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Just Five Days Until Biden And Trump Face Off In CNN Debate; Biden Staying At Camp David For CNN Debate Prep; American Paul Whelan Spreads More Than 2,000 Days In Russian Prison; NASA Postpones Boeing Starliner's Return To Earth; L.A. To Ban Students From Using Smart Phones During School Day. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 22, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Our team traveled all the way to the northeast of Iceland to the Krafla Geothermal Plant.

When drilling a new burr hole here at Krafla, they accidentally hit a shallow magma chamber and now, are working on harnessing the Earth's energy almost directly from the extremely hot magma.

The project's director says this technology could provide clean energy for hundreds of millions of people.

HAITI PALL INGOLFSSON, KRAFLA MAGMA TESTBED: We have a very big part of humanity living close to a volcano, and if we are able to harness the volcano directly, reducing the risk by lowering the pressure and lowering the tension in the volcano, then of course, we have a win-win situation.

PLEITGEN (voice over): Using the Earth's natural energy without burning fossil fuels, the scientists acknowledge there is still a long way to go and a lot to be learned, but they also believe the potential energy supply could be virtually limitless and totally clean.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: All right, tune in "Violent Earth" with Liev Schreiber, new episode airs tomorrow at 9:00 PM.

We've got another hour of news. Let's go.

[18:01:16]

JIMENEZ: Hi, everyone.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Omar Jimenez in Washington.

We are just five days, people, five days away from the first presidential debate of 2024 and today, we are seeing a pretty stark difference between incumbent President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, as the two men prepare for this high-stakes face-off. Now, Biden is holding intense meetings with a close group of advisers

at Camp David; Trump is right now hitting the campaign trail. Here he is just a few hours ago at an event in Washington rallying his supporters for the big showdown with Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nobody is going to be watching the debate on Thursday night, right? Nobody.

Will anybody be watching?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: All right, CNN's Steve Contorno is live in Philadelphia, where Trump is going to be speaking tonight. And Steve, I just want to ask a little bit about, are we hearing anything new about any potential pick for vice president from the former president?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, we have been hearing for while that the president has -- former president, excuse me has decreased his shortlist down to just three names at this point: JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor and he was just making a stop in Pennsylvania for some Philly cheesesteaks where he was asked if he had made a decision. He said: "In my mind, yes," and someone said, do they know who it is? And he said "No, nobody knows."

Now, Trump has previously said that he is most likely going to wait until the convention to announce that pick, but he said he might go ahead and do that in the coming weeks instead, and we have been hearing for a while that again those three names are the frontrunners, though Trump, you know, he has also been floating some other individuals' names out there, Elise Stefanik, Tom Cotton, his former HUD secretary, Ben Carson.

So those are sort of the names that we are monitoring entering this final stretch where we expect the former president to make a decision.

JIMENEZ: All right, Steve Contorno at a campaign rally where we do expect to see Donald Trump a little bit later this evening. Really appreciate the reporting.

Now while Trump hits the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, sources tell us President Biden is going over binders, going over possible scenarios, holding mock debates as he huddles with a close team of advisers at Camp David.

CNN senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak is here with us in the studio with more details on how the president is preparing for this high-stakes debate really at this point.

So what do we know?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, were on day two of debate camp out of Camp David in the mountains of Maryland and what we are hearing is that it is going to start off relatively informally.

They have prepared these binders for the president to go through it, it kind of crystallizes the policy differences between himself and former President Trump. It has some questions, it has some potential answers, and I think really their goal is to bat around some retorts, some zingers, some comebacks, really try and frame the debate in the way they want it to.

Eventually, we are told that this is going to culminate into some of these mock debates. The full 90 minutes standing at a podium, going back and forth, and it has been interesting because we've been hearing over this past week or so from Bob Bauer. He is the president's personal attorney and he played President Trump in Biden's mock debates back in 2020, and he talked about what it was like to sort of embody Trump in that. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB BAUER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Whenever you do this, you want to strike a balance between trying to approximate the experience, but it is not an opportunity for theatrics, that's a distraction.

[18:05:06]

So you want to find some balance between recreating the experience and not attempting to, if you will, audition for "Saturday Night Live."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So not an impersonation, more of a character study, if you will.

I think if you were to down the strategy here, it is too sharpen that contrast, make voters absolutely clear that this is a choice between Trump and Biden in November, particularly for those people who just haven't been paying attention until now.

