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Thousands Gather On National Mall To Celebrate 60th Anniversary Of Historic March On Washington; Some Defendants In Georgia Election Interference Case Ask For Speedy Trial; Maui County Suing Hawaiian Electric Companies For Damages Caused By Wildfires; Some Maui Businesses Asking Tourists To Return To Help Local Economy; Former Host Of "The Price Is Right" Gameshow Bob Barker Passes Away; FIFA Provisionally Suspends President Of Spain's Soccer Federation After He Kisses Female Player Without Consent; Approximately 100 Volunteers To Gather At Loch Ness in Scotland To Look For Signs Of Loch Ness Monster; Extreme Heat Grips Much Of U.S. Southwest. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired August 26, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His sister Carolyn (ph) is the latest to become a flight attendant.

The passengers cheered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not done. I'm especially honored and excited to be able to fly her for the first time today.

MOOS: Some online commenters were touched. At least one parent noted, "Lol, I won't get in a car if one of my kids is driving." OK, maybe instead of reading, he should have tried winging it, but still --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To my mom, I love you, and to everyone on board, welcome aboard our family-friendly skies.

(APPLAUSE)

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

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

And we begin this hour with live pictures from the nation's capital where thousands are gathering on the National Mall to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the historic March on Washington. Organizers say today's event is not a commemoration but a continuation of the dream Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. outlined at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll joining me live now from the march. Jason, what can we expect and what are people saying?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, let me, Fredricka, tell you where we are right here. As I've been telling you all morning long, we've been talking to people from all over the country, and this is a sampling of what we've been seeing out here. I've been talking to people from California, from Maryland, from Ohio, from New York, from all across the country to talk about the issues being discussed here today.

The speakers have been talking about voting rights. There's a real concern among the civil rights leaders that have come out today that what was discussed 60 years ago in terms of voting rights still needs to be addressed today. I want to bring in two people who made the trek out here on this hot and muggy day here in Washington, Celeste Heath and Kay Brown. I want to talk to you two about the issues that matter most. You've been listening to the speakers. What issues resonated with you most?

KAY BROWN, ATTENDING MARCH ON WASHINGTON: It's the voting rights. Our voting rights are just diminishing, and everything is going on that they're trying to take everything, everything, including and starting with the voting rights away.

CARROLL: Listening to Andrew Young, he spoke a little earlier, he said that progress had been made, but the work continues.

CELESTE HEATH, ATTENDING MARCH ON WASHINGTON: Absolutely. It does still continue. I believe, one of my issues is the banning of books. We're all human beings, and what right does another human being have the right to tell another human being what to read? I just thank God I was born in 1963, I'm a 1963 baby. Growing up, I remember laying on my mom's bed and reading about Dr. Martin Luther King, and she had a book with a cassette player. And I remember that to this day. And I believe that we should all be able to read whatever we want to read.

CARROLL: Of course, you're referring to educational rights. That has been talked about today. The teaching of U.S. history, specifically as it refers to African American history, and the feeling of some of those out here today that African American history is being erased.

BROWN: I agree. And everyone needs to learn about each other and then we can have a better understanding of each other.

CARROLL: I want to thank both of you for coming out here again today. Fredricka, so many share these similar opinions about voting rights, about educational rights. Also, another topic being discussed, economic equality. Again, the overwhelming theme that you keep hearing over and over again, that those who came here to march 60 years ago back in 1963, some of those very same issues still an issue here in the country today. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Right, underscoring the continuation. Jason Carroll, thank you so much.

Now to the new developments in the Georgia election interference case. Two of the pro-Trump attorneys charged in the case are now asking for speedy trials. Sidney Powell has joined Kenneth Chesebro in requesting quick trials. A judge has already scheduled an October trial for Chesebro, and in response to the requests, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants a trial for all 19 defendants at the end of October.

But the defense team for former President Donald Trump is trying to delay the start. Trump and his 18 co-defendants are facing a variety of charges, including racketeering and conspiracy. They all surrendered ahead of yesterday's noon deadline, and today one of the 19 co-defendants remains in the Fulton County jail. Last night a judge declined to set bond for Harrison Floyd, a leader of black voices for Trump.

[14:05:00]

During a hearing, he told the judge that he could not afford to hire an attorney. The judge informed him that he didn't meet the eligibility requirements for obtaining a public defender. CNN's Jeremy Herb is joining us now. Jeremy, what comes next in the case?

