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Growing Wildfire Scorches 12,000-Plus Acres; Mass Shootings Across Three States Leave Two Dead, Dozens Injured; IDF Announces "Tactical Pause" To Allow More Humanitarian Aid; Soon: Biden Departs L.A. After Raising $30M-Plus At Hollywood Fundraiser; Trump Makes Pitch To Black Voters In Battleground Michigan. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 16, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You've been doing this job for awhile, but what's it like to have your whole heart jolted into that moment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think dad mode kind of kicked in, you know, I'm a father and little -- little presses in the sternum area just to try to jumpstart your heart while I was doing, you know, then I heard a gasp.

KAYLEIGH FOLEY, MOTHER OF RESCUED CHILD: My daughters are my everything. They're all I have the besides my parents, but its something were to happen to either one of them I would be lost for sure.

Absolutely devastating because yes, I very well could have lost all three of my girls that night. I wouldn't have wanted to live another day.

YOUNG: For the next three weeks, Lowell battled to stay alive with help from her doctors and nurses, while this family prayed together, a guardian angel by their side.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, yeah, he's Uncle Dave. He's going to be a part of our fatally forever.

MUSGROVE: Lowell was perfect. She has a clean bill of health. Now, she's going to be a year old, July 31st. Ii believe I was put the right place at the right time.

YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Inglewood, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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

And we begin with a dangerous wildfire that as rapidly growing in Los Angeles County. The Post Fire has already burned through more than 12,000 acres, and forced at least 1,200 people to evacuate a state park. Now, officials warned that the area could see wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour.

Let's bring in now, CNN's Camila Bernal, who was near the evacuation zone in Gorman, California.

So, Camila, how fast is this wildfire spreading.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. It gets spread very quickly because of a number of things.

One, the very high temperatures to the low humidity and three, you mentioned those very high winds just during the day today, we're expecting 45 to 55 mile per hour wind gusts and at night, between 60, 70 miles per hour.

So that causes those flames just spread extreme -- just spread very fast. Now, I want to show you here behind me, the crews still working in this area. There are firefighters that are trying to create those fire lines. Here, you still see them hosing down in a lot of these hotspots.

And if I turn the camera over to the other side, what I want to show you is the scorched hillside here, because its spread read so quickly. And when we got here earlier in the day, we saw those raging flames and what they're doing is not only working on the ground, but they're also using air resources. So we've seen helicopter after helicopter doing a lot of the airdrops. And of course, that has helped tremendously, especially in the area that we are now.

But again, there's still a lot of work to be done and residents are being told to be extremely careful. Already, 1,200 people are under evacuation orders.

Take a listen to what some of those evacuees had to say

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMIE VU TURCATO, EVACUATED FROM CAMPING AREA: We saw the smoke coming up, but it wasn't that bad yet and then eventually we're like, we don't think it's safe. It might be fine, but 5 percent chance and it might not be fine. And then it became like a 10, 20 percent chance. And then eventually sheriff was just like, you guys got to go.

JOHN ELON, JR., OJAI, CA RESIDENT: And so, yeah, I don't want to get stuck there if they're going to close the bottom forest gate, and I think the fires kind of moving that way and no, it's not too good.

(END VIDEO CLPI)

BERNAL: And people are, of course, being told to be ready in case they have to leave at a moments notice. These firefighters again are working around the clock, but containment is just at 2 percent. We've seen the fire girl by a couple thousand acres over the last couple of hours. We're waiting for an update from authorities. But again, just the conditions are not ideal and likely spreading this fire even further for and quickly, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Very frightening and more evacuations could come.

Thank you so much, Camila Bernal.

Meantime, gun violence breaking out across the U.S. this weekend, mass shootings across three states killing two people and injuring dozens more from Massachusetts to Michigan and Texas. This morning, police in Massachusetts said eight people were injured after an overnight shooting where hundreds of people gathered at a pop-up event organized over social media.