JIMENEZ: And look, just give us a little bit more insight into what is this team he is working with, what is this team he has assembled to try and prepare here?

LIPTAK: Yes, and it is actually a fairly large number of people that he has got out there at Camp David over the next couple of days. You know, he has got the traditional advisers, the people who have been with him for a long time, people like Ron Klain, the former chief-of- staff. Aside from being his former chief-of-staff, he is the most seasoned Democratic debate coach that you can find. He has been doing this for a long time. He has got Mike Donilon and Jeff Zients, these people who are with him in the White House all the time.

On the policy side, he has got Jake Sullivan, the National Security adviser. He has also got Bruce Reed, the policy chief in the White House. He has got some messaging people like Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon.

He also has people from the campaign side, Michael Tyler, Quentin Fulks, Rob Flaherty, people who haven't necessarily been in the Biden orbit for a ton of time, but are coming in and are contributing to all of this.

He has also got Jen O'Malley Dillon, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Cedric Richmond -- people who are sort of voices on the political side who have been helping Biden kind of frame this over the last several months.

Normally, when a president is out at Camp David, they like to get outside a little bit. I looked it up. The high was 98 degrees at Camp David.

JIMENEZ: Just three times a day.

LIPTAK: Yes, I think they are getting the air conditioning, but certainly, they've got a lot of work to do.

JIMENEZ: And it will be interesting to see you because look, the dynamic over policy disagreements when you're actually the president versus fighting for your policies on a debate stage, very different dynamic, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

Kevin Liptak, really appreciate it.

I want to go now to someone who does have experience managing those dynamics. Joining us is former ABC News anchor, Carole Simpson. She made history in 1988 becoming the first woman, an African American, to be the sole moderator of a presidential debate for a major network.

Carole, thanks for being here. I really, really appreciate your time. I want to just first --

CAROLE SIMPSON, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Hi.

JIMENEZ: Yes, well, we will get to that in a second. I just want to first get your reaction though on really the unprecedented nature of this debate. We've got an incumbent president and a rematch against a twice-impeached former president.

How would you be preparing going into this debate?

SIMPSON: I am so excited about this debate because it is going to be like none other.

How would I prepare to moderate such a debate? You really almost can't, because you don't know what Trump -- because he is the unknown factor, and who knows what he may do or say during the debate. And so I think Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are having a really tough time trying to anticipate all the things that could happen like even someone falling out, fainting. I mean, you don't know. So I think it would be very difficult.

In 1992, when I moderated that debate, it was very easy because everybody was good, everybody behaved. They listened to the commission's rulings and they kept by the rules. This time, who knows?

JIMENEZ: And that is part of why the hope is that some of these rules that are in place like time limits and cutting the mics once that time limit has been reached and a lack of audience may tamp down maybe some of those extraneous factors.

But as you mentioned, you can't -- you can't predict what is going to happen on stage, especially with these two candidates.

And look, we've also never had two candidates in their late 70s and 80s on the debate stage before and obviously, age has been an issue for both of these candidates over the course of their campaigns, and I guess, this is a big opportunity for voters to see these candidates actually in an environment where there is no teleprompter, it is not a campaign rally.

And I guess my question to you is, do you think that adds a different level of expectations from the voters who will be watching at home?

SIMPSON: Well, everybody is expecting Biden to mess up, to do something that may kill his chances of ever being re-elected.

But let me tell you, I am 83 and Biden is 81, and I know he is walking slowly and I know he is holding on and looking tentative, I am, too. You're 80.

[18:10:02]

So, things are not -- your legs and things aren't moving as well as they used to be some years ago, but the brain, the brain is still functioning.

And I think if Trump tries to make an issue of Biden's cognitive ability, it sounds so ridiculous to me that he is trying to bring that up, but Biden is smart and he is sharp and I think he will do well answering the questions at the debate and Trump, I think is who knows what?

He is showing age, too. He is having trouble finding words and there are some cognitive decline there, too than in 2016 or 2020 even.

So, I think everybody is going to want to see what these old guys are able to do and Biden has a chance to show people, yes, I'm old, but I can do the job, and Trump, I don't know if he is going to be able to show that he is cognitively able and able to do the job.

So I think the age thing will override every other thing that will be talked about.

JIMENEZ: Well, and we will know in just a few days, of course, when this actually kicks off and as we were talking about the rules a little bit with this debate, one of them will be to mute each candidate's mics once their time is up while the other candidate responds to a question.

