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Pilot And 11 Skydivers Dead After Missouri Plane Crash; Trump Prepares To Hold Unprecedented UFC Event At The White House; Severe Thunderstorms Could Impact Tonight's UFC Fights At The White House; Trump Says Iran Agreement Signing To Still Happen Sunday; Knicks Net NBA Championship Title After 53-Year Drought; "Residual Algae" Coats Part Of Newly Opened Reflecting Pool; Judge Orders Trump Admin To Restore Signs Changed At National Parks; Concerns Mount Over Expanding A.I. Data Centers. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 14, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: So officials say this happened in Butler. That's about an hour south of Kansas City. You can see this video into CNN of the crash scene shortly after the accident. You see the smoldering wreckage there. Rescue crews are on the scene.

CNN's Rafael Romo is following the developments for us at this hour.

I know it's still early on here. Details coming in. But there is a little bit more, Rafael, that you've learned about this aircraft and the people who were on board.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Erica. We have learned quite a lot over the last 40 minutes since we first reported this. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says that the plane went down near the Butler Memorial Airport, adding that all occupants, 12 in total, have perished.

Dennis Jacobs, acting airport manager and Bates County Emergency Management director, told CNN the plane had just taken off around 11:20 local time, was unable to get visual altitude, made a sharp left turn and crashed about 300 yards from the runway. Jacobs added that the single engine, turboprop airplane was operated by Skydive Kansas City. The company declined to comment when contacted by CNN.

Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KMBC shows the debris field of the plane crash in a grassy area right next to a rural road only hundreds of yards away from buildings and structures belonging to the Butler Memorial Airport. Multiple police and emergency vehicles are on the scene. A sergeant with the Missouri Highway Patrol told the Associated Press that the plane was taking people up to skydive when emergency responders got a call that a plane was down and engulfed in fire.

The sergeant also told the AP that the plane landed in a field adjacent to the airport. A moment ago, we heard from Congressman Mark Alford. This is what he had to say about the tragic crash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): I think some of these were first-time skydivers preparing to skydive in a tandem formation. Not a lot of them, my understanding, were experienced, but just getting to enjoy God's green earth and then have something like this turn so tragic while potentially other family members were watching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: The city of Butler, population 4200, is located about 65 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri. The Missouri State Highway Patrol also confirmed that troopers are on the scene assisting the Butler Police Department and the Bates County Sheriff's Office.

Again, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has confirmed that 12 people died when a skydiving airplane crashed near the Butler Memorial Airport in Missouri. Authorities have not yet disclosed the identities of the victims. The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Erica, very tragic.

HILL: Yes, it really is. Rafael, really appreciate the update. Thank you.

Tonight in Washington, D.C., an event like no other is set to take place for the very first time. Mixed martial arts fights live at the White House. Underneath the claw, that's the massive structure you've seen so many pictures of, there it is right there, which is over the cage. Seven UFC matches are scheduled to take place on the South Lawn.

President Trump, administration officials, and more than a thousand troops are expected to ring the famed octagon to watch more than a dozen mixed martial arts fighters trade blows. UFC fans lining up in Washington right now for all of that, more than 100,000 are expected to fill viewing areas just outside the event.

There is a threat of weather, though, that could derail the evening's plan. Severe thunderstorms are forecast to pass through the nation's capital just as those fights are kicking off. A lot of metal out there, which you do not want to mix, of course, with rain, thunder or lightning.

Team coverage of this unprecedented event, though, we have got that for you here at CNN. Sara Sidner and Donie O'Sullivan, joining us from just outside the White House, where those fights will begin in a few hours.

Sidner, I'm going to start with you. So you sat down recently with Dana White, the head of the UFC. You spoke with some of the fighters. There's been a lot of commentary, of course, around this event. What did they tell you?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Look, we talked a lot about the fact that there is a confluence of sports and politics. Now that's been going on for decades and decades and decades, since the beginning almost of time, of sport and politicking. But this one is particular because this has never been done before. Something like this of this scale has never been done at the White House. This is happening on the South Lawn, where it has all been torn up so

that they could put this enormous apparatus with the cage underneath it, where the fighters will be, with the White House in the background. Look, there is plenty of criticism, but there are also tens of thousands of fans who love this idea and who support it. And they are here, most of them at the Ellipse. The fancy folks that have the connections with the White House or with the UFC are going to be inside. About 4,000 of them will be on the South Lawn, which is a huge number of people, which I don't think has ever been done before, not for a sporting event anyway.

