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Sixty Million Americans Under Significant Storm Threats; At Least Three Dead After Tornado Tears Through TX; Biden Vows To Fix I- 95 As Quickly As Possible; Companies Weigh Costs Amid Anti-LGBTQ Plus Boycotts; Migrants Flown To California By Florida Officials; Biden Kicks Off 2024 Bid With Union Rally In PA. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired June 17, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:00]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Just extraordinary video. She Sheriff says the Deputy Hollingsworth and the man who he rescued traveled underwater for nearly 100 feet and are lucky to be alive.

Hi there. Thanks for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt in today for Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour with 60 million Americans bracing for a severe weather threat today. Many are in areas that are still reeling from a powerful storm that swept through earlier this week. CNN Meteorologist Britley Ritz has been tracking all of these threats. Britley what are we expecting to see with these different storm systems?

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately, all the same hazards that we had over the last 24 hours and the flooding situation yet again, Alex. So something to really notice. Try not to go in or around flooded roadways are in waterways overall, just so you don't put emergency personnel just as you saw in that video in danger or yourself. That way we can avoid all of this at all costs.

We had two-plus inches an hour in parts of Florida just north of Orlando. Ocala dealing with that. We've also had severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings already issued for parts of the Space Coast as well as the Treasure Coast. Flood watches now extend back through parts of the Big Bend that includes Tallahassee, back into Mobile and Pensacola. These areas could get six-plus inches of rain within the next 48 hours.

On top of that, of course the threat for severe weather all hazards in play, including long-lived tornadoes in areas highlighted in orange. That enhanced risk now stretches back down into North Central Texas. Long live tornadoes, slight risk includes Dallas back into Jackson, Mobile, Tampa. These areas can also see tornadoes. It's just a smaller risk. Regardless, we need to take action and be alert.

So, know where your safe spot is. Get there as soon as that warning is issued. That severe weather risk extends into Sunday, Little Rock, Shreveport, Jackson all included in that enhanced risk for tomorrow, which by the way is Father's Day. So, if you have plans with that, be alert. Make sure you're checking radar immediately before you head out and about. So, look at that timeframe on this.

This afternoon. We get a lot of sunshine. We get a lot of heating going on. And that generates the storm activity across parts of southern Kansas into Oklahoma, back down into Texas. Hopefully about 8:00 to 10:00 central time. And that goes through the overnight hours pushing into Arkansas, Louisiana, northern Louisiana at that point in time. And a lot of us are in bed at this point.

So just a friendly reminder, if you have a weather radio, plug it in, put batteries in it in case the power goes out. And that way you're alerted. You have some way of getting woken up to get to your safe spot. That then pushes into the southeast and Florida as we move into the morning hours Sunday and into the afternoon as well. Not only the threat of severe weather, but record-breaking high temperature.

It's a possibility and excessive heat alerts are in place. Over 40 million under some sort of heat alert. From Brownsville to Houston back into New Orleans. These areas have forecast temperatures of being roughly 100 degrees. That's the actual temperature. Then we're going to factor in the humidity with that moisture factored in. It feels much hotter, you get what's called the heat index.

And that value is pushing nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit. We need to make sure we're limiting our time outdoors and drinking lots of water if we have to be out and about. Staying hydrated is a big thing to kind of steer clear of any excessive heat illness. So, we really need to pay attention to that, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes. Great tips. Just extraordinary temperatures there. Britley Ritz, thank you very much for that report.

People in Perryton, Texas are also keeping an eye on the skies today preparing for more severe weather, as they're still cleaning up from a devastating tornado. The National Weather Service now says that the twister that struck in Perryton on Thursday evening was an E.F. three with peak winds of 140 miles per hour. At least three people were killed including an 11-year-old boy. Dozens more were injured.

And the tornado decimated homes and businesses and even damage the local fire department and EMS. The governor of Texas Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is there in Perryton, Texas. Isabel, how are the cleanup efforts going today?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alex. So, the fire chief said that as many as 200 homes were destroyed from this tornado. And today we've really seen an increase in pace of more and more people out and about using heavy machinery like this. And really, it's less about salvaging and more about just leveling up places that have been too heavily damaged to really repair.

You can see folks everywhere just picking up -- that's the sound of a saw, bringing down trees, bringing down what remains of Mobile homes. And then loading it up and taking it out of here. They're going to need to remove all of this debris. Really, this is looking like a landfill before they're able to rebuild. I want to give you a higher view right now of this downtown area so you can get a sense of that destruction.

