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CNN This Morning

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) is Interviewed about Mayorkas Testimony; Crane Collapses in New York City; U.S. Women's Soccer Takes on Netherlands; Tom Hird is Interviewed about Cocaine Sharks. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 26, 2023 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

REP. VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-TX): The presidential election, even longer before President Biden was inaugurated. This is all a distraction tactic to - to -- so that Republicans have something to give the American people to focus on and it's Kevin McCarthy's reward to his most extreme members of the Republican Party.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: The border crossings, illegal border crossings on the southern border, spiked even more after Biden took office. We've seen them down 42 percent in June since this policy was put in place, but now it may - may go away. We'll watch the hearing closely and we appreciate your time this morning.

Thank you.

ESCOBAR: Thank you so much.

HARLOW: Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Covering a lot of important ground there, Poppy.

Just ahead, the U.S. Women's National Team takes the field for their second World Cup game. And this is a big one. Why? Well, you'll just have to stick around to find out.

HARLOW: We are also continuing to cover the breaking news out of midtown Manhattan this morning. Two people injured after a crane caught fire, partially collapsed. Details ahead.

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HILL: We are following this breaking news here in New York City. These are live images for you.

[08:35:01]

You can see here this is - this is what's left of a large crane. Two people we know are injured after the top part of that crane toppled. And we actually have video of the moment of collapse. There was a fire -- look at this here. HARLOW: Wow.

HILL: You see it strike part of a nearby building, swing, and then ultimately, if you keep watching, you can see it fall there to the ground. This was posted on Twitter by Jimmy Faring (ph).

CNN's Brynn Gingras has been following this since we got news of it.

I know you've been working your sources.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

HARLOW: What more do we know about what happened here? This is so scary.

GINGRAS: I mean it's terrifying to see that video. And we can play it again just to kind of get an idea of how intense this is. I mean this is, again, an area of Manhattan which is very busy for two reasons. One, obviously, the time of day that it is. People are going to work. But also this is near the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel. So, a lot of traffic it flooding into -- around this area. It's about ten blocks from where we are sitting at this very moment. It's an area in Hudson Yards, if you're familiar, with a development that's happening here. We're seeing a lot of cranes at this moment. But this is - this is incredible to see this.

As Erica just narrated there for you, it hits that side of the building and then ultimately collapsed on 10th Avenue of New York City here in midtown. And what I'm learning from sources is, just right now it appears there's two injuries. One is of a firefighter and one is of a civilian.

Now, when we say civilian, it's unclear yet, from my sources, is it someone who was on the ground? Is it someone who was in a car? Is it someone who was operating this crane or on that construction site. So that is very unclear.

I also don't quite know the extent of those injuries. I was just told stable condition from my sources. So, if you're familiar, stable isn't really a condition, it just means that they're - you're not, you know, getting worse or better. They're -- but it's unclear if - is it serious, is it critical.

So, again, at this point, the mayor's office, the FDNY, the Department of Buildings with New York City, they're all sort of flooding to this area, which is a very intense scene right now with all these departments sort of trying to figure out exactly how this happened, if there's more injuries, and it's very possible there might well be because of the busyness of this hour.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. And we have a - we have a team heading down there as well.

And you do point out, and I think that video really shows us so well, how congested these buildings are.

GINGRAS: Yes.

HILL: How tall they are.

GINGRAS: Yes.

HILL: There is so much construction going on around here. To see this happen, to see that crane fall, this is a big fear for a lot of people who walk around any big city with a lot of construction.

GINGRAS: Yes. Right.

HILL: So, obviously, a lot of questions there.

GINGRAS: And that congestion hitting another building on the opposite side of the street is pretty incredible. HILL: Yes.

All right, Brynn, appreciate the update. Thank you.

GINGRAS: Yes.

HARLOW: Well, the U.S. women's soccer team will take to the pitch again tonight when they take on the Netherlands. It's a rematch of the 2019 final, which, of course, the U.S. won.

Joining us now, CNN contributor, host of "The Cari Champion Show," Cari Champion.

So great to just watch the women dominate again and again and again. They've conceded, a tough match tonight against the Netherlands, but they bested them nine times. They've taken them on the last nine times. What will we see tonight?

CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know what, tonight we're going to see, I believe, more of the same. I think in the opener a lot of us who are huge fans of the women's team noticed that it was, Poppy, just a bit clunky. They were trying to find their way in terms of what they were going to do out there on the field. And that is because we've -- this has been a huge storyline, 14 of the 23 team roster, they're all brand new. They're newbies. This is a brand-new event. And while we have nine women returning, if you will, it still makes sense that it didn't quite flow as well. Although, we won.

I think tonight we will see a much more sophisticated attack. I think we will see a little bit more gelling. I think the nerves are gone for the ladies who haven't had the opportunity to appear in their World Cup. This was their first. And now I think they've settled.

So, we'll see something look a little more cohesive tonight, if you will, from the women. And I definitely think it will be a win.

HILL: Looking forward to it.

The U.S. team meeting this morning with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told Fox Sports, we're watching the rest of the world catch up to the U.S. women's dominance. It's quite a statement. And I think a lot of people would agree.

