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Thousands Stuck After Heavy Rain Swamps Burning Man Festival; Interview With Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) About Avoiding Government Shutdown And 2024 Campaign; New Polling On Trump And His Hold On GOP; Judge To Rule on Meadows Bid To Move Case To Federal Case; Key West Honors Late Singer, Jimmy Buffett. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 03, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: They're being told to conserve water, food, and fuel, but things are slowly improving.

Earlier I spoke to one woman stranded there and asked her about the conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA PEACOCK, STRANDED AT BURNING MAN FESTIVAL: Well, here's what it looks like on your feet. It's horrible.

ACOSTA: Wow.

PEACOCK: Everything is wet. Everything is muddy. But all of our spirits are really high like the previous person said. We're all kind of coming together in the community, making sure, you know, we all get packed up and break down camp safely. Everybody is eating, everybody has got water. Everything is pretty good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Camila Bernal joins us now.

Camila, I was just amazed. You probably couldn't see the video from where you're standing. But as I was talking to this woman, she picked up her foot and she showed what looked like two or three inches of thick mud stuck to the bottom of her shoe. And I guess this is what people are dealing with in the middle of all this. But I guess things are improving somewhat. Give us the latest.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, it's still really messy, and I don't have to see the video because there were so many people that I saw here walking out of the playa.

Just to give you some perspective of where I am, the playa is right here behind me. And so the festival is only just a couple of miles from where I am. So throughout the day, I saw dozens and dozens of people with those cakey shoes with mud all over their bodies. The cars are covered in mud. I saw a number of RVs getting stuck behind me here in the desert. That's what you're seeing today. And people are saying, look, I want to get out no matter what.

The people that I talked to today told me we needed to get out for one reason or another, which is why they decided to either walk or tried to get their cars here despite the fact that there is a shelter in place. They decided to come out, and that's what they were calling the beginning of the exodus. They say tomorrow it is going to be even worse because there's going to be more people wanting to get out because of the situation of not having maybe enough water or food.

There is a lot of people who are saying, look, we're sharing. We're dividing our portions. They're all coming together to help each other. They're all very positive. Everyone that I talked to had told me that they're having a great time, that they're happy. But there was some concern about what kind of food and supplies they had for the rest of the days depending on how long they had to be here.

And of course everyone that I talked to today telling me that it was very difficult to walk out of the festival. Here's one of those attendees and what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's quite expansive out there, and it probably took me three hours of slogging to walk just from my camp to the road. And I did get a little bit of a hitchhike in too in the back of someone's truck. But, yes, it's just really thick, dense mud. So wherever it's wet, it's just heavy and sticky, and it's a real sloppy mess out there. Most everything's turned off, but there's still some people partying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And it's not easy. Like she said, it's a sloppy mess. But there's still hundreds and thousands of people that are in the playa, that are here behind me just miles away dealing with that mud still. Again, they're all very positive and saying they're in a good mood and trying to make the best out of the situation.

Unfortunately there was one death reported. They said authorities saying that they found one individual in the playa. They did not give specifics as to what happened, exactly when or what was the cause of death. But authorities did say they reached out to the family to let them know. But, again, this is a community coming together and saying that they're going to be out here. The man is going to burn tonight. So there will be a burn tonight. So they will continue to have fun -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Camila Bernal, and we saw that tow truck going behind you just a few moments ago. I suspect there are going to be some tow trucks that are busy over the next day or two. Camila, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Joining us now is Andrew Hyde. He is one of the thousands of festival- goers stuck at Burning Man.

Andrew, I guess is that a fair way of putting it? You're stuck right now. What's going on? What can you tell us?

ANDREW HYDE, STUCK AT BURNING MAN FESTIVAL: I mean, we're stuck in that we can't move, but we also were planning on being here for a couple of days, so we're here. We're enjoying it, and, yes, the rain has definitely put a damper on it. But we're in an extreme environment and we're prepared for that and enjoying it.

ACOSTA: And, Andrew, I guess take us back to when this all got started. What happened? How bad did it get? Were there folks who were not prepared who got sort of caught in the middle of it? And why did so many people leave? There were so many folks who packed up and left, and they didn't stick it out like you are. Take us back. Tell us about everything that's taken place over the last day or two.

