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Three Killed in Jacksonville Shooting; World Cup Kiss Scandal; COVID Uptick; 23 U.S. Marines Hurt In Osprey Helicopter Crash; Ukraine says One Person Killed, Four Wounded In Kherson Shelling; U.S., U.K. Military Officials Said Prigozhin Likely Dead; Thousands Mark 60 Years Since March on Washington; Trump Campaign Shows $7.1M Raised Since Processed At Jail; Allegations on Hawaii Electric's Role In The Deadly Fires; India Soft-Landed A Probe On Moon's South Pole, A First Internationally. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 27, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak.

Three people dead in Jacksonville, Florida, after what police say is a racially motivated shooting. Now, the FBI is investigating it as a hate crime.

FIFA suspends Spain's football chief following the now notorious kiss after the Women's World Cup. We will go live to Madrid for a report.

And an uptick in COVID cases, we will speak with a doctor about what you need to know to stay safe.

We begin this hour with a deadly mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, that authorities are calling racially motivated. Three people are dead, all the victims, two men and a woman were black. The city's sheriff said the suspect described as a white man in his 20s, took his own life after the shooting.

He was armed with an AR-15-style rifle which he decorated with painted swastikas and a handgun. Jacksonville's sheriff also said writings were found indicating that the suspect, quote, hated black people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF T.K. WATERS, JACKSONVILLE SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I've read part of it. They were very long. There was one written to the FBI, one went to his parents, one went to the news media. So, they're very long and they're, quite frankly, the words of a madman.

And I am a big believer in transparency. I'm a big believer of people seeing. This is -- we saw with our public here, and our public has a right to see. So, as soon as we finish it, finish with it, we are going to release them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK: Well, the FBI says it has opened a civil rights investigation and will pursue the shooting as a hate crime.

CNN Correspondent Isabel Rosales has more on the horrific story.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me bring you up to speed to what Sheriff T.K. Waters is saying happened. The shooter has not been identified. The medical examiner's office has to be the one to do that. But he is a white male in his early 20s, according to the sheriff.

The sheriff saying that he entered the dollar general wearing a tactical vest and a mask and he had on him an AR-15-style rifle and a Glock handgun. On that handgun, the sheriff shared pictures. You can see swastikas on that gun.

The sheriff says he killed three people. All three of those people were black. Then he turned the gun on himself and shot himself. The shooter, the sheriff says, resided in Clay County with his parents. Back in 2016, there was a domestic call to that house but no arrest was made there. And then in 2017, the shooter, again, who has not been identified, was Baker Acted.

Now, the guns here did not belong to the shooter's parents, the sheriff is saying. At 1:18 P.M., the shooter texted his father, told him to look into his computer, and his father discovered three documents there. About 35 minutes later, the parents called the Clay County Sheriff's Office, but were told by the sheriff by that time, the shooter had already begun.

The sheriff says that the shooter authored several manifestos intended to go to his parents, the media and the federal agencies. And those manifestos included the N word multiple times. The sheriff saying that this was racially motivated, that the shooter, quote, hated black people.

Here is what else the sheriff had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATERS: We know that he acted completely alone. If you take look at the images on the screen, you'll be able to see what he utilized. The weapons that the shooter used today are a Glock and an AR-15-style rifle. This is a dark day in Jacksonville's history and also life is tragic. But the hate that motivated the shooter's killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak. There's no place for hate in our community and this is not Jacksonville. As a member of this Jacksonville community, I am sickened by this cowardly shooter's personal ideology of hate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: So, it is no surprise that the FBI is investigating this as a hate crime and has opened a federal civil rights investigation into this shooting. I do also want to note that the shooting happened August 26, five years, the anniversary, five years to the day of a different mass shooting that happened in Jacksonville at a venue that has since been demolished where a shooter entered a videogame competition and gunned down two people, injuring ten others.

[03:05:06]

So, a traumatic for the Jacksonville community that's only now beginning to get answers as to how in the world this could happen.

HARRAK: And the shooting took place at a dollar general store located near a historically black school. The suspect had been spotted on camp us earlier, but no injuries were reported.

CNN Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem discusses that angle and the implications of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: He didn't shoot on the campus seems slightly irrelevant to me. He is putting on the tactical gear on the campus. He is there physically with those guns. We don't know what goes through his mind at the moment of but he then runs down the street to shoot three black victims at a dollar store.

