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Hurricane Lala Hits Hawaii; Growing Concerns Over USS Lincoln's Long Deployment; White House Looking For New Press Secretary; Nanny Released From ICE Tells Her Story; Earthquakes Hit Indonesia; Controversial Project At Big Bend Is Drawing Outrage. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 16, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Incredible high points to this sad news from the world of baseball. The MLB just announced that Tommy John, the legendary Yankees' pitcher, has passed away. He was 83. The leftie rocked up 288 games over three decades. That's the second most win of any pitcher in the modern era. While his accolades on the field were many, one of his accomplishments off the field has saved the careers of countless pitchers. Back in 1974, a torn ligament was going to end his career but a radical procedure harvested a tendon from right forearm to save the damaged one. The Tommy John surgery is now commonplace.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me this weekend. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Brian Abel right now.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: You are in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Brian Abel in Atlanta. Tonight, we are following the breaking news out of Hawaii, where remnants of Hurricane Lala are bringing life-threatening flooding across portions of the Big Island and Maui. The storm has knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people. The hurricane did not officially make landfall and it did weaken to a tropical storm this morning as it traveled west.

The National Hurricane Center says Lala's eyewall brushed past the south shore of Hawaii's Big Island. It brought winds of 80 miles per hour and more than 30 inches of torrential rain. Models are indicating Lala will remain a tropical storm as it heads into the open ocean but it could begin re-strengthening into a hurricane within the next 72 hours.

KITV reporter Carly Yoshida is joining us now from Honolulu. Carly, what is it like there right now?

CARLY YOSHIDA, REPORTER, KITV: Well, you know what, Brian, I would say it's almost a typical day in Manoa. We usually get a lot of trade showers and breezy winds flowing through. But I'd say things have calmed down quite a bit from what we saw in the very early hours this morning on the island of Oahu. There are still so many impacts and threats and damage being assessed across the island and across the state. And it's not over yet, right? We have Tropical Storm Lala in the center of the storm. It's almost directly under Kauai or the Garden Isle now. So, they're going to see a lot of those impacts, heavy rain, downfalls, of course, the really strong winds as well going into the next few hours of today, and then we'll be assessing all of that damage as we head into tomorrow.

But right now, we're feeling a lot of the light showers, no heavy downpours. There is still a flash flood warning in effect for the windward side of Oahu or the mountainous side of Oahu on the east side. So, we are still seeing lots of heavy downpours there as well as our streams. They've really been overflowing, especially in the overnight and early morning hours, Brian.

ABEL: And you're mentioning streams. It's my understanding you're by the Manoa Stream, which is a landmark there that can really tell us the intensity of the storms. Carly, how is it looking right now?

YOSHIDA: You're absolutely correct, we are by a landmark. Manoa Stream gets famously overflowed when we do have storms. You can see right now, we're looking right over it on a bridge. This has gone down significantly. It is about maybe less than six feet now and continuing to drop.

But if you look at where those plants are next to the building and in fact along the building there of the white wall, that's where the water levels rose this morning. At about 5:20, officials said that the water levels rose to just over 14 feet. And they also mentioned that the major overflow is marked at 12.9 feet. So, it was definitely flooded in this area.

We experienced a lot of this during the Kona low storms back in March where this completely got over flooded. But a lot of our city and county officials and emergency crews have been prepping for this and the next system that we've been expecting a lot of flooding to happen. So, really shout out to them and being prepared for what was to come. We see the water levels has dropped significantly.

But in Manoa, we're no stranger to a lot of the rainfall and flooding here. So, thank goodness things are starting to subside even though we're seeing some of these conditions continue.

It is starting to rain once again now. Like I said, it's not over yet. We're still going to see a lot of these impacts. We did see, like you mentioned, over 80 mile per hour sustained and gusts of wind, especially on the Big Island from yesterday.

But waking up early this morning, we talked to so many residents. About three o'clock, two to three o'clock this morning, you woke up to the sound of really loud wind, lots of rain that was going on. The sustained mile per hour of winds was around 40. So, gusts were so much higher than that. So, really waking up into the daylight and seeing all of the damage that we talked to the EMS crews about as well.

ABEL: And good to see conditions improving there, but also showing just how quickly conditions can change. CNN affiliate KITV reporter Carly Yoshida, thank you for joining us.

