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President Trump's Interview With NBC's "Meet The Press"; Houthis Claim Responsibility For Missile That Hit Near Tel Aviv Airport; Major Delays At Newark Airport Into Seventh Day; Picking The Next Pope; Mourning Period Ends For Pope Francis, As Cardinals Gather For Conclave; Government To Begin Collecting Defaulted Fed Loan Payments Tomorrow; Inside The Fight To Save Florida's Manatees. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired May 04, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:35]

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

We begin this hour with President Trump questioning if he needs to uphold the U.S. Constitution, the extraordinary comment which came during an interview that aired today on NBC's "Meet the Press".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: Your secretary of state says everyone who is here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know. I'm not -- I'm not a lawyer. I don't know.

WELKER: Don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?

TRUMP: I don't know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said.

What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: During the interview with Kristen Welker, the president also said he would not rule out using military force to take Greenland, but said it was, I'm quoting now, "highly unlikely" and quote, "that he would use the military to annex Canada".

For more, let's bring in CNN's Alayna Treene in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Alayna, bring us up to speed on what -- all the things that the president said during this interview.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Fred, you laid out that he made a lot of notable comments during that interview. He talked about the economy, again, kind of downplaying concerns over recession.

And you played that clip of him talking about the Constitution and whether or not, you know, both non-citizens and citizens deserve due process rights, kind of downplay that, punting it to his lawyers.

But one moment as well, the Constitution came up again at this one moment when Kristen Welker, the anchor there, was asking him about some of the allies who loved to joke about him running for a third term.

And it's not always a joke, Fred. I can tell you, there's many people that I've talked to who do genuinely want to try to find a way, if there's -- if there is a way to try and allow him to run again in 2028.

So Welker posed this question to him. I want you to listen to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But this is not something I'm looking to do. I'm looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican -- a great Republican, to carry it forward.

WELKER: Who do you see as your successor, Mr. President?

TRUMP: Well, it's far too early to say that. But you know, I do have a vice president. And typically -- and J.D. is doing a fantastic job.

WELKER: He would be at the top of the list?

TRUMP: He could very well be. I don't want to get involved in that. I think he's a fantastic, brilliant guy.

Marco is great. There's a lot of them that are great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So a few things here, Fred, to break down. One, of course, if he tried to run in 2028, that would not be abiding by the Constitution. It is prohibited by the Constitution.

But really he is acknowledging here that he has no plans to do so. He said, this is not something I'm looking to do.

And what's notable as well is this is also the first time we really heard him talk about a successor since he was sworn into office.

Now, it's no secret that many people close to the president believe that his vice president, J.D. Vance, is the heir apparent. That was one of the key reasons Trump actually selected him to serve as his running mate. He thought that he would be a good person to carry on, you know, the quote-unquote "MAGA legacy".

But I found it very striking that he also brought up Rubio. He said, Marco is great as well, kind of bringing him into the conversation. He actually brought him up a few times during this interview.

And I find that so striking. One, because not a lot of people thought that he was going to be someone that the president would see as a potential successor for him, but also because of what we saw happen this week where he named him, gave him another role in his administration, now naming him as well the acting national security adviser.

And one other very quick thing as well is that all of this comes as I know that Trump administration officials recognize there is a clock ticking on the president. They really want to get a lot of their top agenda items done by the midterms.

And so to have him talking about a successor before that point was very notable to me, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alayna Treene, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about all of this with Tia Mitchell. She is the Washington bureau chief for "The Atlanta Journal Constitution". Tia, always great to see you, especially in house here.

[14:04:51]

WHITFIELD: All right. So let's get started with the president saying I don't know to Kristen Welker's question about upholding the U.S. Constitution. It also sounds like he's trying to say that voters put me here to do whatever it is that I want to do.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": Well, I think it's two things. I think, number one, President Trump knows he has immunity. So there are a lot of things he can do that wouldn't necessarily bring any repercussions on him in the long run.

But I think he's also, the second point is it seems like he and his advisers have come up with this line, which is I'll do what my attorneys tell me to do. I don't know, I have smart attorneys and whatever they tell me.