[16:05:07]

And then the rest of us are here. You can see there's, you know, the monument, you can see the meet-and-greets that are happening there. There's also things for people to do. Folks are in here trying to see who is the strongest puncher, the UFC striking challenge. This gentleman here trying to get into the top 10. Boom. He's pretty good. He is pretty good.

And then you'll see over here, they've got some of the pictures of those people who will be fighting in the -- on the card tonight for the White House. And then just look over there. If you can see way there in the distance, you can actually see the huge what they're calling the claw, which has all the lights that will shine down on the actual event.

But we did get some chances to speak with some of the fighters and Dana White. I want to hear -- let you hear from the very first person who's going to throw the very first punch. Right now, they're starting. It is actually starting some of the festivities. The U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps is going right now on the South Lawn. But soon this fellow will be the first person to throw a punch at this event at the UFC, at the White house.

Steve Garcia, a guy who is from Albuquerque, has two young kids, and says he's fighting to put food on the table. And he's been fighting for quite some time. Here's what he said when I spoke to him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice-over): Steve Garcia, a featherweight contender, will throw the first punch on the White House lawn.

STEVE GARCIA, UFC FIGHTER: Try that motion. Boom. There we go. That's better.

SIDNER: Would you want your son to be a UFC fighter?

GARCIA: No.

SIDNER: That was quick. Why?

GARCIA: Let me do the fighting. It's a lot of pain. It's a lot of suffering.

SIDNER: How many times have you been injured?

GARCIA: All the time. I've had staples in my head, black eyes all the time. Bloody noses. I've torn both my meniscus in both my knees, broken my hand a couple times. My wrist, sprains in both my ankles, fracturing the rib. A lot of us, we just have to expedite the process as a fighter because we have to get to our next fight.

SIDNER (voice-over): The physical risk is high, but so is the potential reward.

Some guys are making a million plus per fight and other guys are making $12,000 per fight? Does that need to change?

DANA WHITE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, UFC: No. So when you come in, right, if you're making $12,000, you're new. How do we even know if you're good enough to be here?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on-camera): And that was Dana White, the president and CEO of UFC. The reason why this is happening here because of his relationship with President Trump, who supported him when no one else would, gave him a place to fight actually a UFC fight because before then, the years before then, the UFC was actually banned in 36 states back in the day when there really were no rules and you fought for as long as you knocked somebody out or damaged them bad enough where they can't keep fighting.

Now things have changed. It's 15 to 25 minutes per fight. There will be seven fights on the White House lawn, but there will be tens of thousands of people who are already starting to show up here watching it on those big screens tonight. It will start at 8:00 p.m. -- Erica.

HILL: All right, Sara, thanks.

So, Donie is also there on the ground. What is it like where you are, my friend?

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Erica, how are you? We are in the octagon. For people who are not familiar with UFC, just to give you a little bit of UFC 101, they don't fight in a ring. They fight in this. This is the octagon. It's basically a cage cell. And as you can see, this is a replica. This is a life-sized replica of the octagon where they're going to be fighting tonight.

Just over there, above, on the South Lawn of the White House where we are close to where Sara is standing. We're in the Ellipse. This is sort of got a state fair vibe, right? There's all sorts of activities happening. You can, as Sara mentioned, you can meet the fighters, you can get your photo taken here in the cage. And look, I will say from some of the folks we've been talking to, we're also speaking to people at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday night, where they had the press conference.

Press conferences are a big part of sort of the UFC show. It was quite a surreal scene there on Friday night, having all these fighters lined up on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and sort of talking about a bit of smack about each other. That's what normally happens at a UFC event. And then here last night, they had the weigh in, this ceremonial weigh in for ahead of the event. That's where thousands of people were here on the Ellipse last night.

And as you see, many people here right now. I will say I'm not good with numbers, but overwhelmingly young men, some women in the crowd as well, but mostly, mostly men. I will say from speaking to people all weekend and people here, we've actually seen very little political, you know, not a lot of MAGA hats, not a lot of people, you know, expressing political opinions. It's very much UFC superfans here.

[16:10:04]

And for whatever everybody thinks about whether this should be happening on the South Lawn of the White House or not for the UFC themselves, they are delighted. They've all been telling me it's a dream come true. It's quite surreal. So we'll be here all evening. Maybe Sara will join me and potentially kill me in this -- in the octagon a little later. Stick around.

