Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Hilary Remains Dangerous Category 1 Storm; President Biden Briefed On Hurricane Hilary; GOP Presidential Candidates Talk To Activists At Georgia Gathering; Legal Experts: Trump Is Disqualified From Presidency; Southern California Under First Ever Tropical Storm Warning; President Biden To Visit Hawaii On Monday; New York Considers Housing Migrants In Shuttered Prisons; Deep Brain Stimulation Helps Stroke Survivor Regain Independence. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 20, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:05]

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The snake's exhibit has been revamped so there's little to get stuck on. And two heads are no reason the Pancho and Lefty couldn't enjoy romance once he's older.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will tongue flick the female up and down her body.

MOOS: And maybe two heads mostly better than one for that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sure is possible.

MOOS: A two-headed snake threesome? It's enough to leave your head spinning.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I did not expect that story to end with a possible threesome.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Sorry to the people who were watching this morning.

The next hour of CNN --

BLACKWELL: Didn't know it was evident.

WALKER: -- THIS MORNING starts right now

(MUSIC)

BLACKWELL: Good morning. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING.

It is Sunday, August 20th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for spending a part of your morning with us.

We are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Hilary right now as it closes in on the southwestern U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a very dangerous and significant storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: People there are filling up sandbags as forecasters warn of catastrophic flooding, evacuations have been ordered, events canceled, and officials are telling people to stay inside.

Allison Chinchar is standing by with the timing and impact we'll see from the storm.

WALKER: Republican presidential candidates are sharpening their attacks ahead of this week's first GOP debate. Who we will see on stage and their message to voters ahead of the debate.

BLACKWELL: President Biden will head to Hawaii tomorrow to see firsthand the damage left behind by the Maui wildfires. We've got an update on the recovery efforts ahead of his visit.

WALKER: And it is not just a trophy on the line. How today's World Cup final will be history making no matter who wins.

BLACKWELL: Hurricane Hilary is heading towards a landfall this morning in Mexico and southern California. The weakened but still dangerous category one storm is bringing 80 mile per hour winds along with it. Right now, it's still about 285 miles south of San Diego.

WALKER: The outer bands of the storm are already lashing southern California. The storm is expected to weaken again before coming ashore in the U.S. Still, officials are warning that it could cause catastrophic and life-threatening flooding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Please, please listen to emergency personnel, local officials, and take seriously debris flows, floods, flash floods, lightning, and the possibility of tornadoes. Stay safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Some spots could get up to ten inches of rain. That has people in flood prone areas taking all of the necessary precautions. You could see sandbags stations have been set for residents to help fortify their homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The surrounding area, you are in extreme danger (INAUDIBLE) seek higher ground immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: For unhoused residents, this storm is even more dangerous. The L.A. County sheriff's office flew over several homeless encampments on Saturday to warn people to get to higher ground. The counties opened at least for rec centers as shelters this morning. Now along the coast, Hillary could create large swells of dangerous rip currents as well. All state beaches in Orange and San Diego counties have been close. Even the U.S. Navy has moved its ships and submarines from the harbor in San Diego until the weather passes.

WALKER: The White House is keeping a close eye on Hillary's path this morning. President Biden has been briefed on the potential impacts of the storm.

CNN White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez is joining us now from Washington, D.C.

Good morning, Priscilla.

We know FEMA officials held a call yesterday ahead of the storm. How are they preparing?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they are mobilizing personnel and resources to the areas that could be potentially impacted. They have also embedded federal personnel with the California Office of Emergency Services. So a lot of what they are doing right now is prep to help now and then to help on the back end of this when we start to see the impacts of this hurricane. But as you mentioned, President Biden is being regularly briefed on this by the FEMA administrator, and his officials as he also heads to Hawaii tomorrow to see the devastation of the wildfires there.

Now, importantly, the FEMA administrator said that no resources will have to be pulled from Hawaii to respond to Hurricane Hilary, which as we mentioned, is barreling towards southern California. So, right now, a lot of the focus is mobilization, and in the interim, the president is being briefed on the preparedness plans. Now, we should also note that this is just another extreme weather potential disaster that FEMA is contending with.

