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Hurricane Francine Batters U.S. Gulf Coast with Heavy Rain and Wind; Trump and Harris Trade Barbs at Presidential Debate; Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala Harris for President; Top U.S. and British Diplomats Meet Ukrainian Leaders in Kyiv; Ohio Reacts to Trump's False Claims of Immigrants Eating Pets; SpaceX Crew to Attempt Historic Spacewalk. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired September 12, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:40]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade, live in Atlanta. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And now we're receiving some of the worst conditions that Hurricane Francine has to offer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Face-to-face with Francine, the powerful storm flooding streets and ripping down trees and power lines as it roars ashore the U.S. Gulf Coast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I thought it was our best debate ever. My best debate ever, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Some of Donald Trump's biggest allies disagree, describing his showdown with rival Kamala Harris as a missed opportunity.
And boldly going with no civilian astronauts have gone before. The crew of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn prepare for a historic spacewalk.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Right now we're following storm developments along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Francine is marching into Mississippi with torrential rain and strong winds. And it continues to lash parts of Louisiana hours after landfall.
Right now Francine has winds near 70 miles per hour and is expected to continue to lose strength in the overnight hours as it moves off to the northeast. The storm roared ashore as a category two hurricane in southern Louisiana, about 30 miles from Morgan City. Dangerous winds and heavy rain pounded the area, leading to flooding, downed trees and power outages. Right now more than 300,000 homes and businesses across the state are without power.
Earlier, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam witnessed the strength of Francine firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DAM: My anemometer is just peaking with hurricane-force gusts. And you can see some of the turbulent waves behind me. The Gulf of Mexico is still 10, 15 miles behind me to my south. This is actually part of a lake that we've been reporting from all day today. But this is just complete whiteout conditions. And what I've noticed is that the water has come up and it's approaching this berm.
And if it does -- every time I get one of those strong bands, it feels like you're getting the backwash. I've said it before, the backwash of a jet engine. And it stings your face, those little tiny wind droplets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Derek Van Dam out there amongst the elements. In New Orleans, a flash flood emergency is now in effect for another 45 minutes. The National Weather Service calls this a particularly dangerous situation and has urged residents to seek higher ground.
Well, joining me now from Baton Rouge is Mike Steele, communications director of the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
Thanks so much for your time, Mike. So you've got the winds, the rain, the storm surge. Can you describe the impact so far?
MIKE STEELE, LOUISIANA HOMELAND SECRETARY, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: Yes. We've had a little bit of everything with this storm, so obviously the surge and the heavy rains and the severe winds started impacting the coastal areas earlier this evening. It's kind of moving inland now. There were some issues in New Orleans with the rainfall totals and some of the pumps around that city because it sits below sea level trying to keep up with the rainfall totals and everything in those areas.
We're seeing some of the higher winds kind of push up into the north shore area. North of Lake Pontchartrain approaching southwest Mississippi. And so we're starting to see impacts in those areas as well. We're going to be working with our emergency partners at the local level to determine what state assets they may need to start the recovery process from this event, but it's been a long night and it looks like we could have, you know, another very busy day tomorrow, depending on some of these impacted areas.
KINKADE: Yes. Have you heard so far which areas was affected?
[00:05:01] And of course we know so far this year, Louisiana and the coastline has already been inundated with rain. Has that made it more susceptible to flash flooding?
STEELE: You know, there's a couple of factors in play, so power outages are a major problem right now. I think you guys mentioned there were over 300,000 customers right now without power. That number very easily could grow throughout the night. Once you kind of get away from the coast, there's a lot of areas that are very heavily wooded. And so there could be problems with trees coming down, power lines being impacted in those areas. So that is a major problem.
One unique feature about what happened last year was we had a pretty severe drought and even wildfires across the state around this time last fall. So a lot of trees were damaged in that event. And so even with some of the recent thunderstorms and regular, you know, pop-up thunderstorm type activity, we've seen more trees and problems with those limbs and trees falling and impacting areas.
