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Mass Shooting In A Baltimore Block Party; Sweeping Protests In Paris In Its Fifth Night; U.S. Air Defense Struggling; DeSantis Draws Criticism On Anti-Trump Ad; Severe Weather Threat All Across The United States; Toxic Algae Bloom Killing Sea Lions And Dolphins in California. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 02, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The people are mor likely to walk down a well-lit street, less likely to throw trash on the ground. And that with they're hoping that Cubans, is not just a restored sign, but a little bit of hope as well.

Nadal (ph) says the signs are his small gift to the homeland he left at a young age.

UNKNOWN: I'm Cuban-American. I wanted to come back and make a contribution to my country, and I'm a neon guy. So, I figure that neon would be a wonderful thing to do and it goes in keeping with the history of Havana.

OPPMANN (voice-over): His team's dream as they slowly bring the lights back as the neon signs are not just part of the city's past, but also its future. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Thanks to mi asere, Patrick Oppmann, for that report. And thank you so much for sharing your afternoon with us. I'm Boris Sanchez. The "CNN NEWSROOM" continues in a moment.

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: You are in the "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Paula Reid in Washington. Jim Acosta has the day off. And we begin this hour, as we have so many times, with the horror of yet another mass shooting in America. The latest rampage, a holiday block party in Baltimore.

At least two people are dead and a staggering 28 others injured. Here is another jaw-dropping number -- 14 of the gunshot victims are minors, under the age of 18. CNN's Gloria Pazmino joins us live from the scene in Baltimore. Gloria, have investigators been able to piece together exactly what happened here?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, police are still very much in the early stages of this investigation, but we have learned two important things in the last hour. First, police have now confirmed as they believe more than one person was behind last night's violence. They have not identified individuals yet. They have not taken anybody into custody. But we know that they are looking for more than one person.

The second thing, Paula, police tell us 28 people were injured as a result of gunfire here last night. Two people were killed, an 18-year- old woman and a 20-year-old man. Several more are still in the hospital. But it is just incredible to think that 28 people suffered gunshot injuries in the chaos here last night.

Now, we are in the Brooklyn homes section of Baltimore. And last night people here were gathering, just like many other communities are doing across the country right now. They were celebrating the holiday. They were having a block party, a cookout. And shortly after midnight, police tell us shots rang out.

We have been speaking to residents here who tell me that it was absolute chaos. People running around, trying to take cover. And we heard from the mayor and law enforcement officials just a short while ago, pleading with this community to come forward and share any information they might have so they can find the people behind last night's violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANDON SCOTT, MAYOR OF BALTIMORE: We are asking again that anyone that knows anything about this mass shooting, and that's what I wanted to call it, it's a mass shooting, we want this shooting to be treated just as it happened in rural America. We want everyone to come forward and say treat this as if it was your daughter, your son, your brother, your cousin that was out here shot at this event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, Mayor Scott, Paula, also stressing that this is not about gun violence just here in Baltimore or another big city across America. He said America, America has a gun violence problem. He was critical of gun manufacturing. He said that people have access to illegal guns too easily. He said that he wants people to pay attention to this shooting, just like any other shooting in America.

And again, police sharing they are reviewing videos from the scene, including some that have been posted to social media, showing that there was a person in the crowd who had a gun. So, Paula, police still investigating and hopefully trying to learn more about the individuals behind last night's violence. Paula?

REID: Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much. Let's stay on this story. Joining us now is Mark Conway, a member of Baltimore's city council. You're also of course the chief of the Baltimore City Council's Public Safety and Government Operations Committee. Thank you for sharing your Sunday with us. I want to start by asking how the Baltimore community is holding up today.

MARK CONWAY, BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL: I think we're taking it pretty hard; you know. This is an unspeakable act of violence, like nothing we've never -- we've ever seen here in Baltimore before.

[17:05:02] And so, I think folks here are really troubled. And, you know, really, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families and the community, but you know, we want to see change in the city, so.