HYDE: Yes. I mean the scheduled ending of the festival is tomorrow. So a lot of people that are going to be leaving early, that's a normal activity for the burn. Generally the burn is on Saturday night and Sunday (INAUDIBLE).

[19:05:01]

So people leaving early, it happens every year. It's not -- it's not something that is abnormal. Rain started on Friday night. It was supposed to be 30 minutes. It lasted about six hours. Pretty big amount, and it made this beautiful pile that we have here which is usually dust and this very fine, very dry environment. Very muddy and very wet. It made it so even walking 100 yards was almost impossible.

So for a couple hours there, you were absolutely stuck wherever you're at. If you're out on a walk or an adventure, you lived there for a little bit until you could safely get back. And people have started to test the waters and see if their vehicles can make the roadways, and people are making it out. Some people are walking out, but people are kind of getting back to their normal lives.

ACOSTA: Yes. And we talked to one woman earlier on in this program and she showed us the bottom of her shoes, you know, in the middle of the live shot. And I thought it was pretty illustrative of what you guys have been dealing with. She had like two or three inches of mud just caked on to the bottom of her shoes. Is that what it's been like trying to get around?

HYDE: Yes, I mean, if it's a traffic spot where a car has been, it's water, it's mud.

ACOSTA: Yes.

HYDE: If it's some place that hasn't been used, it's some place you can walk for miles. I think I walked five or six miles today with no issue, but when the rain hits it becomes sloppy, you know, slippery, sloppy, you can't move anywhere.

ACOSTA: And we -- I think we might have missed it, Andrew. We missed you holding up your shoe. How do your shoes look? Try that again.

HYDE: They're pretty good. They're pretty good. Let's try this out. There we go.

ACOSTA: Oh, yes. Definitely.

HYDE: Talk about a bad look.

ACOSTA: Yes. You'll be throwing those out or hanging on to them?

HYDE: I'll hang on to them. I like these ones.

ACOSTA: And it sounds like you're a pro at this or a veteran at this. You've done this Burning Man Festival before.

HYDE: Yes.

ACOSTA: Maybe you've talked to other folks who have been here before. Is it really that unusual to see this much rain coming in, and not to put you on the spot too much, is this something that festival organizers might have to be prepared for next year? They might need to be better prepared for it next year?

HYDE: Yes. I think about every 20 years, this is going to happen out here in the desert. I think the (INAUDIBLE) has been really prepared for it. They've been really communicative. You know, all the porta- potties got serviced last night. Like it's really not a life and death situation. It's a bunch of people that abide by the 10 principles of Burning Man, one of which is being radically self-reliant.

So, you know, I come out here every year. I love it. It's this lovely arts festival in the middle of a barren wasteland. And beauty because of that. The duality of life, the duality of the art, and the culture and just kind of this place that's really far from a lot of things, and making it a city and calling it. So I'm very well prepared, but almost everybody here is very well prepared. And the people that are doing it right are really relaxed right now. The people that are doing it wrong are really kind of scrambling and having to be left -- trying to make friends and, you know, make sure they have enough food and water for like the next couple of days.

ACOSTA: Yes, we --

HYDE: But, you know, we're burners. We're pretty tough. We're pretty prepared.

ACOSTA: Yes. We saw the video of Chris Rock and Diplo. I don't know if you saw this or you've checked this out. But apparently Chris Rock had --

HYDE: We all saw that one.

ACOSTA: Yes. They had to hitchhike their way out of there. Did you encounter folks doing this kind of thing, just trying to get out of dodge?

HYDE: Yes. Well, it gets better. They walked out of it. They walked out of the festival so they're in the mud, five miles. They walked, and then they got into the back of a pickup truck with one of Diplo's supporters and got into town that way, which many people are choosing to do. You know, I met one gentleman yesterday who's a surgeon and just had to get back to the hospital so he decided to put on his shoes, get all his stuff in a safe place where he knew he was going to get out of here because this is a leave no trace event.

So all of our stuff we bring in, we have to take out. So it's not like you can just abandon them. So you've got to take care of those logistics and take care of your friends and family here, make sure you don't burn them with the work that you were supposed to do. That's part of your camp or part of your setup here.