CHAMPION: Well, the women have been easily the most talented. And if, in fact, this three-peat happens, we've talked about this as well, right, on this very show, that that will be the very first time that has ever happened. On the men's side or on the women's side. Imagine being so dominant that there would be absolutely no one in the world, literally World Cup, that would fear -- that can deal with you.

I will say this though, I am cautiously optimistic that this is already a foregone conclusion that our women are going to win. But I -- I know that the other countries just aren't as afraid of us for various reasons, right? Again, the lack of experience. We don't have all of our favorite players there in terms of some of our really important playmakers due to injuries. But this fresh new crop give -- give us hope. They really, really do.

[08:40:00]

And I think after our very first performance, the other countries started to look around and say, OK, the U.S. is still the most talented. I mean it's something special to brag about.

HILL: Yes.

CHAMPION: And it always, for me, leads to the girl power that I love to talk about.

HARLOW: Amen.

HILL: I was literally thinking girl power in my head right before you said that. I am with you 100 percent.

HARLOW: A hundred percent.

We do want to ask you about Bronny James and just how the sports world is responding this morning. Such a talented young basketball player. In stable condition. What are you hearing?

CHAMPION: From what I am hearing, especially this morning, I'm hearing that LeBron James and his wife Savannah, as parents, obviously, are feeling somewhat better. But you all have to understand, and I'm sure that we've done enough research on this, this is rare but yet there's something that is seem -- seemingly common about it because we've seen so many different young athletes suffer cardiac arrest. It makes news, right? We talked about Damar Hamlin earlier in the year. We watched on Monday night football as that happened. Not exactly the same case.

But we had someone in 2020, a Florida State basketball player, suffered cardiac arrest during a game. And he was able to recover. And they called it athlete's heart.

And while, you know, experts say it effects maybe 100 to 150 young athletes a year, one athlete is too many. And you both are parents. You can speak to that.

HILL: Yes. CHAMPION: Like, what's next for Bronny James is the big mental hurdle of getting into the mindset of that he can get competitive again. Once they find out what was the cause of this cardiac arrest, he then has to start an entirely different mental process. And it doesn't matter that his father is LeBron James. It doesn't matter that his name is LeBron James Junior. What matters is, is that, can he get his self up and ready to participate and compete competitively? Because I know for a moment they thought that this dream that he had of playing with his dad might be overshadowed by this. And I feel like the big part now is the mental aspect of getting back in the mindset of, am I OK? Can I compete? Can I go out there and do what I want to do and live this dream?

HARLOW: Yes, for sure. We're all rooting for him, Cari, and the women, obviously, as they take on the Netherlands.

CHAMPION: Yes. Yes.

HARLOW: Thank you, Cari Champion. Good to have you.

CHAMPION: Yes.

HARLOW: Coming up, from the White House to the doghouse. Another one of President Biden's dogs involved in several biting incidents at the White House. Will Commander, the German shepherd, have to leave, like his brother Major?

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[08:45:29]

HARLOW: As you get your morning started, we're glad you're with us.

Here are the "5 Things" to know.

Less than an hour from now, Hunter Biden will appear in court. He is expect to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors after striking a deal with federal prosecutors to resolve a felony gun charge. As part of the agreement, the Justice Department has agreed to recommend a sentence of probation.

HILL: James -- LeBron James' son Bronny is recovering this morning after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after losing consciousness during basketball practice at the University of Southern California. His family says he is now in stable condition and out of the ICU.

HARLOW: The first family's 22-month-old German Shepherd, Commander, has been involved in ten biting incidents at the White House and in Delaware. Secret Service emails show that one incident required an officer to go to the hospital. Another of Biden's dogs, Major, was previously moved out of the White House after several biting incidents.

HILL: Extreme heat fueling wildfires around the world. Right now 33 large wildfires are burning in the U.S. Officials say they have scorched more than 200,000 acres across nine states. While in Italy, firefighters are battling ten wildfires blamed for four deaths. And temperatures are expected to dip slightly in the coming days, but that's before climbing again toward the weekend.

HARLOW: The Mega Millions jackpot growing to a whopping $910 million after no tickets matched all six numbers last night. The lump sum cash option, just $464 million. The next drawing takes place Friday night.

That's "5 Things" to know to start your morning. More on these stories all day at CNN and cnn.com. Don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning. Go to cnn.com/fivethings. You can also find it wherever you get your podcasts.

HILL: So, you may have heard of "cocaine bear."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, don't eat that. Don't eat that. Let's see what kind of effect that has on him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Have you heard of "Cocaine Shark," though? For decades - it's not going off the rails yet.

HARLOW: Trying to hold - hold it together.

HILL: We're going to hold it together for at least 13 more minutes.

Rumors of sharks feeding off of cocaine from failed drug operations have spread throughout the fishing community. But what would the real impact be if they were, in fact, feasting on cocaine? Well, our next guest made it his mission to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You notice how she's swimming?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it looks like she's lightly on the one side. Almost like she's weighted down. She's not quite level.

