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CNN This Morning
Asylum-Seekers Flown To California Claim They Were Deceived; Coast Guard Offloads More Than $186M In Seized Cocaine; Seventeen People Killed In An Airstrike Over Khartoum; Hospitals Struggle Throughout Sudan; Making History: Deaf Americans Scale Mount Everest; Severe Storm Risk For 40 Million People; Blinken Begins High-Stakes Talks In Beijing; Biden Rolls Out Major Union Endorsements Ahead Of First Reelection Campaign Rally. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired June 18, 2023 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: may not be entirely safe for people who have a personal or family history of psychosis. Patients with bipolar disorder may be at great risk of taking psychedelic drugs and having another manic episode.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The risks come in more psychologically, right? Because without support, in some cases, it could be destabilizing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Be sure to tune in to an all new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper". One whole story, one whole hour. Airs tonight at 08:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts now.
WALKER: All right, good morning, everyone. It is 07:00 and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, June 18th. Happy Father's Day, first of all, to my husband and to my father and my brother and everyone else who is spending time celebrating their father's day.
BLACKWELL: So last hour I said to all the dads and the daddies and the pops and the poppies, one of our producers said, don't forget the zaddies.
WALKER: The what?
BLACKWELL: You know what --
WALKER: The zaddies?
BLACKWELL: Because of the z. We will never forget the zaddies.
WALKER: Yes. BLACKWELL: Thank you for being with us this morning. Here's what we're watching for you this morning. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with his Chinese counterparts in Beijing at this hour. This is being called a high-stakes, low expectations visit. The purpose of the trip and the issues that Blinken plans to raise.
WALKER: President Biden makes his pitch for four more years in the White House in his first campaign rally of the 2024 presidential race. The message he's sending to voters on why he feels he deserves a second term.
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GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: I've seen more tornadoes than I can count. I've never seen the level of decimation to a town as I've seen today.
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BLACKWELL: Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a disaster declaration for communities in Texas devastated by tornadoes. We're joined this hour by one group volunteering in these hard-hit areas with more on the extent of the damage and the cleanup effort.
WALKER: And a history making climb. How two deaf Americans defied the odds to summit Mount Everest? Their stories just ahead.
Up first, high-stakes, low expectations. That is how Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China is being described. Now, Blinken is on his mission to mend relations between the U.S. and China. After months of tensions have been rising. The Secretary is meeting with China's top diplomat and other officials.
BLACKWELL: The State Department says the main goal is to reestablish lines of communication between the two superpowers. CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood is traveling with the Secretary. She is joining us from Beijing. So officials downplaying expectations for the visit, talk about the goals and what the U.S. is saying will come out of this visit and what we should not expect to happen.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Victor, this is the first time that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has visited China since the Biden administration came into office. He is the first Cabinet member of the Biden administration to come to Beijing.
And, of course, the backdrop here is one of incredible tension between the U.S. and China. As you were saying, no major deliverables expected out of this visit, but U.S. officials are still calling it incredibly critical because they're seeking to normalize regular channels of communication between the U.S. and China.
Simply, they haven't been regular over the course of the last few months, particularly military to military channels. And when you look at what's happened just in recent weeks, there were two close calls, military incidents in the South China Sea between the U.S. and China, in the air and in the sea. And that is, of course, of concern for the United States. Those were due to aggressive Chinese military maneuvers in the areas.
And so, the U.S. is really looking to stand up those regular channels of communication. With President Biden saying just yesterday he's hoping that this visit can reduce the tensions between the two countries. And saying this about a potential visit with President Xi later this year.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm hoping that over the next several months, I'll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have, but also how those areas we can get along.
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ATWOOD: Now, of course, one of the things we're watching for is if Secretary of State Antony Blinken is awarded a meeting with President Xi while he's here on the ground in Beijing. We don't see one on the schedule yet, but of course that could be added. The Secretary also said that he's going to be talking to his Chinese counterparts about issues where there are U.S. concerns.
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Global issues like the war in Ukraine, regional issues like, of course, Taiwan, and then bilateral issues. Issues between the United States and China. For example, the fentanyl issue at home, the opioid crisis, which is a major killer of Americans, has a connection to China because a lot of the precursor chemicals for fentanyl come from China. So he's going to be addressing that with his Chinese counterparts. Also three Americans who are wrongfully detained in this country.