And so hate is nurtured. It is in society. And though the sheriff is clear to say that no one else is involved with this, the reason why this is being investigated as a hate crime is because of its impact on the larger community, every African-American in Jacksonville, every parent with a child at an HBCU, every black parent for that matter, let alone black.

And so the investigation as to whether others knew him and whether others were luring the shooter to do this hate crime, and I think that's important because of terror that comes from this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: And this just into CNN, almost two dozen U.S. Marines are injured after a helicopter crash in Northern Australia. Australian police say the marines were flying in a U.S. Osprey helicopter when it crashed off a group of islands near the northern city of Darwin.

The territory's chief minister says five Marines are hospitalized, including one who is undergoing surgery. The others are being treated at the crash site.

The Marines were involved in a multinational military exercise, and it's not clear what caused the helicopter to crash.

Now, to the ongoing crisis in Spanish football, FIFA has provisionally suspended Spain's football chief, Luis Rubiales for 90 days. It comes after he was filmed kissing a player on Spain's team moments after they won the Women's World Cup last weekend. Rubiales says the kiss was consensual, but the player, Jennifer Hermoso, denied that consent. The controversial kiss sparked outrage, and many demanded Rubiales' resignation. And just hours after Rubiales' suspension on Saturday, nearly a dozen members of the Spanish National Women's Football program also resigned.

All right, let's go to Journalist Al Goodman, who is in Madrid. Al, this story has mushroomed into something very, very significant.

AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: Laila that's right. Let's start with the mushrooming part, and let's start with the resignation en masse of the coaches from the women's program. The 11 people who resigned include the entire assistant coaching staff of the Spanish Women's World Cup, the team that just won the World Cup in Australia a week ago in that tough game over England, that 1-0 victory. All of the assistant coaches have now resigned, condemning Rubiales' unacceptable of all behavior.

In addition, the coach of the national men's team, Luis de la Fuente, issued a statement also condemning Rubiales' behavior. And from the club teams, the coach, Xavi Hernandez, of Barcelona, F.C. Barcelona, at a press conference on Saturday, had this to say about the situation. Listen.

I'm not sure that I believe we do not have that. But he basically sided with the player, Jennifer Hermoso, and said that this is unacceptable behavior.

Now, after all of that, Laila, the coach of the women's team that won the World Cup, Jorge Vilda, issued a statement to Spain's new (INAUDIBLE) F.A., Reuters reported, where he finally came out after all of this has been going on, and said that Rubiales' behavior was unacceptable and he was sorry. This has hurt the victory, the hard fought victory by the women's team. So, you've got this chorus against Rubiales, basically only a few press statements from his own Federation that are in his favor.

As to the bigger part, one thing that's on Spain's mind, and a government official said this yesterday, they're going to try to convince FIFA and the world that this should have no effect, that's what he's insisting, no effect on Spain's bid to host the 2030 World Cup for Men right here in Spain and some neighboring countries.

[03:10:07]

So, that's a concern for Spain.

And also on the bigger issue, it really puts into view for all Spain, that the issue of machismo in Spain, where the society and the governments, successive governments at the national and local levels have worked so hard to try to tamp this down, to get people to behave, there's still a lot of work to do. Laila?

HARRAK: All right. So, Journalist Al Goodman are reporting in Madrid, thank you, as always. And joining me now from Barcelona, Spain, is Tania Verge Mestre. She is the minister for equality and feminism for Catalonia. Minister, thank you so much for joining us, a very good morning.

The entire world is watching these events that continue to overshadow what is a major achievement by the Spanish Women's Team. Are you surprised by the federation's actions up to now?

TANIA VERGE MESTRE, MINISTER FOR EQUALITY AND FEMINISM, CATALONIA: Good morning, Laila. Well, this is a full display of how sexism operates in sports and more generally in society. Rubiales press conference was an expose of sexism, denying the allegations, attacking the player, attacking feminisms, threatening everyone who had criticized him.

And most of the members of that assembly also supported him with applause and then condoned his behavior. And this is why it has -- why the public cry has been so loud, so strong and has gathered support throughout the world.