REID: Residents have said there is normally a police presence at this annual block party, but that they didn't see that this year. Others have also suggested that the police response appeared to be slow. What is your reaction to that?

CONWAY: Yeah, you know, this is something we've been hearing as well. And this is an issue I particularly want to dig into in my committee in public safety. We've been hearing a lot of things and we really want to understand what went wrong here. Where was the police response in advance? What should we be doing going forward?

And I think also for the housing authority, as this party went forward, it being an unsanctioned party, not a permitted party, why wasn't this communicated to the police department? What happened? Where was the ball dropped.? So, this is something we'll be looking at and into our committee later on.

REID: And as you look into that, you'll be relying on people to share information. You are the son of law enforcement officials, and as you know, sometimes witnesses are hesitant to come forward. The city of Baltimore has had issues in terms of relationships between the community and police. So, how are you going to address that?

CONWAY: Yeah, I think we have been working incredibly hard as a city to make sure that we rebuilt that relationship between the police department and the community. And our police department has been doing the same. You know, we encourage folks, especially in (inaudible) when things like this happen, to do everything you can to be a part of the solution.

No one wants to see something like this happen. No one wants to see 30 people wounded by guns, two killed by guns and -- this is tragic. And so, if there is anything that you can do, if there's, you know, anyone watching that knows more about what happened here or who was involved, you do your part and you step up, regardless of anything that may have happened in the past. Two people lost their life and, you know, it's our duty to make sure this doesn't happen again.

REID: And as you know, this country is awash in guns right now and gun violence. In the city of Baltimore, how are you addressing this issue?

CONWAY: Yeah. So, this is, of course, a long-standing issue in the city of Baltimore. We've been working really, really hard to get guns off of our street. Just this year alone, we've had over 700 gun arrests which is insane when you think about the number of people in the city and the number of guns off the street.

That said, the problem here isn't necessarily because people are getting guns in Baltimore. In fact, we don't have a single gun shop in Baltimore. These guns are coming from outside of Baltimore, sometimes even outside of the state of Maryland. We need real policy and real action from folks that have enough

ability to make a change here and I think, you know, we have to have some conversation at the federal level and push those that have the power to do some change here.

REID: Mark Conaway, thank you so much for joining us and our thoughts and prayers go out to the city of Baltimore.

CONWAY: Thanks for having me, Paula. I appreciate you.

REID: And in addition to Baltimore, there was a mass shooting overnight in Wichita, Kansas. At least seven people were shot inside the city nights -- nightclub. Two other people were trampled as the crowd panicked. Now, police aren't sure what triggered the violence. One person is in custody and police say at least four firearms were fired inside the building.

It has been another gruesome year of gun violence in the U.S. and we're just past the halfway point of 2023. There have been 338 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The research group defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are injured or killed, not including the shooters. And the archive reports more than 21,000 people have died this year from all forms of gun violence.

French authorities say 45,000 police will be deployed across the country tonight following violent protests over the last five days. More than 2,000 people have been detained, many of them minors. Last night, officials say protesters targeted the home of a mayor of a Paris suburb in an attempted murder. Attackers rammed a car into the house in order to set it on fire.

France has been gripped by violent demonstrations since police shot and killed a 17-year-old during a traffic stop on Tuesday. CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us in Paris. Nic, is there any sign that these protests will ease up?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think there maybe. I don't want to speak too soon. It's 11:00 p.m. There is less violence here on the central street, the Champ-Elysees.

[17:10:00]]

So many tourists out tonight, but it's been less violent, less cat and mouse, less police racing around on motor bikes at high speed and less racing around in police vans with the sirens blaring. So, in the central Paris it seems to be so. From what we're hearing across the rest of the country, there is still trouble in some areas, but not at previous levels.

