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European, NATO Leaders To Join Trump-Zelenskyy Meeting; Interview With Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL); California Farmers Hope Coffee Tariffs Will Boost Business; Tomorrow: Hearing Over Legality Of "Alligator Alcatraz"; ICE Transfer Flights Now Becoming Harder To Track; At-Home Flu Vaccine Rolls Out In Time For Flu Season. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired August 17, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: You know, certainly it was both. Oh, I'm very excited but then at the same time I realize, oh, I'm feeling very sad, he's gone. But I've got still twins at home, you know, and still have two years to go before they go off into the wild blue yonder. So I can't imagine what that next phase is going to be like. But I do like that your kids have said, yes, this is -- this is a period of independence for you, too.

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR, WORLD SPORT: Right.

WHITFIELD: So what have you been hearing from people who have been reading this, who are like, oh, yes, I recognize that feeling, or others who are like, OK, this is going to help me?

RIDDELL: Well, first of all, I mean, the line about my sons asking if we were going to be OK.

WHITFIELD: Oh, cute.

RIDDELL: That feels like a generational change because when I went off to university, I don't think I gave two thoughts about how my mum and dad felt about it. So I do feel as though perhaps this generation, both in terms of the parents and the kids, I feel like we're just closer to our kids in general.

With regards to reaction from the piece, I heard from people I went to university with all that time ago, who we haven't necessarily been in touch with, but they wrote to me and said, yes, we didn't even think about our parents at all. We just went off and had fun.

WHITFIELD: Right.

RIDDELL: I've heard -- I've heard from parents who are years away from this, but they're clearly already starting to think about it. So I think --

WHITFIELD: This is instructive.

RIDDELL: They resonated. WHITFIELD: Yes.

RIDDELL: There are people of exactly my age who kind of recognize that they were going through this, too, and they found it helpful. And I also heard from people who are maybe in their 20s and who have left home and who read the piece and now can see what their parents are going through, perhaps in a way that they hadn't even thought about it themselves. So I think it was really interesting that it kind of connected with so many different people at different stages of their own lives.

WHITFIELD: How many times have you gone into their rooms since they've left? I mean, hopefully you're not doing what you wrote Gordon Ramsay did.

RIDDELL: No, I haven't done that.

WHITFIELD: OK, phew.

RIDDELL: I actually -- I actually tidied their rooms up.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RIDDELL: That was the first thing I did. Partly because their rooms are their rooms, and they were a mess a lot of the time. And so you couldn't even begin to imagine how you would try and clean them up and organize them. So that was one of the first things I did. And I think it was partly as a distraction, but also maybe there was a part of me that was thinking, I want it to be nice for them when they come back.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Oh, that's so nice. Proud papa. All right. Well, congratulations, you know. It really is a great accomplishment and achievement for you and your wife, that, right, you have helped your sons all this time in this journey and now they feel confident enough to go on to the next stage to allow you all now to go on to the next stage.

RIDDELL: And that's the point.

WHITFIELD: That's beautiful.

RIDDELL: We want them to leave. Right?

WHITFIELD: Absolutely.

RIDDELL: That's the point.

WHITFIELD: You want that independence for them and now for you all, too.

RIDDELL: Right.

WHITFIELD: Don Riddell, really a pleasure reading your opinion page and then getting a chance to talk to you here on the sofa, too. Yes. This has been like therapy for both of us, right? Even though I'm not there yet, but I'm like, oh, it's going to be OK. RIDDELL: Oh, yes. Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Don Riddell, thanks so much.

All right. Of course, you can read more on CNN.com.

All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. We begin this hour with all eyes on the White House as President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy prepare to meet in Washington tomorrow. We're learning new details on what these talks will look like potentially. European and NATO leaders announcing today that they will be at Zelenskyy's side during the high stakes sit-down.

Earlier today, Zelenskyy laid out what he says needs to happen as Trump says he is now focused on securing a peace deal rather than a ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We have to stop the killings. Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. So it's necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal. We'll talk about it in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're covering this from all angles. CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House and CNN's Ben Wedeman in Kyiv.