Seven young people were shot. Two of them are in critical condition. One other person sustained a serious head injury while trying to run away. Officials say no arrests have been made and they do not have a suspect at this time.

Hours earlier, nine people were shot in a random attack at a splash pad park in Rochester Hills, Michigan, including two brothers ages four and eight and their mother. Authorities say a gunman pulled up to the Brooklands Plaza Slash Pad and opened fire on unsuspecting families, nearly 30 times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN JAMES (R-MI): Under no circumstance is it normal for ice cream cones and flip-flops to be strewn amongst blood and bullet casings.

[16:05:09]

CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino has the latest.

Gloria, what are you learning Friday?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Fred, you know, it's really struck me to hear just some of these places and the kinds of events aware these shootings have been taking place over this weekend, a playground, a place for children and families to gather and a party where presumably people were just trying to have a good time.

We're learning more about those victims, including those two siblings that you talked about, Fred, the eight-year-old boy, who was shot in the leg and the four-year-old that was also shot. He's in stable condition. His brother is in critical condition.

Their 39-year-old mother, she was shot in the stomach and the leg and she remains in critical condition. All of them members of the same family trying to have a fun afternoon when police tell us a gunman approach the splash pad, got out of his vehicle, opened fire and discharged his weapon nearly 30 times, stopping to reload the weapon.

Now, we know that the suspect has been identified as Michael William Nash. He is 42-years-old from Shelby Township. And police so far tell us that they believe this shooting took place at random. They've yet to determine any sort of motive for why this took place.

As I said, it was a Saturday afternoon where children and families were just trying to have a nice day at the splash pad when this gunmen opened fire, I want you to listen to the local sheriff talking about what happened after for the shooting because Nash fled the scene and took cover inside his mothers house that she wasn't home at the time. That is where a standoff between police and Nash took place before they were able to find him. They believe he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF MICHAEL BOUCHARD, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: I believe that because we had put containment on him, that if he had planned to do anything else and wouldn't surprise me because having that on the kitchen table isn't that an everyday activity, that there was probably something else, a second chapter potentially.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: We can actually see the image of what police have found. They sent a drone into the home and they were able to find a weapon that had been left on top of the kitchen table, a military style weapon they believe it was the one that was used in the shooting.

And as you as you heard, there, the sheriff talking about how maybe he could have gone on to hurt more people. We also heard from the mayor of Rochester hills. He took to Facebook to talk about this incident and two so offer support for the community saying that Brooklands is a proud a neighborhood that the city is equally tighten it and strong and that they will be okay after this.

Of course, the community left reeling from this gun violence, which from what we have learned so far, the details of the shooting could have been in a lot worse, people could have died. It's sort of a miracle, Fred, that more people were not hurt in this incident.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

Then in Texas, a deadly shooting took place last night and this one taking place at a Juneteenth celebration. Two people are dead and multiple others injured, including two children when police say a fight broke out between two groups of people, this happened in Rock Round, Texas, which is about 20 miles north of Austin, according to police, the two victims who died at the scene were innocent bystanders. Police are still searching for a suspect in that case.

Musician and Texas native Paul Wall performed at the Juneteenth celebration about an hour before the shooting, he posted on Facebook, quote, prayers up for Round Rock. This truly hurts my heart.

I want to bring in now former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis for more perspective on what has turned out to be a deadly weekend in at least three states that we know of.

Ed, let's begin with your home state where the shooting takes place at this pop-up event, people got wind of this as party via social media. And the next you know, there's now a shooting. I imagined that surveillance video is going to assist in helping to find the suspect.

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Right, Fredricka. Yes, that's the first thing we look for in situations like this. That shooting happened less than three miles from my front door. So the police chief there in the district attorney, I've worked with in the past and they're very good at what they're doing. The D.A. talked about enormous numbers of ballistic evidence there. So I think that you're probably going to see the number of shots fired is similar to what we saw are in Michigan.

[16:10:09]

So it was a very violent night across the country.