So, we are also seeing this increasing awareness among society about what sexual consent is and what power abuse is. So, it's a powerful movement these players are initiating all over the world.

HARRAK: Now, Mr. Rubiales does seem to still enjoy some level of support. He's still refusing to leave. Has he unintentionally blown the lid off the challenges that female footballers face in the world of football?

MESTRE: Clearly, his attitude has been a demonstration of what female players have to endure in professional sports, but not only also in their daily lives. We have all been subject to these different forms of harassment in our workplace, these forced kisses, the groping, the touching, the demeaning. So, this is why women from all fields are sending their support to Jennifer Hermoso.

And at the same time, Rubiales at this time is losing basically all supports he has. And by early next week, he's probably going to be dismissed by the Sports Council in Spain.

HARRAK: But let's talk a little bit more about these women, these top athletes. What are they up against? And is the Spanish Federation an entity that is prepared to change, can change, willing to change?

MESTRE: Well, definitely, these events are going to force the Federation to move forward, to instill real change in terms of women football professionalization, as it was the case in the U.S. a few years ago, and it's been happening in different national teams.

It's not just about this particular moment during the World Cup, but it's the disconsideration on women's demand in terms of the necessary investment in the professionalization of women's football that's required to be in place. It's basic demand, equal pay. It's about more investment in terms of coaching, et cetera.

HARRAK: Minister, a final question to you. What needs to happen now? Might something good come out of this? Could this be a turning point for Spain? How do you reflect on this moment and its significance for Spanish society?

MESTRE: Yes, you make a good point. Because what happens here in this particular case sends a strong message to all sports federation and to all women, girls and teenagers who are practicing sports, either professionally or non-professionally.

So, while Rubiales needs to be dismissed, as well as all of his worth, who has been incapable of rendering him accountable or has condoned this behavior for a long time, not just during the World Cup, then this sports federation, which are private associations, need to be forced to train on gender issues, all members of their board, because they have to be able to identify these instances of not just sexual violence, but also power abuse, which is quite pervasive in professional sports.

[03:15:22]

And this gender training and the adequate implementation of all protocols has to set new standards on how football federations and other sports federation operates so that they can be role models for the whole society, for the behavior of the fans in stadiums. Radical change needs to happen. It's a structural change.

HARRAK: All right. Tania Verge Mestre, Catalonia's Minister for Equality and Feminism, thank you so much, Minister, for your time.

MESTRE: Thank you for having me.

HARRAK: Now, a midair collision claims the lives of three Ukrainian pilots, among them a flyer known for his skills in the cockpit and his love for the F-16 fighter jets, that story ahead.

Plus, a former British prime minister slammed the Russian president over the plane crash involving Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

HARRAK: We're just getting word of new Russian strikes on Ukraine's Kherson region. Officials say Russian artillery pummeled residential areas over the past day, killing one person and leaving four others wounded.

Meanwhile, Ukraine mourning the law loss of a star military pilot who went by the call sign, Juice. Officials say Major Andriy Pilshchikov was killed after two training planes collided in midair on Saturday, leaving two more pilots dead.

Well, Juice was described as a pilot with, in one official's words, mega talent. He spoke on CNN two months ago about Ukraine's need to get western planes, such as F-16. One official says it's unfortunate that Juice will never get to fly those jets, which three NATO countries have just promised to give to Ukraine. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the real face of Russian President Vladimir Putin is now exposed. Johnson wrote a newspaper op-ed on Saturday following the plane crash involving Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. The former prime minister called the incident a, quote, liquidation by an existing head of state. He compared Mr. Putin's actions with the movie, The Godfather.

Russia says Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private plane that crashed on Wednesday. But his death hasn't been officially confirmed, and the Kremlin denies any role in the crash.

Earlier this week, both British and U.S. military officials said it's likely that Yevgeny Prigozhin was indeed killed in Wednesday's plane crash. If this is confirmed, Prigozhin would join a growing list of high-profile Russians who fell from Mr. Putin's good graces and died in mysterious circumstances.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin now presumed dead in a plane crash, the Kremlin says Vladimir Putin had nothing to do with it, but western leaders aren't so sure.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's not much that happens in Russia with Putin not behind.

PLEITGEN: There is no evidence that Russia's leadership may have brought down the jet, but Prigozhin is the latest of many figures harmed after crossing the Russian president.