Last night was a real test to see if there would be a pivot downwards. Is the trend going to continue tonight? It seems to be so at the moment -- 871 fires across the country in the previous 24-hour period into -- through Saturday into Sunday. That's a good metric to look at because if you look at the previous night, it was 2,560. The previous night, 3,880 fires. So, you can see that trend down. The same with the arrest. The number

of detentions were down last night. The number of police getting home was down. The number of government buildings getting damaged was down. But what we've heard from government officials, we've heard this from the prime minister today who, by the way, went out to meet with that mayor at the city hall, his house as you say was attacked. His wife, two young children in the house, the children were 5 and 7 years old, and his wife, her leg was badly broken as she tried to escape the house with the children, one of the children hurt.

And the message we heard from the prime minister after that was look, we're going to be tough with justice on all those people who perpetrated violence. We're going to be tough in terms of security. So, again, tonight, that 45,000 police in gendarmes across the country. But at least for those here in central Paris on the Champ- Elysees tonight, it looks like being a quieter night than last night. And I think there will be that sense that perhaps a corner is being turned. Let's see where we are tomorrow morning.

REID: And Nic, the grandmother of the shooting victim has called for an end to the violence. Do you think that will make any difference?

ROBERTSON: Her message is really going to resonate with a lot of people. We've talked to people in some of the neighborhoods affected by violence. What Nahel's grandmother is saying is, look, don't make violence in his name. He's dead. You know, that can't be changed. His mother is broken. Her life is, you know, she said, is over.

But the violence, his grandmother said, is it's on the buses. It's on your communities. These are the buses your mothers take to work. These are the buildings that your families use. So, and that's a message that the government has been putting out as well. And I think that is a message that we found talking to people in communities. It resonates with them.

Yes, they're angry with the government. Yes, they're angry that they feel that the police racially profile youths in their communities. But also, it's their own communities that are getting affected. So, I think the grandmother's words will have some resonance. Again, let's see what tomorrow morning looks like.

REID: Nic Robertson, thank you. And coming up, quote, "we have been overworked and undermanned." That's how one senior officer describes the U.S. army's air defense units. How global threats could be stretching resources too thin.

Plus, this DeSantis campaigns new line of attack against Trump, slamming the former president for his previous vow to protect LGBTQ rights.

And later, a 200-mile toxic algae bloom is killing marine mammals in California. Details ahead, live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00] REID: The U.S. Army's air defense units are among the most overworked in the military. Air defense soldiers are tasked with manning missile systems across the globe to provide a round-the-clock deterrence against adversaries like North Korea and Russia. And as demands increase with the war in Ukraine and looming concerns over potential conflicts in China, service leaders are sounding the alarms.

Joining me now in the studio is CNN national security reporter Haley Britzky. All right, Haley, what are some of the concerns here?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Right, so Army Air Defense is one of, if not the most deployed branches in the service. So, they are in the Pacific, the Middle East, as you said, you know, in Europe, as well as training Ukrainians on their own air defense. And those deployments are really having to taking an impact on these soldiers.

We're seeing leaders said that they've seen an increase in soldiers going to behavioral health on post, so seeking out mental health support. They're also concerned about the wear and tear on families. As we so often hear, you know, in the Pentagon, you recruit the service member, but you retain the family. And so that is of concern for leaders as well. So, they're working to mitigate some of these issues as well as keeping these units ready for the mission.

REID: What are exactly are they doing to try to mitigate these issues?

BRITZKY: So, the Army has multiple lines of effort that they're going after right now. They are standing up multiple new air defense units. They're sort of staggered over the next several years and offering quite a sizable enlistment bonus to help fill out those ranks roughly around $47,000.

They are also embedding mental health specialists, these behavioral health specialists into air defense brigades to sort of give someone closer to the soldiers in case they need them. They're also reducing commitments. Officials said they've reduced commitments in the Middle East particularly, especially as foreign allies and partners in that region can provide some of their own air defense. So, they're going down from five battalions to two battalions.

