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CNN This Morning

Trump, 18 Co-Defendant Surrender At Fulton County Jail; Ex- Trump Lawyer Sidney Powell Requests Speedy Trial; Trump Pushes For Delay Amid Requests For Speedy Trial; Russia Recovers Bodies, Flight Recorders From Plane Crash; Kremlin Denies Involvement In Deadly Plane Crash; Tropical Storm Franklin Could Develop Into A Major Hurricane; School Board Fights Take A Toll On Leadership Positions; Officials: Updated COVID-19 Vaccines Set To Arrive Mid-September; Russia's Luna- 25 Spacecraft Crashes Into The Moon. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 26, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER (voice-over): And here was Biles on her day and what drives her to keep competing.

SIMONE BILES,7-TIME U.S. GYMNASTICS ALL-AROUND CHAMPION: Beam started off a little bit rough, but that's kind of to be expected. You get your nerves out of the way. And then after that, it was pretty smooth sailing. I'm pretty happy with the overall meet today. I think I just have personal goals that I want to meet and keep pushing forward. So, that's what I'm aiming for.

SCHOLES: Yes, that competition concludes Sunday night. The Paris 2024 Olympics, now less than a year away.

Bronny James, the son of Lakers superstar, LeBron James, he is expected to make a full recovery after suffering cardiac arrest on the basketball court. The 18-year-old was taken to a hospital last month after collapsing during that workout at USC. In a statement, the family said Bronny suffered from a significant congenital heart defect, but it can be treated and they're confident he's going to return to the basketball court in the very near future.

All right, finally, check out what happened to Dive Back Red's game last night. Tommy Pham's going to blast this one to left. The Reds' Spencer Steer, he's going to go back to the wall and make a great leaping grab to rob the home run, or did he? The young fan there actually snags it out of Steer's glove.

We'll show you a replay. Just an incredible catch from that fan. Look at this. It's in Steer's glove, but the fan grabs it out. So, they originally gave Pham a home run, but after they reviewed it, they called it interference, so Pham was out. They then made the poor young fan guys move from the front row, they kicked him out and made him go sit somewhere else. I mean, look, if you're under 18 years old and you make an incredible catch, you should be applauded, and you should still get to stay wherever you want. (END VIDEO CLIP)

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Yes, that was very amazing.

SCHOLES: I don't know why they did punish him for a catch like that.

WALKER: Poor kid.

SCHOLES: Yes.

WALKER: All right. Well, thank you, Andy. Good to see you. The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts now.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Saturday, August 26. I'm Rahel Solomon in this morning for Victor Blackwell.

WALKER: Rahel, always great to be with you. I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for spending a part of your morning with us. Here is what we are watching this morning. Now, that all of the defendants in the Georgia election case have turned themselves in, we are learning more about their legal strategies and how the Trump team is hoping to capitalize on the former president's arrest.

SOLOMON: Also keeping an eye on several areas in the tropics, including one that could develop into a tropical storm affecting parts of the U.S. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is standing by with the timing and also the impacts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I left was not because I hated what I did. It's because I wanted to leave while I still loved what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: As local school districts become ground zero in the culture wars, some school administrators say they've had enough. The toll it's taking on educators and what's pushing them to leave the field they love.

SOLOMON: Four astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station. We have the purpose of the mission and the other big milestone we saw this week, coming up.

But we begin this hour with the latest on Trump's legal troubles. Prosecutors in Fulton County are preparing for a speedy trial for some of the 19 defendants charged in the Georgia election interference case. But the defense team for former President Trump is trying to delay the start. Trump and his 18 co-defendants are facing a variety of charges, including racketeering and conspiracy. They all surrendered ahead of yesterday's noon deadline.

WALKER: The Republican frontrunner flew in from New Jersey to turn himself in on Thursday evening. Trump was released on bail immediately after being processed. Now, this morning, only one of the 19 co- defendants remains in the Fulton County Jail. Last night, a judge declined to set bond for Harrison Floyd, a leader of Black Voices for Trump. During a hearing, he told the judge he could not afford to hire an attorney, but the judge informed him that he didn't meet the eligibility requirements for obtaining a public defender.

SOLOMON: Now again, so far, only two of the 19 co-defendants have asked for a speedy trial, but as we said, Trump is looking to push it back as far as possible. Katelyn Polantz reports.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel and Amara, it was a busy week for the 19 defendants in Fulton County, Georgia, but there's a long road ahead on the way to trial here with this case, the fourth criminal indictment against Donald Trump.