In 2006, former Russian intelligence agent turned Putin critic Alexander Litvinenko fell ill in the U.K. and soon died. Doctors found he'd been poisoned by a radioactive substance.

While the Kremlin denied involvement, an inquiry came to a different conclusion, saying Russia's intelligence service, the FSB, was behind it.

ROBERT OWEN, HEAD OF LITVINENKO INQUIRY: The FSB operation to kill Mr. Litvinenko was probably approved by Mr. Patrushev, then head of the FSB, and also by President Putin in 2018.

PLEITGEN: In 2018, same country, different poison. This time, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by the nerve agent, Novichok.

While the Kremlin once again denied involvement, Putin not shy to show his contempt for Slripal.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: He is simply a spy, a traitor to his homeland. You get it? There is such a thing, a traitor to one's homeland. He's one of them. PLEITGEN: In 2020, same poison, but this time inside Russia, opposition figure Alexei Navalny falling gravely ill on a domestic flight. He was medically evacuated to Germany. Putin ridiculing allegations the Kremlin might be behind the poisoning. PUTIN: It doesn't mean at all that he needs to be poisoned. Who needs

him anyway? If they wanted to, they probably would have followed it through.

PLEITGEN: And just a few days ago, a general whom a Washington-based think tank says may have known details about a palace allegedly under construction for Vladimir Putin, which the Kremlin denies, died in jail after unexpectedly being diagnosed with leukemia. The Kremlin hasn't commented on that case.

Vladimir Putin called Yevgeny Prigozhin's death a tragedy and said he fully trusts Russia's investigation into the abrupt crash will bring the truth to light.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRAK: Well, for more, CNN's former Moscow Bureau Chief Nathan Hodge joins us now from London. Nathan, so good to have you with us.

Based on what happened, does this mark an end to the most serious challenge to Mr. Putin's rule in over two decades? And does this mean it's back to how things were?

NATHAN HODGE, FORMER MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Laila, nothing is going to go back to what it was before both the invasion, full scale invasion of Ukraine last year and the public emergence of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

[03:25:00]

Now, it's important to point out that Prigozhin was not a man who had a high public profile. And one of the reasons that he was useful to the Kremlin was that his activities were essentially deniable. The Kremlin and the Russian government never really acknowledged that, for instance, the Wagner mercenary group existed.

It certainly wanted to distance itself from Prigozhin's notorious troll farm activities, which were involved in the election interference of 2016 in the U.S. presidential election. And it was only after the full scale invasion of Ukraine and Russia's battlefield setbacks that Prigozhin actually started to sort of raise himself up as kind of a public figure. And Russian state television started to actually talk openly about the Wagner group.

This is all a very sort of a curious phenomenon in many ways, because under Russian law, mercenary activity is essentially illegal. Yet they were able to not only operate openly once they started having progress on the battlefield, for instance, in the fight for Bakhmut and Eastern Ukraine, Prigozhin became something of a celebrity. Now, Prigozhin is out of the picture, but to answer your question, this uprising or the rebellion by Wagner's fighters back in June seriously dented Putin's aura of invincibility. So, this is not something that can be put back in the box, Laila.

HARRAK: It can't be put back in a box, but what comes now after Prigozhin?

HODGE: Laila, I mean, I think one of the important things to point out here is that Prigozhin was kind of a political entrepreneur here. He was not part of the military. He was a businessman who was providing a service to the state.

Now, one of the reasons that he came into open conflict, for instance, with the military establishment, was over resources and the desire of the government to bring Wagner, basically the Wagner mercenary group, to heel.

And after this abortive march on Moscow, basically, part of the deal that was made was that Wagner's troops would then have to sign contracts with the conventional military. And it seemed, at least in the weeks that followed this mercenary march on Moscow, that Prigozhin would be allowed to continue his freelance activities on behalf of the Russian state, for instance, in Africa.

And just before the plane crash, he apparently popped up somewhere in an undisclosed location in Africa. But another business person, another entity, can take over the activities of Wagner, whether it was bringing in those troops into folding them into the regular military or taking over those business and mercenary activities in places such in Africa, for instance, Laila.

HARRAK: All right, Nathan Hodge, we've got to leave it there. Thank you so much.