But Chinese officials leading into this meeting had an incredibly aggressive tone, telling the Secretary that he needed to show respect while he was here to stay out of domestic affairs, Chinese affairs. So we will see how this all goes if China is really invested in trying to find some areas where the United States and Beijing can actually work together.
The U.S. has said they would like to work together on climate, on stabilizing the global economy. And so those are two issues we'll watch to see if there's any forward momentum. And, of course, U.S. officials hope that this could launch some more regular communications, some visits between U.S. and Chinese officials in the coming months, and of course, potentially that Biden-Xi visit later this year. Guys?
BLACKWELL: Kylie Atwood in Beijing setting the table for us. Thank you very much.
CNN Global and National Affairs Analyst David Sanger is with us now. David, good to have you. Let's start by trying to contextualize some of the rhetoric. We've got the incendiary statements from Chinese diplomats, the silent treatment from the Chinese military officials. The relationship is clearly strained and has been for some time.
But it's not like Secretary Blinken is going uninvited. He's not barging into Beijing. This is keeping a delayed appointment. So how much of the tension, the aggressive rhetoric that Kylie talked about will make it behind closed doors? How much of it should we discount as for potentially a domestic audience, but they're going to get to more once they close those doors?
DAVID SANGER, CNN GLOBAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Victor. And I think you've got it just right. I mean, that's going to be the true measure. You may remember that when the Biden administration first came in, there was a meeting with Secretary Blinken and the National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had with the Chinese just weeks into the presidency in Alaska.
And the public portion of it, when the cameras were on, were full of vitriol, chiefly by the Chinese, but some back from Secretary Blinken. And then we were told once the cameras went away and the doors closed, they actually had a constructive conversation.
Now, the relationship, as Kylie suggested before, has really spiraled downward. You've heard the list on the U.S. side, these military encounters we've had. Fortunately, no accidents yet, but one very possible. Certainly, the crackdowns that we've seen in Hong Kong and then the military action around Taiwan after Speaker Pelosi went to go visit.
But on the Chinese side, there are some very serious complaints as well. And the biggest one has to do with something that most Americans didn't pay that much attention to. It came in October of last year when the United States put incredibly far reaching sanctions on China's ability not only to buy high-end semiconductors from us, useful in industrial equipment and military equipment, but the machinery to make them. And the Chinese saw that as containment.
BLACKWELL: So, does China want a reset right now?
SANGER: Well, there's some reason to believe they do, Victor. And one of the reasons is that when your economy is growing at 5 percent, 6 percent, 8 percent, what China got used to over the past couple of decades, your interest in a reset, you know, may be somewhat limited because everyone's doing pretty well.
Well, right now, their economy is moving, growing at around 1 percent or 2 percent, 3 percent, something more akin to what Americans have been accustomed to. But it doesn't create jobs at the pace at which the Communist Party needs it in order to take care of that flow of people, mostly young men coming from the middle of the country out to the coast for manufacturing jobs.
And so there's a Division in China right now between An Economic Team that says, hey, this is not going to cut it for us, and ultimately will lead to political instability. And a security team that has been winning the day so far saying, we're not about economic growth right now, we're about securing the country and China's role in the world.
BLACKWELL: So by the time the Secretary's wheels up from Beijing, will we know if this trip -- will you know be able to -- will you have enough to determine if this trip is a success?
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SANGER: You know, it usually takes a few days for him to get back, for people to get brief, to understand what happened in the room. I think that we'll see an improvement on the tone, but it couldn't have been worse, Victor, the last time that Secretary Blinken met his counterpart.
It was in February in Munich. It was right after the spy balloon got shot down and the Chinese demanded an apology from him for shooting down a spy balloon that had traversed the entire United States.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
SANGER: So that tells you where we started. I suspect it will be improved. I'm not sure the Chinese will necessarily buy on to the argument that we can separate out those issues, that we can all cooperate on climate, economic growth and so forth from those in which we are strenuous competitors. They don't even like the term competition to describe strategic competition to describe the relationship.
BLACKWELL: All right, David Sanger, thank you very much.
WALKER: President Biden turned to a familiar audience for the first campaign of his reelection bid. About 2,000 union members were on hand in Philadelphia for his first rally since announcing his candidacy. Biden flipped Pennsylvania in 2020, and he told the crowd that labor's support will be critical for him to win reelection.
