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Americans Weigh In On President's Performance; Number Of Missing Drops To Three From 97 Ion Kerr County After Texas Floods; Zelenskyy Calls For Peace Talks With Russia This Week. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired July 20, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: The researchers use this technique in embryos from 22 patients resulting in eight babies that appear to be free of mitochondrial diseases. And one woman in the study is still pregnant.
Now again, this is still experimental and it is not clinically available here in the United States.
Here in the U.S., there is actually some restrictions placed on clinical research involving this technique, but the researchers say, seeing these eight healthy babies result from this technique gives them some reassurance that this could be an effective approach for the future, and there are one in 5,000 people who have a rare genetic mitochondrial disease. So that's the population that the researchers say this technique could possibly benefit in the future. Back to you.
[15:00:59]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
All right, today marks six months since President Trump took office for his second term, and this morning, in a Truth Social post, Trump celebrated his accomplishments, saying in these six months he, "totally revived a major country."
But brand new CNN polling shows Americans remain divided on Trump and his policies, and the poll offers a new warning sign for Trump on his signature policy of immigration. Just 42 percent of Americans now approve of how he is handling immigration, with only 40 percent approving of his policy on deportations, specifically.
CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us right now.
Julia, what more can you tell us about this new poll and how this administration plans to deal with these issues moving forward?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you pointed out there, Fred, the President's approval ratings currently sit at around 40 percent for his handling of both immigration in general and deportation specifically. This new polling shows that a rising majority believe that Trump has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. While that number stood at 45 percent back in February, it now stands at 55 percent. But let's dive into some of the other details in this survey: 53 percent oppose increasing the budget for immigration and customs enforcement by billions of dollars. Nearly six in 10 oppose efforts to end birthright citizenship, 57 percent majority also says they oppose plans to build new detention facilities capable of holding up to 100,000 undocumented immigrants and 59 percent of Americans oppose arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants who have resided in the United States for years with no criminal record.
And I want to add some extra context there. A CNN review of government data found that most immigrants taken into ICE custody between last October and May had no serious criminal convictions.
In an interview earlier today that aired on CBS, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons detailed the administration's sweeping deportation efforts. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD LYONS, ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: ICE is always focused on the worst of the worst. One difference you'll see now is, under this administration, we have opened up the whole aperture of the immigration portfolio, meaning that if you're here illegally and ICE goes out and arrests someone that is released from a sanctuary jurisdiction or wanted in their home country and an ICE officer finds other individuals with them who are in the country illegally, we are going to take them as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENBROOK: Now ICE is about to get a big funding boost, set to receive $75 billion from the President's sweeping agenda bill, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. It is an unprecedented amount of cash for an agency that's historically been underfunded, and despite the reactions that we are seeing in this data that we just went over, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that this new funding will allow them to ramp up efforts even more, promising to come harder and faster -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thanks so much.
So what's happening with the Trump administration policy on immigration is leading some families to consider a drastic choice whether to voluntarily leave the U.S. out of fear.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has one family's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASHA MENDOZA, U.S. CITIZEN: These are the main pictures from our house that we didn't want to just throw away.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sasha Mendoza has the impossible task of packing up her family's life in Pittsburgh into a handful of suitcases.
S. MENDOZA: It's really hard to tell a four-year-old that they can't bring their toys or their stuffed animal. There's just not enough room. We can't put a stuffed animal and then have no pants.
I've literally never felt anxiety the way that I have in the last few years here.
ALVAREZ: So you are saying bye to the U.S. for good?
JULIO MENDOZA, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: For good, yes. Yes, for good.
ALVAREZ: Fearful of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, Sasha, her husband, Julio, and their three kids are leaving behind the life they built together.
S. MENDOZA: What are you the most excited for in Mexico?
[15:05:10]
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: The pool.
S. MENDOZA: The pool?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: And the beach.
S. MENDOZA: The beach?
ALVAREZ: Julio is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Sasha and their three children are all U.S. citizens. They decided to make the move together only moments after Trump took office.
J. MENDOZA: It was an executive order being signed, and that was her call first said, like, what do you think about moving to Mexico? And I said, honestly, at this point, yes, let's do it.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: We're going to move to Mexico.
S. MENDOZA: We're going to move to Mexico, not today.
ALVAREZ: And with that, the family began to wind down their lives, sifting through keepsakes and moving out of their home.