As you mentioned an E.F. three tornado preliminary data pointing that that is what caused all of this devastation. Winds of 140 miles per hour at peak on the ground for 11 minutes.

[13:05:05]

Now, a big barrier that they're going to have to confront here. These neighbors in this cleanup effort is really the heat with temperatures 15 -- 10 to 15 degrees above normal. And that's expected to last year for the next seven days. I also want to tell you about a 16-year-old I spoke with. His name is Orlando Mendoza, who rode out the storm in his Mobile home in this neighborhood.

He said it all happened way too quickly. There was no siren, there was no alert. He just heard the windows shattering. He took cover and pray to God for the safety of his family. Here's what he went through.

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ORLANDO MENDOZA, TORNADO SURVIVOR: (INAUDIBLE) laundry and then ended up going here. But it didn't break. I only have this one right here too.

ROSALES: Neither broke.

MENDOZA: Neither of them broke. And this one.

ROSALES: What do you think that says?

MENDOZA: I mean, just faith in God. Faith that we have in God that God protected us that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Now he was OK. His family was OK. But at a nearby mobile home, 11-year-old Matthew Ramirez (ph) was not. He is the tornados youngest victim. And that's ultimately if you speak to the people here what matters the most, it's not the structures that can be rebuilt or even lost material goods. It's the loss of human life. So Ramirez was the victim. Also Becky Randall (ph) in her 60s found in a print shop. And Cindy Brands Grove (ph) also in her 60s found in a food bank. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Yes. Our thoughts are of course with the people of Perryton for everyone and everything they have lost. Isabel Rosales, thank you for being there.

Right now, President Joe Biden is in Philadelphia where he will be kicking off his reelection bid with a union rally and a speech that's in the next hour. Earlier today, the President got an aerial tour of I-95 in Philadelphia last week. A portion of the highway collapsed after investigators say a tanker truck crashed and then burst into flames. Crews are still working around the clock at the collapse site. This week, they finished demolishing the crumbled section of roadway are now working to rebuild it.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from Philadelphia. Priscilla, what's the President saying today about that I-95 collapse and what are we expecting to hear from his campaign kickoff later today?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Biden underscored his administration's commitment to helping rebuild that collapsed part of the Interstate 95. And he talks about how important that Interstate is in this region and in the Northeast Corridor, citing his own personal ties to the state as well as to Delaware and recognizing why it is critical to the economy and to quality of life. Take a listen.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know how important to stretch your highways, not just to Philly, but to the entire Northeast corridor into my home state. Over 150,000 vehicles travel on it every day, including 14,000, 14,000 trucks. It's critical. It's critical to our economy. It is critical to our quality of life. We're going to continue to do everything we can within our power to get this back open as quickly and easily as possible.

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ALVAREZ: Now, part of the assistance President Biden was referring to there as providing federal reimbursements to the state. Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro also saying that they expect to reopen this part of the interstate within the next two weeks. But in addition to all of that, President Biden has arrived here to the Philadelphia Convention Center where he is expected to give remarks to a union rally.

As you can see behind me, there are several 100 people who have gathered here to provide support or share, express their support for President Biden. Unions have been taking the stage behind me to explain why they are supporting the president. Importantly, the AFL- CIO already released their endorsement. It's the earliest endorsements of a presidential candidate. So, we'll hear more about that in the next hour ahead of President Biden speaking.

But really, when you talk to folks, what they are supporting President Biden for is the jobs is low unemployment rate and his investments in clean energy manufacturing, et cetera. And so, all of that excitement and enthusiasm is building up here as President Biden himself revs up his presidential campaign and his reelection bid. And so, he is taking his message and importantly, his economic message here into this hall today in this afternoon, as he really underscores how he is counting on the unions to mobilize voters going into 2024. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Yes. A big day for the President. Priscilla Alvarez in Philadelphia where again, the President is expected to speak in the next hour. Thank you very much, Priscilla.

Still to come. A horrifying attack on a school in Uganda. Officials say ISIS-linked rebels kill at least 41 people, most of them, students.

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We will go live to Uganda next.

MARQUARDT: Police and security forces have launched an investigation after a horrific attack in Uganda. Officials say a group of rebel extremists with ties to ISIS broke into a school on Friday armed with machetes. They then set a dorm building on fire. 41 people were killed most of them students. Six others were kidnapped.

CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now live from Kampala, the capital of Uganda with the latest. Larry, what are you learning about this horrific atrocity?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alex, Uganda is still coming to terms with this attack. The worst school attack in almost 25 years. The authorities here are blaming it on the Allied democratic forces. This is an armed group that operates in Western Uganda, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and is loyal to ISIS. They say that these men came to this high school. It's just two kilometers away from the border of the DRC, Friday night.

[13:15:08]

And they went to the dormitories of the boys and the girls. The boys barricaded themselves inside the dormitory. They were not able to get in. And according to the Ugandan first lady, they threw a petrol bomb inside the dormitory and the 17 boys were in there were burned beyond recognition. They're going to need to do DNA analysis to identify them. In the case of the girls' dormitory, they tried to open the door and escape.

And these men had them with machetes, at least 20 girls were killed in that way. They also killed the security guard at the -- at the school -- the communities. So, 41 dead here, eight are in critical condition and at least six students were abducted at the school. The government has previously assured members of the community in this border town that they were safe, that the Ugandan military and the DRC military were conducting joint operations in the eastern DRC to stamp out this very armed group. And now people are outraged. Listen to this local leader.

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FLORENCE KABUGHO, MEMBER, PARLIAMENT FOR KASESE DISTRICT: If they are telling us the borders are secured, security is tight. I wanted a security to tell us where they were when these killers came to kill our people. Should (INAUDIBLE) the rebels that came to kill our people. Is this security within Uganda?

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MADOWO: A commander of the Ugandan military has apologized to the people of Kasese in this border town saying a mistake has happened. And the children has died and told them if they see anybody who's suspicious they should report them. And it's too little too late for so many people have lost family members. We spoke to one man who lost four relatives in this attack. Some of these kids were as young as 13, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Horrible, horrible mistake. Larry Madowo in Kampala. Thank you so much.

Russia is not letting up on its assault on Ukraine launching 37 airstrikes today alone. That's according to the head of Ukraine's armed forces who says that Moscow is mostly targeting its attacks in the northeast towards Bakhmut. Cities across the southern and eastern fronts have also been hit with shelling. Killing two people in the southern city of Kherson. Two others died in northeastern Kharkiv when a missile hit a civilian car.

Meanwhile, Kyiv says its troops are advancing albeit very slowly in the east and the south in the early stages of the counteroffensive that was just launched. Small hastily organized groups of Ukrainian fighters were very instrumental in blunting the original Russian plan to try to seize the capital. Now those soldiers have evolved into a critical component of Ukraine's strategy to push the Russians out of their country.

CNN's Sam Kiley spoke exclusively with a group of Ukrainian special ops in Bakhmut. Here's that report.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): KILEY (voice over): A Special Forces' night operation, the objective, to bring a special kind of misery to Russian troops. As they arrived alongside Ukrainian regulars, the Russians attacked. A night vision recording of a routine assault that the Special Forces needed to shrug off.

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KILEY (on camera): How long did you spend under fire like this before you could move?

BRABUS, UKRAINIAN INTELLIGENCE SPECIAL OPS (text): The attack lasted about half an hour.

KILEY: And then what did you do?

BRABUS (text): After that, we took up an observation position and watched them - we got to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILEY (voice over): Electronic surveillance pinpointed their victims. First, they killed two paratroopers approaching on their left flank to get to the group's main targets, Russian commanders near Bakhmut. A sterile record of an all too gritty event in March. First, one officer is shot, then another down.

He says, radio intercepts revealed that the Russians lost two officers and five others to their sniper team that night.

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BRABUS (text): The result of our operation was the demoralization of the Russian airborne unit because they lost their top leader.

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KILEY (on camera): Formed when Russia invaded Ukraine last year, this team of experienced veterans works in a secret realm under the intelligence services. They're tasked with tactical work seeking strategic effect as Ukraine's counteroffensive takes shape.

Here, using a modified heavy machine gun in a hidden bunker last month close to Bakhmut.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (text): You are spot on.

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KILEY (voice over): Drone operators more than a mile away are directing Brabus onto Russian troops.

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KILEY (on camera): How many Russians have you killed in this war?

BRABUS: A lot of. A lot of. A lot of -- for example, here's, a lot of Russians.