[08:05:03]

They have already had a record breaking year that has almost depleted their funds. In fact, those funds may run dry by the end of the month. Now, the White House is asking Congress for billions of dollars in additional funding, but all of this just underscores the very difficult position that FEMA is in and the administration as they try to respond to these different disasters.

WALKER: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you.

Let's take a closer look now at the path of this storm and who was most at risk.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the weather center.

What are we seeing right now?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right. So we just got the latest update at the top of the hour from the National Hurricane Center. So, continuing to show signs of weakening now down to 80 miles per hour and still a category one hurricane and that forward speed still at 21 miles an hour. So, it is going to start to likely make landfall here likely somewhere in the northern Baja California region in just the next few hours. And then cross into California as we head later on into this afternoon.

But again, it's going to continue to weaken because it is still going to slide into some of those cooler waters. So, we do anticipate that we can sound to a tropical storm before it moves in to portions of California.

High winds are going to be a concern. You've got high wind warnings all here in the red color, and then wind advisories where you see the orange shaded color.

But the biggest concern, by far, is going to be the rainfall with this storm. You are already starting to see the moisture surge into California, Nevada and Arizona and other states. The heavier rain will start to push in by this afternoon and especially into the evening hours.

We've already had two separate rainfall records broken already, one for Las Vegas, the other for Bishop, California. Those were for yesterday, but likely going to see more communities begin to have some record-breaking rain as we start to get those heavier bands pushing back in.

Overall, widespread rainfall totals are likely 2 to 4 inches, but we are going to have some spots the pick up, six, eight even ten inches of rain before all of this finally pushes out on Monday. And so, here's a look at that time line.

Again, by this afternoon, you're going to start to notice more of the yellows and the oranges on the radar, indicating that heavier rainfall. Then it's going to spread up into Nevada and other areas. By the time we get to late Monday, that's when you are finally going to start to see a lot of that moisture retreating from portions of southern California areas of Arizona and really starting to move into the northern states.

Now, we will have a more tight breakdown of exactly what to expect with a lot of this rainfall, and any other concerns going forward going up in about 20 minutes.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. And you can stay on top of all developments rounding Hurricane Hilary at CNN.com/stormtracker.

Let's bring in now, Juliet Kayyem. She's the former assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security. FEMA is part of DHS. She's also the author of "The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in the Age of Disasters".

Juliet, good morning to you.

Orange County, San Diego County, those people don't know anything about hurricanes or tropical storms. How much does that exacerbate or increase the risk of the danger of what's coming.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: A lot. I am from this area and I can't say I have ever heard of a hurricane from Los Angeles. So, let me -- the challenge, as you note, is actually twofold.

So, one is that the population is just simply not acclimated to this kind of rain, this kind of wind, and the kind of hurricanes that you would see in Atlanta or in the gulf coast. Populations can get used to climate disasters in the sense that they know what to do and they have provisions and they know how to listen to emergency managers, and they know what an evacuation is like. You simply don't have that in Los Angeles or the surrounding areas.

The second challenge with these climate disasters that are, you know, so new is emergency responders cannot measure, have no history for what the impact will be. And so they were just, as we were reporting, prepositioning a lot of materials and assets that will help when the destruction comes, but because these are all such a historical events that we have no history, so to speak, to figure out okay, these areas are more likely to be damaged and these are not.

So, it is -- as, you know, these climate disasters are common now, but they are so unique that we just cannot measure impact very well.

BLACKWELL: You make a good point. It's not just the population, but those who will have to respond. You know, there are places that I travel as a correspondent, the Carolinas to Florida, you call the same people season after season, and you know where they will be, they know what to do. If you go to where this storm is going, this is the first four, likely all of them with tropical storms and 84 years or so.

[08:10:02]

So, what is being put in place ahead of landfall? What will they be prepositioning?

KAYYEM: Okay, so they're going to -- so the first answer, Victor, is communication. I mean, that is honestly the most important thing in a disaster and I think that Los Angeles County and the state have been very aggressive and getting information out to residents, which is, we don't care what the number is one hit sure, because we are seeing that Hilary is losing some steam. The surge and impact is going to be like nothing that you have ever seen before.