[17:05:00]

And Major General Stephen Logan, Hawaii's adjutant general, is joining me now. And general, what are you seeing right now and what is the biggest danger that residents are facing at the moment?

MAJ. GEN. STEPHEN F. LOGAN, ADJUTANT GENERAL, STATE OF HAWAII: Hey, aloha, Brian. Thank you. The biggest problem that we have right now kind of started on the Big Island as Carly kind of articulated. And as the storm moves westward throughout the state, basically, we still have a lot of rain, we have a lot of flooding, we have a lot of road closures, and we still have a lot of high winds. Although it has been recategorized to be a tropical storm, it is still on the upward level of the tropical storm with winds, you know, in excess of about 70 miles an hour.

The widespread power outages are creating, you know, a lot of problems for a lot of our residents now. With the road closures also, people are, you know, either having to take an alternate route or they're unable to get, you know, to the destination that they need to get to. So, we're urging everybody to stay home insofar as possible that they're able to.

At this stage, what we're trying to do is support our local counties and first responders to try to find out if there's any isolated populations. We call this phase the life safety phase where we do rescue operations. Last night, we participated in several rescue operations on the Big Island. Because of the flooding, at least two structures have been swept away by fast moving water. The U.S. Coast Guard launched their helicopter and were able to save one elderly woman who was trapped in a tree. And we also participated in the rescue of some of our city and county personnel, as you can see in the video there.

So, that's what we're doing right now. I think our biggest priority right now is the restoration of energy and power to all the communities.

ABEL: I mean, seeing just how powerful that water is there, Major General Stephen, forgive me. Can you describe what residents experienced overnight and into today with this storm?

LOGAN: Fortunately, we forecasted this, you know, earlier this week. We've been having, you know, meetings. We've been doing engagements with the public. The governor has been very proactive and issued an emergency proclamation on Thursday, which enabled me to activate members of the National Guard. We have about 225 right now.

It was just a lot of rain over a short period. It's reminiscent of the common low storms that we went through in February, March, and April of this year. With all this torrential rain and the number of inches that you get and the short duration at which it fell, it does swell a lot of these streams. We were very proactive working with our State Department of Transportation and our county partners to clear out some of the more problematic streams, and I think that led to some of the successes that we did see. But early in the morning, I think residents were awakened to a lot of flooding and a lot of roads that had been -- had been washed out.

ABEL: Yes. And I want to go back to something you just mentioned a moment ago, major general, that there were several rescues. Do you know how those people that were rescued are doing at this -- at this time?

LOGAN: As far as I know, they've been taken to a medical care facility. I don't know what their condition is. However, the governor and I are going to fly over to the Big Island tomorrow, we're going to meet with the county mayor and the other emergency management and first responders, and we'll be able to get a progress report on their recovery.

ABEL: And maybe this is when you'll get this information as well. Do you know how many people were evacuated, whether it be voluntarily or first responders coming around and getting people out of harm's way ahead of time?

LOGAN: I don't have the exact numbers, but there were excess of 30 that were in various shelters on that island, and then a lot more on some of the other islands. Also, the shelters were able to open early on Saturday. And then as the residents became impacted, they were able to get it, you know, to that area.

ABEL: And major general, more than 200,000 people are still without power right now. Can you walk us through what some of the challenges are going to be facing the people that are trying to restore that power to the island?

LOGAN: Yes, the biggest challenge we have is either trees or shrubbery because of the high winds and the saturated ground had blown into the power lines. We have two major power companies here, Hawaiian Electric Services, most of the islands, and the island of Kauai has its own cooperative that takes care of that. Kauai is relatively, you know, unscathed at this point. So, it will be getting those crews over to the other islands with the equipment necessary to be able to clear those power lines and reestablish the power.

We're an archipelagic state, so it does create a lot of problems, and we're geographically separated from the continental United States. So, oftentimes, the initial stages of any kind of emergency or disaster like this necessitates kind of a self-recovery effort, and the Hawaiian Electric Company has been really proactive in preparing for that.

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ABEL: And you and the governor, I'm sure, when you take that aerial tour tomorrow, we'll get a better understanding of this. But at this hour, do you have any idea what kind of aid that you need at this time?

LOGAN: So, right now, I think we could take care of everything internally. We also have a large active-duty military presence here. And through the defense support to civilian agencies, we're able to access the greater parts of Pacific Command and the areas that they have. We go through an annual hurricane preparedness exercise, and we exercise with the defense coordinating officer at the United States Army of the Pacific. So, we have active-duty military standing by in the event we need it.

