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NASA Announces Boeing Starliner Crew Will Return to Earth Next Year Aboard SpaceX Spacecraft Due to Potential Malfunctions in Starliner Craft; Ceasefire Negotiations between Hamas and Israel in Cairo Stalled Over Question of Israeli Military Presence on Gaza- Egyptian Border; Kamala Harris Accepts Democratic Party's Presidential Nomination During Speech at Democratic National Convention; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Suspends Presidential Campaign and Endorses Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump; Tech CEO and Others Killed in Sinking of His Superyacht in Sicily; Second Former Memphis Police Officer Changes His Plea to Guilty in Killing of Tyre Nichols; Dr. Anthony Fauci Recovering from West Nile Virus; Grizzly Bear Seen in Yellowstone National Park. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired August 24, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:02:04]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin with breaking news this hour as NASA says the Starliner crew will return to earth next year, and on the SpaceX crewed Dragon spacecraft. The Boeing test flight is now on its 11th week after issues with the Starliner spacecraft kept them aboard the International Space Station longer than expected. And it comes after NASA met earlier today to review who would bring the astronauts back safely. Let's listen to administrator Bill Nelson with the announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed. And the specifics in the schedule will be discussed momentarily.

I want you to know that Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to get the necessary data to make this decision. We want to further understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner will serve as an important part of our assured crew access to the ISS. I have just talked to the new Boeing CEO, Kelly Ortberg. I have expressed this to this to him. I told him how well Boeing worked with our team to come to this decision. And he expressed to me an intention that they will continue to work the problems once Starliner is back safely, and that we will have our redundancy and our crewed access to the space station.

This whole discussion, remember, is put in the context of we have had mistakes done in the past. We lost two space shuttles as a result of there not being a culture in which information could come forward. We have been very solicitous of all of our employees that if you have some objection, you come forward. Spaceflight is risky even at its safest, and even at its most routine.

[14:05:08]

And a test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine. And so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety. Our core value is safety, and it is our north star. And I'm grateful to NASA and to Boeing for their teams, for all the incredible and detailed work to get to this decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was earlier today. CNN space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher is joining us right now. Kristin, I mean, that's a pretty remarkable decision, and it was one that came up with a lot of considerations. What is next?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN ANCHOR: I think this was probably the most consequential decision that NASA has had to make about crew safety in quite some time. And you hear NASA Administrator Bill Nelson saying that NASA was really learning from past mistakes. And so now what's going to happen is these two veteran astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, they're going to have to wait about the International Space Station until February of next year, at which point in time they're going to return to earth on a different spacecraft that's built and operated by different company. They're going to be coming back on SpaceX's crewed Dragon spacecraft.

As for the vehicle that got them into space, Starliner, remember this was the first crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. That vehicle is going to undock from the International Space Station in early September with no crew on board and return to earth.

In the end, NASA says it really came down to those thrusters. There was concern, and it turned out to be a unanimous decision by the decision-makers within NASA, there was concern that these thrusters could somehow not work at one of the most critical times. And that would be re-entering the earth's atmosphere. If Starliner's heat shield was not positioned in the exact right spot it would not be able to protect the crew from the incredibly high temperatures that the spacecraft has to endure when it re-enters the earth's atmosphere. Something very similar is what happened to the Columbia accident back in 2003.

And so, Fred, during this briefing, I asked the NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, I said, you were an astronaut yourself. You flew in space on the space shuttle. You were also a member of Congress and on the committee that investigated the Challenger accident. You were a senator when the Columbia accident happened. How much did that experience influence your decision today? Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: It has affected the decision today by this collective group and all of those that participated in the flight tests readiness review this morning. It is a trying to turn around the culture that first led to the loss of Challenger, and then lead to the loss of Columbia, where obvious mistakes were not being brought forth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: And so the big question now, Fred, is what happens to Boeing's Starliner program. Nasa says they're going to wait to make any decisions on that once this Starliner vehicle gets back to earth. But NASA Administrator Bill Nelson saying during this press conference that he is 100 percent certain that NASA astronauts will someday in the future fly on a Starliner again. So we'll see, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we will indeed. All right, Kristin Fisher, thank you so much.

