Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

California Agricultural Workers Facing Dangerous Heat; Group Aims To Keep Workers Safe In Sweltering Heat; 340,000 UPS Workers Could Strike If Deal Not Reached; Zelenskyy Insists Counteroffensive Set To "Gain Pace" After Slow Start; House Members Vow To "Get To The Bottom" Of Alien Life; Chris Eubanks Reflects On Wimbledon, Newfound Fame. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired July 22, 2023 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:01:36]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Blistering heat and flash floods hitting the U.S. again. Boston getting hammered as heavy rains hit the city overnight. Fenway Park flooding force the suspension of the Red Sox-Mets game.

And Gillette Stadium shut down the Luke Combs concert as lightning flashed overhead. Fans were forced to shelter in place on the main concourse. 33 million people are under severe weather threats today.

And it's not just the concern of storms. Heat warnings are in effect for 80 million people from California to Florida. And cities like Phoenix continuing to set records for 22 straight days. It's been over 110 degrees in the Arizona capital.

And now, to the question that millions are asking, when will there be a cool down? CNN's Chad Myers is in the Weather Center.

Hello again, Chad. I mean, it is summer. But this just seems unusually hot for a long -- a very prolonged amount of time in so many parts of the country.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's exactly it. We have a jet stream that is just stuck. So, if you're in nice weather, you've bet in nice weather for a while. If you are in the heat, it just hasn't gone away now for a month.

All the desert southwest, into parts of Texas, along the Gulf Coast, where as the Northeast has an absolutely delightful Saturday on hand. Lots of sunshine, sunscreen, you're going to need there across parts of the Northeast, where down along the Gulf Coast, you're probably if you're at the beach and have your sunscreen, you may want to keep listening for thunder because there'll be a lot of thunderstorm activity down here.

So, yes, when the weather service puts out these boxes, when we have colors on the map, that just doesn't mean that it's summer. The temperatures have to exceed the normal threshold by a certain amount, seven, 10, to 15 degrees, whatever it would be to get to these different categories. So, yes, it's not just summer, it's hot and hotter than it should be.

Pensacola feels like right now, 105. You'll get a little bit of a gulf breeze later on, but that's not going to cool you down much.

Temperatures without the humidity out here in the desert southwest, well above 100, just about everywhere.

But a little piece -- a little piece of this heat begins to break off midweek and it gets to Chicago. And then, by the weekend, it gets up and toward New York City and all of the Northeast.

So, you'll begin to warm up day by day, maybe one or two degrees as you work your way into the weekend.

So, yes, Chicago, you're going to warm up a little bit. 84 today, but 94 by the end of the week. So, here it comes, spread it out a little bit. I guess.

WHITFIELD: That's a cool down. Doesn't it shameful? You're low 90s, that's a cool down.

MYERS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll take it. Chad Myers, thanks so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: So, while excessive high temperatures are causing dangerous conditions outside, not everyone is able to beat the heat.

CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal joins me live from Coachella Valley. And you know, Camila, people associate Coachella with the springtime, you know, music festival. But people live in the valley, they are all year round. They work as well. So, tell us how people are trying to stay cool.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred.

It is a constant reminder to take breaks, to drink water, to stop working if you feel dizzy, to wear the right clothes. And yes, it's normally very hot here in Coachella every single year. But the heat waves do make it extreme, and there are hundreds of agricultural workers who are still out there picking and packing the fruits and vegetables that are distributed all over the country and eventually end up on your table.

[12:05:12]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL (voice over): The shade under the grape vines is deceiving.

Not enough air and a feeling of suffocation, says 22-year-old Alexandra Corona.

She is been working in the fields in the Coachella Valley since she was a teenager, and is one of the more than 2 million agricultural workers in the U.S.

But it's impossible to get used to temperatures close to 115 degrees.

LUZ GALLEGOS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TODEC LEGAL CENTER: We understand that's because our environmental impact and the change but also what that translates to community is not only working with heat in these high heat conditions, but also at -- in their pocket.

That they have -- many of them have shorter working hours because of the heat conditions.

BERNAL: Already, more than 2,300 heat records have been set in the U.S. in the recent heat waves causing dozens of deaths and filling some hospitals to pandemic levels

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

BERNAL: Something Luz Gallegos is trying to prevent.

