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Biden And Trump To Face Off In CNN Debate On June 27; Trump Debate Focuses More On Policy, Less On Rhetoric; Soon: Trump Speaks At Faith And Freedom Conference; Biden And Trump Prepare For CNN Presidential Debate; Judge Denies Alec Baldwin's Motion To Dismiss Involuntary Manslaughter Charges; Nearly 500 Hajj Pilgrams Confirmed Dead Amid Heat Wave; Daughter Of 2 Americans Who Died In Mecca Pilgrimage Speaks To CNN; NASA Again Delays Boeing Starliner's Return To Earth. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired June 22, 2024 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:02]
Welcome back. Justin Timberlake is speaking out for the first time since he was arrested and charged with DWI earlier this week while in the Hamptons. This was his message to his fans last night in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, AMERICAN SINGER AND ACTOR: It's been a tough week, but you're here and I'm here, and nothing can change this moment right now.
I know sometimes I'm hard to love but you keep on loving me and I love you right back. Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: The 43-year-old pop singer told police at the time of his -- being stopped that he only had one Martini when he was arrested. His next virtual court appearance is scheduled for July 26th.
All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A dangerous heatwave is growing across the U.S. leaving more than 100 million Americans under heat alerts this weekend.
Many cities including, Washington, D.C. could Eclipse record temperatures over the next three days, with highs in the upper 90s, even triple digits.
Joining me right now, CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is joining us from Brooklyn trying to keep it cool there. And meteorologist Elisa Raffa from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. Good to see you both.
All right. Polo, you first, how are people handling this heat? POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's so hard to escape this heat, Fred, especially, if you don't have any air conditioning. Of course, for some of the youngest of those roughly 100 million Americans that are affected by some of these heat advisories, this is how you do it, you basically turn to some of the water features and water parks throughout the region here to try to stay cool.
Again, you are looking at well over 100 million people that are affected by this for yet another day. And that is why authorities and municipalities up and down the Northeast are stressing the importance of staying hydrated, staying cool. And also, this is key, checking on the elderly. Checking on the most vulnerable.
There is so many states where a large percentage of the population doesn't even have air conditioning because these are temperatures that they are simply not used to. And that's why, speaking as a Texan, when you see temperatures in the high 90s, you may see it as just another summer day.
But for some of the people, especially the Northeast that are not used to this, that comes with the deadly potential. That's why you're seeing cities like New York and other regions are opening up this cooling centers for those people who need them.
Washington, D.C. today, expected to inch closer to triple digits. So, the mayor there is extending that heat advisory into next week. A very similar situation that's playing out in the state of Maryland as well. Fred.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right. It is a serious heat indeed.
Elisa, in the weather center, how long is it going to be like this?
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We'll see that heat in New York City lasting through the weekend. By Monday, a cold front does start to break down some of this heat. But you can see the alerts stretching down the I-95 corridor from New York to Philly, and Washington, even stretching back towards Cleveland.
And we've had a pretty hot month. We've had heat alerts and effect every -- nearly every single day to last 30 days. And we have surpassed the average from last year. The other day, we had 120 million people under heat alerts.
So, just again, incredible, widespread, long heatwave. We'll continue to find temperatures above 90 degrees for, at least, 80 percent of the lower 48, as we go into the week. More than 250 records could fall both daytime highs and overnight lows.
We'll look at the temperatures for today, 98 degrees in Washington, D.C., 94 in Raleigh, 95 in Little Rock. Temperatures stretching into the 90s even down to Atlanta.
This is the area that we're watching where we've got temperatures that could climb up towards 100 degrees in Philadelphia, D.C., and Richmond. But look at by Monday, you see these temperatures getting back a little bit closer to average in some of the middle and upper 80s that says that front comes through, and does start to bring some of the relief.