The easy thing here is that though Catalina, some islands like Catalina is being evacuated, all people need to do is stay put. That is all that you need to do if you can. And therefore, if you can't, for example, those without homes, trying to get them to shelters at the stage. So that's the most important thing is telling people what to do once we know what the damage will be like. On the prepositioning of assets, that is basically the city, the

state, and the federal government being ready to essentially save people. I mean, this is -- this is your biggest challenge. People might be isolated, and they might be unable or there might be plenty and so they have to evacuate their homes. And that's just going to take a lot of communication in terms of where are those populations that need to be saved immediately versus those that are just inconvenienced that have to stay inside, maybe they get a little bit of water. That is going to be the challenge of sort of figuring out where we're going to deploy those resources.

California obviously, Los Angeles for a variety of reasons, a very, very sophisticated emergency management offices. They know what to do. This is just a unique moment for them, and so they are dressed, they are getting ready and hopefully people will not let their guard down simply because Hilary is losing steam.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. Juliette, 15 weather-related disasters so far this year have exceeded one billion dollars in damage. That is a record for the first seven months, and that does not even count what we are watching in Maui that the government will have to respond to.

FEMA, the disaster fund, is running out of money. There is a congressional fight over funding. The Senate majority leader says that replenishing those funds will be job one once everyone returns after this break, but what is the greater threat? If we go into the peak of hurricane season and there is this concern about money for disaster for relief.

KAYYEM: Yeah. So, the money, I'll be honest with you. The history of this is that the money always comes because the politics of the sort of demands the money. So I think that McConnell is right that FEMA will be replenished and we have to keep the pressure on.

I think that the challenge as we head to hurricane season which has now been upgraded to a more violent season than originally thought is exhaustion, is populations just sort of -- as we saw with Maria, with first responders, and that by the third hurricane, people are just -- you know, resources are spent.

But I, you know, study disasters as you know. This is not sustainable. In other words, whatever you think the reason is for these changes, climate change is I do, or you can forget the politics, you can call it whatever you want.

This is not sustainable as a nation to have this many billion dollar disasters one after the other recurring, harming citizens and populations, and then just thinking that we can write a check and then we'll just get back to normal. We have to take a much more holistic view about how we're building, where we're building. Communities that we are putting at risk, because this is going to continue.

This is going to continue to happen and our measure of success is going to be -- our things less bad as a standard and less bad by protecting populations in a world in which we are suffering these things. BLACKWELL: And I know that's certainly part of the conversation with

the passing of the infrastructure legislation is where do you build, how do you build for communities to be more resilient, and to prevent some of what we've seen over the last month or so.

Juliette Kayyem, thank you.

WALKER: Coming up, President Trump is expected to surrender this week on his fourth criminal indictment, and some legal experts are arguing he is already disqualified from reelection, even without a conviction.

Also, more than 1,000 people are still missing as crews searched the devastation from the Hawaii wildfires.

[08:15:02]

The latest on the search as President Biden prepares to tour the damage.

And an experimental technology that could be a life-changer for stroke survivors. We'll tell you how it's helping recovering victims regain their independence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Later this week, former President Trump will be in Georgia to surrender on his fourth criminal indictment. But at a gathering of Republican presidential candidates, his dominance in the race was largely ignored.

BLACKWELL: Eric Erickson, a popular conservative radio host, organized the event. But most of the candidates who participated avoided even speaking about Trump or his legal troubles.

CNN's Eva McKend reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Conservative activists from across the region have the opportunity to hear from a number of 2024 Republican hopefuls on this final day. They heard from Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

[08:20:01]

True to form, Ramaswamy focusing his remarks on railing against corporate diversity efforts, as well as talking about the importance of restoring patriotism in this country.

For his part, Christie talking about school choice, public safety, and really strengthening America's foreign policy.

Trump, not a focus of this event. Erick Erickson, who put this on, did not invite Trump, and was very deliberate in not asking the candidates in these 45-minute wide-ranging interviews, for the most part, about Trump. Still, after Christie left the stage, he addressed reporters, and he

attacked Trump for skipping out on next week's first Republican debate.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no other conclusion to come to that he is both afraid of me and he is afraid of defending his record. And if I had his record, I'd be nervous about showing up, too.