And when we return, we'll get the latest on our top story, a deadly shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, that the local sheriff calls racially motivated.

That racist shooting came even as thousands turned out in Washington, D.C., to mark 60 years since Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous I have a dream speech. We will take you to Saturday's March on Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

HARRAK: Returning now to our top story, the deadly mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, now under investigation as a hate crime, three people killed in the incident, which took place near a historically black private school. All the victims, two men and a woman, were black.

Jacksonville's sheriff said the suspect was a white man in his 20s who took his own life after the shooting. He had two guns, one of which he decorated with painted swatsikas. The sheriff also said writings were found indicating that the suspect, quote, hated black people.

While even as the Jacksonville shooting was unfolding, thousands of people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to mark 60 years since Martin Luther King Jr. Expressed his dream of an America without racism. The 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom brought out veterans, civil rights activists, and young ones, too.

And as CNN's Jason Carroll reports, many of the same issues raised 60 years ago were still on the agenda.

JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we spoke to people all over the country who came out here today to hear from speakers across the spectrum of the civil rights movement.

One of the ongoing themes that was addressed here over and over again, voting rights. It was an issue 60 years ago, back in 1963, civil rights leaders say it continues to be an issue today.

One of those driving home that point, Andrew Young, former mayor of Atlanta, noted civil rights activist. He was here, 91 years old. He was here 60 years ago. Back in 1963, he worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and he gave his assessment of the condition of the country today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER ATLANTA MAYOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The vote is the passport to freedom and opportunity, that it's hard work, but it's good work.

Don't get mad, get smart. Don't look at all the things that are wrong, look back on where we were 66 years ago when we had the first march on Washington and Martin Luther King said then, give us the ballot.

And then he moved up and said, but I have a dream. But he gave his life for that dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Some of the other issues also being brought up today educational equality, economic equality as well, some of the same issues that were addressed 60 years ago back in 1963. Organizers say they are issues that still need to be addressed today.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Washington.

HARRAK: The Trump campaign claims it has raised more than $7 million since the former president and current Republican presidential candidate was processed at an Atlanta jail. But those donations won't block his legal trouble in Georgia.

CNN Politics Reporter Jeremy Herb has more.

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Now that the 19 defendants in the Fulton County case have surrendered, we're getting into the complicated questions about how this trial will proceed. And we're seeing that even in some cases, the defendants themselves are at odds with each other.

For instance, two of the defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, have requested a speedy trial in the case. But that's something that former President Donald Trump is opposed to doing. A judge has set a case date for Chesebro in October, and so it remains to be seen what that means for the rest of the defendants.

Now, another issue here is whether this case is kept in state court or moved into federal court. We've seen 5 of the 19 defendants have made a request to move their case into federal court. This is significant because it would change the jury pool. In state court, it would be in Fulton County, which is a very blue county, but the federal court would expand the district and the jury pool, potentially including more pro-Trump jurors.

Now, we're going to see this play out on Monday when we get the first hearing about the venue of the case for Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff. The district attorney is planning to subpoena witnesses that could testify at Monday's hearing, giving us a preview of what this case against Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump and the other defendants will look like.

Jeremy Herb, CNN, New York.

HARRAK: A crane snapped above a Miami hospital campus, killing one person and injuring four more. No one in the HCA Florida Mercy Hospital was harmed when the crane collapsed early Saturday afternoon.

The 200-foot crane was carrying a load when the tragedy happened, while that load fell on workers who were renovating air handlers. Some patients have been moved to other areas of the hospital out of an abundance of caution. The cause of the deadly accident is under investigation.

And the death toll in those terrible wildfires on Maui remains at 115. Crews are trying to identify hundreds of them missing, but as CNN's Mike Valerio reports, the focus is also on the role that the utility, Hawaii Electric, may have played in causing the outbreak.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Maui County is saying the, quote, negligence, carelessness and recklessness of Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries is directly responsible for the fires. The company, though, denies that. And looming large is the issue of preserving evidence to ultimately find out how the Lahaina fire started.

Now, as Hawaiian Electric faces litigation in the wake of this disaster, we've learned the company acknowledges that some vital evidence in the fire investigation may have been compromised, but the utility says it is not to blame.