WHITFIELD: Uh-huh. And then in Michigan, I mean, what should have been just a fun time out for families at this flash pad park ends up with what authorities are describing as a random attack of the suspect, dying of self-inflicted wounds. But the use of the drone commissioner, a few could talk to us about that, they use of the drone into the home where the suspect was to zero in on what appears to be possibly the weapon used in that crime.

DAVIS: Yes. I've actually been exposed to these small tactical drones just recently had a chance to see what their capabilities are. And it is amazing. You know, in the past the drones that please use were pretty big and were primarily used outdoors for searches and things like that. But these new systems that they have are extremely easy to navigate and they can actually fly inside of a house, inside a room, go up and downstairs its a real safety issue for the officers.

You know, in the past, it was -- it was necessary for us to clear these places room by room, but now they can breach the front door and send these machines into good to see exactly what's happening inside, then this particular case, the suspect had a military weapon on the on the kitchen table and that could have caused an -- you know, if he used that at the amusement park, that would have been a lot more fatalities actually.

WHITFIELD: Is it you're feeling like that of which we heard from another investigator who feels like potentially on this person, the suspect may have had another event and another set of criminal activities planned its, hard to argue with the sheriff on that they have a lot more information than we know about, but the truth of the matter is, if you've pulled out a rifle and put her on the kitchen table, there's all kinds of possibilities there.

So we'll have to wait and see what the evidence says, but this is clearly the intersection in my mind. Its section of firearms and mental health problems to shoot up an amusement park or this kids it's just -- just very, very upsetting.

WHITFIELD: And also equally upsetting is a shooting, a deadly shooting that would take place in Texas at a Juneteenth celebration, two people killed, no suspects in that case either. But because you had a crowd of people inevitably, is it you're feeling that they will find a suspect? DAVIS: Well, if there's -- if there's a good thing that comes out of

these investigations is the technology that's available to us now, cameras -- speed cameras, speed enforcement cameras, cameras on highways, all of that technology comes to beer in these cases. And quite frankly, it's very difficult to get away with the crime right now, if there's a full court press on trying to find the people responsible for it.

So I think they'll probably get them.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, and that along with people and their cell phones recording moment spontaneously, all of the time.

All right. Commissioner Davis, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Father's Day to you.

DAVIS: Thank you so much. Appreciate that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, the Israeli military has announced a tactical pause to allow more aid into Gaza. What this means for the fighting in Rafah?

Plus, record-breaking -- a record-breaking blaze that is in Brazil, the massive wildfire scorching the largest wetland on earth.

And crushing childcare costs. The new report revealing that having two kids in daycare costs more than the average rent in every single state in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:45]

WHITFIELD: Record-breaking fires continued to rage through Brazil's Pantanal, the largest tropical wetland on Earth, which is ten times the size of the Florida Everglades, home to jaguars, anteaters, and anacondas. And apparently, these fires are so destructive, the area is home to thousands of endangered species and already charred skeletons of alligators, monkeys, and other wildlife have been found among the ruins. Conditions are expected to worsen with a heat wave hitting the area this week.

And new developments in the Middle East. An Israeli official now tells CNN that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was initially unhappy about an announced tactical pause by the IDF. Israel's military says the daily pauses will allow more aid to enter the war-torn enclave. And right now, Israel says there are more than 1,000 truckloads of supplies waiting to enter Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing. The IDF promises to allow daily flows of supplies from that crossing to the European hospital in Khan Younis.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is live for us from Haifa, Israel.

Oren, it's clear how much -- is it clear, rather, how much aid is actually getting through to assist people?

[16:20:07]

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We don't know that answer yet as you point out, we know from the Israeli military that there are about 1,000 trucks ready to go towards Kerem Shalom or in through Kerem Shalom to Gaza. We don't know how many have gone through or how many will continue to go through during what the IDF calls tactical pauses from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 in the evening. So for about 11 hours a day, there will be a tactical pause along a route that leads from Kerem Shalom to the European hospital in Khan Younis just north of Rafah there. You may be able to see a map that gives you an idea of this route.