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, Fred, now that we have the surrender from all 19 defendants, we get into this very complicated stage of the trial of how this is going to unfold. And one of the issues that you raised is when will the trial unfold? We've had the two defendants who want to have a trial that could be as soon as October, which is what the district attorney, Fani Willis wants. The former president and his lawyers do not want to have a trial so quickly. And so that issue is going to have to be litigated ahead of the trial.

Another issue is which venue is this trial going to take place in, whether it's going to be in state court or in federal court. We've seen five of the 19 defendants. They have made a request to move their cases to federal court. That includes Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, Jeffrey Clark, the former DOJ official, and three Georgia officials who served as fake electors.

Now, one of the reasons they're doing this is that the jury pool in Fulton County, it's a very blue county, if you move it into the federal district, you include more of the county surrounding Fulton County, which gives you potentially a more pro-Trump jury pool. Now, we're going to hear on Monday more about this when there's a hearing for Mark Meadows's request, and at that hearing we could get a bit of a preview of the case against Meadows and the other defendants as Fani Willis has subpoenaed witnesses to potentially testify, including Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, who, if you remember, he was at the center of Trump's phone call where he asked him to find enough votes to win. So on Monday we potentially will learn more about the next steps in this case, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Jeremy Herb, thanks so much.

With me now to discuss this further is Kay Levine. She is a professor of law at an associate dean for research at Emory University School of Law. Professor, great to see you. All right, so I think everyone, conventional wisdom is everybody always wants a speedy trial. So why is this unique that Chesebro and now Sidney Powell would want this speedy trial when there are other defendants who are saying, namely the former president, who are saying, no, let's wait a bit? What are the pros and cons here? KAY L. LEVINE, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF

LAW: So I actually wouldn't agree with the statement that everybody always wants a speedy trial. Speedy is kind of in the eye of the beholder. We have a U.S. constitutional provision that guarantees every defendant a speedy trial. We have a state constitutional provision that guarantees that. We have statutes that guarantee it. And yet most cases take a very long time to work their way through the court system.

A case of this complexity with the amount of evidence the prosecutor's office still needs to disclose to the defense suggests that any well- regarded defense attorney would want quite a lot of time in order to review all of that material and prepare an adequate defense. So what is a bit surprising is that these moves are being made by members of the defense team before they've really seen the mountain of prosecution evidence that is coming their way.

WHITFIELD: So then, is this really an attempt to challenge the prosecution, to say, Chesebro and Powell, really to say, OK, we want speedy, which means we know that you guys can't pull it together fast enough?

LEVINE: That's how it seems to me. It's like they're calling the bluff of the Fulton County D.A.'s office to say, are you really ready to go given the complexity of the case, the number of counts? And Fani Willis has responded, saying, yes, I am absolutely ready to go. So she's calling their bluff now.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, so would that be adhered to?

LEVINE: Well, when the defense requests the motion for a speedy trial, in Georgia there's a set amount of time that the courts have to respond to that. And so if the prosecution says, sure, they're not contesting it, they're not trying to raise any kind of legal challenge to the date that was suggested by the defense team, then I think we could expect to see a trial in October if both sides then announce ready as we get closer.

WHITFIELD: So now advantages, disadvantages for Chesebro and Powell to combine their cases. Would they? Should they?

LEVINE: It's hard to say. Each of these 19 defendants has been charged with a RICO count, and then each of them also has a smattering of some of the subsidiary counts that are in the indictment. So if Powell and Chesebro are similarly situated in terms of the other counts that have been charged against both of them, then it would make sense for the prosecution to go forward against both of them at the same time. It's more efficient. You're presenting the same witnesses, you're making the same arguments. And that kind of umbrella of evidence and the argument that goes around that evidence would apply equally to both of them, although each of them would have to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for every charge the prosecution alleges.

So there's an efficiency gain here for the courts and certainly for the D.A.'s office to go forward together. And each of them would gain by not being associated with some of the more serious players who have been alleged in this conspiracy.

[14:10:03]

Oftentimes defendants say I want to sever myself from the larger group because I don't want to be prejudiced by any of the prosecutor's arguments or any of the evidence that really goes to the other defendants but doesn't apply to me. It can be hard for jurors to separate out which set of evidence goes to which defendant. So a defendant says, I will get a fairer trial if the case is just against me, or me and this one, instead of me and all of the others.