Yes, but we saw them get out. I thought that was amazing. I thought that was hilarious. It was under a shelter in place, a little bit of a -- you know, was that tasteful or not? That can be a conversation that we'll have out there. But I think they made the best choice with, you know, whatever information they had. And maybe they had to be some place. I respect them for it. It sounds like it's a very tough slog through the mud.

ACOSTA: Yes. Absolutely. All right, well, Andrew Hyde, you stay safe. Get home safe. Thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

HYDE: Hey, thank you. Cheers.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you.

Still ahead, lawmakers return to work this week, and a big priority here in Washington is to keep the government funded. Congressman Eric Swalwell is here to weigh in on the big sticking points this time around.

Plus, new numbers on how voters feel about former President Trump post-indictments and what they think he should do if convicted.

[19:10:03]

And later, Key West pays a musical tribute to Jimmy Buffett. If you haven't seen the pictures coming out of Key West this afternoon, you'll want to stick around. We'll speak to the organizers about why he meant so much to the Florida Keys. That's coming up.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: As Congress prepares to get back to business after its month- long recess, there's a new round of drama facing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. New CNN reporting reveals McCarthy has privately urged House Republicans to back a short-term spending bill that would avoid a government shutdown at the end of this month. But some GOP hard-liners are itching for a game of chicken as they seek to force Democrats and the White House to accept a slew of conservative priorities in exchange for keeping the government open.

Joining us now to talk about this is Democratic congressman from California, Eric Swalwell. Congressman, great to see you. Thanks so much for doing this.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Hey, Jim.

[19:15:00]

ACOSTA: In this call that McCarthy held last week, he argued that House Republicans should focus their energy on other matters. What do you think? Is this going to happen, and what do Democrats do in the House about this?

SWALWELL: We are pro-keeping the government open, and that's the difference between Republicans and Democrats. They like to rule. We like to govern. When it comes to ruling, they want to rule your body, they want to rule what you read, they want to rule how you vote. And we want to govern. We want to fix things. We want to get things done.

When I-95 collapses in Philadelphia, we want to be the party that gets it open in 16 days. When COVID hits our country, we want to reopen main streets, churches, and schools. And when your health care costs are rising, we want to be the guys that bring down Medicare costs because you now can negotiate for the prices.

So that's what we do, Jim. And so we're going to be ready to do that. It's just a matter of, you know, will McCarthy choose chaos or will he choose competence?

ACOSTA: And do you think we will see a government shutdown?

SWALWELL: I fear we will because too many of his chaos agents are upset that the majority of the votes that came to pay America's bills to extend the debt ceiling a couple of months ago came from Democrats. And so because they're poor sports, so many of them in the last couple of months have said that they're going to shut the government down.

And what's so rich about that, Jim, is that deal set the parameters for keeping the government open. So we already negotiated how much we're going to spend so that we can take care of health care, education, veterans, military, police funding in America. But, again, this isn't about taking care of people or working for working people. It's just for working for Donald Trump, and many of them have said unless we defund the special counsel investigations into Donald Trump, they're going to shut down the government.

ACOSTA: And members of the House Freedom Caucus, they're also urging the speaker to support an impeachment inquiry of President Biden. What is your response to that?

SWALWELL: For what? You know, again, these guys, they've been all over the place as far as who they want to impeach. One day it's Mayorkas. One day it's the FBI director. It goes, you know, between Biden, and I think they would impeach his son if they could. They like to weaponize, you know, the president's family members. But the truth is we're focused on just helping people. You know, that's why most of us went into government. And so, again, Americans will see, Jim, you know, one party who wants

to help the country and a MAGA party who wants to help a criminal in Donald Trump. And they're willing to do anything, including to bring the government to absolute chaos to get that done.

ACOSTA: And I suppose the fact that we're hearing rumblings that the speaker is trying to talk members of the House Freedom Caucus out of this, is that he senses this is not good politically for Republicans. And so is there any temptation on the part of the Democratic lawmakers to say, OK, go ahead, do it, do what you have to do here?