Let's face it, guys, by Wednesday, he's going to be out on bail in four different restrictions. And that really -- when are we going to stop thinking that's normal? When are we going to allow our country to understand again and that nominating someone who is out on bail in four jurisdictions is not a winning formula?

MCKEND: Though Trump remains dominant in the polls, there is still an appetite from some Republican primary voters to move on from Trump. I spoke to some people seriously considering supporting Governor DeSantis.

Eva McKend, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right. Eva McKend, thank you.

So, four indictments, 91 criminal charges, and three runs at the White House. And now, there is a renewed and growing debate amongst legal scholars, both liberal and conservative, on whether Donald Trump may already be disqualified from holding office, even without a conviction.

They are referring to a Civil War era provision, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, that reads in part: No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress or elector of president or vice president, who having previously taken an oath as an officer of the United States to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

Gloria Browne-Marshall is a constitutional professor -- law professor and she is joining us now.

Good morning to you, Gloria. Thank you so much for joining us.

So, we've heard this debate before. It's coming up again because you have two legal scholars who by the way are conservative legal scholars at the University of Pennsylvania law review who concluded that Trump is ineligible to serve as president again because of his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election. This is, obviously, unprecedented territory.

How would it is provision even be enforced? That's a central question, right?

GLORIA BROWNE-MARSHALL, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSOR: It is. And the sweep and the force of Section 3 is the law review article, but we also had the article in "The Atlantic", both of these articles speak to the issue of the provision. But as you said, the enforcement of it then as on the secretary of states, and these secretary of states across the country have to decide who's allowed to have their name, who's eligible to be on the ballot, and I think that's going to be an issue.

But I think it's also one of concern regarding what is an insurrection, what is a rebellion, and how is that defined? Must one be convicted of being a participant in an insurrection or rebellion before you can apply this provision? So, that's another question.

WALKER: Yeah, there are so many questions. So, let's start with the challenging part of this, in terms of how -- is it going to be up to voters? Will they have to challenge Trump's qualification state-by- state?

BROWNE-MARSHALL: Well, it wouldn't get to the voters because first, the person's name has to be on the ballot. And in order for a person to be on the ballot, they have to apply, like everything else, they fill out an application. And then, that application is reviewed by members of the sec -- within the secretary of state of each state, you know, whichever place a person is going to be elected. And then, that group, that governmental entity, decides whether or not the person is qualified.

For example, natural born citizen, a qualification, one that was an issue in the past. That's in the constitution, only a natural born citizen could be president of the United States. And, so if there is a question, and then the caution goes to the secretary of state to determine whether or not a person is a natural born citizen.

I think it's going to cut along partisan lines. And I also believe that when the secretaries of state's receive the application by Donald Trump, they're going to have to determine that they're going to put it on there, and then, allow it to be challenged by groups and other people who would say he is not supposed to be on there because of the acts he's committed.

[08:25:03]

My concern is that this whole process is going to go on and on for months, and probably years. And so, many times, the voting rights issues, they allow the person to stay on the ballot, and then a determination is made even after the election takes place. And then, the person could be on the ballot and voted on. And they shouldn't be there in the first place, but it's not determined until it's too late.

WALKER: I mean, so, how disruptive could this be to the primary season, especially -- I don't know, let's say there's a patchwork of states, you know, where we have some putting Trump on the ballot, and others who don't?

BROWNE-MARSHALL: Then there would be an expeditious appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Once a challenge is made on the ballot, or he is prevented from being on the ballot and he brings a challenge. And then, that challenge then goes up to the U.S. Supreme Court. And the U.S. Supreme Court must decide.

Of course, we have a super majority of conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court, three of whom are directly related to Donald Trump's political choices, and the vetting of conservatives. So that's going to be a question by itself, and pretty dramatic as to whether or not there's going to be a Bush v. Gore type situation in which the Supreme Court is going to decide who's going to be president of the United States.

WALKER: And you mentioned this, too, Gloria, someone, or an entity, court system, I don't know, would have to define or determine that Trump actually engaged in insurrection or rebellion, as stated in section three. And we have already heard Trump's lawyers, and, of course, some critics, you know, who are legal scholars, arguing that the events of January 6th did not even rise to the level of an insurrection.

