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Growing GOP Field; Leg Exercises Could Help after a Heart Attack; Celtics Go for Playoff Comeback; Wyatt Werneth is Interviewed about the Lifeguard Shortage. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 29, 2023 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:11]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

Governor Ron DeSantis set to hit the campaign trail this week and others are potentially jumping in soon. Pence, Christie, Sununu, possibly Youngkin and maybe even more.

But DeSantis, once thought to be a major challenger in the Trump lane, is losing out to the former president in a head-to-head matchup in CNN's latest poll. Take a look at this.

Joining us now with more on the 2024 race for the White House is "Semafor" politics reporter Shelby Talcott, the "The Messenger's" chief White House correspondent and senior political correspondent Amie Parnes.

Thank you. Welcome to you both. Good to have you.

SHELBY TALCOTT, POLITICS REPORTER, "SEMAFOR": Thank you.

AMIE PARNES, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE MESSENGER": Thank you.

SOLOMON: Shelby, I want to start with you.

So, what do you make of DeSantis' campaign strategy to hit Trump but not directly just yet?

TALCOTT: It's really interesting because I actually think, compared to most of the other 2024 candidates, he's hitting Trump more aggressively and right off the bat, but it's still this kind of fine line between really going after Trump, like we see some of these, you know, Governor Sununu and some of these other candidates, or potential candidates doing, versus Nikki Haley, who has really largely refused to criticize him.

I think the reason is, is there's this fine line from -- with Republican voters where if you go over that line they - they don't want someone who is going to openly criticize the former president, even if they don't want to vote for him again. SOLOMON: Well, to that point, and we just showed the poll numbers

here, I mean he's trailing Trump quite significantly. Can he afford to antagonize Trump?

TALCOTT: That's a good question. I think when you're down 30-something points in most of the polls at this point, you have nothing to lose. And I think what he's trying to do here is run on his record, right, run on his record of Covid in Florida. He's pushing -- he's essentially saying to American voters, Trump did x, y, and z really well, but I can finish the job.

And so the problem is, DeSantis is a prime target.

[06:35:04]

He's really the only target for Trump at this point. And so if he continues to anger Trump, Trump and his team are very good at, you know, trolling and going after DeSantis. And so I think that's only going to ramp up. We already saw it over the weekend.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: It will be so interesting as we watch that.

TALCOTT: Yes.

HILL: What's fascinating, too, and especially when we put up that graph at the beginning, the number of Republicans who are running, which some people may forget how many are actually technically doing this at this point, and who may jump on board.

I was struck by some of the comments from Chris Sununu over the weekend when he talked about the culture wars. So - and in this moment you'll hear, he's not just going after Ron DeSantis it sounds like when we hear about culture wars, also, though, directly attacking the former president.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): If your top priority is culture wars and not managing spending, creating more opportunities at a localized level, draining the swamp, which I was told it was going to happen. Never happened a bit. You know, former President Trump blew that one. Securing the border. Former President Trump blew that one. Fiscal discipline. He -- former Trump blew that one too.

So, I just think there's a lot of things within the mantle of what - of the Republican Party that - that we've kind of lost focus on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Maybe lost focus, but what is fascinating is what we see is - I mean Donald Trump can just sort of sit back with those poll numbers that we just saw and let everybody else fight it out for second place. So many Republicans are trying to be this more moderate, non-Trump lane. Does anybody have a chance at this point? PARNES: I think they're all just waiting for him, Erica, to implode in

a way. They're waiting for that moment. They look back at 2008 and they see what happened to Hillary Clinton, for example, and Barack Obama came out o nowhere. And I think they're all just waiting for an opening. They're waiting for a lawsuit. They're waiting for something else. They're waiting for the other shoe to drop. And they're all going to kind of pounce.

But I think DeSantis kind of has -- I think he -- he is looking at past elections maybe and saying there is more of an opening. I - I was the guy who won by 18 percentage points in November. I can do it again. Look what I did. And he's already kind of contrasting on Covid, on other issues and saying, look how I did it versus look at how former President Trump handled it.

SOLOMON: Amy, when it comes to Biden you say that we may see a Rose Garden strategy. And some of his supporters say that, look, that could work to his advantage, but it could also open him up to further attacks about his age.