So, again, we're going to, you know, start collecting those damage assessment reports from our local officials. Right now the biggest message for the public would be just to hunker down and stay indoors. There's really no reason to be out in these areas where the storm is still passing through. There's a lot of dangerous conditions on a lot of the roadways when you're talking about storm sitting in the overnight hours like this.
You know, there's a whole secondary list of problems that could develop. So the best thing for the public to do right now is just to continue to ride this out and give those first responders and utility crews a chance to get out and start that recovery process.
KINKADE: All right. Mike Steele, we wish you and your team all the very best into tonight and tomorrow. Thanks so much for your time.
STEELE: You bet. Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, CNN's Michael Yoshida joins me now from New Orleans, who has the latest on the conditions there.
Michael, good to have you there on the ground for us. What have you been seeing?
MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good evening, Lynda. As of this point, you can probably see we still have those windy conditions. It's not nearly as bad as just a few hours ago. The rain, they have really subsided for the most part at this point.
We're right here in the historic part of New Orleans. For those who are familiar with this area, very popular tourist spot. We have Jackson Square. We're right off Decatur Street. Very, very normally busy area. You can see at this point seems people continuing to follow those directions from officials. They have stayed inside. They've been hunkering down throughout the evening the last few hours.
We've really just seen for the most part first responders that have been staged throughout this city who have been making their rounds as they could while this storm pass through, making sure that those who may be in need of assistance could get it if they were out on the streets, but yes, thankfully, at this point, it seems we're maybe on the downward trend in terms of that rainfall and the wind but as we've been hearing from officials throughout the last few days and continuing tonight even though it seems like it might be getting a little better out there, they want people to stay home because we have those flooded streets.
We have flooded underpasses. And again, they want to make sure that the crews can actually get out there, be out on the roadways, assess the damage, start to make those repairs before they start to have people get back out on the roadways and into the rest of the city.
KINKADE: Yes. Of course we know Francine was fast and furious when she came ashore, even stirring up some tornadoes. Talk to us just about how prepared the region was for this storm in terms of evacuations and what the situation will look like tomorrow?
YOSHIDA: For sure. So we know those evacuations orders, mandatory and voluntary, started going out on Tuesday. And officials that I've had the chance to speak with over the last few days very happy and pleased with how people were preparing and reacting for the storm. When we talk about those power outages we are starting to see throughout the area there was a lot of work done ahead of time by the utility companies bringing in thousands of extra linesmen, hundreds of other support crews to -- if we can pan right here again, you can see some of the first responders moving through there.
The trees, they were doing a lot of the trimming of the trees. That was the concern that those branches once they got saturated with all of this rainfall that they would then -- it'll be a lot easier with these strong winds to come down onto those power lines. At last check it goes around some 240,000 across the entire state that we're being impacted. So starting tomorrow, according to the officials we've been speaking with, that's when they'll really start getting out, start being able to do that assessing of the damage potentially to those power lines, those power poles, the infrastructure.
And then it will begin that long process heading into the storm and heading into Francine hitting this area. Officials wanting people to make sure they had those batteries charged.
[00:10:03]
They had all those food supplies, water supplies for several days because it could be some time for some of those in this area until they get all the power and the lights back on.
KINKADE: Michael Yoshida, good to have you there on the scene for us. Thanks so much.
Well, the reviews are in. Possibly this could have been the only presidential debate we'll see this election. Allies of former president Donald Trump say that it was a wash at best and a loss at worst. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JUNIOR, TRUMP ADVISER: Vice President Harris clearly won the debate in terms of her delivery, her polish, her organization, and her preparation.
TREY GOWDY (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I know the president listed several people that he had fired during his administration. He may want to add to that the people that prepped him for the debate last tonight. He -- it was the land of missed opportunities.
SEN. MIKE BRAUN (R-IN), I don't think he should say stuff that may make it harder for people to vote for you.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think Trump took the bait on occasions?