Let's talk about this even further now. I'm joined now by retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Leroy, great to see you. I mean, is it your feeling that this is the decision that you were expecting?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes, I think everybody in the business is not surprised. Nobody is surprised, I should say. This is what we all thought was going to happen since more questions came out about those thrusters. And basically, those thrusters, as you heard, they're, getting too hot. And they believe the Teflon seals are bulging, being extruded out, and constricting propellant flow, causing a degradation of performance.

[14:10:03]

And as we also mentioned earlier, those thrusters are critical for lining up the spacecraft for the de-orbit burn to bring the astronauts down. And so this was the right decision. It's a little conservative. It's a flight test. There's going to be risk. But of course, we want to minimize what risks there is. Starliner will come down autonomously. Butch and Suni will basically replace two members of the Crew-9 mission. So they're going to be in space for a long time, about a cumulative time around eight months.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And what do you think that time is going to be like for them?

CHIAO: It'll be fine. They're both consummate professionals. They've both flown long-duration missions before. They know how to operate the space station, and they can learn how to operate the experiments that they haven't done before.

As far as coming down, they have not been trained on a crew Dragon. However, the Dragon only requires really one, and there will be two others who have, or two in total that have been trained on it who can fly though the craft back manually in some kind of manual mode if necessary. And so they'll come down to essentially as passengers. But they're going to fly suits up for them on the Crew-9 mission, and so they'll have the protection on the inside as well in case there's another, some kind of a problem.

WHITFIELD: And what does it say to you about the Boeing Starliner and its uncrewed return?

CHIAO: Yes, it's a pretty big hit for Boeing reputationally. The Starliner is already way behind schedule, cost almost twice as much to develop as SpaceX. SpaceX, of course, has been flying astronauts to and from ISS for around three years. And of course, it doesn't really look good for Boeing that SpaceX is going to step in and bring these two crew members down.

But you heard the commitment made. NASA does want at least two ways to get astronauts to and from ISS. So NASA is committing itself to making sure that Starliner does get redesigned, fixed up, and will eventually fly and take astronauts to and from ISS.

WHITFIELD: This is really unusual for a variety of reasons, but unusual that the astronauts will be brought back on a different apparatus than their actual launch. Does this send a stronger message to the future of space exploration?

CHIAO: Well, I think the message that it really sends is that, look, NASA has learned its lessons from the past, from Challenger and especially more recently Colombia, even though that itself was 21 years ago. But yes, they've learned these lessons, and we're not going to get complacent. We're not going to get carefree about this, if you will, and go ahead and bring them down on the Starliner just because. And there was enough evidence that we don't exactly understand what's going on to cause the members of flight readiness review to say, look, were going to take conservative approach, which I think is the right one, and bring them down on a SpaceX vehicle in February.

WHITFIELD: Overall, do you see this as a setback, or is this say step toward a better, stronger system?

CHIAO: Well, certainly a setback for Boeing, but as far as the overall program, I think it's a step forward that we are we have made sure that we didn't get complacent after the Columbia accident. After Challenger, after all those years, we got complacent again, even before Challenger and the Apollo One fire, it took almost the same number of years for complacency to creep back in. So this is good evidence that we did not allow that to happen after Columbia. And so it looks like we've really learned our lesson. And that's a very positive step forward.

WHITFIELD: All right Leroy Chiao, always great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, high-level talks are taking place today in Cairo, despite Hamas saying they will not accept the latest ceasefire proposal. My colleague Jim Sciutto is live in Tel Aviv with more. Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The latest from Cairo is that wide gaps still remain. We'll have the latest coming up.

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[14:18:57]

SCIUTTO: Palestinian officials say that Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 45 people across southern and central Gaza. These attacks come as the Israeli military says it began what it called a targeted operation to eliminate what it has called terrorist targets in Gaza. Even as those Israeli strikes continue, ceasefire talks are resuming in Cairo this weekend. We are told wide gaps still remain between the parties. Particular sticking points, Israel's demand that it maintain a military presence along the border between Gaza and Egypt, along what's known as the Philadelphi Corridor. Also questions about how long a ceasefire would last, just six weeks or permanently, as Hamas is demanding.