[13:20:12]

KILEY: OK. And this is when you're on with this gun? How many more or less there?

BRABUS: I don't know. We didn't calculate in this time.

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KILEY (voice over): It's the Russians they want to do the counting because Ukraine's best hope is that Russian troops run rather than fight.

Sam Kiley, CNN in Eastern Ukraine.

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MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Sam Kiley for that report. Just ahead. The fallout continues for Bud Light made an ongoing customer boycott. Now the company plans to provide financial assistance to its wholesalers and distributors. Hear what else they're doing to win customers back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARQUARDT: Happening today at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is attending a deployment ceremony for her husband who serves in the South Carolina National Guard. Michael Haley's brigade is heading to Africa in support of the United States Africa Command. One person familiar with the details of the deployment told CNN that Michael Haley will likely remain deployed through the spring of 2024.

That's just as primary season gets underway, and his wife will be in full campaign mode. Best of luck to Michael Haley.

Now hundreds of thousands of UPS workers are threatening to walk off the job after the Teamsters Union voted yesterday to approve a strike. If a strike does happen, it would be the largest against a single employer in U.S. history and it could devastate the nation's economy. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich reports.

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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: UPS Teamsters voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike on August 1st. If UPS and the Union do not reach a new deal by then, this doesn't come as a surprise though. UPS and the Union were prepared for this vote outcome as these votes are common practice in negotiations and almost always pass. But 97 percent of members voted to authorize a strike.

The Teamsters represent 340,000 warehouse workers and drivers. But UPS says they're committed to making a deal before August 1st and have made progress on key issues like getting air conditioning into trucks. Now the two sides have also made progress on 40 Other issues according to the Union, but there's still work to be done on issues like wages. The Union points to UPS' record profits, which are up nearly 80 percent over their current five-year contract from $6.3 billion to $11.3 billion last year.

Now, if big if the strike were to happen, it would impact millions of Americans as UPS moves 18.7 million packages a day. That's six percent of the U.S.' GDP. Now the last UPS strike was more than 26 years ago in 1997 and lasted 15 days. The two sides now though, are continuing to negotiate on this contract before that critical August 1st deadline.

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MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Vanessa for that report. And other business news. The company behind the beer Bud Light is promising to give back to distributors after plunging sales amid an ongoing customer boycott. Anheuser-Busch says it will provide financial assistance to wholesalers, reimburse fuel costs for distributors trucks and launch a new ad campaign. The company has been at the center of a heated backlash ever since it teamed up with transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney for a sweepstakes contest and accustom Bud Light can.

Bud Light sales have dipped by a quarter year over a year. And now for the first time in two decades. Bud Light is no longer the top selling beer in the United States losing its top spot to Modelo Especial last month.

Joining me now is Peter Shankman. He's a branding and social media consultant. Peter, thank you so much for joining us to discuss this now. This isn't simply just a change in American's tastebuds. What do you make of this saga of suds playing out?

PETER SHANKMAN, BRANDING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT: So, it really was -- it was the worst of all possible combinations and the respect that what they did in itself wasn't a terrible thing, right? It didn't, you know, go and ruin Bud Light forever. The problem was the second that happened Bud Light immediately backtrack. And they immediately said, well, maybe this wasn't a good idea.

And so now they've alienated both people who didn't like the original team up as well as people who did. Right? So now you've sort of hurt both parties. And they haven't really shown signs of recovering from that yet. The good thing though, America does have a very short attention span as the American consumer. This is not going to last throughout the summer. I don't believe. You know, we have July 4th coming up in a few weeks and people are still going to go back to what they know.

MARQUARDT: We were just showing some of the video that was posted by that influencer, Dylan Mulvaney. That Bud Light can that was promoted was never sold in stores. It was just a promotion that appeared on her Instagram. And that was back on April 1st when she posted it. Now we are 11 weeks on from that and Bud Light sales are still reeling. Of course, we have seen boycotts in the past, they come they go.

Why do you think this one has persisted for so long?

MARQUARDT: I think this one picked up a lot of speed really quickly. And Bud Light is the kind of thing that you do buy in bulk for parties, for events. So, I think that they did it a month before Memorial Day, it was still fresh in everyone's mind when Memorial Day being one of the biggest deals -- beer sale weekends around. July 4th being another one. So, I think that we need to see what's going to happen in the next few weeks.