How much aid is going through? We're going to have to wait not only to hear from the Israeli military, but also from the international organizations that are helping in this process and will help in the distribution crucially, of course, also, what effect? Does it have on the severe need to deal with sanitation, sewage, malnutrition, malnutrition amongst Gazan children and concerns of famine? The world, including the U.S., have made it clear that not enough aid is getting in.

So this is designed to make sure more is getting in through Kerem Shalom, which is one of the main crossings that remains open at this point to key Rafah crossing on the Israel, Egypt border in Gaza is not open and has not been consistently open because of ongoing operations there from the Israeli military the military, as well as the political leadership made clear those would continue even with the tactical pauses.

WHITFIELD: Oren Liebermann, thank you, from Haifa, Israel.

All right. Coming up, President Biden calling out the U.S. Supreme Court at his star-studded campaign fundraiser. What he warns will be one of the scariest parts of a second Trump term.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:08]

WHITFIELD: At any moment now, President Biden will depart Los Angeles and fly back to the nation's capital. He's returning to the White House after hosting a record fundraiser for a Democratic presidential candidate and with the help of former President Barack Obama and some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Biden raised more than $30 million at that star-studded gathering in Los Angeles. He also delivered a stark warning about a second Trump term and attacked the U.S. Supreme Court.

For more, let's bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.

Priscilla, what more can you tell us about this fundraiser and Biden's messages?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was yet another opportunity for President Biden to underscore the stakes of this election. But this time, he focused specifically on the Supreme Court and said that over the next four years, there will likely be openings on the Supreme Court and posed the question of what would happen if Donald time -- if Donald Trump -- Donald Trump were to win reelection.

So casting it that way, specifically in a moment where the overturning of Roe v. Wade is top of mind, and also when the campaign is trying to galvanize voters on this exact issue. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees, two more, two more. He's already appointed two that have been very negative in terms of the rights of individuals. The idea that if he's reelected, he's going to appoint two more flying flags upside-down is really -- I'm -- I really mean it.

MODERATOR: Could this be -- could this be the scariest part of all of it?

BIDEN: Well, I think it is one of the scariest parts of -- look, the Supreme Court has never been as out of kilter as it is today after the decision that overruled Roe v. Wade, the Dobbs decision. You had Clarence Thomas talking about the fact that there are going to be other things we should reconsider including in vitro fertilization, including contraception, including all these things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now, you heard their reference to the flag controversy around Alito and the flags flown outside of his homes. But the underlying argument here by the president is one, his campaign has used multiple times, which is the chaos and confusion that would occur if Donald Trump were to be reelected and in this case, using that -- are looking at that through the lens of the Supreme Court.

Now, former President Barack Obama is also there. You saw him seated next to President Biden, and he noted that the core values of each of the candidates should be taken into consideration when it comes to voting in November.

Now, this was a big fundraising success for the campaign. They raked in over $30 million, was the largest ever Democratic fundraiser. And it is just another indication of the momentum that they are trying to continue to build going into November -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much, in Washington.

All right. Former President Trump will head to the swing state of Wisconsin on Tuesday for a campaign rally. This weekend, he traveled to the battleground state of Michigan, where he spent part of his day courting Black voters at a church in Detroit. He then baselessly cast doubt on the 2020 election as a way to attack the 2024 election at a conservative conference last night. CNN's Eva McKend has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The former president continued to echo conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, telling his supporters that he wants his margin of victory to be so large that it should be too big to rig. Of course, we know the 2020 election was not rigged, but you hear that reframe being echoed by his supporters, too big to rig.

He's also adding something else to his routine. It's really consequential. And he's telling his supporters that they have to plan their vote, whether its early or by mail on or on election day, they have to make a plan.

[16:30:01]

That's really a departure from 2020, when he casts doubt on those mechanisms, of voting early and voting by mail.