Kevin, to you first, what are you learning about what this meeting is going to look like?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is shaping up to be quite a consequential day here at the White House. You know, I don't remember another moment when so many top leaders came to this building on such short notice. And I think it gives you a sense, one of the urgency that they feel in trying to get this war in Ukraine over, but also the urgency they feel in not being sidelined about how that comes about.

Now, we have been hearing today from all three participants, American participants in that Friday summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. President Trump said on social media that big progress on Russia was being made, and that to stay tuned. Perhaps more importantly, we've been hearing from the two American advisers in that summit, the special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Both of them framing that summit as a success and trying to explain why President Trump seems to abandon this goal of an immediate ceasefire.

[16:05:01] Remember, he said, as he was flying to Alaska, that he would be very disappointed if the talks didn't result in an immediate ceasefire and that severe consequences would be in the offing for Russia if that wasn't the case. He left the summit saying that that was no longer a goal and saying that he wasn't thinking about sanctions. Now, Marco Rubio said that was because Russia wasn't going to agree to a ceasefire.

But Witkoff said it was because more progress was being made than they expected, that essentially President Trump wanted to skip the step of a ceasefire and move immediately to negotiations on a broader peace deal because of what Witkoff said were some significant agreements and concessions made by the Russians in those talks. Listen to what Witkoff said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game changing. We didn't think that we were anywhere close to agreeing to Article Five protection from the United States, in legislative enshrinement within the Russian federation, not to go after any other territory when the peace deal is, you know, codified. Legislative enshrinement in the Russian federation, not to go after any other European countries and violate their sovereignty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So you hear Witkoff there giving kind of the most fulsome readout that we've had of this meeting in Russia and just -- in Alaska, and just to pull out one of the things he mentioned there, which was this Article Five type security guarantee, which is essentially a joint protection clause. Article Five of the NATO charter says that an attack against one is an attack against all. And the way Witkoff described this as essentially a workaround, that because Russia has said that Ukraine can never join NATO, this would allow a way for Europe and the United States to protect Ukraine if once this deal is reached, so that Putin in a couple of years doesn't go after the rest of the country.

There are a lot of questions about how this would work. What, for example, would be the U.S. participation there. President Trump has been pretty explicit that U.S. troops won't be on the ground in Ukraine. So how that all works out will be a big question for the leaders when they meet here tomorrow.

We should say that Rubio was a lot less forthcoming about the details of that summit. He was also a lot less guarded in his optimism about a peace deal. He says that we are not at the precipice of a peace agreement, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Let's go to Ben now in Kyiv, and what is the reaction there and the promise? What is their thought on that?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think, Fredricka, people are bracing for this meeting tomorrow because they remember very vividly that stormy meeting in the Oval Office back in February, where we saw scenes that have never been seen before in the Oval Office in terms of the resident of that office going after a guest in ways that were unimaginable until then. So people are worried about that. And it's interesting we've learned that tomorrow, of course, there will be this group of European leaders coming to the White House.

But the initial meeting is going to be between President Trump and President Zelenskyy, and their respective advisers. And the worry is there could be a repeat of those scenes from February. It was thought that the European leaders might be in the room when they first met, and some that sort of those ugly scenes could be avoided.

Now, today, there was this video call among European leaders as well as the leaders of Canada and Ukraine where they discussed things like security guarantees, the importance of continuing to support Ukraine. Afterwards, the Polish foreign minister rather pointedly tweeted that for peace to come, pressure must be placed on the aggressor, not the victim. Really emphasizing that it was not Ukraine that invaded Russia, but Russia that invaded Ukraine.

And there is a concern after the Alaska summit that President Trump seems to be leaning once more in the direction of Putin, and not so much in the direction of Ukraine. We heard him tell Sean Hannity on FOX that it's up to Ukraine to make a deal. So there's uneasiness about that, and there's uneasiness about talk about land swaps.

We were down in the streets today of Kyiv, where we heard from people who are very opposed to the idea of Ukraine having to give up territory, its own territory, for peace.