And again, that kind of --

WHITFIELD: It is interesting, too, because so many of his predecessors, other presidents like to school themselves on the Constitution --

MITCHELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- and like to speak very proficiently about honoring it. But he's deferring it to his attorneys. Like, I don't need to know this stuff, but they do. MITCHELL: Right. And I think it also gives him a little bit of

deniability, because then he can say, well, I'm not making the decision. So if something down the line becomes wrong or problematic, he can say, I was just following, you know, the recommendations from my attorneys.

WHITFIELD: There was a lot that came from this interview. I mean, pretty extraordinary. You know, after recently suggesting that, you know, there was a possibility of running for a third term, the president now seems to be willing to say that this will be his final term in the white house.

Does this put him in a position to perhaps name his successor, making the mention of Marco Rubio or J.D. Vance? Is this allowing him to now have a new position of essentially, you know, anointing the next?

MITCHELL: I mean, I think President Trump would love that, to be seen as the person who has to give his stamp of approval to whoever comes behind him.

I also think this is an example of President Trump kind of saying different things at different times, because he hasn't -- when there are 2028 hats that his supporters are wearing, he doesn't say, well, no, guys, I'm done. I'm doing four years and I'm out. He kind of cheers on and seems to be tickled by the 2028 paraphernalia. But again today he did indicate that he does not plan to seek another term.

I would also say, you know, when we talk about dismantling democracy, authoritarians often remain in power without an election. So to me, the question about whether President Trump will attempt to remain in power after 2028 is not about him running a third time. It's about other ways he can try to, you know, again, violate the Constitution to remain in power.

WHITFIELD: We did hear him allude to that a few times prior, not in this interview necessarily, though.

So the president also talking about the impacts that his tariffs are having on prices. And again, he told American consumers that their children may have to cut back on their dolls and maybe pay a bit more for those toys.

Take a listen to how he phrased it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WELKER: Are you saying that your tariffs will cause some prices to go up?

TRUMP: No. I think tariffs are going to be great for us because it's going to make us rich.

WELKER: But you said some dolls are going to cost more. Isn't that an acknowledgment that some prices will go up?

(CROSSTALKING) TRUMP: I don't think a beautiful baby girl needs -- that's 11 years old -- needs to have 30 dolls. I think they can have three or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, you know, what did that exhibit from the president? You know, besides kind of a cavalier approach or attitude about whether it's going to cost anybody more for anything.

And then this reference to dolls and, you know, girls who're age 11. I mean, does it also underscore that he's a -- he's out of touch with stuff because an 11-year-old these days, they want electronics. You know, I mean, a few may be collecting dolls, but the vast majority want something else.

MITCHELL: Yes, it's a couple of --

WHITFIELD: Expensive stuff.

MITCHELL: -- things struck me by that. Number one, he said tariffs are going to make us rich. That indicates that he believes tariffs can help boost the federal budget, can become a moneymaker for the federal government, and perhaps offset some of the ways he wants to reduce incoming money, like tax cuts.

So to me, that's an indication that he thinks they'll help the federal government make money.

But on your point about, you know, whether an 11-year-old girl needs 30 dolls, you know, it was once a time where conservatives said, let people buy what they want. Let the markets decide what people want to do.

And so in this way, this is a very different message coming from a Republican leader, because in the past, Republicans would say, let families decide how many dolls their girl wants or what type of electronics that I want to buy, make it affordable to me and let me make my own decisions. And what the president is saying is something a little bit different, right?

WHITFIELD: And in the context, dolls can be expensive. All of this stuff can be, you know, expensive. And that really is what the premise of the question is all about with tariffs making things more expensive.

And with today's kids liking their electronics, a lot of those devices are going to be, you know, costing people a lot more, too.

[14:09:46]

WHITFIELD: All right. So switching gears now a little bit to the upcoming midterm elections. GOP party leaders are trying to recruit Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to enter the running for Senate against Jon Ossoff. Senate Majority Leader, you know, John Thune is leading this Senate

GOP campaign. He flew to Atlanta. Is there some arm twisting that's going on here to get Kemp into the game?

MITCHELL: Yes. I mean, if nothing else, it's clear that he is being heavily recruited. And so far it has not been a yes. I mean, I think that's clear.

