SINGLETON: Look, I think he's going to be ok. I've spoken with several individuals on the Hill, individuals who work for the Speaker and some folks who work for members of the Freedom Caucus.

And while they're upset, while they're angry, for the most part it appears that they don't expect any of the members of the Freedom Caucus to issue a motion to vacate. We're in the midst of trying to reelect more Republicans in 2024, they want to increase their majority. The speaker is out raising a ton of money right now. and the last thing that Republicans want is to have that level of disruption which can take 14, 15 votes again to reconfirm.

And I think Paula, a simple question to really ask here is who would replace McCarthy anyway?

REID: That's a great question.

Jennifer Horn, Shermichael Singleton, thank you.

SINGLETON: Thanks, Paula.

REID: And don't forget, tonight, live from Iowa, Jake Tapper moderates a "CNN REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL TOWN HALL" with former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

The evening kicks on of 8:00 only on CNN.

And still ahead, escalating tensions between the U.S. and China. Both sides are blaming each other after a dangerous near-collision between warships at sea. How the U.S. Is responding next.

Plus, a breakthrough in a weeks-long strike. Hollywood directors have reached a tentative deal with the studios. What we know about the agreement. That's ahead.

[14:13:01]

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REID: Accusations are flying between the U.S. and China after a dangerous near collision between warships from both sides. The incident happened during a joint naval exercise between the U.S. and Canadian -- the Canadian Navy in the Taiwan Strait.

Video showing the near collision was captured by a news crew on a nearby ship. You can see the Chinese destroyer cutting across the front of the U.S. ship.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann is with us.

Oren, both sides are blaming each other for this incident, so what do we know right now?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Paula, that's so common when we see encounters between the Chinese and the U.S. military -- two entirely different narratives of what happened.

From the U.S. perspective it was a U.S. Navy ship, a destroyer, the U.S.S. Chung Hoon sailing with a Canadian ship through the Taiwan Strait which under international law is an international waterway. Sailing through that when according to U.S. Indo-Pacific commander, a Chinese navy vessel -- or a Chinese military vessel cut 150 yards in front of the U.S. ship and then circled back and cut 2,000 yards in front of that ship again. From the U.S. perspective, it is China here that is to blame for what they called an unsafe maneuver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. DAVE BUTLER, JOINT STAFF SPOKESPERSON: Great risk to safety, the safety of mariners. We don't seek a confrontation with China, but those mariners out there were clearly acting in an unsafe way. We were operating in international laws of the sea, the rules of the road so to speak, which is again internationally accepted and the Chinese were acting unsafe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: From China's perspective, it's almost as if they're describing an entirely different encounter. China's defense minister speaking at the Shangri-la dialogue in Singapore just hours after this happened and said the U.S. wasn't there for peaceful purposes, they were looking there for provocation by sailing through the Taiwan Strait and that gets to a disagreement about simply the rules of the road as the U.S. says and what's allowed there.

The U.S. and others view2 that as international waterways. We saw the same sort of disagreement just a couple of weeks ago over the South China Sea when a Chinese fighter jet intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft. There, once again, the U.S. said it was an international air space and had the right to be there under international law. China however said it was essentially encroaching upon Chinese sovereignty.

So there you see the disagreements and how they can quickly lead to tensions, Paula.

REID: Oren, you're currently in Normandy for the 79th anniversary of D-Day with General Mark Milley. So what message did he have?

LIEBERMANN: Well, General Mark Milley gave a speech just a short time ago at (INAUDIBLE) the Iron Mike Memorial from the D-Day invasion, the landings here that led to the liberation of Europe in World War II.

[14:19:56]

LIEBERMANN: This is personally and professionally important to him. Personally because his uncle landed here and his father fought in the Pacific. But professionally because especially D-Day highlights the importance of unity and working together.

In that case, it was the U.S. working with England and others. It is a message that has as much relevance, especially to the Pentagon today. And you see that especially with China as the U.S. works with South Korea, Japan, Australia. And you even see it when it comes to Ukraine, the U.S. working with NATO nations.