WHITFIELD: Might this also be part of a larger plot where Chesebro and Powell allow their cases to go forward so that it might be advantageous for other co-defendants, namely the former president, now that they'll be able to see what the prosecution's case is, they'll get an upper hand, will they not, when it comes time to defend their cases?

LEVINE: So very possibly. They will get to see the witnesses testify. Also witnesses get sort of locked into statements that they make under oath, under penalty of perjury subject to cross-examination, such that if they were to testify differently at a future trial, then this becomes a basis for impeachment. The basis is a prior inconsistent statement made by this person, that then suggests to the jurors maybe they were not to be believed then or they're not to be believed now. But mostly it would be an advantage for all of the other defendants to see just how strong the prosecutor's case is.

WHITFIELD: Quickly, do you think Mark Meadows and Jeffrey Clark stand a pretty good chance of getting their cases moved to a federal court?

LEVINE: Very hard to say. In order to successfully remove a case to federal court, you have to show that you were a federal official, and all the acts that are complained about were done in the course and scope of your federal employment. So the challenge for both of them, I think, and more so for Meadows even than Clark, is that the behaviors that he's alleged to have engaged in were, I think, on behalf of Trump the candidate and not Trump the federal official. So --

WHITFIELD: Does it matter if we're talking about you know that it is against the law, you know that trying to get fake electors is not sanctioned, whether you're a citizen or whether you're a federal employee?

LEVINE: So just getting it into federal court doesn't mean it's a win for the defense. It just means that the case would be tried in federal court with a federal judge, with a jury drawn from the wider pool of the northern district of Georgia. But it's still Fani Willis, it's still all of those state charges, and a conviction would still lie in terms of the Georgia court system. So just getting it into federal court is not a big win for the defense. It would be just one step towards what they presumably think would be a more favorable setting in order to have the charges heard.

WHITFIELD: Professor Kay Levine, great to see you.

LEVINE: Good. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, businesses across Maui are taking a hit after those devastating wildfires swept across parts of the island more than two weeks ago now. How some are trying to get back on their feet next.

Plus, backlash continues to grow over a controversial kiss the president of the Spanish soccer federation gave to one of the team's star players at the World Cup. Now FIFA is stepping in. How is it handling the fallout? Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:12]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. It's been more than two weeks since wildfires burned across the Hawaii island of Maui. So far, at least 115 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, but authorities say they're still making recoveries. On Thursday, Maui County formally assigning blame for the first time. They are now suing the island's electric companies for the damages and the loss of life.

CNN national correspondent Mike Valerio is joining me right now. Mike, all this comes as Hawaiian Electric is now acknowledging that some evidence involving the cause of the Lahaina fire may have been compromised.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And that's important, Fred, because a cause of the catastrophe has not been determined officially as of yet. Maui County is saying a spark from a snapped power line most likely started the fire. So preserving evidence of electrical equipment from a power substation near Lahaina is key. The utility says it is not to blame for equipment moved in a fire zone, specifically writing this, quote, "Hawaiian Electric is taking reasonable steps to preserve its own property that was damaged or destroyed because of these devastating fires. However, state, local, and federal government actors and others are moving forward to fight the fires and to clear out debris and other items that impede that effort. It is, therefore, possible, and even likely that the actions of these third parties, whose actions Hawaiian Electric does not control, may result in the loss of property or other items that relate to the cause of the fire."

So there is the cause, preserving evidence, and then there is the search that is now beginning to wrap up. Listen to the latest we heard on this crucial front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN PELLETIER, MAUI POLICE: The recovery efforts, 99 percent. We're going to finish up with the urban search and rescue here today, and we're going to begin any rechecks that we need to do with some of the other processes that we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VALERIO: So meantime, the latest validated list of missing people now stands at 388. And as for when that number could be updated, here is Maui's police chief again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOHN PELLETIER, MAUI POLICE: We would like to do maybe a weekly update because it is going to take time. Don't hold me to say it's seven days and where is it at. We're shooting for that. That's kind of a goal that we think we might be able to maintain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: They are doing amazing, painstaking work. We salute them from here. He is saying the list may be changing as we speak. But it takes time to verify if somebody is truly missing or not. Fred, this is all part of a recurring theme, that the recovery and pain will last in Lahaina for a long, long time, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. Mike Valerio, thank you so much.

