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Israel Plans To Reopen Erez Crossing And Port Of Ashdod For More Aid Into Gaza; Protests Held On The Eve of October 7th Six-Month Anniversary; Iranian Military Commander Vows Revenge After Israeli Attack; More Than A Million Expected At Niagara Falls For Solar Eclipse; Trump Headlines High-Dollar Florida Fundraiser; RFK. Jr. Questions Whether January 6 Was A True Insurrection; Oklahoma Supreme Court Hears Appeal In Reparations Case; Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 06, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:01:03]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
We have breaking news out of northern Gaza tonight where Israel is preparing to reopen the Erez border crossing and to use its Port of Ashdod to get critical humanitarian aid from Israel into Gaza just hours before the Israel-Hamas war reaches its six-month mark. This as the U.N. humanitarian aid chief calling the situation in Gaza a, quote, "betrayal of humanity" with 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed and many starving.
Just this week, a deadly Israeli strike killed seven humanitarian aid workers from the well-known aid group World Central Kitchen.
CNN's Nic Robertson filed this report from the Erez crossing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, that's the crossing right behind me. I'll step out of the way. Matias, if you can kind of zoom in and take a look. That's the Erez border crossing there. On the hill behind you, you can see one of the towns inside of Gaza. We're standing here and you can hear gunfire in the background. The occasional explosion.
So we understand that the IDF did have a meeting with the World Food Programme down at the border here on Friday. The expectation is possibly Sunday aid trucks could begin to go through here, but there are a lot of challenges. I mean, not least the fact that we can hear gunfire and explosions. That tells you that it's not going to be very safe crossing over so -- and then there's the issue of the state of the roads.
We know from satellite imagery, many of the roads that lead away from the border here have been hit by heavy munitions. The tarmac has been completely blown out in some places. So the logistics of getting those aid trucks and then of course there's the other thing as well. When Hamas had that big attack on October 7th, the Erez border crossing was one of the places they targeted.
They killed and kidnapped IDF soldiers there. They shut up the passenger terminal. There is a terminal, a crossing if you will, more used to being ready to deal with foot passengers than heavy transport trucks. But there is a way to do it but there are other issues, too, that could come up. Weve seen before that protesters could block the crossing. That's happened before at other crossings.
We know that there's a huge pressure and expectation coming from the White House that Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to make good on his commitment here. But there are people in his right-wing government who believed that the best way to pressure Hamas and get the hostages back is not to let the aid convoys in. The Israeli government says they've let about 20,000 aid trucks in to Gaza over the past six months.
The U.N. estimates four times that number of aid trucks would have been required under normal circumstances. And the need in the north of Gaza in particular is huge. The U.N. estimates some people there are close to starvation. So there is a huge amount of attention focused here. The Israeli government has said that they'll do it. The White House wants to see them actually do it. Precisely when it happens, how it happens, the problems they're going to face, all of that is unclear. The gunfire right now tells me it's not going to be easy.
Nic Robertson, CNN, at the Erez border crossing, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
And frustration is growing within Israel tonight, on the eve of the war's six-month anniversary after thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country demanding the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Here's CNN's Jeremy Diamond with more from Tel Aviv.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on the eve of the sixth-month anniversary of the October 7th attacks, thousands of Israelis have come here to Tel Aviv to protest the governments, to call for new elections, trying to trigger Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, trying to trigger his ouster.
These Israelis who we've been talking to tonight have been voicing discontent with the prime minister, with his handling of the war in some instances. Others have been protesting against him and his right- wing government since before the war, going back to those judicial reform protest that took place for months right here in central Tel Aviv.
[19:05:13]
Now, the question is, what will all of this pressure actually lead to? The polls show that if elections were held today, Netanyahu's party would lose significant support, but there's nothing that would actually trigger immediate elections that seems to be on the immediate horizon. We have heard growing calls for elections, including from Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet who was also Netanyahu's chief political rival. But it's not clear that there's anything that would trigger those elections immediately.
And so for now, thousands of people here today say raising their voices, voicing that discontent and hoping that something will happen to trigger those new elections and to give them a chance to see a new prime minister in office.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: All right. Jeremy, thanks so much.