We're not really seeing too much relief on the overnight temperatures. Look at the overnight lows. 80 degrees could be your overnight load tonight in D.C. So, just sweltering with these temperatures in the middle and upper 70s, not really getting that relief at night. And what we do know is that especially these overnight temperatures tend to warm on when we're looking at climate trends faster than the daytime temperatures. Once the map loads, you'll see that the overnight temperatures are about four to five times more likely because of climate change just again continuing to swelter. Fred.
WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right. It's going to be a very long summer. Elisa Raffa, Polo Sandoval. Yes. Thank you so much.
All right. We're now just five days away from the CNN presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, both candidates are getting ready in their own ways.
For Biden, he is holding intensive discussions, preparations with trusted aides at Camp David all weekend long.
[13:05:03]
While sources say Trump is participating in private meetings dubbed as policy sessions with top of vice-presidential contenders, senators, and other allies. Next week's debate could be a pivotal moment for both campaigns, as the latest Fox News poll shows a neck and neck race.
We've got team coverage. Any moment now, former President Trump is set to speak at the Faith and Freedom Coalition in Washington, D.C. And that's where Eva McKend is. But let's get started with Kevin Liptak, who has more on how President Biden is preparing for his debate, and he is doing so at Camp David.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. In that Camp David setting, presidents always choose it when they want somewhere secluded, somewhere free from distractions. And that's certainly the case. For President Biden, as he enters this intensive, multi-day stretch of debate preparations out there, we do know that even before he arrived, he had started going through these binders that his aides had prepared really trying to crystallize the policy differences between himself and President Trump going through potential questions, potential answers, trying to fine tune some of his responses, his retorts. And you can expect that the President is doing that in these early days of debate prep.
One thing that we did hear from a person who is familiar with the debate preparations is that President Biden really wants to be punchy in this debate. He had been, you know, really ramping up how he had been going after President Trump over the last several weeks. And we -- they do expect that as they carry through on the debate stage.
On Thursday night, one of the things that the campaign really hopes to do in this debate is what they say is hold Trump accountable for some of the statements that he's made over the course of the campaign, whether it's saying that he wanted to act as a dictator, taking credit for the overturning of Roe versus Wade, all of these things that Trump has done. That Trump or that Biden very much wants to emphasize and wants to underscore for the audience, which may be tuning into this race for the very first time on Thursday night.
And I think when you really boil down the debate strategy, it is to present this choice to voters. That it is either Biden or Trump, and that they will have to make that decision in November. And it was interesting to hear the vice president Kamala Harris, kind of describe that strategy just yesterday.
Listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Joe Biden, and this debate will make clear the contrast. You know, I -- of the many issues in our country, in our world that are complex and nuanced. November of 2024 is binary. And when you look at the difference, I would ask people to really imagine what the world will be like on January 20th, 2025.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIPTAK: Now, one of the things that aides typically do before a debate is study the tape of the opponent and you can expect that Biden's aides are doing that as well.
One thing that they are not sure if it's which version of Trump will show up on the debate stage on Thursday night. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kevin, thank you so much.
Let's go to Eva McKend now, they are in Washington, D.C. Trump is expected to speak soon. All right. So, tell us about his strategy and preparation.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: So, Fred, hopefully, you can hear me above the praise and worship band that just took the stage.
But listen, core to Trump's strategy really seems to be to downplay the need for him to debate prep at all. He is out on the campaign trail this weekend, really projecting confidence ahead of this critical matchup. We also know that he really feeds off of the energy of his most devoted and loyal supporters, and they no doubt are here at the Faith and Freedom Conference.
You know, another thing Fred, he can ill afford to lose time on the campaign trail. That's why we see him out here in D.C. and in Philly this weekend. It was just a few weeks ago, where week after week, he was in the courtroom before ultimately being convicted in New York, losing precious time to make his case to supporters. We know that the former president really values rhetoric over substance, and so, he will have the opportunity to hear to perhaps test out some of the rhetorical gimmicks he might have planned for the debate stage.
He has engaged in some policy discussions, though, about a dozen with some of the V.P. contenders.
