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Boeing Starliner Returns To Earth Without Its Crew; GA High School, Where 4 People Were Killed In Shooting, Won't Return To Class Tuesday When Rest Of School System Returns; CIA & MI6 Chiefs Make Unprecedented Joint Appearance In London; Sources: Iran Transfers Ballistic Missiles To Russia; Harris And Trump Preparing Ahead Of Pivotal Presidential Debate; Former GOP Dick Cheney Announces He Will Vote For Harris. Trump NY Criminal Case Sentence Pushed Until After Election; One Of Biden's Significant Student Loan Policies Suffers Setback; Two Americans In U.S. Open Finals For First Time Since 2006. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 07, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

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FRANCESCA CHURCH, VOLUNTEER: -- love them and do the very best you can to make sure that their last moments that they felt that there was someone there.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Francesca and all the volunteers who minister in crises and wars to this day are the unsung heroes of our times.

That's all we have time for. Don't forget you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at cnn.com/podcast and on all other major platforms. I'm Christiane Amanpour in Ukraine. Thank you for watching and I'll see you again next week.

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

And we begin this hour after three months in space, the overdue return to earth for Boeing's Starliner capsule. The capsule left the international space station last night, but without its two test pilots on board. The treacherous process of reorienting the vehicle in Earth's atmosphere could have heated its exterior to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Well, the landing was technically successful just after midnight Eastern Time making it the first U.S. made capsule to land on the ground rather than splashing down in the ocean.

CNN's Kristin Fisher has more on what comes next for NASA and the Starliner crew. KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Boeing breathing a sigh of relief this morning after Starliner successfully landed in White Sands, New Mexico, shortly after midnight. And all of the issues that Starliner suffered while in space, the thruster failures, the helium leaks, did not prove to be a problem when it did the deorbit burn, pump the brakes, and reentered the Earth's atmosphere.

Those were the critical maneuvers that NASA was so worried about if Butch and Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Starliner's crew, had been on board. And so now, Boeing and NASA are going to be looking at all the data. NASA needs to decide if it's going to require Boeing to conduct another crewed flight test before it's fully certified to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

As for Butch and Suni, they're going to be up there until February of 2025 before they hitch a ride back on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. That's essentially the backup here. But NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says that's what this program is all about.

The Commercial Crew Program. It's about having a backup system. Redundancy. If one spacecraft fails, there's another spacecraft run by a different company that can bring these astronauts home. So, this is what the commercial crew program was designed for. I just don't think anybody thought that this backup system would be tested quite as early as it was needed.

At the Johnson Space Center, I'm Kristin Fisher, CNN.

WHITFIELD: Yes, there were lots of surprises. And be sure to tune in next hour when I'll discuss this historic mission. And what's next for the Starliner crew with retired astronaut and former ISS commander Chris Hadfield.

All right, the community of Winder, Georgia is still reeling from Wednesday's mass shooting at Apalachee High School. Last night, people gathered for a prayer vigil to remember the two students and two teachers killed in that rampage.

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WHITFIELD: Students will not return to the high school on Tuesday when other Barrow County students resumed classes. The superintendent stressed in a statement, "We are still grieving, trying our best to navigate this unchartered journey ahead together."

CNN's Rafael Romo is in Winder, Georgia for us. Rafael, the trauma of that mass shooting, I mean, it's still fresh. How are people doing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, very, very fresh and it's hard to put into words the level of pain and sorrow that this community is going through. I've been having conversations with people approaching this impromptu memorial since early this morning, and they tell me that they just want to stop by pay their respects. Just remember those who died horrific shooting on Wednesday.

There was supposed to be a football game here last night, as you can imagine, that game was canceled. Also classes for the time being are suspended here. We've been hearing from school officials here in the district, and they say that classes will resume for all the other schools in the area here in Barron County on Tuesday.

But parents for this school, for Apalachee High School are going to get a separate message telling them when classes are going to resume here. And the superintendent -- district superintendent Dallas LeDuff sent a message saying what has been painfully evident for those of us who have been here that this has been a very terrible, very difficult week for everybody involved and others.

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And in the statement, he said, we're still grieving, but at the same time, we must try our best to navigate this uncharted journey ahead together. Superintendent LeDuff also said that families with students are going to be getting all the help that they need. And as you can imagine for a great guy, we've seen families that come here, they hug, they cry, still trying to understand why something so horrible happened in this community.