GALLEGOS: (INAUDIBLE).

BERNAL: Through the nonprofit she leads, agricultural workers are reminded to drink water, take breaks and speak up, because no matter how high the temperatures are, the work here continues.

Agriculture is one of the largest industry sectors in California. And the state says its performance is vital to its economic health.

And in turn, provides produce for tables all over the country.

GALLEGOS: They are still working. You know, they are still working because they know that they need to make their end goal to make their money, to bring home, to pay the rent, to bring -- to make sure their kids are taking care of.

BERNAL: Alexandra, agrees.

She says there are days when even walking is hard. But she takes the necessary precautions, because it's a job she depends on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL (on camera): And a lot of farmers schedule their workers overnight or very early in the morning, but the temperatures don't drop that much overnight. So, it is really difficult.

A lot of the people that I spoke, they told me they're worried about how hot it's going to be next week, the rest of the summer, and they're particularly worried about August. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's brutal and all those precautions taken are absolutely necessary. All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

All right. New today. CNN has learned Special Counsel Jack Smith's team has contacted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who Former President Donald Trump pressured to overturn the 2020 election.

Marshall Cohen is with us now from Washington with more on all this. What are you learning?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Fred. This came in just a few moments ago from our colleague, Kaitlan Collins, who is reporting that the sitting governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, a Republican, has been contacted by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing this sprawling investigation into Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Kemp's office is not really commenting beyond that. So, we don't know about any potential FBI interview that might be scheduled or perhaps a grand jury appearance that might be scheduled. But we do know that Jack Smith has been in contact with Brian Kemp.

Why would he be interested? Well, as you mentioned, Donald Trump spent a lot of time during the 2020 transition period, pressuring Governor Kemp and trying to bring Kemp on board to his efforts to interfere with the results in Georgia.

He wanted Brian Kemp to refuse to certify the election that Joe Biden won.

Governor Kemp followed the law and set signed the papers that were required to certify the victory. There were phone calls between Trump and Kemp, where Trump tried to twist his arm, part of a multi-state effort to overturn the results in states that he lost, Fredricka.

And keep in mind, this is not the only governor or former governor that has been in touch with the special counsel. We learned last week that the former governor of Arizona was in touch with the Special Counsel.

So, special counsel looking at this state-by-state effort to possibly flip the results.

WHITFIELD: Right. So, the investigation is far from over. Jack Smith and his team still reaching out to potential witnesses. Now, what about in the case of a possible third indictment being levied by Jack Smith's team? What are we learning about whether they are close to that?

COHEN: That is the big question. A potential third indictment for Donald Trump. Remember, he was charged earlier this year by the D.A. in Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, with related to a hush money case from the 2016 election.

Jack Smith, the federal special counsel indicted him earlier this year on the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

[12:10:06]

And this third potential indictment that we're talking about is related to the 2020 election aftermath.

So, one week ago, last weekend, the Special Counsel sent a target letter to Donald Trump. That is a huge deal. It's basically a precursor to an indictment in most situations.

In the past few days, Donald Trump had an opportunity if you want to, to come here to Washington and tell his side of the story to the grand jury. He declined to do so which was probably an intelligent decision.

What that means now is that it's up to Jack Smith to decide the timing. This could happen any day. There is a grand jury that is meeting regularly here in Washington. It's all going to depend on when Jack Smith and his team wants to walk up to the federal courthouse and ask for an indictment if that is indeed their intention. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yes, intelligent decision if you're the defense attorneys, because that's what you want, you know? You don't want your client to say too much too soon. But for the prosecutors who are pursuing, and of course, they were hoping or wishing that they could get a voluntary testimony from him.

All right, Marshall Cohen, Thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, UPS and the teamsters had back to the negotiating table hoping to avoid a massive strike with just days left until the deadline to reach a deal. We're live at a Teamster rally, next.

And Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is defending his country's counter offensive. What he says about the slow progress so far and what he insists is, coming next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:44]

WHITFIELD: Today, UPS employed Teamsters and leadership held a rally in Atlanta just days before contract talks are set to resume on Tuesday. It will be the first time the two sides have met in two weeks as they attempt to reach a deal by a July 31st deadline.