HILL: OK, well, let us know if you'll be live-streaming that, Donie, and I will be sure to tune in. You guys can just Facetime me, just, you know, set up the phone.

All right. Thank you, my friend.

As I noted, the weather could put a damper on that fight on the White House lawn. Winds, heavy rain expected to move through D.C. just as the bouts are getting underway. This is coming on the heels of some pretty high temperatures. And that lovely D.C. humidity, swamp-like and lovely.

CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord joining us now with a closer look at what the fight fans can expect.

So is it still tracking to really move through town just as this get started?

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Yes. Fans are heading into the fight and also during the fight. We are expecting some of those storms to develop.

And Erica, just a couple of minutes ago I got off the phone with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia. They're the office that supports the D.C. area. They've actually got a meteorologist on site to help decision-makers with lightning detection, if it's too close for people to be outside. And also as the storms ramp up, if there are threats of damaging winds or other things that would lead to evacuations, they've got somebody on site to help assist them with that.

Notice here on the map, these big yellow boxes, those are severe thunderstorm watches in effect. There is not one out for D.C. yet. However, the Storm Prediction Center has said they will likely issue a severe thunderstorm watch for the D.C. and Baltimore area as we head throughout the next couple of hours this evening. Not much happening in D.C. right now. A couple isolated storms popping over the mountains, bigger line back to the West, but the area in a level two threat of severe weather.

That includes damaging winds that could be 60 to 70 miles an hour. Very low end chance of a tornado, and then heavy rain and lightning, and lightning is not a severe thunderstorm criteria, but it's certainly a threat when you're talking about all those fans that are going to be outside for the fight this evening. Woo, it's a hot and steamy one out there. 96 right now in D.C. is the current heat index. That is fuel for these thunderstorms to get even stronger as they get east of the mountains.

Watch the timing here. Couple storms popping around 6:00, 7:00. Watch the future radar by 8:00. Right heading in towards D.C. We'll be watching that radar closely this evening -- Erica.

HILL: All right. Melissa, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM, data centers facing growing backlash across the country. In Louisiana, though, one community could see a very different outcome. I think that was some video of some of the celebrations here in New York after the Knicks win. So we're going to talk about in Louisiana, teachers there are poised to get a big bonus from a tax surplus tied to a data center boom. Does it come with any strings attached?

Those details ahead. Plus a hysteria unleashed over the Knicks NBA championship. There we go, back to people on top of school bus. Now lots of joy out there in the streets. Unfortunately also some moments that New Yorkers are less than proud of. We're going to take a closer look at the mania over the next win -- Knicks' win, rather, and their magical run. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:52]

HILL: We want to bring you up to speed on the breaking news we're following when it comes to the war with Iran. We're waiting for an update now on the possible signing of a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.

President Trump saying earlier today he believes the signing of that agreement will still happen today. That's according to Axios reporter and CNN's global affairs analyst Barak Ravid. Trump said Israel's attacks on Lebanon earlier in the day delayed a signing that was actually supposed to happen this morning. Iran's top security official, though, is warning today Lebanon is one of Tehran's red lines.

We're also learning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking an urgent meeting with Trump following Trump's return from the G7 summit in France this week. That's according to an Israeli source.

CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook joining us now from Washington. So where do things stand on the potential signing here?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump has said that this agreement is scheduled to be signed on Sunday. We are now, though, more than three hours away from when he told FOX News that this could be signed within two to three hours. And we're still waiting on official guidance from the White House on when this memorandum of understanding could be signed.

But let's take a step back to one of his posts earlier in the day, just a few hours ago, where he called on Israel to not strike Lebanon as the United States and Iran negotiate this memorandum. He said that this morning's strikes in Beirut should not have happened, especially when this deal that he has been working on is reaching this critical point.

I want to pull this up for you now. He did go into a bit more detail, saying this, in part. "We are very close to a deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down. There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah against Israel. This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace." And then he added, quote, "Let's not blow it."

Now as he spoke with Axios, he emphasized that he was not happy with those new Israeli strikes that took place, and he made sure that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew that he was not happy with what happened there. But when it comes to this signing, there are still a lot of questions.

[16:20:02]

Iran has not committed to signing on Sunday, and there are still differing reports on exactly what is included. According to a Trump administration official, this deal would then lead to negotiations for a broader deal, so it would enter a 60-day period. But it would also outline some commitments on destroying Iran's nuclear program and the destruction of the highly enriched uranium, which Trump often refers to as nuclear dust -- Erica.