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Kamala Harris's campaign couldn't be more pleased with her performance, already suggesting a second debate. Still, they continue to call the vice president an underdog for the race to the White House.
More now from CNN's Kristen Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump playing defense, trying to insist he won the debate.
TRUMP: When you don't win, it's like a fighter. When a fighter has a bad fight, gets knocked out or loses the fight, the first thing he says is we want a rematch. I would do NBC, I'd do FOX, too. I'd do FOX, too. But right now we have to determine whether or not we even want to do it.
HOLMES: Earlier a moment of civility among the rivals, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris shaking hands as they commemorated the September 11th terror attacks at ground zero in New York. It came less than 12 hours after the handshake Harris initiated ahead of a fiery, intense debate in Philadelphia.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Kamala Harris. Let's have a good debate.
That is why so many military leaders who you have worked with have told me you are a disgrace.
TRUMP: She goes down as the worst vice president in the history of our country.
HOLMES: Harris successfully goading her Republican rival on a range of issues. HARRIS: The values I bring to the importance of home ownership,
knowing that everybody got handed $400 million on a silver platter and then filed bankruptcy six times.
TRUMP: First of all, I wasn't given $400 million. I wish I was, but I was given a fraction of that, a tiny fraction, and I've built it into many, many billions of dollars. Many, many billions.
HOLMES: From his legal the woes.
HARRIS: Well, I think this is so rich coming from someone who has been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, election interference, has been found libel for sexual assault.
TRUMP: Excuse me. Every one of those cases were started by them against their political opponent. And I'm winning most of them. And I will win the rest on appeal.
HOLMES: To the size of his campaign rallies.
HARRIS: And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.
TRUMP: People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.
HOLMES: In that same breath, Trump also promoting false claims that immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating pets.
TRUMP: In Springfield they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
HARRIS: Talk about extreme.
HOLMES: Trump taking aim at Harris's record as vice president.
TRUMP: So she just started by saying she's going to do this, she's going to do that. She's going to do all these wonderful things. Why hasn't she done it? She's been there for three and a half years.
HOLMES: On policy, the two candidates clashing over their stances on abortion rights.
HARRIS: The government and Donald Trump certainly should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.
TRUMP: They have abortion in the ninth month.
HARRIS: That is not happening. It's insulting to the women of America.
HOLMES: Afterward both campaigns claiming victory.
TRUMP: It was the best debate I've ever, personally that I've had.
HOLMES: But Harris emphasizing there's still work to be done.
HARRIS: Today was a good day. We got to work tomorrow. We got 56 days to go. We got a lot of work to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on-camera): Now, Donald Trump's advisers are essentially saying the same thing. You just heard there from Vice President Kamala Harris, that there is still a lot of work to be done and those Republicans I spoke to who were disappointed in Donald Trump's debate demeanor on Tuesday night say they don't actually think is going to hurt him in the long run, but they do know that this is going to be an incredibly tight race with razor-thin margin that there is a lot of work to be done.
Donald Trump himself, he'll be on the campaign trail really non-stop for at least the next week. He is going on West Coast tour.
[00:15:01]
Kamala Harris also hitting the ground running. There are just over 50 days left to go. Both sides realize how serious and how critical this time is.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, New York.
KINKADE: Well, for more, we're joined by CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter.
Good to have you back in the fold, Brian. Good to see you.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Thanks so much. Good to see you.
KINKADE: So I appreciated throughout the debate that we saw fact- checking in real time. Trump, as you would expect, didn't like that. Just how many people tuned into this debate and what did they learn?
STELTER: In the digital age we can never fully estimate the audience for a big TV event, but we know that via television, at least 67 million people watched on TV in the United States. Then add on top of that an unknown number who were streaming the debate via various streaming sites like YouTube. And then add on top of that, people who listened on the radio or other formats. Then add on top of that, people who watched outside the United States.
The total number is impossible to know. But what we do know is that this was a higher rated of debate than the Biden-Trump matchup in June and we know this was the biggest TV event in America since the Super Bowl in February. So say it very simply, this was a massive TV event and many tens of millions of people were able to see Kamala Harris kind of introduced herself to the country and the world for the first time.