In a letter included in court documents dated August the 11th, the company writes, 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's therefore possible, 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, this story about evidence possibly being compromised in the Lahaina fire investigation was first reported by The Washington Post. But in an email to CNN, Hawaiian Electric said the paper's allegations are inaccurate and they did not elaborate further.

The company is telling us its personnel have been in regular communication with ATF and local authorities and are cooperating to provide them as well as attorneys who represent the people affected by wildfires, these wildfires on Maui, with inventories and access to the removed equipment, which they've carefully photographed, documented and stored.

This is all about preserving the integrity of evidence to find out if the power company was responsible for the spark which grew into the Lahaina Inferno.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Los Angeles.

HARRAK: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

HARRAK: Now, while much of the world has moved on from worrying about COVID-19, the fact is it's still out there mutating and people are still getting sick.

The U.S. CDC says there's a summer uptick underway in COVID cases, and right now, more than 12,600 Americans are hospitalized with it. That's up 22 percent over recent weeks.

U.S. President Joe Biden has just signed off on a proposal to Congress to get more money for vaccine development. And pharmaceutical companies and the FDA are gearing up to release an updated vaccine as soon as next month that would provide protection against some of the latest variants.

Dr. Chris Pernell is regent-at-large for the American College of Preventative Medicine. She's also a public health physician and she joins me now. Doctor, so wonderful to have you with us.

We're seeing a notable uptick in COVID cases. What are transmission rates like and why are we seeing the uptick?

DR. CHRIS T. PERNELL, REGENT-AT-LARGE, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE: Thanks, Laila. I think it's important for people to understand first and foremost that the COVID-19 pandemic, because it's still a pandemic and it's actually endemic in certain places and it's still not in an emergency phase, but it's still something that we should be ever present and vigilant about.

What we're seeing in this summer, as the summer closes, we've seen a slight uptick. Approximately 12,600 Americans were hospitalized due to COVID, which is about a 22 percent increase. Why is that happening? There is constantly the evolution of different types of strains and variants, and those strains and variants seek to gain an advantage, whether it's a person who may not have been vaccinated, a person who may not have received the updated bivalent booster, a person who has other chronic health conditions, or a person who's older. So, that's what we're seeing happening as the summer comes to a close.

HARRAK: So, if I understand you correctly, I mean, do we know if it's making people sicker? And how do we protect people who are most at risk and who is at most risk?

PERNELL: So, commonly available data right now is not showing that it is a more severe strain. We're seeing what we saw with the other omicron subvariants, meaning that it's a predominantly upper respiratory illness.

What does that look like? It can look like a cough, runny nose, sore throat. But if you are a person who is older, especially 65 and older, or you have chronic health conditions that might evolve from an upper respiratory illness to a lower respiratory tract illness, which could develop into a more severe pneumonia or something of that about.

So, how do you protect yourself? Get vaccinated. And it is important to get vaccinated with the most currently available bivalent booster.

[03:45:02]

And that's going to be available most likely in the several weeks to come in September.

HARRAK: So, what do you do in the meantime in the interim? Do you just wait and just be really cautious until these new boosters become available?

PERNELL: So, we go back into our prevention toolkit. All during the pandemic, I've been talking about this Prevention toolkit and what's in that prevention toolkit. The prevention toolkit has masks, it has testing and the prevention toolkit has vaccines.

If you have not been vaccinated, I do think you should wait to the bivalent booster. The updated version will be available. What do you do in the meantime? If you are a person who is at risk for more severe disease, so you're older, you have chronic health conditions, or you have a weakened immune system, or you live with someone who has those things, you mask up, if you're in a high risk location, meaning a combined space with a lot of people, you don't know their vaccination status. And we're starting to see more people vaccinated. If you begin to display any upper respiratory symptoms, go and get a test. The tests are still readily available. You can test yourself at home, or if you go to your physician, you can get a test. And should you be positive, definitely get evaluated. See if you're eligible for the Paxlovid. If not, definitely. If you're positive, isolate. And then once you have healed and recovered after those five days, you may return to the public.

HARRAK: And, Doctor, I know it's difficult to predict, but how do you think the next couple of months might look like? I mean, are hospitals potentially preparing for a fall surge? Will we see a repeat from earlier years or are we really at a different juncture with this pandemic?