S. MENDOZA: Say bye to the house.
UNIDENTIFIED BOYS: Bye, house. I'll miss you.
ALVAREZ: When you were dating, did your status as being undocumented come up at all?
S. MENDOZA: In our first date, we kind of like were mentioning it without mentioning it. And at one point, he ordered a drink and he asked for extra ice and I said, no, we don't do ice here. And he was like, hmm. That was like the only thing we needed to say.
J. MENDOZA: So, by the way --
ALVAREZ: Julio crossed the U.S. southern border when he was 11 years old, and he's lived in Pittsburgh ever since.
S. MENDOZA: One of his first concerns when we talked about moving is like, how am I going to watch those Steeler games?
ALVAREZ: You're a Pittsburgh native for all intents and purposes?
S. MENDOZA: Oh my God. Yes.
J. MENDOZA: Yes.
ALVAREZ: What made Trump a second term more nerve-wracking for you, to come to a decision that you had to leave the country?
J. MENDOZA: There are no limits. There are no limits on being a target. The only main concern is like, he looks brown, he looks different, he doesn't speak English. He's the one. It doesn't matter.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": That's where things stand tonight in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
ALVAREZ: They were confronted with their worst nightmare when Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador.
S. MENDOZA: I can see myself in that, and I don't want us to wait until we're in the same situation.
ALVAREZ: There are people who will say, you came to the U.S. illegally, why didn't you do it the right way? What do you say to people?
J. MENDOZA: If you were to be put in my situation at my age to tell me do it the right way, the whole process pretty much takes about 15 to 20 years. By that time, I don't think my kids or anyone's kids who are starving or in a dangerous situation can wait 15 to 20 years for you to come here and start working.
S. MENDOZA: What did we say that we could get when we get there?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: A PS5?
S. MENDOZA: No, we did not say that.
ALVAREZ: How did you approach the conversation with your kids?
S. MENDOZA: They know the realistic part of it, which is that it will be very difficult for them to adapt to, especially mostly language- wise. That's like our biggest thing. They're not anywhere near fluent. And they are going to be going into a school that is Spanish-speaking.
Who's that? That's you.
ALVAREZ: For Sasha, leaving the U.S. also means saying goodbye to the places she's called home.
You grew up at this house. What is it like for you to leave this house and what it represents to you?
S. MENDOZA: It is definitely hard because, yes, there's a lot of good memories. This has always been like the kind of comeback place. As far as we know, we won't be able to do that. We've kind of all decided that today's most likely the last time that we'll all be like in the same place at the same time.
ALVAREZ: Hours of research behind them, the Mendoza family spent their final days in Pittsburgh saying goodbye to family and friends.
J. MENDOZA: Stay in touch. I love you until --
Stay safe. Stay safe.
ALVAREZ: It's a decision not taken lightly, but for Julio, no other choice.
J. MENDOZA: Rolling the dice will be staying here. That will be rolling the dice, playing with my life, playing with my kids' life, playing with my wife's life. That would be a gamble. I would say, it's taken again while I'm taking a certain win on this one, for sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.
Tough choices.
All right, joining me right now to talk about this and the CNN polling numbers on the President and his policies is Ron Brownstein. He is a CNN senior political analyst.
So great to see you, Ron.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Fred.
WHITFIELD: So let's get started with this polling, new polling on Trump's handling of key issues such as immigration and the economy. I mean, these are supposed to be his two big bedrock themes, but the polling shows 60 percent disapproval of his handling of the economy, 58 percent disapproval of his handling of immigration.
So how do you assess all of this?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I think on the immigration side, first, this poll and the very similar results that CBS and YouGov have out today really underscore something we've seen from the beginning of his presidency, which is that the public is differentiating between his actions at the border, which they largely still approve of, and his handling of deportation and interior enforcement, which is facing increasing resistance, and this is not entirely shocking to me.
[15:10:02]
I mean, I have covered immigration in general and public opinion about immigration in specific since the early 1990s, since Prop 187 in California and there have been a lot of mood shifts back and forth in the public, but two things have been very consistent, Fred, over decades, which is that the public does want the border controlled, they believe in the rule of law, they believe people should have to go through a process to get here, but they are also rational and pragmatic, and they do not support mass deportation of people who are here illegally, but have not committed any other crime.