Also tonight, vowing revenge, new threats of retaliation from Iran's highest ranking commander after Israeli warplanes bombed Iran's embassy in Syria this week. Those remarks coming at the funeral for seven military officers, members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard that were killed in the strike. Now America is on high alert for a, quote, "significant" attack by Iran in the Middle East that could target Israelis or Americans.
CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez is joining us live from Washington.
Priscilla, how is the Biden administration responding tonight to these threats from Iran? Because America has tried to be quite clear, it had nothing to do with these strikes.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And they are certainly on high alert, as you mentioned, and staying in very close touch with their Israeli counterparts. But to your point, the U.S. made clear to Iran that they were not involved in this Israeli airstrike in Damascus that killed multiple top Iranian commanders, nor do they know about it ahead of time.
And in fact, a senior administration officials saying that they warned Iran that they should not use this airstrike as a pretext to target or attack U.S. personnel or facilities. Now, again, the U.S. and Israel in close contact preparing around the clock for this attack that they view as, quote, "inevitable." It could unfold in multiple different ways. And it's unclear when exactly it will happen, though officials anticipate it could be as soon as next week.
And again, it would potentially target U.S. or Israeli assets in the Middle East. Now of course, this was a major point of discussion between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their phone call this week. And the top concern for U.S. officials is that if there were to be a direct strike by Iran on Israel, that it would rapidly escalate what has already been a very tense conflict in the Middle East.
And that is exactly the type of situation that the White House has been trying to avoid. They do not want to see anything occur here that would spark a broader regional conflict. So all of those quite delicate. But what the U.S. and Israel are doing tonight is keeping close contact as they anticipate this potential attack and preparing for that.
DEAN: And, Priscilla, you have mentioned that they are preparing for a possible attack. Have they ordered to -- they ordered any repositioning of troops at this time?
ALVAREZ: Our understanding is that they have not. But again, these are fluids situations and ones where they are closely tracking and monitoring every movement here. But U.S., just to reiterate that warning from the United States that Iran should not use this Israeli airstrike in Damascus as a pretext to go after U.S. personnel and facilities. So that is what they are monitoring right now.
There haven't been any movements that we're aware of. All of this, of course, would be targets our understanding is in the Middle East, so still very much a wait-and-see mode-- Jessica.
DEAN: All right. Priscilla Alvarez reporting tonight from Washington, D.C. Thanks so much for that.
And still the come, the countdown to the total solar eclipse is on. How small towns in the path of totality are preparing for their big moment. Plus Donald and Melania Trump arriving just moments ago to a Florida fundraiser his campaign says will shatter Joe Biden's record- breaking haul last month.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:14:13]
DEAN: We are just two days away from the total eclipse of the sun and hundreds of thousands of people are descending on areas that will be in its totality on Monday. That includes Niagara Falls. Officials on the Canadian side of the falls have already declared a state of emergency due to the large number of people that will be there.
CNN's Harry Enten is on the American side of the falls talking to visitors there.
Harry, I'm sure you've met all kinds of people who are getting ready for this eclipse.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Absolutely. You know, I can tell you, I also feel like I'm getting warmer. The more I'm out here, the warmer it's getting. I feel like I'm getting acclimated to the western New York climate.
Yes, we spoke -- we've spoken with a lot of folks. In fact, we were just speaking with some folks from Michigan. We've spoken with folks from New Jersey, and they're all out here to enjoy the eclipse. You know, we're expecting upwards of a million folks in the area.
[19:15:02] Obviously on the Canadian side of the border, they've already declared a state of emergency. No such state of emergency here, though, law enforcement is on standby just in case we got a bigger crowd than anticipated. But one of the couples that we spoke with earlier was in fact a couple from England. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENTEN: I guess the 2017 one was so impressive you decided I got to get -- I got to double dip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But I want to see this eclipse as well because I've got -- this one in 2026 is going over Spain. So I've already got that lined up.
ENTEN: Oh, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then the 2027, also it's in Spain. In 2028, there's one in Australia.