And really these leaders are just encouraging leaders throughout the chain of command to communicate with military families, make sure that they are mitigating some of the unpredictability there with these deployments and ensure that they're taken care of. So, leaders are working behind the scenes. They're aware of these concerns, but also know that these demands on air defense are not going anywhere, if only they're only increasing.

REID: $47,000, that's a significant bonus.

[17:19:59]

Haley, thank you so much for your great reporting. We appreciate it.

And joining me now is CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Army commanding general, Mark Hertling, for some reaction to that story. Now, General, what do you make of the Army's concerns about this rampant burnout among its missile defense units. I mean, is this something that's always been a problem?

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Paula, this is not new. Haley's reporting is very good, but it's a problem that's been around for decades. It has to do with the type of equipment we're talking about. Air defense falls into three categories, man-portable, the ones that are fired from a soldier's shoulder like the Stinger missile, something they call LOMAD, which is the low altitude equipment, like the Gepards (ph) or the Avengers that we're seeing in Ukraine right now.

And then there's the high-mat (ph), the high-altitude equipment that shoots down Cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and high-flying aircraft. It's the high-mat area where there are the problems, the so- called Patriot systems. And it's very easy for the public to say, hey, let's just send the Patriots here or send them there, but there are very few of these equipment.

They're called high demand, low density pieces of equipment. There are several areas in the army that are like this and Patriot is the number one system that's like this. And it's because number one, they cost so much. Number two, it takes so much time to train soldiers on them. And number three, they have defensive requirements in various parts of the world as Haley mentioned, Korea, Taiwan, the Middle East, and we've been supporting our allies and partners with some of these systems as well.

REID: I want to read you something that the commander of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command said in Europe, quote, "unfortunately, business is good for air defense. Of course, that's very apparent when it comes to Ukraine." So, do you think this burnout could impact or even threaten the U.S.'s efforts in Ukraine?

HERTLING: Oh, it certainly could, and the 10th Air and Missile Defense Command in Europe used to be one of the units I commanded in Europe. There was one Patriot battalion, a unit that has three batteries of Patriots. We have given one of those batteries to Ukraine. So, it is down now to two batteries with about 90 soldiers in each. And what happens is when you give those pieces of equipment away or when you send them off to allies, the soldiers that remain that are still doing a very viable mission are stuck with taking up the slack.

It's like taking an entire organization, cutting it by a third, and then saying, hey, continue to do the mission you've been asked to do. That's what's happening. So, the 10th AAMDC in Europe is just one of several that are like this. And yeah, work is good, but there's not that many of them.

And the next question I'm sure you're going to ask is, well, why didn't the Army make more of these? Because they are extremely expensive and there's a budget that has to do with not only the systems, but also the missiles that they fire.

REID: Fair enough. Speaking of Ukraine though, the country's Deputy Defense Minister just announced that Russian forces have made advances in eastern Ukraine. How significant is this?

HERTLING: Well, all the reads that I'm getting, Paula, is the fact that the Ukrainian forces are actually countering those Russian advances in the Eastern part, in the Donbas. And at the same time, the Ukrainian forces are also continuing their efforts in the southeastern part of the country, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

So, all of the front lines, that 600-mile or 600-kilometer of front line from the north all the way down to the southeast is being covered. Ukraine is advancing in many of them. Russia is taking advantage and attempting to regain some territory, but every read that I'm getting from my counterparts in Ukraine is that they're not being very successful in doing that.

REID: Also overnight, Russia launched an air attack on the capital of Kiev. The city's military administration says that Russia used Iranian-made drones. Kiev's air defenses destroyed all of the drones, according to the city's leaders, but multiple homes were damaged by falling debris, a resident was injured. Is this a growing threat for Ukraine? I mean, Russia using these Iranian drones?

HERTLING: It's been a threat for six months. The combination of drones, which are relatively cheap are sent in first. So, it drains off some of the air defense pieces of equipment we were just talking about. And then they send in -- the Russians will then send in the larger missiles after they think they've depleted weapons against the drones.