I think they're still trying to get Governor Kemp to a yes. It doesn't seem like he's completely shut it down either with a hard no, but there's some convincing. And it's been a lot of people all the way up to President Trump.

But again, congressional leaders in the Senate, the fundraising arm of the Republican party, everyone is trying to get Governor Kemp to say yes, because they know we just had a CNN -- AJC poll last week that showed that Governor Kemp is really the only candidate on the radar right now.

Where do we think Trump is on that? Because he's had, you know, a hot and cold relationship with Brian Kemp?

MITCHELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You know, he's been a little salty over him, meaning Trump over Kemp. Now, he would embrace him?

MITCHELL: Yes. Well, I mean, you know, they kind of buried the hatchet last year when Governor Kemp was helping Donald Trump campaign in Georgia. I think Donald Trump was very much willing to forgive Governor Kemp, especially when it helped him carry Georgia last year.

So they're on good terms. And what we've heard is that President Trump wants candidates who can win. He doesn't just want MAGA loyalists who may be more polarizing and then struggle in a general election, because we saw that cost them some seats in 2020 and 2024.

So again, the polling shows that Kemp right now is the only Republican who is competitive against Jon Ossoff. So that's why the Republicans, including President Trump, really want to get Governor Kemp in the race.

WHITFIELD: All right. Super fascinating. We covered a lot of ground.

Tia Mitchell, great to see you, with "The Atlanta Journal Constitution".

MITCHELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right.

New today, Travelers scrambling for cover at the airport in Tel Aviv after a missile fired from Yemen landed nearby. Israel's military says multiple attempts were made to intercept it. The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has taken responsibility for that attack.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, tell us more about how Israel is responding to this.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, the Houthi militants have regularly fired missiles at Israel. They are almost always intercepted, but not today. Today, a ballistic missile making impact just outside of Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport.

You can see actually in CCTV footage, the moments that that missile made impact as Israel's air defenses clearly failed to intercept it, although several attempts to intercept it were indeed made.

There's also a video that we've seen where you can really feel the force of the blast, a large plume of smoke emerging. And in photos that we have from the scene in the aftermath, you can see just this enormous, enormous crater, dirt and debris and shrapnel all over the road, some of it damaging the airport itself.

And you can just imagine if this ballistic missile had indeed made impact in a populated area or hit one of these airline terminals what kind of deadly damage this really could have done?

No one, though, thankfully, was seriously injured in this attack. And the question now is indeed, how will Israel respond to this? The Israeli prime minister called urgent consultations with his security cabinet, and afterwards he posted this video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are operating against them. We acted before. We will act in the future, too. I can't elaborate on all of that.

The U.S., in coordination with us, is also operating against them. It's not one and done, but there will be hits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And what's important to note is that since this -- the Israel-Hamas ceasefire collapsed back in March as the Houthis resumed their ballistic missile attacks against Israel, it's been the United States that's largely been playing the role of retaliating against these Houthi missile strikes and carrying out strikes of their own because of Houthi actions in the Red Sea, as well.

And this is really now putting to the test whether Israel will choose to respond directly itself as the Israeli prime minister faces pressure not only from within his governing coalition, but also from leaders of the opposition, like the former defense minister Benny Gantz, who are calling on Netanyahu to not only retaliate against the Houthis but to strike directly at Iran in retaliation for this, arguing that Iran is really the force behind these attacks.

[14:14:46]

DIAMOND: And you can see from the Israeli prime minister that certainly seems to be on the table, but he is leaving it up to a matter of secrecy, it seems, as to exactly when and how Israel will retaliate, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much.

Still ahead, major delays disrupting travel at Newark International Airport for the seventh day in a row now.

Plus millions of student loan borrowers in default, now facing required payments starting tomorrow. We'll tell you what that means for the borrowers who can't afford the payments.

And a Georgia man behind bars for 43 days accused of trying to abduct a child at a Walmart. The store surveillance you're looking at right now, his lawyer is referencing, says it actually proves that he's innocent -- next.

[14:15:39]

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WHITFIELD: At Newark airport, a shortage of air traffic control staff is causing major delays for a seventh straight day now. The FAA has a ground delay in place until midnight, with flights running more than two hours behind.