So who would determine that?

BROWNE-MARSHALL: Well, that's one of the concerns because if he is not charged with participating in a rebellion or insurrection, then it's going to be up to something that Mitch McConnell is saying, each person to decide what constitutes a rebellion or an insurrection. And then, determining if he did participate, did he lead it, or was a participant in it? He still claims that all he did was say, let's go to the Capitol. You know, and that was the extent.

We know there was much more to that because it was very much circumstantial, and some direct, but not direct enough, to clearly, I would think, charge him with that. But once again, as you pointed out, once he is charged, then there has to be conviction to determine that it was a rebellion or insurrection. When this was created, these, this 14th amendment back in 1868, it was very clear that these states had participated in a rebellion and instruction. It was the civil war.

And since then, of course, Congress, and other conservatives within Congress during the time have debated whether or not that disabilities remain in place, or was there amnesty of some sort. That is in the law view article that's coming up from the University of Pennsylvania. But I do think that at this point, whether or not there is a challenge by Donald Trump for being left off of the ballot, or being put on, and being challenged by the people. In the end, it's going to the U.S. Supreme Court.

WALKER: Wow, a lot of uncharted waters here. Gloria Browne-Marshall, we really appreciate you joining us this morning. Thank you.

And be sure to check out Gloria's book, "She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law and Power, 1619 to 1969".

Well, make sure to join Anderson Cooper as he breaks down the details of the criminal indictment of Donald Trump in Georgia. "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" airs tonight at 8:00, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:37]

WALKER: We continue to follow developments out of southern California where residents are preparing for their first tropical storm in more than 80 years.

Hurricane Hilary now a Category 1 storm is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm later today. It's expected to bring catastrophic flooding, fierce winds and heavy downpours with up to 10 inches of rain expected in some areas.

BLACKWELL: California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency yesterday, deployed more than 7,000 responders. And he pleaded with residents to stay safe during what officials say will be the wettest tropical cyclone in state history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Please, please listen to emergency personnel, local officials, take seriously debris flows and floods, flash floods, lightning, the possibility of tornadoes. Stay safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So far people have been evacuated from certain areas. Parks and beaches are closed now. First responders are bracing for dangerous water rescue.

Let's take a closer look at the storm now with CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Rain, flooding -- that's the biggest concern.

CHINCHAR: Absolutely, and the most widespread, too. This is what's going to impact the largest amount of people because of how far this moisture is spreading.

Right now you're starting to see a lot of that moisture begin to not only spread into southern California but also into parts of Nevada, areas of Arizona, Utah. And it will continue to spread north as we go through the day.

You have a moderate risk for excessive rainfall for places like Las Vegas, San Diego and Los Angeles.

But the target point really is this pink area and that includes Palm Desert, Palm Springs and even Death Valley National Park. This is an image of Death Valley last summer when they had severe flooding event that came in and basically trapped all these cars.

This was caused by less than an inch and a half of rain, less than an inch and a half.

The forecast for the next 36 hours calls for two to four inches of rain. That is a year's worth of rain in just 24 hours' time.

And it's not the only area. There will be other spots across portions of California and the surrounding states that are likely going to get record rainfall out of this. That's why you have these flood watches in place across several of these states. So do keep that in mind going forward.

[08:34:54]

CHINCHAR: Another concern too, is the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms that are going to bring damaging winds and, yes, even the potential for some tornadoes across areas of southern California this afternoon as well as this evening.

WALKER: Tornadoes, wow. All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you.

On Monday President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will head to Maui to tour the devastation firsthand after the deadliest U.S. fire in more than 100 years scorched the island last week.

BLACKWELL: And now, even with more than 100 dead, thousands displaced and more than a thousand estimated to still be missing, people are already looking to rebuild.

Here is CNN's Bill Weir.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor -- good morning. Aloha once again from Maui on the 11th day after the catastrophic fires changed life on this island forever. And I wish I had more news to share about the number of the missing. But while the search area seems to be jumping pretty dramatically in the last couple days, it's that over a thousand missing number that haunts so many people here on this island this many days after the tragedy.

