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More Than 85 Million Americans Under Heat Alerts; Suspect Charged In Deaths Of Three Women In Serial Killings Cold Case; White House Believes China-Backed E-mail Hack Gave Beijing Insights Ahead Of Visit By Blinken; GOP Contenders Criticize Trump Skipping Major Iowa Event After Spat With Governor; Iowa Governor Signs 6-Week Abortion Ban Into Law; Sources: New Mexico & Pennsylvania Secretaries Of State Interviewed By Special Counsel. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired July 15, 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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[13:00:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When that character came out baby, the audience just went up. So before there was Nutty Professor, before there was Sheneneh, there was Geraldine, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I loved Flip Wilson. All right. Don't miss a new episode tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Hello, and thank you again for joining me today. It's Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And we begin this hour with that sweltering dangerous heatwave impacting much of the U.S. and quite frankly around the world. This is a Live Earth cam shot of Dallas, Texas, where the temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees later on today. More than 85 million people are under heat alerts from Florida to California.

A heat dome is in case in the western U.S. leading to record breaking temperatures in so many areas. Phoenix is in the midst of a likely record streak of days topping a dangerous 110 degrees. Now 15 straight days. CNN's Rafael Romo is in Las Vegas and CNN's Mike Valerio is in Valencia, California. So, Mike, to you first, you're in Southern California. You're at a waterpark, it's going to be cool and fun. I don't see any people yet. When did they arrive?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A half hour from now Fredricka. They're already at the front gates waiting to get in because we are awaiting our high temperature of 106 degrees today. So, we have about 20 more degrees to go, half hour to go. But after that half hour, these paths, these water slides about 25 and all will be packed. And down this path where we're going to have a profusion of moms, dads, families, kids running all around, well, walking, not running, no running.

This is down the path of one of two first aid stations. A nerve center where first aid personnel will be congregating. But Fredricka, we also, you know talk to Six Flags before the broadcast about how they're preparing for a day like this. 20 -- I should say more than 20 lifeguards that will be within the waterpark, just making sure that everybody is OK. But of course, this is a massive effort on the part of one of Southern California's largest theme parks to make sure that everybody will stay OK as temperatures approach and then exceed 100 degrees.

Listen to what we heard earlier this morning. Listen.

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ALEX FRENCH, PARK SPOKESPERSON, SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN AND HURRICANE HARBOR: We do have a sheriff's station on site for different emergencies and things like that that take place but our staff is overly prepared to make sure that everyone is staying cool. We have our medical trained staff, like I said on site. We do have an ambulance, we do have very great relationships with local fire department, EMTs that can come in and we can call them at any given notice. And they do come on site to help us if there's anything that is more drastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So, it's a massive effort. Another massive effort that we are watching. We are at the start of this time of year here in California, looking for wildfires. And we have these amazing pictures that we saw late last night of Riverside County about 90 miles southeast of here. Three wildfires burning but the good news, they're not burning relatively coastal homes. They're not close to large population centers.

And there are some evacuation orders that have been lifted as of this morning hour. There are some that are still in place. But it seems to be good news. But of course, as temperatures encroach upon 100 degrees, we had a very wet winter. This, you know, ushers in fire danger, and we're going to be watching that very closely over this weekend, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Still very dangerous. All right. Thank you so much. Mike -- Raphael right there in Las Vegas. What are people doing to try to stay cool? I mean, I know they're used to the heat but this is really over the top.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, for those who know are staying home but as you can expect the tourists are out and people here in Las Vegas are going to have to wait a few more days for a rest but the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for the city expected to last until Tuesday evening. It's just past 10:00 a.m. here in Las Vegas and the temperature just in the last few minutes, Fred, already more than 100 degrees.

And that's not all. Meteorologists here are taking a close look at the climbing temperatures because their -- stability and it's a very good one, Fred, that the city's official all-time record of 117 degrees could be tied or at least approached sometime this weekend or Monday. A good portion of the country is experiencing extreme heat. You said it before. More than 85 million people are under heat alerts from the National Weather Service in at least 15 states from Florida to California.