So that message of unity bridging the nearly 8 decades between what we're here to commemorate and looking at the present day situation so much.

REID: Oren Liebermann, thank you.

And let's get more on this incident in the Taiwan Strait.

Cedric Leighton is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a CNN military analyst.

When you look at that video, what is your assessment?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So Paula, the first thing that I see, of course, is a very close maneuver by the Chinese, that missile destroyer coming across the front of the USS Chung-Hoon. And that is a really dangerous thing to do. I mean we're talking a very short distance. Something could go terribly wrong.

And it really does show a degree of unprofessionalism on the part of the Chinese. They are really risking a lot here by doing this. We're talking the collision of million dollar objects here, happening very quickly.

REID: So it is as dangerous as it looks?

LEIGHTON: Absolutely. It's incredibly dangerous. And one of the key things that you have to keep in mind if you're really right there at the bow of the ship and you see something like this happened, it's a lot closer than it appears in this video.

And the maneuvers that the U.S. captain -- naval captain had to do in order to avoid collision were pretty considerable. He had to reduce speed drastically. He had to make sure that his ship wasn't going to cut across the Chinese ship. And that is something that they have to be prepared for and clearly our sailors are exceptionally professional.

But that is something that really requires them to be highly vigilant and it also requires them to be able to conduct a base of maneuvers if necessary.

REID: And this isn't the only recent incident. Of course, Chinese fighter jets intercepted a U.S. spy plane in international air space just last week. So what is the strategy here for China?

LEIGHTON: So the basic strategy Paula, seems to be that they want to harass as many U.S. ships and planes as possible. Both the ship and the plane were conducting maneuvers in international airspace and on international waterways. And that is, you know, key for us. We want to keep the -- what we call the ceilings of communication open, we want to keep the airwaves open. And reason we are there is in the case of the Rc-135 spy plane, we want to make sure that we can monitor what the Chinese are doing.

In the case of the destroyer, we want to make sure that we can transit these areas like the Taiwan Strait, which covers a large portion of trade. Basically we're talking 60 percent of all container ships go through here during any given pint in time. That's 60 percent of all container ships in the world.

So we want to maintain the trade routes that exist. We also want to make sure that international law is followed in these areas. and by transiting these areas we assure that that can happen.

And if the Chinese interfere in that, they're indicating that they don't want that kind of international trade to continue. And that is a dangerous thing not only militarily but also economically.

REID: Well, China reportedly declined an offer for Defense Secretary Austin to meet his Chinese counterpart at a conference in Singapore this week. Without that kind of dialogue, is de-escalation even possible right now?

LEIGHTON: It's really difficult especially, you know, given the top- down nature of the Chinese system. If the minister of defense doesn't meet with the secretary of defense on the U.S. side, then chances are that people at the intermediate levels of command aren't going to be meeting either.

And that is a real problem because if you can't have that dialogue, if you can't deconflict operation, that becomes a major issue. And that could result in miscalculation. And as such, it's really dangerous.

REID: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Paula.

Coming up, a private jet dropped off more than a dozen migrants in Sacramento. But no one seems to know who was behind it.

Details on the investigation the state just launched next.

[14:24:49]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REID: The Directors' Guild of America reached a historic tentative deal even as the Writers' Guild of America continues its strike.

The DGA pact set the terms of a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The deal addresses wages, work hours, residuals, and even artificial intelligence will be submitted to the guild national board at a special board meeting Tuesday.

Formal negotiations have been ongoing since early May.

And an investigation is underway in California after a private plane dropped off more than a dozen migrants in Sacramento. Officials say they were transported from Texas to New Mexico before being flown by a chartered jet to California's capital city.

CNN's Camila Bernal is looking into this. Camila, what more are officials saying?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, officials are promising to get to the bottom of this because now, this is an ongoing investigation here in the state of California. And both the governor and the attorney general saying that they will continue to try to figure out exactly how this all happened.