So, you're going to see this combination tactics of firing actually very inexpensive drones against cities that have large explosive power to drain off the Ukrainian air defense and then followed up by much bigger missiles.

[17:25:04]

And that's part of the air defense problem we were talking about earlier. The amount of weapons that are being used to counter this air threat by Russia is just off the chart. We have never seen this many drones, this many caliber missiles fired at one time. And the good news is, Ukraine is shooting down most of them. They've put up a protective barrier, a wall, if you will, that's very difficult to do, and they're having more success than countries like Israel using the iron dome.

They are actually protecting their people very well with the equipment they've been given by the West. But again, we get back to the problem. Low-density, high-demand equipment being used in Ukraine that have been purchased, truthfully, for our security, for the U.S. security.

REID: General Mark Hertling, thank you.

HERTLING: Pleasure, Paula. Thank you.

REID: And up next, just one month after the Pulse nightclub shooting, former President Trump vowed to protect LGBTQ citizens. Now, DeSantis' campaign is using that to attack Trump. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

REID: Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign is launching a new attack ad against Donald Trump, slamming his Republican rival in a provocative video for his previous support of the LGBTQ community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens --

(VIDEO PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: The video is being widely condemned as homophobic and it's just the latest attack in an escalating feud between the GOP's top two 2024 contenders. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us now with more. Kristen, how is the Trump campaign responding to that ad?

KRITEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see, it is a very strange ad. They have said to me, both on background and even on the record, that they believe this is some kind of scrambling attempt for Ron DeSantis to get relevancy, to kind of bring up his poll numbers. But also, the video itself is just bizarre, and they like the fact that it is now being talked about.

They're talking about why are there pictures of shirtless men in between headlines of Ron DeSantis condemning, you know, actions against trans people, or not teaching gender ideology. So, there's been a lot of conversation around that. The other thing I want to notice is those statements that were made at the very top of that clip, it's unclear whether or not the DeSantis team knew what they were doing, but they were taken a month after the Pulse shooting, and they were when Donald Trump was accepting the Republican nomination.

And if you actually listen to the entire speech, which I did afterwards, the next lines are protecting people from domestic terrorism. So, it was strange, you know, to many people watching the video, as well as to the Trump campaign, that those are the remarks that they would use. A former, you know, presidential candidate, the leader of the Republican Party, essentially offering his support after a tragic event.

REID: How are other Republicans responding to this? Because clearly, they are looking for voters, but they're also looking for support with they're in their own party. So how is this -- how is this landing?

HOLMES: Well, when I'm talking to donors, they think that this was a weird play. They're not entirely sure why they decided to release this video. And another group that is very important actually released a statement and that's the law of cabin Republicans. They call themselves the largest Republican group that advocates for LGBT. And this is what they said.

They said, "Conservatives understand that we need to protect our kids, preserve women's sports, safeguard women's spaces and strengthen parental rights. But Ron DeSantis' extreme rhetoric has just ventured into homophobic territory." They also said that this was divisive. And so, it's interesting to see this group, this huge group stepping forward here when they haven't in the past, when you have heard so many of these candidates coming out, they're talking about woke ideology, trying to campaign against teaching gender ideology. This clearly crossed the line for a lot of people.

REID: Now, Trump and DeSantis are also squabbling over another hot button issue, and that is the handling of COVID. So, what's going on there?

HOLMES: Well, this has been really one of DeSantis' tactics here, is to run to the right of Donald Trump. That's what you're seeing here when it comes to woke ideology with this video. That's also what you have seen when it comes to abortion. He's been touting his six-week bill. Obviously, we know Donald Trump has not said anything about any kind of number of weeks for a national ban when it comes to abortion.

And the other topic there is COVID. And I do think that COVID is the one that gets under the skin of the Trump advisors. Unlike abortion, unlike gender ideology, these are things that they don't really mind if DeSantis runs to the right of Donald Trump on. When it comes to COVID, there is a lot of tension there and you've seen this in the going back and forth.