On Saturday, over 270 flights, nearly a quarter of all scheduled flights at the airport were affected.

CNN correspondent Leigh Waldman is following all of this from Newark Liberty International Airport. So Leigh, any ideas about when this is going to improve?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, I think that's the question on everyone's minds. And at this point, no, we don't know when this is going to end. There's a few different issues at play here.

We heard from the acting FAA administrator this week who said there's issues with the technology being outdated and causing these outages. They're working to fix that now.

But there's a very significant staffing shortage when it comes to our air traffic controllers. Across the entire nation, we are 3,000 short of where we need to be.

But for the facility that maintains the airspace around Newark, 20 percent of their staffers walked off the job for a number of issues citing burnout, unsafe working conditions, and also this staffing crisis. That's all contributing to the issues at play here at Newark.

Now, to put all of this into perspective, the union that represents the air traffic controllers says this is nearly the worst staffing shortage that they've seen in 30 years. And it will take roughly a decade to get us back to where we need to be.

And you mentioned some of those delays yesterday. Today we're at over 290 delays for flights here and over 90 flight cancellations on average. Those delays are lasting more than two hours. We also heard from the flight attendants -- the association of flight

attendants issuing a statement about all of this. And they talk about how they support the air traffic controllers, and they support every effort to secure the funding necessary to staff up, and also to improve the equipment they need to do their jobs.

We heard from the Trump administration this week as well, who says they're rolling out these incentive programs to try and get more people into this job field. That includes a $5,000 bonus for people who go through this academy. Also, bonuses to get people to those facilities that are understaffed, like the one that maintains the airspace here over Newark.

And they also talked about safety as well, because we know that's a big thing on people's minds when they're heading out for their flights today.

And in the coming days, with all of these shortages, the FAA administrator said that it is still safe to fly at this point. They have a team here working to solve all of these issues for people, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Keep us posted. Leigh Waldman at Newark airport, thank you so much.

All right. New video into CNN is revealing an interaction between a Georgia man shopping at a Walmart and a mother who accuses him of trying to take her two-year-old son. The incident happened in the Atlanta suburb of Acworth back in March.

At the time, Carolyn Miller told CNN affiliate WSB that a tug of war ensued when Mahendra Patel moved to grab her son. And now, Patel's attorney says surveillance footage from inside the store tells a very different story.

Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mahendra Patel walked into a Georgia Walmart looking for Tylenol. What happened next would land him in police custody and charged with trying to kidnap a two-year-old boy. Surveillance video from March 18th shows Patel encountering mother of two, Carolyn Miller, seen here on a motorized scooter.

Patel asked Miller if she knows where the Tylenol is. Then, as the cart moves, Patel appears to reach towards Miller's lap and briefly take something into his arms. It's here that Miller claims Patel put both hands on her boy and grabbed him out of her lap.

In an incident report compiled by Walmart, Miller, quote, "quickly grabbed the child back". Patel doesn't deny he grabbed the boy, but says he was trying to help the child from falling after Miller, according to Patels attorney, clipped the corner of a display with her scooter. A grand jury indicted Patel on charges of attempted kidnaping, simple

assault and battery. Patels attorney said he's been needlessly held in jail without bond for more than 40 days.

CNN has reached out to the district attorney's office and the police department, but has not heard back. Miller declined to comment. A bond hearing is scheduled for Patel on May 6th.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:24:48]

WHITFIELD: Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

All right. Today marks the last official day of mourning for Pope Francis. Live pictures right now. Coming up, what to expect from this week's secretive conclave to pick the successor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The nine-day mourning period for the death of Pope Francis is ending and the conclave now begins on Wednesday. The 133 voting members of the College of Cardinals will be meeting behind closed doors and electing Pope Francis' successor.

[14:29:46]

WHITFIELD: They have a rather weighty choice to make. Build on the late pope's reforms and vision, or slow things down and embark on a course correction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone who will convey God's message to the people, the most clearly and succinctly way, so that we can hear directly from the Lord what he has to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Father Thomas Reese, senior analyst for the Religion News Service, is joining me right now.

Father Reese, great to see you.

You are there in Rome. So what is the atmosphere like? What are the cardinals doing now before the conclave actually begins on Wednesday?