ENTEN: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I've got then lined up.
ENTEN: So I've heard of tornado chasers before. I've heard of hurricane chasers before. Apparently we've discovered a new breed and that is eclipse chasers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENTEN: You know, I think I've become an eclipse chasers. And the fact of the matter is I think the question for all of us eclipse chaser is what's the weather going to be like on Monday. You know, I put on my amateur meteorologist cap. I've been looking at the weather models. Is it going to be partly sunny, mostly cloudy. Hopefully get a day like today because the fact it's in western New York, the weather is just, simply put, unpredictable.
DEAN: Yes. Very unpredictable. But, you know, Harry Enten, you can do it all. You do weather, you do data.
We will also apparently ride on the mate of the mist and taken the actual Niagara Falls. How is that? Looks like you were doing the interview on the boat.
ENTEN: I was. I was -- I did interviews on the boat. I did a few interviews on the boat as a matter of fact. It was quite the experience, I will put it that way, you know. Come to western New York and the fact that is the one thing I will say about the folks here is it may be cold, it may be wet, it may have even been snowy yesterday, but everyone we've met here have been absolutely lovely.
They even gave us some eclipse glasses ahead of the eclipse on Monday. So come on out to western New York. The weather is getting better and the folks are just as kind as can possibly be, Jessica.
DEAN: That is a good report and, you know, protect those eyes, Harry. You can't burn your retinas.
ENTEN: I am going to protect the eyes, don't worry about it. When I look up into the sun, the setting sun in the west right now, I'm making sure to wear those glasses because the fact is I want to come back with full 20/20 vision.
DEAN: That's right. Totally 20/20 for you. All right. Harry Enten for us in Niagara Falls. Thanks so much for that report. Good to see you.
Monday's eclipse has also become a marketing bonanza with businesses racing to cash in on the big event. To celebrate major brands are rolling out celestial themed items and deals on everything from donuts and chips to pizza and beer.
CNN's Stephanie Elam reports on the exploding eclipse economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four minutes of daytime darkness across America is turning into a massive bright spot for businesses, from a mass wedding in Arkansas to sold-out hotels in Dallas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, since last year.
ELAM: As the eclipse charts the Americans sky from Texas through the Midwest and on into the northeast, it will trail with it an economic impact of up to $1.5 billion. A big chunk of that boosting the Lone Star State, which will experience the eclipse for a fraction of an hour.
BULENT TEMEL, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO: I call this the most profitable 22 minutes in Texas history.
ELAM: At the intersection of the 2017 and 2024 events, Carbondale, Illinois, is dubbed the crossroads of the eclipse. That's where a southern Illinois university will cancel classes and fill its 15,000 seats stadium with sky gazers.
A local cafe is serving up eclipse cookies, lots of them.
LEAH MACIELL, OWNER, CRISTAUDO'S CAFE AND BAKERY: We'll probably end up doing around 60,000 a day.
ELAM: For those who want to get closer to the action Delta and Southwest are offering special flights during the eclipse while United is giving out eclipse glasses.
ROGER SARKIS, FOUNDER, ECLIPSE GLASSES USA: I just remember how awestruck everybody was at the time.
ELAM: Roger Sarkis and his wife, Alyssa (PH), were inspired to start Eclipse Glasses USA after the 2017 eclipse. Their sales of protective spectacles to view the upcoming celestial spectacle exploded on Monday, Sarkis says. He now expect they will sell out again.
SARKIS: We actually sold out of our original inventory in February. So I bought more inventory and I think we're on track to sell 500,000 pairs.
ELAM: So this is beyond what you ever thought was possible.
SARKIS: Yes.
ELAM (voice-over): But all kinds of businesses are getting in on the skyrocketing excitement with eclipse specials, from Krispy Kreme's eclipse donut featuring an Oreo cookie in the middle, to Sun Chips solar eclipse chips that will only be available for four minutes and 27 seconds, the length of totality. Perhaps a once in a lifetime experience with stellar money-making opportunities.
[19:20:05]
Stephanie Elam, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Stephanie, thank you.