PARNES: Exactly. And it worked for him in 2020. He could kind of take a basement strategy, if you will, and stay home and kind of advocate for the pandemic and doing what was right. But I think a lot of Democrats are saying, you need to kind of do a little bit more. This could open you up to hiding Biden or whatever other, you know, sayings they had in 2020. And I think that's a problem for him. And Democrats will kind of openly admit that.

HILL: Shelby, this also, I think, brings up the messaging issue that has been consistent for Democrats where President Biden wants to take that Rose Garden strategy where he says, look, I'm doing the job, I'm governing, this is what I'm doing. He ran on uniting the country. He may have bipartisan wins, but he's been challenged, I would say, and Democrats have been challenged in really selling that. So, selling this strategy as well adds on.

TALCOTT: Yes, absolutely. And I think it's also notable that while most of the 2024 candidates are elected to criticize Trump, they have no problems going after Biden. And so that's going to play a role in all of this also, is he's going to be hit potentially, not just from Democrats who want him to maybe be more aggressive with his messaging, you know, get out of the basement, so to speak, but also from Remembers who have argued, I've had multiple campaigns, argue to me, well, we're not actually running against Trump, we're running against Biden. And you see that in their messaging.

Now, of course, they are running against Trump, but they are trying to kind of - that's - that's their strategy.

SOLOMON: Can we play a Liz Cheney sound byte? We talked about it just before the break and then discussed it on the other side. So she has yet to rule out a run. But yesterday she did give a commencement speech at her alma mater and directly named Donald Trump, she called him dangerous for his 2020 lies, before telling graduates this.

Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ CHENEY (R), FORMER WYOMING CONGRESSWOMAN: No party, no nation, no people can defend and perpetuate a constitutional republic if they accept leaders who have gone to war with the rule of law with the democratic process with the Constitution itself.

America cannot remain a free nation if we abandon the truth.

So, as you go out to change the world, resolve that you will stand in truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And just, really quickly, is there a role for her in the primary for someone who would attack him like this?

PARNES: I think off on the sidelines I don't think there are very many Republicans, at least traditional Republicans, who support her. But I think she can kind of maybe cheer on other nominees to or other candidates to kind of hit him a little bit harder, to go after independents and maybe some Democrats for -- in the general election who are kind of tired of Biden.

[06:40:01]

SOLOMON: A lot more to watch here.

Shelby, we'll have to leave it here. But Shelby, Amie, thank you both. Good to have you.

Well, coming up, a key to a strong heart could be strong legs. Yes, what a new study just revealed and why you may want to rethink skipping leg day at the gym. Not that you ever would.

HILL: Never - never skip leg day, as my 16-year-old would tell you.

Plus, a Ukrainian tennis player booed at the French Open. Why she refused to shake her opponent's hand.

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HILL: Chances are you've heard more than one reference to leg day and not skipping it at the gym. Turns out there are some added advantages to those squats and lunges. It could actually help you have a better outcome after suffering a heart attack. That's according to some new research presented this month to the European Society of Cardiology.

Joining us now with the story, CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard, who spoke with the researchers behind the study.

So, is this really all about your legs?

[06:45:03]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Erica, I can tell you, the researchers used quadriceps as a measurement of muscle strength in general. And we know that as you age, you can lose muscle mass. But this study shows, if you maintain your muscle strength, that's associated with better heart health outcomes.

So, what the researchers did, they looked at data on more than 900 older adults. These are older adults ages 57 to 74 who did have a heart attack. Those who had low quadricep strength actually had a higher incidents of developing heart failure after their heart attack compared with those who had high strength, they had a lower incidence, 10.2 incidents rate of later developing heart failure.

And the researchers say that this shows that having high quad strength is associated with a 41 percent lower risk of developing heart failure after a heart attack. So, these studies suggest that if you continue strength training while recovering from a heart attack, that can actually lead to better heart health outcomes. So, that's the takeaway here, Rahel and Erica.

HILL: Definitely a great takeaway. And even just leading into it, a reminder of why it's so important to exercise, to do the strength training.

HOWARD: Absolutely.

HILL: I know there are also a few other things that are recommended for people who have suffered a heart attack. Ways that can stay healthy and hopefully avoid any other cardiac issues.