And if they don't, some 340,000 UPS workers could go on strike. CNN's Isabel Rosales is live for us in Atlanta.

Isabel, UPS is the single largest employer in the Teamsters union. What happens if they can't come to an agreement on Tuesday?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the union insists it is ready to strike if they can't come together to a deal. They have been now for two weeks since talks broke down practicing pickets, practicing rallies, like one that we saw in their headquarters here locally in Atlanta. Hundreds of people here holding up signs chanting signs that say, just practicing for a just contract. If it comes to a strike, that would be incredibly costly to the economy. Anderson Economic Group, a research firm estimates that a 10- day UPS strike would cost the economy over $7 billion. Making it the costliest work stoppage ever in U.S. history.

Now, one of the biggest sticking points to this negotiation, 95 percent of the contract has been agreed upon by both sides. But one of the biggest holdups points that are sticking here and crucial for both sides are part time workers.

On average, full time UPS workers make $95,000, about that amount a year. But part time workers make on average $20 an hour with the starting pay $16.20.

The union says that has to change and needs to be a more livable wage.

Here is what else the general president, Sean O'Brien had to say about negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN M. O'BRIEN, GENERAL PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS: We do not get a deal. UPS has chose to strike themselves. And we will not -- we will withhold our labor July 31st at 12:01 a.m.

But, if we got a tentative agreement subject to ratification, and we're going to recommend it, then we will not withhold our labor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And UPS says that the part timers have the same benefits as full timers' health care pension. Also calling this, historic economic package and saying that they hope a finalized deal is made soon.

Here is what else UPS had to say, releasing this statement in the past week. Saying, "We are pleased to be back at the negotiating table next week to resolve the few remaining open issues. We are prepared to increase our industry leading pay and benefits but need to work quickly to finalize a fair deal that provides certainty for our customers, our employees, and businesses across the country.

And Fred, I'll leave you with this. There have been some agreements made by both sides, including putting A.C., air conditioning in new vehicles, retrofitting old UPS vehicles with fans, and also doing away with a two-tier wage system, where people who worked on weekends made less money.

WHITFIELD: All right. Isabel Rosales. We'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

Still ahead, Russian forces are reportedly mounting an offensive operation along the front lines and keeping Ukraine firmly on the backfoot, according to Ukraine military officials. We're live on the ground, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:23:18]

WHITFIELD: North Korea is said to have fired multiple cruise missiles toward the sea in the latest show of force against the South and the United States.

South Korea's military says it is maintaining a full readiness posture as a result. In today's launch, follows a different one, involving two short range ballistic missiles earlier this week.

All of it comes after a nuclear capable U.S. submarine made a port call in South Korea. A move that the North criticized as crossing a red line.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, insists that the Ukrainian counter offensive will start gaining force soon after a slow start.

The influx of new Western weapons, including recently deployed U.S. cluster munitions could be a help.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is joining us now from Berlin. Fred, so, what do we know about Russia's Eastern push right now?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yet, something that apparently has been going on over the past couple of days, Fredricka, the Russians are sort of moving on the offensive, especially in the northeast of the country.

There is two towns that the Russians seem to be aiming for right now. One of them is called Kupiansk, which is pretty far northeast, in Ukraine. And there's another one called Lyman, which is a little further to the south. And I've actually been in that area in the past. And that's a pretty scary battlefield out there. It's a wooded forested area. And the Ukrainians describe that as a very dynamic front line.

In other words, it goes back and forth all the time, really tough battles, but no side really making much in the way of territorial gains.

And they say, the same is the case right now with the Russians making this push.

They say the Russians, maybe one a little bit of territory, but really not very much. However, they have pulled together about 100,000 troops, the Ukrainian say, and hundreds of tanks and multiple rocket- launching systems.

[12:25:04]

So, the Ukrainians dealing with that.

While in the south, on the southern front line, the Ukrainians are saying that they are making progress. However, they do say, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president did that it's slower than they would have wanted. This is something that has now called Vladimir Putin to rip into western countries who are supporting Ukraine.

Here is what we're learning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice over): With Ukraine now, using us supplied cluster munitions to try and penetrate the Russian armies entrenched positions on the southern front Russian, leader Vladimir Putin ripping into the U.S. and its allies for aiding Kyiv.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): The whole world can see that the supposedly invulnerable equipment that the West boasted about is on fire, and technically, it is often even inferior to some Soviet made weapons.