And in those conversations, we know that he has been sharpening his message on abortion and foreign policy. But what he is, perhaps, expected to really focus on in the debate is needling, President Biden over this issue of inflation, the economy and the cost of living. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Eva McKend and Kevin Liptak, thank you so much. All right. Let's talk further about debate preparations.
[13:10:01]
Joining me right now, Michael Genovese, he is a political analyst and president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University.
His book, "The Modern Presidency: Six Debates That Define the Institution" is out now. Michael, great to see you.
MICHAEL GENOVESE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you so much. Fred. Great to be here.
WHITFIELD: So, historically speaking, how important is this first debate in a presidential election, and especially as you saw in, you know, one of the polls earlier it is neck and neck, a very tight race?
GENOVESE: Well, the first debate is by far the most important. That's the one that generally speaking people will tune into, whereas, in other debates, audience numbers will fall flat.
And so, rule number one, for this debate is, don't shoot yourself in the foot.
History shows us that very few times will the candidate win a debate, but more often, they are likely to lose the debate. How do you lose a debate? Some kind of gaffes, some kind of flub. And so, you know, the temptation in the debate is to try to hit a homerun, to go for the big one.
Better strategy is to try to hit singles and make sure you don't strike out because the biggest, and most important thing is, don't lose and don't shoot yourself in the foot.
WHITFIELD: So, I'm hearing you say don't even take too many risks.
GENOVESE: I think, that's right. If you're way behind taking a risk is important. And it might be useful, but in a neck and neck race, you don't want to say something that will come back to haunt you. What will be the headline tomorrow? After Gerald Ford's first debate with Jimmy Carter, the headline was Ford fumbles. If that happens here, either candidate, then, the whole tone of the race takes a big shift.
WHITFIELD: OK. And something else that's going to be unique about this debate is it will employ several rules that, you know, we haven't seen before. And we certainly didn't see the last time these two squared off. So, notably, there will be no live audience, microphones will be muted until it's the candidates turn to speak. As a refresher, here is what it looked like when these two men met back in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The question is --
TRUMP: You want to put a lot of --
BIDEN: The question is --
TRUMP: -- new Supreme Court justice.
BIDEN: The question--
TRUMP: Radical left. Who is on --
BIDEN: Will you shut up, man?
TRUMP: Listen, who is on your --
BIDEN: I'm not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows he is a liar.
TRUMP: Do you know, Joe, I ran because of you. I ran because of Barack Obama, because you did a poor job.
BIDEN: He is the racist.
TRUMP: Oh, yes, you do. By the way, you are a wise --
BIDEN: You are the worst president in America has ever had.
TRUMP: We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does.
BIDEN: It's hard to get any word in with this clown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. So, in that case, perhaps you saw both candidates shooting themselves in the foot a few times. But now, it's a whole new ballgame, a new debate stage, new rules, all that. Do you see these new rules as helping one candidate more than the other?
GENOVESE: I think they give Joe Biden a slight edge. Number one, turning off the mics is going to be big, because Donald Trump loves to be the bully, loves to be the strong man, loves to interrupt, set the tone, dominate. It's kind of sort of the wounded manliness that you try to impose. And so, he won't be able to do much of that.
The second thing is not having an audience is going to help Joe Biden because Trump feeds off as your previous reporter noted, feeds off an audience, gets excited by them, gets energized by them. He feeds off of them, and they won't be there.
So, if he tells one of his snarky jokes, or make some rude comment, the audience, if it's there, will go, yes, yes, applaud, and without an audience that could fall flat and really be embarrassing to Donald Trump.
WHITFIELD: OK, and then there is the coin flip that already happened. Biden's, you know, campaign chose to select the right podium position while Trump will speak last during the closing statements.
So, how impactful or either one of those decisions in your view?
GENOVESE: I think the going last might be of importance and might be useful. Because if you can then digest, and then, talk about what happened to the previous 90 minutes. If you've made a mistake, correct it if you had some strong arguments, reinforced them.