[14:30:02]

They both said that they met with a 16 migrants originally from Venezuela and Colombia. As you mentioned, they started out in Texas after arriving to the United States. They then went to New Mexico and then were brought here to California in a private jet. In terms of the documentation of these migrants, here is what the attorney general of California is saying. Part of his statement reads like this: While this is still under investigation we can confirm that these individuals were in possession of documentation purporting to be from the government of the state of Florida.

Now, the attorney general also says that he's now looking into the potential civil and criminal action against the people that transported these migrants and also the people that organize or arranged all this travel, or this transport to the state of California. They also say that they're looking to try and figure out if these migrants were essentially lied to, or given false promises about coming to California. And they want to know who paid for all of this.

So, of course, this is a long process in terms of how this all happened. Now, I do want to point out that it is now nonprofit organizations that are taking care of these migrants. They say that they are receiving them with open arms because they were dropped off outside of church offices. They say they will do everything they can to support these migrants. But still have a lot of questions as to why they are here and what's going to happen next.

Here's Cecilia Flores with ACT.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CECILIA FLORES, SACRAMENTO ACT: Part of its now trying to figure out what's next, as far as the legal process they'll need to undergo and also, just accessing their immediate needs, you know, shelter, clothing, food, just the basic survival things, which is a little bit difficult given the uncertainty and the length of their stay, and the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And, obviously, a lot in California are pointing to political reasons for these migrants being sent here to the state of California. This is not the first time this happens. We saw Governor Ron DeSantis last year sending migrants to Martha's vineyard, there are migrants that have been bussed to New York City, just a number of blue led states, here in California they're vowing to investigate this -- Paula.

REID: Camila Bernal, thank you.

BERNAL: Thank you.

REID: And the L.A. Dodgers still face scathing criticism from their flip-flop on having clear and drag activist dressed as nuns at their pride nights elevation later this month. Next, what actual names have to say about all this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:46] REID: The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing criticism after flip-flopping twice on their invitation to a drag group for the team's upcoming Pride event. The Dodgers initially intended to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a charity drag group whose members dress as nuns, and use other Catholic imagery in its aesthetics.

But after a wave of conservative backlash, the Dodgers remove the group from their list of honorees. The decision to rescind the invitation prompted a fresh round of criticism this time from the LGBTQ advocates, fans, and allies. And then about two weeks ago, the doctors were reversed course yet again. In a statement, the team apologized to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and extended a new invitation to the group. The sisters accepted and confirmed that they will now the community hero award from the Dodgers.

But not everyone's on board with this decision. Star pitcher Clayton Kershaw told "The Los Angeles Times", I don't agree with making fun of other people's religion. And in a tweet, former Vice President Mike Pence said that the doctor's decision is quote, deeply offensive, and called the drag group hateful.

Here with me to discuss this is Heidi Schlumpf. She is a columnist with "The National Catholic Reporter".

Heidi, thank you so much for being with us.

HEIDI SCHLUMPF, COLUMNIST, NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER: Thank you for having me, Paula.

REID: Some conservatives are calling this an attack on religion. But you spoke with some actual Catholic sisters, what did they have to say about all this?

SCHLUMPF: It's interesting to speak with them and see the evolution of this controversy. The early critics of the daughters and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, or saying that this was an offensive to Catholic sisters, because -- they said they were actually defending the sisters, but when I show it on social media some comments from actual Catholic sisters, they started feeling hate at her, because she works at LGBTQ ministry.

So, it seems the critics were last about anti-Catholicism, and more about having problems with people in this group because of their LGBTQ status, or at least some of the critics. The sisters I spoke to had different opinions about whether they were offended, they all agree that the work this charity group does is really important.

REID: So, there are some people who say the groups impart mocking religion. They view the sisters -- use of Catholic imagery as offensive. Do they have an argument there?

SCHLUMPF: Yeah, I think anytime you're trying to make fun of a religion you can't be surprised if people are offended. I do understand that, one of the sisters I spoke to had actually had some conversations with members of the sisters of perpetual indulgence. She learned that many of them had been very hurt by the church. They've been told that they're going to, they've been refused funerals perhaps of their loved ones.

And so, this is partly them expressing their criticism of that aspect of the church, or a way of expressing their hurt. This sister encouraged us to try and listen to that, rather than to fight back.