KINKADE: And of course, Brian, post-debate, a major endorsement for Kamala Harris. Superstar Taylor Swift who is enormously popular. She was born in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Just how much impact will her endorsement have and will it translate into votes?
STELTER: In swing states where every vote really literally does count, Taylor Swift is going to matter. But we will never know for sure. We won't be able to measure how many tens of thousands of 18, 19, 20- year-olds decide to vote for the first time because of Swift.
But here's what we can measure. We know that hundreds of thousands of people clicked the link on Taylor Swift's Instagram page and went to Vote.gov. That's a Web site that helps you register to vote. We also know that other outside voter registration organizations say they have seen an uptick in interest in the past 24 hours. We know that Taylor Swift's post has had basically about 10 million likes on Instagram.
So let's assume she's reached many tens of millions of people with this announcement. If even 1 percent of the people who paid attention to her announcement actually follow through and vote, that's a very big deal. But, you know, given the way the politics works, we will never know for sure just how impactful Swift's endorsement was. I think we can confidently say however the Harris campaign is very, very happy to have the Swifties on board.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. It was interesting. She posted holding a cat given that J.D. Vance has gone off to childless cat ladies, as he calls them. He weighed in. I just want to play some sound from Trump's running mate.
STELTER: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JD VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We admire Taylor Swift's music, but I don't think most Americans, whether they like her music or fans of hers or not, are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and the problems of those Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: A billionaire celebrity. I mean, it sounds very similar to how critics have described Trump, an out-of-touch billionaire. He talked about the price of milk and eggs out the front of his New Jersey golf club just last month, which reportedly charges upwards of $350,000 just to join before any annual phase.
What will anyone make of a comment like that, calling Swift out of touch because she is in fact a self-made billionaire?
STELTER: It's funny, you said that I live right near Bedminster, and the other day, one of my neighbors said, so do you belong to Bedminster? And I said, no, I can't afford it, right? The reality about Donald Trump is he's always been an aspirational figure. Yes, he's a billionaire, but to his supporters he is something to aspire to. You know, also a traitor to his class, someone who has become very wealthy but now is telling the truth about the elites.
That's how they view him. But I do think that given the reality of Trump and his status as a billionaire celebrity, it is very weird to see Trump allies and Trump fans tried to downplay the Taylor Swift endorsement because certainly Taylor Swift is someone who is going to persuade people in the same way that Trump persuades people about politics and about how to vote. That's why Vance's argument just doesn't really ring very, very persuasive to me.
KINKADE: Exactly. And speaking of billionaires, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk is throwing his support behind Trump. How much sway does he have?
STELTER: This is a very interesting situation because Musk is using his social media platform to draw attention toward Trump. You know, users of X know the site has taken more of a right-wing bent in recent months, I would say the last year, but especially in recent months.
[00:20:01]
Ideas, especially false ideas like this story about Ohio and about pets being stolen and eaten in Ohio, these are what bubble up on Elon Musk Web site. He sometimes promotes and helps encourage these ideas, even though they are not based in reality. So we have to keep an eye on this, I think, in the weeks and months to come. Musk is putting his thumb on the proverbial scale. And if Trump wins, Musk is going to become like an American oligarch where he will probably be serving in the government in some capacity, at least that's what Trump and Musk have indicated he will do interesting.
KINKADE: Interesting. We'll be watching closely.
Good to have you with us, Brian Stelter, CNN's chief media analyst. Thanks so much for your time.
STELTER: Thanks.
KINKADE: Well, still to come condemnation from the United Nations after another deadly Israeli attack on a school in Gaza where thousands of Palestinians is seeking shelter from the war. What we know about the latest incident next.
