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CNN This Morning
Americans Released from Iranian Prison; Beth McCleod is Interviewed about Family Missing in Hawaii; X platform Safer Now; Airfares Drop During Summer Travel. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired August 11, 2023 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:34]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iran where five Americans are a step closer to freedom in a potential deal calling for the U.S. to release $6 billion of Iranian funds frozen right now in South Korea. We now know the names of at least three men. You see them here. They have been released from prison, but they're under house arrest still in Iran. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls this a positive step.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's more work to be done to actually bring them home. My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare.
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BLACKWELL: CNN's Kylie Atwood joins us live from the State Department.
Kylie, good morning to you.
And this money is just a piece of this deal. What else is involved?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's right, Victor. So, the $6 billion that's currently Iranian currency that is in South Korean accounts, the expectation is that it would be moved to another restricted account in a different location. Essentially where it would be more accessible to the Iranians. Still limitations on them only using that money for humanitarian purposes.
But then there's also the expectation that there is going to be a prisoner swap as part of this deal with the Iranians saying that there are five people in U.S. custody who are expected to be released. We haven't seen that yet. That's one of the aspects that we'll watch for. But it's very clear that there are a series of agreements that are expected to pay out -- play out in the coming weeks. And the National Security Council is saying that these ongoing next negotiations remain delicate.
But, of course, there is a hopeful tone from the Biden administration with the secretary of state saying just yesterday that this ongoing nightmare he believes is beginning to end for these Americans who have been imprisoned in Iran.
BLACKWELL: Let's turn to Ukraine now and your new reporting that there is some supporters in Washington who want the president to step up the case, to more aggressively make the case for more funding to support Ukraine. What have you learned?
ATWOOD: Yes, so, myself and my colleagues have been talking to sources on Capitol Hill who want to see President Biden step up his messaging when it comes to making the case to the American people that it is important to continue providing assistance to Ukraine for this war. They want him to make the case about the strategic benefits of sending that support to Ukraine. Now, we have heard from President Biden repeatedly over the last year and a half really making the case that it is necessary to defend Ukraine's territorial sovereignty, to deferred Ukraine's democracy. But what these lawmakers and what these congressional aides want is more for him to dig into the fact that providing support to Ukraine is possibly something that could deter China from invading Taiwan. Providing the support to Ukraine is something that's allowing the Ukrainians, without the Americans even having any boots on the ground, to decimate Russia's military, which is hugely significant to the United States. So, they're making this case privately and publicly.
Now, the White House, for their part, says that President Biden is going to continue making the same case that he has. But, of course, this comes amid concerns of the possibility of a drop off in public support from the United States, from the American people, in terms of this continued funding. White House officials say don't pay attention to just one poll. There has been a trend in continued U.S. support for Ukraine over the course of the year. But the folks on Capitol Hill are watching these polls incredibly closely.
BLACKWELL: All right, Kylie Atwood for us from the State Department. Thank you.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Officials still don't know exactly how many people are missing from the wildfires that are still burning in Maui. Our next guest's mother-in-law is among the missing.
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[08:37:39]
HARLOW: There are new questions this morning about the response and warning from officials in the lead-up to the wildfires that have completely decimated parts of Maui. When asked if he thought the island's siren warning system worked sufficiently, the mayor of Maui would not comment. He did say it was a, quote, impossible situation.
Our affiliate KABC spoke with a man who tried to save his home until the very last moment.
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JOHN SPRINGER, SURVIVED MAUI FIRE: I sat up on top of the roof and I battled the fire for about three hours. I couldn't do it anymore. And then I said, I have to move. And then I ran to the ocean and just - I gave in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you literally saved yourself by jumping into the ocean?
SPRINGER: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you turned around and looked back, what did you see?
SPRINGER: Devastation. Everything gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Now, the number of those killed is now at 55, but it's unclear how high it could rise because police do not know how many people are actually missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many people are still missing at this hour?
CHIEF JOHN PELLETIER, MAUI POLICE: He's going to defer that to me, I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. Whomever. Yes, I appreciate it.