Look, it might not stop them from muttering or verbally reacting to the other based on past debates, Trump is known for doing exactly that.

I want to play a moment from one of their 2020 debates. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, THEN CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The question is -- the question is --

TRUMP: Why won't you answer the question -- radical left -- well, listen.

BIDEN: Would you shut up, man?

TRUMP: Who is on your list, Joe? Who is on your list?

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: All right, gentlemen. I think we've ended this --

BIDEN: This is so unpresidential.

WALLACE: We have then -- no, no.

TRUMP: He's attacked the court. He is not going to give a list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So I guess the question is, how do you think muted mics will impact this debate or do you think we are just going to see another dynamic like what we just saw there?

SIMPSON: No I think -- I think the muting of the microphones is a good idea because it was disastrous in 2020. I watch all the debates. I am a debate junkie, so I watch them all and it was so bad last time.

They looked like little school kids in the school yard talking to each other.

So I think the ability for the moderators to be able to turn down Trump, it is he we have to worry about, it is not Biden, but he is the one that wants to talk over his candidate.

So I think it will be a great idea, and the fact that there is no audience, another great idea, because people show their favoritism and that is not fair.

JIMENEZ: Now look, we know based on history that as people watch, they are going to be looking at every detail they possibly can. One tiny slip-up could even overshadow a candidate's entire performance and potentially even put them in a bad place for the race as a whole.

So I guess, what can a candidate do to avoid one of these moments? And are there moments that come to mind for you that really, you thought put a candidate in a bad spot?

SIMPSON: Yes, in my debate, George HW Bush, the father, was running in debate with Ross Perot and Bill Clinton and I remember people after the debate telling me why did Bush keep looking at his watch? And because I was tied up with moderating, I hadn't noticed that he had done that. But people really, all kinds of people were saying, where did he have

to go? That really struck them, that he was looking at his watch. And then when I watched the debate, I saw four times he had checked his watch and it did look like he wanted to get out of there. So that was a thing that really hurt.

And I don't know how you avoid those things. We are human beings. You react to things as they happen. It is hard not to, and your forget that there are 10 cameras on you and that people all over the world are watching you.

And so, I think about the fly in Mike Pence's head that was so funny.

JIMENEZ: That had a whole life of its own.

SIMPSON: It did. It did. It became a meme, so you know, things can happen. And as I say, we are human beings and we react. Unfortunately, sometimes, not wisely, but we do react.

JIMENEZ: Well, look all of those --

SIMPSON: Oh, can I tell you --

JIMENEZ: Yes, go ahead.

SIMPSON: Can I tell you one other thing? I think the fact that it is being held so early is good because people can focus in more intently on the campaign.

[18:15:10]

But, you know, by November, if they don't have a debate in September, they're going to forget about this, you know?

And I am wondering what can happen in-between time that this debate will mean nothing except for the history books?

JIMENEZ: Well, look, we will have that answer very soon. We will start with the debate itself in just a few days where, as you mentioned, anything can happen. We will try to keep an eye out for a fly getting into the studio, hopefully, not the case this time around.

Carole Simpson, appreciate you being here.

SIMPSON: Thank you, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right, now, in an exclusive interview with CNN, detained American, Paul Whelan is appealing for the White House to help him come back home as he marks another milestone in a remote Russian prison camp. He has now been detained more than 2,000 days, that's five-and-a-half years.

Whelan was arrested in Moscow in 2018 on espionage charges he denies. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The State Department says he was wrongfully detained, telling CNN that "2,000 days is far too long for Paul to be wrongfully detained in Russia. Our hearts go out to Paul and his family who feel the pain of separation in a way that very few people have experienced."

CNN's Jenny Hansler is with me now.

Now, Jenny you spoke to Paul. You've spoken to him multiple times at this point. What else did he have to say?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Omar, he was incredibly disheartened and kind of disbelief at the fact that he has now been detained in Russia for five-and-a-half years, for 2,000 days.

He pointed out that you go to high school, for example, you go to college. Those are four years. Five-and-a-half years far surpasses these major life events.

So he is calling on the Biden administration to take decisive action to bring home both himself and Evan Gershkovich, the detained "Wall Street Journal" reporter.

He says he believes the US government is taking his case seriously, but he wants them to take it more seriously. And he laid out a series of actions he thinks would show that the US government is taking decisive measures here.