Most of the time you see the last final statement to be very scripted. This might be one where you might want to go off script and it might be very beneficial.
WHITFIELD: And what's with the right side of the stage? I mean, is that -- is there some subliminal messaging there?
GENOVESE: You know, I saw that and I thought, what's the big deal? I don't know the big deal. Unless it's one of comfort. Sometimes you feel more comfortable when someone's on one side or the other or when the position. I don't think it really has a benefit either way, unless it's personal. And I think in that case, Biden may have said I really want him on my right side, which is where he was last time.
WHITFIELD: All right.
[13:15:00]
Michael Genovese, thank you so much. Of course, we are encouraging everybody to be tuning in on Thursday, because there is no other place that you want to be except right in front of your television, or perhaps, you're watching on your phone the "CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE" right here on CNN. Coming up, June 27th, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And, of course, because you've got a phone, iPad, whatever else, it's streaming on Max as well.
All right. Still to come. Russian President Vladimir Putin, threatening to arm North Korea if the West continues to supply weapons to Ukraine. Why the U.S. says this could destabilize the region?
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[13:20:16] Russian President Vladimir Putin and made a very public pledge of military support for North Korea during his visit there this week. But Putin also made a stop in Vietnam, a country that's playing an ever bigger role in the region.
CNN's Will Ripley was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If not for the flags all over Hanoi, Vietnamese, and Russian, you might not notice, there is a state visit.
The streets are always buzzing. Russian President Vladimir Putin, flying directly to Vietnam from North Korea, getting a more subdued welcome here.
Not like that supersized socialist spectacle in Pyongyang. Vietnam is also a socialist republic with a single party system. That means, we always travel with a government minder. But, unlike isolated, impoverished North Korea, Vietnam is emerging as an economic powerhouse of Southeast Asia.
In less than a year, Hanoi has welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden, China's President Xi Jinping, and now, Putin, a pariah in the West, but not here.
NGUYEN QUANG HUY, 12TH GRADE STUDENT (through translator): I feel excited, because within a short term, all three leaders from the three superpowers visited Vietnam.
RIPLEY: Do you weigh either of them as like more important of a relationship, either Biden or Putin?
TRUONG NGUYEN XUAN TUNG, FOOD DELIVERY DRIVER (through translator): This is the diplomatic way of Vietnam. We call it bamboo diplomacy. We don't pick sides. We stay neutral.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Bamboo bends back and forth, he says. As he is talking, we noticed a distinctive Russian limo rolling by.
RIPLEY: Right in the middle of our interview, Putin's motorcade just passed by. And yes, people are just kind of patiently waiting. They are used to this sort of thing here at Hanoi.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Putin and Vietnam's President To Lam, signing agreements on education, science, technology, and energy.
LE THE MAU, RETIRED VIETNAMESE COLONEL: I know I've been in contact with Putin.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Retired Vietnamese Colonel Le The Mau was at a private event with Putin just before sitting down with us. He also speaks Russian and wrote two books about Putin.
RIPLEY: You were in the room with Vladimir Putin. Did he strike you as someone who is nervous about how few allies he has these days?
MAU (through translator): I felt Mr. Putin was completely comfortable. I felt he was completely unconcerned about the idea that he had no friends.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Vietnam's friendship with Russia goes back decades, to Soviet support during the Vietnam War. Hanoi still buys about 80 percent of its weapons from Moscow. Landmarks built with Russia's help are everywhere, from the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to the Thang Long Bridge. There is also a brand-new bridge built by Japan.
Tons of new construction, development, and foreign investment, and this, the John McCain Memorial, honoring the late U.S. senator's time as a prisoner of war, symbolizing U.S.-Vietnam reconciliation and friendship.
RIPLEY: Do you worry that Vietnam could alienate the United States, Japan, South Korea by hosting Putin?
MAU (through translator): That's not the case at all, because as you know, Vietnam's foreign policy is to be friends with every country regardless of their socio-political stance. Vietnam does not pick a side.