In the last hour, we spoke with the local gentleman who left his home for an early walk and this is what he had to say about the oppressive heat.

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JAMES STEINIAGE, LAS VEGAS RESIDENT: I'm 69 years old, you know, it takes (INAUDIBLE)

ROMO: Taking any special precautions to protect yourself?

STEINIAGE: Take a glass of water, that's all you can do.

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[13:05:03]

ROMO: Of course, Fred, this is one of many cities experiencing very high temperatures. Miami has seen a record 33 straight days where the heat index has climbed above 100 degrees with the last 12 topping 105 degrees which is double the previous record of six. Pauls Valley in Oklahoma saw its heat index climbed to 126 degrees on Thursday, the highest, Fred, in 30 years. Now back to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow. It is incredible. No matter what, everybody drink lots of water throughout. All right, Mike Valerio, Rafael Romo, appreciate it.

So, this extreme heat is expected to worsen this weekend as a heat dome intensifies. CNN Meteorologist Brandon Miller joining us right now. Brandon, you already said brace for at least another 10 days of these kinds of conditions.

BRANDON MILLER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know. It is. We do. We feel like a broken record. We've been talking about the same heat dome for weeks. I'll give you an example. These are the heat alerts from the National Weather Service for excessive heat. You're talking heat advisories, excessive heat warnings, those -- the differences there just based on how far above average and for how long you're talking especially as Rafael said at night when the temperatures not dropping, you get this, you know, these excessive heat warnings.

But these are, you know, just like a tornado warning or a hurricane warning and watch. They are -- they are advising people to take action. And there's danger. And heat is of course, really the deadliest of them all. More people die in the U.S. in a normal year from heat than they do from tornadoes and from hurricanes. And as we've seen, this is anything but a normal year. 34 consecutive days.

Actually today, the 35th day in a row that there have been some type of alerts somewhere between Texas and Arizona. So just unrelenting heat. And like we said it's not going to go away anytime soon. As long as this big heat dome is centered right where it is. Right now, it's over the Four Corners region. And that's going to allow warm hot air to come in to the desert southwest.

And really into California for one of the first times this year. We heard Mike talking about that, as they are preparing there. And of course, we know people are going to go to Death Valley, because they want to potentially be there. When we set some records. The all-time record that's the hottest it's ever been around Death Valley, the hottest place on earth, Moniker, 134 degrees. But that's over 100 years ago.

And it's a hotly debated topic within the weather community pun intended on whether or not that's a truly accurate, you know, record of all time. The 130s measured just a couple of years ago with modern equipment as definitely the modern record. And we could certainly see that tomorrow. 129 is the record there. But it is one of hundreds of records across much of the country, stretching all the way from California, even to Florida.

Highest highs, highest lows, because again at night, it's just not cooling off. And these above average temperatures at the hottest time of the year is really the problem. It's already going to be hot. It's July and it's the desert, and it's adding 10 or 15 degrees to it. Fredricka, that's what makes it dangerous.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Very dangerous. I mean, avoid being outside as best you can. And if you are out there, and sometimes even if we're not out there, you still got to hydrate all the time, right? Isn't that the key that we hear from all of our medical experts? All right. Our weather expert, Brandon Miller. Thank you.

All right. Turning now to a major arrest in a series of murders on Long Island, New York. The killings puzzled investigators for more than a decade and terrorize those communities. But today 59-year-old New York architect Rex Heuermann is in custody charged in connection with three of the so-called Gilgo Beach murders. These cases date back to 2010. That's when authorities began discovering human remains along the Long Island shoreline.

Over several months, they recovered at least 10 sets of human remains, most were women. CNN's Polo Sandoval joining us now with more on this. Polo, so what more do we know about how this arrest came to be? And what it really did to the communities for so many years?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The key word is relief. That's at least what so many people have been reporting there in terms of that Long Island community where Rex -- or I should say where Rex Heuermann, the suspect in this case is believed to have been living here. And you know, Fred, you've had an opportunity to speak to the Suffolk County District Attorney. I have as well and seems that every conversation reveals just a fascinating aspect of this investigation that spans over a decade.