HOWARD: Absolutely. Exercise is obviously important. But also the American Heart Association says, number one, make sure you do take your prescribed medications. Number two, follow up with your doctor for follow up appointments. Number three, participate in cardiac rehab. Number four, get support from loved one or other heart attack survivors. And then, number five, manage risk factors. So that means eat healthy, don't smoke, exercise, make sure you do maintain all of those healthy lifestyle things that we do to stay healthy, Erica.

HILL: Jacqueline Howard, appreciate it. Thank you.

SOLOMON: Well, the Boston Celtics trying to make a little bit of history tonight, a lot of history tonight, in game seven of the NBA Eastern Conference finals. At 8:30 Eastern, they are set to face off against the Miami Heat after an incredible buzzer beater win on Saturday. The series is now tied 3-3. Now, if the Celtics pull off another win tonight, they would be the first NBA team to ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a play-off series.

CNN sports correspondent Carolyn Manno is here.

So, Carolyn, the Celtics play at home tonight. How much do you think that home court advantage could help?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It certainly helps. I mean the Celtics historically have been very intimidating at home. And covering a number of playoff games at The Garden, I can tell you, it is going to be a ruckus crowd. There's no doubt about that. Overall, the Celtics are 22-5 at home in game seven. But this year's squad (ph) has been a little bit different. They're even thought he playoffs at home. They've one five games there. They've lost five games there. And when Miami is playing well, they've proven to be a team that is not intimidated by that environment. So, that's really the big question is, which version of these two teams are going to show up? It is going to be the Celtics team that we've seen over the last couple of games that plays really tough defense, that is there at critical moments, that makes good decisions, or, you know, are we going to see the team that we saw through the first three games where they didn't look like a top seed at all in the conference.

For Miami, Jimmy Butler is really their go-to player. He is a superstar with Jayson Tatum. These two are two of the best in the league. He has been a little bit off over the last couple of games. If he can show up and play really well, then I'm not sure the home court advantage will matter that much at all because of how tough this Miami team has been.

But take a listen to what both sides said after this incredible game six. This buzzer beater that sent everybody into a complete frenzy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERRICK WHITE, BOSTON CELTICS GUARD: It felt good. Everybody was asking me is like you get it off? And I was like, yes, I think so. I was just happy. I mean, like you said, the season was on the line. We don't want to go home. And so I was just happy we got the win. I see there's a lot we can improve on and we're going to be better for game seven.

JIMMY BUTLER, MIAMI HEAT FORWARD: I believe, as we all do, like, you're going to get the same test until you pass it. I swear. We can do it. I know that we will do it. We've got to go on the road and win in a very, very, very tough environment. But we're capable of it. So, let's get busy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: What's been fascinating about this, Rahel and Erica, is that this is a top seed and an eight seed. So, when you talk about this stat, 0-150 in these opportunities to come out of this three-game hole, a lot of times you're talking about a lower seed that dug themselves into a hole early and wasn't able to get out.

This is the best team in the east. And so that's why I think a lot of people think that they might, in fact, be able to pull this off, but we'll see. Nobody is skipping leg day.

(CROSS TALK)

MANNO: Nobody. Nobody's skipping leg day. Everybody's ready to go. It should be a lot of fun.

HILL: (INAUDIBLE). Carolyn Manno, thank you.

MANNO: Sure.

HILL: A crowd booed a Ukrainian tennis player at the French Open yesterday after she refused to shake her Belarusian opponent's hand.

Take a look.

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[06:50:09]

HILL: So, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk walking right by the Belarusian player there - player, Aryna Sabalenka, who had just won the match. After that match, Sabalenka said at first she thought the crowd was actually booing her. Turns out they were booing her opponent. The Ukrainian player has vowed not to shake hands with any Russian or Belarusian players if she believes they have not spoken out enough, in her view, against the war in Ukraine.

And she's followed through on this promise now several times. Sabalenka, meantime, is ranked number two in the world and is a favorite to possibly win the French Open. She told reporters she doesn't support the war and she understands Kostyuk's decision not to shake her hand.

Lifeguards nationwide are asking for a lifeline. Just ahead, some of the incentives that are being offered around the country to get more lifeguards in those chairs and in the water amid an ongoing shortage that could put swimmers' lives at risk.

SOLOMON: Plus, there was Springsteen, Bowie and now Queen. The rock band now in the early stages of selling their music catalog for a hefty price. Why this deal could mark the biggest sale in history.