RIPLEY (voice-over): A delicate balancing act in these polarized times. Vietnam, partnering with Moscow, Beijing, and Washington, testing the limits and flexibility of bamboo diplomacy.
Will Ripley, CNN, Hanoi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's get more analysis. Now. David Andelman is a CNN opinion columnist and a former foreign correspondent for both CBS News and The New York Times. Always great to see you, David.
DAVID ANDELMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you, Fred. Good to be back.
WHITFIELD: Wonderful. So, Putin is warning that he will start arming North Korea if the West continues its military support for Ukraine. Is that a threat in your view that the U.S. is taking very seriously?
ANDELMAN: Oh, there is no question about that. Look, doing the trade of North Korean weapons for state of the art Russian nuclear or missile technology, putting it in Kim's hands is like putting an assault rifle in the hands of a 6-year-old. Nothing good can come of it.
Putin have scrambled a strategic deck not only in Asia, but beyond. Remember, in forthright days, he's also -- he's raised the question of what happens if Kim gets a hold of a missile technology which he does not yet have really, where he can reach the United States with a nuclear warhead. That is the principal strategic fear not only in the region, but especially in the United States as well.
[13:25:00]
WHITFIELD: So, this mutual defense pact that, you know, Putin signed with North Korea, the U.S. is warning that it could destabilize the region, in what way?
ANDELMAN: Oh, in a whole lot of ways. So, first of all -- first of all, right now, Kim is really unpredictable. Kim even voice over his father and grandfather, an utterly unpredictable figure. So, we already know that North Korea is doing quite a lot to help Putin in Ukraine. I'm really concerned about what this could do for Kim. Giving him a new confidence, a new dangerous capability that he's never really had before of getting reliable deliverable nuclear weapons and missile technology that can really destabilize the whole region.
For instance, what happens if he begins threatening Japan, or the Philippines, or for that matter, China? China, in fact, should be so afraid of all of this, because suddenly, they may not necessarily have North Korea under their control like they have had in the past, when you've thought for the past 70 or so years.
WHITFIELD: So, with this meeting with Putin there in North Korea, there was quite the pageantry, you know, on display there. That's what, you know, the world is seeing. But domestically, Kim Jong-un's sister has been taking a higher profile. Can you give us a sense of what that leadership looks like in North Korea? Or is there even like a leadership struggle domestically?
ANDELMAN: I think any idea of a leadership struggle with the Kim's -- you know, Kim father -- grandfather, father, or a son in charge is really kind of a phantom at this point. But one of the things that China did has been able to hold over North Korea's head is the fact that it really does control not only controls their fuel supply, their coal and so on, that they get from China. They also control a lot of the food supply as well.
So, China really need the -- Kim needs to really make pay close attention to China, but China really needs to have a very peaceful North Korea on its -- on its shores. And it's close. Look, the -- one of the major populations of China, Shanghai, the population center, 30 million people is just 700 miles from the North Korean frontier.
Imagine if Kim, for some reason, launches a nuclear attack against anybody in the region. Or even in the United States. And there is retaliation. The fallout from any kind of a retaliation, a nuclear retaliation in North Korea would decimate China's southeastern portion of China, would make it potentially Shanghai unlivable for 100 years.
So, China is terribly afraid that they don't want it that kind of a destabilizing position in this region. And I think China, United States today -- if the United States has any pressure to bring it to bear on this, it would be on China to really make sure that Kim understands the stakes involved. All right. We'll leave it there for now.
David Andelman. Great to see you. Welcome back. Thank you.
ANDELMAN: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Back in this country, a judge denies Alec Baldwin's motion to dismiss his involuntary manslaughter charges in the Rust shooting. What's next on the case after this?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:32:27]
WHITFIELD: All right. New developments in the ongoing legal battle for Alec Baldwin. A judge in New Mexico has now rejected the actor's effort to dismiss his criminal indictment.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges in that deadly 2021 shooting on the set of the film "Rust." Prosecutors have called Baldwin "reckless and dangerous."