And it really indicates that this time around, he's not trying to leave any votes on the table. Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The radical left Democrats rig the presidential election in 2020 and we're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024.

Listen, we don't need votes. We've got more votes than anybody's ever had. We need to watch the vote. We need to guard the vote. We need to stop the steal.

We want a landslide that is too big to rig.

Make a plan to vote either by mail or early, in person or on Election Day.

MCKEND: Trump also spending his time in Detroit at historically Black church. He thinks that he can make inroads with Black voters this election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Eva McKend, thanks so much.

All right. On Thursday, June 27th, it's going to be the most anticipated moment of this historic election season and stakes could not be higher. Join CNN as President Biden and former president meet for their first debate. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderate.

The CNN presidential debate live from Atlanta beginning at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and streaming on Max.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:06]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Child care is more expensive than the average cost of rent in every single state. In 11 states, it's double. Many American families shelling out $11,000 a year per child.

CNN correspondent Meena Duerson explains, while the price of keeping children and care is sky high, the burden of running these centers is equally unsustainable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ELANDT, OWNER, MY FIRST ADVENTURE CHILDCARE: I had a mom who -- whose job started right at 5:00. I backed up my hours to 4:45 so she could drop her child off to get across town to work.

It's like, okay, I can give you 15 minutes in the morning so that you can get there and get that door open for whatever it is you need to do, so that you can help the people that you're helping.

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the small city of Waupaca, Wisconsin, My First Adventure Childcare is a fixture, helping family as before the sun even rises.

ELANDT: Most of our parents and the drop-off are like I could never do what you do. Ooh, did he not sleep last night? And my response is always well, I can't do what you do either. So I'll watch your kids and you go do that because I'm better at this.

DUERSON: Across the country, more than 12 million kids under the age of five are in child care, at least once a week, care that's become increasingly difficult for their parents to afford.

In the last three decades, the cost of childcare has risen at nearly twice the rate of inflation. A recent report found having two kids in daycare is more expensive than rent in every single state. In 11 states and Washington, D.C., it cost double the average rent.

CRYSTAL VIDA, PARENT: It's so expensive with two kids that come everyday full-time. It's double our mortgage. I mean, we make a good living, but it's so much.

DUERSON: You're childcare is double your mortgage.

VIDA: Yeah, yeah, easily. Probably more than double our mortgage.

ELANDT: Hi. My First Adventure Childcare. This is Susan.

DUERSON: It's not just hard on parents. Running these centers is so expensive, owners like Susan Elandt struggled to make the math work.

ELANDT: If you were going to pay your teachers what they were worth, even based off of basic education and experience, you would need to charge the parents so much that you would have no children in your center, nor could parents afford care.

DUERSON: Can you explain that to me? Like, how -- where's all the money go?

ELANDT: In addition to all your -- your usual utilities, we also have insurance. The insurance for childcare is very high. The mortgage on the building and property taxes and personal taxes are going with that. And then they're also licensing fees, background check costs. There's paint and paper, and Plato and then there's food on top of it. It's a lot.

DUERSON: The biggest cost and challenge Elandt says is staffing.

What's the turnover like?

ELANDT: For staff?

DUERSON: Yeah.

ELANDT: It's high.

I had a staff member leave me a couple of months ago. She's like winnable work in a factory he or she needed to make living.

DUERSON: The federal government has put more than $52 billion dollars towards supporting childcare since the beginning of the pandemic, like many providers even use that money to raise salaries from $8 or $9 an hour to at least twice $12.

If you had to put the salaries back to where they were before you got this funding help?

ELANDT: They'd all quit, every last one of them.

DUERSON: Even with the wage bumps, childcare workers are still some of the lowest paid workers in the country. Here in Wisconsin, the median hourly wage, $13.78 an hour, doesn't even qualify as a living wage. And in some cases is classified as poverty level.

LYDIA HIGGINS, TEACHER, MY FIRST ADVENTURE CHILDCARE: It's very humbling to go to work every day and pass "help wanted" signs at McDonalds and Hardy's, and they are paying more money than childcare providers can afford to pay their staff.