On top of that, I'm in close conversation with the National Guard Bureau, who is headed by General Nordhaus. And the other 53 states and territories are standing by should we need assistance, and we can request that as well. But for now, I think with the assets that we have within the state, we're able to respond to and recover from the current emergency that we have.

We're doing assessments now, and we're very thoughtful about, if it does reach the appropriate threshold, then we may be able to work through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and seek a presidential disaster declaration. But that's at a later phase from where we are right now. Right now, we're interested in, of course, saving lives, making sure that people are taken care of in shelters if they have to be, and restoration of some essential services.

ABEL: All right. We know you and everybody there are quite busy. So, major general, I really appreciate your time. Steven Logan, thank you.

LOGAN: Brian, thank you very much. Appreciate your time also.

ABEL: All right. Still to come, CENTCOM's chief visits the USS Abraham Lincoln as concern grows for the mental health of the crew because they've been deployed for so long on that aircraft carrier. Plus, more bulldozers spotted at Big Bend National Park in Texas this weekend amid a new border security plan from the Trump administration that's got many locals outraged. And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt leaving her role soon to focus on her family. The man who held that job during President Trump's first term in office, John Spicer, is joining us next. You're on the "CNN Newsroom."

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ABEL: A new reporting tonight, the chief of U.S. Central Command visiting the USS Abraham Lincoln as part of his recent trip to the Middle East. His visit comes as families of crew members sound the alarm about the mental health and hardships of sailors and marines on board.

The aircraft carrier is currently in the midst of a long deployment with most of the crew continuously at sea for about nine months. Crew members serving on the Lincoln have described morale on the ship as very low, noting that the ship has had intermittent food shortages and low supplies of hygiene items, among other problems. Here's what one crew member told our Pamela Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: Morale is low because we haven't hit a port in seven months. The last time I was off the ship on dry land would have been Guam in December.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: And CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining me now with more. And Julia, what more do we know about the head of CENTCOM's visit?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in this new statement, the CENTCOM chief, Admiral Brad Cooper, he called his recent visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln -- quote -- "awe-inspiring." And as you mentioned, this trip comes as there have been growing concerns about the conditions on the ship as well as the mental health of those on board.

The Lincoln has been deployed for nearly nine months now, and it has been supporting operations there in the Middle East. Its combat mission has prevented it from making stops at friendly ports to restock on supplies and to get the sailors some rest. This has led to a number of family members voicing concerns about those conditions.

Crew members have said that morale is very low and that there is this regular strain on some of the essential amenities. Cooper said in this statement that the Lincoln of the 11 active aircraft carriers, that the mental health cases are actually among the lowest on the Lincoln right now. Now, he went on to say this: Quote -- "This doesn't mean that all is perfect. Find any of the nearly four million Navy veterans in America today and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods isn't for everyone. It is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways."

President Donald Trump has recently been asked about the concerns surrounding the conditions on that ship. His response struck a different tone. He said that this lengthy deployment had not gone on nearly long enough. Those comments drew swift criticism from many. He did say that this ship, that the Lincoln would be traveling out of the region at some point soon and it would be replaced with a very similar ship. A U.S. official tells us that that swap was previously planned.

ABEL: And Julia, I also want to ask you about some news that broke earlier this week. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announcing she will be exiting that role. What more have we learned since that announcement?

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BENBROOK: She said that she is going to be leaving that role at the end of the month and that she made this decision to spend more time with her young family. She just recently gave birth to her second child. Now, these are going to be some tough shoes to fill. This role comes with challenges.

And Leavitt became one of Trump's most trusted aides. She had a proactive and very public facing role here. But this president, that trust is needed because he believes that he is the best spokesperson for himself. He has to have someone in it that he is on the same page with. And her announcement really led to a lot of speculation about who might be next. The president has yet to directly comment. Brian?

ABEL: All right, Julia Benbrook for us. Julia, thank you. And joining me now is former White House press secretary during President Trump's first term, Sean Spicer, now host of "The Sean Spicer Show." Sean, you are one of the very few people who know firsthand what this job entails and the challenges that come with it. So, tell us about some of those unique challenges that Karoline Leavitt has had to navigate with this role.