Let's get more on what these developments mean. With me now, is Avi Mayer, he's the former editor in chief of "The Jerusalem Post." Good to have you on, Avi. First question for you, given what we know about the current sticking points, do you see a deal potentially getting through in the coming days?

[14:20:04]

AVI MAYER, FORMER EDITOR IN CHIEF, "JERUSALEM POST": Good to see you, Jim. That's, of course, the million-dollar question. There is a great deal of eagerness here in Israel, particularly on the part of the hostage families and their supporters to see a deal going through and have their loved ones brought home. But we understand that, as you said, there are several very significant sticking points. One, of course, as you mentioned, is Israel's insistence that it maintain a presence along the Philadelphi Corridor which would prevent Hamas from smuggling in the sort of weapons that were used on October the 7th. Hamas, of course, wants to have that ability and so is opposing that demand. There are other points of disagreement.

And so over the past few days, while there had been some optimism, that has been replaced by a degree of pessimism. Israel is nevertheless sending a high-level delegations join the talks tomorrow in hopes of bringing about some kind of a breakthrough.

SCIUTTO: Let's talk for a moment about security along the border between Gaza and Egypt, because of course, we don't know the details of the proposals being presented to the negotiators, but the sense is that short of an Israeli military presence, there has been a suggestion of an international force or others who would monitor that. So in other words, there would be -- no one is proposing there would be no security along that border. The question is, who does it and for how long. And of course you're aware of the sensitivities for a permanent Israeli military presence inside Gaza. Is there any way that the IDF not being that presence is something that the Israeli prime minister would accept?

MAYER: We're not quite sure. We understand that in a recent conversation with President Biden, he may have made certain concessions. For example, saying that we wouldn't have a full Israeli presence along the entire corridor, rather on specific points in order to intercept any possible smuggling attempts. We don't know exactly what the proposals are on the table, but I think it would be a very difficult result to concede its own security by enabling Hamas to continue bringing in whatever weapons or other materials they would like from that point.

In the past, unfortunately, international forces, for example, in Lebanon, have not been successful in intercepting or stopping hostile forces from rearming and turning those areas into armed camps. And so I think this is a very significant sticking points, and absent some kind of concession on Hamas's part, I'm not sure how we can move forward.

SCIUTTO: There were some reports this week that Netanyahu has privately been saying that he and his negotiating team are not on the same page. And it was notable to me when I saw the defense minister, for instance, this week make public comments about progress along that border there, saying that Hamas's, for instance, Hamas's units in the southern part of Gaza have been eliminated, that many of the tunnels have been destroyed. Do you see evidence that inside the Israeli negotiating team there's even some daylight?

MAYER: It wouldn't surprise me. Israel is a very diverse and factitious society. So it would not surprise me if there were some kind of difference of opinion, not only between different negotiators, but between the government officials and representatives of the military and other security forces. But I think that we are fairly unified as a country in desiring that there be some kind of a conclusion to this horrible saga over the past 10 months. The fact that there have been hostages in Hamas captivity for over 320 days is viewed by so many Israelis as completely unacceptable. I think there's a general desire to bring them home as quickly as we can.

SCIUTTO: And of course, we're not far away from the one-year anniversary of October 7th, as well.

Just a very basic question before we go. Is your best sense that the two sides in this deal, Hamas and Israel, of course, there are other negotiators, mediators, et cetera, but ultimately this is a deal between Hamas and Israel, that they want a deal, that they want an agreement, they want a ceasefire and to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners?

MAYER: Well, look, I think we're seeing a lot of posturing right now. I think you see both sides trying to sort of rally for the best possible deal that they can get. But we understand that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, is under tremendous pressure from his own men, who say they simply cannot sustain continued battles with Israel. They want a ceasefire. Of course, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is himself under tremendous pressure in Israel to bring about some kind of a ceasefire. So I think the desire is there. The question is, what will it take to bring about some kind of a breakthrough and an ultimate deal?

SCIUTTO: Of course, hanging over these negotiations are the continuing fears about an expansion of this war. I was up in northern Israel in the last couple of days, and we've been watching very closely the cross-border fire there, which seems to be picking up in both directions.

[14:25:00]

What is your level of concern that another front opens up in this war, in particular, if the ceasefire negotiations go nowhere?