[14:20:00]

So the fires may be out, but the impact it's had on the Maui community overall is something that will be felt, as Mike said, for a very, very long time. The island is very dependent on tourism, more so than many of the other Hawaiian Islands. And while it will take time to recover, some local businesses are already pleading for tourists to come back, come back now. One person making that plea is Keone Laepaa. He is a captain at a Makena Coast Charters on Maui. So good to see you. So I wonder, how is your community in Kihei, which is on the south coast of Maui, right? How is everyone doing?

CAPT. KEONE LAEPAA, MAKENA COAST CHARTERS: So down here in the Kihei area, to be honest with you, a lot of us -- most of us boat operators are laid off at this time, unfortunately, with the message that was sent out immediately, which is don't come to Maui. We definitely feel for Lahaina and everything going up there. We've been helping out as much as we can with the boats. But yes, right now it's pretty bad. It's shaping up to be worse than the COVID economic impact on us.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So tell me about this, I guess the conflicting messages. Well, I think most people understood, initially the message was don't come to Maui because we want to make sure all the resources that are available are devoted to the victims of the fire or the retrieving and the searching for people. And it was still in the very early stages.

But then many other people in other parts of Maui were saying, wait a minute, we rely on tourism, and if no one comes, then there go our businesses. So I'm hearing you, you are on that latter end. You want people to come to Maui to continue to allow your business and other businesses to thrive. So how do people kind of thread that needle? Because understandably, a lot of people are staying away because maybe they feel guilty about going to Maui and having a good time when there is so much suffering. LAEPAA: Sure, we definitely understand that. What we're looking for is

responsible tourism. People that are still willing to come out and still enjoy themselves with the areas that haven't been impacted, and also still have an opportunity to go up to Lahaina, to help maybe donate one of their days of vacation to go up to help the people of Lahaina in their recovery efforts, to really learn what our true aloha spirit is, as they can truly see what it is we do together as a community to help the impacted victims of Lahaina.

I've got a lot of friends and family up there that have been impacted as well. A great buddy of mine, Archie Kalepa has been up there, one of the main guys up there helping distribute product, getting water, towels, places for people to stay. So the community effort is there, yet we don't get people coming back. For instance, we're getting cancellations for Christmastime. We're getting cancellations for the first of the year time. Typically, that's when most of us are able to stay busy throughout the year. We're taking up to, say, 25 to 40 people a day, and now in this past week we barely did 13 people.

WHITFIELD: That's significant.

LAEPAA: Yes, this coming up week, we've only got seven people booked so far. And we're not the only boat company in this situation. Redline Rafting, Blue Water, all the Kihei boat operators, we're all in the same situation.

WHITFIELD: So you're really worried about your business and how much longer it can sustain itself with that kind of drop-off of clientele. So what is needed, perhaps, if not from the tourism industry, but maybe local, federal government, how might they be able to assist if you don't have the tourist dollars?

LAEPAA: Well, if they're going to be able to possibly set us up with another deal like the PPP forgiveness loans, that would definitely help. The issue with the SBA offering loans to us is that we're still going to have to pay that back, and it's going to take us years to recover. We were barely recovering as it was from the COVID. Tourism was only starting to come back in the last year, back to the numbers we had seen previous to COVID. And now with all of this happening, we don't know what's going to happen in the future. We don't know if we're still going to be in business this time next year.

WHITFIELD: It sounds very worrisome. We're wishing you the best, and of course all of your fellow colleagues, members of the community, that things will pick up and get better, and hopefully many are hearing your call and your pleas for some real urgency. Captain Keone Laepaa, thank you so much. All the best.

LAEPAA: Mahalo, thank you.

WHITFIELD: Mahalo.

[14:25:00]

Coming up, some major new developments today in the controversy over Spain's soccer chief, who kissed a female player on the lips at the World Cup. We'll have the details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some sad news to share today. Bob Barker, the host of "The Price is Right" and a beloved fixture on television for decades, has died at the age of 99. Celebrities are starting to react to the news. Drew Carey, the current host of "The Price is Right" just wrote this message, "Very sad day for "The Price I Right" family and animals all over the world. There hasn't been a day on set that I didn't think of Bob Barker and thank him. I will carry his memory in my heart forever."

And actor Adam Sandler just posted this tribute, "The man, the myth, the best. Such a sweet, funny guy to hang out with. Loved talking to him, loved laughing with him."