[16:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If some people come to your house and steal your kitchen, your bedroom, you say, OK, OK, stay here. No, it's not OK. It's not, it's not good for us. We are freedom people and we -- I hope we don't take any piece of our lands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Now, going back to the beginning of the war, I've spent months and months in those areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. We've seen some intense battles going on out there, and literally the soil in those two parts of Ukraine are soaked with the blood of the soldiers and civilians, and therefore the idea of giving up, even giving up parts of those areas that Ukraine currently controls is something that most Ukrainians simply find absolutely impossible to contemplate, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Wedeman, Kevin Liptak, thanks to both of you, gentlemen.

All right, former vice president Mike Pence is speaking out on his former boss's summit with Vladimir Putin today right here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I know his style in dealing with these dictators. It's the velvet glove. But I think the hammer needs to come and it needs to come immediately. I think the president, as he welcomes President Zelenskyy to the Oval Office tomorrow, and a whole cast of our allies in Europe that are going to be joining him, I think at the same time, he ought to pick up the phone and ask Majority Leader John Thune to immediately pass the secondary sanctions bill that is supported by virtually everyone in the United States Senate.

I think the combination of engagement, but also making it clear to Putin that we are prepared to take actions that would literally break his economy, even while we redouble our commitment to the security of Ukraine and to working closely with our European allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. I want to bring in now Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. He is on the House Intelligence Committee and is a co-chair of the House Ukraine Caucus.

Congressman, great to see you.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Thank you. Good to be back.

WHITFIELD: Are you -- wonderful. Are you in agreement with the former vice president on sanctions?

QUIGLEY: I'm just not sure which president the vice president is talking about. President Trump, when has he used not just a hammer, any leverage that he has had with Putin? He has given it up at every turn. And it isn't just the sanctions. You know, he had other possibilities. He could ask for another supplemental. He could seize the land that has been -- the assets that have been frozen in the United States and encourage our European allies. That's another $300 billion that could have been used in the war effort.

He has done nothing but praise Putin, criticize Zelenskyy, say the wrong side started this war, and he's backed off on six ultimatums. You know, when has he actually stood up to Putin? Ultimately, that's why we're here. He has been weak, and the only thing that Putin understands is strength and he does not see it in Trump.

WHITFIELD: So then now what do you anticipate might happen or play out at the White House tomorrow as it hosts, and not just Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, but now his, you know, sort of entourage, if you will, his backers, leaders from the U.K., France, Italy and Germany?

QUIGLEY: Look, it's easy to bet against any progress. I'm an optimistic guy overall. But you haven't seen anything in which the president has done something. He has to take charge. That's where the Vice President Pence is right. I just don't see it taking place because we haven't seen it yet. And the concerning part of this is giving up land. This is 1939 type appeasement that Chamberlain would be proud.

We're putting ourselves in a position where, you know, we're working against ourselves. We're negotiating against ourselves. And by the way, Putin has never, ever, ever kept a foreign policy commitment or promise. If he gets this land and they do this deal, he will restock, rebuild his economy, rebuild his army, come back in a year or two to finish the job. That's why our European allies are there because they know that Putin's aims are well beyond Ukraine. He wants to restore the former Soviet Union.

WHITFIELD: You say Trump should take charge, but if you listen to the special envoy, you know, Witkoff earlier today on CNN, he says, you know, Trump's role is as mediator here.

[16:15:05]

QUIGLEY: Yes, I don't understand that at all. He's the president of the United States. He's the one that can make the decisions that matter. And Mr. Witkoff, with all due respect, has had several views of what Putin wanted and was demanding after he met with Putin in Moscow. So I'm not sure an inexperienced person such as Witkoff truly grasped the situation and understands that the role of the president of United States here is not to be the mediator, it's to provide the emphasis to force Putin to do the right thing. It's the only thing he understands.

WHITFIELD: All right. I want to shift gears now, you know, on to the congressional redistricting issue brought to the forefront by Texas Democrats who found refuge in your state of Illinois to avoid a quorum in the Texas special session. Now, California Governor Gavin Newsom is making strides by, you know, trying to do something similar, redistrict so that Democrats take five seats from Republicans.

Do you agree with this fight fire with fire approach?