PELLETIER: So, honestly, we don't know. And - and here's the challenge. There's no power. There's no internet. There's no radio coverage.
Until we get some of those basic things set up, we're not going to have that number.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Linda Vaikeli's family in Massachusetts says that they have not heard from her since the fire destroyed her apartment. They're even more concerned because she has health issues.
Joining us now is Linda's daughter-in-law, Beth McCleod.
Beth, thank you for these few minutes. Of course, we are hoping that you get some - some good news soon. Let me start with, first, when is the last time that someone in your family spoke with your mother-in- law?
BETH MCCLEOD, MOTHER-IN-LAW IS MISSING IN MAUI: I last -- she sent me a text -- well, it was my time, about 8:30 in the morning on Wednesday, responding to a picture I had sent her, just nonchalant. It was probably 3:30 in the morning her time. That's the last I heard from her.
But her husband had left that following morning at normal time to go to the other side of the island for a doctor's appointment. So, he was the last one, as far as I know, that spoke with her before he left.
[08:40:05]
HARLOW: Can you give us a sense, Beth, of where - where she lived as it pertains to the devastation we're seeing in Lahaina?
MCCLEOD: So, she lived right off of Front Street. Front Street is where all the shops and everything were in Lahaina. So, she is right behind that.
BLACKWELL: I mentioned that part of your concern is that she has health issues. Can you tell us, as you're comfortable with, what those issues are?
MCCLEOD: Well, she's diabetic. And she just has trouble getting around. She has a bad leg and bad foot. She walks with a cane, if not a walker.
HARLOW: Yes.
MCCLEOD: So, she was alone when evacuations occurred. And her husband, trying to come home after his appointment, wasn't able to come back into town because the roads were already closed out.
HARLOW: Do you know that she left her apartment?
MCCLEOD: No, we don't know any of that (ph).
HARLOW: One of the big concerns is the - is the -- was there enough warning, was there any warning, and also getting in touch with the search and rescue teams now. Have you been able to talk to them at all?
MCCLEOD: No, I haven't spoken to them. As far as warning goes, I know that their cellphones were out. So, I don't know how far warnings could have gotten. I don't know when they went out. I hear that people were just running around, knocking on doors, yelling, riding bikes, just trying to get out of town as fast as they could.
BLACKWELL: Beth, it sounds like, because of the problems with communications, you're just waiting for a call. You're waiting for some confirmation. Is there anything that you can do beyond that? I imagine that because of the problems with communicating, there isn't.
MCCLEOD: I mean, I haven't stopped anything as far as joining different groups on Facebook. That's been a real great link and communication with people. I have people there, because I had -- used to live there. So, just trying to get her name out and get her name on the missing persons list, which she is.
I spoke with the Red Cross and other parts of her family have done the same. So, they know that we're looking for her, but it's a matter of where they're looking and how much time it's going to take.
She hasn't turned up in any of the locations where they have evacuated people as far as now. We don't know if she got out with her purse or identification or anything. We know nothing. We just know that her apartment complex and everything around it is burned to the ground. HARLOW: Well, we, certainly hope she did, and we hope she just can't
reach you because there's lack of communication. We'll make sure this gets out there so people see her picture, hear her name, Linda Vaikeli.
Beth, we're thinking of you. Thank you for talking to us this morning.
MCCLEOD: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Thank you, Beth.
MCCLEOD: Thank you.
HARLOW: So, for more information about how you can help so many victims of these wildfires, go to cnn.com/impact. You can also text "Hawaii" to 707070 to donate.
BLACKWELL: Well, it is the platform, formerly known as Twitter, safer now than it was a year ago? That's what the CEO, Linda Yaccarino, is claiming. Is there any truth to that? We will discuss, next.
HARLOW: And it's been one of the busiest travel seasons in recent memory. The cost of flying has actually dropped over the past couple of weeks. How long could that last. We'll break down the numbers.
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[08:47:17]
BLACKWELL: Is X healthier and safer now than it was a year ago? That's what the CEO of the company, formerly known as Twitter, Linda Yaccarino, is claiming. In a sit down interview with CNBC, Yaccarino tried to explain the new direction the company is heading.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's also a lot of hate and there's a lot of vitriol and - and conspiracy theories. And those attract a lot of eyeballs, too. And so if you're a brand and a business, why would you feel safe advertising?