CNN White House Reporter Jasmine Wright joining us now. Hi, Jasmine. So Biden's rally in Philadelphia also reminded voters of his deep ties to this crucial swing state.
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right, Amara. Look, we got a clear glimpse into what President Biden would look like on the trail for 2024 as his campaign continues to take shape. And he did it in a place that is very important to him -- Philadelphia.
We've seen him return there time and time again over his political career and also in front of a group that's important to a union members, a cornerstone of his support, and a group that the White House hopes will help President Biden get another term in office.
And you see in that crowd, the folks were energized. They were shouting, four more years for the President as they really celebrated his union backing so early so far in this campaign that we know that the AFL-CIO endorsed President Biden the earliest. They said that they've endorsed a presidential candidate so far.
So it's important for President Biden at the stage to showcase how he is trying to build a coalition. But Amara, the thrust of his message yesterday was about his economic vision, arguing really that his economic vision is working, trying to really battle test that message, a campaign official told me.
We know that he did that, and we know he also sought to contrast his own record, his own economic vision with that of Republicans. Take a listen.
BIDEN: Let me tell you something. When Republicans comes after what I've done, when they come back to try to get rid of all these clean energy investments, they try to stop the plan on infrastructure. When they try to do these things, guess what? They're coming for your jobs. They're coming for your jobs.
They're coming for your future. They're coming for the future we're building for your kids and your grandkids.
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WRIGHT: Now, the clear take away from that message we have from President Biden is not just the contrast, but it's also the fact that they are trying to make it so that more Americans will associate President Biden's wins with the economy, with what they're feeling in their pockets. That strong labor growth, that strong job growth, they want Americans to see that that is a result of President Biden's actions.
Something that we know from polling is just not happening yet. President Biden has long argued that Americans will feel better about his economic policies as they start to see more of the impacts from what he's passed, namely that infrastructure bill, as long as other climate provisions and things like that.
So that is going to be the task for the White House going forward over this next few months as they head into the summer months before President Biden really starts campaigning in earnest. Amara?
WALKER: All right. Jasmine Wright, appreciate it. Thank you very much, Jasmine.
And be sure to tune into State of the Union later this morning. Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie will be among the guests, joining Jake Tapper. That's at 09:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
BLACKWELL: Officials say the damage left behind by an EF3 tornado is like nothing they have ever seen. Well, now help is coming in from all over the state. We're joined by one group assisting in the recovery efforts as this community has to now rebuild.
Plus, the mayor of one Mexican town says she's forced to sleep on a military base at night because it's too dangerous for her to go home. We'll explain next.
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WALKER: Help is pouring into the small town of Perryton, Texas, after a deadly EF3 tornado ripped through the community. The devastation is seemingly endless. Whole neighborhoods have been flattened. Nearly two blocks of downtown are destroyed, and early estimates show some 200 homes were damaged in the storm. Volunteers are rushing to help coming from surrounding cities and states.
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SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Texans from all over the state are coming up helping. People from Oklahoma are coming to help. People from Kansas are coming to help. As we were clearing rubble away, there were several kids from Kansas, a couple from Oklahoma who just came headed on over, and they're all standing together. And at a time of tragedy, Texans stand unified.
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WALKER: One of the groups sending aid to Perryton is the Texas Baptist Men. They are deploying several teams, bringing heavy equipment to remove large pieces of debris, handing out meals for residents, and providing access to a place to to shower and even do laundry.
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John-Travis Smith is the associate executive director with the Texas Baptist Men. He's joining us now from Perryton. Really appreciate your time. I know it's a really tough time for the community. Tell us more about what your volunteers on the ground are doing.
JOHN-TRAVIS SMITH, ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TEXAS BAPTIST MEN: We do just so many things from a box ministry, which is where we're handing outboxes, plastic totes, cardboard boxes, where residents can collect what belongings they can from their homes. We're doing things like we brought our big generators here that can power our entire schools just to help out in the outages.
We have people, like you said, feeding, shower teams, they're helping. And of course, the heavy machinery that are coming and helping those large pieces of debris that you just can't pick up by hand. And we have a lot of our chainsaw teams that are helping here just to help people go through their homes and to try to collect what they can and get back the things that they've lost.