And, you know, it's interesting, it really -- from a branding perspective I think it's wonderful what they did from an inclusivity perspective. From a branding perspective, I think they might have wanted to know their audience a little better. It's one thing to want to show inclusivity and I'm all for that 100 percent.

[13:30:04]

Your audience, the people who drink Bud Light, are not the first audience you would target or think of when you think of inclusivity, necessarily. And so I question it from the very beginning in terms of just how is this going to affect the average Bud Light drinker? I totally understand what they're trying to do, and I totally respect what they were trying to do, but from a strictly branding perspective, I'm not sure that it was, as thought through as it could have been. And they expect -- I don't think they expected, obviously didn't expect this kind of backlash. MARQUARDT: No, they certainly did not. Bud Light is obviously part of

the Anheuser-Busch family, and while we're seeing the Bud Light sales falling, we're seeing Anheuser-Busch revenues still rising. They're up 13% over year. And I don't think many people realize that many of the brands that the company is responsible for includes not just Bud Light, but Michelob ULTRA, Stella Artois, Natural Light. Why do you think that none of those other brands have suffered?

SHANKMAN: Because no one bothers -- in today's economy, in today's day and age, we see something on social media, we think, oh, let's boycott it. We'll buy another brand. They don't bother to do the most basic 1% of research, which would say, wow, this is all owned by the same company. We've seen that happen before. As a matter of fact, when this first started, when this boycott first started, I believe there was a rock star. I'm not sure if it was Kid Rock or someone who showed his fridge and his fridge, he completely dumped it all his Bud Light, and replaced it with another brand that Anheuser-Busch owns.

So, you know, it's sort of the social world we live in. It sounds great. Let's jump on this bandwagon without doing the most basic research to say, if you really want to hurt the company, maybe you shouldn't buy a brand that they also own.

MARQUARDT: And this is one of the brands that has been highlighted by anti-LGBTQ activists. We have seen boycotts launched against Target, for example, Kohl's, even Chick-fil-A in recent weeks because they hired someone to talk about diversity or to manage diversity, equality, and inclusion. Do you think that brands are going to be more cautious now as a result of these boycotts in their support for the LGBTQ plus community?

SHANKMAN: I don't think so, because at the end of the day, it's a very small segment. Bud Light is an extreme case right now, but in terms of Target, in terms of Chick-fil-A, it's a very small segment of people who will actually continue to boycott a brand. You know, you'll see, oh, we're not going to shop at Target.

Well, you know what? Walmart might do something next week that you don't like either, then what are you going to do, right? So a lot of these boycotts, they make great press. They look really good right in the beginning, but people tend not to follow through with it. Again, that another reason why I'm really curious to see the results of the July 4 sales for Bud Light.

MARQUARDT: Yeah, we'll be watching that very carefully. Peter Shankman, really appreciate your thoughts today. Thank you for coming on.

SHANKMAN: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

MARQUARDT: Coming up, you will hear from the migrants who were flown by the state of Florida to Sacramento, California, and why they say they feel they were deceived, how they -- why they feel confused, angry, and betrayed.

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MARQUARDT: This week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta submitted a public records request to Florida officials, including the governor, Ron DeSantis regarding the 36 migrants who were transported from Texas to New Mexico and then flown to Sacramento, California earlier this month. CNN's Camila Bernal traveled to Sacramento to meet the asylum seekers and find out more about their journeys and what their futures hold. She joins me now from Los Angeles. So, Camila, what did they tell you?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alex. So, they say they would like to over and over again, these migrants told me, look, they told us that they were going to give us a job and a place to live. So of course they said yes. They also said, of course we were happy. This was the first time they were ever getting on a plane for a lot of these migrants. And so they thought people were willing to help them. They thought this was all very genuine until they realized that it wasn't.

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BERNAL: Walking the streets of Sacramento is a dream come true for this 31-year-old migrant. But the first time she set foot in the California capital, she felt confused, angry and betrayed.

Unfulfilled promises, says the migrant, who has not to be identified for legal reasons. It was in a shelter in El Paso, Texas, where she says two men approached her with the offer of a lifetime. A paid trip on a jet to California and the promise of a job and housing.

(On camera): She offered her a job, so she was happy and signed.

(Voice-over): This after she spent two months traveling from her native Colombia to the U.S.-Mexico border. She describes the difficulties of the jungle, the train, starving, sleeping on the street, begging for money.