By the way, I should also mention that the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security agent announced on Friday that there will be help for those who need it. They're going to open a community recovery center here in this community on Monday. It'll be available for people on a daily basis.

And also, we have to remember that both the father and the son were arraigned yesterday in court. They will have their next hearing, a preliminary hearing on December 4th. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Right. And then Rafael, apparently there could be more for them, the father and son, the 14-year-old, you know, Colt Gray and his father, Colin Gray, who were both charged. It turns out that there's going to be a hearing. The district attorney said that the -- that Colt Gray could face more charges?

ROMO: Yes, that's right. That's what the Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith said yesterday. He said that as they begin to hear from some of the people who were injured in the shooting as they come out of the hospital and they start getting those testimonies as to what happened, they are considering and he feels very positive that a charges will be added.

That's when it comes to Colt Gray, the son. As for the father, he was arraigned on four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Rafael Romo in Winder, Georgia. Thank you so much. All right, new today, the heads of two of the world's most powerful intelligence agencies sat down for the first time in public to talk about key security threats. CIA Director Bill Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore speaking at length today in a joint appearance about the significant threats facing the world and the need to work in tandem to ensure global security.

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BILL BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: This is a moment when those partnerships in a very complicated and contested world matters more than ever.

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WHITFIELD: CNN Chief International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live for us right now in London. Nick, what more did these two intel chiefs say?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, a wide ranging conversation touching on multiple conflicts and threats to what they refer to as an international world order that hasn't really seen so many threats, frankly, in their lifetime.

Key, I think, to the discussions was the bid for a ceasefire or hostage releases around the Gaza conflict. CIA Director Bill Burns having devoted many, many months of his time over the past year trying to spearhead massage through some kind of negotiated settlement there.

Now he was quite candid about saying how he couldn't really tell when success would come. I paraphrase here on the 90 percent of an agreement had been agreed. But if that remaining 10 percent he said, that's always going to be the hardest part.

And also, he said, he hoped they might be able to put forward some more detailed points that both sides could potentially agree to in what he referred to as the coming days. But really, he said, there needed to be, quote, "political will" on both sides for this to move forwards. And I think the intransigence potentially of those talks something that came across, perhaps between the lines of what was being said there.

But also two key to their discussion, the Ukraine war, that something which they devoted a lot of time to initially to, I think, provide what you might refer to as an endorsement of Ukraine's initially what seemed to be a reckless decision to move into the Russian border areas to invade Russia, the first invasion Russia's faced since the Nazis.

And here's what they had to say about that.

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BURNS: I mean, I think what you've seen first, as Richard said, is the Kursk offensive is a significant tactical achievement. It's not only been a, you know, boost in Ukrainian morale. It has exposed some of the vulnerabilities of Putin's Russia and of his military.

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PATON WALSH: Yes, I mean, he even referred to how the Kursk invasion had essentially exposed the Kremlin to be as vulnerable as it was that moment when Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner chief, actually marched some of his troops on the highway up towards Moscow almost over a year ago, indeed, over a year ago now.

And also to the issue of who is supplying what weaponry to Russia came up, a reference to how at this point they believe China is stopping short of providing direct military assistance to Russia. But there may be things that they refer to as dual use that assist them to rebuild their defense industrial complex.

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But they also dodged a question too about the use potentially of supply of ballistic missiles by Iran to Russia. There have been some notably accurate strikes we've seen across Ukraine over the past weeks as their Russian bombardment of civilian infrastructure there seems to have picked up.

Here's what they had to say about that.

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BURNS: Should Iran ship ballistic missiles of whatever kind, close range or other kinds, it would be a dramatic escalation of the nature of that defense partnership --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it hasn't yet.

BURNS: All I'll say is that it would be a dramatic escalation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So do we have a dramatic escalation as we speak?

RICHARD MOORE, MI6 CHIEF: Just on the -- really important to remind ourselves, isn't it, you know, with the drones that we definitely know --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MOORE: -- are there. I mean, if stuff goes on to the battlefield ruler, it will become very obvious, very quickly. I mean, the stuff lands, it explodes, it kills Ukrainian civilians, it destroys their electricity infrastructure. And that's the thing you have to remind us, this is what Iran is choosing to do.