HILL: All right, Julie, I really appreciate it. I know you'll continue to follow any potential developments for us. Thank you.

Still ahead here, the fight over changes to science and exhibits at national parks escalating once again. Critics accusing the Trump administration of scrubbing material on everything from slavery to climate change to indigenous history. The latest ruling from a judge, though, could really have an impact here in the fight for an accurate portrayal of America's history. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:21]

HILL: The drought is over. The celebrations frankly not ending any time soon here in New York. Last night the Knicks of course winning the NBA championship, defeating the San Antonio Spurs for the team's first NBA title since 1973. Knick in five, it happened, people. And New York is now preparing for a ticker tape parade to celebrate the Big Apple's first NBA championship in more than a half century. That is scheduled for Thursday.

Joining me now to discuss the historic win, LZ Granderson. He's an op- ed columnist for the "Los Angeles Times" and of course covered the Knicks extensively.

During your time at ESPN, you've been talking a lot about them, too. So 53 years, that's a long time to wait for a title. Put it in perspective for us. What does this really mean? I mean, I can talk to you ad nauseam about the joy and the energy in this city, in this moment, but what does it really mean for this team, this franchise, this city, to bring this championship home now?

LZ GRANDERSON, LOS ANGELES TIMES OP-ED COLUMNIST: Wow. Well, first of all, it's nice to see you again. You know, I started covering the Knicks, the NBA extensively when I got to ESPN a little over 20 years ago. And that was during the time of Isiah Thomas when he was running the team and Stephon Marbury was the point guard. So I've seen a lot of bad basketball from that franchise, but not nearly as much bad basketball as people who actually were born and raised in New York, specifically Gen X'ers, because, as you mentioned, 1973, right?

That's right in the heart of when Gen X'er was born. So basically our entire lives, they've never seen their team win a championship despite being one of the original 11 franchises, despite being, you know, at the Madison Square Garden, what many consider the Mecca of basketball. And so it's been frustrating for a lot of people. So what you've seen in the streets isn't just about the celebration of them winning in 2026. It's about the frustration of five decades of ineptitude that preceded it.

HILL: What about this team? Talk to me about the coaching of Mike Brown, but also the -- this team itself. I mean, there's certainly a lot of love, as we know, for Jalen Brunson, not just as a player, but also for just someone who just seems to be so humble and have so much heart. But he's not the only one, I think, who has really connected with fans.

GRANDERSON: No, this is a fantastic team in the sense that it has a great story. You know, there are some great champions that, you know, individually, they may be interesting, but collectively they aren't really that interesting of a story. This isn't a case with the Knicks. And the big reason why is not just because of Brunson, but because of the fact that he was there with his Villanova teammates that he won championships with in college.

And so you kind of have like this great little like bookending story of these three guys, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Jalen, all playing basketball together in college, and then they end up on this franchise together that's been desperately in need of a championship. And they're able to deliver it. And so it's like this fantastic Hollywood story. And, you know, with the number of celebrities that was in Madison Square Garden as well as in San Antonio, I bet someone is working on a movie as we speak.

HILL: I mean, they would have to be. This really is, you know, this is a dream scenario in many ways. It's a perfect script it writes itself. What is your main takeaway from all? I mean, just the excitement, we've seen the build-up, but also the fact that, you know, in some ways there -- maybe outside of New York City, there wasn't necessarily a lot of belief that this could happen. Like even leading into the last couple of weeks.

GRANDERSON: You know, it's interesting you would say that because on the one hand, it's true. You had 260 win teams in the Western Conference. Both of them are younger than the Knicks core, and they were really the team that people thought was going to finish, you know, on top. And part of that has to do with the fact that we are interested in what's new, particularly in sports. You know, when Jordan retired, we immediately look for the next Jordan. So we always want the next big thing. And Wembanyama kind of fits that. You know, the Frenchman is like the next big thing.

And the Knicks have been, you know, slowly sort of building towards a championship roster through the old-school method, which is to get to the first round, you lose. You get to the second round, you lose. The conference finals, you lose. The slow build-up, right? So you have like these young side on the Western Conference and like this old- school sort of narrative team on the other side.

And when they met in the finals, it was David versus Goliath when you think about the two best players on the other team. So there were so many stories, Erica, in addition to the quality of basketball that you could tap into.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. LZ, always a treat to talk to you. Thank you.