One of the first times I traveled with Trump right after he launched his campaign, he could not stop talking about it. We were flying to New Hampshire, flying to South Carolina. He was saying, well, Ron DeSantis left the beaches open. Ron DeSantis, excuse me, Ron DeSantis closed the beaches. He didn't leave them open. He said he wasn't loyal and that he shouldn't be trashing him for his COVID response.

This is clearly a point of contention here. As you remember, DeSantis put out that A.I. video essentially showing Trump hugging Fauci, which was not a real scene. But they're in a fight here to get to this core base of Republicans who aren't happy with Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic, who aren't happy with the vaccines, which is clearly one of Trump's pivotal achieving crowning moments of his administration, was getting Operation Warp Speed and getting those through.

[17:35:05]

But we're going to see more of this because that is an issue that DeSantis knows that they can run and have a strong backing on to the right of Trump and is an issue that is concerning for the Trump team.

REID: So, they're clearly fighting for the acceptance on the love maybe -- maybe is a strong word -- (inaudible) acceptance, of Republican voters, how is this -- how is this playing out?

HOLMES: Well, if you look at the polling, Donald Trump is still leading by quite a big margin right now. You know, we have seen time and time again, and during this cycle in particular, Republicans, establishment Republicans coming out saying they're not going to support him this round, donors saying they're not going to support him this round. We just saw the Koch brothers saying that they were going to put $70 million against anyone, essentially, to run against Donald Trump.

But the question is, you know, who is that going to be? Because many people believed it was going to be Ron DeSantis, that he was going to come out and really take on Trump head-to-head. And right now, even with two indictments, Trump is still leading in the polls. So, it's unclear if there's going to be a moment where DeSantis has a breakout. But of course, as we know, it is still very early and those debates will make a big difference.

REID: Kristen, thank you so much for your great insight and reporting.

Still to come, scorching heat, raging wildfires, toxic air alerts and dangerous storms. Scientists are raising the alarm about the severity of the climate crisis. That's next, live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

REID: Flash floods wreaking havoc in the streets of Chicago today. Floodwaters stranding multiple cars and shutting down major expressways. This comes after what the National Weather Service calls Chicago's heaviest rain event in over 40 years. The wet weather also forcing NASCAR to make changes to its first ever Chicago street race.

Crews have been working all day to dry the roads to attempt today's Cup Series event, which has not yet started. Saturday's race was halted and won't even be finished. Meantime, 63 million people are under heat alerts today. Temperatures from California to the Gulf Coast are currently in the danger zone -- 106 degrees in Fresno, 113 in Phoenix, and a mild 95 in New Orleans. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on the wild weather this weekend.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Paula, nearly 100 million people are still under the threat for severe storms for the remainder of the day today. Two separate areas here, but the threats remain the same. We're still looking at damaging winds, the potential for some large hail, and we cannot rule out an isolated tornado or two. Cities like Nashville, Louisville, Washington, D.C., even stretching down towards Atlanta, all have the potential for those storms.

We've had several rounds already ongoing today. More of them are going to continue to make their way across the Midwest into the mid- Atlantic, keeping in mind that flash floods is also going to be a big concern because a lot of these areas had rain in the same place as yesterday. Now we're picking up an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain on top of what we've already had.

Tomorrow, that threat continues to push eastward, still looking at New York, D.C., stretching back down into Atlanta, where the potential for severe storms, and a separate area across areas of the Midwest where we could still be looking at some damaging wind gusts as the main threat.

Another concern is going to be the heat over the next few days. Two separate areas, we're looking at the southeast for we have heat advisories in effect and some excessive heat warnings out to the West. Temperatures here likely to get into the one teens, if not even as high as the one twenties, especially across areas like Death Valley, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.