FATHER THOMAS REESE, SENIOR ANALYST, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE: Well, there are 133 cardinals who will be in the conclave to elect the next pope. And surprisingly, a lot of them don't know each other. So right now, they're getting to know each other. They're listening to speeches. They're meeting over dinner and coffee and cocktails, asking one another. You know, who do you think would be the person for pope? Or what do you think of this man?

So there's a lot of this kind of conversation going on right now before they even enter into the conclave.

WHITFIELD: And that includes the cardinals who are over 80, right? Because those who are going to go into the conclave have to be under 80 to actually have that voting power. But the elders perhaps are the ones, right, during these lunches and dinners, these meetings ahead of Wednesday, who are potentially the most influential. So, some of the discussions are actually, you know, calling out names or suggesting names that could be serious contenders?

REESE: Well, some of the older cardinals certainly want to have an influence on the younger under 80 cardinals. They're all old. But for cardinals, they're young.

So, there's that kind of conversation going on. But the people who count are the ones who are going to be inside the room, inside the Sistine Chapel when the voting takes place. And that's the cardinals under 80 years of age. And they're the most important ones. And so, their views are going to be the ones that are really important.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And among those 188, the majority of those voting cardinals -- cardinals will actually selected by Pope Francis. Right. So, I wonder if that in any way kind of informs what their particular preferences would be about the next pope.

REESE: Yes, 80 percent of the voters, the cardinal electors were appointed by Pope Francis. So, they're not going to elect somebody who stands up and says, oh, Francis was terrible. We're going back to the old church. No, that's not going to happen. I think they're going to look for someone who is in continuity with Pope Francis.

The trouble is, there's nobody like Pope Francis in the college of cardinals. No one with that personality, that experience, that background. So he's going to be a very hard act to follow. And the question is, will they find someone with the same kind of charisma that he has, or will they find someone that maybe won't do, won't make so many surprises for the church? I think that's a debate that's going on among the cardinals, too.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. And then in your recent article, you mentioned three cardinals, in particular Cardinal Pietro Parolin. I hope I pronounce all these names right. They're beautiful names, but I hope I get it right. The Vatican secretary of state, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna.

So, what are your thoughts on their respective chances? Why do they kind of rise to the top for you?

REESE: Well, the cardinal secretary of state, who is really more like a prime minister than a U.S. secretary of state who only focuses on foreign -- foreign policy. The cardinal secretary of state is the number two man in the Vatican under the pope.

So, his name always comes up before conclaves as a possible candidate, especially if they're looking for someone who is in continuity with the pope, because, after all, he worked with the pope during his papacy. And so, certainly, if he is elected, it will be a vote for continuity, especially in the area of diplomacy.

On the other hand, he's not very charismatic. He's a diplomat. He chooses his words very carefully. We won't have the wonderful press conferences that we had with Pope Francis on an airplane with someone like Cardinal Parolin.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Okay. On average, it takes between 2 and 3 days. Or at least that has been the case in the last three. You know, the selections of the last three popes, 2 to 3 days. You got any guesses on this one? Longer or shorter or about the same?

REESE: Well, if it's very short, then its probably going to be Cardinal Parolin that if it happens. Well, certainly if it happens the first night that they vote, but it's really hard to predict because of the fact that there are -- this is the largest number of cardinals to ever attend a conclave, 133.

[14:35:00]

And it's also the fact that they don't know each other. So, it may take a little longer than we anticipate. But the hope is that we will have a new pope by Friday evening.

WHITFIELD: All right. Fascinating. We're all watching, waiting for that white smoke that will start appearing at some point. Father Thomas Reese, thank you so much.

REESE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Great to see you.

All right. Student loan borrowers, listen up, starting tomorrow, the Department of Education will restart collecting on loans that are in default. What borrowers need to know, next.

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[14:40:18]

WHITFIELD: Starting tomorrow, the Education Department will restart collections on federal student loans in default. As part of the move, the agency will garnish wages and benefits for the millions of borrowers who are in default. This puts an end to a pandemic era pause, which began about five years ago and leaves borrowers scrambling for a solution.

CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook has details now.