Take a listen to what he told me.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, DETAINED AMERICAN IN RUSSIA: The US needs to go out and do something, you know, fill up Guantanamo Bay with Russian officials, arrest Russian spies, do something that makes the Kremlin sit up and take notice and say, okay, yes, right. Now it is time that we are going to get Evan and Paul back and then we want back what you've got of ours and we'll call it a day.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANSLER: And now, it is interesting because he makes the argument that until the US takes such action, they will continue to detain Americans in Russia and we have seen a number of Americans detained over the past months and years there.

The other interesting thing, Omar, is that he is aware that Evan's trial is coming up next week. He thinks this could be a milestone for both of their cases because in the past, we've seen Russia want to move forward with these trials and exact these convictions which the US government says are false, which Paul pointed out are false, but he thinks this could be helpful in his case.

But in the meantime, he has now spent 2,000 days in detention and a good majority of that has been in this really remote Russian labor camp about a day's drive from Moscow and he describes the conditions there as just absolutely deplorable.

This is what you told me about them yesterday.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

WHELAN: Everything is dusty and dirty and nasty and you do everything you can just to stay cool and to stay clean. The food we are served is horrible.

We really do rely on personal purchases to stay healthy, medical care is nil. There is no dental care at all. It is the worst environment you can imagine.

I mean, it is unbelievable that anyone could even consider this human rights. It is nothing that you can get used to.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANSLER: So he is calling on the US to do everything they can to bring him home. The US government says that they are working on this. It is a top priority. We know they've put forward what they described as a substantial proposal to the Russians. At this point, the Russians have not said yes to that proposal. We don't even know if they are seriously considering it at this point -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: And look, it has been so much time at this point.

Jenny, thank you for bringing us his perspective and with your reporting. Appreciate it.

All right, we are following a lot of stories as well, ahead, including when we could see some relief from scorching hot temperatures that are smothering more than a hundred million Americans this weekend.

Plus, a pair of astronauts are still in space as Boeing races to understand what is wrong with its new top of the line space craft that is supposed to be their ride home.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:24:21]

JIMENEZ: All right, if you haven't felt it already, over a hundred million Americans are under a heat advisory this weekend as temperatures have been in soaring.

The I-95 Corridor, in particular, which stretches up and down the East Coast, will have extreme temperatures potentially topping a hundred degrees.

CNN correspondent, Polo Sandoval has been out in these temperatures and joins us now from New York.

All right, Polo, what have you felt? What have you seen? How are New Yorkers handling this? POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Earlier, Omar, it was unbearably

hot, and if one of the children here with the water gun would have taken aim at me. I certainly would not have complained.

Now though, there is at least a little bit of a break, courtesy of some clouds from some nearby thunderstorms. But elsewhere around the region, about a hundred million people are still under heat-related advisories.

[18:25:10]

They were issued by the National Weather Service.

In Washington, DC, the nation's capital, inching closer to a hundred degrees today as a result. The mayor of that city extending heat emergency likely going to last towards the weekend and into next week.

So we are seeing not just some of the younger folks affected enjoying themselves, but also, you see a lot of cooling centers that have been opened by some of the cities to make sure that some of those people, particularly the unhouses, have a cool place to go while this heat continues.

So, it is going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming days. But for now, if you're not in the water, you're at least enjoying some of it at one of the water features behind me.

This is a snapshot of what you'll likely see in American cities throughout the Northeast -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Both solid other places to be, Polo Sandoval, you picked the right place to do your live shot today. Appreciate it.

All right, I want to take a wider look right now and bring in meteorologist, Elisa Raffa, who joins us now.

All right, it sounds like the nation's capital is also breaking records when it comes to the heat that's why I am indoors, unlike, Polo. But yes, what are we looking at?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Be careful when you step outside, Omar.

We hit 100 degrees in DC today, for the first time since August 2016. It has been to 2,600 -- I am sorry, 2,868 days since DC has hit a 100- degree temperature, and even more remarkable, the last time that we hit these types of temperatures in June was 2012, twelve years ago because in June, we typically don't see this type of extreme heat this early in the season.