(On camera): She is emotional and says it's the worst because you feel like you are at your lowest.

(Voice-over): The offer, in the end, was too good to be true. But it was made to a total of 36 migrants who traveled on two separate charter flights from Texas to Sacramento.

When we got here, we didn't have a job nor a house nor direction in life, said this 34-year-old Venezuelan migrant who was part of the first flight. The migrants are at the center of a political battle over immigration policy with Republican governors like Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida sending thousands of migrants from Texas to Democratic led cities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We didn't come here for political reasons. We came here for work.

BERNAL: But he says he wants people to understand their suffering and their desire to work.

[13:40:06]

She says, they're human beings with feelings and families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And the attorney General here in California is looking into criminal liability. He's investigating these flights and says there's two possibilities here kidnapping and false imprisonment. All of this while these migrants are just trying to get used to the U.S. They told me that physically and mentally, their journeys were extremely difficult. But they say they want to be here. And we're so excited to be taken care of by the people in Sacramento.

They were so thankful to these organizations who got them medical help, who got them attorneys, and who are helping them get used to the U.S. Things like knowing where to go if you have an emergency or what to do if you get sick. Just the basics of living in America. And a lot of them saying this is where they want to be. Alex?

MARQUARDT: Want to be here and want to work here. Camila Bernal, thank you very much for that report.

Now, to a developing story out of Baltimore, where officials say at least 15 people were injured when a bus crashed into two cars. Police say that the MTA bus ended up smashing into a building. Of the 15 people hurt, officials say two are facing possible life-threatening injuries. Baltimore City police said the cause of the crash is unknown at this time.

And still to come, many top business leaders believe that artificial intelligence could destroy humanity in 5 to 10 years. We'll be discussing with a professor of neural science and artificial intelligence. That's next.

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[13:46:02]

MARQUARDT: He is back. Golfer Rickie Fowler is making quite the return to the greens at the U.S. Open in Los Angeles. Despite a rough few years, the Southern California native now sits alone atop the leaderboard heading into today's third round. CNN Sports Anchor and Correspondent Patrick Snell is live at the U.S. Open.

Patrick, set the scene for us. What's going on?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi there, Alex. Yes, welcome to Southern California here where we've already got thousands out on the course here at the Los Angeles Country Club. We are expecting a thrill filled afternoon with so much of the attention on American golf stars.

You rightly, said Rickie Fowler, who seeks his first career major victory. What a story it would be when you reflect on the career slump he's currently emerging from. Once ranked number four in the world. But then his career ranking plummeting down to 185 a year ago. It's just been a remarkable upturn in fortunes. He changed his caddy, his swing coach. His mentality is really spot on. He's in a good shape right now.

And on Friday evening I asked him to reflect on the tough, tough journey he's been through in recent months. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICKIE FOWLER, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I sure hope everyone can relate to struggles because everyone deals with them. No one's perfect. I think you'd be lying if you haven't been through a tough time, especially if you play golf. I'm looking forward to the weekend. And it's been a while since I've felt this good in a tournament, let alone a major. So it's going to be a challenge, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Fowler win this as well, Alex, in four years. How he would love to snap that drought. Now, it's not always about how you score at these tournaments. It's qualifying and one to focus on Barry Henson, a 43-year-old American player who qualified for this tournament. Why was there so much attention on him going into this week? Well, part simply, he's a pro golfer, yes, but also a part time Uber driver.

It really is a sensational story and it's why we love the qualifying about the U.S. Open. Just have a quick listen now to him speaking about what this journey means to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY HENSON, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER/PART-TIME UBER DRIVER: I've got 3000 rides and I'm a 4.99 Uber rated driver, which I love, and I feel -- you know, I take pride in that. I like to play games with my passengers when they come in. I usually let them ask me questions to find out what I really do and I can only answer yes or no. And that ends up turning into be fun because they go down like this weird road of entertainment business and being in the movies or whatever it might be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Now, he did miss the cut, Alex, but as I say, that's not the story. One of his favorite passengers over the years, he tells us, Australian Tennis Great, Nick Kyrgios. Back to you, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yeah, even if you didn't make the cut, still a great story. Patrick Snell, thanks very much.