It was noteworthy in my conversation with District Attorney Tierney is that, you know, for being a case that goes well over a decade, the arrest itself, the decision to move in and detain this 59-year-old man in Manhattan on Thursday night. It moved very quick.

[13:10:01]

Obviously, there was a concern about public safety, the district attorney saying that investigators believe that after the suspect made his way onto the radar of the FBI and the rest of the task force back in 2022, that there was no clear sign of any further criminal activity, but that he continued to patronize sex workers. So, they were concerned that their suspect would strike again.

But also, if you hear this portion of my interview with the district attorney that were also afraid that there would be any potential leaks that they were close to making an arrest. And they knew that their suspect was closely watching for developments in this case. So they were afraid that if anything did get out, they could potentially lose them.

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RAYMOND TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: And then you also have to worry about leaks, because we've executed a lot of search warrants. We're just beginning to comb through that evidence. And we hope that we're going to get more evidence. And obviously if the nature of your investigation or how close you are leaks, to that one person, all of that evidence disappears. So, it's a balancing act.

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SANDOVAL: Mr. Tierney also going over what we heard yesterday which is this sort of method of operation of their alleged killer, which is that he would purchase allegedly, according to investigators, these sort of phones, these onetime used phones and dispose of them using them to communicate with potential victims, according to investigators. He told me that they did not see any indication that that was happening recently.

So, they don't believe that he was potentially at least in current contact with another sex worker to potentially do what they say he did. So that's certainly an interesting development in this investigation, but nonetheless, they certainly were afraid that it would strike again, and that's one of the main reasons why they moved in on that street on Thursday, and they made their arrest. By the way, he does maintain his innocence, this suspect in this case.

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval. Thanks so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Police in North Dakota confirm one officer has died and two other officers are critically injured in the city of Fargo. It stems from a shooting incident on a busy street Friday afternoon. Officials say the suspect began shooting at police then the shooter was shot and killed by police. Two civilians were also seriously injured. It's not clear what the motive was. Police in Fargo held this procession honoring the fallen officer last night.

And authorities will hold a news conference later on today to release more information.

All right. Coming up. The Biden administration believes the Chinese government obtained insights about the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to Beijing after China-based hackers breached U.S. government e-mail accounts. What this can mean for U.S. relations with China next.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. The Biden administration believes the Chinese government was able to gather some special insights about U.S. thinking from a recent China-backed hacking operation. The hack breached e-mail accounts at U.S. government agencies including at the U.S. State Department. And it happened before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing to reset relations after months of tensions.

CNN's Jennifer Hansler is following developments for us. Jennifer, so how much do we know about this hack?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Well, Fred, this hack is still under investigation by the U.S. State Department. So, we are still trying to learn more about how extensive it was. We don't know if it for example, access Secretary of State Antony Blinken's e-mails. However, we do know from two U.S. officials that they believed China was able to get insights around the U.S. thinking about Blinken's trip to China that had been put off for months due to those tensions that you mentioned.

It's not likely that the Chinese gained a lot of new intel from this hack. They were not able to breach classified systems. And it shouldn't have come as a surprise to the U.S. government that there were these hacking attempts, these two superpowers regularly try to spy on each other. However, the timing of this is significant. That trip had been put off for months. It was finally going to happen to try to put relations between China and the U.S. back on track after months and months of months of tension.

And very little communication between the two sides. Now Secretary of State Antony Blinken just the other day met with a top Chinese official Wang Yi in Indonesia on the sidelines of a summit there. And we're told by a senior State Department official that he did, in fact, raise this hack in that meeting. Now this is what he said about the message on this hack.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: As a general matter, we have consistently made clear to China as well as to other countries, that any action that targets U.S. government or U.S. companies, American citizens is of deep concern to us. And we will take appropriate action and response.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HANSLER: Now Blinken did not say what that appropriate action and response might look like. But we are waiting to see how the U.S. will respond here. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Jennifer Hansler, thanks so much for that. All right. The U.S. House passed a critical national defense bill that includes several controversial amendments on abortion and transgender care. After a heated debate, Democrats are calling the amendments radical and extreme. The bill now heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate.