I mean, look at the temperatures. It is coming down to 97 right now in DC. We hit 101 degrees in Baltimore as well today, 96 right now, and Nashville, 96; in Atlanta, 94 degrees down in Little Rock and these temperatures today across the Baltimore-Washington area, all three of the major airports hit 100 degrees. Like I said, in Baltimore, it hit 101. At this early in the season, it is extreme and it is unusual. We do

know that this is the Climate Shift Index here and what it does is it helps us calculate the influence of climate change on daily extreme temperatures. And you see these oranges and these reds here, it tells us that the temperatures here today were made at least two to three times more likely due to climate change.

We are seeing these temperatures get more extreme sooner in the season as our summer heat season simply just gets longer.

Here is a look at those alerts from New York to Philly down to DC over towards Cleveland as well, it will keep these temperatures above 90 degrees for more than 80 percent of Americans through the next couple of days.

We are looking at so many more records falling, more than 250 records could fall both daytime highs and overnight lows because we just don't get that relief at night. We are looking at temperatures only falling into the middle and upper 70s after you hit 100 during the day. So really muggy, really hard to get relief, especially for those without air conditioning -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Obviously, major health concerns there as you laid out.

Elisa Raffa, thank you so much.

All right, coming up, a pair of astronauts will be staying in space at least a few more days as Boeing and NASA try to work out issues with the spacecraft that is supposed to be bringing them back home. We are going to talk to a former NASA astronaut about what could be going on here, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:33:00]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back. Delayed for the third time. I'm not talking about flight delays. NASA is once again postponing the Boeing Starliner capsule's return to Earth from the International Space Station.

Now, if you remember, Starliner's first crewed mission launched on June 5th after several scrubs, the mission was supposed to last nine days, but now NASA says flight commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams will not be back until July, staying in space for weeks more than planned.

So joining us to discuss this, former NASA astronaut and Columbia University professor, Mike Massimino.

All right, Mike, first of all, what is causing these delays? What's at stake here? I guess I should ask too.

MIKE MASSIMINO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes, Omar. I don't know if that's as big of a deal as we think it might be, because - or less as it sounds. I know they've had some issues. They had a helium leak. They've had a problem with some of the thrusters. It seems like they've solved the leak problem. As far as the thrusters go, they're down to just missing one. So they have 27 out of 28 working.

It really gives them a little more time to check out the spacecraft. It gives the crew on board a little more time to - the station crew that's already there, a little more time to interact with the new astronauts to get a little help with things. And it also gives Butch and Suni some extra time on orbit.

So, you know, it was planned for nine days, but that was really a minimum. I would look at it as that it's going to be between nine and 45. The longer they can stay in general is a good thing because they can check the spacecraft out for a longer period of time. It is cleared if there's an emergency, if they had to come home right away, they can. It's been cleared for an emergency. So what this really does is gives them a little extra time on board to check out the spaceship.

JIMENEZ: Yes. No, it's great perspective. That's why we've got you here.

Now, look, I want you to take a listen to NASA's manager of the Commercial Crew Program, who said this on Wednesday.

[18:35:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE STICH, MANAGER, NASA COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM: 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 bring the crew home in a nominal situation 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: So reviewing data, learning as much as they can while the service module is in orbit. And you were talking a little bit about this. I mean, is this also a situation where you are just trying to learn maybe what went wrong here to fix it for the next time a similar voyage like this is made?

MASSIMINO: Absolutely, Omar. I think that's a great way to look at it. This is a test flight and there are two test pilots on board. So they really want to test the vehicle and find out as much as they can before they have the next flight, which they're going to be considered more of an operational flight. This flight was designed to learn as much as they can about the spacecraft.

And they said - the interesting thing they mentioned there, the orbital module, that does not return. So there's two pieces that are up at the space station, the crew module and the orbital module. The crew - the orbital module is going to be used to help them get home and then it's not coming back to Earth. So the crew module, for example, they're going to get that back. They can study it and get some more data on it. But this is the last time they're really going to be able to get data on the orbital module. They want to make sure that it's performing as best they can.

So there really is no rush here to get them home. And, you know, the thing is that it's coinciding with a couple of problems. You know, if everything was smooth and they didn't have the problem with the leak or the thrusters and they were staying extra time, it'd probably be a different story. But because they had those problems, you know, we're wondering, is that the cause of the stay on board?

Well, not really. The extended stay gives them some extra time and it really is a win-win. Hopefully, they'll learn a lot in the next few days. They'll probably get them home, I think, in early July. And I think it's going to be a good conclusion, at least I'm hoping.

JIMENEZ: And I got to pick your brain a little bit on this, too, because ...