DUERSON: Lydia Higgins is a teacher at My First Adventure. She took the job because childcare was so hard to find, the only way to get her daughter a spot was to join the staff.

HIGGINS: I actually just went back to waitressing for the first time in a decade to kind of help supplements our income.

[16:40:04]

DUERSON: What's the money like waitressing versus childcare?

HIGGINS: That I can make one night waitressing my entire week's pay. And so that's --

DUERSON: -- in the childcare.

HIGGINS: Yeah.

DUERSON: The federal support that helped center stay open since 2020 has largely expired, creating what's been dubbed a childcare clip, more than 70,000 programs are projected to close from the strain.

ELANDT: But I love you, too.

DUERSON: My First Adventure will soon be one of them. After eight years in business, Elandt announced she's shutting the center down, leaving more than 60 families scrambling for alternative childcare.

ELANDT: No getting sidetracked.

DUERSON: When you got the notification that they were closing, what was that like for you?

VIDA: I started panicking and like applying to every other day care in town, none of them have any spots. I texted my boss and I said I have might have to quit my job because I don't know what I'm going to do with my kid. We don't have family, so it's just us.

DUERSON: Why did the child care is important as a woman?

VIDA: How am I going to work if I can drop my kids off? Yeah.

DUERSON: Childcare funding is now up to the states. In Wisconsin, some emergency funding will last into 2025, but the long-term solution remains an open question.

My First Adventure won't be here to see it. The center will close in July.

How's it going to feel for you when you close up shop?

ELANDT: That day will be really, really hard because I remember when I first walked in and I remember all those hopes and those dreams and everything that I was going to build and I tried to remind myself that I did do that.

Child care is essential to a functioning economy. I want people to not take the programs that they have their children and for granted, because they might not be there forever, I thought, you know, I would be and I'm not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Childcare, essential.

All right. Blistering heat is expected to roast millions of Americans this week of these cities where temperatures could reach record highs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:46:39]

WHITFIELD: All right. For the second straight meeting between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, WNBA rookie sensation Caitlin Clark gets knocked down, but walks away with a victory.

This afternoon, Clark was driving to the basket for a layup, as you saw right there, when she was hit in the head from behind by Sky's Angel Reese. Reese was given a flagrant foul. You'll see it again right there. This file was similar to what happened in the first meeting between those teams.

This one is a little different, when Clark was knocked over by Chennedy Carter after play had stopped. Like in the first meeting, Clark was able to finish today's game and the Indiana Fever beat Sky 91-83.

All right. The leaders have teed off for the final round of the U.S. Golf championship. Big-hitting American Bryson DeChambeau started the day with a three shot lead after battling through a hip injury Saturday to soar to the top of the leader board. He has become the crowd favorite at the U.S. Open, but he has some of the top players in the world are right on his heels.

For the very latest, let's bring in CNN's Patrick Snell at Pinehurst in North Carolina.

So, where do things stand?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred.

Yeah. Real excitement here at Pinehurst, this iconic venue in the world of golf. And I can tell you that Bryson DeChambeau has a real fight on his hands right now, thousands out on the course as the players make the turn for home on the back-nine. The leaders, and it is really nip and tuck between DeChambau and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who is trying to win his first major title in over ten years. They are both a short while ago at 6 under par, which means we have a battle royale for this year's U.S. Open crown.

But a little more on Bryson DeChambeau, really kind of reinvented himself oh, and the last couple of years in the world of golf, he really has kind of changed the narrative. He made global headlines when he joined the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series.

But he really is in an old to get a better place right now, reinvented himself in terms of his popular YouTube channel, for example, and a short while ago, just for a teed off earlier on Sunday, we got some great video of him interacting with the fans that his big thing now about taking the game and expanding it globally, taking it to the fans, breaking up play during Saturday's third round by talking a fans, telling them, listen, if you move yourself here, I'll find you later inside photograph.