Now, that is unusual. Could be a past injury. Or maybe a chemical imbalance. Either way, something to note for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Something to note for sure.

Joining us now is shark expert, marine biologist, conservationist, the man responsible for "Cocaine Shark." It's part of Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which, of course, we are part of the same parent company. Tom, "The Blowfish" Hird joining us now.

All right, Mr. Blowfish. So, as we look at all of this, what inspired you? You wanted to conduct this experiment here, try to understand what was really happening. Why did you want to know? TOM "THE BLOWFISH" HIRD, SHARK EXPERT: Well, it all started when a

production company came to me with the name "Cocaine Shark" and said, look, you know, we've got this idea, is it too insane? And I looked at it and I thought, you know what, this is genius wrapped up in goodness all over.

So, while we are looking at this much, you know, bigger event of large sharks coming across bales of cocaine, what we're now looking at in the scientific community are actually the effects of pharmaceuticals that we're taking, legal or illegal, that are making their ways down through our streams, though our wastewater and into the oceans. So, this was a really good kind of poster child to get people talking about it and get people interested in the effects of, you know, human pharmaceuticals entering the seas.

HARLOW: Tom, you didn't actually use cocaine, right?

HIRD: No. No, we didn't. No. My - my parole officer was very clear about that. He said no -- no Charlie (ph) for you, Mr. Blowfish, sir. So, no, we didn't.

The - I've said before on this, the idea of a shark coming across one of these bale of cocaine, I believe in this particularly area, the Gulf of Mexico, you know, you've got south Central America. I don't need to explain the geography to you guys. You get it. It really is a unique hot spot worldwide for this drug running. And the bales do go over very regularly.

And when you consider the number of sharks there, the number of different species, sharks are intelligent animals.

[08:50:04]

They want to understand their environment, they want to interact with it, but they don't have hands to interact with. And the thing - they've only got their mouth. So, you know, a bale floating on the water, if they want to test it, see what it is, they're going to get a face full of cocaine. And I think that this event could have happened multiple times. But if, you know, if a tree falls in a forest, does it make a noise? If we're not there watching the shark eat the bale at that particular moment in time, we cannot accurately say, yes, that is a cocaine shark. So, instead, we have to kind of look for the hallmarks, the kind of the - the come down of a cocaine shark instead.

HILL: It is - it is fascinating.

You know, as we're - as we're talking about this and we're talking about the oceans, we've been talking a lot this morning, and frankly over the last several days, about the temperature of the ocean. And we're seeing it rise, how detrimental that can be, over 100 degrees in the Florida Keys, what it's doing to the coral reefs, bleaching them, how that impacts the ecosystem. What is the effect on sharks?

HIRD: As the temperature rises, it's going to move sharks out of their historic grounds, areas which were previously inaccessible because of the temperature will now be accessible. So, we'd expect to see shark species in areas where historically we haven't seen them before. And another big issue is, as the temperature -- if the sea water rises, the oxygen concentration goes down. So, when you think, you know, a shark, and certainly these wonderful, big, charismatic sharks, the tigers, the hammer heads, that kind of thing, you know, they're big, powerful animals. They're - you know, they're sports cars of the sea. So they need a lot of oxygen. They need a lot of fuel going in. So, if the waters start becoming stagnant, they're going to leave those areas. And when you lose top predators from an ecosystem, invariably the ecosystem suffers.

HARLOW: We will be watching -- that is a guarantee -- to the series. We really appreciate it.

Tom Hird, thank you very much.

Discovery sharks - Discovery Shark Week, I should say, episodes of "Cocaine Shark" airs tonight 10:00 p.m. Discovery, obviously, part of our parent company Warner Brothers Discovery.

We are continuing to cover this breaking news out of midtown Manhattan, two people injured after a crane caught fire and partially collapsed. We have new details ahead.

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HILL: We are continuing to cover this breaking news out of New York City. So, if you're just joining us, what we're following is a crane collapse here in New York City. What we know is that there are at least two injuries and this event, this fire, has actually been upgraded now to a five-alarm fire. We know that the two injured, one of them, is with the FDNY. The other, we're told, our Brynn Gingras reporting from her sources, is a civilian. She's been told they're both in stable condition. But not a lot of information beyond that.

This is, as you can see, an area with a lot of tall buildings. This is an area that's only about ten blocks from our studios here in New York City on the west side of New York, near Hudson Yards.

[08:55:06]

Not too far as well from Madison Square Garden. Right there by the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel. This crane caught fire and then a massive chunk of it fell off.

HARLOW: Let's show you the moment when this crane collapsed. It is stunning to see because this is during rush hour. Watch this. And it swings across the street and appears to hit a vacant construction site on another skyscraper. That was posted on Twittio (ph) by a bystander, Jimmy Faring (ph).

We can tell you this is during rush hour. This is in the middle of New York City. This is right next to Times Square. I think you cannot get a more busy part of New York City at this time of day.

HILL: Yes, it really is. We're going to continue to follow this. We do have our crews on the

way there on the ground, so stay with CNN. We will continue to keep you updated.

HARLOW: And thank you for starting your morning with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is now.

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