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PATON WALSH: I mean, relaxed, candid, trying to show the unity between their two agencies, while at the same time being quite clear about the broad range of threats and challenges currently facing the transatlantic alliance there.

But a rare moment of them both speaking together in public and to the unique crises that Bill Burns has thrown himself into personally reflected in a moment of applause in that room where he was essentially lauded for what they referred to as extraordinary personal efforts during those negotiations over the past year.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Pretty fascinating indeed.

All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much.

All right, still to come, we're just three days away from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump's first presidential debate. How both candidates are preparing.

Plus, former vice president and lifelong Republican Dick Cheney says he is backing Kamala Harris this November. How Donald Trump is responding next.

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WHITFIELD: ?All right, with the much anticipated presidential debate just three days away, both candidates are in battleground states this weekend, campaigning and gearing up for that critical showdown. Vice President Kamala Harris is in Pittsburgh, continuing debate preparations with her team.

She also just picked up the support of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, who announced that he would vote for the Democratic candidate over Donald Trump this November. This after his daughter, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, said she would do the same.

Meantime, former President Trump is in the swing state of Wisconsin today where he will hold a rally in the next couple of hours. Trump narrowly won that state in 2016 before Joe Biden won it back in 2020.

We've got team coverage of the race for the White House now. CNN's Eva McKend is covering the Vice President in Pittsburgh, but let's begin with Alayna Treene at that Trump rally in Wisconsin. Alayna, what are we expecting to hear from the former president today?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fred, as you mentioned, I mean, Wisconsin is such a crucial state to Donald Trump's campaign, but also the campaign of Kamala Harris. Both of them appearing here multiple times throughout the last several weeks.

Now, as you mentioned as well, this is a state that Donald Trump won in 2016, part of the blue wall that really helped deliver him a pathway to the White House. But he lost this state to Joe Biden in 2020. When I talked to Donald Trump's advisers, they say they believe that they can definitely win this state in the fall.

But that was also some of the estimation they had made when it was still Joe Biden, who was Donald Trump's opponent. It has become much closer now with Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket. We've seen in recent polls that she's been gaining ground here in Wisconsin. And actually in a recent CNN poll, she's actually polling better here in this state than Donald Trump is. But, of course, it is very close. So you're going to hear Donald Trump today, really focus on some of his messaging. He wants to talk about the economy.

We know that that is the top issue that they believe voters care the most about. And this speech comes after he gave a speech on Thursday in New York to the Economic Club where he really tried to put a sharper focus on his economic messaging. We know that for weeks Donald Trump has talked about the economy, but mainly in specifics.

Thursday was his opportunity to try to get into the specific, rather than, you know, talking about it more generally. He talked about lowering the corporate tax rate further to 15 percent. He talked about imposing sweeping tariffs on imports also slashing regulations.

Of course, at times, though, he talked about these policies without necessarily noting the implications of some of these. Many economists warned that his policy toward tariffs would actually create more inflation. And, of course, inflation is something we know Donald Trump is focused very much about.

So, all of that to say, Donald Trump is here. He's going to be talking about the economy and also this comes just a couple days before that very crucial debate on Tuesday in Pennsylvania. I know when I talked to Donald Trump's advisers, they say that this type of rally, these types of speeches is his own way of preparing.

Fred?

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WHITFIELD: Alayna Treene, all right, thank you so much, at a pretty rowdy rally as it gets underway.

All right, let's check in with Eva McKend now in Pittsburgh. So Eva, what do we know about how Kamala Harris is preparing for Tuesday's presidential debate, because she has picked Pittsburgh strategically, right, to both prepare for the debate and also get some face time with that very important electorate in that region of Pennsylvania.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, our understanding is that she remains hunkered down here at the Omni behind me, strenuously preparing with a key small group of advisers. And it comes at a time when the campaign is somewhat shifting their focus, at least on the airwaves.

The last couple of weeks, we have seen really ads that lean into the personal biography of the Vice President. Well, now they have the first abortion focused ads of the campaign, and they are uplifting the personal stories of women impacted by restrictive abortion bans that have taken place nationwide and putting the blame at the feet of the former president.

Take a listen to what battleground voters are seeing on the airwaves.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My embryo transfer was canceled eight days before the procedure. Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade stopped us from growing the family that we wanted. I don't want politicians telling me how or when I can have a baby. We need a president that will protect our rights, and that's Kamala Harris.