But that heat is going to spread north into places like Oregon and Washington State. Both of those states could end up picking up some record highs. In fact, over 30 cities likely to pick up some records not only today and tomorrow, but also into Tuesday and Wednesday, Paula, of the upcoming week.

REID: Allison Chinchar, thank you. Joining us now is climate scientist, Katharine Hayhoe. Katharine, Texas, where you are now, is now in its third week of a brutal heat wave. What is behind this?

KATHARINE HAYHOE, CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Well, not only that, but Canada, where I'm from, has seen an area burned equivalent to the entire area of the state of Indiana so far this year. This is what I call global weirding. In other words, as the world gets warmer, it's loading our weather dice against us, making the chances of a really big flood like in Chicago, a crazy heat dome lasting weeks in Texas, and a record- breaking wildfire season in Canada much more likely.

REID: We're also seeing other extreme weather-related events like the ones you just mentioned, right? The wildfires in Canada. We have the flooding in Chicago. Last month we saw tornadoes sweeping across the South. It appears that this is all connected, right?

HAYHOE: It is. Of course, we know that these events occur naturally. We've always had hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves and droughts. But the warmer the world gets decade by decade, it's like climate change is sneaking in and taking our weather dice that always had a double six on them anyways, and changing some of those numbers into more sixes and even sevens. So, we are rolling weather events more frequently. When they come, they're stronger, more intense and they're more dangerous, putting us all at risk.

REID: And as we see this heat become increasingly dangerous, even deadly, I mean, how much worse is this going to get realistically? If you want to continue with the dice analogy, probably the math is too complicated for me, but I mean, play this out in the next few decades.

HAYHOW: Well, we know that the more carbon we put into the atmosphere, the worse things get. So that's why it's so important to accelerate the transition to the clean energy economy, to reduce our impact on nature so nature can take some of that carbon out of the atmosphere for us, to adapt and prepare and build resilience to the impacts we can no longer avoid.

[17:45:04]

Climate action is a necessity not for the planet, but for us. REID: And Katharine, is this irreversible? Are there things we can do like people were able to sort of reverse the ozone issue back in the day? Can people really reverse course here?

HAYHOE: The ozone hole is a great example of scientists detecting a threat, identifying the human emissions that were causing it, the world coming together and agreeing to something called the Montreal Protocol, and today, almost more than 40 years later, we are seeing the results of that agreement. If we can do that on climate change, we can slow, stop, and even eventually reverse some of the damages that we've done. But the time to act is not in 10 or 20 years. It is quite literally today.

REID: So, what can people do, right? They're at home right now. What are a few things you can do if you want to be part of that reversal?

HAYHOE: Well, first of all, stay safe. Whatever condition you're in, whether you're being exposed to wildfire smoke or extreme heat, be safe. Make good choices, care for your family, for the people around you, for people you work with.

But when it comes to climate change, the number one thing that all of us can do might surprise you is something we're not doing. And it's so simple, we often just skip right over it when we're thinking about climate action. Most of us are already worried, but hardly any of us have conversations about why these matters where I live, to the people and places and things I love, and about what solutions look like that my place of work, my neighborhood, my school, my church, my family, my city could be doing.

And so, when we have these conversations, it's like we're knocking over the first domino, helping people figure out how each of us can play a role in working together to turn this thing around. And I'm confident that together we can do it.

REID: Well, Katharine, thank you for having this conversation with us today. We'll be right back.

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[17:50:00]

REID: In Southern California, an outbreak of toxic algae is killing marine mammals. CNN's David Culver has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 8:00 a.m. and they're already playing catch-up. These marine wildlife rescuers, inundated with calls for help.

ADAM FOX, MARINE MAMMAL CARE CENTER RESCUER: Two animals, one sicker than the other one. One's way up the beach and there's one by the tide line.

The beach itself over here has been narrowing, so it's a little dicey sometimes.