SEAN SPICER, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY, TRUMP WHITE HOUSE: That's right, Brian. I was number 30 total of press secretaries, the first of Donald Trump's five. I think that there's obvious challenges to any being White House press secretary for any president. The sort of day to day battle rhythm of the job is extensive.

I truly believe it is a 24-7 job because while you can go to sleep at certain points during the night, you never know when you're going to get waken up. Sometimes, it's a call just to inform you of something. Sometimes, it's breaking news. Sometimes, it's an actual disaster or an incident. So, in any case, it truly is a 24-7 job under any president.

But under President Trump, I think there's an exponential amount of stress, amount of scrutiny that comes along with that job. He tweets on his own, truths on his own, gives statements. He's unbelievably transparent. So, you're having to keep up with him in a way that I don't think any other president you have that relationship with, right?

In many cases, prior to President Trump, the press secretary would lead the briefings sort of in coordination with what the president wanted. President Trump is, as you guys noted, his own best spokesperson. And so, when you have that job, it's an added sort of challenge to keep up with him and what he's saying and what he's pushing out publicly.

ABEL: And maybe that showcased in some of the length of 10 years of some of the press secretaries. You know, we just had that up there a moment ago, you at six months. And she, Karoline Leavitt, has actually endured for longer, nearly 18 months, nearly two years as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the only one -- the only person holding that role to do it longer. So, given all that and all those challenges, what does the next person coming into this role need to expect in order to have that kind of tenure and longevity that Karoline Leavitt has had?

SPICER: Yes, it's a really good question. As I said, I had done a lot of prep with the president prior to taking the role, and I had no idea what to expect once it really got going for two reasons. President Trump is truly a one of a kind when it comes to how he interacts with the media, how transparent is, how often he's talking to folks, putting out information. So, I think the person has to have a good working relationship with the president.

My guess is that whomever he chooses is somebody that he has an existing relationship with. There is no room to have to learn on the job who he is, what he likes. So, my guess is that whomever he chooses has that relationship with him.

Number two is you've got to learn to be flexible. You've got to understand that things are going to change and it's not the same as it was under previous presidents. He is constantly getting information, meeting with folks, getting different takes. So, you've got to be staying in coordination with him at all times, and that's a really critical piece to this. And then, obviously, understanding the demands of the new 24-hour media.

Karoline gets a lot of credit for really bringing in and expanding access to the briefing room, not just to the president, but to the White House itself. And so, you've got now a totally new media environment than when I served in terms of the independent folks, the podcasts that exist right now, the people who cover the White House. I do it on my show every day. I've got a White House pass that probably wouldn't have existed 10 years ago. So, Karoline gets a lot of credit for that. The next press secretary is going to be under equal amounts of pressure to really expand that and to continue to cater to it.

ABEL: And to your point of how this president does it differently than previous ones, certainly, his views on communication with the press and the American public are different than its counterparts, I think, to how often we have or have not had press briefings from the Pentagon, for example, during the conflict with Iran. How do you see the importance of the press secretary for shaping the actual narrative that comes out of the White House?

SPICER: Well, it's a great question because part of it is to amplify what the president is doing. That's the big difference with President Trump.

[17:25:00]

The job of any press secretary, whether you're working for a government official or a private entity, is to speak in lieu of the principal themselves. And so, the challenge, which is also a blessing, is that President Trump is constantly communicating with the media, whether it's on Air Force One, on the tarmac, for takeoffs in the Oval Office, at events, etcetera, or, as you know, picking up the phone from almost any reporter that calls him.

So, the challenge is keeping up with him and making sure that the information is getting out there on a regular basis and amplifying it. So, it's not just saying it, it's making sure that you follow up with the fact sheets and all the stuff that amplifies and puts meat on the bone to what he has said.

ABEL: And Sean, a major focus of this midterm election cycle has been affordability. Earlier this week, the president signed an executive order that aims to reshape childhood vaccine policy. There's one Republican senator that's arguing that even this move hurts the GOP on affordability. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: This is inconvenient. It's going to contribute to an increased loss of income. By the way, instead of the insurance company paying for two doctors' visits, they're paying for six, which is going to ultimately drive up premiums going after affordability. And it will do nothing for things like autism. This substitutes two jabs with six jabs. And so, even the people he's trying to appeal to have to scratch their head and think, what in the hell is going on here? So, the president is wrong. There's a lot of bad things that will come out of this.