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MCKEND: And Fred, that is part of a $370 million TV and digital ad buy between Labor Day and Election Day. As for the Vice President, she could appear at any moment here this weekend as she is trying to make the most of the closing days ahead of the debate here in Pennsylvania. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Do we think she'll be heading to the Pittsburgh game as well, the Steelers game? Isn't that a home game this weekend?

MCKEND: I'm not quite sure if she'll have time. But we do suspect to see her pop up in the community at some point.

WHITFIELD: All right, Eva McKend, you let us know. Alayna Treene, thanks to you as well. Appreciate it.

All right, for more on the campaign trail, let's bring in political reporter for Semafor, Kadia Goba. Kadia, great to see you. So let's begin with the former Vice President Dick Cheney and his announcement that he is backing Harris. What kind of impact might that have on this race?

KADIA GOBA, POLITICAL REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yes, it's unclear whether or not Dick Cheney or Liz Cheney's endorsements are going to move Independents or Republicans. But I will tell you that when I talk to Republicans, they say that it sort of gives them a permission structure or other Republicans have permission structure to say, you know, OK, I -- if I'm disgruntled or if I feel like the former president is problematic, I have an OK to actually vote for him.

This is very different from in 2016 and 2020 when you look at this faction of the Republican Party. So, again, not clear on whether or not it sways a lot of votes, but I do think giving a permission structure for people they have outlined, the Cheney's have outlined, to be a dangerous president, I think this gives other Republicans sort of a permission structure to move forward.

WHITFIELD: Right. There was a time where it was very risky to kind of part, you know, with the party as a whole. And now we're seeing more Republicans who are saying they don't see it as a risk to do that. They see it as a risk instead to stay the course.

All right, so, we're also seeing in both candidates, Trump and Harris, that they're revealing more about their policy messaging. On Thursday, Trump was asked by the Economic Club of New York about the rising cost of child care, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care. But those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I'm talking about, including growth. But growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just told you about. We're going to be taking in trillions of dollars.

And as much as childcare is talked about as being expensive, it's relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we'll be taking in. We're going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people and then we'll worry about the rest of the world.

Let's help other people, but we're going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. This is about Make America Great Again.

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WHITFIELD: And then yesterday, Jake Tapper talked to the New York Board of Trustees Economic Club member who actually asked Trump the question about child care and what kind of assistance might there be. And Jake asked her if she got anything from Trump's answer. Listen.

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RESHMA SAUJANI, ECONOMIC CLUB OF NY BOARD OF TRUSTEES: He did answer the question. And what he told us is that child care expenses are no big deal. The fact that you're drowning in debt because of them, sorry, but not sorry. And he also told us that, no, I don't have any ideas or proposal or legislation, and it's insulting.

And it's insulting to parents who are constantly having to choose between funding their day care and feeding their kids. And the thing is, is like, if you don't have a plan to solve child care, you are not fit to be president.

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WHITFIELD: So child care is a big economic issue. How do we expect the way the former president is handling that issue to land with voters?

GOBA: You know, Donald Trump's response was very interesting considering there's sort of a policy battle going on between his running mate, J.D. Vance, and Kamala Harris's team where they both put out dueling child tax credit policy proposals. So, I mean, I think it shows kind of a break within the -- or I should say a break within that campaign, because there seems to be -- they seem to be at odds.

But I would say that the American people are in favor of child tax credit. There's been a lot of polling on it. And actually, when you look -- when you talk to members of Congress, we'll be voting on a measure like this. Some of their biggest support or bipartisan support comes behind a child tax credit. So not sure that was the best move for Donald Trump, but it definitely shows kind of a break within the campaign there.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a common struggle, no matter your party affiliation. So, we've got this debate three days away now in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania. Both campaigns desperately want to, you know, bring into the fold support in that state.

So we know that Harris is preparing for the debate in Pittsburgh at the same time she's going to have some face time with regular folks out there. It's being reported that Trump, on the other hand, is being peppered informally, you know, by his aides. Are you learning anything more specific about their prep styles?

So the Trump campaign has been consistent throughout, even from the last debate, saying that he's just not the person that prepares traditional form. That he's going to speak to the people and that's his best form of preparation.