And be sure to catch CNN's special coverage of the eclipse starting -- across America. It starts Monday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. You can also stream it on Max.
Still to come tonight, Donald Trump and Melania Trump arriving just moments ago to a Florida fundraiser his campaign says will shatter Joe Biden's record-breaking haul last month. We'll talk more about it. You're watching CNN newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Former president Donald Trump just arrived for a high-dollar fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida.
[19:25:01]
You see him there moments ago with former first lady Melania Trump, making her first public appearance in months. A source familiar with the details says the event in Palm Beach has already raised $50 million for the former Republican president. And here's Trump calling tonight's fundraiser a success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's going to be a very spectacular evening. And people are just wanting change. Rich people want it, poor people want it, everybody wants change. Your country is really doing poorly. We're a laughingstock all over the world and we're going to get that change very quickly. And this has been some incredible evening before it even starts because people, they wanted to contribute to a cause of making America great again, and that's what's happened. We're going to make America great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: This happening as the Biden campaign has announced it raised a whopping $90 million in March. And that's on top of its $192 million cash on hand.
Joining me now is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.
Ron, always great to see you. Thanks for joining us on a Saturday evening or afternoon as it were where you are. Can we talk a little bit about this money and the financial advantage that Biden seems to have with the fundraising? He's also not facing mounting legal fees at this point.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, look, Donald Trump, who is a billionaire by his own description several times over has chosen to divert political contributions to his legal defense. I mean, there was nothing that required him to do that. And so that has contributed to his problems.
You know, historically the presidential race is probably going to be election in America that is the least affected by the financial advantage of one side or the other, or the amount of ads that one campaign can run or the other can run. The assumption among political strategists usually is there's so much other information available to voters and voters are making their decision based on really broad assessments of how things are going in the country that money matters less at the presidential level than in Senate or governors' races.
But this year, I think, Jessica, is testing that proposition because the cash advantage for Biden has been so extreme and he is now on the air in the big battleground states at which there are very few without much pushback at all from Republicans. So we'll see whether this cash advantage, you know, turns into political recovery for Biden in those states. But there's going to be a lot of money available for both sides as this might (INAUDIBLE).
DEAN: Yes. And I'm curious, one, what you make of the fact that Americans in poll after poll no one seems enthusiastic, or very few people seem enthusiastic about either of these candidates. They're not getting a majority of enthusiasm. And yet they are hauling in these huge numbers. Now some of these are from very, very wealthy individuals. However, both of these campaigns have been talking about these small-dollar donations and donors that they have.
What -- how do you square all of that?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, two words that political scientists use, they call it negative partisanship, right? I mean that essentially at this point certainly in this election voters are more motivated by fear of what the other side would do than necessarily enthusiasm about what their own side. But Trump I think does have more enthusiasm among his voters than Biden does among his. But there may be even more fear about Trump on the Democratic side than there is fear for a second term for Biden on the Republican side.
So, you know, there are obviously people who have interests before the federal government. You know, it is striking to see that the super donor class of the Republican Party, many of which said they were done with Trump forever after the January 6th riot, coming back to him. They have a very good incentive. You know, Joe Biden is saying he's going to let the Trump tax cuts expire for everybody over $400,000 a year at the end of 2025, or as Trump will extend them, saving people hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
But by and large, I think that each coalition -- in each coalition, there is an activist core that is, you know, enormously concerned about what a victory for the other side means for their definition of the country, even if that doesn't spread out to enthusiasm among the much larger pool of people who will actually be voting.
DEAN: And I also want to talk about your newest piece that you wrote this week with Trump making inroads with black and Hispanic voters. And it appears you're saying to be along the same demographics we've seen with white voters. Those without a college degree, those with a college degree. Walk us through what you're seeing and what you think that means?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, first of all, I mean, one of the -- I think in many ways the core dynamic that we're watching unfold in this election hasn't gotten a huge amount of attention, which is that certainly there's been a lot of focus on Trump polling better among Hispanic and black voters than we have seen. Certainly than he did in 2020 or any Republican really, since the civil rights era in the 1960s.