SWALWELL: You know, it's not good just functionally for Americans who are relying on Social Security benefits, veterans benefits, to go to the airport and for it to be open, you know, for the mail to move, you know, all of the things that the government does, you know, to move our daily lives. This would all be at risk if they shut the government down. Now, of course, this would hurt Republicans as it has in the past politically, and the speaker has to figure that out.

But, you know, the second, Jim, and I'm not really in the business of giving him free advice. But the second he realizes he doesn't need these guys, they don't have a plan B, they don't want a plan B, is the second that he puts the country over his party and we actually get things done that help people.

ACOSTA: And I'm sure you saw this poll. I did want to shift to campaign 2024 politics. But I'm sure you saw this poll this weekend out of the "Wall Street Journal" showing Trump and -- I mean, first of all, Trump way out in front of the Republican field. But he's also dead even with the president among voters in a hypothetical rematch of the 2020 election.

As a Democrat, you ran for president. How concerned are you when you see these kinds of numbers? I know it's a long way off and so on. But these numbers seem to be frozen, not just in the Republican field but in this potential matchup once again between the president and the former president.

SWALWELL: The fact that any poll shows that President Biden is even with Donald Trump reflects to me one thing. We're too modest as Democrats. We're too nice. We need to play on the Republican side of the field and make sure people understand that every freedom you value is at risk if they are given the keys to government. The freedom of your body, the freedom of what you read, the freedom to vote, the freedom for your kids to live not in fear but to come home from school.

And so we let Republicans show up to ribbon-cutting ceremonies for something they voted against. And so it's time for us not to be so modest, not to be so nice and make wallpaper of the infrastructure, health care, COVID, and gun safety accomplishments that we've put in place.

[19:20:09]

And if we do that, I promise you, Jim, when that choice is on the ballot next November between President Biden and President Trump, it's going to be a blowout.

ACOSTA: Well, and I guess I want to ask a follow-up question to that because one of the things that we hear from the White House, the president's advisers, you know, Democratic officials close to the president privately is that he doesn't really want to engage on the legal issues facing the former president. He doesn't see that as the right thing to do.

Politically speaking, would you like to see the president or people close to him be a little bit more pointed in going after Donald Trump over his legal problems? I mean, they just -- they seem to really want to avoid it.

SWALWELL: The legal problems that Donald Trump have, you know, reflect something larger than just what it means to him, you know, personally and legally. It reflects, you know, a person, as I said, who wants to rule rather than govern. It's all about Trump. It's not about bringing down anyone's health care costs. It's not about reducing someone's commute or making, you know, student loan debt less of a burden in your life.

It's just about Donald Trump. And so we can't be so nice and modest, you know, when we tell the story of who we are and define them every single day as to what they would do to this country. And so that's why I say, Jim, we can't fight with one hand tied behind our back. And then too often as Democrats, that's the upper hand. Time to go all in for democracy. Too much is on the line.

ACOSTA: And speaking of that, just very quickly, do you think that there's anything to this 14th Amendment idea that has been floated by pretty respected legal scholars out there that the former president is essentially disqualified from running for president again because of what took place in and around January 6th -- on and around January 6th?

SWALWELL: You know, Donald Trump should be disqualified from running for office because he led an insurrection to try and overturn a blowout election. This wasn't even close. But, Jim, we proved that, you know, with the impeachment that we had. A majority of the Senate in a bipartisan way believe that. And now he's been indicted on those grounds. But I'll just say we shouldn't pursue that as parties pursue that because we're afraid of Donald Trump.

We should do that because he should be disqualified. But even if he is the nominee, I'll stand on our record and values every single day, and put our faith and future in the American people, and it will be another blowout election, as I said, if we go on offense on these issues.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Swalwell, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

SWALWELL: My pleasure. Thanks.

ACOSTA: All right. Thanks. Still ahead, new polling out on the GOP field for the candidates not

named Trump who actually showed up, the results are not good. Harry Enten is here to run the numbers next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:23]

ACOSTA: Former President Donald Trump skipped the Republican presidential debate, and his lead in the polls grew.

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us now to explain what's happening.