And now that communication is largely up around the island, the number of people in the shelters has gone down dramatically as they're taking the displaced and moving them into hotels, either with their employees or donated rooms around -- the state is helping pick up that bill.

And they're preparing for the president and first lady's visit here on Monday. Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator is coming back to Maui. She was here last weekend. She's coming with the president.

Said in a press conference, they're not sure if he's going to fly over the damaged area or actually walk around the burn zone there.

The White House has yet to release that but she does insist the president will stand with the people of Maui, and especially hear from local leaders on how they want to rebuild.

That's the loudest course we're hearing right now is local leaders in Lahaina who have just implored the governor and state administrators to listen to them, put them -- give them a seat at the table as they talk about plans of when to reopen this area, how to rebuild.

There's so much tension that goes back generations over law there and land rights that are coming to a head right now.

So in the meantime, everybody is waiting with sort of bated breath, in some cases for the worst news a family could ever get.

But for others, they may never know given that the entire town, almost 3.5 square mile there was cremated by those flames.

We'll keep an eye out for you and cut in with any late breaking details throughout the day as they become available -- Victor, Amara.

BLACKWELL: Bill, thank you very much.

All right. Watch "STATE OF THE UNION" at the top of the hour. This morning Kasie Hunt will speak with FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell. Just minutes away here on CNN.

We'll be back.

[08:37:48]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: New York City officials are considering new options for housing thousands of asylum-seekers. The city has received more than 100,000 migrants since last year which has overwhelmed its shelters.

WALKER: Well, now, the city is considering repurposing prisons and correctional facilities to address the emergency issue.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Victor, if New York City officials pursue the Metropolitan Correctional Center here in Manhattan, it wouldn't be the first time they used space previously used to house inmates to house asylum-seekers.

Since earlier this summer, they've been using a correctional facility in Harlem to do just that. What's noticeable about the MCC here is that it previously housed the likes of drug lord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, of course, Jeffrey Epstein and then eventually closed not long after his suicide.

However in that letter that was submitted by the administration of Eric Adams earlier this month as part of this sort of legal back and forth because of the Right to Shelter Law, the city asked for permission not just the mcc, but also other federal facilities that are going unused to house asylum-seekers.

However, there are still many, many obstacles before the city can even actually consider this as a viable option. I reached out to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. A spokesperson there couldn't confirm not deny that they're engaged in conversations with the city to open up this place as a shelter.

However, did say that they have not established yet the long-term plans for the facility, that those have not yet been finalized.

Then there's also the firestorm of criticism that we have heard from the migrant community because of the conditions inside this facility leading up to its closure a couple of years ago. Certainly many of these pro migrant groups would not like the city to use this space to accommodate asylum-seekers. And then the city still has to actually to move forward with this if

they reach that juncture.

We said to one city official who said -- I asked this individual if it's likely that the city would actually use the MCC to house asylum- seekers. Their answer -- no.

However, they do want to keep all options on the table as the number of migrants who've arrived in New York City since last spring exceeds 100,000 -- Amara, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Polo, thank you.

Up next, new hope for recovering stroke victims. How an experimental technology may be able to improve their quality of life.

[08:44:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: For many stroke survivors, recovery can occur in the first few months but oftentimes that recovery process stalls.

BLACKWELL: But a new experimental technology requiring brain surgery may be able to improve their outcomes.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Stan Nicholas was a born performer. A founder of the Cleveland-based Burnt River Band, he spent decades on stage. But it all came to a halt one evening in 2017. He was 66 years old.

STAN NICHOLAS, STROKE SURVIVOR: I lost my balance, and I fell to the floor. Every time I got halfway up, my knees would buckle. Then I'd fall down again.

DR. GUPTA: 14 hours later a friend walked into his home and found him on the floor.

NICHOLAS: I was taken to a university hospital in downtown Cleveland where I woke up with a doctor standing over me. I asked the doctor if I had died. The doctor said, you had a bad stroke.

DR. GUPTA: This is what stan's brain looked like a few days later. All that dark part on the left, that's the part of Stan's brain that died because it hadn't received enough blood.

[08:49:58]

NICHOLAS: I couldn't walk when I woke up. I couldn't move my left arm or my left hand. I thought that I was going to be disabled for life. I've had a lot of therapy.