That has been extraordinarily consistent and you see it again, really underscored in these numbers. Trump is pushing at that by so aggressively removing people on a broad scale and you see that -- you see the backlash, you know, germinating in these poll results.
WHITFIELD: Yes, however, he seems to be digging in his heels. There are no indicators that he plans on backing off of these tough immigration policies.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And as we heard at the top of the show, with his acting ICE director saying ICE agents will arrest anyone illegally in the country, so what do you make of the President's strategy to essentially, you know, double down? He says he is going after them harder and faster, potentially.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. This to me really reflects two overarching trends of the second Trump presidency. First, as I have written, he feels himself completely unbound. I mean, I think Trump believes that all of the forces that restrained him in his first term, whether it is the courts, Congress, institutions and civil society, even the Democrats as an opposition party are all much weaker than they were then, and that he essentially has no limits.
And I think often, you find, you know, when politicians feel they are invulnerable and they can kind of pursue whatever they want without any kind of sense of boundaries, that's often the predicate to a fall. And the other thing that I think is really striking about the way he is approaching immigration is it is totally ignoring the way in which his coalition is changing.
You know, naturalized Americans, people who are born abroad have become American citizens, were a significant source of growth for Trump in '24 versus '20. Hispanics were a significant source of growth for him in '24 versus '20, and yet there is essentially no concession to the realities of the new coalition in these policies, the same way that the budget bill, by having this traditional Republican frame of cutting programs that mostly benefit the working and middle class to fund tax cuts that mostly benefit the rich. That makes no concession to the reality of a new, more blue collar Republican coalition.
So he is putting a lot of strain on the coalition that elected him, and acting, I think, as though he feels there are no boundaries in what he can pursue.
WHITFIELD: All this, you know, and the President's approval rate, you know, at six months now into his second term, is underwater with 58 percent of Americans disapproving of the job he is doing and just 42 percent approval. There was a time where he was really moved by poll numbers and would tout them, especially when they were in his favor. Only six months into the term, do you think that those numbers are at
all going to be influential to him right now? Because he also seems to be on a roll because, like you just mentioned, he essentially has the rein to do whatever he wants.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, yes. Look, he feels that he has, you know, broken any source of opposition within his party in Congress. Certainly, they're not challenging him on anything. Unlike the first term, he doesn't have to put people in his administration who represent other factions in the party, make concessions in that way.
The court, the Supreme Court has pretty clearly indicated that it is going to be more of a handmaiden than a hindrance in his effort to accumulate presidential power. So he feels, you know, as I said, utterly empowered and emboldened.
But if you look at the polling, I think there is a very clear and consistent kind of finding across not only these issues, but kind of the overall assessment of him, and that is one, people do not see him making progress on the thing that they elected him above all, to handle, which is getting their cost of living under control. You see, high disapproval in multiple polls like the CBS poll today for his handling of inflation. And second, as I said, you see erosion among the most important groups where he gained in '24.
Like, why did he win in '24? I mean, he has always had a really strong base, but he added support among young people first and then voters of color, particularly Hispanics, particularly those without college degrees, and if you look across all of these polls, all of these issues, you're looking at consistently 65 to 75 percent disapproval among both young people and Hispanics and non-college people of color.
So again, he is governing in a way that makes no concession to the reality of who actually elected him, neither prioritizing their priorities or bending his agenda in a way that might benefit them and there is obvious risk in that approach.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ron Brownstein, thanks so much. Good to see you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, an update on the search for those still missing from the Texas flooding. How the number of people yet to be found has dropped dramatically.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:19:45]
WHITFIELD: All right, we are following new developments in Texas this weekend.
Kerr County officials have drastically revised the number of missing people from the catastrophic flooding earlier this month from 97 now down to just three. The city of Kerrville said many of those who were initially reported missing are now accounted for and verified as being safe.
[15:20:10]
The historic flooding event killed at least 135 people statewide over the Fourth of July weekend, including 37 children.
CNN correspondent Julia Vargas Jones has more now.
What is the latest, Julia, on the recovery operations for the remaining three?
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is a dramatic drop from that initial 101 that officials reported earlier this week, and 160 initially, right.
Local leaders are saying that that is thanks to days of tireless follow up. That's where it begins. Phone calls, cross-checking names and coordinating across multiple agencies, all of those people now verified as safe.
In a statement, the city of Kerrville said, "Through extensive follow- up work among state and local agencies, many individuals who were initially reported as missing have been verified as safe and removed from the list."