MASSIMINO: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... look, you have been to space, if my notes are correct, you've done multiple spacewalks at this point.

MASSIMINO: Mm-hmm.

JIMENEZ: And not everything goes smoothly up there. You do run into ...

MASSIMINO: No.

JIMENEZ: ... things that you have to fix and deal with in the moment. And so just bring us into the mentality of, you know, what it's like to actually be up there, either on your own ...

MASSIMINO: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... or with just a few people, and you're trying ...

MASSIMINO: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... to actually problem solve when you're looking down at the Earth.

MASSIMINO: Yes. Well, it's extraordinary. It's interesting. The whole experience is pretty amazing because you're doing your job, but you're also having this amazing experience. As you say, looking down at the Earth and the stars and being up there and floating around is just an extraordinary experience. But really what you're focused on is the job you have.

And Suni and Butch are good friends of mine, great astronauts. The right people for this job to make sure the spacecraft is working correctly. I also want to point out, Omar, it's not just the crew on board, it's the thousands of people down on the ground, you know, the people working for the contractor, Boeing, and the dedicated people in the mission control center.

You've mentioned, I think it was Steve Stich that you had the recording on. I know him very well as I worked with him for many years. These are really dedicated people. So it's not just the troubleshooting on orbit. It's really the folks on the ground doing a lot of the hard work, and thinking, and planning and making sure that everything is going to be okay with the spacecraft so that the crew comes back safely and that the space - they learn enough about the spaceship so that when they launch it again, they feel very confident it's going to work appropriately.

JIMENEZ: No, it's a good way to put it, to learn as much as we can while they've got the instruments at their fingertips here.

MASSIMINO: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate the perspective.

MASSIMINO: You bet. My pleasure, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right. Meanwhile, the country's second biggest school district is moving to ban students from using phones during the school day. Next, we're going to talk with a member of the L.A. School Board about how they plan to actually carry that plan out and keep it in place. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:43:36]

JIMENEZ: Students in the nation's second largest school districts will no longer be able to use their smart phones during the school day starting in 2025. Now, that's after a vote by the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Nick Melvoin is the board member that spearheaded the new limits and joins us now.

All right, Nick, so cellphone use was already banned in class, but how does this go further and how do you expect it to help kids?

NICK MELVOIN, L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER: Yes. Well, first, thanks for having me. So the current policy for L.A. Unified School District hasn't been updated since 2011, which of course kind of predates the ubiquity of smart phones. And when - in my school visits every week, and prior to that, I was a teacher in the school district, I saw how students are glued not unlike adults to their phones, and they are using it in class. They're not as subtle as they think they are, as same with adults. Teachers were having to police this on a case-by-case basis and kind of gave up.

But I also saw that in hallways, on the lunch yard, during recess, kids were glued to their phones. And so there's a growing body of research that has crystallized what I've seen in my visits and I think so many others have seen, but also that shows the harmful effects that phone use is having on kids. Their academic achievement is down, their mental health is suffering, their physical health is suffering. So my hope is through creating a phone-free school day. We can have

kids focus on academics, on one another, on being kids and remove the responsibility of teachers and administrators from having to police this, as that's taking an increasing amount of their time.

[18:45:04]

JIMENEZ: Yes. And you touched on a little bit of this earlier, but so many high school teachers have said cellphone distraction is a major problem in the classroom, 72 percent in a recent Pew Research report. And I know you talked a little bit about it here, but was there anything in particular that made you say, all right, enough is enough, we actually do need to take significant action here?

MELVOIN: You know, I've wanted to do this. I've been on the school board for seven years and I've wanted to do it since day one. And I think there were folks with murmurs around, oh, the cat's out of the bag. You can't really do this. And, you know, Jonathan Haidt has a new book out called "The Anxious Generation." The Surgeon General of the United States, just on Monday, suggested that social media companies have warnings for kids the way that tobacco products do.

So I really do think it's a moment whose time has come. You know, now that it's been over a decade since we've had this student smart phone use, we're starting to see those effects. And I think it's really reached a fever pitch. As soon as the Board of Education passed my resolution in L.A. on Tuesday, about an hour later, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, announced that he'd like to do it statewide. So I really do think we're kind of reaching this tipping point where everyone is coming out of the woodwork to say, yes, can we finally monitor student cellphone use during the school day?