They're now revealing new evidence that they plan to bring two next month's trial.
CNN's Josh Campbell has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a new court filing in the U.S. state of New Mexico, prosecutors laid out various items of evidence they plan to use in the upcoming trial of actor, Alec Baldwin.
And it's clear, in looking at this evidence, that their strategy isn't just focusing on the actual moment that a gun Baldwin was holding and went off killing the film's cinematographer. But on the Actor Alec Baldwin's alleged behavior in the days and weeks leading up to that shooting.
Some of the evidence that they cite includes video evidence showing Baldwin allegedly using a gun as a pointer. They say he was engaged in, quote, "horseplay," pointing the muzzle of a gun at another actor.
They said, at one point, while setting up for a scene, he fired a blank round at a crew member. And during a safety briefing on firearms safety, he allegedly was distracted, facetiming and texting with family members.
Now, all of this tracks with what Santa Fe's district attorney first told CNN when charges were first brought against actor, Alec Baldwin.
Take a listen here to the D.A. describing what she claimed was "a culture of unsafe practices" on that movie set.
MARY CARMACK-ALTWIES, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There was such a lack of safety and safety standards on that set that there were live rounds onset. They were mixed in with regular dummy rounds. Nobody was checking those.
CAMPBELL: Is Baldwin being charged as an actor who was holding the gun or as a producer on the set, who was negligent about the safety standards. Can you help describe that?
CARMACK-ALTWIES: He's being charged as both. He was the actor that pulled the trigger. So certainly his -- he's charged as an actor. But also as a producer. He also had a duty to make sure that the set was safe.
CAMPBELL: And here's a new X code (ph) case law that all prosecutors are using to justify their prosecution. They say that "Criminal negligence exists where the defendant acts with willful disregard of the rights or safety of others and in a manner which endangers any person or property."
Now the attorney for Alec Baldwin declined to comment on this new filing. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter. He claims that he never pulled the trigger on that weapon.
Interestingly, his own team has submitted a new filing asking for this case to be dismissed. They claimed that prosecutors have selectively released pieces of evidence.
[13:35:01]
We'll have to wait and see what a judge decides on that motion. As of right now, Baldwin's trial is set to begin in July.
Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Josh, thank you so much.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Nearly 500 people have died amid extreme heat at this year's Hajj pilgrimage, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. Temperatures there are soaring to 120 degrees as an estimated 1.8 million Muslim worshippers journey to the holy city.
[13:40:11]
CNN international correspondent, Scott McLean, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, you have to remember that the Hajj pilgrimage is almost entirely outdoors and it is physical. Most people have to walk long distances every day to reach the different sites.
Now, Saudi Arabia had misting systems in place and water stations passing out bottles. But one pilgrim from Indonesia, for instance, said that whenever more water bottles were delivered, those sites were quickly overrun by people trying to get some.
He said that, in the three kilometer or so walk between one of the sites and his hotel, he saw dozens of people who had passed out and some who had even died and no help in sight.
Now many of the pilgrims were not officially registered. And that means that they may have lacked the same transportation options or air-conditioned tents that others had.
One man from the U.K. said that those unregistered people instead set up make-shift tent cities in whatever shade they could find or make. And they got very little medical attention.
Listen.
ZIRRAR ALI, HAJJ PILGRIM: The ambulance and the medics were not stepping into any of the places that -- I didn't see them once go into a place and try to help somebody.
And so, to me, it felt like there are too many people, there's not enough medics. And so they're just waiting for the worst of the worst to happen and then they'll step in.
So people passing out, it seemed like it was a regularity, they expected it. And so the idea is that you should just take care of yourself.
MCLEAN: CNN has reached out to the Saudi government for comment.
Now, the death toll is likely to still yet rise, at least in part, because Reuters is reporting that there are as many as 600 Egyptians who died in this extreme heat. Most of them were not officially registered as pilgrims and their deaths have not yet been officially announced -- Fredricka?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Scott McLean.