You know, Harry, what's going on here? I mean this "Wall Street Journal" poll that came out over the weekend, it is kind of mind- boggling how this race just seems to be frozen, if not just moving even more in Donald Trump's direction.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: I mean that's exactly right, Jim. I mean, look, this is a complete post-debate poll. Pretty much mostly after that mug shot was taken of course down in Georgia, look at this lead. I mean Donald Trump with nearly 60 percent of the vote. His lead back in April was 24 points. Now look at this. 46 points, nearly double where it was back in April.

Ron DeSantis keeps just falling further and further and further. And I think this idea that by Donald Trump not showing up, that he would somehow be harmed just doesn't hold true. That 59 percent is amongst the highest we've seen this primary season, even beyond "The Wall Street Journal" poll. I guess maybe there's also good news maybe for Nikki Haley, now up to 8 percent in "The Wall Street Journal" poll. But when you're 51 points behind the leader, I'm not sure three points moving up really is that good of news.

ACOSTA: Right. And you also have new data on what Trump supporters think he should do if he's convicted in any of these trials that he's facing. What happens then? Will he lose any of that base?

ENTEN: Keep running. That's what they want him to do if he gets convicted. Stay in the race. 88 percent. You know, when you're polling nearly 60 percent, you can afford to lose 12 percent of your base. And I'm not even sure those 12 percent of voters would actually leave him. The fact is we've already seen the four indictments. We may see a conviction, although that probably wouldn't happen before the primary season came to a close, but the fact is even if one did, the majority, the vast majority of Trump voters think he should stay in the race in such a case.

ACOSTA: And I guess we should turn to Clarence Thomas. He just released information about his trips with the billionaire Harlan Crow. What are people saying about the Supreme Court ethics scandal? What about that? ENTEN: You know, it was shocking to me, Jim, when I heard about the

scandal, that the Supreme Court doesn't have a formal ethics code. That's what Americans want. That's what we pretty much have in every other part of the federal government. And what we see is the vast majority of Americans, 90 percent believe that there should be a formal ethics code. And it's the rare issue in which 84 percent of Republicans and 96 percent of Republicans agree there should be a formal ethics code. There's no question in Americans' mind, no matter what their partisan stripes are.

[19:30:05]

ACOSTA: Yes, I'm sure a lot of people thought: Wait. They don't have one. I mean, you know, they should go get one. I'm sure. You know, imagine that.

And finally, Harry, this is your favorite time of year because of course, football season is starting, but I'm told that is not the only reason. Tell us about that.

ENTEN: Those kids are going back-to-school, baby. Get them off the streets, put them back in school. Students back in school by the end of this week. One hundred percent, thank goodness.

Those kids should be learning and I am looking forward to them learning and walking out at 10:00 AM on the street in New York City on a random Tuesday and the streets being clear of those kids as they're learning in the classrooms where they should be.

ACOSTA: Is that a real number? One hundred percent? Said, thank goodness or --

ENTEN: No, no, no. One hundred percent of the kids need to be back. I think 100 percent of parents after this summer perhaps are saying thank goodness, though.

ACOSTA: And I notice you're in New York and not at the Burning Man Festival. What was the percentage chance that you were going to be a Burning Man this year?

ENTEN: Negative 95 percent. Let me tell you that much. I like New York. Those fools out there with the rain, they got what was coming to them. That's what I say.

ACOSTA: Okay, all right. There's a hot take right there.

All right, there is a slight chance I'll do this at some point. I would put it at maybe five to 10 percent. But we'll talk about this.

ENTEN: Oh, no, no.

ACOSTA: Without the mud thought, without the mud on my shoes.

All right, Harry, we will keep you negative 95.

Harry, thanks so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Make sure to check out Harry's podcast, "Margins of Error." You can find it on your favorite podcast app or cnn.com/audio. But not at the Burning Man festival, you won't find it there.

Will Donald Trump and his co-defendants get their Georgia trials moved to federal court? We'll talk with a former federal prosecutor next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:52]

ACOSTA: Any day now, a judge is expected to hand down what could be one of the most consequential rulings in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his 18 co- defendants.

Former White House chief-of-staff, Mark Meadows is requesting that the state charges against him be moved to federal court. If that happens, it could upend District Attorney Fani Willis' sprawling racketeering case.