PERNELL: So we in public health, we are hopeful, but we're not just hopeful, we are vigilant. And we ask the public to continue to be vigilant. And what does that mean? Because in the fall, you're likely to see a rise in all various types of respiratory illnesses, so you can see an uptick in the common colds, you can see an uptick in flu, and you can see an uptick in COVID, because people are going back indoors. Once people are indoors, viruses can spread either by airborne transmission or by respiratory droplets.

So, do what's in the best interest of the whole. Be considerate. If you're sick, don't be around a lot of people, mask up. If you're at risk, mask up. And everybody who can get vaccinated, please get vaccinated with that updated bivalent booster in September.

HARRAK: And before I let you go, it can be really tricky to distinguish between whether you have a cold or if it's an allergy or possibly COVID. So, what should you do? Should you always test?

PERNELL: I think you should. It's simple to test, or it should be simple, I should say, to test. What I also want people to consider is that if you are one of those communities who have been historically excluded or marginalized, I'm talking about black or African-American, Hispanic or Latino, and our native and indigenous populations, where access to certain levels of care can come with certain barriers, whether you're in a pharmacy desert or whether you just can't get to your doctor at a convenient time.

So, test if you don't know if it's a cold or if it's COVID. If you can't get to a doctor, that, to me, a primary care physician of your own, consider a federally qualified health center or even consider your local public health department.

HARRAK: Great advice. Dr. Chris Pernell, thank you so much for speaking to us.

PERNELL: Thank you.

HARRAK: India tells the world, eat my lunar dust. Just ahead, the upstart nation scores a space coup with a probe to an unexplored region of the moon.

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HARRAK: U.S. officials now confirm that three U.S. Marines have been killed and almost two dozen others injured in a helicopter crash in Northern Australia. Australian police say the Marines were flying in a U.S. Osprey helicopter when it crashed on an island 50 miles north of the city of Darwin. Five Marines were hospitalized, including one undergoing surgery. Others were being treated at the crash site. The Marines were involved in a multinational military exercise.

Well, the Osprey has a long history of technical problems and a long history of crashes, but it's not clear what caused the helicopter to go down this time.

It's been a big month in space exploration. We've had everything, from a spectacular launch by NASA and SpaceX to a failure for a Russian mission to the moon. But as CNN's Michael Holmes reports, they were all upstaged by the upstart India, which did something no other nation has done before.

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Riding high after its successful soft landing on the moon, India's space agency released video of its lunar rover beginning its mission to explore the south pole of the moon, uncharted territory. India is the first country to have tracks on the ground there, although other countries, like the United States, the former Soviet Union and China have made controlled landings on other parts of the lunar surface.

Taking a victory lap at the Indian Space Research Organization, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this was a historic scientific achievement, putting India at the forefront of the exploration of this strategic section of the moon, which scientists say could contain life sustaining properties, like frozen deposits of water in its shadowy craters.

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: The region that our mission will explore will help to open new avenues for moon missions by other countries. This will not only unravel the mysteries of the moon, but also help in resolving the challenges of the Earth.

[03:55:00]

HOLMES: A Russian attempt for a soft landing on the south pole of the moon failed about a week ago. The U.S. is planning a crewed mission to land in the area in late 2025 or 2026.

Japan will soon launch a lunar lander into space, though it won't travel to the south pole of the moon. The lander named Slim, also known as Moonsniper, aims to make a pinpoint landing on the lunar surface just south of the Sea of Tranquility. It's planned to be a high precision test to see if the spacecraft can land within 100 meters of its target.

And while the moon may be back in the spotlight, the business of space exploration continues on other fronts. The International Space Station is preparing to welcome a new crew, four crew members from four different countries. The U.S. Japan, Russia and Denmark blasted off Saturday to embark on their six-month mission on the ISS.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

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HARRAK: Football Superstar Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to victory over the New York Red Bulls to mark his MLS regular season debut on Saturday. Well, Messi wasn't in the starting lineup but came off the bench well into the match to work his magic. Well, fans erupted when the Argentine finally came on with his team already up 1-0. A little later, he doubled that lead and sealed the win.

And that wraps up this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Laila Harrak.

Kim Brunhuber picks up our cover bridge after a quick break. Do stick around.

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