MAYER: Well, Jim, it's important to realize that there has been a second front to this war from October the 8th when Hezbollah launched a sustained barrage of rockets into northern Israel that has continued to this day. The entire north of the country, as you know, has essentially been depopulated. Tens of thousands of Israeli families have not seen their homes in 10 months. So that that war, that front is very much present. The question is whether it goes even further and turns into all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel, which would be tremendously devastating to both sides.

Hezbollah, of course, has threatened to respond to the killing of its senior official in Beirut several weeks ago, but it has held off as negotiations are ongoing so as not to be viewed as having thwarted them. If they break down, there is a significant fear that things could escalate. And God only knows what could happen at that point.

SCIUTTO: No question. Certainly a lot of fear here and around the region. Avi Mayer, thanks so much for joining us today.

Well, another story we're following -- exchange 115 prisoners of war from each side as Ukraine is marking its third independence day since the war began. Ukrainian officials are accusing Russia of not complying with international humanitarian law that left many of the liberated servicemen with health problems. Prisoners will now receive medical treatment after returning home. This is the 55th swap between the two countries since Russia's full-scale invasion, bringing the total number of prisoners exchanged to more than 1,700. You can see their smiles there.

We will have much more on the situation in Israel in our next hour. Please do stay with us. We'll be right back.

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[14:31:16]

WHITFIELD: All right, now, to the race for the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will hit the campaign trail in the coming days with a bus tour and series of rallies in the battleground state of Georgia.

Meantime, her political rival, Donald Trump, attempted to reclaim the spotlight last night as he campaigned in Arizona alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The independent presidential candidate ended days of speculation as he officially suspended his campaign for the White House and endorsed Trump. And fresh off the Democratic National Convention, Democrats say they raised more than $7 million during the vice president's acceptance speech and raked in more than $100 million during the weeklong event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Not, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm joined now by CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali. Tim, great to see you. So how would you assess of Vice President Harris's acceptance speech and really the moment mentum of the entire convention?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, first of all, this was an extraordinary convention, because it was an unprecedented convention. We've never seen a nominee, presidential nominee switch the last moment before in U.S. history.

And so one of the challenges for the Harris campaign was to show, first of all, that she had the support of the Democratic rank and file, and also that the party is unified around this switcheroo. And I think it's fair to say they achieved that. The unity, the emotion, the energy is all there and all positive.

Her speech was quite surprising in one sense. Her full-throated embrace of a foreign policy approach that is actually quite similar to that of Joe Biden's indicated very little change in foreign policy. For those who believe in the United States as an indispensable nation for world security, that was great. That was an important thing to hear. And she did it with such emotion that it was clear that it was from her heart. She believed in that. The other themes, of course, were extremely important because she presented herself and her story.

What we see right now is a vibe campaign, more than anything else. And we've seen it before. A vibe campaign is a campaign about change, about new, about the future. And some of the most successful American presidential campaigns have been vibe campaigns. John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, the first Clinton, I'm talking about Bill Clinton's first campaign. These were less about policy promises and much more about time for a change, got to move past the status quo. If you believe in the future, follow us, come with us, help us lead.

WHITFIELD: Interesting, how it makes you feel, you the voter feel. So now we're talking about just 73 days left before the election. How do you see the Harris-Walz campaigns seizing on the momentum? Because typically, I mean, there is a bounce right after a convention, but this might be unique because there was some bounce even before the convention, and now it's kind of a continuation of the bounce.

[14:35:08]

NAFTALI: Absolutely true. Look, unchartered waters. One of the things that the Harris campaign now is going to focus on is turnout in the seven battleground states. So we're going to see both her and Coach Walz in those battleground states. They're not going to forget about the other states because there's some very important Senate campaigns where they could be helpful, and a lot of house campaigns. But those seven.

The second thing we're going to see is a very important decision by the Harris campaign by her in particular, what policy issues to focus on for the debate, because she knows that Donald Trump doesn't debate specifics. He's going to go personal. But she may want to send it a series of messages to some of the battleground states through the debate. So I think that's one of the things she's going to be focusing on. By and large, I suspect them to continue the joyful emotion and the current approach to a vibe campaign.