[14:30:01]

CNN's Stephanie Elam looks back at his legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to game show hosts, Bob Barker was one of the most beloved. For 35 years, he was the man with the mic and the money on "The Price is Right." Barker described his own winning television career as unexpected. He spent much of his childhood on an Indian reservation in South Dakota, his family part of the Sioux tribe. World war II military service brought Barker to new places.

BOB BARKER, FORMER HOST, "THE PRICE IS RIGHT": I had never been up in an airplane, and I had never seen the ocean. I had not thought about landing an airplane on a carrier.

ELAM: After the war, Barker landed radio jobs and married his high school sweetheart before breaking into television.

BARKER: It's time to play "Truth or Consequences".

ELAM: Barker's run on the comedic stunt gameshow lasted 18 years.

BARKER: That's beautiful.

ELAM: His smooth hosting style got noticed by game show producer Mark Goodson.

BARKER: He saw me working on "Truth or Consequences," and he liked my work. And he told me that he would like to have me do "The New Price is Right," they called it.

(APPLAUSE)

ELAM: The mix of savvy shopper guessing games and big prizes have made "The Price is Right" America's longest running game show, and Barker its most memorable ringleader. BARKER: Being on that stage, reaching out and gathering those folks in

and making this thing work, getting up, build them up as quickly as possible to a pitch that is just fun, fun, fun.

ELAM: Off stage Barker faced some battles. In 1981 he lost his wife of 36 years to lung cancer.

BARKER: She was Mrs. Bob Barker, and to me she always has been and always will be.

(APPLAUSE)

ELAM: He faced struggles of his own, including a stroke and a sexual harassment case brought by a female employee of "The Price is Right." It was eventually dismissed, but tarnished Barker's silver image for a time. Through it all, he remained focused on his work and philanthropic efforts, signing off each show with this tag line --

BARKER: Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.

ELAM: Barker was a tireless advocate for animal well-being, donating millions toward animal rescue and rights groups.

BARKER: If I'm remembered at all in the years to come, they'll refer to me as that old man who was always talking about spay and neuter.

(LAUGHTER)

ELAM: Barker spent his career giving away money, but reflected on his own good fortune in retirement.

BARKER: I am blessed, I had the opportunity to have fun and just look forward to going to work for half a century.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Bob Barker was 99 years old.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And now, FIFA is stepping in as the Spanish Football Federation president refuses to step down. This morning, we learned FIFA has provisionally suspended Luis Rubiales after he kissed star Jennifer Hermoso following last Sunday's World Cup win. The kiss prompted calls for Rubiales to resign. But then he claims the kiss was consensual. But Hermoso says that's not true.

CNN Sports anchor Patrick Snell is here with me now. Yet another stunning thing here is the Royal Spanish Football Federation is actually threatening to take legal action against the player.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN ANCHOR, WORLD SPORT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: I've lost track. This is getting kooky.

SNELL: Fred, this is absolutely extraordinary. It seems by the hour now we're getting updates on this story, which shows no sign of going away at all. The Spanish national team, La Roja, should be basking in the glory of celebrations, the euphoria of winning a first-ever Women's World Cup for Spain. And now, literally, look at this. Within the last few minutes we've learned that Spain's entire coaching staff, Fred, from the World Cup jointly announcing their resignation as the fallout continues. Eleven coaches involved, that's such a strong statement from them all.

I will say this, though, Fred. The head coach, Jorge Vilda, he is not part -- the man who won the World Cup, who oversaw their triumph, he is not part of the mass resignation. So he's staying in position. Now, in the statement, what's being said in the statement, the group is citing several reasons that led to the decision to quit, and they referenced the strongest and deepest condemnation of Rubiales's behavior. Earlier today there was even more fallout. Spain's federation, as you were saying there off the top, threatening to take legal action, I can't stress this enough, legal action against the player who has just won you your first-ever Women's World Cup, Jennifer Hermoso, accusing her of lying about being kissed by Rubiales during the World Cup final trophy presentation.

For background here, I'm also saying on Friday that at no point did she consent, at no point did she consent to an unwanted kiss. I will say, Rubiales is the most powerful man in Spanish football. He's also a UEFA vice president. Earlier a statement from the Royal Spanish Football Federation reading in part, "The evidence is conclusive. The president has not lied. The federation and the president, given the seriousness of the content of the press release from the Futpro Union will initiate the corresponding legal actions."