GRANDERSON: Thank you for having me.

HILL: Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: For days now, the Trump administration has heavily promoted the finished renovations at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, crediting the president with making Washington, D.C. look better than ever. But just one day after the reservoir was filled post-renovation, there was already, as you can see here, quite a bit of algae visible from the water's edge.

So CNN's Brian Todd went to check it out.

Brian, what did you find? It looks pretty green behind you.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the whole thing is pretty green, Erica, and what we can show you is what we think is a fairly small plume of surface algae here.

[16:35:03]

This is the World War II Memorial end of the reflecting pool. There's the World War II Memorial, of course. And we are at that end of it, the east end of the reflecting pool.

You can see -- our photojournalist Joe Wagner is going to show you. This is the plume of algae here on the surface. It is not huge. There were, I think, larger plumes a few days ago when we were here filming.

There does seem to be some algae -- a lot of algae on the bottom. And what we can also tell you is that since we've been here over the past hour, we're going to try to get Joe to throw his shot as far west as he can to show you these workers from the National Park Service who are on the west end of the reflecting pool. They are down there using instruments.

They're actually physically in the water, these four gentlemen who we came across from the National Park Service. They are in the water using instruments, what one of them told us, to scrape the bottom, the algae that's at the bottom, toward the nanobubblers.

Now, the nanobubblers are these machines over here to the left. You see one of them there, and there's one of them way on the other end. They're scraping the algae, the bottom algae, toward the nanobubblers. Nanobubbles are zillions of tiny bubbles that actually cut off the algae's food supply, and that's designed to clean up the algae at the bottom.

There does seem to be a lot of algae at the bottom, but the only algae on the surface is, again, what you see here down here on the east end of the reflecting pool.

Now, when we talk to the Interior Department about the algae and some of the problems, The Interior Department spokesperson did tell us that the algae that's here is residual algae. It is from the feeder tubes that were lying dormant for about eight weeks during construction. And that's where the algae that you're seeing now is coming from. The Interior Department says they're committed to cleaning up all the algae and making this reflecting pool look as good as it can look.

They have painted the bottom of this what they call American flag blue. You can see some of the blue in the dark spots here. The green is where the algae is sitting on the bottom here. So they're trying to get this cleaned up, Erica, and it does seem like they're making some progress.

HILL: All right, yeah. Turns out even with new paint, still going to get a little algae.

Brian, appreciate it. Thank you.

A federal judge in Massachusetts has ordered the Trump administration to restore every national park sign that was taken down after the president's controversial directive last year. That was an executive order, which he signed directing the Interior Department to change or remove signage that Trump viewed as in some way disparaging to Americans.

So just to give you a sense of the scope of this, this meant that rangers at Acadia National Park had to take down factual signs about climate change. In Grand Teton, visitors were not able to learn about the massacre of Native Americans at the hands of a Yellowstone explorer. Information displayed at Muir Woods about the role of women protecting that park? Gone.

Jake Tapper visited the Smithsonian before this executive order went into effect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": This exhibit on demonstrations also aroused the ire of the White House because they say these historical representations of protests past are only leftist causes. They certainly are mostly, but they're not only -- I mean, there's give me liberty or give me dead and forced busing is a no-no, and secure our borders now and stop abortion.

Now we just saw demonstrations of a Klan rally in that television as well as a gun rights rally. So, not completely accurate. They're complaint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now is Michael Corey, a member of the advocacy group Save Our Signs.

Michael, it's good to have you with us. So in this order, the deadline to restore these signs just in time for the 4th, everything has to be put back by July 3rd. What was your reaction when you first heard this judge's order?

MICHAEL COREY, MEMBER, SAVE OUR SIGNS: Yeah. Thanks. Erica. As a public historian and as someone whose research is all about hard histories that some people have historically had a hard time dealing with, this is a step forward from my personal perspective towards stopping some of this erasure of some important aspects of our American history and toward hopefully telling more nuanced stories than people have been allowed to tell in the past.

But I think we'll be really surprised if this is the end of the road. I mean, we'll see what happens on appeal here.

HILL: Yeah, I think there's a -- if history tells us anything, it's that you're right in that respect. When you talk about the hard history, I was struck by some of the language, right, that we heard from this judge, writing in the 63-page ruling in part, "Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with his preferred narrative, thereby telling half truths." When you say hard history, right, part of understanding history is

that we don't repeat it. What are you hearing in terms of the practical impact of getting rid of some of this information? What do and park staff tell you?