WHITFIELD: Wow, OK. All right, yes, so that's the September 10th debate. It's right around the corner.

Meantime, Harris's competitor, former President Donald Trump, in a try to get some momentum yesterday with independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. stepping aside, suspending his campaign. How much of it difference, how much of a boost might a Kennedy endorsement of Trump give the former president?

NAFTALI: This could be significant. His pulling out could be significant because he was taking more votes from, potential votes from Trump than he was from Vice President Harris. But we don't know how many who said they vote for him will actually turn up on November 5th.

What is clear, however, is these races at the moment in the seven battleground states are close. So a couple of thousand votes this direction or that direction matter. So his endorsement, that is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s endorsement of Trump, is significant because this is such a close election at the moment.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Tim Naftali, always a pleasure talking to you. Thank you so much.

NAFTALI: Thank you, Fred. Pleasure being with you.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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[14:42:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, now to new developments in Sicily where authorities are looking into the cause of a deadly sinking of a super yacht. Today, authorities opened a manslaughter investigation. Seven people were killed on board, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch. The British-flagged vessel had 22 passengers and crew members onboard when it sank Monday during a violent storm. But now prosecutors say they do not believe bad weather caused the ship to sink.

CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has been tracking the case. Barbie, what are they feeling that way?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, it was really interesting. At this press conference where they laid out all of this, they said that this was the cause of -- the sinking that led to the deaths was human behavior. And now there are a couple of things we took away from this. One of the things that I think is most important is they didn't detain. All of the crew members who survived -- only one crew member died. That was the chef who was discovered early on Monday after the ship went down. They're all foreign passport holders, which means if they were to leave the country, if they were to leave Italy, they'd have to be extradited back.

When pressed, prosecutors said that they had asked the captain to remain available for further questioning. I think that's a hugely important aspect of this case. We were expecting maybe someone in custody today because it is manslaughter.

The other thing that prosecutors said, they didn't drug or alcohol test any of the crew members. They said they were in a state of shock and that was the reason that they didn't do it. So you've got a component there in terms of evidence that is going to be missing when it comes to what happens next.

The third thing is that both the prosecutor and the fire brigade officers said that five of the bodies were found in the same area and it could have been because there was an air pocket, and that they had gathered to try to get that last bit of air before the ship sank. The prosecutor, that's a horrific detail if, in fact, that's true. Fire brigade officers said it could just be that the water push them together, but the idea that they could have been alive for some time before the ship finally became inundated with water is just a horrifying detail.

The next thing that happens, of course, is that they're going to have to raise this vessel. And that cost well go to the owner of the ship, which is, of course, Mike Lynch's wife, whose company owned the ship. She is a survivor. Three other people survived. The rest of the survivors were the crew members. So it's still very much an open question, really, Fredricka, what happens next.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness, yes, that is tragic, because both her husband and now daughter, right, are among those who died in the sinking of this. All right, Barbie Latza Nadeau, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right, a second former Memphis police officer has now changing his plea in the killing of Tyre Nichols. Emmitt Martin III pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges for his role in the death of Nichols. In all, five officers were charged in the case after bodycam video showed them beating Nichols during a traffic stop last year.

CNN's Nick Valencia has more on what this means for the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

[14:45:04]

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An attorney for Emmitt Martin said that his client was finally willing to accept responsibility for his actions. Martin was facing a slew of charges from the feds, but in his change of plea agreement, ultimately pleaded guilty to two of the counts, obstruction of justice and witness tampering. After the hearing, Tyre Nichols's parents choked back emotion, speaking to reporters.

ROWVAUGHN WELLS, TYRE NICHOLS'S MOTHER: This is very difficult. I have four children. One of my kids is gone now because of the Memphis Police Department.

RODNEY WELLS, TYRE NICHOLS'S FATHER: We still have three more officers need to be convicted or turn themselves or change their plea. Until then, we're still fighting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

WELLS: We will fight until we get all five of those officers and convicted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WELLS: And sentenced for the death of our son.

VALENCIA: Martin joins his former colleague, Desmond Mills, who also entered a guilty plea. But in his plea, it was a global plea which affected his state charges as well. What's not clear at this point is whether Martin will enter a guilty plea in his state charges where he's facing second-degree murder charges. But after the hearing, we did reach out to the Shelby County district attorney, and this is what they told us, quote, "We expect that at the appropriate time, Martin will enter a similar plea in state court."