And we have this breaking news. We're now learning that to Americans died during the Hajj.
Joining us right now is Saida Wurie. Her parents passed away while on their pilgrimage to Mecca.
And, Saida, I am so sorry to talk to you about this and I cannot imagine how heartbroken you are.
How did you learn about what happened to your parents? And did I get this right? Your parents are 65 and 71?
SAIDA WURIE, PARENTS DIED DURING HAJJ PILGRIMAGE: Yes, that's correct.
WHITFIELD: What happened? I mean, how -- how were you notified? You knew that they were going to the Hajj. It's something they've been wanting to do since they married many, many years ago. And now they're embarking on their trip. You thought they were
probably having a fantastic time. But then, how were you informed that this tragically -- you know, it ended with their passing?
WURIE: So we received a phone call from someone within their group who advised us that they had been missing for a few days, that they were the only two who hadn't returned back to their hotel after the Hajj was completed.
I tried tracking them a few times on the phone. I believe their phones may have died. We tried reaching out to the U.S. embassy. Ultimately, the same person who advised us that they were missing advised that he went around to a bunch of hospitals and that they have passed away.
And I was able to confirm from that with the consulate general's office in Saudi Arabia that they had passed away.
WHITFIELD: Well, that must have been, I mean, unbelievably horrible and difficult to try and get confirmation about the whereabouts of your parents, to find out that they passed away.
Have you been given any kind of explanation as to the circumstances, what happened?
WURIE: All we know is that it was of natural causes. And someone from the U.S. embassy did advise that natural causes could have been due to a heat stroke, which, based on the temperature -- people were saying it was over 110 degrees.
There are millions of people. They have to walk long hours. So it was more than likely a heat stroke for both of my parents.
WHITFIELD: Your mom was a nurse, right? She just retired last year. And as I mentioned, they've been wanting to do this for a really long time.
How were they prepared or prepped at all about any possible dangers? I mean, what -- what kind of support system do you think your -- your parents had while embarking on this trip?
WURIE: Honestly, I don't think that they were properly prepared for this trip. There was a group of them, maybe up to 100 people, that were traveling under a certain agency.
And, you know, they saved their life savings. I think it was about $11,500 per person, that they've saved their entire lives -- they saved their entire lives to embark on this journey.
[13:45:04]
And they weren't -- they didn't receive the proper preparation, the proper documents. It was just a nightmare overall experience of a trip.
WHITFIELD: I mean, collectively $23,000, as you said, their life savings for this trip. They were with a group you said of about 100 people?
Have you heard anything about the group or the leaders of the group or any kind of detail about how your parents were doing and what they encountered and experienced?
WURIE: Well, I was able -- I am very close with both of my parents. We talk all day every day. We have a group chat with my brothers and I. And they kept us updated every step of the way.
So based on -- on the conditions, it sound like they did not receive what they paid for. They talked about not having the proper transportation. They talked about days where the company did not provide food for them.
They had to come together as -- the people who were in the group, they had to come together to find food on certain days. On certain days, they weren't able to leave their hotel rooms because they didn't have the proper credentials.
So it was a team effort in order to get food. They decided they were going to make the journey and try to do the walk. And that's what they did.
So the entire experience was a nightmare. And they did keep us -- they kept us abreast the entire way.
As far as the rest of the group, some of them have -- they did complete it. I will note that there was another person from the DMV area that also passed away. Actually, two people in their group that also passed away. I don't know their circumstances.
There are others who, when they got to Saudi Arabia, realized that this is not what they signed up for. And some of them did turn back. So they didn't even get to try to complete the journey.
So just overall has just been a horrific experience with -- with who they paid to take this pilgrimage.
WHITFIELD: And this is definitely horrible. I'm so sorry you and the family are going through this.
So now are you hearing anything from Saudi Arabia or even the group that led this? Tell me, what are you going to do? What can you do now? What about even recovering the bodies of your parents?