COREY: I think it's really telling. For example, when the -- one of the things that the government did is they put out these QR codes and they asked the public to report any signs that they thought might be in violation of the secretarial order.

[16:40:09]

And the feedback that they got is really interesting because my understanding is that it was overwhelmingly people filling out the form and saying we don't want this history to be erased. We're ready for complex histories. We want to hear that nuance, and so I find that very encouraging.

I think on the flip side, it's really hard for me when you think about the decades and years that so many community-led organizations, dissent-led organizations have put into telling a more nuanced story that doesn't gloss over these histories of slavery or Japanese internment or climate change, LGBTQ+ history. That's decades and decades of work on people's parts that was really difficult that this executive order just wanted to do away with.

And so, yeah, it's something that really is going in a wildly different direction than we had been seeing things going in the past, which, and again, to me as a public historian, that was a positive thing, that people were ready for hearing more of these things.

HILL: Yeah, it was certainly fascinating to see and to hear about some of those initial reports, if you will, thanks to those QR codes. Michael, appreciate you joining us this afternoon. Thank you.

COREY: Thank you.

HILL: Americans uniting over A.I. The ugly battle over data centers spreading now across the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:46:11]

HILL: The rise of A.I. data centers across the country is unleashing growing backlash. Residents packing into community meetings, fearing these enormous computing warehouses are taking up not only local resources, but also leaving those who live nearby with a lot of noise and pollution.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz went to see firsthand how some of that backlash is actually now turning violent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON GIBSON, INDIANAPOLIS CITY-COUNTY COUNCILOR: One, two, three, four. SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Ron Gibson counts the bullet holes in his front door.

GIBSON: Twelve, 13, 14, 15. And it was a sign that someone conveniently put up under the Indianapolis Colts mat and said that no data center.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Gibson is an Indianapolis city councilor targeted, he says, for supporting a data center in his community.

GIBSON: At some point that night after midnight, we heard a loud banging on glass and glass breaking. I didn't realize that my house had been shot up until daylight, and I saw this door and I could see through the door out. I mean, I could see daylight was coming through the door. Really touching to me was my son's Lego set was on the dining table. The bullets went around and I think about it when he'd have been in that that space at that time of night, scary stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better vote no! You better vote no.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The political backlash to data centers has been fierce nationwide, aided by the rise and fear of artificial intelligence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't need it. We need water.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): In Utah, residents are fighting a proposed 40,000-acre data center that when combined is twice the size of Manhattan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe this decision should be made after the election.

PROKUPECZ: So meetings like this in Union, Missouri, are happening all across the country and really showing the fear and concern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The burdens would stay local. The profits would leave town. We are asking you, please, stop this theft and rape now.

PROKUPECZ: What could a data center do to a community like this?

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): To find out, we traveled 850 miles from Union, Missouri, to a place already familiar with data centers.

Loudoun County, Virginia, outside D.C., this is Data Center Alley.

PROKUPECZ: Just in this area alone, there are over 200 buildings that contain data centers, some 50 million square feet, enough to fit eight Pentagons.

BUDDY RIZER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LOUDOUN CO. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Having even one data center can double the amount of tax revenue. We've been able to build 30-some schools and 15 fire stations and six libraries.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): But not everything went right. GREG PIRIO, LIVES NEAR DATA CENTER: It is like having constant jet

airplanes flying overhead.

PROKUPECZ: Because you can hear it right now, right?

PIRIO: Yeah.

PROKUPECZ: Like, take a listen here, right? This is --

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): That hum you hear, that's coming from this, a massive data center just feet from these homes.

PROKUPECZ: What's it like when you're trying to sleep?

ETHAN DOUE, LIVES NEAR DATA CENTER: It's like a July 4th fireworks going on.

HARI DOUE, MOTHER AND HOMEOWNER: Last night, my son Lucas got up in the middle of the night and said he couldn't sleep and came into our room. So it is affecting their sleep and they have to go to school.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): There's another problem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it was a southern wind today, all that would be blowing right over this -- our houses.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Diesel backup generators, when they're tested, they pollute.

PIRIO: Those are the days in particular that I feel irritation in my throat.

PROKUPECZ: How do you respond to that?