Meanwhile, I thought it was a good strategic move for Kamala Harris, Vice President Kamala Harris to actually go to Pennsylvania where, like you said, she'll get face time for -- with, you know, people in Western Pennsylvania. She goes for a run. She goes for a coffee.

No matter how strategic it is, she'll, you know, build up some kind of local and national press. But also, I'll remind people that, you know, Joe Biden carried Pennsylvania, but he was from Scranton. This is a very different walk for Kamala Harris.

So, spending a week there, having the debate there and, you know, suggesting that she is, you know, part or really trying to pander to this group of Pennsylvania people who carry 19 electoral votes, I might want to add, in a swing state. I think it was strategic and smart on their part.

What we do know is that she's practicing or with Philippe Reines who is -- who was actually played the Trump part during the Clinton administration -- or during Clinton's campaign, Hillary Clinton's campaign. She's doing the same and she also has some top advisers with her.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, Kadia Goba, always great to see you. Thanks so much.

GOBA: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: And make sure to tune in for complete coverage and exclusive analysis before and after the debate. The ABC News Presidential Debate Simulcast is Tuesday night, 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. And we'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: Former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal case until after the 2024 election. His lawyers asked the judge to push back the sentencing. The move follows Trump's May conviction of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to adult film star, Stormy Daniels.

Trump's sentencing has been on hold while his lawyers pushed to have the conviction tossed out because of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity. I'd like to bring in former Miami-Dade County Court Judge Jeff Swartz. Jeff, great to see you. That's two days in a row now for us. Lots of cases out there, lot to delve into. All right, so let's talk about this one because this was already a pretty tough spot for Judge Merchan, right? Do you think regardless of a sentencing date, the judge has already made a decision about the former president's sentencing?

JEFF SWARTZ, FORMER MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT JUDGE: There's one thing that kind of gave a hint that he's made a decision on, and that is I don't think he's going toss this case under the immunity issue from this -- from SCOTUS, or he would have said that earlier and avoided a sentencing date. He has said he's going to give his ruling on that at the sentencing. So it kind of gives you a hint that he's going to deny that.

I -- I -- I was kind of upset about the decision that he made not to move forward. I think that the excuse that was given by Trump to continue the -- the sentencing was adopted by Merchan. And the answer to that was simply, you continued all of this matter. You've done all the delays. If you're going to suffer some consequences for being sentenced, that's on you. And he got that permission slip from Chutkan just the day before.

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WHITFIELD: Yes.

SWARTZ: And the prosecutors didn't want it to be political, so they stayed out of it and said, we leave it up to you. And I think that Merchan dropped the ball.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So if Trump were to win in November, how does that potentially impact this now late November sentencing date and that proceeding?

SWARTZ: I think it will still go forward. I don't know what Merchan's going to do with what I think he probably is thinking about for the sentencing. But he still has the right to sentence Mr. Trump. He has a right to incarcerate him from that day all the way until inauguration day. After inauguration day, SCOTUS is going to jump in and say, no, sorry, he's the president. You're going to have to wait four years to execute your sentence.

Had he been sentenced next week, he wasn't going to go to jail right away anyway. They would have given him a supersedeas bond to take a -- an appeal. And until the appeal was over, the sentence would have been stayed. So it wasn't like he was going to go to jail and not be able to campaign. That wasn't going to happen.

WHITFIELD: Right. And then, you know, this announcement came the same day that Trump appeared in court to appeal the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll sex abuse case. That hearing ended without a decision. And the former president, you know, did express out loud his disappointment in his legal team. So where do you think the case goes from here?

SWARTZ: Well, obviously, in an appeal, you have a three judge panel. They go back, they vote, they write an opinion. Sometimes you get one very quickly, like in a week or two. Sometimes it takes months to get that opinion. So I'm -- I'm not surprised that there was no decision. What I did not understand, and will never understand is why every time something happens in that case, Mr. Trump steps out and he defames her again.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SWARTZ: Calls her a liar again, says it didn't happen again. He got hit for $83 million --

WHITFIELD: He was fined for that previously.

SWARTZ: -- for doing that after the verdict.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SWARTZ: I mean, how much -- how much money do -- did juries have to keep giving her until he realizes you can't keep doing that?

WHITFIELD: Right.

SWARTZ: I just don't understand.

WHITFIELD: You know, I don't think any of us understand, but it all keeps going. Jeff Swartz, great to see you. Thank you so much.