WURIE: So we did get word from the consulate general -- the consulate general's office that both of my parents were already buried.
We did ask that the Saudi government hold the bodies in order for us to travel to Saudi Arabia to at least give them the proper burial with the children being present, being able to identify the bodies. Unfortunately, they have already been buried.
Our next step is to locate where they have been buried. The consulate general's office was unable to tell us the location. They advised that maybe in the next week, the Saudi government should be advising the nationalities of the information of the citizens and where to collect their belongings.
So we are hoping that we do get support to locate where they have been buried so that we can pay our respects and get some type of closure since we aren't going to be able to see them or bury them again ourselves.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, Saida. I don't know what to say besides this is absolutely horrible and I'm very sorry for you all.
Do you expect that you are going to yourself be heading to Saudi Arabia?
WURIE: Yes. Myself and my brothers and my family. My parents come from a big family and we've been receiving an enormous amount of support. So we have a team actually that were all going to go to Saudi once we are able to locate exactly where they have been buried.
WHITFIELD: All right. Saida Wurie, I'm so sorry. Again, my heart goes out to you and your whole family. Sorry you're going through this.
WURIE: Thank you. I appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: All right, we wish you the best.
[13:49:02]
And we'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: NASA announced last night it's delaying Boeing Starliner's return to earth from the International Space Station.
CNN's Gary Tuchman has more.
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(ENGINE NOISE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The launch from Florida was picture perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE)
TUCHMAN: The Starliner spacecraft, manufactured by Boeing, a test flight on its way to the International Space Station, successfully docking with the ISS just over two weeks ago.
The two astronauts on board the Starliner? Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
SUNITA "SUNI" WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT: So here we are in the front of the International Space Station where our spacecraft docked.
TUCHMAN: But even before they docked with the space station and as they gave this tour of the Starliner, they knew the trip wasn't going to be exactly routine.
WILLIAMS: Let's go forward into Starliner where there was a little bit of action the other day.
TUCHMAN: The action involved spacecraft issues, specifically helium leaks and thruster problems that have delayed the two astronauts' return to Earth.
LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: The bottom line is the helium leaks are about, you know, pretty small. NASA says they can tolerate about 100 times what's currently leaking.
Had five thrusters fail on the way to the station. Four of them have been reactivated. One remains disabled. Shouldn't keep them from coming home safely.
[13:55:04]
TUCHMAN: But it has kept them from returning as scheduled. The return date has now been adjusted three times.
NASA saying Astronauts Williams and Wilmore will now return home sometime in July, staying in space for weeks more than planned as the problems continue to be worked on.
NASA declaring:
STEVE STICH, MANAGER, NASA COMMERCIAL CREW PROJECT (voice-over): We're taking a little bit of extra time to work through what we've seen and make sure we have all the plans in place to -- to bring the crew home in a nominal situation for -- for the end of mission.
So, we're just taking a little more extra time to review all the data and also learn as much as we can while we have this service module in orbit.
TUCHMAN: Despite the problems, the atmosphere on board with all the space station astronauts has been nothing less than jovial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Congratulations to all the NASA and Boeing teams on this incredible milestone. Butch and Suni, the ISS flight control team is thrilled to see you back on ISS.
TUCHMAN: This is Boeing's first docking with the ISS after numerous issues and cost overruns, which have led to corporate embarrassment and uncertainty.
And now, there is more of that, as engineers on the ground are working to learn more about these problems that have plagued the journey.
Despite the issues that surround the Starliner, the two astronauts appear to be taking it all in stride.
BARRY "BUTCH" WILMORE, NASA ASTRONAUT: I'm not sure we could have gotten a better welcome. I mean --
(LAUGHTER)
WILMORE: -- we had music. We had pojo (ph). Matt was dancing.
(LAUGHTER)
WILMORE: It was great.
TUCHMAN: And if all goes as planned, they'll be back on earth sometime next month.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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