We'll be right back.

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[06:55:52]

SOLOMON: Between Britney Spears earlier in the show and now on "Baywatch," so many good throwbacks today.

HILL: And we're not done yet. It's only -

SOLOMON: I know.

HILL: It's not even the first hour.

SOLOMON: Stay tuned.

Well, for at least the third summer in a row, America is facing a lifeguard shortage. It's a problem that could have life or death consequences. Half of the nation's 309,000 public pools will be affected by the shortage, either reducing their hours or just closing altogether. That's according to the American Lifeguard Association. Well, now, cities across the country are once again upping their

lifeguard recruitment efforts by offering various incentives that include raising and bonuses.

Joining us now from Cocoa Beach, Florida, is Wyatt Werneth. He is the national spokesman for the American Lifeguard Association.

Wyatt, welcome to the program. Good morning.

WYATT WERNETH, NATIONAL SPOKESMAN, AMERICAN LIFEGUARD ASSOCIATION: Good morning. Happy Water Safety Month, Beach Safety Week. And remember the sacrifice for this Memorial Day.

SOLOMON: Absolutely.

So, Wyatt, you say that we are in the midst of a lifeguard crisis in America. What's happening here and explain to us what's behind the shortage.

WERNETH: Well, we've always had a decline in lifeguard recruiting, lifeguards, ever since "Baywatch," believe it or not, like you said. In my day, we all wanted to be lifeguards because beautiful people, helicopters, fast boats, diving in, it was a job you wanted. And it kind of tapered off. And then we got hit by Covid. And then Covid just nailed us. We saw -- 309,000 parks and pools, we saw a third of those with closures and reduction in hours. This year we're seeing it at over half of those.

HILL: And so when you talk about it in that respect, we see you there in Cocoa Beach, So Florida, I think, for most of us, is a place where we can imagine you would have lifeguards year round. This is a full- time job. And other areas we're talking about pools and beaches and lakes that are maybe only open for the summer. Where is - where is the need greatest, or is it just across the board?

WERNETH: Well, let's identify, there are three types of lifeguarding. You have the thrill parks, with the water slides and the lazy river, you have the recreational centers where the - where you have swim lessons and swim meets where they compete and have fun for swimming for the neighborhood, and then let's go to open water, which are beaches and lakes.

So, they all get affected to a degree. One that's the most stable, believe it or not, is the open water because a lot of the beach communities are under the fire department, which have a year round contingency. Not so much for the parks and thrill parks.

SOLOMON: Wyatt, you talked about how, once upon a time when "Baywatch" was out, for example, everyone wanted to be a lifeguard. It was sort of an exciting and attractive path of career. And you say that lifeguarding needs a whole remodel. What does that look like?

WERNETH: Well, you know, I think that Americans used to take lifeguarding serious. We're requiring young adults, or high school, college kids for the summer to come out and watch your children. And we need to take a better look at that. They're part of the EMS system, just like police, fire, and hospital rescue. So, we've got to take it more serious. The fact that we need to train individuals, get them excited at an early age and offer them a career path forward. They come out for a season, they lifeguard, they get a little training, they go off, they love what they did, but they go into the fire service, the police or into the military. We need to bring them back to the lifeguarding.

HILL: Are you seeing that start to change at all? Are you seeing that there's enough incentive there to really get people excited at a younger age and stick with it?

WERNETH: Well, I haven't seen a lot of creative incentive with sign-on bonuses up to $3,000, you know, if you qualify. But I don't think that's enough. I think that, you know, we lost a lot of interest with the young ones going to be influencers, the pandemic hit, they got other jobs, retail and restaurants. I think something needs to change.

If we focus on, perhaps, you know, the fire services, or the EMS services, managing them, that might help out because then it also gives them a career path forward. And let's go back and do junior lifeguard programs across the states and get people excited, learn to swim and maybe that will help.

HILL: You know, I just saw an advertisement for a junior lifeguard program in my town, so maybe they are starting to Lisen and hearing you.

Wyatt Werneth, really appreciate you joining us this morning.

[07:00:00]

It's an important topic. I'm glad we're addressing it. Thanks.

SOLOMON: You know, Erica, it's interesting. We talk about the labor shortage. That clearly still exists in certain industries. Lifeguarding being one of them.

HILL: Yes, absolutely.