Yes, of course, additional Western armaments can be supplied and thrown into battle. This, of course, causes us a certain damage and prolongs the conflict.

PLEITGEN: But while Putin tries to project superiority on the battlefield at home, the Kremlin continues to silence critical voices, even some of those supporting their war.

Prominent military blogger Igor Girkin, who also goes by Igor Strelkov, arrested today, his wife said, after remarks, blasting the lack of progress of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

The situation with a special military operation and in the country in general is deplorable to put it mildly, he said. This is a result of actions of the incumbent power.

Girkin is a former colonel in Russia security service FSB and was the defense minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, when the Malaysian jetliner M.H.17 was shot down there in 2014.

Girkin was found guilty of mass murder in absentia by a Dutch court for involvement in the incident, which he has never acknowledged.

While Girkin is considered a war criminal in Ukraine, he deems himself a Russian ultra nationalist who feels the war should be prosecuted even more brutally.

Putin's grip on power was only recently challenged by the uprising of the Wagner private military company and its boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Now, the Russian leader wants to calm things down, CIA director William Burns believes.

WILLIAM BURNS DIRECTOR, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: Putin is trying to buy time, my seat considers what to do with Wagner and what to do with Prigozhin himself.

You know, Putin hits in my experience anyway the image that he's overreacting to thing.

PLEITGEN: But that doesn't mean Prigozhin is forgiven, Burns says.

BURNS: If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn't fire my food taster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN (on camera): Don't fire the food taster, at this point in time, the CIA director said. One of the other things he also said is he called Vladimir Putin the ultimate apostle of payback, which certainly doesn't bode well for Yevgeny Prigozhin or for Igor Girkin as well.

But if we look back at the counter offensive, Fredricka that the Ukrainians are conducting right now in the south of the country was so interesting to sort of look more closely at what the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He said that one of the reasons why it's going so slow now is because the counter offensive started late. He said the Ukrainian simply didn't have enough munitions at the time to start this earlier to start the offensive in spring.

And also said, they were still learning some of those Western weapons, which took a lot longer to get to the battlefield. And that allowed the Russians to lay some massive minefields and entrench themselves down there.

However, he said one of the reasons why he thinks things could start speeding up soon is that the Ukrainians are conducting demining. That's often very difficult often happens under fire, but he does think that, that process is moving along. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much in Berlin.

All right. Let me bring in CNN military analyst, retired Major General James Spider Marks right now. General, good to see you.

And, you know, even on that issue of mining, The Washington Post has a big spread today, talking about Ukraine is now the most mind, country, you know, in an area that is about the size of Florida. So, it's a big significant problem.

I mean, do you think that Zelenskyy's assurances that he is giving right now on the whole counter offensive, you know -- does that sit well with you? I mean, is there kind of an optimal pace of how quickly a counter offensive should happen?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Fred, Zelenskyy is the leader of a nation that's fighting for its sovereignty. So, we better hear from him that things are clicking along, and there is a pace that can be maintained. And that success is inevitable, however you define success. So, you need to hear that level of optimism from Zelenskyy.

Military operations on the ground are, in this particular case, a combination of science and art. And everybody wants a video game, everybody wants science, immediate results.

[12:30:04] You know, when you go on a counter offensive, there is a narrative that there is going to be a blast of tanks and artillery firing very, you know, clairvoyant type intelligence, it's not the case. This is more art than anything else. And the Russians in place for over five months digging in this great defensive, these number of defensive belts in depth, and mining operations are absolutely part of it.

A good leader on the ground would say, look, if we're going to be here, dig deeper, improve your position always, and reach out as far as I can with barriers to move the enemy. In this case, the Russians are saying let's move the Ukrainians in a place where we want to see. So this is very, very tough interest. So I would have add that this is going to take some time.

WHITFIELD: All right, so underscoring the point that Fred Pleitgen was making that demining is slowing things down, but it has to happen, you know, for the viability of your troops that Ukrainian troops in this case. So we've seen the Ukrainian military deploying U.S. cluster munitions now for the first time, you know, in the last few days, is that making a difference? Because also, one of the, you know, consequences of that, too, is sometimes our undetonated munitions. But the agreement is that it would be used in more remote areas, not in, you know, urban type settings. But do you believe this is going to be making an impact or that it has made an impact already?