Of course, Martin was one of the five former Memphis police officers involved in the violent arrest and beating death of Tyre Nichols back in January of 2023. Those officers initially claimed that they pulled Nichols over for reckless driving. But in the 17 months since that incident occurred, that's not entirely clear. What is clear, however, is what was captured on police body camera, and it shows those former police officers repeatedly kicking and punching Nichols.

Now, we are still waiting to hear what happens with those three other officers involved in this case and whether or not they will change their pleas. The clock is ticking. This federal case is expected to begin on September 9th with jury selection.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE) WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Anthony Fauci was front and center with two presidents during the fight against COVID, and now a new fight on his hands, one that sent him to the hospital.

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[14:52:02]

WHITFIELD: Dr. Anthony Fauci, he's recovering at home after being hospitalized with West Nile virus. Fauci, a longtime public health official who became a household name during the COVID pandemic, is expected to make a full recovery. Earlier today, I spoke with Emory University Doctor Carlos Del Rio, and he shared how Dr. Fauci might have contracted the virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: West Nile is now the most common mosquito borne illness in the United States. The virus of West Nile is a cousin of the virus that causes zika, that cases dengue, that causes yellow fever, and it is the most common mosquito transmitted infection in the United States.

Climate change has changed where mosquitoes live. We have longer summers, shorter winters. And talking to Dr. Fouchier, he told me he thinks he got it in his backyard. There's mosquitos that grow in there, and he hadn't traveled anywhere. It's probably in his backyard in D.C. where he got infected. So we need to remember that, that this is a disease that you can get by going in your backyard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Although contracting the virus is possible, most cases are not neuroinvasive.

All right, a popular California beach has been closed to the public. Caution tape has even been put into place to keep people out of it because of an invasion of hundreds of sealions that have landed on shore. Locals in Monterey say they've never seen so many gathered in the area. A marine biologist told CNN the reason why they've been drawn to that spot, well, it's not quite clear, but the Monterey Bay is home to a marine national sanctuary with a rich diversity of its ecosystem food supply. The sealions are expected to hang out for about a month, and they are protected by federal law. So no one is allowed to interfere with their behavior and there existence there.

All right, Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez surprised a local neighborhood Saturday by joining a wiffleball game. A group of children, they were just playing in the backyard when the MLB star just happened to pass by and join in on the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He hit homer off one of the kids back there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I gave him one, and he hit one off me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you think you were going to strike Salvy out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

SALVADOR PEREZ, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: It's hard to hit that ball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you get another chance to pitch to Salvy someday, what you going to throw him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. Probably not a fast ball again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, that is to fun. Perez said he was just in the area visiting a friend, and he had to get engaged. He'll be busy once the MLB season gets underway.

All right, so have you ever spotted a wild grizzly bear roaming at the open plain? Actually, I hope not. CNN senior national correspondent Ed Lavandera took a four-day assignment to Yellowstone, Americas oldest national park, and saw firsthand the frenzy about the park's biggest celebrity.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

[14:55:01]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our first day in Yellowstone was more than we could have ever hoped for, and it wasn't over there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you see him?

LAVANDERA: Oh, yes, there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just see a blob.

LAVANDERA: We spot another grizzly bear near the road.

This is as close as we've gotten so far today. How far away do you think we are? More than 100 yards.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're at a safe distance.

LAVANDERA: We're at a safe distance, all right.

As soon as word spreads that there's a bear here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at this.

LAVANDERA: Look at the traffic jam. And people start getting antsy. They start moving around real quick. And that's exactly what you're not supposed to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People parked in the middle of the street.

LAVANDERA: You temporarily lose your mind. It's like if you're walking down the street in New York City and some incredible celebrity, like Taylor Swift is walking down the street. The entire block goes crazy, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.

LAVANDERA: This is like the Taylor Swift Yellowstone.

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WHITFIELD: The Taylor Swift of Yellowstone. There was so much more than Ed Lavandera discovered on this assignment, so please watch "Close Encounters, Tourists in the Wild," on "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

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