CULVER (voice-over): We go along with wildlife rescuer Adam Fox. He's been saving sea lions for nearly 15 years. What he's seen on Southern California beaches since late May is unprecedented.

FOX: Is there anyone there that could potentially assist us?

UNKNOWN: There's a lifeguard there.

FOX: Okay, great. Thank you.

CULVER (voice-over): As we get closer, we spot one of the sea lions.

FOX: Looks like he's having a seizure right now. What we'll do is just be very gentle with her and get those flipper pits in. And I'm going to flip her to you. On 3, 2, 1.

ON CAMERA: They obviously were able to rescue one, but you can see behind us another one that didn't survive. I mean, it's just heartbreaking seeing this.

(Voice-over): The cons, sits just off the coast, in the Pacific Ocean. Out here, scientists say a massive bloom of toxic algae is growing, stretching some 200 miles from Santa Barbara south to San Diego, and forecast it to get worse.

UNKOWN: The ocean temperature is projected to be its warmest over the next five years. That's the recipe for these blooms to become more intense.

CULVER (voice-over): Smaller sea creatures feed on the toxic algae. They in turn are eaten by larger mammals like dolphins and sea lions. These algal blooms have happened before, but this year scientists warned that the concentration of toxins in this bloom forecasted in red, is leading to potentially record deaths of marine life.

(On camera): Experts liken this to waves of a tsunami washing over local beaches with even more sea lions and dolphins showing symptoms.

(Voice-over): The dolphins? Lifeless once they hit the shore. the sea lions, beached and suffering from seizures and paralysis.

UNKNOWN: People who have called in because they've seen animals out on the beach and they've described it as the ocean sort of coughing up death.

UNKNOWN (via telephone): I'm here to report a sea lion seems to be foaming at the mouth and looks like it's in some distress.

UNKNOWN (via telephone): This one's really, really on his way out. His eyes are closed and just shallow breathing. That's so sad.

CULVER (voice-over): All of it weighs on rescuers like Adam.

FOX: Sorry. I just know from working in the colonies how incredible the animals are, so. They deserve respect. CULVER (voice-over): Respect? This team shows through care, unloading

the seizing sea lion for Dr. Lauren Palmer to begin treatment. Dr. Palmer has not had a day off in months, her desperate patients keeping her busy.

UNKNOWN: Big breath. She seems a little bit more comfortable.

CULVER (voice-over): There's no guaranteed cure. The meds and fluids can help flush the toxins out, but if the toxins take hold, the brain damage is irreversible causing erratic and aggressive behavior, including towards people who get too close.

Off to the side, we notice this pup fighting for survival, desperate for milk and nurturing that only his mother can provide. She's sedated as her body fights off the toxins.

UNKNOWN: She might deliver a healthy live pup, but doesn't nurse, doesn't lactate, doesn't pay attention to it.

[17:55:00]

CULVER (voice-over): The Marine Mammal Care Center had 40 sea lions this time last year. Today, they're caring for three times that number.

UNKNOWN: We ordered fish for the whole year based upon what we would normally see and have gone through the entire 150,000 pounds this month.

CULVER (voice-over): So overwhelming, they've had to accommodate overflow lot.

UNKNOWN: And that's put strains on our personnel. We have one veterinarian.

CULVER: Is it only going to get worse?

UNKNOWN: They used to call it an unusual mortality event and unfortunately, they're frequent enough now that they no longer call them unusual because they're not.

CULVER (voice-over): Relentless and expected to intensify. Possibly devastating generations of sea lions, like this pup, just seven days old. He may not make it. The hundreds of sea lions that are saved unable to return home until the toxic algae clears. David Culver, CNN, San Pedro, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: Coming up after the Supreme Court locked President Biden's student debt relief plan, what programs are still out there to help you if you're one of millions of folks who still have student loans? That's next, live in the "CNN Newsroom."

But first, celebrate July 4th with spectacular fireworks and musical performances. Don't miss "The Fourth in America," live Tuesday, July 4th at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

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