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ABEL: And so, you have those comments there. Do you think the focus of the Republican Party is on the issues most resonating with voters? Is the focus maybe too scattered when we start thinking about all of the D.C. renovation projects, Iran, etcetera?

SPICER: Yes. Let me let me kind of answer the first part, and I'll get to the second. On the vaccine, with all due respect to Senator Cassidy, let's be clear what the president did. He put the power back in the hands of parents and doctors and empowered them to have those discussions about what's best for their individual child's needs. I think that's smart, right?

The idea is that parents and doctors should decide when and where their kids receive any kind of care, not the government. And I think this is a much better decision. It puts us more in line with the rest of the world. Instead of having 72 jabs, you're going back down to 11, which is where most of the world really is. Germany and France are at about 12 to 14. Some parts of Asia are at 11. The bottom line is this was a very smart move, in my opinion.

But to answer your broader question, I do think that we're lacking in a coordinated message about, in the last 80 days of this campaign, about what is at stake for the American people. We cannot lose the House or the Senate because President Trump's agenda is at stake.

And the number one thing that everybody cares about across the political spectrum is this issue of economic security. How am I doing right now? And I think that we should be laser-focused, talk about nothing else. Once the election is over, there's plenty of time. There's two years left. But if we lose the majority, we lose driving the agenda, Brian, and that's the problem.

So, I would urge every single Republican House, Senate, the president and throughout his administration in the remaining 80 days that we have in this election to say nothing else except for issues of economic security. They're going to talk about what we've done as a party, and in administration, what we will do. And also, reminds the American people of the alternative, the socialist DSA agenda that the Democrats are proposing, to defund ICE, to take over so much of the economy, grow government.

Those are the three things, and they all have to be done at the same time. It's not one or the other. We've got to make sure that people know what we've done, what we will do, and who the alternative is. ABEL: And we will see how many of the folks out there campaigning is

listening to your advice. First press secretary for President Trump's first term, Sean Spicer, thank you for your time.

SPICER: Thanks, Brian.

ABEL: Still ahead, a nanny in Pennsylvania is released from ICE custody after nearly a month of detention. CNN spoke with her and has new details on what happened during those long weeks in custody.

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ABEL: Gun violence has brought more bloodshed to communities across the country this weekend. Police in Kentucky say one person was killed, four others injured in a mass shooting in a park yesterday evening. The Lexington police chief telling local news outlets that two of the victims were children, including one who was just four years old. The chief has declined to share any information about a suspect.

In Virginia, a 19-year-old suspect has now been arrested in connection with the shooting at Virginia State University. Five people were wounded in that shooting, including a student, when gunfire erupted on campus in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police say the suspect and four of the victims did not attend the school.

And on Friday in Michigan, about 169 miles northwest of Detroit, five people were killed and the suspect also dead. Four of the victims were found in two separate homes as law enforcement responded to reports of a shooting. The gunman left those scenes leading authorities on a manhunt. His body later found in a wooded area along with another person who was also dead.

An Argentine nanny detained by ICE when traveling to a World Cup match is now out on bond. Thirty-year-old Iliana Lick was taken into custody at Philadelphia International Airport on July 11th as she was heading to Kansas City to see her native Argentina play a World Cup match. Lick entered the U.S. at a tourist visa back in 2023 and was awaiting an asylum interview.

She shared her story with CNN's Rafael Romo, who is joining us now. And Rafael, what did she tell you?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Among many other things, Brian, she told me that she's traumatized and still shocked after a month in ICE custody.

[17:35:00]

Iliana Noeli Lick is back home in Philadelphia where she has been working as a nanny for two families for the last couple of years and where she lives with her American boyfriend. Lick told me she's going through a roller coaster of emotions and that trying to go back to normal has been weird because she has been thinking all the time about the other people in detention she met while in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As we first reported last week, Lick was detained by ICE at the Philadelphia International Airport on July 11 after she was dropped off by her boyfriend to take a flight to Kansas City, Missouri where she planned to attend a World Cup game between Argentina, her native country, and Switzerland.

Lick told CNN she was held at a county jail in Pennsylvania in three different detention centers in Louisiana, Texas, and then New Mexico before being granted bond on August 10 after a full month in custody. She calls her ordeal both traumatic and shocking, not only because she was not expecting to be detained in the first place, but also because she says she and other detainees were at one point held with the general prison population.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ILIANA NOELI LICK, ARGENTINIAN NANNY DETAINED BY ICE: Suddenly, what they put us with -- well, the people have a little -- like a lot of mental issues. And it was a nightmare the first two days. It was really, really bad, like we were not able to sleep. They're like screaming the whole day.