QUIGLEY: Well, look, you can't unilaterally disarm. Unfortunately, we're here. There is an option. I think it's one the American people want. You know, in a perfect world, we have bipartisan, nonpartisan commissions draw the maps mathematically based on constitutional understandings of one person, one vote, not dividing any group, ethnic group or others to diminish their influence and power.

And by the way, there's a bill in Congress that would do just that, mandated across the whole country. If we don't do it that way across the whole country, it is a race to the bottom. And the American people and our democracy suffer.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Mike Quigley, great to see you. Thanks so much.

QUIGLEY: Any time. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, your morning cup of coffee could soon cost more with new tariffs driving up bean prices. We'll take you to farms where growers are working to brew up a made in America alternative. Plus the number of ICE deportation flights is skyrocketing. But the planes are harder than ever to track. We'll take you inside the effort to figure out who is on these planes and where are they going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is a plane that we've been tracking all morning. This is it. And we just saw, like more than 30 detainees, handcuffed, walk up those steps and get on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:22:23]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Coffee prices are climbing in the U.S. President Trump slapped Brazil with a 50 percent tariff on billions of dollars' worth of goods, including coffee. The U.S. imports more coffee from Brazil than any other nation, and some American farmers are hoping those tariffs, along with levies on other top coffee producing nations, could be a game changer for their businesses.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is joining us right now.

And, Julia, you've been talking with coffee farmers there in California, of all places. And what are they telling you?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, they managed to bring these coffee plants over here to California. Usually they grow in subtropical tropical weather, but they've done something truly remarkable here. But the U.S. doesn't usually grow coffee. It's really difficult outside of Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

All of this came to be because we spoke to a coffee shop owner, Fred, about three months ago on -- right after liberation day, who said, it's just impossible to actually supply the demand of coffee that the United States needs. But these farmers are challenging that and trying to make supremely delicious American coffee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): Against all odds, 100 percent American grown coffee.

It's like a cherry.

DAVE ARMSTRONG, COFFEE FARMER: I believe we're the largest farm in California. Coffee farm. And, you know, if the experiment works, I'd love to expand.

JONES (voice-over): David Armstrong is part of a group of farmers trying to make California a synonym for specialty coffee.

ARMSTRONG: We're in Ventura County, so we're going to go up to the foothills. We have multiple canyons where we grow coffee.

JONES (voice-over): This is part of the only 1 percent of coffee consumed in the U.S. grown domestically. 35 percent of coffee is imported, comes from Brazil, now slapped with tariffs of up to 50 percent on some goods, including coffee. You would think it would be a great opportunity for all American beans, but other nations can deliver a product just as good for a fraction of the cost.

ARMSTRONG: Brazil has been hit very hard with tariffs, but they're looking at somewhere around $4 a pound for coffee. And we're in the hundreds of dollars a pound.

JONES: You want Ventura County to be the next Napa Valley but for coffee?

ARMSTRONG: Correct. That's a great way to put it.

JONES: And could California ever produce a product that could be competitive with Brazil, with Colombia, Ethiopia?

[16:25:07]

ARMSTRONG: I think that our cost of production, our labor, our water, everything else mean that we can never get to that point where we could be a worldwide competitor.

JONES (voice-over): For 23 years, Jay Ruskey has been challenging the norm of where coffee could be grown by championing California. All of this was his vision.

JAY RUSKEY, CEO, CO-FOUNDER, FRINJ COFFEE: In terms of growing locations wherever avocados can grow, we have a good chance of growing coffee. And so there's over 45,000 acres of avocados last I heard in California. But even if we planted all that, that would just be a drop in the bucket in the whole coffee industry globally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (on-camera): Now, Fred, they're saying that basically, even if they plant coffee trees everywhere they can, they won't be able to supply the demand of the top coffee drinking nation in the world. But what they are betting on is that with the tariffs, there will be more of an incentive for Americans to spend a little bit more in order to support initiatives like theirs.

WHITFIELD: Mm. All right. That is a big courageous move because Americans definitely love their coffee.

All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.