Joining us now is criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor in Georgia, Amy Lee Copeland.

Amy, great to see you. Thanks so much for doing this.

You know, Meadows took the stand to argue his case on Monday. What were you thinking when he did that? Because I think some people were surprised that he went that extra step. Was that -- how big of a gamble was that?

AMY LEE COPELAND, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jim, I was one of the people who was really surprised that he took that big gamble. I've been reading his transcript. I've read it several times now.

He holds together fine with the questioning of his attorneys. He comes off as you know, kind of charming and talks about the duties of the chief of staff.

But when he gets to cross examination at about Page 100 of the transcript, things just don't go so well for him. He does say that we needed to coordinate our efforts to get state electors, in an e-mail with Jason Miller of the Trump campaign.

Then when he is asked to explain that, he says, well, that's kind of the normal way. I'm used to giving credit to other people.

But on redirect when his attorneys are supposed to rehabilitate that testimony, Meadows said, I didn't want us to prevail and not have these people in place or Mr. Trump would yell at me. So he kind of takes it and puts the point on it that he is really acting for candidate Trump instead of President Trump in his testimony in that hearing.

ACOSTA: And because this was a pretrial hearing, Meadows denied certain allegations without seeing what evidence the prosecution has against him. For example, he said he never directed White House aide, Johnny McEntee to write a memo about a strategy to disrupt and delay the January 6 congressional certification of the election.

Could that kind of testimony from Meadows backfire on him? If all of a sudden Fani Willis comes up with some evidence that he doesn't know about?

COPELAND: Absolutely. And that's the problem about locking in the story so early. He hasn't seen the evidence yet. I think the DA is set to give it out by September the 15th. But now he has locked himself into the story.

We did see that again with the coordination of their efforts, saying he first denied that he had any part in coordinating those efforts, and then the DA introduces an e-mail showing this exchange with Jason Miller of the Trump campaign.

ACOSTA: And the judge told Meadows if he doesn't rule on moving his case to federal court by Wednesday, he should be prepared to be arraigned that day. Is that essentially saying that you may not get what you want here and you may be stuck down in Fulton County. What do you think?

COPELAND: I think it may be, but I also think that Judge Jones has expressed a desire to let the state court proceedings move its part. Mr. Meadows tried to get him -- get the judge to keep them from even getting booked in by the August 25th deadline. At the very least, Judge Jones is saying the state court proceeds, unless and until I say otherwise.

ACOSTA: And do you think that Meadows stands a chance of succeeding here? I mean, we were talking to a different legal expert in the previous hour, and he said that it's possible. And that if that sort of thing happens, it really could do a lot of damage to the Fulton County district attorney's case.

COPELAND: I think that ultimately Meadows will not succeed. His attorneys did a very good job of saying how low the bar was for a case to be moved to federal court. But the DA's office said, you know, the real issue is what is the act here? What is the act that was either in or outside the scope of his office?

It can't just be an overt act like Judge Jones has identified. There may be something that Meadows did that was actually in the scope of his office. What the DA has come back and said is it actually has to be a criminal act, it has to be a RICO act and here, here is acting outside the scope of what he did when he got involved in the election campaign largely because of the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch employees from working on campaigns and being involved in campaigns.

[19:40:15] ACOSTA: All right, Amy Lee Copeland, thank you very much for your

time. We appreciate it.

COPELAND: Thank you, Jim. Take care.

ACOSTA: All right, you too.

You could say Jimmy Buffett was Key West's unofficial ambassador. How the city is remembering the life and legacy of its adopted son. That's next.

If you haven't seen these pictures until just now, you would want to stay tuned. They are having a party down in Key West, of course, to remember Jimmy Buffett. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:45:08]

ACOSTA: As we mourn the passing of music legend, Jimmy Buffett, a reminder this holiday weekend that it's five o'clock somewhere.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

ACOSTA: We've now learned that Jimmy Buffett died after a four-year battle with skin cancer, but the tributes are still pouring in. But one of the biggest and one Buffett would surely enjoy is taking place in Key West, Florida.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

ACOSTA: This is video the event taken just a short time ago on the island where Jimmy Buffett honed his signature sound and returned to over and over.