[14:40:05]

REID: And what does this controversy say about the wider cultural conversations, the culture wars that we're seeing right now?

SCHLUMPF: Yeah, I think what's happening is the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the real Catholic sisters are becoming ammunition and this LGBTQ sort of culture war that's going on between in our culture and in our church. I thought it was really interesting to hear from these actual sisters, many who have long been involved in the ministry in these communities, and one of the first people in the church to really be open, and progressive on the show.

So, as usual, all they're leading the way by encouraging us not to engage in any sort of hate from either side.

REID: So, the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw, also called on the organization to move up an announcement to relaunch its Christian faith and family day, it's an event they held annually before the COVID pandemic. But he also told "The Times" that there were tentative plans in place to hold the event this year. But that the timing of the announcement was a direct response to the team reorganizing after all of this controversy over the dry group.

Do you think that an event like this is going to quiet the critics?

SCHLUMPF: I don't know, I'm not one of the critics but I'm not somebody that they're -- I do find that people who are involved in this culture war issues, especially around LGBTQ issues, will not be quieted. So, there's always something, whether it's merchandise being sold a targeted, or what have you that they're going to be criticizing. Certainly, having respect for Christians and honoring people of all faiths is a good thing. I encourage the doctors to do that.

REID: Heidi Schlumpf, thank you so much.

SCHLUMPF: Thank you.

REID: And even as rescuers search for signs of life at the site of one of India's deadliest trade crashes. Officials announced they're planning to resume rail service next week. A live report from the scene, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:37]

REID: A survivor of the horrific train crash that killed hundreds in India is describing his ordeal to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANUSHUMAN PUROHI, TRAIN CRASH SURVIVOR: When they open the door, that's when I actually heard the whale of humanity crying out in pain, crying out for water, and crying out for some help. There were a lot of people lying on the tracks that were injured, there was blood everywhere, they were broken bones. It is time for us to stop thinking about ourselves and help the injured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: At least 275 died when three trains collided. One official says that one of the passenger trains was going almost 80 miles per hour when the collision happened.

CNN's Ivan Watson is at the scene. CNN's Ivan Watson is at the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the scene of one of the deadliest railroad disasters that India has seen in its modern history. On Friday night, at least three trains, two passenger trains and a cargo train, they derailed and collided here after dark. What you see along the side of the tracks here is at least 20 railroad cars like this one, which was served for passengers with disabilities, and you can still see the luggage, the belongings of the many people who were onboard when this terrible accident took place.

The loss of life is simply staggering. At least 275 people killed, more than a thousand people wounded. And the authorities say at least 100 of those survivors are in need of critical care. The disaster zone runs as far as the eye can see here with railroad cars scattered on the side of the road and hundreds of workers here in just brutal heat and humidity, with heavy equipment and also doing a lot of the work here by hand with picks and shovels trying to reopen the road. As you can see here, more of the railroad cars in this terrible accident.

The Indian prime minister came to share condolences with the victims and survivors. The cause has been identified as a change in the electronic interlocking here and there have been vows from top government officials to bring to justice anybody who's responsible for this accident.

But it highlights both the importance of the railroads for India. More than 13 million people a day move around on trains in India, but also a tragic history of accidents with more than 16,000 people killed according to government statistics in 2021 in railroad accidents.

The authorities insist that this stretch of railroad will be reopened and operational again by Wednesday morning. A bigger question will be how to make the trains in this country and its aging infrastructure safer for future use.

Ivan Watson, CNN, in Odisha state, in eastern India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: Ivan Watson, thank you.

And still ahead, the strawberry moon illuminated the night sky, and you have just one more chance to catch it tonight.

[14:50:06]

We'll explain the incredible phenomenon, next.

But, first, this week's "Staying Well".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SHEEHAN D. FISHER, PSYCHIATRY PROFESSOR, NORTHWESTERN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Many times identities heavily defined by our job status in position, which leads to stress when you're having a layoff.

FISHER: It's important to make time to grieve the loss of a job, and also to ask -- a place of employment. Important to make specific time to grave so it's consuming your whole day to focus on other parts of your life that our value based unimportant.