[14:40:00]

Rubiales, to recap here, on Friday refusing to resign. But football's world governing body now, FIFA, intervening and moving to provisionally suspend him from all football related activities. Reaction, as you can imagine, has been coming in thick and fast over the last 48 hours, condemnation, too, I will say. I want you to listen now to the head coach of Barcelona's men's team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVI HERNANDEZ, BARCELONA COACH (through translator): First, I would like to give my unconditional support to Jenni and the players of the women's team because of what they are going through now. Secondly, to condemn the behavior of the Spanish Federation president, which seems to me absolutely unacceptable. And finally, to express that I'm sorry and it's a shame that we are not talking about the women's World Cup football, of what I think is an historic date for our football, and that we are talking about the behavior, which is intolerable for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Yes, it's that point, it's that moment that these players don't get to enjoy this historic triumph. And another development as well that we saw on Friday, 80 players signing a joint agreement basically agreeing to not play again for the Spanish national team until Rubiales is removed from his post. But this is fast moving.

WHITFIELD: Right. This should have been a week of just all high points, all of it.

SNELL: Yes, a week of celebration.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Now probably the majority of those players, especially Hermoso, they haven't been able to sleep at night. They can't even enjoy this.

SNELL: It's extremely concerning. We're following it every step of the way. It's important to hear from Rubiales. We heard from him on Friday, and he made it very clear, he is going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: He does at least have that 60-day provisional suspension.

SNELL: FIFA moving on that today.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Patrick Snell, keep us posted, because we know there will be more.

SNELL: There will be, guaranteed.

WHITFIELD: This is like a crazy tennis match that's going back and forth.

Coming up, the quest is on to capture the Loch Ness monster. Will the elusive creature finally be found? Details as the biggest hunt in 50 years gets under way, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:38]

WHITFIELD: Creature hunters from around the world are watching closely this weekend as the biggest hunt for the Loch Ness monster in 50 years gets under way. About 100 volunteers will be looking out for signs of the creature on the lake. The whole thing is being live streamed, in fact. Organizers say it is the biggest surface observation since 1972. And even though reports of a creature date back to ancient times, the story gathered momentum after sightings back in the 1930s. And of course there is the infamous picture that some say is the Loch Ness monster. But that has been debunked.

I want to bring in Dr. Neil Gemmell. He is a geneticist at the University of Otago in New Zealand. In 2018 he carried out an extensive survey of the loch using environmental DNA technology that was featured in "Loch Ness Monster, New Evidence," on Discovery+. So good to see you, Doctor. Do you think there --

DR. NEIL GEMMELL, GENETICIST, UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO: How are you?

WHITFIELD: Yes, great. Do you think there's a pretty good chance that somebody is going to see something this weekend?

GEMMELL: Oh, I'm sure. People go to Loch Ness with a very high expectation that they're going to see something. I think sadly most of it is just images on the water or logs or other things. But there's high hopes. That's why you go to Loch Ness, with the hope of answering the mystery.

WHITFIELD: Of course. So what would cause those flickers? If they see those flickers on the water, they're going to feel like that may be -- are we still calling it Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, that might be Nessie or something like it under there causing those flickers?

GEMMELL: I'm not sure what Nessie's pronouns are, but Nessie is probably fine. So the message is what's on the water, often it's going to be wind. There are odd reflections. Sometimes there's some visions caused by a heat have off of the water. There are whirlwinds that spin across the water, and there's weird things that happen in Loch Ness. So there's underwater waves, objects that were buoyant because it's a different temperature from one end to the other. They sink and they rise. Sometimes they're going against the current. The physics of the place are quite interesting.

WHITFIELD: So you said weird things happen underneath the surface there, so what was your discovery? Why are you very convinced there is no such thing as the Loch Ness monster? What was the evidence that you were searching for as a geneticist in order to determine whether it exists or not?

GEMMELL: Thanks, that's a really good question. So, really, I'm not a believer in the Loch Ness monster, quite a skeptic, to be honest. But I was open to the idea that I might be wrong, so we went there with an open mind. So we were looking to see what sort of DNA evidence we might find in Loch Ness. So the basic idea there was if Nessie is a biological creature, then there would be traces of its passing in the water. This is a large creature. It's presumably leaving relatively large amounts of material behind. Like, for example, whales, we can easily detect whales if we go out and about, sampling along paths that we know they've crossed.