Now, it is important to note that those listed as missing were not campers or local residents, Fred.
According to County Judge Rob Kelly, they were mostly tourists in the area for the July 4th weekend, whose families had not heard from them, so that made it especially difficult for officials to track who was actually lost.
Now, the focus is now on those three people that remain missing and recovery teams that include more than a thousand first responders and thousands of volunteers. Kerrville City manager called the response extraordinary, saying, "We are profoundly grateful to the more than a thousand local, state and federal authorities who have worked tirelessly in the wake of the devastating flood that struck our community. Thanks to their extraordinary efforts, the number of individuals previously listed as missing has dropped from 160 to three."
Now, those teams, Fred, they're still combing through 60 miles of the Guadalupe River through thick mud and flood debris, and that is a painstaking process, both delicate and complicated, because these teams first need to look by hand or with cadaver dogs and then bring in machines that can handle larger swath of the river.
Search and rescue teams are looking for people who might be under a lot of debris, gravel, rocks, tree limbs.
In the last county meeting on Monday, which we were present for, the Sheriff said that that search could last months, still, granted, that was before this revised number was announced. Now, Fred, there is still a lot of anger and so many questions about
the levels of preparedness and the lack of alerts and how the floods caught so many people off guard, including those local authorities, and Kerr County is expected to host a public meeting on Tuesday for residents and families affected by the disaster and there is now a special legislative session starting tomorrow -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, that is I am sure, going to be well attended.
All right, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much.
On Capitol Hill now, control of the House could come down to redrawing district maps. Just ahead, which states the Democrats are focusing on to flip some seats.
And we remember the life of an exceptional D-Day veteran who became a viral sensation at 102 years old, Veteran Jake Larson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:27:40]
WHITFIELD: The Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee says it is time for the Trump administration to get tough with Russia over the Ukraine war.
Congressman Adam Smith made the comments as President Trump has given Vladimir Putin a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): The rhetoric has changed ever so slightly in the Trump administration in the last week or two, but we have a long way to go for the Trump administration to make it clear that we are with Ukraine and we are going to stand with Ukraine, and we are going to stop Putin from taking over the country.
If that happens, that can force Putin to the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, the war is not seeing any pause as five civilians were killed and dozens injured across Ukraine in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has a look at where things stand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for peace talks with Russia this coming week. The last time the two parties spoke was in early June in Istanbul, but those talks lasted just an hour before things broke down.
The new proposal for peace talks comes on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump's offer of 50 days to finish up the war to Russian President Vladimir Putin, or face severe sanctions.
Russia said Sunday, they were ready to "move quickly" towards achieving peace, but on their terms.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN (through translator): Russia is prepared to move swiftly. For us, the main thing is to achieve our objectives. They are clear, obvious and unchanging, but the process doesn't depend solely on us.
NADEAU: Those goals include territorial demands and making sure Ukraine never joins the E.U. or NATO, not exactly the same as what Ukraine wants for its people.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Barbie.
All right, today, we are remembering the life of a 102-year-old social media star with an exceptional past, Jake Larson, one of the last surviving World War II veterans who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, died this week.
Larson was known on TikTok as Papa Jake, racking up more than a million followers for his stories about life and military service.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour interviewed Larson in Normandy last year on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: What is the secret of your health and longevity?
JAKE LARSON, PAPA JAKE ON TIKTOK, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I'll have to say, don't die.
AMANPOUR: It's a good one, don't die.
[15:30:10]
You probably didn't know whether you would survive 80 years ago today, did you? When you landed on Omaha?
LARSON: God, no. I was afraid of those landmines they put in the beach there.
We were getting small arms fire, but I was afraid to step on one of those mines. The Germans had, I thought at that time, it was a million mines and when they started taking them out of there, they found 1.5 million.
AMANPOUR: Wow. You were one of the lucky ones.
Did you know then what you were fighting for? LARSON: Oh, definitely. That we knew, every one of us.
AMANPOUR: Tell us.
LARSON: Every one of us was prepared to give our life to kick Hitler's ass out of Europe.
AMANPOUR: And you did.
LARSON: And we did. We lost quite a few of our -- I lost friends, everybody lost friends, but we were soldiers, we were prepared to give our life.
AMANPOUR: And now, you obviously are father, a grandfather, a great grandfather and your great grandchildren and your grandchildren are making you into a social media star. You're on TikTok, Jake, since we last met.