LINDA YACCARINO, CEO, X: I - you know, I think that's an appropriate question.
By all objective metrics, X is a much healthier and safer platform than it was a year ago. Since acquisitions, we have built brand safety and content moderation tools that have never existed before at this company.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Is that true?
Joining us now is CNN's senior media analyst Sara Fischer. She's also a senior media reporter at "Axios." So, fact check that for us. Based on, you know, the analysis, anyone
outside of the leadership of X think that this company is safer or healthier than it was a year ago?
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Well, Victor, the best way to determine that is to see how ad spend has changed because advertisers are not willing to put their brands on the line for this platform, especially now there is so many other options for them, whether it's Threads, you know, TikTok, Instagram. They have other places to do organic and paid social reach.
And what the data shows is that advertising in the U.S., especially, is down. "The New York Times" had a report that ads were down 59 percent from April 1st to the first week of May. So, I'm not quite sure that this platform advertisers think has less hate and vitriol than it used to have.
She did not provide any solid metrics about that, by the way. Now, what she did say was that the company is taking new measures to reduce some of the risks that advertisers have in putting their messages against some of its content. But she did not say that the content itself is less hateful.
What she did say, Victor, is that they are going to move into this world where they are going to take in a no-tolerance zone down content that is illegal. But anything other than that likely will stay. Maybe its reach will be lessened.
HARLOW: Yes. Yes, that was interesting. And then she went on to say, you know, it has to be -- it can be waffle, but still awful at the same time.
Sara Eisen at CNBC did a great job pressing her on all of this. What was interesting to me was to listen and hear about whether she and Elon Musk are totally on the same page there because they've very different people.
FISCHER: Yes, and she walked us through that. She basically said, look, Elon is handling some of the things around product and engineering and I'm doing everything else, everything including finance, communications, HR, sales, marketing.
[08:50:10]
The challenge, though, Poppy, is that, of course, Linda is going to put up a really strong front when she goes on CNBC for her first televised interview.
HARLOW: Yes.
FISCHER: She's not going to say, oh, I'm just an empty suit, right?
HARLOW: Right.
FISCHER: So we don't really know what the power dynamics are behind the scenes. I do think they are aligned politically, which helps her, but is Elon Musk still pushing her to be perhaps more bold than advertisers would like? That's my question.
HARLOW: She also confirmed a cage match for real between who, Sara?
FISCHER: Oh, my gosh. Poppy, you know how I feel about this, between Meta CEO -
HARLOW: And me and Victor.
FISCHER: Yes, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Elon Musk actually said something this morning about it taking place in a colosseum. You know, what made me laugh was Linda's comments yesterday that this could be a brand sponsorship opportunity. Her ad sales instincts are not going away.
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE).
FISCHER: But, ultimately, this just sort of suggests and shows that Silicon Valley CEOs, you know, while they're very competitive, they're living in this sort of delusional world that a big fight is going to be what makes us excited about their leadership. Ultimately their commitment to rules, democracy, fairness, that's what was going to have people like me judge their character.
BLACKWELL: Yes, this cage match brought to you by Icy Hot.
FISCHER: Can you imagine?
BLACKWELL: I can't, but I guess it's going to happen.
One more here on AI. That this new story coming this morning. We've learned that the FEC is going to consider whether to restrict AI deepfakes in politics. What do you make of this?
FISCHER: I mean, historically, the FEC, Victor, has not had a lot of power. It's a pretty deadlocked agency. And by the time they actually do get to move on creating a rule, we'll be well into the 2024 election.
Where the power with AI in political ads really stands right now is with the networks and the platforms, whether or not they choose to accept them. And the criticism that I'm hearing from advertisers is that sometimes networks are not clear about their policies.
Now, that, of course, is because they don't have clear and defined rules from the FEC, but I don't think you should expect to see any clear measure coming from the FEC anytime soon. Yes, they're agreeing to take a look at it, but looking at it and creating a rule and passing something are very different.