WALKER: So, TBM, your group, you know, trains disaster relief group in all 50 states. You have the third largest disaster relief network in the nation. Tell us more about, you know, when your teams are assessing the damage on the ground, how does this compare to other disaster relief scenes you've responded to?
SMITH: This one is pretty bad. And one of the main reasons is because of the number of manufactured and mobile homes that were involved. And so when high winds, hail, tornadoes hit those, it's just complete obliteration. So there was over 125 homes that were just completely demolished, destroyed, nothing left whatsoever. There's another 94 that had major damage that they're probably not inhabitable, and that's not even counting the many businesses. So not just the people lose their house, but they also lost their means of income. And so that's a huge thing.
WALKER: You know, we talked to volunteers like you, you know, in the first days of, you know, disaster hitting, what are their needs, you know, weeks and months out from a disaster like this?
SMITH: Well, unfortunately, we go through this a lot. So food and water and clothing we have covered. There's so much of that right now. And so what the people really need is just someone to stand shoulder to shoulder with them and to actually help them sort through what's left of their home, which is a huge emotional toll, because, I mean, just imagine everything in your home kind of laid bare for everyone else.
Things that you treasure, destroyed. And so that's part of what we do is bringing that what we say help, hope and healing to where we're bringing help, but also hope that there's something beyond this. And we also have chaplains that help people navigate those things, talk through that process, what they've been through, and try to get back on track.
And so, the physical needs are not so much present. They'll need more, like I said, the financial things, because so many are now without jobs and without homes but as far as water, food and clothing, that's all been taken care of.
WALKER: Help, hope and healing, things that you and your team are helping with. I really appreciate you joining us and for the work you do. John-Travis Smith, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Still ahead, the mayor of one of Mexico's biggest cities just miles from the U.S. border is moving to an Army base after receiving gang threats. That's next.
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[07:27:29]
WALKER: The mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, is in protective custody and is now living on an Army base following escalating threats from organized criminal groups.
BLACKWELL: The mayor says the threats are a result of her administration's crackdown on gang members. CNN's Rafael Romo has more. Rafael?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Amara, it's not only the fact that it's a public official being threatened, it's also the fact that we're talking about the mayor of Tijuana, major border city and a place frequently visited by Americans because it's located across the border from San Diego.
Mayor Montserrat Caballero has said that she was already the victim of an attempted attack. According to the mayor, on May 17th, one of her bodyguards was shot at. That's when she made the decision to seek protection from Mexico's military. And now she's announced that she will be living at an Army base.
Why is she being targeted? Well, Caballero says that since taking office last September, her police force has seized 1,700 weapons from criminals and arrested 60 murder suspects. In addition to 1,700, other suspects accused of different crimes. But she told CNN she doesn't know who's behind the threats. Let's take a listen.
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MONTSERRAT CABALLERO, TIJUANA MEXICO MAYOR (through translator): We found some banners where they asked me to stop the work I am doing. The banners were not signed by any criminal group. And I also had some phone messages asking me to stop working, that weren't signed either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed a few days ago that Tijuana mayor is under the protection of the military. The President said that she's already been under protective custody for more than two weeks due to the threats she has received, adding that his government is going to wait and see how the situation unfolds before deciding what to do next.
The Tijuana mayor is not the only one who has received threats, according to President Lopez Obrador. He also said that the governor of Baja California, where Tijuana is located, was also threatened, as well as a former governor of the same state.
For the time being, Mayor Caballero says she will continue to sleep at the Army base with her son and her pets, although she continues to carry out her daily duties at City Hall and other places at all times, escorted by her bodyguards.
Victor and Amara, back to you.
BLACKWELL: Wow. Rafael Romo, thank you so much.
As Democratic and Republican lawmakers are battling over immigration policy in the country, dozens of migrants were flown from Texas to Sacramento with a promise of jobs and housing.
WALKER: But once they got there, they realized that they had been deceived. CNN's Camila Bernal spoke to some of them and has this report. Camila?
[07:30:00]
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, these migrants say that they were lied to, deceived, that they played with their feelings. They say multiple times they were told that if they came to California, they would have a job and place to live. And they told me, of course, we were happy to fly. They had never been on an airplane before. And they thought these people were genuinely trying to help them. Eventually, they realized that that was not the case.