CNN Capitol Hill reporter Annie Grayer joining us now from Washington. Annie, so why did the NDAA become such a partisan vote?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, Fredricka, it was a bumpy road in the House this week. And that's because Republicans insisted on including a number of controversial amendments to the defense policy package turned what's normally a bipartisan defense bill into a hotbed for culture war issues. Some of the amendments that Republicans insisted be added to this bill included reversing longstanding abortion access policy at the DOD.

[13:20:06]

Eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs and personnel and even restricting health care for transgender individuals. Now this put moderates on both the right and the left in a difficult position. And while conservatives argue that these amendments get rid of so called wokeism in the military, this is just yet another example, Fredricka of a small group of right-wing Republicans pulling their party to the right and turning what is normally a very bipartisan bill into a partisan exercise.

WALLACE: So, what now, Annie, may potentially happen as it makes its way to the U.S. Senate?

GRAYER: Well, Fredricka, this bill is basically dead-on arrival in the Senate because it's controlled by Democrats who do not want these partisan amendments included in the final passage. Now, both sides have to come to some agreement in order for this very important defense bill to become law. But right now, they are oceans apart from each other. And we're going to have to see Frederica if and how they can come together.

WALLACE: All right. Annie Grayer, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

All right. Straight ahead. GOP presidential hopefuls are flocking to Iowa this weekend hoping to impress a crucial group of voters that kick off the GOP nominating process. But former President Trump is skipping the event. Stay with us.

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[13:25:47] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is on the campaign trail in Iowa again today. Today he held a meet and greet event in the city of Winterset as he tries to make up ground on former President Donald Trump. On Friday, DeSantis was one of six top contenders who appeared at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines.

The event is a major gathering for evangelicals. A crucial voting bloc for Republicans in the state. Several of the candidates use the gathering to criticize Trump, who is the current frontrunner for his decision to skip the event. For more on this, let's bring in CNN Kristen Holmes who is in West Palm Beach. So, Kristen Trump will be making an appearance at a conservative gathering in Florida later on today.

But it's his absence in Iowa and his criticism of the state's governor that's actually making some news and causing a little ripple effect there. What more can you tell us?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. Now it seems as though this is an interesting approach to the state of Iowa, a critical state. The fact that he didn't appear at this huge gathering of evangelicals, as you mentioned, and the fact that he went on social media and attacked Kim Reynolds, the very popular Republican governor in Iowa for not endorsing in the race, essentially saying that he endorsed her and so it is not fair, that she would remain neutral.

Now, when it comes to that event yesterday, I was told a number of different reasons as why the former president just didn't attend. I was told he had a scheduling conflict as we know he will be here speaking today. But he wasn't here yesterday. So one thing to keep in mind. The other thing I was told is that Trump doesn't need to go to these "cattle calls" these large group gatherings with other candidates because of the fact that he is a frontrunner.

But I will say that a lot of the people who are close to him, particularly on the ground in Iowa would like to see him doing some of these events. Now for those other candidates who were there on the ground, they took advantage of the fact that Trump wasn't. Take a listen to what they said.

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MIKE PENCE (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's unfortunate that the former president has now missed two significant events here in Iowa.

ASA HUTCHINSON (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, there's some candidates that chose not to appear here today. Some people didn't want to be interviewed by Tucker Carlson. There's believed that maybe their policies are not unsafe with Iowa Evangelical community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And I just want you to take a look behind me because we are at this event in Florida. It's a turning points event. You can see that it essentially looks like a Trump marketplace. And we've also seen a number of signs, they have a place where you can write sticky notes on all the different candidates and a lot of the people who are attending here, the thousands of people that we have seen in line are writing pretty nasty comments about the people who are competing against Donald Trump in 2024.