This tribute honors the life of Buffett with his three favorite things -- music, stories, and a little bit of rum.

We are joined by the two organizers of this tribute and send off, Paul Menta and Jordan Upchurch, they are not only on Key West, they are outside Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant there as well.

Guys, great to see. It's five o'clock somewhere. I know, it's not necessarily in Key West where you are right now. But tell us about how things went earlier today.

PAUL MENTA, ORGANIZER: It is five o'clock right now.

ACOSTA: Where is mine?

MENTA: Come on, it is five o'clock, man, all day long.

ACOSTA: Beautiful.

MENTA: How are you doing, Jim.

ACOSTA: Doing great. Jimmy would want it no other way. Tell us, Paul, how did this come about?

MENTA: Well, you know, it's social media. I got a phone call at about 1:00 AM from a friend about the unfortunate passing of Jimmy. And, you know, I just wanted to write something on social media, kind of saying he did what he loved and that's all that matters. And I posted that.

Jordan happened to be up. He read that. We started talking and said, you know, we're Key West. You know, we don't mourn. We don't get sad, we celebrate. How do we -- what are we going to do? The world is going to look us to do something.

So we said, let's have a parade, and we hold a parade off in about 16 hours, and I think there's just over 4,000 people and it was -- I've got to tell you it was emotional and exciting all at the same time. It was a really, really beautiful experience.

ACOSTA: Yes, and I mean, tell me about what Jimmy Buffett meant to you, what he meant to the Key West Community? I'm sure both of you have run into him, brushed past him, gotten to know him, perhaps? Your thoughts. Jordan, I let me ask you.

JORDAN UPCHURCH, ORGANIZER: Yes. I mean, I think that -- I think the key west was Jimmy Buffett and Jimmy Buffett was Key West in its own essence. I mean, he was -- he loved this island so much and he wanted to just make sure that everybody on this planet knew how we live every single day and that is why he wrote the songs that he did and that's why he told the stories that he did.

And one of my favorite things about seeing him live in concert back in February here in Key West was that before he would sing any song, he would tell us the story of where he wrote that song. And it was at some random bar at four or five o'clock in the morning and there was always something very entertaining about it.

And it's just -- I mean, he is 110 percent the biggest cheerleader for this island.

MENTA: He really is.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Yes, go ahead, Paul.

MENTA: Listen. You have a guy who lived -- actually lived this lifestyle that we live. So for us as locals, this guy gets to go out there and speak about it and let the world know that there is this place that exists, there is this lifestyle. I mean, somebody asked me, you know, you rum and everything. How hard was it to get a brand? I'm like, honey, Key West. Jimmy Buffett sings about wearing flip flops. I ride my bike every day, having a drink with your friends celebrating, you know, doing the things that we do down here.

So he is an icon and somebody brought up a good point that I got. It's never going to be the same, Jimmy Buffett's not here anymore. It's going to be better. His memory will be alive here stronger than ever.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, I was raised on Jimmy Buffett. My mom is a huge Jimmy Buffett fan and it is -- it's sad that he's gone. But it's just so wonderful what you guys did to remember him.

What are you hearing from some of the people down there? Any stories that stand out that you picked up on today? That just, you know, tell us about Jimmy Buffett.

MENTA: One guy was telling me how Jimmy Buffett, he didn't know it was him, and he was having a bit of -- let's just say, a little bit too much fun one night and was hanging out on the corner down by where Jimmy used to live, down by Dog Beach and the guy was lost and drunk and he said, man, this guy helped me out and got me back home. He actually took me up and got me to my place and I didn't find out till the next day. I asked him for his name and he said Jimmy, and I went back and looked and my friend said, you idiot, that was Jimmy Buffett, you met Jimmy Buffett.

You know, that was just him. Taking a walk at night and helping some guy to find his way home. It's not a little too much.

[19:50:21]

ACOSTA: Well, and that was what was so great about Jimmy Buffett, right, is that he was so friendly, so approachable. You know, he didn't have this huge entourage pushing people back. You can just go right up to him and talk to him.

MENTA: And I've got to tell you, Jim, he did a concert for the locals back here a few months back. You know, I was one of the big guys complaining, you're going to do it at the amphitheater, the tickets sold out, locals couldn't go and we voiced our thing.