ROMO: You've probably seen what ICE is saying about you. They say that you were in the country with an overstayed visa. To that, what do you say?

LICK: I didn't commit any crime. I was trying to do everything right, like everything they asked me, I did, and all this legal process. And I told several times I'm not illegal. I never stayed in this country illegal. And they put in my notice, appeared that I overstayed without permission, basically, which is not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: While her asylum case was pending, she was granted an authorization to work. In a statement sent to CNN before Lick's release, the Department of Homeland Security described the nanny as an illegal alien from Argentina who was detained during a targeted arrest operation at Philadelphia International Airport on July 11. In a new statement sent to CNN after her release, DHS says that on August 10, Lick was granted bond by an immigration judge and was released with a GPS tracking device. She will receive due process. To be clear, work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the United States.

Lick also told me that when she was held at a Cambria County prison in Pennsylvania, she and other ICE detainees have to wear black and white-striped jail uniforms while wearing full restraints that included ankle cuffs and shackles.

She told me all of this in Spanish because she's more fluent in her native language, Brian, adding that she felt she was being treated as a common criminal and insisting that she shouldn't have been detained in the first place because she has always complied with immigration law. Brian?

ABEL: We'll see where this case goes from here. Rafael Romo, thank you. Coming up, thousands of people afraid to go back home after powerful earthquakes rattle Indonesia. A closer look at conditions there, next.

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[17:40:00]

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ABEL: Indonesian rescue crews in a race against time. They are trying to find survivors under buildings brought down by Saturday's 7.7 magnitude earthquake. At least 53 people have lost their lives in the quake. Making matters worse, hundreds of aftershocks followed that initial quake. CNN's Gage Goulding has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the island of Flores in Indonesia, this is how thousands of people are now living. Makeshift tents lying on the ground.

ABDUL MNUTAS, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): You can see for yourself, we're camping under a tree. So, we need more tarpaulin sheets, drinking water, food, children's supplies. We can't have them sick.

GOULDING (voice-over): Some 1,300 homes were damaged or destroyed by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake just off the northern coast of the island. Many are still sleeping when the earth began violently shaking around six in the morning Saturday. Those that have a home to return to, it's a question of whether it's safe.

SITI SULFIA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): At the moment, we don't dare go home just yet because the situation isn't stable. We still worry that there might be more tremors coming.

GOULDINIG (voice-over): The nation's disaster response agency has set up temporary camps, including makeshift hospitals. They say 18 health care facilities were damaged during the quake. It's here where we're meeting some of the victims who survived the worst of the disaster.

KUMALA, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): When it shook, I felt I was spinning. I didn't have the chance to get up. Just as I was about to get up, rocks fell on me, on my head, on my legs. I had my two kids with me, and we were all buried under the rubble. We were then evacuated by someone.

GOULDING (voice-over): The Indonesian government is now racing to respond. Overnight Sunday, the Indonesian Air Force flew in 50,000 aid packets to the hardest-hit areas. But locals say the relief has been slow to arrive. UNKNOWN (through translator): Until now, not a single tent was given to us. We're very disappointed because the newcomer should also be given tents. But we haven't got any. We have two babies here, and they're asleep. So, they're sleeping in the morning dew.

[17:45:00]

Please pity them. The government should pay attention to these things.

GOULDING (voice-over): Those disaster relief teams not only working around landslides and crumbling buildings, but also aftershocks. The initial earthquake has been followed by more than 340 aftershocks, including three with magnitudes of 5.6 or even higher. One is 6.9 magnitude earthquake 1,600 miles northwest in North Sumatra. And 600 miles north in Palu, another 5.7 magnitude earthquake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOULDING (on camera): The clock is ticking when it comes to finding anyone else who might be trapped in the rubble. There's a so-called golden window of time. It's roughly 48 to 72 hours after a disaster strikes to find those victims. But after that window closes, the rate of survival drops. Gage Goulding, CNN, Hong Kong.

ABEL: Gage, thank you. Coming up, a controversial scene playing out in one of America's most treasured national parks. The Trump administration's latest immigration move that is drawing anger and heartbreak. You're on the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:50:00]

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ABEL: The commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection is set to visit the Big Bend region of Texas, which has been at the center of controversy for months as locals push back on plans to build new border security infrastructure there. Tensions recently escalating after heavy machinery was spotted clearing land in the steep, rugged area of Big Bend.