Julia, what can we expect tomorrow to see?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Department of Education will resume sending defaulted student loans to collections on Monday. And this comes after the department announced that it would be ending that pandemic era pause that's been in place for roughly five years now.

Now, the Trump administration has been working aggressively to roll back some of former President Joe Bidens policies, including some of those centered around student loan forgiveness. They've also been working to dismantle the Department of Education, the very department that were speaking about now.

And Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about this decision to end the pause in a statement. She said, quote, American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies. The Biden administration misled borrowers. The executive branch does not have the constitutional authority to wipe debt away, nor do the loan balances simply disappear.

Now, in a news release, the department said that more than 5 million borrowers are in default and that that number could go up in the coming months. In fact, they said that there are 4 million additional borrowers in late stage delinquency, which occurs after 90 days without payment. The Education Department's office of student aid will soon restart the treasury offset program and begin the process of collecting debts by garnishing federal and state payments, such as tax returns or Social Security benefits.

And the Education Department has urged borrowers that are in default to reach out to the student aid office's default resolution group and to take action by making monthly payments, enrolling in an income driven repayment plan, or signing up for loan rehabilitation.

And it's important to note, Fred, that this could be a particularly -- particularly challenging time for these borrowers. Trump's tariffs have rattled global markets and the U.S. economy, and experts tell our team that inflation could only heighten and amplify any of the problems these borrowers are having.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Very rough days ahead. Julia Benbrook -- starting tomorrow -- thank you so much.

All right. Still ahead, why are manatees in Florida starving to death? CNN visits a lagoon where life=threatening pollution has turned manatee paradise into a deadly trap.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:49]

WHITFIELD: Along Florida's eastern coastline, the welcoming waters of the Indian River lagoon have long been a home for manatees. But what was once a paradise for the states iconic marine creatures has now become a death trap. Environmentalists say development along the lagoon has caused the manatees main source of food, seagrass, to die, causing more than 1,200 manatees to starve to death.

CNN's Randi Kaye takes us there. And we do warn you, parts of this piece may be very hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're heading out on Florida's Indian River Lagoon, which stretches from Palm Beach County to Daytona Beach. The lagoon is where Florida manatees come for the warm water, but in recent years, the northern end of the lagoon has been a death trap for them.

PETER BARILE, MARINE BIOLOGIST, MARINE RESEARCH & CONSULTING, INC.: All these homes along the lagoon that are on septic tanks are slowly leaking, literally tons of nitrogen and phosphorus into the system.

KAYE: Marine biologist Peter Barile has studied manatees for decades. He says those pollutants are being released by septic tanks and water treatment facilities along the lagoon, and are fueling algae growth in the water, which is causing the manatees' main food source, seagrass, to die.

BARILE: So, this algae is reducing light down to the seagrasses, essentially smothering them and killing them.

KAYE: He says, manatees need to eat nearly 100 pounds of vegetation a day. Between December 2020 and April 2022, more than 1,200 manatees died of starvation, most of them here in the northern part of the Indian River Lagoon.

Just a couple of decades ago. The water in this Indian River lagoon was crystal clear. You could easily see down to the bottom. Now, it's dark and murky and polluted with chemicals and algae.

With their seagrass gone, the manatees had little choice but to eat the algae that killed it, which is toxic for them. Their normally round bodies became flat as they became more and more emaciated.

Katrina Shadix is the executive director of Bear Warriors United, which sued Florida's Department of Environmental Protection in 2022 to help protect the manatees.

KATRINA SHADIX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BEAR WARRIORS UNITED: They suffered immensely and for a very long time. When manatee starves to death, it's an extremely painful process and basically their insides melt and turn to liquid.

[14:50:05]

KAYE: These photos from Bear Warriors United show how desperate some of the manatees were attempting to pull themselves out of the water to eat leaves off dry land or grass along the water's edge. And this video shows manatee carcasses being taken to a landfill for necropsies and disposal.

On this beach in the lagoon, Katrina says she found many manatee carcasses. She showed us some of their bones that still remain and shared this picture with us of manatees skull.

SHADIX: There was a carcass of a mom and the skeleton had started to show and there was a baby skeleton inside of her body. So, she died pregnant. And the bones of the baby were fitted perfectly inside the bones of the mother.