[14:50:05]

So we were just looking basically for monster dandruff, but more importantly, we were looking to see what species we could find in Loch Ness and describe the biodiversity there. An air hunt was really an opportunity to show the power of environmental DNA as a way to throw a new lens on the natural world.

WHITFIELD: So that search ended up being futile? You didn't see anything unusual?

GEMMELL: No, nothing that will get the monster hunters particularly excited. It was all relatively mundane. So we found 13 species of fish that we knew were in Loch Ness, things like salmon and trout and sticklebacks and various other things. And we tested a variety of hypothesis that had been put forward to explain the Loch Ness monster, including the idea there was a giant reptile. Obviously that's an extinct creature, so we don't actually have a DNA sequence for it, but we have a pretty good guess of where in the tree of life that sequence would sit, and we didn't find anything that looked remotely like that. In fact, we didn't even find reptilian DNA sequence in there, despite the fact that there are a few native reptiles in Scotland.

So it turns out reptile DNA is actually quite hard to find, as a rule in environmental DNA. We found quite a lot of eel DNA. Now, whether it was just ordinary eels or giant eels which has been posited by some, hard for us to know. It just looks like eel DNA to us. But there's these stories of people seeing giant eel-like creatures 20, 30 feet in length. The stories of a hydro-plant in Lock Ness in the 80s being clogged up with eels as thick as a man's thigh. Sadly, no samples, no photos, and no physical evidence that's ever been accumulated for the Loch Ness monster.

And ecologically, Loch Ness is actually a deep, dark lake. It's not particularly productive. There isn't a lot of food. So back in the 70s people made calculations that suggested that if there was such a creature, a giant marine reptile in Loch Ness, you might be able to keep about 20 of them based on all the food that's available there. That is unlikely to create a viable population.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, still the fascination exists, doesn't it? Enough to still lure a whole lot of creature hunters, that's what they're calling themselves, to Loch Ness this weekend. Professor Neil Gemmell, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

GEMMELL: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: The state of California has the highest rate of homelessness in the country. Often living among the thousands of unsheltered people are their beloved pets. This week's CNN hero has made it his mission to offer judgment-free veterinary care at no cost on the streets of California.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KWANE STEWART, CNN HERO: I've seen people give up their last meal for their pet, and people who have $3.00 to their name, and after I'm done with the treatment they will try and give me that $3.00.

This is your partner, obviously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's my best friend.

STEWART: They see me with my stethoscope and my bag.

This dog was days away from dying.

And then they start sharing stories about their dog and the history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He makes me feel good, and he loves me. And I know he loves me.

STEWART: I can treat about 80 percent of the cases I see out of a really small bag. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do vaccines, too? That's really cool.

STEWART: It's antibiotics, it's anti-inflammatories, flea and tick, heartworm prevention. It's all there. It's at no cost to them. It's free.

I'm building a network of trusted volunteers, technicians, hospitals and clinics we can go to, we can call on. It doesn't matter what your situation is or what your background or past is. I see a pet need, and I see a person who cares for them dearly who just needs some help.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Very nice. To see more, go to CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:47]

WHITFIELD: Turning now to scorching heat gripping the country, we're joined now by CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, what more can you tell us?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I can tell you, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We've just got to get through this weekend for at least a few of the areas. We've still got a lot of heat alerts out, mostly focused across the southeastern portion of the U.S. But we're also starting to see some new ones fire up in the southwest, and that's because this is temperatures are actually expected to climb in the coming days. Palm Springs getting up to 117 by Monday, Phoenix 115 Monday and Tuesday, so you're talking 10 degrees above average, even Sacramento is going to be well above where they normally will be.

A lot more red was spread out into the Midwest earlier this week. We're finally starting to see that shrink back and really focus closer down into the Gulf Coast, and that's where the heat is expected to remain this weekend. Particularly, Houston topping out at 107 tomorrow, but finally back below the triple-degree threshold once we get into early next week. Same thing for New Orleans, still one more day of those triple-digit temperatures, and then we'll start to see things coming back down.

So again, we will get there. We've just got to get through at least few more days here across some of these areas. One thing to note, though, for a lot of these areas, the main reason that we're going to be seeing some of those temperatures dropping back is actually an addition of rain chances and some extra cloud cover. So again, Fred, there is light at the end of the tunnel, we've just kind of got to get through the weekend before we finally start to see those temperatures coming back down to where they should be this time of year.