JIMENEZ: All right. I hate to ask - to even have to ask this question, but it is a reality in some of our schools across the U.S. And some parents have said that in an unfortunate time where there's an incident at school, whether it's a school shooting or just another unsafe situation, they might worry that they not - might not be able to locate their child in an emergency if they don't have their phone on them. How does this - the ban of use work in a situation like that? They will still have the phones on them, correct?

MELVOIN: Yes, in some cases, some phones - some schools may adopt cellphone pouches like the - folks might be familiar with at concerts or comedy shows. Others will check them in a locker. You know, it is such a tragic sign in the times that that is where our head goes when it comes to schools and emergencies. And I think we have to do a much better job in this country of gun violence prevention and keeping kids safe.

But public safety experts agree that it is actually safer in an emergency, whether that's a lockdown or a school shooting situation, God forbid, for students not to have their phones for a number of reasons. One is a beep or even a vibration can give away the location to an assailant. If every kid is texting their parent and then - and they in turn are calling 911, it can and has overwhelmed the switchboard or overwhelmed the school. So even though viscerally we all want to be able to check in

immediately, it is actually safer if we let adults deal with emergencies, follow school procedures, and make sure kids are safe. And so that is something that will be addressed during implementation. Schools need to make sure that they're communicating better with parents and with the community. But it is in those unfortunate and horrific situations safer for kids actually not to have their cellphones.

JIMENEZ: Well, it's the hope that the adults handle it in the way that it needs to be handled. I want to ask you, because you have another threshold ahead when this policy is presented at a public board meeting, as I understand. How do you expect local parents to react? Have you gotten feedback from parents who have learned of the news and are - know of what's ahead?

MELVOIN: Yes, you know, I spent a lot of time working with parents and teachers to craft this resolution that the board's passed. And as part of its implementation, we're going to continue to work with teachers and parents and students to talk about the harmful effects and also about the implementation. And it's my hope that over the course of that process, schools will embrace this.

We have some schools in L.A. that are - have already gone phone free during the entire school day. And none of those schools want to go back, including the students. They realize how much more present they are, how much less FOMO, the fear of missing out, they have because they're not texting during class time. And so it's my hope that we actually get to a point where schools embrace this and they realize that putting your phone down for six hours is not the end of the world. If anything, it can let you reconnect with each other and with your teacher.

So we will be working, again, on that implementation, whether it's the cellphone pouches or the lockers which I think just trying to spend time and the Surgeon General's warning this week is helpful in convincing parents that this is in their kids' best interest. And maybe by kind of a trickle-up effect, we can also try to monitor adult smart phone use as well over the coming months and years.

JIMENEZ: Oh, that's a separate issue entirely to think kids are going to be tough to deal with, I think we're a different beast here. But the nation's second largest school district, so this could end up being a model from - for a whole lot of places across the country, depending on how this goes. Nick Melvoin, thanks for being here. Thanks for the time and perspective.

MELVOIN: Yes, thanks for having me on.

JIMENEZ: Of course. All right, everyone, we'll be right back.

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[18:54:21]

JIMENEZ: With the 2024 election fast approaching, America's neighbor to the south is shaping up to have a big impact on who wins the White House. Fareed Zakaria explores in a new documentary airing this weekend, "America's Mess in Mexico."

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FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": From the border to the economy, to the cartels, America's relationship with Mexico is crucial and very complicated. I'll be exploring this pivotal relationship in depth in my new documentary airing Sunday at 8 PM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A breaking point at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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[18:55:02]

ZAKARIA (voice over): Year after year, records at the border are shattered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A major surge of border crossings.

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ZAKARIA (voice over): Over 2.4 million migrants were apprehended last year, an all-time high.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those numbers have been staggering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA (voice over): Breaking the record set just one year earlier, which topped the record set the year before that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at the point of no return.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA (voice over): People have been coming ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everywhere from Haiti to Venezuela.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA (voice over): ... from all over the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: India, Vietnam, Afghanistan ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA (voice over): But one country that's actually not driving the surge is Mexico. At the start of the century, Mexicans made up 98 percent of the migrants at the southern border. Last year, only 29 percent were from Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAKARIA (on camera): Mexico and America are at a critical point in their history. I hope you'll join me this Sunday at 8 PM.

JIMENEZ: Can't wait to watch, Fareed. Thank you so much.

Lots more news ahead, former President Trump says he has his VP, even if they don't know it yet. We'll explain after the break.

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