SWARTZ: Always a pleasure, Fred. Have a good weekend.

WHITFIELD: You too.

All right, coming up, President Biden's latest student loan forgiveness program, now on pause for 14 days, why a federal judge is siding with a group of Republican-led states and what it means for borrowers. Stay with us.

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WHITFIELD: All right, another legal setback for the Biden administration's new student loan forgiveness program. When a judge on Thursday put a temporary pause in place, the move came after a group of Republican-led states filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, further delaying potential student debt relief before the election. The SAVE Plan would cancel interest for student borrowers if their balance is higher than what they originally borrowed. Also, if their annual income is $120,000 or less.

Others could get up to $20,000 in student debt relief. Joining me right now is the Washington Post syndicated personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary. Great to see you, Michelle.

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, SYNDICATED PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: Oh, good to see you and be here.

WHITFIELD: And you're also the author of "What to Do with Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival Guide." Boy, don't we always all need a survival guide? All right, so let's break it down on this plan. I mean, who does this pause hurt the most?

SINGLETARY: So there really were two holes on two different efforts to -- to give some loan forgiveness. The most recent one, the Biden administration, was targeting a certain group of people, people who've been paying on their loans for 20 or 25 years, students who went to for profit colleges and -- and were promised all kinds of jobs, and they borrowed a lot of money and -- and they didn't get the jobs that they thought they were getting for the education.

And then also those who were eligible to be in a debt forgiveness program or debt -- income based program and hadn't been in there, so that was one. And then the same program was also blocked. That's the one that people would be able to pay in. The idea was that you would base it on their income and their family and they would owe less.

And the most important part of that I think was so key is that people wouldn't have, if their payments were lower than what the interest was. That interest wouldn't be piled on the back of that loan --

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

SINGLETARY: -- because that's why we hear all these people with --

WHITFIELD: We never get to pay it off. Right.

SINGLETARY: Exactly. Exactly. So those two efforts are now blocked. And, you know, the rhetoric out there is that, you know, we're paying for Ivy League people, and that's just not true. There are people who've been paying our loans 20 to 25 years and don't -- and still stuck with these loans.

[12:45:01]

WHITFIELD: So if you qualify for any of those that you were counting on and now you really can't, at least temporarily, what should you be doing right now? What can you do right now?

SINGLETARY: Yes. So if you were in the SAVE Program, you were accepted, you're in there and you had a pa -- a payment. The -- the Biden administration is going to pause that debt so -- and it won't accrue interest. So there's just a hold on that. So that's good for them.

The other group of folks were expecting some loan forgiveness, and in those cases you need to contact your loan servicer because you don't want to stop making payments if you are still supposed to make payments. Now, you could ask forbearance, but again, that puts you back in a situation where the interest will still be accruing and that debt is going to grow.

So you have -- you really need to contact your loan services, make sure you understand which group of folks that you're in so that on the one hand, if you need to make some payments and you can, you should go ahead and do that. If you're in a SAVE Program, you've got to pause and the interest won't be accruing, and that's a good thing for you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So what's your advice to students who are, whether they're just getting started this semester or maybe in January, how do they navigate this so that perhaps they could avoid, I mean, gigantic debt on the back end or like this high interest? I mean, if things work out where there are some forgiveness programs for them, you know, lovely, I guess they can look forward to that. But then what do -- what -- what's your advice on what they should plan for?

SINGLETARY: So, you know, I know a lot of people are about to start school, and I just encourage pers -- parents and students to really look at those long documents and don't borrow so much. I know your kid wants to go to that dream school, but you might have decades of debt for that dream. And, you know, listen, go to your state school, commute.

Listen, I'm a huge advocate of community college education. Go to two years of to -- the community college and then transfer to the four year university. You know, you got to fight that message. It -- you know, college is important for a lot of us. And so, you know, if your kid wants to go, that's a good thing. But don't do it at the risk of piling on debt for them and you. And all those strategies will help you eliminate some of that debt.

I know they want that big college experience and staying on campus, but that might not be something that you can afford. And so pull back on that. Listen, I put all three of my kids, my husband and I, in college with no debt for them or us. And how did we do it? They went to state school and we told them you had to get scholarships. You could get no loans.