The flip side has gotten very little attention which that Biden is generally polling at or better than his 2020 numbers among white voters.
[19:30:09]
So, in many ways, the key question this election as I see it, is whether Trump can sustain the inroads, the beach heads that he has established among non-White voters in the spring, can he sustain that all the way to the fall? Now, what is happening among non-White voters is that they are increasingly sorting out along the same lines of gender and education that have defined the way Whites vote for really the last 40 or even 50 years.
And men are voting more, leaning more toward Trump than women. Those without college degrees are leaning more toward Trump than those with degrees. So what you get is a circumstance where Trump at this point is showing enormous inroads among non-White men who don't have a college degree. That look like a very difficult group for Biden, not as bad as the non-Whites -- excuse me, the White man without a college degree, but enough that it is a serious concern and the question is whether Biden can push that down a little, but also it is important for him to draw a boundary there and not see Trump make inroads among the other groups of non-White voters, including those with degrees and women. I think that is going to be really important for him, not only in the Sun Belt states where the Hispanic vote is critical, but in some of the Rust Belt states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where he needs to hold his Black vote.
DEAN: Yes, all right, Ron Brownstein, always interesting. Thanks so much. Good to see you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
DEAN: Still to come, Independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has a new campaign message and it is a bit similar to how Donald Trump talks about January 6th. We will talk to someone who has seen firsthand how dangerous that can be, after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:36:25]
DEAN: We are just a few months away from election day and third-party candidate for President Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appears to be choosing a new campaign strategy and messaging mirroring Trump's dangerous strategy when it comes to talking about January 6th.
Kennedy is now questioning whether the deadly attack on the US Capitol was "true insurrection." He is floating conspiracy theories about that day, and on Friday, he promised that if elected, he would appoint a special counsel to investigate the Justice Department's efforts to prosecute the rioters, the ones you see here, violently shoving officers and forcing their way inside the Capitol Building.
This, just a day after Kennedy's campaign tried to do damage control on a fundraising e-mail that called January 6 defendants "activists" who have been "stripped" of their constitutional rights.
Joining me now is retired Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell. He is also the author of the book, "American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy."
Sergeant, thank you again for making time tonight and joining us. As someone who put his life on the line to protect democracy, I am curious just what your thoughts are hearing another presidential candidate questioning what actually happened on January 6th?
AQUILINO GONELL, RETIRED CAPITOL POLICE SERGEANT: Thanks for having me and this is unfortunate and embarrassing because neither of those candidates had done anything for this country. They never served this country in a military or police capacity , so they don't know what it is to be selfless and do things for the people, but rather, they want to do things for themselves.
And, you know, it is embarrassing that they have to go this low to pander for votes, because if they did support the police officers, if they did support law and order and the rule of law, they shouldn't be saying any of those things. Instead, they should be praising the police officers, the men and women of the Capitol Police and all the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on that horrible day.
DEAN: When you see the former president at his rallies where he praises the people who attacked you and your colleagues on that day, really lifting them up as heroes instead of, in a lot of cases convicted criminals, what goes through your mind?
GONELL: I mean, they use -- he uses the police officer as a pawn. There is no integrity in what he says. He chooses and picks when to come out and be outspoken about violence, but he is the one inciting the violence most of the time.
He is the one dangling pardons for the convicted criminals that attack us including myself on January 6, so when they say they support the police, which police officer are they referring to? Not Capitol Police, because the last time I checked, they have not reached out to any of us, including those who were injured.
So, it is unfortunate that they continue to pander for votes.
DEAN: And you mentioned that former President Trump has said he will pardon the January 6 rioters if he is elected. What kind of message do you think that sends to this country?
GONELL: I mean, it goes back to the same thing as a betrayal, as I speak in my book, "American Shield," I had given many testimony in court. I was assaulted by more than 40 people on January 6.
[19:40:03]
I have gone through the court about 21 times already and the judge, I tell the judges the same thing I am going to tell you. This is bound to happen, and if there is no consequences for what happened and what they did, these are people that are now hostages, these people are not patriots. These people are not political prisoners.