RIZER: It's a very unfortunate situation because when it was built and approved, it was intended to be on the grid. Then in 2022, we had -- Dominion tell us, well, we're out of power. They had already built and leased the building and so the only solution for them was the gas turbines.

It is a temporary situation. Eventually, the power will be delivered to the site, but that doesn't help them tonight when they're trying to get to sleep.

[16:50:04]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're opening a Pandora's box that can't be closed.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Back in Missouri, they're fighting two proposed new data center campuses in Franklin County.

Bill Hubbard's (ph) century old farm is next to one of them. Recent reports about a Georgia data center draining water from nearby farms has Hubbard worried.

BILL HUBBARD, RESIDENT: They say they're not going to drill wells, all these guarantees. You know, 737s weren't supposed to crash.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The company behind one of the campuses says they won't tax local resources.

ROMAN PASEWICZ, PROVIDENT DATA CENTERS: We're developing a closed loop water system so it conserves water. We believe we could develop them in a conscious way, getting feedback from the community.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Most here are like the Hubbards. They worry because the land is their life.

HUBBARD: This is home. There's no amount of money that could get me to sell this. No amount of money.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Union, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: So some teachers in a tiny Louisiana school district are actually set to receive bonuses that could be more than their annual salary, according to a recent article in "The Wall Street Journal", which reports those payouts of roughly $50,000 are coming from a data center tax surplus.

Ben Eisen is the article's coauthor. He's a personal finance bureau chief at "The Journal".

Ben, it's good to have you with us.

You know, I had actually just met someone who builds data centers and then I read, your article so I was so fascinated by it because there are -- you see the backlash and the visceral reaction from residents at some of these community meetings and then we see here these bonuses, right, that are coming for example in Louisiana how are people feeling about that money there?

BEN EISEN, PERSONAL FINANCE BUREAU CHIEF, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Right, that is -- thanks for having me, and right, that is something that is -- it allocates (ph) both sides of what's going on here, right? You have teachers that are making more money than they double what they make in a year and that is often have to do with the fact that all the sales tax revenue is coming in because of these data centers.

HILL: So you have that coming in and we haven't heard from, you know, one of the executives in Loudon County who was just there in my colleague Shimon's piece talking about what this money has allowed them in Loudon County, Virginia, to do -- building 30 schools, 15 fire stations. You know, there's this potential windfall for teachers in Louisiana.

Are those though one time bonuses? I mean, how -- how long does the money keep rolling into these communities?

EISEN: That -- I mean, that completely remains to be seen in this area in Louisiana, the data center has been going up for a little over a year and it's brought in a lot more workers and therefore, a lot more tax revenue. You also have tax revenue coming directly from Meta.

Whether that remains at that level, nobody really knows. I mean, if you talk to some of the local officials there, they're very optimistic because they think this is going to allow the economy to build on itself, that we're finally getting a momentum in a place that has been sort of down on its luck for many years. And as a result of that, it will continue to grow over time.

We don't know whether that will be the case or not. You obviously have a lot more workers that are there to build the data center than are there to actually operate the data center once it's in effect.

HILL: Right. And so those jobs would then, of course, go away. There are the economic concerns. There are the environmental concerns, as we heard and have been hearing from a number of folks. There are questions about water, there's question about power, about noise pollution, about air pollution.

And I thought it was interesting that one of the companies developing these centers told my colleague Shimon that they're working on developing a water system, right? But the fact that some of those things aren't in place yet, in your reporting, how much have you found some of these data centers are being held to account by officials? And how tough is it for officials to do that?

EISEN: You know, what I hear from officials is really a lot of optimism at this point that we have this investment coming in and this is going to allow us to build on things that you know we have needed for a while -- whether it's paying our school teachers more, whether it's other economic development initiatives. But you do hear a lot of officials focusing on the good aspect of it. And those are -- you know, very potent talking points but it is true that you have -- you have the good and the bad that they both have to grapple with at the same time.

HILL: Yeah, perhaps yet another example of multiple things can be true at once, right, Ben? I appreciate you making the time to join us this afternoon. Thank you.

EISEN: Thank you so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:59:21]

HILL: Television's hottest actors are on CNN. A new season of "Variety's" "Actors on Actors" has just dropped new episodes for you daily. You can catch them on the CNN app. Today's episode features Sarah Pidgeon and Colman Domingo, and you can also catch up on any of those previous episodes as well. You can find them all on the CNN app.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned. CNN NEWSROOM with Omar Jimenez continues right now.