MARKS: Yes, what these dual purpose improved conventional munitions, what's been called cluster munitions are a real enabler. But we also have to keep in mind, each one of these weapons systems that Ukrainians receive, whether it is improved tanks, improved artillery, long range, fires, et cetera, these new cluster munitions new to them.

Use together is the real key. Individually, there's not a game changer. Everybody wants to talk about is this going to be a game changer. Look in history, the only game changer is a nuclear weapon. Everything else has to be synchronized effectively. And that's what the Ukrainians are artfully trying to put together right now.

And to your point about the dud rate, look, the dud rate of these deeply sea ICMs, these dual purpose improved conventional munitions is very, very low, so I mean, that is a discussion. But there is a reason why the United States has not signed up to this convention. It's because they're incredibly effective, and they're very effective going against these deeply buried defensive positions that the Russians --

WHITFIELD: I saw arduous and painstaking that's for sure. General "Spider" Marks, thank you so much.

MARKS: Thank you Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right for the first time, the public can hear firsthand testimony from witnesses who say they have spotted UFOs. Congressman Tim Burchett saying this week that we're done with the cover up and that if unidentified aerial phenomena do exist, it's time to public knows, what we can expect to hear, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:37:17]

WHITFIELD: All right, next week, we're going to learn more about whether we are all alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, got it. Whoo hoo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what was that? And what happened next? The House Oversight Committee will hold another hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena. Some people know them as unidentified flying objects like UFOs. So it will be the first time the public gets to hear firsthand testimony from direct witnesses about what has been experienced out there. For more on this, I'm joined by Jeremy Corbell. He's an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker and a co-ost of the Weaponized podcast. Jeremy, good to see you.

JEREMY CORBELL, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST & DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Good to see you. Thanks for having me on.

WHITFIELD: So do you like to call them UFOs or UAPs?

CORBELL: You know, UAP is actually a better term, unidentified anomalous phenomena. But I like UFOs, because that's what I've been looking at for 15, 20 years now is the reality of these things. I mean, this is news. What's happening right now is news. As you said, this is the first time in history we're ever going to have these direct eyewitnesses testify under oath in front of Congress.

WHITFIELD: So say in the instance of the clip, we just ran, hopefully, you were able to see that, I mean, that kind of capture, you know, of that fast feeding thing. What do you believe? You know, what do you believe was made of that? Like, what is that? And where it'd go?

CORBELL: Well, first of all, you're showing a lot of videos right now. And the videos you're showing and all the images I obtained and released to the public, they're military film, like the radar that's on your screen right now. It's what we call corroborative visual evidence that goes with a swarm of 2019, where they showed trans medium objects, objects that can go from space to air to sea with impunity without any kind of inertial effect. We don't have these craft. China doesn't have them. Russia doesn't have them. Whose are they?

WHITFIELD: And this is why you played a major role in setting these hearings on UAPs or UFOs in motion, you filmed an unidentified flying object near a Navy ship, and are the only civilian named in the opening congressional hearing. Tell us about that first encounter.

CORBELL: Right, so I didn't film UFOs military witnesses leak them to me as a journalist, and when I review them, and I know they're part of a swarm of unidentified over 100 swarmed our Navy ships. This was a problem for our military. We're trying to avoid strategic surprise. We're trying to know, a 360 view around us of what's going on in our restricted airspace. Again, these are not U.S., not Russia, not China. So what technological nation could it be other than from somewhere else? So again, I didn't film anything. As a journalist, I obtained and released military films footage.

[12:40:27]

WHITFIELD: Yes, that is, I'm glad you gave that clarification because that is what it appeared it seemed to be, you know, military footage. So, so in your view, why do you think, you know, Congress is now working to explore what may be out there and really trying to encourage this, I guess, a public view of what is being looked into?

CORBELL: Yes, it's like that movie, "Don't Look Up." Some people have been reporting this for a long time. And all of a sudden, now, Congress and Senate they realize they've been lied to. When they've asked for information, they don't get answers. The whole world is creaking under the stress and the weight of whatever this UFO presence is here on planet Earth.