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BERNAL (voiceover): Walking the streets of Sacramento is a dream come true for this 31-year-old migrant. But the first time she set foot in the California capital, she felt confused, angry, and betrayed.
Unfulfilled promises, says the migrant who asked not to be identified for legal reasons. It was in a shelter in El Paso, Texas, where she says two men approached her with the offer of a lifetime. A paid trip on a jet to California and the promise of a job and housing.
BERNAL: She said, they offered her a job, so she was happy and signed.
BERNAL (voiceover): This after she spent two months traveling from her native Colombia to the U.S.-Mexico border. She describes the difficulties of the jungle, the train, starving, sleeping on the street, begging for money.
BERNAL: She is emotional and says it's the worst, because you feel like you are at your lowest.
BERNAL (voiceover): The offer in the end was too good to be true. But it was made to a total of 36 migrants, who traveled on two separate charter flights.
When we got here, we didn't have a job nor a house, nor direction in life, said this 34-year-old Venezuelan migrant, who was part of the first flight.
The migrants are at the center of a political battle over immigration policy, with Republican governors like Gregg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida sending thousands of migrants from Texas to Democratic-led cities.
BERNAL: We didn't come here for political reasons. We came here for work.
BERNAL (voiceover): But he says he wants people to understand their suffering and their desire to work.
BERNAL: She says they're human beings with feelings and families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL (on camera): And the attorney general here in California says, they are investigating these flights. He says, he is looking into potential criminal liability, looking into kidnapping, and also looking into false imprisonment. In the meantime, though, these migrants are doing everything they can to get used to their lives in the U.S. They say they are so thankful for the people and the organizations that have welcomed them with open arms in Sacramento. They say, this is where they want to be. Amara, Victor.
WALKER: All right. Thank you so much, Camila.
Still ahead, a massive effort to keep illegal drugs off the market. The coast guard offloads more than seven tons of seized cocaine.
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[07:35:00]
WALKER: Taking a look now at your other headlines this morning. At least 17 people have been injured in Baltimore after a city bus collided with two vehicles and then a building early Saturday. Fire department officials say the driver and all 16 passengers were taken to the hospital, but nobody is facing life-threatening injuries. Police say, the MTA bus first hit a Lexus, then a Nissan, finally coming to a stop after it crashed into the side of a building. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
A major haul for the U.S. coast guard. Officials say, they seized more than 14,000 pounds of cocaine from nine separate cases in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The street value of the drugs, roughly $186 million. They also arrested 12 suspected smugglers. Crews offloaded the drugs in Miami, Friday, and according to a U.N. report more than 2,000 tons of cocaine have been seized in the past two years.
A horrific airstrike has left devastation in a residential neighborhood in Khartoum. The Sudanese Health Ministry says at least 17 people were killed, including children, and 25 homes were destroyed. Shortly afterward, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the Sudanese military agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia brokered it during talks in Jeddah. They are threatening to end those talks that the two sides break the ceasefire. In the meantime, many hospitals across the Khartoum region have closed and the few still operating say they are overwhelmed and short on supplies.
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ABDUL HAKAM, SUDANESE HOSPITAL PATIENT (through translator): The situation keeps deteriorating, making it unbearable. From what I saw in the hospital, there are patients dying from medical shortages approximately every 10 to 15 minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: And quite a scare for passengers on this ferry in the Philippines early this morning. All 120 people traveling on the vessel were rescued just after it caught fire while traveling between two islands there. The Philippine coast guard says the fire has been extinguished but rescue ships will stay scene as a precaution. Officials say, nobody was injured. They are still investigating the cause.
BLACKWELL: Tomorrow is Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. So, tomorrow on "CNN THIS MORNING", I'll take you on your first tour of the new International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, it opens next weekend.
[07:40:00] It's six centuries of history packed into 150,000 square feet, including a center for family history. Now, again, we're rolling out the full story tomorrow morning, but here's an early look at the stunning museum and the reveal of my family's history in this country that stretches back more than 300 years.
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BLACKWELL: Space of solemnity or celebration?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I refuse to choose.
BLACKWELL (voiceover): Tribal art and contemporary fashion. Relics of protests and reports of resistance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's this infusion of trauma and joy constantly that we like to talk about here. You get the full story, but you are going to get all the context in it.