BLACKWELL: Sara Fischer, thank you.
HARLOW: Appreciate you.
FISCHER: Thank you.
HARLOW: Some positive news for travelers during this hot, humid, expensive summer. Airfares are going down a little bit.
Let's bring in our friend and colleague Pete Muntean with more.
Finally, Pete.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, this - we're in a plateau right now, Poppy, but it really won't last long. You know, we're going into the shoulder (ph) season, September and October. But August is really the sweet spot. So, the bottom line from travel experts right now, if you have some PTO left in the bank, book that last trip for summer while you can.
Here's the latest data from Hopper. The average domestic round trip right now, $257. That's down 11 percent from the same time last year. It's even lower than what we saw back in 2019 before the pandemic.
This is where it gets really interesting, though, because there's so much demand for international travel. U.S. to Europe, the average round trip, $813, a lot higher, and not as much of a dip, only down about 2 percent.
So, here are the factors. A lot going into this. Jet fuel has gone down. Competition has gone up. Capacity has gone up because the airlines have added more flights. They've rebounded from the pandemic. But all of this, according to travel expert Haley Berg of Hopper says, this really adds up to good things for consumers.
Listen.
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HALEY BERG, LEAD ECONOMIST, HOPPER: Though we are surprised how low fares have gotten this year given how high they were last year, all of the factors at play that are pushing down airfare are really good for consumers.
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MUNTEAN: Some really interesting places making the top trending destinations list right now. Melbourne, Florida, Manchester, New Hampshire, Reno, Buffalo, Charleston, South Carolina. So, these are the places that people are looking at to try and sneak in that last trip they could book right now to get a good deal, Poppy and Victor.
You know, a lot of folks eyeing these places. And those are places that are really frequented by ultra-low cost carriers. So, a lot of people really motivated by price. That's the bottom line for them.
BLACKWELL: Yes, Pete, you rarely have good news to report.
HARLOW: So true.
BLACKWELL: I'm just excited that you have something that we want to hear, with the near collisions and the cancelations.
MUNTEAN: Oh, man, I know. BLACKWELL: This is your day.
But how long -
MUNTEAN: (INAUDIBLE).
BLACKWELL: How long do you expect this is going to last with these lower prices?
MUNTEAN: You know, what's interesting here is that the holidays are (INAUDIBLE) in August, but (INAUDIBLE) you think about that, August is not the best time to book a holiday trip. This time next (INAUDIBLE) the prices really start to go back up. When the demand goes back up, of course, it's supply and demand, and that drives the prices going back up, too. So, we're in the sweet spot now. Don't wait is the bottom line from travel experts.
BLACKWELL: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you.
HARLOW: The death toll in Hawaii has risen dramatically overnight.
[08:55:03]
It stands at 55 people this morning, as new questions come about why warnings were missed or not issued at all. We have a live report ahead from Maui.
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HARLOW: All right, now to CNN Heroes.
A man in Ghana dedicating his life to bringing health care to remote areas of the country where people often have to walk hours for medical help.
BLACKWELL: After losing his own grandmother and aunt to preventable diseases, he came up with an innovative way to help others. Meet CNN Hero Osei Boateng.
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OSEI BOATENG, CNN HERO: We've been to communities where they haven't seen a doctor before, literally. They haven't been to the hospital before.
We've designed a van like a clinic. Depending on the person's condition, if the doctor needs additional lab work done, we have some point of care labs that we do in the van.
We have medications and so it's like a one-stop shop for people.
Up to date, we've served over 4,000 people. So imagine if you had two or three vans.
Our vision is to really expand. Words cannot describe the feeling that you get providing care for someone who otherwise wouldn't be alive if your mobile health van wasn't there.
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[09:00:10]
HARLOW: To see Osei's full story, go to cnnheroes.com.
We're so glad you were with us all week. Have a restful, safe weekend. Thank you for making my week joyful.
BLACKWELL: Yes, thank you. I'll be back.
HARLOW: See you back here soon, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
HARLOW: "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is now.