[19:40:23]
These are people who are convicted felons for attacking a police officer who also attacked our system of governance and had it not been because what the efforts and actions that we did on January 6th, many lawmakers would have been killed on that day, but to my dismay, and my colleagues, those are the same people who are now supporting the former president, the same guy who sent the mob to kill them all, and we put our lives on the line.
We risked our lives to protect them, and instead of siding with the police officers and the Capitol Police, they have sided with the mob.
DEAN: And you said just a few moments ago that you think that President Trump uses law enforcement as a pawn. We saw this week, a Michigan police union endorsing him for president. What is your message to that police union and other police groups that support the former president?
GONELL: If they were in the tunnel where I was being attacked by the mob that this guy sent, we should have arrested them right there on the spot rather than giving him cover and supporting him for what he did.
If the lack of solidarity from my colleagues, people who know better that what happened -- the Capitol shooting that happened and they know full well, who incited the mob, they should have -- they would have not supported that type of person because the same thing would have happened to them, or be more in solidarity with them rather than supporting a person who does not at all support the police officers.
When was the last time he reached out to Capitol Police officers? When was the last time that he reached out to Metropolitan police officer, including Brian Sicknick and his or his family or his fiancee, or any of the other officers who were injured on January 6.
So when he says he supports the police, he doesn't. That is just a slogan and a bumper sticker, pandering for votes?
DEAN: All right. Aquilino Gonell, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
GONELL: All right, you're welcome.
DEAN: In 2003, the 28th mission of the Columbia space shuttle launched a team of seven astronauts into space for 16 days in orbit with their families and loved ones eagerly waiting for their return back to Earth, which would sadly never come.
The new CNN original series "Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight" looks at the footage shot by the astronauts while in orbit, including testimony from the crew's family members, key players at NASA and journalists who were on the ground covering that story as it happened.
The series pays tribute to the men and women on board and uncovers the details that ultimately led to disaster. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven astronauts setting off on a scientific mission.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, everybody. High five.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were doing great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't know at the time that anything concerning had happened. There were people that did though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They started quickly playing the launch replay, and that was when we saw it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One can't help but ask, is that part of the wing coming apart?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did not know what the problem was. We don't want to alarm the crew until we get a handle on this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Columbia, Houston. Com check. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hear nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you work in human spaceflight, this is the worst possible thing that can never happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The space shuttle accident is usually not one thing, it is a series of events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You follow the debris. What is it telling you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They should have had that test on day one.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I miss you mom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being an astronaut is something that we always called a calculated risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Humans are explorers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My dad chose a profession that is dangerous, and he is like, but we don't want to be fearful about it.
He died doing what he loved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight" premiers tomorrow at nine on CNN,.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:49:21]
DEAN: Attorneys for the last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race massacre pleaded their case before the Oklahoma State Court on Tuesday, both women are a hundred and nine years old and are fighting for a chance to argue for reparations from state for what happened more than a century ago.
Here is what we know about what sparked the massacre.
It started after allegations that a 19-year-old Black man had assaulted a 17-year-old White woman in an elevator. He denied the rumors, but it didn't matter.
White residents of Tulsa banded together while Black residents rush to prevent the accused from being lynched. In the following hours, a mob of an estimated 10,000 people came to the Greenwood District, completely destroying the prosperous area known as Black Wall Street.
CNN's Omar Jimenez spoke with one of the survivors still fighting for justice.
[19:50:11] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you remember about the time?
VIOLA FORD FLETCHER, TULSA RACE MASSACRE SURVIVOR: People getting killed and houses, property, schools, churches, and stores getting destroyed with fire. And then someone in the neighborhood saying to leave the neighborhood, if not, we are going to kill all of the Black people, it just stays with me, you know, just the fear that I have lived in Tulsa since, but I don't sleep all night living there.
JIMENEZ (voice over): One-hundred-nine-year-old Mother Fletcher, as she is known, is one of only two people alive who remember firsthand what the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was like sitting with us alongside her grandson and niece.
JIMENEZ (on camera): How do you think your life would have been different if this had not happened?
FLETCHER: I would have gotten an education to where I could get a better job like, especially being a nurse.