Comments that we have heard from the former president himself. So, despite his tactics in Iowa, it is clear that he is still incredibly popular among Republican voters particularly here in Florida.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kristen Holmes from West Palm Beach. Thank you so much for that. All right. With me now to talk more about all of this is Galen Bacharler. He is a politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. All right. So good to see you. So how significant is it that Donald Trump would skip this Family Leadership Summit, among other things, they were in Iowa this weekend?

GALEN BACHARLER, POLITICS REPORTER, DES MOINES REGISTER: It's certainly notable and I think it's emphasized by the fact given the last week of Iowa, his comments about the popular governor Kim Reynolds among conservatives. I think a lot of his challengers see this as a critical moment to start carving that path, start carving out that niche in Iowa to start gaining ground on him.

I think they believe that evangelical block could be a huge part of that. And so, I think for a lot of these candidates, it does feel like a perfect time to make that jump to start making those inroads in a place where Trump wasn't present.

WHITFIELD: So o how is Trump's reasoning kind of, you know, resonating there that he's upset, you know, with the Iowa, you know, Republican governor, who you say is very popular governor, you know, Kim Reynolds, criticizing her but he says wait a minute, she was supposed to be remain neutral, but she showed up at a Ron DeSantis event. I mean, how is that going over with voters there?

BACHARLER: Certainly. I think it'll depend on who you talked to. There are a lot of Republicans and conservatives here in Iowa who are massive fans of Governor Reynolds.

[13:30:06]

She's pursued a fairly ambitious legislative agenda with control of the legislature and the governor's office. So you see a lot of support for her here.

But there remains that coalition of loyal Trump supporters who may not like his criticism of the governor but have looked past things like that before. A lot of them have indicated they will continue to.

But again, certainly, won't help with folks who view Governor Reynolds as a sort of a conservative leader here in Iowa and would like to see some more support from him.

WHITFIELD: So, Galen, while Trump has a big lead in the polls, the Iowa caucus is still six months away. Do you see a scenario where one or more of these candidates can really give Trump a run for his money, or should he be so presumptuous?

BACHARIER: Yes, absolutely. I mean, I don't think you can rule anything out this fall ahead. Obviously, the former president has a significant polling lead right now.

But I think there's clear desire among a lot conservatives in Iowa to see a different path forward, whether that be Governor Ron DeSantis or whether that be another person who's tapped into the evangelical community, like former Vice President Mike Pence or Senator Tim Scott.

Certainly, that's a long road ahead for those folks. But they're going to start (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: This week, the Iowa governor signed a bill into law that bans most abortions in the state as early as six weeks of pregnancy. This new law may play well with the GOP base but is there a danger this could hurt with moderates and Independents in the general election there in Iowa?

BACHARIER: I think that's always part of the calculus. I think, here in Iowa, the governor and her allies view it as a popular proposal. But we've seen polling from "The Des Moines Register" that indicates that abortion restrictions are not necessarily widely popular.

I think it remains to be seen when it comes to the primary location. It's going to remain to be seen where the line is drawn on this and what restrictions are deemed acceptable and whether candidates as a whole will back some federal restrictions on the same level.

But I do think they're certainly part of that calculus when it comes to the general election and weighing the preferences of Independents.

WHITFIELD: All right, Galen Bacharier, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

BACHARIER: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, CNN's exclusive new reporting on the special counsel investigation into the 2020 election interference. We now know that federal prosecutors have interviewed the secretaries of state of Pennsylvania and New Mexico. Details straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: All right, sources tell CNN federal prosecutors have interviewed the secretaries of state for Pennsylvania and New Mexico in recent months as part of the ongoing investigation into the efforts of overturning the 2020 election.

The interviews indicate Special Counsel Jack Smith's team is focusing on seven battleground states that were targeted by former President Trump and his allies. Joining me right now is CNN politics reporter, Jeremy Herb.

Jeremy, what are you learning about these interviews?