Plus at a critical juncture in the war in Ukraine, Antony Blinken makes a stop in Kyiv. The request Ukrainian officials are making of the top U.S. diplomat, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: U.N. officials are condemning a deadly Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza. Gaza Civil Defense says at least 18 people including six U.N. staff were killed, 44 others wounded. Israel claims Hamas terrorists were using the location to plan and execute attacks. UNRWA says more than 12,000 displaced Palestinians have been sheltering at the now defunct school. And it's the fifth time the compound has been targeted since October.
Well, this comes as Israel carried out multiple strikes in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours. The IDF says one of the strikes killed a senior Hezbollah commander. In response the militant group fired dozens of rockets and drones towards northern Israel. The Israeli military says it intercepted some of the projectiles and struck some 30 Hezbollah launchers and infrastructure.
Well, meanwhile, Israeli military operations is still ongoing in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah says Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight Palestinians in two separate incidents on Wednesday. Local officials say some of the victims were as young as in their teens and 20s who were unarmed sitting near a mosque.
Israel's foreign minister says the raids are meant to target terrorists and thwart an alleged Iranian attempt to establish an eastern front against Israel.
Well, the White House is facing mounting pressure from the U.S. to remove weapons restrictions on Ukraine. Both Republicans and Democrats are urging President Biden to allow Kyiv to use Western weapons systems to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.
[00:25:02]
They say the current limits put Ukraine at a disadvantage, especially as Russia steps up its own long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Well, this comes as U.S. Secretary Of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Kyiv where Ukrainian leaders echoed the appeals for fewer restrictions.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Long distance weapons for Ukraine and the use of those weapons certainly was topic number one as Secretary of State Blinken visited Kyiv together with his British counterpart in what can only be described as a diplomatic show of force and show of support for the Ukrainians. Of course, Ukraine now also has a new foreign minister as well.
However, as far as that topic of those long distance weapons is concerned, there really wasn't much in the way of substance. One of the things that the secretary of state said is that he did have that discussion with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and that he would take the points that were made in that discussion back to Washington, talk it over with President Biden, that President Biden would then debate all of this with his British counterpart when they meet later this week.
However, the secretary of state did reiterate that the United States wants Ukraine to win and is in it for the long haul.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We want Ukraine to win and we're fully committed to keep marshaling the support that it needs for its brave defenders and citizens to do just that.
Our collective message to Putin is clear. Our support will not wane, our unity will not break. PLEITGEN: Both the secretary of state and his British counterpart
announced substantial new aid packages for Ukraine. The Brits, in terms of military support, the U.S. in terms of civilian support for Ukraine especially in terms of repairing damaged energy infrastructure, which of course is going to be very important when the winter comes. But one of the things is also clear is that this visit comes as Ukraine remains on the backfoot, especially in the east of the country.
And one of the things that Ukrainian forces have been telling us on the ground is that right now they're not only outmanned by the Russians, but they are also outgunned. One of the big problems that they have is Russia's aerial campaign not just against Ukrainian cities, but of course, also against Ukraine's frontline troops. And that's why the Ukrainian say it's absolutely important for them to be able to strike Russia deep inside Russian territory with those Western weapons.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, during the U.S. presidential debate on Tuesday, Donald Trump pushed the false claim that Haitian migrants in Ohio are eating dogs and cats. We'll get reaction from residents int hat state, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In Springfield they're eating the dogs, the people that came in, they're eating the cats. They're eating -- they're eating the pets of the people that live there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Eating the pets.
[00:30:06]
Well, Haiti's government is condemning those false claims being pushed by Donald Trump during the U.S. presidential debate about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.
In a social media post, they said it's not the first time Haitians have dealt with discriminatory remarks to serve political interests.
CNN's Omar Jimenez went to the state of Ohio and spoke with residents there about those allegations.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you hear allegations of Haitians eating dogs and cats, and -- and taking them off the street, and stealing them from people's yards, what is your reaction when you hear that? VILES DORSAINVIL, PRESIDENT, HAITIAN COMMUNITY HELP AND SUPPORT
CENTER: I -- it was a shocking to me, honestly, because the first question I ask myself: where in the world people are eating pets?