JIMENEZ (voice over): It is part of why, Tuesday, lawyers for these survivors argued to the Oklahoma Supreme Court that Tulsa has to look at what the massacre survivors lost and make things right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are hoping this court will give us the opportunity to prove our case.
JIMENEZ (voice over): Back in 2022 was when a judge initially allowed part of their case to move forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The truth is coming.
JIMENEZ (voice over): Fletcher's younger brother, known as Uncle Redd, also was a survivor, but in May 2023, on Viola Fletcher's 109th birthday, she was back in court fighting a new Motion to Dismiss the case.
FLETCHER: I didn't feel very nice about it, but I am willing to do that again, you know.
JIMENEZ (voice over): And she is being tested on that because a few months later, the case was dismissed.
So the families appealed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, where the defendants argued in part --
HUGHES "UNCLE REDD" VAN ELLIS (Died last year after original case was dismissed): These individual plaintiffs lacked standing to bring a claim for public nuisance.
JIMENEZ (voice over): Now, a new chance for the survivors.
VAN ELLIS: Yup.
JIMENEZ (voice over): But Uncle Redd died before he got that chance. He passed away in October 2023 at 102 years old.
His daughter is carrying on his fight, but the direct ties to what happened in Tulsa are quickly shrinking.
JIMENEZ (on camera): This now replica home represents really the only home built in the 1920s still standing. It was actually built in 1926 after the original owners' first home burned down in the 1921 race massacre.
It really represents what life was actually like for many of those living in this community at the time.
JIMENEZ (voice over): The community did rebuild after the 1921 massacre and then this highway built right through the heart of the district as part of Federal Highway Acts in the 60s, dealt it a final blow.
MICHELLE BURDEX, PROGRAM COORDINATOR, GREENWOOD CULTURAL CENTER: The highway separated the business district from traffic flow, from access.
JIMENEZ (on camera): What does this highway represent to you?
BURDEX: The second destruction of Black Wall Street.
JIMENEZ (voice over): It adds up to about a century lost for families trying to do what families are supposed to do, give the next a solid head start.
IKE HOWARD, OLDEST GRANDSON OF VIOLA FORD FLETCHER: Instead of having a leg up for my father and my father having a leg up for me, all we had was setbacks.
JIMENEZ (voice over): And he says it can be traced to his grandmother in 1921.
Now, throughout the interview, his grandmother's hearing wasn't always perfect.
HOWARD: She said, even after everything happened --
JIMENEZ (voice over): We often have to check that she could hear my questions, but as we wrapped up.
All right, you look great. You sound great.
FLETCHER: Well, good.
JIMENEZ (on camera): Oh, you heard that. You heard that.
JIMENEZ (voice over): She still has hope. The other 109-year-old survivor is Lessie Benningfield Randle, her family told CNN in part: "We plead for this case to advance. Let us honor them while they are still with us."
FLETCHER: I think we should get justice to be fair. I think the court should feel the same way.
YVONNE KAUGNER, OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: When I went to high school, I knew about the Trail of Tears, but Greenwood was never mentioned and so I think regardless of what happens, that you're all to be commended for making sure that that will never happen again, that it will be in the history books.
JIMENEZ (on camera): Regardless of what happens, well, it is now in the hands of the Oklahoma Supreme Court justices to make this decision, and it is not just the city of Tulsa that is being sued here, it is also the Tulsa Regional Chamber, the Oklahoma Military Department, basically, any other department or group that these survivors feel are responsible here, but just to put things in perspective, we are not just talking about if the Supreme Court justices agree, then these survivors get their reparations and then it is a happy ending for them.
This is just for the right to go to trial because if the Supreme Court justices side with these survivors, it just it goes right back down to a lower district court and then they begin the process toward a trial, which as we know, takes time and both of these survivors are 109 years old, its time that they may not have a lot of left.
Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:55:09]
DEAN: Omar, thanks so much, and I want to thank you for joining me this evening. I am Jessica Dean, I'll see you tomorrow starting at five eastern.
The 90s: Isn't It Ironic" is up next.
Have a great night.
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