LARSON: I don't know how that happened.
AMANPOUR: How did it happen?
LARSON: It's crazy.
AMANPOUR: And you go by Papa Jake. You have an actual name?
LARSON: Yes.
AMANPOUR: And why do you do it?
LARSON: You know, it is not me, it is my granddaughter. She put me on TikTok with her when COVID started. And I said, what the hell is TikTok? She said, oh, it is just a little storytelling thing, she says. And I put a couple of your stories on my TikTok.
She came back within a week and said, Papa, I am taking you off of my TikTok. I am going to put you on your own. I said, you're opening a can of worms here.
AMANPOUR: What story?
LARSON: I said, why are you putting me on by myself? She says, because you showed me up on mine. It took me 10 months to get 10,000 views. You got that in a week.
AMANPOUR: And how many do you have now?
LARSON: Well, the last time I looked, 800,000. It is just on the verge of a million.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Aw. We are forever fans.
And just a few weeks ago, in fact, that interview earned Christiane Amanpour an Emmy that she shared with Larson. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARSON: Holy smokes. I can't believe it. I've got happy tears.
AMANPOUR: It's beautiful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Larson's son tells CNN that his dad was overjoyed, and we can see it when he got that award saying his dad had a, "Epic, epic life." We couldn't agree more.
Thank you for your service, Papa Jake. May you rest in peace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:38:11]
WHITFIELD: Tomorrow, the Texas Legislature is set to convene for a special session where they're expected to take up President Trump's demand to redraw the state's congressional maps. That's receiving strong criticism today from some Democrats, who argue their party needs to fight back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETO O'ROURKE (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I think it is time that we match fire with fire. I think Democrats in the past too often have been more concerned with being right than being in power.
We have to get serious. We have to be absolutely ruthless about getting back in power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Manu Raju is here with more on why Trump wants this done and what Democrats are doing in response.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, Fred, Donald Trump's effort to essentially add five Republican seats next year by redrawing the lines in Texas, the district lines, those boundaries that are typically done at the beginning of every decade to reflect the census, to reflect changing populations, he wants that done now, to change the lines, adding five new Republican seats for the 2026 midterms that is causing major Democratic concern, particularly among Democratic leaders like Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and they're weighing how to respond.
We have new reporting out from our sources telling us about their strategy going forward.
Among the things that the Democrats are looking at California, New York, New Jersey, blue states like that, as well as Minnesota, Washington states trying to do what Trump is doing in Texas, get those district lines redrawn, get the boundaries redrawn, and potentially put Republican seats in those states at play in the midterms. But it is not that easy, everything carries risk, it could be costly.
It could be legally dubious, and potentially it could put some Democratic seats at risk as well, by changing how the district lines are drawn.
I asked Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, about this strategy, why they're going down this route, and about Trump's plan for a Texas power play.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): They have no credible track record of success. That's why House Republicans are afraid of the voters in 2026, in the midterm elections and they are trying to cheat to win.
RAJU: I've talked to some members of your delegation, Democrats who want New York to change the maps, to try to add seats, Democratic seats in New York. Would you support that effort in your state?
JEFFRIES: Let me just simply say the maps in New York are not as fair as they could be.
RAJU: You just accused Republicans of rigging the election by changing the lines in the middle of the decade. Wouldn't Democrats be doing the same thing?
JEFFRIES: What we are committed to doing as Democrats in New York, in California, in New Jersey, across the country, is make sure that the congressional maps are as fair as possible.
RAJU: And, Fred, Jeffries also told me that he plans to meet with the New York Governor Kathy Hochul, over the August recess to talk about how to proceed here. The big question is going to be whether or not the New York Democrats also go forward with this as well. They had some of their own legal challenges by trying to do this in recent years.
But some Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, told me, yes, they should move forward if Trump is doing this in Texas, they need to respond in kind. But other Democrats like Tom Suozzi, a more moderate Democrat, one who represents a more swing district, is not so sure. He is concerned about that effort because some Democrats are worried it could blow back on them come the general election. It could potentially make their districts even more competitive -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Manu Raju in Washington, thanks so much.
All right, still to come, would you take your family to what's known as Florida's Death Beach?
Up next, we will ask Shark Week expert, Forrest Galante about why this part of the coast can be so popular for sharks. See you soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:46:49]
WHITFIELD: All right, "Shark Week" is back, seven days of up close action of daring shark attack recreations and scientific discoveries. It all starts tonight at 8:00 P.M.