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Viles Dorsainvil is the head of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield, Ohio. He came to the United States about four years ago from Haiti, and he hasn't just questioned the nature of the recent rumors. He's questioned what they will do to his community.
DORSAINVIL: It's just like (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's just like bigotry, discrimination, and racist.
And they do not normally take time to see the impact that can have on the mental health of the immigrants fleeing their country from all kind of chaos.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): To be clear, former President Donald Trump's claims are not supported by evidence.
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the city of Springfield said, "There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."
But all of this has also come as part of a very real surge in Haitian population in Springfield.
MAYOR ROB RUE, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: We have realistically been seeing 12 to 15,000 immigrants, is what we've -- what we have counted through the health department and other agencies.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): And they are here legally, under the immigration parole program.
Once here, immigrants are then eligible to apply for temporary protected status. Haitian temporary protected status was recently extended and redesignated for Haiti, mainly due to violent anarchy in the country.
But the total population of Springfield is around 58,000. So, that's around 25 percent Haitian. And the growing pains in the community have not always been easy.
State officials say it's stressing resources.
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): That obviously represents a massive increase, based upon percentage of the population in Springfield. It is -- it is unprecedented in such a short period of time.
The federal government simply has to be part of the solution. They have to step up. It is their policies that have created these surges.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): The influx of Haitians has also manifested itself in other ways, including a tragedy. Specifically, in 2023 when 11-year-old Aiden Clark was killed in a Springfield bus crash, one that involved a Haitian immigrant who had a driver's license that was not valid in Ohio, as reported by "The New York Times."
Aiden's father declined to speak on camera, but as others have posted about the tragedy recently, he told CNN in a statement, "We just want our family out of the news and for Aiden to not be mentioned in regards to politics."
Putting aside any unverified theories about cats and dogs, Vilbrun Dorsainvil, also Haitian, says he understands the criticisms about the strain on resources caused by the influx of immigrants.
VILBRUN DORSAINVIL, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, RESIDENT: I agree with these people.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But he also painted a harsh reality.
VILBRUN DORSAINVIL: If it was not for a matter of death or life in my country, it would be better to get back.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Omar Jimenez, CNN, Springfield, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, Peru's controversial former president, Alberto Fujimori, has died. His daughter says he passed away Wednesday at the age of 86 after a long battle with cancer.
Fujimori was a hero to some, partly for saving Peru from the economic collapse during his tenure from 1990 to 2000. He also defeated a rebellion led by Peru's Shining Path movement.
But after his presidency, Fujimori was found guilty in four separate trials, including one for authorizing a death squad responsible for killing civilians.
He had been in and out of prison in recent years, due to his declining health.
We're going to take a pause for a short break. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:36:40]
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
An all-civilian SpaceX crew will attempt an historic but risky spacewalk in the coming hours.
Members of the Polaris Dawn mission will be orbiting more than 400 miles above Earth at the time.
Only mission commander, Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis will exit the Crew Dragon capsule. Their ship doesn't have an airlock, so all four crew members will be subject to the vacuum of space. SpaceX is counting on its brand-new spacesuits to keep the team safe.
Joining us now is Colonel Chris Hadfield. He is a retired Canadian astronaut with NASA and former commander of the International Space Station. He's also the author of the book, "The Defector."
Pleasure to have you on the program.
CHRIS HADFIELD, RETIRED CANADIAN ASTRONAUT: My pleasure, Lynda. Pretty exciting night.
KINKADE: It's a really exciting night. So, over the coming hours, the first all-civilian crew will attempt their first ever space walk in spacesuits that have never been tested before in space.
Talk to us about this mission. Would you describe it as groundbreaking?
HADFIELD: Well, there are a couple of things happening for this spacewalk that have never happened before.
And that is one of the SpaceX capsules. They're going to let all the air out of it. It'll go down to absolute zero pressure vacuum.
So, think what that would do to your laptop computer, or to a -- you know, a bag of water or any sort of material. So that'll be an interesting stressor on the vehicle itself.