There is a specific amount to grieve that would vary depending on the person. It's important to keep in mind that you did have a clear structure for your day when you are working, make sure you create a structure and find ways to find meaning, in different parts of your day including making sure you wake up on time, go to sleep on time, having a set mealtime.

Mindfulness can be really essentially to help a person manage a layoff. Mindfulness is about being present and it's understandable a person might become consumed by thoughts about the layoff and what they went through. Engaging with loved ones and friends allows you out of your mind while having a meal, eating mindfully or enjoying cooking, and engaging in other activities that are stimulating and engaging.

Sometimes it's helpful to seek support from a professional, such as a therapist, coach and also make sound decisions regarding a career that's not influenced by your past experience.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:57]

REID: If you miss last night's strawberry moon, don't fret, you'll have one more chance to catch June's full moon tonight. The lunar display got its name not because of the moons appearance but from indigenous tribes in North America. It's often the first full moon of the summer and marks the ripening of a June burying strawberries for harvest.

I'm joined now by Emily Calandrelli. She is the host and executive producer of "Emily's Wonder Lab" on Netflix.

Emily, thanks for being with us.

EMILY CALANDRELLI, HOST AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF "EMILY'S WONDER LAB" ON NETFLIX: Thanks for having me.

REID: So, how did you enjoy yesterday's view from above?

CALANDRELLI: I think every full moon seems a little bit magical, especially when you see it right above the horizon. It's a little bit of an obstacle allusion. It looks larger than it actually is. And any full moon I'm always amazed.

REID: I learned the mood wasn't alone in the sky yesterday. Venus and Mars were also on display. When we see will we see them again tonight?

CALANDRELLI: Oh, yes. Venus is one of those that's always extremely bright in the night sky. It's actually often confused for a UFO, or mistake it as a UFO because it appears so bright, it appears to move in the night sky. And so, yes, Venus and Mars, there always a great display in the sky.

REID: All right. For anyone that wants to see that, when and where would be the best time to see the nice moon?

CALANDRELLI: Right. So, this strawberry minimal appear right after sunset around seven pm. It will rise and sat just like this on, rising around the east, and setting around the west. And it'll be the highest and brightest in the sky just before midnight. If you really want to see the best strawberry moon look to the night sky just before midnight.

REID: We can all use a little moon watching these days. What other moons can we look forward to this summer?

CALANDRELLI: Right. So, as you mentioned, we have about 12 or 13 full moons throughout the year. We borrow the names for these moons from indigenous culture.

Last month for example was the flower moon. There was a lot of flowers blooming in May.

Next month is the buck moon. Because a lot of mail deer start to grow back their antlers.

And then August we have the sturgeon moon, because that's when that type of fish is really prevalent.

So, we have no lunar eclipses this summer unfortunately, we have a solar eclipse to look forward to in October. But we have some beautiful full moons throughout the summer.

REID: The kids love space, talking about something like the moon. How would you recommend engaging little ones and all this?

CALANDRELLI: Right. The best way, the way I do it with my candidates is to have the kids draw the moon that they see in the sky throughout the month, because that will give them this hands on activity to witness how the moon goes through its phases, as it goes through a crescent moon, to a half moon, to a three quarter moon to a full moon in all the way back to new moon. They can see that 27 days cycle for themselves.

And so, what I usually do is I have my kids -- don't need to worry about rain all that much, unfortunately, but we use chalk, we can use chalk to draw the phases of the moon that we see that night. But you can also use a piece of paper, drawn the paper and bring the paper inside. Your kids can have what the moon look like throughout the month on a piece of paper.

REID: And what are you most looking forward to in the night sky, over the next six months?

CALANDRELLI: Oh, I think the annual solar eclipse on October 14 is going to be the biggest, one of the biggest night sky events for the entire year. And an annual solar eclipse means that it's not totally hidden like we saw a few years ago, but the moon only covers the center of it. So, we see this spectacular, vibrant ring around it, the ring of light. It's so incredibly beautiful.