This year's celebration will feature 20 hours of never before seen specials, including two brand new episodes by marine biologist and "Shark Week" expert, Forrest Galante.
In "Alien Sharks: Death Down Under," Galante takes us into the depths of Australia's oceans and the strange and mysterious creatures lurking there and in "Florida's Death Beach," he explores what many call the shark capital of the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORREST GALANTE, SHARK EXPERT: Look at the amount of sharks. We are surrounded by sharks.
This is outstanding. This is underwater Australia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. And this is why I still want to dive the Great Barrier Reef. Okay, Forrest, I may have to go along with you on one of your next journeys. But anyhow, that's another chapter.
GALANTE: Say when.
WHITFIELD: Okay. So thank you so much for being with us. So what more can you tell us about your two new specials? It looks so exciting.
GALANTE: Look, it is "Shark Week." It is the most wonderful week of the summer, that's for sure. A lot of death in our titles, but the truth is, what I believe is that "Shark Week" aims to educate and inspire people to care about the ocean and care about ocean conservation. So I have two awesome shows this year. "Alien Sharks," which is a franchise we've done for a number of years where we look at some of the weirdest and most wonderful sharks out there, lesser known smaller shark species, some that have venom, and then "Death Beach," which takes us into Florida.
WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. Okay, so let's talk about Florida because you know, Florida, a lot of times the coastal, you know, some of the coastal cities do get a bad rap for shark attacks. In fact, even in the last two weeks, two people suffered shark bites at New Smyrna Beach. Forty-year-old Matthew Bender on July 6th and then 18-year-old surfer, Sam Hollis just on Friday. I mean, pretty serious matters.
And it also happened that -- it happened at a place that's been called the shark bite capital of the world, with 30 percent of the world's shark attacks happening there. Why is that?
GALANTE: Yes, it is a great question and that's what our second show, "Florida's Death Beach" digs into. And, you know, it really is the shark attack capital of the world. There are more shark attacks and they are really bites more than attacks, but there are more shark bites taking place in New Smyrna Beach than the rest of the world combined, and it is due to this amazing confluence of factors that we dig into in the show between the summertime temperatures, when the baitfish go shallower and then the sharks, the medium sized sharks have to chase those baitfish in the shallow.
The big sharks predating upon those sharks out deep, and then all of these other factors like spring break, summer vacation, tons of people in the water, high turbidity, low visibility, lots of fishermen. It is sort of this perfect storm of situations that lead to medium sized shark being two things hungry and sort of fearful of predation.
And because of those two factors, they're biting kind of anything they bump into, which includes a lot of surfers' feet.
[15:50:06]
WHITFIELD: Right, so people need to know that the sharks are really not after them, it is just they are after, you know, the feeding of the schools, the many schools of, you know, of fish or whatever they're going after.
It just so happens, like you just described, there are a lot more people in the water at that time, and so there you go.
You know, mistakes happen. Okay, so in "Alien Sharks," you search for what you're calling venomous sharks. I've looked everywhere. I don't see any documentation of venomous sharks. So what do you mean?
GALANTE: So that's one of them you're looking at right there on your screen right now, and that's the Port Jackson Shark, and it is alleged that it has venom within those spines that I am pointing out there. I would say that we found very little maybe bacteria on that. But the second shark, the ghost shark, also known as an elephant nosed shark, they do possess a spine that contains venom similar to a stingray.
However, because they are so rarely caught and so rarely tested, nobody really knows the full effects of that venom in that spine. So I teamed up with Dr. Bryan Fry, the world's leading venomologist to actually extract that venom and test it on the human body, which was a little bit silly, but we got through it. It hurt like heck, but we did it anyway, and did that in the show what can happen?
WHITFIELD: What?
GALANTE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: So that clip there, it is like -- it is like a talon that's on, you know a fin there that you're kind of piercing. And is that the -- is that what you're saying emits or you know, this venom?
GALANTE: So in this case, with the Port Jackson Shark, it was rumored to be venomous, but we didn't or I personally didn't have any adverse reactions. But we tested two sharks and the other one was bad.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GALANTE: Yes, it hurt.
WHITFIELD: Okay, well, you're taking the hits for us as we continue to watch and learn, but like you said, that's the most important part is what we learn. I mean, sometimes these sharks can be very menacing, but really, they are very beautiful and people should be respectful of all that is in the deep.