On Saturday, maps from CBP show plans to build patrol roads and vehicle barriers near this location, but critics say there's no need for any kind of barrier in this remote part of the park.

Ed Lavandera is following this story for us from Texas.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Raging anger is echoing off these canyon walls.

UNKNOWN: This has nothing to do with border security and everything to do with corruption.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Protesters gathered in one of the most iconic spots in Big Bend National Park. They're horrified by the Trump administration's border security construction efforts, which is now being unleashed in this patch of far west Texas.

JEFF RENFROW, TERLINGUA, TEXAS RESIDENT: We are at war with these people. It's a peaceful war. But if you think what you've seen so far is bad, you wait until they unleash holy hell on this place next week.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Last week, crews started carving through the pristine wilderness of Big Bend National Park for what's being described as a surveillance road. The site was captured by a 27-year- old activist trying to stop what she calls this needless destruction.

NATALIE NEWMAN, ACTIVIST: Yes, more than anything else, I feel heartbreak over all of this.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Natalie Newman navigates the roads in Big Bend, armed with her camera. She takes us to where construction crews have started their work.

LAVANDERA: Do you feel like you're just fighting a giant beast?

NEWMAN: Oh, yes, this thing is so much bigger than us. And that's why I'm glad it's finally getting out well beyond just West Texas because there is not many of us out here. This is huge.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Trump administration's plan threatens to dramatically alter the landscape of not just Big Bend National Park, but much of the region surrounding it, stretching roughly 500 miles. The plan involves five different projects costing more than $7 billion.

The Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection will build nearly 200 miles of border wall, install steel vehicle barriers, and carve hundreds of miles of new roadways through part of the park's 800,000 acres and beyond. All of this in a sector that officials say only accounts for about one percent of all illegal border crossing apprehensions.

The early plan unveiled by the federal government included a border wall inside the national park. But now, DHS and CBP say that's not happening.

UNKNOWN: This is not the end. This is the beginning.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That hasn't eased the tensions. The anger over this plan is visible all over the area. Banners blasting the border wall have popped up everywhere. Local Republicans and Democrats are unified in their opposition to what's happening.

SHERIFF THADDEUS CLEVELAND, SHERIFF, TERRELL COUNTY, TEXAS: I'd be all for it if it was necessary, but it's not necessary.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Thad Cleveland is the Republican sheriff in Terrell County. He was also a border patrol agent for 26 years.

LAVANDERA: They want to put in vehicle barrier in a lot of this.

CLEVELAND: Yes, sir.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): In his office, he showed us a map of where the plan in his county is to put about 160 miles of steel vehicle barriers along the Rio Grande. There's only one problem.

And these are places where it's physically impossible to drive a car through.

CLEVELAND: Hundred percent. Makes no sense at all to put vehicle barriers.

LAVANDERA: Must be scratching your head going like, what are we doing, folks?

CLEVELAND: Definitely. I'm very disappointed.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): At the beginning of the first Trump administration in 2016, we came to the Big Bend region.

UNKNOWN: I want you to tell Donald Trump that we already have a wall. Thank you very much.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): And reported on what many feared the new president might bring to this area and asked this question: How in the world do you build a wall in this kind of terrain? Ten years later, we're sitting down with the former superintendent of Big Bend National Park, Bob Krumenaker. He says the more pressing question is not how, but why the Trump administration is doing this.

BOB KRUMENAKER, CHAIRMAN, KEEP BIG BEND WILD: I would say it is one of the most insane and destructive and, yes, ridiculous ideas I have ever heard. I never really thought anything this absurd would happen in any national park, let alone the one I know so well.

LAVANDERA: Most statewide elected Republicans here in Texas like Governor Greg Abbott have said very little about the controversy in Big Bend. Senator John Cornyn has written a letter to the Department of Homeland Security urging the agency to listen more closely to the fears and concerns of residents here.

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But there are also a number of lawsuits in the works that have already been filed to try to slow these projects down, but that will take time to work its way through the courts as well.

Ed Lavandera, CNN at Big Bend National Park in Texas.

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ABEL: Ed, thank you. Still ahead for us, catastrophic flooding in Indiana. We are live with a look at conditions straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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