Now, we don't know what UFOs represent to humanity yet. But these hearings coming up, that's hopefully what will shed some light on the capabilities of these advanced vehicles. Whose are they?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, is it a lie as you put it? Or is it, you know, kind of an incompletion, you know, an inability to explain it? And until you know what it is, is there something to say?

CORBELL: Unfortunately, I'll report to you that it is a lie. There is a lot of knowledge. You've heard recently from whistleblowers, that we have intact vehicles from somewhere else. Now, if that is true, it would be a lie. There's definitely obfuscation. But at this point, we are not getting the truth about what the UFO phenomenon means to humanity. We're not getting the truth about what we know in the Department of Defense.

Look, a lot of people have come forward saying we've been reverse engineering these craft and they're not from here. So I'm not going to mince words. "The New York Times" reported on this, craft of unknown origin is one way to say it, another way to say it is craft not made here on Earth, which was reported in "The New York Times" who was somebody who worked on the programs.

WHITFIELD: And how do you see it as detrimental that people do not know, the public does not know as much as should I call them the researchers, you know, people who are tracking this knows.

CORBELL: Right. Well, first of all, the American public, they have a right to know a need to know. And I find myself in a position where I have a duty to find out people trust, and they come to me with information. And I do pass it up the chain of command because that chain of command is broken.

The American public and the global public deserve to know the truth about what UFOs represent to humanity are what they call now UAP. That's fine, same thing. We can't be in a position of a blind spot. If people aren't educated on the truth, whatever that truth might be, then we are at a disadvantage as a nation.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. We'll have you back. Jeremy Corbell, thank you so much.

CORBELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, tennis sensation, Chris Eubanks looks back on his incredible Wimbledon run and shares the moment the magnitude of the competition really sank in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:43:34]

CHRIS EUBANKS, REACHED QUARTERFINALS IN FIRST WIMBLEDON APPEARANCE: I didn't really have the bright eyes and really understanding the magnitude of what was going on. It was just the next opponent, the next opponent, the next opponent, and then again afterwards, after I lost in the quarters, realizing that I had to do some interviews with some pretty big names where there's Robin Roberts, CNN, ESPN, all of that. That's when I think I began to really understand that that was a pretty cool thing that just happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The tennis world is enamored by American Chris Eubanks. He won his first ATP tour title earlier this month at the Majorca championships. And then within the past couple of weeks, he was a fan favorite at Wimbledon, making it to the quarterfinals against Russia's Daniil Medvedev, sorry about that.

Before Wimbledon, Eubanks was ranked 77 in the world. And now he's ranked 31. Eubanks will play in the Atlanta Open next week where I caught up with him courtside. He says at Wimbledon, even he surprised himself. Something clicked, he said. And it's all sinking in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: How did it feel when you were at Wimbledon? Take me back to what it was to embark on that journey. And along the way, was there a sense of awe, were you feeling like this is just, you know, part of this, part of my routine? Describe it.

EUBANKS: Yes, I think each similar to how I spoke about there's always a next week. When I finished in Majorca, I had to dive straight into my mindset has changed about focusing on Wimbledon, having a good Wimbledon. And I think I just treated each match as its own kind of battle. And that's, it was more tunnel vision than I probably have ever had in my career in any tournament.

So I focused on my first round opponent and moved on to my second round and moved on to the third, fourth. And it was the morning of the quarterfinal that I think was the first time I woke up and I've done a good job really not checking my phone. And I knew that I was a big talk on social media so I didn't want to get too far into it. I just wanted to focus on task event. But I did have about five minutes that morning in which I said, man, this is pretty cool, you know. I didn't really expect to still be here, had to change my reserve hotel reservation or checkout date I think two or three times.

[12:50:11]

But it feels good to be here. And I think I was able to kind of bring it back together five minutes after and saying, all right, now we have to focus on the next opponent. So I didn't really have the bright eyes of really understanding the magnitude of what was going on. It was just the next opponent, the next opponent, the next opponent. And then again afterwards, after I lost in the quarters, realizing that I had to do some interviews with some pretty, pretty big names, so there's Robin Roberts, CNN, ESPN, all of that.