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, Fred, we're getting new details about just what sorts of questions the special counsel is asking to these election workers.

Sources tell CNN that Al Schmidt, the Pennsylvania secretary of state, was interviewed by the special counsel investigators in March.

He was asked about what happened, what was the impact on his job during the 2020 election and right after it when he was a Philadelphia city commissioner and received the brunt of a lot of attacks from Trump and his allies.

He was also asked about what that election -- misinformation about the election fraud and the election being stolen, how that impacted his job and those who worked around him.

We also learned that the New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver was interviewed in recent month by the special counsel.

New Mexico, this is important because it is one of those seven states where Trump's team alleged election fraud and tried to put forward fake electors.

We also learned, that to reporting from my colleague, Zack Cohen, that in recent weeks we've seen interviews from the Michigan and Arizona secretaries of state, too.

What these states all have in common, they are the seven key battleground states.

So what this all shows, Fred, is that this effort in the states in trying to impact the work of election workers, this is shaping up to be a significant part of the special counsel's January 6th probe -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: What are you learning about these interviews and the direction that the special counsel might be taking?

HERB: You know, what's interesting here is it really underscores just how sprawling the January 6th investigation is. Especially if you compare it to the documents case. We've already seen charges brought by Jack Smith. In this case we have not and the investigation is still ongoing.

But this is just one element of many to this case. We have the fake electors and what happened in the states. We also have what happened at the Justice Department and efforts to try to get DOJ officials to help to overturn the election.

Then we have the effort to pressure Vice President Mike Pence. And then what happened at the capital on January 6th. There are many, many parts to this investigation. What we're trying to do now is try to pick up on any clues of whether

these interviews are, in fact, a sign, or not, that Jack Smith is wrapping up his probe -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Herb, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

[13:39:36]

All right, coming up, scientists are calling it unprecedented. A marine heatwave off the coast of Florida is threatening the life of some iconic coral reefs. We'll show you, next.

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WHITFIELD: Water temperatures off the coast of Florida are hitting some of the highest levels on record, creating a dire situation for the coral reefs. Scientists are sounding the alarm, calling the event unprecedented.

CNN's Derek Van Dam has more.

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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR (voice-over): A heatwave off the coast of Florida is sending water temperatures to unprecedented highs. While that's not a problem for some swimmers, it is a major concern for coral reefs.

Corals thrive with ocean temperatures in the mid-80s. Lately, they have been soaring into the 90s.

(on camera): Where in the world are they measuring these off-the-chart ocean temperatures?

(voice-over): Including this NOAA censor one research scientist showed me near Miami. It has broken its daily record the past four days in a row.

[13:45:05]

South Florida's abnormally warm water could put area corals on the verge of extinction.

DR. ANDREW BAKER, PROFESSOR, MARINE BIOLOGY & ECOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL: You can tell right now it's --

VAN DAM: Dr. Andrew Baker is a professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School.

BAKER: The heatwave is more or less throughout the Caribbean at this point. Certain parts of the Caribbean like Belize are already bleaching and bleaching pretty severely. And Florida is where Belize was about a month ago.

VAN DAM (voice-over): This is a healthy brown piece of coral. If it was to bleach, it would turn all white and could potentially die. That is what scientists are concerned about if this marine heatwave continues to build.

(voice-over): Losing coral could be costly. Coral reefs generate billions of dollars for Florida's economy through activities like fishing and tourism, which wouldn't be possible without reefs to protect the species that rely on them.

KEN NEDIMYER, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, REEF RENEWAL USA: We've been looking at several ways to make corals more tolerant.

VAN DAM: Engineering corals that can withstand even a 5-degree temperature increase in our oceans will mitigate the effects of stronger marine heatwaves that are expected in the future.

Corals are one of the most sensitive ecosystems to the effects of climate change. Without them, we could lose a natural defense system as healthy corals help protect coastlines during hurricanes.

NEDIMYER: And so efforts ongoing right now are taking steps to plan for climate change to restore reefs to be suitable for future environments and not the victims of it.