KAYE: Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in favor of Bear Warriors United and against the state, finding Florida's Department of Environmental Protection was in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

BARILE: There was lax leadership from the state of Florida over decades that allowed this problem to get worse and worse.

KAYE: The judge in the case ruled that there is a definitive causal link between Florida's Department of Environmental Protection wastewater regulations and the ongoing risk to manatees. Based in part on Peter Bareli's testimony, the judge found it will take at least a decade for this part of the lagoon to start seeing recovery.

BARILE: The state of. Florida has admitted that it will be 12 to 15 years before seagrasses start to recover.

KAYE: We reached out to both the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but neither provided a response to our questions.

Are you hopeful the manatee population will come back here?

SHADIX: I am hopeful now. I wasn't at first. I was convinced that this home herd was going to go extinct and that the rest of the manatees would follow. But now that we won this lawsuit, we think we have a really good chance of working with the state to make sure the manatees don't go extinct on our watch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFEILD: Our thanks to Randi Kaye for that report.

All right. In this breaking news into CNN. A bomb attack thwarted at Lady Gaga's concert in Rio. It drew more than 2 million people to watch there at the Copacabana beach. What authorities are saying about the suspects now in custody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:00]

WHITFIELD: All right. In the new CNN original series, "MY HAPPY PLACE", six celebrities take you along for the ride as they travel to places that they say have become their safe havens. In honor of the new series, CNN anchor Erin Burnett is sharing her happy place. The Strand Bookstore in New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": The Strand, a New York bookstore is busy and is famous as the city itself, boasting 18 miles of books. The store is so big that even the owner still finds hidden treasures.

NANCY BASS WYDEN, OWNER, STRAND BOOKSTORE: You know what I found on the shelves? A signed copy by Helen Keller. I found it over there.

BURNETT: That's incredible. So, even for you in here.

WYDEN: Yes.

BURNETT: There are mysteries.

WYDEN: And customers always tell us things that they'll find. There was one book that my dad found. He opened it up and there was a bullet --

BURNETT: Bullet lodged in the book.

WYDEN: Yes.

BURNETT: New Yorkers and tourists come from all over, hoping to find their own prizes. I've been visiting since I was a kid, and I've always felt like I'm entering somewhere magical to find something secret. And that's why the strand is my happy place.

WYDEN: I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and I remember coming with my parents because we would come to New York City every Christmas.

And I feel like it hasn't changed.

BURNETT: Nancy Wyden grew up in the store. She's the third generation owner of Strand.

WYDEN: Here's grandpa.

BURNETT: Oh, wow.

WYDEN: This place is just filled with so much history. And to be in one family for 100 years, I think, is kind of phenomenal.

BURNETT: It is really.

Over the years, the Strand has become a New York icon, appearing in films and TV shows. Even the books themselves have show credits. Customers can check any book to see what production it might have been rented out for.

Shoppers can find new books, weird books, used books and rare books.

Yeah, this is something I've never seen before.

WYDEN: Our most expensive book is this one. It's Ulysses. It's signed by Henri Matisse and James Joyce.

BURNETT: Wow.

This incredibly rare copy is worth $45,000.

WYDEN: It feels like there's -- there's, like, magical potions in here.

BURNETT: May I touch?

WYDEN: Yes.

BURNETT: Okay.

What's happening to bookstores now?

WYDEN: I mean, there are less and less of them. I think we have to just kind of continue with our past and our mission to put good books in the hands of readers and change with the times, too, and have fun with it.

BURNETT: And Wyden is having fun with it. Embracing new platforms like TikTok to get young readers in the door.

Weve got Percy Jackson, he's Indiana Jones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is exactly what I was looking for.

BURNETT: It's important to pass down the magic of stumbling on a good book in a store, which is why I always bring my kids here during the holidays, just like my parents used to bring me.

What's the main character's name?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Jackie Robinson.

BURNETT: Jackie Robinson. Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I like you stumbling on a book.

BURNETT: You like to stumbling on a book?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yeah.

BURNETT: All right. You can go pick one more.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Erin Burnett, thank you so much.

And make sure to tune in to a new episode of "MY HAPPY PLACE" with Taraji P. Henson. That's tonight, 10:00 p.m., right here on CNN.