BLACKWELL (voiceover): What arguably is the best illustration of full context is the museum's center for family history. It's a team of researchers with access to millions of records that can trace African American lineage sometimes back to a slave ship that came into this very port. The expert genealogists here spent months tracing my lineage, and this was the day of a long-awaited reveal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure you got a box of Kleenex by you and sit there and enjoy. This is a tree, just a snapshot of your tree and I am following your maternal line.
BLACKWELL: Wow. That's a lot just seeing the tree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL (on camera): So, first, the museum is amazing. They have done an amazing job there. But that center for family history, I have worked here at CNN for almost 11 years, and this has been the singular most surprising, fulfilling day I've learned about myself through this job. I have learned about generations my family that I never knew existed. I didn't know those stories. I didn't know any of -- what -- let me just say this, what I assumed, I was wrong.
WALKER: Wow.
BLACKWELL: And she said have a box of Kleenex ready. I used it.
WALKER: You used it.
BLACKWELL: I used it.
WALKER: So, are you still digesting the surprising information that you received?
BLACKWELL: I am digesting it. My family members with whom I've shared the details of what's coming, we are digesting it. We're now all on this, kind of, scavenger hunt looking for other details. And the Center for Family History, they did this for me as a way to kind of show off the expanse of their resources, but they have details and resources online where people can do this for themselves. And, eventually, they'll be able to offer appointments to do this for other visitors there. But be sure, tomorrow morning, on "CNN THIS MORNING" we're going to roll out this entire story.
WALKER: I know your story. I won't -- I'm not going to reveal it, but I am just astonished and floored by what they were able to find, but also your family's story. And I think it does speak to who you are now as a person.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
WALKER: When you think about, you know, the courage and --
BLACKWELL: They were tears of joy --
WALKER: Yes.
BLACKWELL: -- and gratitude. But afterwards, there was this kind of feeling of responsibility that if my ancestors did this, now what is my calling? What is my responsibility? I can't just take that work that they did and, kind of, squander any of it.
WALKER: Right, right. Profound.
BLACKWELL: Please be sure to join in tomorrow morning to watch that. Also, tomorrow night, a CNN concert event returns with some of the biggest names in music. Watch "Juneteenth, the Global Celebration for Freedom" live coverage starts tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. eastern on CNN. We'll be right back.
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BLACKWELL: Two deaf American mountain climbers are the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
WALKER: CNN's Anna Coren has their incredible story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): This is the moment Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger reached the top of the tallest peak on the planet. In doing so, they became the first deaf Americans to summit Mount Everest. Shayna also made history as the first deaf woman in the world to successfully complete the climb.
SHAYNA UNGER, FIRST DEAF AMERICANS TO CLIMB MT. EVEREST (through translator): When we got to the top, we felt like we defeated all the odds. We were really proud of ourselves.
SCOTT LEHMANN, FIRST DEAF AMERICANS TO CLIMB MT. EVEREST (through translator): It proves that with the right attitude and the right adjustments, that space is available for deaf and hard of hearing people.
COREN (voiceover): Unfortunately, their triumph was later tinged with sadness as they learned that Muhammad Hawari Hashim, a deaf climber from Malaysia who they had befriended on the mountain, had gone missing after his successful ascent on May 18th. A search and rescue operation has failed to find him.
While summiting Everest is an impressive achievement in itself, Scott and Shayna have even loftier ambitions. The couple are aiming it be the first deaf individuals to climb the highest mountain on each continent known as the seven summits. Their Everest expedition puts them over halfway to reaching that goal.
UNGER (through translator): We are still processing Everest. But for sure next will be one of the three, seven summits. Which one, we are not sure.
COREN (voiceover): The educators from the Washington, D.C. area were born profoundly deaf. Due to a lack of accessibility for the deaf community in outdoor education, Scott and Shayna learned many of their mountaineering skills from YouTube videos.
[07:50:00]
In turn, they've been sharing their experiences online, documenting everything from life at Everest base camp to the specific challenges they faced on their expeditions. Scott and Shayna use social media to explain how they managed logistics on mountain routes and navigate common misconceptions about their abilities as deaf climbers. The duo are committed to making mountain climbing more accessible to people from marginalized communities, especially deaf and hard of hearing youth.