All right, Forrest Galante --
GALANTE: If you see them, don't kill them.
WHITFIELD: Yes, thank you so much. I look forward to tuning in.
Tune in to Discovery all this week for "Shark Week."
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hard to believe, 40 years ago, this summer, rock stars, Bob Geldof, Bono, Sting and more performed at a landmark music event to raise money for famine relief in Africa. And in this week's episode of the new original series, "Live Aid: When Rock 'N' Roll Took on the World," see how the legendary concert came together and how millions of televisions across the globe tuned in to support an important cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BONO, SINGER: I can't look back at this moment with two eyes, because it was such a bad hair day.
This is a song called "Bad."
I -- honestly, can you imagine one of your most famous moments of your life and your activism? You've got a mullet. I mean, it is -- it's not good. It's just not good.
And so I can't look at that (bleep).
We thought like so many other people, this is a humanitarian crisis and the problem is not an African one or an Ethiopian one, it is a European and an American one. We just have to little tiny redistribution of resources and we can sort out the problem. This is not true.
But it was as an act of charity, a masterful one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Who cares, Bono, what you look like. You sounded amazing.
Here with us now, entertainment reporter, Lisa Respers France. Sorry, I always interchange it --
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, SENIOR WRITER FOR CNN DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT: It's all good. WHITFIELD: Anyway, love you, Lisa.
FRANCE: Love you, too.
WHITFIELD: Okay, so 40 years ago, hard to believe.
FRANCE: Yes. Baby Bono.
WHITFIELD: But do you remember where you were? You know, watching it?
FRANCE: You and I were both babies. We were both babies back then, but I do.
WHITFIELD: I do.
FRANCE: It was such a huge thing. And we have to keep in mind, this was before social media, but it also happened a few months after "We Are The World." So everyone was very focused on famine relief, and you had all of these tremendous stars. I mean, you had Phil Collins flying from London to the U.S. to perform on two different stages. It was just amazing.
WHITFIELD: I do kind of remember it like a monolithic thing. "We Are The World," "Live Aid." There were separate entities, but the purpose was the same --
FRANCE: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- addressing famine in Africa.
FRANCE: Yes.
WHITFIELD: I mean, these were incredible crowds. I mean, look at that. And it was very hot, wasn't it?
FRANCE: It was hot. Yes, it was hot. But they also were able to do amazing things, like when you watch the Queen performance, Freddie Mercury got all of those people to be able to clap and sing when they were doing "Radio Gaga," which they believe is the first time that ever happened. So it was just a tremendous moment, and it literally felt like the whole world came together. So it was great.
WHITFIELD: Do you think you had a favorite performance or performer? I mean --
FRANCE: I mean, Queen, that was just iconic. That was it. I mean, we could stop right there, but there were so many. There were -- so, I mean, there was, you know, Mick Jagger and Tina Turner, there was Phil Collins, like we mentioned, there Bono -- Baby Bono, as we just saw. So they were just -- they were so cute.
WHITFIELD: They were so cute. Oh, what a baby.
FRANCE: So cute. But there were so many people performing, so many major stars and so many people watching. So it just -- it was a moment and I am so glad, and the program that we have is just amazing. WHITFIELD: I love it.
FRANCE: It captures the spirit.
WHITFIELD: And I love it that all of these performers, I mean, they did it -- they knew what it was about and it was important they were on board. But I don't think any of them really knew how incredibly iconic, how transformative it would be for cause --
FRANCE: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- doing a thing for -- something for a cause and what it was to perform before big audiences.
FRANCE: Absolutely. And it was a different time. It was a different time. And people -- this was a way for people to come together because again, like I said, it was before social media. So it was an opportunity for everybody to have something to talk about, water cooler talk like, did you see "Live Aid"? Did you see what happened? Because there were hours of performances and so many massive stars. So just good music. We love good music.
WHITFIELD: Good music. We love that. Yes.
FRANCE: Yes, we do.
WHITFIELD: Good music, good performers. Awesome. Good Lisa Respers France.
FRANCE: Love you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: So happy you're here. Thank you. Love you back.
FRANCE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, appreciate it.
All right, a new episode of "Live Aid: When Rock 'N' Roll Took on the World" airs tonight, 9:00 P.M. right here on CNN.
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