And Jimmy came back with like, you know what, I'm going to do a local concert for 230 of them. You've got to wait a line, you each get a ticket and he was glowing that night. It was almost like he was leaving a legacy for Key West that night. It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.

And, you know, it's just -- everybody who were there is still talking about it. They felt more of a connection with Jimmy than, you know, he will always be a big thing on this island.

ACOSTA: And why did Jimmy Buffett and Key West come together in this way? Why -- you know, what is it about Jimmy Buffett? What is it about Key West that, you know, went together like a margarita and a loss shaker of salt.

UPCHURCH: I mean, I think, Jimmy, when he came down here, he had kind of fallen out, I believe, from the stories that I've heard is that he tried to make it in Nashville, and it didn't work out for him. And so he came down here to Key West.

And I think that there are certain people on this planet that just kind of fit in really well so wise with this island. I'm a big believer, and if the island doesn't want you here, it will make sure that it leaves. If it want to hear it, we'll make sure that you stay for the rest of your life and your soul. As you can hear Jimmy Buffett in the background, it has been blasting

the back of their truck. But it's -- you know, Jimmy, he needed to be here, and that's how he made it big and that he made it big because he wanted to be here and because the island wanted him to be here.

ACOSTA: And Paul, I guess you can't really state enough how much he meant to everybody out there. It sounds like you were really blown away by the turnout at this procession today at this event, at this send off?

MENTA: You know, you don't know if it's going to be 300 people or 3,000. And it is like 4,000 people I couldn't even see. And when you're talking to the crowd, we've got everybody to come up here. We tried to have a moment of silence. There was no silence, there was so much celebration. And then everybody started singing "Margaritaville," like, you know the emotion of God, I almost -- I want to tear up, but I was having so much fun at that point, too.

You know, we, we haven't slept. We've been up trying to get this thing off. What we are doing is for a guy who is really no different than we were. Obviously, bank accounts are a little different. We know that he got to go spread the word around the world and he just -- he gave us a gift that me and Jordan felt like we want to do something for his family.

I always say death is easy on the people that are dead, but it's hard on the living. And we wanted to show the love that we have in Key West for him, to his family, to his friends and to his spirit, and just really given the sendoff that Key West does really, really well.

ACOSTA: Well, and I think Jimmy would have wanted a party and why not on Labor Day weekend? That's a pretty good weekend. A lot of people around and able to do it and join in, so just a fitting send off, a fitting tribute. Guys, hats off to both of you.

I'm heading to the airport now. I'll be there in a couple of hours. I'll bring my flip-flops.

But Paul and Jordan, thanks very much for your time.

MENTA: You know, it will still be five o'clock. It will still be five o'clock.

UPCHURCH: We will have rum and margarita and hand you, Jim.

ACOSTA: I will be there and the party will still be going.

All right, thanks, guys. Appreciate it very much.

We'll be right back. Thank you

MENTA: All right.

ACOSTA: Thanks.

UPCHURCH: Thank you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:33]

ACOSTA: Just moments from now, you'll meet the secret network of pilots and volunteers helping women access legal abortion procedures in a world without Roe vs Wade on a new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the doctors that are doing this work burnout, get tired, wore out. That's one other way in which the whole ecosystem around abortion care can get worse still.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is kind of warmer, it might be a little bit bumpy but once we get up higher, it should smooth out a little bit at least.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, just go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn left on cortices round runway one four left, cleared to take off. Have a good fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man. It is a bumpy day. I knew there was going to be some, but it is more than I even expected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be a short trip back in either place are that worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I commute from Ohio to Illinois every weekend. As we anticipated, a lot of worsening of access for patients, particularly in the Midwest, until a group of us from those states actually banded together to help set up this clinic as areas become more and more legally complicated around pregnancy termination. We're seeing fewer and fewer people work in this part of healthcare, and in this region the number is abysmal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Make sure to tune into a whole new episode of "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper that is next here on CNN.

Thanks for joining me this evening. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta, I'll see you again here next weekend. Have a great week, everybody. Thanks a lot. Goodnight.