And then the four astronauts are wearing spacesuits that no one has ever worn in space before, and no one has ever done a spacewalk in.
These are the first spacewalking suits, brand-new ones, since like 1980, so over 40 years. So, testing all sorts of things simultaneously and four people's lives at risk.
So, yes, it's a really significant night. But they've done their homework. And hopefully, everything will go OK, because we really need that suit.
KINKADE: Exactly.
And two of the four will be doing this space walk. Of course, the commander of the mission is a billionaire, Jared Isaacman, as well as the SpaceX crew trainer, Sarah Gillis.
They're going to exit the capsule. They're going to remain outside, one after the other, for about 15 minutes, both of them maintaining contact with the Crew Dragon on the handrails.
Explain while -- why that is important.
HADFIELD: Well, they're plugged into the -- the Dragon capsule almost like a baby inside the womb. They have -- they have an umbilical cord that is getting them oxygen. It's giving them cooling. It's giving them communications and data. So, the -- it's impossible for them to drift away. And they're not
going to get separated from the ship. They're going to do things really methodically.
I spoke at length with the commander, with Jared Isaacman, about this spacewalk and -- and how necessary it is to be procedural and step-by- step and do one thing at a time.
But you're right. They will, one at a time, go up, make sure everything works properly, try some foot restraints, some maneuvers, make sure the suit behaves.
And then they'll take turns, each of them, pushing themselves out into the emptiness of space while the remaining three people are inside.
And I've done two spacewalks. That moment, Lynda, when you pull yourself out of a spaceship out into the universe, is so spectacularly different than the rest of your life.
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And I sort of had an inkling of what -- what Sarah and Jared are about to experience.
KINKADE: And so, this -- this entire mission, obviously, it comes with a lot of risks, as you've outlined. They are due to splashdown back on Earth about six days after -- after launch. What will -- how will you deem this a success? If all goes well, what could this mean for the future of space travel?
HADFIELD: Well, right now, there are really only maybe two-and-a-half different types of space-walking suits in the world. The American one that I wore, which is sort of the child of the one that was on the Moon back in the '60s.
And then there's the Russian one, the Orlan, that the Chinese have made their own version of.
So, to have a new high-tech, you know, this century space suit with all of the advantages of things that we've invented since then. This has a heads-up display on it. It's using modern manufacturing techniques.
We need a suit like that as we start to go back to the Moon, as we start to settle on the Moon. The -- the process has to become simpler.
It's like looking at a diving suit from the 1800s --
KINKADE: Yes.
HADFIELD: -- versus looking at how people dive now. And -- and we need that type of advance.
And so, I think this mission will be a success if everybody's healthy and returns OK. But also, if they successfully test this new space- walking suit, and learn all the lessons, and bring that back to continue to improve and evolve this suit for everything we want it to do in the future.
KINKADE: It's very exciting. It's certainly an incredibly looking -- like, it looks incredible, that space suit; more like something you might see on a ski field.
So hopefully, all goes to plan. We will be watching.
Good to have you with us, Colonel Chris Hadfield, retired Canadian astronaut with NASA, the former commander of the International Space Station. Thanks so much.
HADFIELD: Thanks very much, Lynda.
KINKADE: Well, you can catch the live coverage of the spacewalk right here on CNN. It's set to begin shortly after 2 a.m. in New York. That's 2 p.m. in Hong Kong.
Well, finally this hour, rockstar Jon Bon Jovi found himself in the right place at the right time to help save a life. Now that place was a pedestrian bridge in Nashville, Tennessee, where a woman was standing on the other side of the railing, appearing ready to jump.
Bon Jovi was filming a music video when he noticed the woman and went to speak with her.
Police say he helped persuade her to come off the ledge.
The singer and another unidentified person helped lift the woman to safety and gave her a hug. Police say the woman was taken to hospital, and they thanked the singer for coming to her aid.
I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back at the top of the hour with much more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts in just a moment.
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