And if we didn't get enough money, if they didn't get enough money, they were going to commute from home. And we -- they might not have been OK with that, but were OK with that.

WHITFIELD: They're OK now. They got their degrees.

SINGLETARY: That's exactly right. But we took control of the process. We didn't leave it. That's the other thing. Don't leave it to a 17 or 18-year-old decide this kind of thing. They don't know enough --

WHITFIELD: They don't know anything.

SINGLETARY: -- to understand.

WHITFIELD: We let those 17, 18-year-old, but you really don't know anything when you think you do.

SINGLETARY: You do not. You do not.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we're going to continue to follow your advice. Michelle Singletary, thank you so much. SINGLETARY: You're welcome. Thank you.

[12:48:15]

WHITFIELD: All right. When we come back, he will be the first American man to play the U.S. Open final in 18 years. Not the big foe, but right there, Taylor Fritz defeating Frances Tiafoe in an all-American semifinal match. We're live at Flushing Meadows with the latest, next.

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WHITFIELD: For the first time in nearly two decades, Americans are in the finals at the U.S. Open. On the women's side, Jessica Pegula, a New York state native, plays her second U.S. Open final in a row. And this afternoon, she will try to win her first career grand slam final against the number two seed.

Meanwhile, on the men's side, an American has reached the final for the first time since 2006. CNN's Andy Scholes is joining us now live from Flushing Meadows. So, Andy, I mean, this is a rare chance, or it's become a rare chance, right, for the Americans to sweep the finals. Let's start with Taylor Fritz's semifinal clash with Frances Tiafoe. I mean, they are buddies from way back when. They used to train together, right, as teenagers. And now they were, you know, mano a mano there on the court.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Fredricka, playing each other since they were 14 years old. And this was the first all-American men's semifinals since 2005. So you knew it was going to be an emotional night for one of the guys, and it ended up being a very emotional one for Taylor Fritz as he makes it to his first ever grand slam final.

Now, he's a win away from ending that long American drought because an American man has not won a grand slam final since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open here in New York back in 2003. You know, but at first last night, it looked like it was going to be Tiafoe's night. He stormed back to take the first set. He was up to one. But then he kind of just ran out of gas. Fritz took his game to another gear and ended up winning the match in five sets. And Fritz getting very emotional afterwards, saying, this is just a dream come true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR FRITZ, REACHES FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL: It's the reason why I do what I do. It's the reason why I work so hard. It's a, I mean, I'm in the finals in the U.S. Open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:02]

SCHOLES: Yes. So Fritz is going to end up being a heavy underdog in tomorrow's men's final. He's going to be going up against world number one Jannik Sinner. And Fredricka, once Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz got upset here in New York, it was Sinner who became the favorite to win this tournament. But Fritz will have this New York crowd on his side.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SCHOLES: So we'll see if they can will him to an upset tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: That's right. Go Fritz. Go Fritz. All right. And then later on today, Jessica Pegula, she'll be playing in her first grand slams singles final. She's -- she probably has butterflies, but then again, she, too, is like, I'm ready.

SCHOLES: Yes. And -- and Pegula also going to be that American underdog here today. She's going up against world number two, Aryna Sabalenka. But Pegula is playing the best tennis of her career since the Olympics. She is 15 and one. But that one loss, it did come against Pegula in -- in the finals at the Cincinnati Open.

But her confidence just riding high right now, she already took out world number one Iga Swiatek in this tournament and Karolina Muchova to make it to her first ever grand slam final.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA PEGULA, PLAYING IN FIRST GRAND SLAM FINAL: It's a childhood dream. It's what I wanted when I was a kid. It's a lot of work, a lot of hard work put in, and it's just, you couldn't even imagine how much goes into it. So it would mean the world to me, obviously. I mean, I'm just happy to be in the final, but obviously I come here to -- to want to win the title.

So to be able to overcome all those challenges and say that I get a chance at the title set Saturday is, is what we play for as players and let alone being able to do that, you know, in my home country, here at my, you know, home slam, I mean, it's just, it's perfect, really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. So it should be a good one, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SCHOLES: Sabalenka, she was in the final last year, lost to Coco Gauff, but she's been talking about it, you know, this whole tournament and how she's learned from that experience and how to deal with this New York crowd, which certainly will be on Pegula's side here today.

WHITFIELD: I can't wait to watch after show. Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

SCHOLES: All right.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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