VAN DAM: Ken Nedimyer is the technical director at Reef Renewal USA. He works to restore coral reefs in the Florida Keys and is hopeful about the future.

NEDIMYER: There are corals that can live in hotter water. We just have to find them and try to repopulate with them.

VAN DAM: After one year, Dr. Baker's research is hitting its initial milestones, already seeing results with corals surviving in slightly warmer temperatures.

BAKER: We've had a few pilot experiments out there on the reefs that we've manipulated to try to make corals more tolerant. And this will be a natural test of that.

VAN DAM: Not ready to throw the towel in just yet. Optimism amid record-breaking weather patterns with no immediate signs of cooling off.

Derek Van Dam, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk more about all of this. Let's bring in Dr. Liv Williamson. She's an assistant scientist at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science.

So great to see you, Doctor.

As we just heard and saw, ocean temperatures have reached the highest levels on record and now it's threatening, what is it, like 360 linear miles of coral reef along Florida's coast and now it's threatening it.

How worried are you about its longevity, if it can survive this kind of heat?

DR. LIV WILLIAMSON, ASSISTANT SCIENTIST, CORAL REEF FUTURES LAB, ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL OF MARINE, ATMOSPHERIC AND EARTH SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: I really wish I had better news for you, but this dangerous high temperature is extremely alarming and extremely worrying for Florida's coral reefs.

We're already seeing temperatures exceeding the threshold that we expect to cause corals to bleach. And it's only July. You know, we really have our peak summer temperatures here in Florida in August and September.

So I'm really worried this heatwave will be prolonged and will cause our oceans stress over a really long period of time.

WHITFIELD: This really is a big concern worldwide. I mean, we saw this bleaching happening in the Great Barrier Reef and nobody could believe that and thought -- in fact, that was kind of a unique phenomenon.

But now we're talking about Florida's coral reefs and this great, you know, coral bleaching event.

Describe to people what is happening with the coral bleaching and what the consequences of that are.

WILLIAMSON: Absolutely. So healthy corals rely on tiny algae that actually live in their bodies and help them survive and grow by converting energy from the sunlight into food for corals.

And extreme temperatures disrupts this partnership. It actually causes the coral to expel their algae in a process called coral bleaching. And the corals will starve and die if they don't get those algae back and if the temperatures don't go back down.

If our corals die, we lose all of the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide for us. For instance, they're home to over a quarter of all marine species that we know of, despite coral reefs only making up less than 1 percent of the ocean floor.

So they're just really, really biodiverse ecosystems that we can't stand to lose. And our fishing communities, our tourism here in Florida depends on marine species that live on coral reefs. So we really can't avoid to lose them for this reason.

WHITFIELD: So it's a food source, it is also where breeding takes place, and so, you know, this ecosystem becomes very fragile.

And while it is detrimental to marine life, let's zero in some more on the economy that also relies on the coral reef along Florida's coast. How much trouble is it in now?

[13:50:07]

WILLIAMSON: Florida's economy is really, really dependent on the resources that our coral reefs here provide for us. I mean, we're one of the fishing capitals of the world. So if people no longer come here to fish or dive and snorkel on our reefs, we're losing all of that tourism revenue.

We also have people whose livelihoods depend on that fishing as well. We have lots and lots of fishing communities here who depend on that for income.

And then finally, we have miles and miles of coastal properties of beaches that are very vulnerable to flooding and erosion. If we lose that important three-dimensional structure that the coral reefs for us.

Corals are great breakers of wave energy. They actually reduce the amount of wave energy that reaches our coast and so they help us in the face of things like hurricanes and storms.

If we don't have those here, our coastlines will be much more vulnerable to that damage.

WHITFIELD: While we saw in Derek Van Dam's report that there are labs trying to produce, trying to grow coral. In the meantime, what, if anything, can be done to save what is there, what is being threatened by the warm waters?

WILLIAMSON: Yes, here at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science at the University of Miami, we have lots of coral teams working on research and restoration projects.