DR. GUPTA: within a few months, all that Stan was able to do was take a few steps, and then he simply plateaued.

When you first saw him, what was the expectation for his recovery?

DR. ANDRE MACHADO, NEUROSURGEON, CLEVELAND CLINIC: The expectation was poor. He was more than a year out from his stroke. He had already undergone physical therapy, occupational therapy, and despite the early improvements, he was stable. He wasn't improving anymore.

DR. GUPTA: That's why Dr. Andre Machado, a neurosurgeon of the Cleveland Clinic, offered something to Stan that was a first to humans -- a deep brain stimulator. That's what you see there.

Now, you may have heard of these for Parkinson's Disease but this was being placed specifically to help Stan recover from his stroke.

Stan had weakness but was able to walk with his left leg. It was really his arm. He was unable to close and open his hand, and lifting his arm he was having difficulties.

MACHADO: He had the normal difficulty of using his hands for any useful activity of daily living on the left side.

DR. GUPTA: So in September of 2020, three years after his stroke, Stan underwent an eight-hour-long operation where this 1.3 millimeter probe which is as wide as a grain of sand was placed into the cerebellum of his brain.

He had physical therapy, stimulator placed. How soon after did you start to see any changes?

MACHADO: Within the first month.

NICHOLAS: I can lift my left arm which I couldn't do.

MACHADO: This can transition from being hope which it is today to perhaps a treatment that will be standard treatment in the future.

GORANI: For stan, it now means being able to live independently.

NICHOLAS: Just help me out with my cooking, preparing my meals and eating; and things around the house, garden work and household chores.

GORANI: And hopefully one day he'll be able to play again.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right. Up next, a new World Cup champion is crowned but who is raising the trophy. Highlights from the final between Spain and England ahead.

[08:52:39]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WALKER: As Hurricane Hilary heads toward southern California, Major League Baseball moved three games up to Saturday while MLS pushed two back.

BLACKWELL: ESPN reports the NFL has decided the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Chargers game in Inglewood later today will go on as planned. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 Eastern tonight.

CNN has reached out to the league for comment but has not heard back.

Meanwhile history Down Under this morning. For the first time ever, Spain -- Women's World Cup champions.

WALKER: Spain topping England 1-0 in Sydney, Australia and that is where we find CNN World Sport anchor Amanda Davies with all the reaction. Hi, Amanda, how is it going?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi. Well, as somebody here is very much supporting England, it could have been better. But the tournament that has rocked the world has come to an end. It very much signaled a new world order hasn't it, the last month of action, not only for women's football but for women's sports as a whole.

And as you rightly said, we have a new World Cup champion in Spain, becoming just the fifth nation to get their name engraved on that trophy. It was a final here in Sydney that had everything that you would have wanted from the showpiece event.

And electric atmosphere, two sides creating some magical moments. And then ultimately, tears of both joy and heartbreak.

You have to say Spain ultimately deserved to win, they have the best of the chances. They dominated possession. They stuck to their game plan and ultimately that single goal from Olga Carmona, that the Spanish captain made the difference.

It could have been 2 had England's (INAUDIBLE) from getting emotional from the penalty spot midway through the second half.

But England are aside, like their opponents who had fought a lot of battles to get to this point, they weren't going to go down without a fight.

Alex Greenwood ended up bloodied, both sides with players strewn over the pitch at times. They were giving it their all.

But Spain is a side that have really dominated in recent times. They were the record goal scorers at the tournament. Their players have shone domestically in Spain and in European competition in recent times. They've won the under 17 Women's World Cup. They've won the under 20 Women's World Cup in the last 12 months and now they have their hands on the biggest prize.

[08:59:49]

DAVIES: You suspect it won't end the questions about the methods and unrest in the camp around their coach Jorge Vilda. In fact it might make those somewhat louder.

But for now, the celebrations will be all that will be heard from Spain and their fans and they very much deserve this moment.

BLACKWELL: Yes, like the one we just saw behind you.

Amanda Davies, thanks so much for bringing it to us.

And thank you so much for joining us this morning.

WALKER: "STATE OF THE UNION" is next. Have a great day, everyone.