All right. Still to come, an immigrant detention center in the middle of the Florida Everglades could be shut down. The legal challenges facing "Alligator Alcatraz" that could force ICE to move detainees elsewhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:47] WHITFIELD: All right. Tomorrow, a federal judge in Miami will hold a hearing over the controversial immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as "Alligator Alcatraz". Attorneys for detainees claim their clients' civil rights are being violated. The hearing comes just days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state is preparing a second makeshift detention center in the northern part of the state, dubbed "Deportation Depot".

CNN's Rafael Romo is here with me now.

So, tell us about what is going to be argued in the hearing tomorrow. What could come out of it?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the attorneys are looking for, the ACLU attorney told me this is that the judge issues a temporary restraining order. We don't know what's going to happen, of course, but that's what they're going for. And let's remind our viewers, Fred, that Alligator Alcatraz is currently facing two lawsuits. One was filed by environmental groups who are opposed to such a facility being built in the middle of an ecosystem like the Florida Everglades. The other one was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, an immigrants rights group, advocates.

A federal court in Miami will hold a hearing on Monday in the ACLU case, which focuses on two allegations -- lack of access to legal counsel and violations of due process for migrants detained at the tent facility. The complaint, filed last month in the U.S. district court of southern Florida in Miami, specifically states that, quote, defendants in this case have blocked detainees held at the facility from access to legal counsel. No protocols exist at this facility for providing standard means of confidential attorney client communication, such as in-person attorney visitation and phone or video calls that are available at any other detention facility, jail or prison.

The right to an attorney is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in criminal cases, regardless of the legal status of an individual.

Eunice Cho, the ACLU's lead counsel in this case, says beyond the harsh conditions, detainees face at Alligator Alcatraz that she says she has never seen at any other detention center, there are fundamental rights that are being violated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUNICE CHO, SENIOR COUNSEL, ACLU NATIONAL PRISON PROJECT: What we're seeing is that Florida state officials are rounding people up, and in many different and very disturbing ways, and eventually taking these individuals to Alligator Alcatraz. And they're being held, of course, without, you know, honoring many of the very basic constitutional rights to be able to speak, to counsel, to be able to petition for release from custody. And, you know, Alligator Alcatraz cannot end up being a black hole where people disappear.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMO: And, of course, we reached out to the Department of Homeland Security about these claims.

In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that any allegation that illegal aliens at Alligator Alcatraz do not have access to attorneys is false. The facility maintains a physical space for attorneys to meet with their clients. Additionally, Florida established an email address for attorneys to submit requests to speak to the specific illegal aliens.

The ACLU lawsuit names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her entire department as defendants, as well as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his executive director of emergency management, Kevin Guthrie, and other officials.

We also reached out to the state of Florida for comment on this, but there's been so far no response, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let us know when you hear something. Thanks so much, Rafael Rromo.

All right. Attorneys for the families of migrants who have been taken into custody say it's been difficult to track their loved ones down. An investigation by CNN's Rene Marsh found the companies who operate ICE deportation flights, and they're making it harder to track their path.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: More than 30 migrants, detainees handcuffed walk up those steps and get on board. One, two, three, four more detainees. You can tell that their hands are restrained.

(voice-over): This is one of about 6,000 ICE flights since President Donald Trump took office. We were able to find this plane here in Richmond, Virginia, but most of them are hidden from the public and operating with little transparency.

[16:35:00]

Virtually, every ICE flight carrying detainees blocks their tail numbers from flight tracking websites, making it nearly impossible for families and advocates to find their loved ones once they're in ICE custody.

This is one of the tail numbers that we think could possibly come here, and right now, it's in Youngstown. Oh, look, I think it's taken off because the altitude is increasing. Yeah.

We studied months of flight paths, got a tail number and made an educated guess about which flight would arrive in Richmond. Then using a crowdsourced database that monitors aircraft radio signals, we tracked the suspected flight, revealing every city and state it stopped in within 24 hours.

This is the plane we're tracking, a Boeing 737 operated by Eastern Air Express, with the tail number N668CP. It has up to 148 economy seats, a bathroom in the front and the back, but it's unclear how many people are on board this flight or any other ICE flight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tyson 51, continue on.