That's when I think I began to really understand that that was a pretty cool thing that just happened. But up until that point, I was -- I think I was kind of blind. I'll tell you I was blissfully ignorant. I'll take it.

WHITFIELD: That's great. So I heard that you felt even with that match with Daniil that you just felt free. You hit a rhythm. What do you think happened there?

EUBANKS: No, I think I've just been playing some good ball in the weeks leading up to it. And I think after losing the first set, I still felt like I hadn't, I didn't play some my best tennis in the first but it's something just clicked. And it's tough to describe. In a lot of my matches, I usually hit a 10 to 15 minute stretch where I can really, really play well. And I kind of hit that stretch. And I think I pushed it for two sets and maybe two and a half sets almost three sets.

And there's not really anything any secret if I could bottle it up I promise I would, I'd probably sell it to people. But it just something just began to click. I was on a court that I was somewhat familiar with. I won my second round on that same court. The crowd gave me a lot of support and a lot of, you know, energy kind of invigorated me. But honestly, I can't really say what it was. It just things just started going well. And when they are, you just kind of try to stay in the moment write it out.

WHITFIELD: You obviously have incredible endurance because I mean, this was a five step battle with Daniil Medvedev, 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-1. As a spectator, it was exhausting, but exhilarating, you know, to watch. What kept you going? What is the drive that made you overlook how much time this was taking, how athletic the display was? You had to be athletic, you were athletic, you were crossing the court all over the place, you know, you played incredible net as well. Is there something that you're telling yourself in your mind at a moment like that?

EUBANKS: Honestly, I've been playing tennis since I was two. And I've been playing tournaments I think since I was seven. I think years and years and years of playing tournaments and being in stressful situations, playing long matches, playing short matches, playing well, playing bad. I've had probably every combination you could imagine, throughout the course of a tennis match.

And I think I can just resort just go back to the experience and just say I've been here before. I've played long matches before. Let's just try to focus again on the next, getting the next game or getting for me getting the next hold unserved. That's always usually my focus. If I hold serve, it frees me up to play the other areas of my game. So my energy kind of gets just tunnel vision to I need to hold serve here. And then we kind of figure everything else out after, oh, now it's time to hold serve again.

And so having that as kind of like my, I'll say like my home, is always just about holding serve, I think allows me the ability to play somewhat longer physical matches, because my mind is more focused on one thing as opposed to all the opponents playing well. We've been playing for four hours. This is starting to be a lot. I mean the quarters up again, it's not all of that kind of goes out the window when you say I need to hold serve right here. And that's what I've been trying to do.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, and so not only are you center court Wimbledon here at the Atlanta Open and U.S. Open, which we'll talk about in the second. You've already made history and a lot of levels, right? And you defeated two 15 seeds to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam and you broke a 31-year-old record set by Andre Agassi, for most winners hit during a single year at Wimbledon, with 321, thanks to Georgia Tech for helping to provide all these numbers.

And you're now in the company of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, to name just a few becoming a fifth American in the Open era to reach Wimbledon quarterfinals in his main draw debut. So you said all these records, has that -- I don't, like, you're absorbing that, are you thinking of it in those terms?

EUBANKS: No, I think for me, the big thing for me is the fact that I was even in the quarterfinals. What happens to get there like you said the winner count all that, that's incredible. I mean to surpass Andre's record of winners hit and to surpass anything with Andre's name on it is a dream come true.

But just the fact that like you say, I made it to the quarterfinals still, I think kind of the big thing that I kind of really hang my hat on, everything else that kind of comes with it. I think it's cool. I'm honored to like you said be able to have some sort of accolades was really, really cool. But just the fact that I said I got to play, you know, court one against the number three player in the world in the quarterfinals was up two sets the one and had a tiebreaker to maybe make some eyes. I think that's more so where my hit kind of I think of like, man, that's really cool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:55:03]

WHITFIELD: So inspiring. So how did it all began, Chris Eubanks as you heard him say, has been playing tennis since the age of two and tourneys since seventh. And there's so much more including the remarkable people in his orbit, who he says helped pave the way. That's in the next hour.

And this quick programming note, from routes to scandal, go inside the rise of black dramas in the next episode of the CNN original series, See It Loud: The History of Black Television, don't miss the new episode premiere tomorrow night 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)