I'm sitting in one of our restoration labs right now where around me there are thousands and thousands of corals that we're growing to actually plant back onto Florida's coral reef and replace the ones that have been lost from these damage and mortality events.

We also have lot of projects going on to actually increase the heat tolerance of the corals themselves so that the corals we put out on the reefs are not going to succumb to the same fate.

We're able to breed those that we identified to be more heat tolerant together to create offspring that are more heat tolerant.

And we can actually give these corals a more heat tolerant type of symbiotic algae, which will keep them from bleaching when they reach these high temperatures in the future.

WHITFIELD: That's key, because, obviously, if you just replace what's there and the conditions continue the same, then that's a futile exercise.

All right, well, Dr. Liv --

WILLIAMSON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Liv Williamson, thank you so much for breaking that down and for the continued effort to try to save and replenish our coral. So important.

All right.

WILLIAMSON: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely.

All right, straight ahead, scorching hot temperatures continue to bring a whole lot of problems right across the country. Right now, millions of people are facing dangerous and deadly conditions. We'll tell you when it's expected to be the worst and how long it just might last.

And CNN's Fareed Zakaria has a smart, surprising documentary on immigration airing tomorrow at 8:00 p.m., looking at the border, immigration, politics, the economy. There's a lot there.

The fascinating history of immigration, the story that is intertwined with America's most contentious issue, race.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA, GPS": 2.4 million migrants were apprehended at the border last fiscal year. That chattered the record set the previous year. And nearly equaled the total population of Chicago.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the clock is ticking.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night, a Fareed Zakaria special --

(SHOUTING)

ANNOUNCER: -- a border overwhelmed --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not about politics. This is about money.

ANNOUNCER: -- the history of hatred --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is happening now has a long lineage.

ANNOUNCER: -- and the system on the brink.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If America can't get immigration right --

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- could our democracy be at risk?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If liberals won't defend the borders, fascists will.

ANNOUNCER: "IMMIGRATION BREAKDOWN," a Fareed Zakaria special, tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:10]

WHITFIELD: All right, it was another thrilling end to the women's tournament at Wimbledon.

CNN's Carolyn Manno is here to break it all down for us.

Carolyn, so both of these pros were looking for their first-ever grand slam title. Who came out on top?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi. You know, it was quite a final, a surprising find. Marketa Vondrousova making history at Wimbledon, becoming the first unseeded woman to win this tournament. Nobody expected her to be here.

The 24-year-old from the Czech Republic upsetting Ons Jabeur in straight sets. Vondrousova was a really heavy underdog but she beat the odds on center court in more way than one, Fred, because, just a year ago, she could only watch from the sidelines. She had her wrist in a cast. She had just had surgery.

So her run to the title this year was so unexpected that she actually told her husband to stay at home and look after their cat, Frankie. She's, like, don't even come, it won't even happen.

Once she made the final, they found a pet sitter so he could make the trip to London and see her hoist the trophy as a Wimbledon champion. But just a remarkable run for so many women on the women's side.

And the men, of course, taking center court tomorrow for the matchup so many tennis fans wanted. You have the top player in the world right now, Carlos Alcaraz, against the best ever, Novak Djokovic, who continues to cement his legacy.

He's now just one win away from that record-tying eighth Wimbledon title and he sits straight.

So he beat Jannik Sinner in straight sets. He's on an incredibly dominant run. He has not lost a match on center court in a decade.

He's won 34 matches in a row at Wimbledon. He's only lost one when he reached a Wimbledon final and that was 10 years ago when he was beaten by Andy Murray. When he gets to a final, he gets it done.

And he is facing Carlos Alcaraz, who took care of business himself with a dominant straight set win over Daniil Medvedev. That took less than two hours.

[13:59:52]

He's 20 years old. He's looking to become the fourth youngest Wimbledon men's finalist in history and hoping to add to the grand slam haul because he won the U.S. Open last year. So this is going to be the second meeting between the two. They

squared off last month at the French Open, Djokovic winning that contest in the semifinals.