MARSH: Okay. Tyson 51 is this one right now. That's the call sign that they're using for this flight.

Many ICE flights go by Tyson. The same call sign used to identify Trump's personal plane after he was elected in 2016.

Here's the flight path it took on August 6 -- Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania to Louisiana, back to Ohio, then New York, picking up and dropping off detainees at every stop.

If it's actually coming to Virginia, it should be here very soon.

It's on approach. It's on approach right now.

It's altitude is like literally 50 feet. So --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I think over there, over there. Go, go, go.

MARSH: All right. I think -- I think that might be it.

This is a plane. This is a plane that we've been tracking all morning. This is it.

And we just saw like more than 30 detainees handcuffed, walk up those steps and get on board.

There's one, two, three, four more detainees. You can tell that their hands are restrained. Another, another one, another. Okay, so they're unloading another vehicle here. Multiple detainees walking up to get on board this Eastern Air Express flight.

The Trump administration has used more than 70 airports across the country for domestic shuttle flights so far, moving ICE detainees between detention centers before deportation.

In the past three months, the number of these flights spiked 90 percent compared to the same time period last year, according to an immigrant rights group.

And that trend is expected to continue after the Department of Homeland Security recently earmarked $14.4 billion for ICE flights.

We know that the tail number of the flight that we've been tracking today is N668CP, and we want to see if this public tracking site that gets its data and information from the FAA has any record of the flight. Nothing comes up.

But we were able to track the flight as it made its way back to Alexandria, Louisiana, the busiest hub for ICE deportation flights. At this point in the journey, some of the first detainees on board were possibly on this plane, handcuffed for nearly ten hours. As this ICE flight completes its 24-hour trip, Louisiana is likely the last stop in the U.S. before the people on board are deported.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (on camera): Well, the reality is it was not very simple to track this ICE flight. We weren't even sure we had successfully done it until it was coming in for landing at Richmond's airport. And the point is, these flights really have virtually no eyes on them. Families and advocates have no idea where their loved ones are going once they are in ICE custody.

Now, one of the airlines flying the flights for ICE, Avelo Airlines, told CNN in an email, quote, flights operated on behalf of the United States government are often unidentified at the government's request. So, we reached out to the Department of Homeland Security. That's the agency that oversees ICE to get a better understanding as to why these flights are blocking their tail numbers. But the agency did not comment.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: And now to a do it yourself way to be vaccinated against the flu. Coming up next, a look at the flu vaccine that can now be administered at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:44:12]

WHITFIELD: All right. Flu season fast approaching, and this year, for the first time, many Americans will be able to vaccinate themselves right in their own home.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This vaccine is called FluMist and it's a nasal spray vaccine that's been approved by the FDA since 2003 to be given by health care providers. The difference now is people can order this to be delivered to their homes, and they can self-administer it.

So, it's approved for adults up to age 49. They can self-administer this nasal spray vaccine, or it can be given by a caregiver or a parent to children down to the age of two. So, the way this works is it can be ordered online. A health care provider will review eligibility. They'll check insurance.

AstraZeneca, the maker of this vaccine, says its covered by most commercial insurance.

[16:45:01]

There's an $8.99 shipping fee, and then it's shipped in temperature- controlled packaging to consumers homes. The way it's administered is two squirts up the nose, one in each

nostril, and then should provide protection against the flu. To start, it's going to be available in 34 states because of local pharmacy laws. And AstraZeneca says its goal ultimately is to extend that to all 48 contiguous states.

Now, the hope among public health providers is that this increases flu vaccination rates, because we see that less than half of eligible Americans typically get vaccinated against flu every season. That's for both adults and kids.

Now, if you're wondering when is the right time to get the flu shot, really, it's any time up until the end of October or before Halloween. The saying goes flu before boo. If you get your flu shot at that point, typically the idea is you'll ramp up protection in time for the fall and winter flu seasons.