UNGER: I want all kids to dream bigger.
COREN (voiceover): A mission that will be top of mind when they scale their next summit. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
BLACKWELL: Wow.
Still ahead, a woman running on a treadmill at the gym loses her pants, but not her sense of humor after she falls. The viral video next.
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WALKER: A dramatic rescue in Escambia County, Florida is caught on camera. Rapidly rising floodwater, Friday morning, nearly swept a man away until a sheriff's deputy rushed in to help, putting his own life at risk. Now, during this rescue attempt, Deputy Williams Hollingsworth and the man were both sucked into a drainage pipe and then were swept underneath a four-lane road. BLACKWELL: They were underwater for about 30 seconds until they resurfaced on the other end of the road. Now, the footage you're about to see is from the Deputy Hollingsworth bodycam after he reached the man.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Oh, God. Oh, Jesus, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I almost died.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sucked me in. Oh, my God. I've never held my breathe like that in my life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me either.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Thank you for saving my life. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: 30 seconds under water, that's a really long time --
BLACKWELL: Can you imagine.
WALKER: -- if you think about that.
BLACKWELL: And during those 30 seconds, no --
WALKER: Not knowing --
BLACKWELL: -- evidence that you're going to make it out.
WALKER: Yes, exactly.
BLACKWELL: So, the sheriff deputy says -- the sheriff, rather, says that Deputy Hollingsworth and the man he rescued traveled under water for about 100 feet.
WALKER: Wow.
BLACKWELL: And the obvious thing here, very, very fortunate to be alive. I mean, that video is unbelievable.
WALKER: Gasping for air. And I think he said he's never held his breath that long in his life. I mean, wow.
All right. Let's talk about the weather now.
BLACKWELL: Britley Ritz with us now from the CNN Weather Center. I understand 40 million people under some risk or threat, where is the greatest risk? BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right now, it's moving over the Southern Mississippi Valley. And into the southeast, numerous reports overnight, over 220 reports, eight of them being tornadoes. And we also now have three quarters of a million people without power, and this is only going to continue through the rest of the day as it moves right along this boundary across the southeast and down into Florida.
Handfuls of warning this morning, severe thunderstorm warnings with storms packing over 60 miles per hour winds. Flooding also a possibility. Another two to four inches of rain on top of what we've already picked up. And that severe weather risk continues from Sunday into Monday, then holding in some of the same areas, Monday, less of a risk but still wind and hail and even tornadoes, once more, a possibility.
The time frame on this through the morning hours moving through the Mississippi Valley, re-developing through the southeast as we move into the evening because of the heat of the day. And through the overnight hours and into Monday then back down into Florida. Victor, Amara.
WALKER: All right. Britney Ritz, good to see you. Thank you.
All right. So, it's pretty much -- well, it's my worst nightmare at the gym. I've thought about this happening to me, really.
BLACKWELL: You really thought about this?
WALKER: Not about my pants falling off, but, you know, falling in a horrible way.
BLACKWELL: OK. Well, a woman running on a treadmill has an unfortunate mishap, let's call it, decides to show the world, here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): This is no run- of-the-mill run on a treadmill.
ALYSSA KONKEL, LOST HER PANTS ON TREADMILL: I said, how many people saw my butt?
MOOS (voiceover): Millions. Alyssa Konkel was working out at her gym outside of Chicago when she tripped on an untied shoelace. She was de- pantsed.
MOOS (on camera): It was the treadmill that, sort of, ate your pants, correct?
KONKEL: Yes, definitely. It sucked them off real fast.
MOOS (voiceover): Alyssa held on to the machine for dear life until she felt her pants come off. She ended up with scrapes on her face and on her legs, above and on top of her Cinderella tattoo. Alyssa asked the gym if she could see what she called, her embarrassing video. KONKEL: You know what, I'm just going to post it, make everything public, and I just wanted the world laugh.
MOOS (voiceover): And boy, did she. Nothing better than laughing at yourself, was a typical comment. You're a rock star.
KONKEL: Everyone has a butt. And if people have something bad to say about my butt, bite my butt.
MOOS (voiceover): People especially likes this woman's reaction.
KONKEL: It does look like she's, like, running towards me to help me and then she's like, oh, my gosh, your pants came off. Let me turn around.
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