And happening now, President Joe Biden kicking off his reelection campaign in some familiar stomping grounds. He's holding a rally with union members in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: -- in history where, last week, every single environmental organization endorsed me.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: No, no, no. And this week, for the first time I'm aware of, the AFL-CIO endorsed this early and every union as well.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Because we're coming together. I look out in this crowd, and I see a lot of old friends, a lot of folks -- as they say in Claymont, Delaware -- who brung me to the dance.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: I told you when I ran for President I'd have your back. And I have. But you've had my back as well.

[13:50:00]

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And I'm more -- excuse me for getting a little emotional -- I'm more honored by your endorsement than --

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-- than you can imagine. Coming this early, it's going to make a gigantic difference in this campaign.

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You know, there are a lot of politicians in this country who can't say the word "union."

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But you know I'm not one of them. I'm proud to say the word. I'm proud to be the most pro-union president in American history. I promised you I would be. But what I'm really proud about -- what I'm really proud about is being re-elected the most pro-union president in history.

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Look, I want to thank Kamala for all she's doing to fight for working families.

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Look, folks, I've said many times: Wall Street didn't build America, you did. You did.

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Not a joke. I've been saying this for a long time, long before I ran for president. The middle class built this country, and you built the middle class. (APPLAUSE)

Electricians, carpenters, ironworkers, steelworkers, laborers, bricklayers, plumbers, pipe fitters, police officers, firefighters, educators, nurses, painters, airline workers, custodians, transit workers, steel and metalworkers, grocery store workers, hotel workers, so many others.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Millwrights!

BIDEN: And let me tell you something -- millwrights as well.

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If the investment -- the investment bankers in this country -- think about it (inaudible). This is not a criticism of them, but if the investment bankers in this country went on strike tomorrow, no one would much notice in this room.

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No, think about this in a literal sense. But if this room didn't show up for work tomorrow or Monday, the whole country would come to a grinding halt.

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So, tell me -- tell me: Who matters more in America? Folks, I'm looking forward to this campaign. I want you to know why: because you got a story to tell. We've got a story to tell. We've got a record to run on. And most importantly, we're not only changing this country, we're transforming it.

Just think back: Remember what it was like when I came to office -- we came into office. Remember the mess we inherited. The pandemic was raging. Think -- I want you to really think about this. I mean this sincerely. It's not a campaign speech; it's a speech about the future of this country.

The economy was reeling. Barely 3 million people had been fully vaccinated. Supply chains were broken. Businesses were shutting down. Schools were closed.

You had cars -- remember cars -- not just old jalopies, cars -- modern cars, new cars -- lined up for miles and miles just to get a box of food put in the back of their car for their families.

Our allies in Europe and around the world heard the last president saying our foreign policy was "America First." And for the first time since the Second World War, our friends began to wonder whether the United States could be relied on.

Now, look at where we are today. We've united NATO once more in a way it had never been united before. It's a wonder we're --

(APPLAUSE) We've created 13 million new jobs since I became President. That's more jobs in little over two years than any president has created in one four-year term.

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The unemployment rate is down to nearly a 50-year low at 3.7%. I've seen record lows for Black unemployment and Hispanic unemployment as well. We've created 800,000 manufacturing jobs.

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And as you heard me say before: Where in God's name is it written that America can't lead the world again in manufacturing? Inflation has come down 11 months in a row and going to continue to come down. Today, it's less than half of what it was one year ago.

Folks, this didn't just happen. We made it happen. I came to office --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: You did it!

BIDEN: No, you guys. No, I being -- I'm being sincere. You guys did. I came to office with a theory and a plan. The theory was this --

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: You did it!

BIDEN: No, please listen. I mean it. I want you to listen to this one.

(LAUGHTER)

It was time to end the trickle-down economics theory: You know, the wealthy done well, we all do well. Forty years of handing out excessive tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations had been a bust. Democrats as well as Republicans did it. All -- all of it had done -- all it had done was hollow out the middle class; blow up the deficit; ship jobs overseas; strip the dignity and pride and hope out of a community, one after another, all across America as the factories shut down.

[13:55:15]

I'm pretty sure you saw in your home what I saw in mine.

MARQUARDT: That is President Joe Biden speaking at his first major rally for his 2024 reelection bid. He's speaking to a group of union workers claiming to be the most pro-union president in history.

He told the crowd, if this room didn't show up for work, this country would come to a grinding halt. He then went on to list various economic victories in his first two and a half years as president as he seeks a second term as president.

We will have much more ahead in the next hour. We will be right back.

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