We should also note that this nasal spray vaccine, along with, of course, flu shots, are still available in doctors' offices as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Meg Tirrell, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, one woman struck it rich while trying to find her dream diamond. She'll join us in just a few minutes to talk about her quest to find the rock for her engagement ring.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:58]

WHITFIELD: All right. This is a true diamond in the rough journey. A New York woman had already found her life partner, but then all she needed was the perfect stone for her wedding ring.

But Micherre Fox was not content with a diamond being purchased from a jewelry counter. Instead, she decided to roll up her sleeves and dig for it at the crater of diamonds state park in Arkansas. And the only place -- it's the only place in the world where you can keep the gem. Or gems that you find.

So, after weeks of putting in the work, Fox finally found her diamond that was a dream. Weighing in at 2.3 carats. All right. Quite the rock.

And bride to be, Micherre Fox is joining me right now. Well, congratulations on the find. But I want to know why. Why was digging for your own diamond on your engagement wish list?

MICHERRE FOX, FOUND A 2.3-CARAT DIAMOND: Great question. And thank you for having me.

Why was it on my wish list? Well, you know, it's kind of two things. The ethical part and then the symbolic part. So, so ethically, I don't think I have to get into that one. You know, the diamonds have been mired historically, but symbolically, I, you know, when somebody proposes, they -- they offer themselves and they, they make kind of a commitment.

But the other person, you know, they're kind of receiving. And I wanted to be a part of that. And so going out and spending three weeks waking up early and working until the very moment that that was an opportunity for me to prove that I was going to show up over and over again and do the really, really hard, unglamorous work for the rest of our lives.

WHITFIELD: Wow. This is a different kind of labor of love.

So. All right. So three weeks you're out there digging, shaking, looking -- I mean, what was that experience like? I mean, were you envisioning. Okay, hopefully, I'm going to find a rock by the size of this. Or were you just looking for any kind of sparkle and anything would have been okay?

FOX: That's a really good question also. So you know, we talked about it before I left. We did a lot of math on the odds just to kind of manage expectations. And I would have been happy with anything and that that actually, you know, I've seen some of the comments online and they have a lot to do with like, well, it's going to be much smaller once you cut it. And what's the value of it.

And really, if I hadn't found a diamond, I would have brought a different rock home and, and that rock would have gone into my ring as well, because it's really wonderful to have come home with a diamond. That's awesome. It's such a big one. It's so wonderful.

But the gift, the gift that I was giving to my partner. And the whole point of this, the value of it to me and to us is the work that I put into it, is the -- is the blood, sweat and tears literally on all fronts that went into those three weeks. And so there's a physical manifestation part. I'm ready to work.

WHITFIELD: Okay. Now let me see. I'm guessing you're wearing it right now, right? Let me -- let me see your shiny rock.

FOX: Well, we haven't had it put into anything yet, but I can show it off here. So --

WHITFIELD: Nice -- oh, my god.

FOX: It's -- different looks. It's crazy how different a diamond looks uncut.

WHITFIELD: Of course.

FOX: We're definitely thinking about cutting it. Because it's a -- it's just so unique.

WITHFIELD: Okay, wait a minute. Did you say you're not going to cut it? FOX: We haven't decided. But, you know, every diamond looks like a cut diamond. And this one really kind of tells its story, which I think is beautiful. We think --

WHITFIELD: It will. It will definitely be very unique. Then if you decide not to cut it. But you will mount it.

Okay. So the other big question is, you know, when's the big day? When is the wedding? When do you have to make a decision to figure out? Are you going to wear it as a rough diamond or a cut diamond?

FOX: You know, I think our, our, our take on this has always been that if you, if you need to rush, then you probably shouldn't be getting married.

[16:55:03]

And so, we are taking our time. This was -- this was a -- something we wanted to do. And there are, there are -- there's so much time left, so I don't know. It's going to come when it makes sense for us. And it's going to be magical along the way. But we're not rushing.

WHITFIELD: Well, you are the most patient bride and groom I have ever spoken to, but congratulations. We're seeing the picture of you now. Congratulations on the find. You know, at least two times over the find of your partner and or in his find of you two, but, you know, and the find of the rock.

So, all the best to you, Micherre Fox.

FOX: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

"STATE OF THE UNION" is next.