You don't see players doing that in the course of a major battle for a huge prize in the world of golf. So, DeChambeau relaxed, he was high fiving with fans as he came off the range a little earlier today, he is in an altogether good place right now, but I will say, it's going to be very, very tense here over the next couple of hours as we wait to see who will be crowned U.S. Open champion later on this Sunday, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, great anticipation. Can't wait.

Patrick Snell, thank you so much.

All right. Millions of Americans will be under a risk of extreme heat this week as temperatures could rise, almost 20 degrees above average in the Midwest.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here with more.

[16:50:02]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. We're talking a lot of areas here. More than two dozen states have the potential to break records. Look at this number, over 170 potential records just in the next five to seven days and it's over several different regions.

Now, a lot of these records would begin in the south before finally spreading northward and eastward in the coming days. So, even places like Atlanta and St. Louis, very hot to finish out the weekend. But then you'll finally start to see those temperatures coming back down by midweek.

Now, keep in mind even by midweek, its not necessarily getting back to normal, just cooler than it is this weekend. Look at Chicago, for example, the average is 81 degrees this time of year, but they will spend every single one the next seven days well above-normal, about five to ten degrees. But if you look in places in the northeast like New York, Boston, even Philadelphia, those areas you're talking 15 to 20 degrees above average over the next several days.

Now, heat is just one of the stories were keeping an eye on. We also have severe thunderstorms in the forecast for Sunday, flood threat for areas of the Midwest and also a pretty potent flood threat down along the Gulf Coast.

Now, the reason for that is we're keeping an eye on to potential systems for possible tropical development. But see this one down here has a 60 percent chance of developing into a tropical system in the next seven days. But regardless of whether this becomes a name tropical storm, as it moves northward, it's going to bring all of that moisture with it. So there is the potential for very big rainfall and heavy flooding not only Monday, but also Tuesday along the Gulf Coast.

And that includes places like Houston. When you look at some of these numbers, some areas of Texas could pick up more than ten inches of rain in just the next few days.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

All right. A tsunami can destroy everything in an instant. Liev Schreiber explores the power of these epic natural events in a new episode of "VIOLENT EARTH". Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Verbena said we have got to run. This water, very shallow water was coming in, maybe a foot deep but it was very, very strong. I could no longer lift up my feet and I looked up and I saw black wall of water approximately five to six stories high coming right for me. And then I was blasted off my feet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: My goodness, and new episode of "VIOLENT EARTH WITH LIEV SCHREIBER" premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

And on Wednesday, CNN will air a special program celebrating Juneteenth.

You can watch "Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom and Legacy" at 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, right here on CNN. And you can stream it on CNN Max as well.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:57:33]

WHITFIELD: All right. A blast from the past this Father's Day. Prince William shared a sweet throwback picture taken decades ago with his father, King Charles, saying "Happy Father's Day, Pa". You see a very young, smiling prince of Wales with his dad proudly towering over him and for the first time, the royal children posted on their family's social media, George, Charlotte and Louis sharing this photo with their dad, taken by their mom saying, "We love you, Papa. Happy Father's Day".

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues with our Omar Jimenez in just a short moment. But first, before we go, happy Father's Day to all of our dads, husbands, brothers, all the father figures who hold it down as pops. We can't thank you enough for all that you do, even posthumously still doing, inspiring, leading, fixing, comforting, advising, joking, and of course the list goes on. You fill in the blanks.

We honor that what you do and how you do varies in every household. Here's a peek into the households of this great weekend NEWSROOM team, many of whom are longtime dads and new dads juggling at all, helping to make sure we deliver to you every weekend.

Our best and most thoughtful and informative, we're very fortunate sons and daughters of super dads as well. Our hearts are filled with pride and love here in our weekend NEWSROOM, and I and every remember this fabulous team salute you dads. Happy Father's Day. We're hoping its filled with a return of great memories, good food, plus love and lots of laughter.