And this one is relating to the January 6th and the 2020 election. In this situation right now, there are defendants who want to go to trial really fast. They want to go to trial in late October, potentially. That is what the D.A. has seek out as the date. It's what a judge is already looking at and seems to agree with.

Donald Trump, he doesn't want that at all. He wants the trial to be held back much, much further and potentially have himself taken away from other defendants here. The import of that is that it creates a situation where Donald Trump may be splitting from other defendants' wishes.

[07:05:11]

19 defendants might be going in different directions. We're seeing that in another avenue here too, because there are five defendants right now asking to move their case to federal court, or the charges that are against them in this racketeering criminal enterprise case in Georgia.

The way that they say that they should be in federal court is that they have some sort of tie to the federal government. Either they were fake electors taking direction from Donald Trump, they say, or we're looking at Mark Meadows, the chief of staff in the White House under Trump, Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official.

And so, watching that going forward is going to be very important to see many trials take place as judges look at this. The first one of those is set to begin on Monday as the judge looks at Mark Meadows' request to move the trial to federal court. Back to you.

SOLOMON: Our Katelyn Polantz reporting there. Katelyn, thank you.

WALKER: Sidney Powell became the second co-defendant to file for a speedy trial. Last night, CNN's Brianna Keilar spoke with the former Trump White House attorney, Ty Cobb, and he explained why Chesbrough, Kenneth Chesbrough, should be concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: I think this is a problem for Chesbrough because he had made a creative, gutsy move where his lawyer, who by the way is quite a talented lawyer, seemed to believe if he could get paired off by himself, he might have a good shot.

Now, I'm not sure I agree with that, but it's a strategic move and I admire those. But now, he's in a situation where he may have to go to trial with Sidney Powell, which I have to say of all the defendants in this entire case, is the last person I would want to be alone in a courtroom with, if I was another defendant.

The problem she has is everything that she did was a lie. The evidence about, as to her claims, you remember, she's so far afield, she's on the constellation voting machine side of this. She's, she had a theory about money, dark money moving through Cuba and China to impact the election. Even, even Rudy, you know, characterized some of her theories as crackpot theories.

So, she's, and she went to federal court on behalf of, you know, the Trump campaign and Trump and sold these lies, attempted to sell them. There were no buyers, but she has, she has really, in my view, the most difficult case to defend of all the defendants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And joining us now to discuss all the political threats this morning, Boston Globe, Washington Bureau Chief and CNN Political Analyst, Jackie Kucinich. Jackie, good morning. I want to start with Trump's mugshot, the mugshot seen around the world. Team Trump wasting no time to use it to fundraise.

But also, interestingly, Biden's team appearing to try to capitalize on this moment. So, Biden posted on social media the day of Trump's surrender, "Apropos of nothing. I think today's a great day to give to my campaign." Jackie, do you think this marks a strategic shift for the president? Do we see more of the president leaning in in this way?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Maybe from his campaign, but I think from the White House, they've been pretty resolute about staying away from this because of separation of powers. Biden wants nothing to do with what the Justice Department is doing. But, you know, perhaps the campaign, there was a little bit of a wink and a nod. Will that go forward, should Trump become the nominee? I would think so.

SOLOMON: I want to stick with fundraising, but turn to some of the other GOP hopefuls. The first primary debate, of course, this week, some of the candidates like DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Haley, all say that they've seen strong donations since the debate. Who was the standout based on what you're hearing?

KUCINICH: So, Ramaswamy really was, he got the most debate time. He really was on the object of so many attacks. More so than Ron DeSantis, who I think his campaign and himself thought that he was going to be the target. But you really saw that incoming. And while on his face you think that wasn't a good thing, I think all press is good press for that campaign.

And Nikki Haley, she really had a moment there attacking Ramaswamy, while you were particularly on the issue of foreign policy. And she really was someone who, you know, someone who is sitting in the press hall next to the debate stage. It really was striking how much she was out there during the debate.

SOLOMON: Yes, there was that moment, I think, Yes, there was that moment, I think, that perhaps made the most attention where she said, you know, your lack of foreign policy experience really shows. I want to stick with Ramaswamy for a moment, though. He has spent a lot of time in Iowa. His camp says that they're hoping for a top three finish in the caucuses in January.

[07:10: 22]

He's obviously not there yet. The latest Des Moines Register poll done before the debate puts him in seventh. Jackie, what would he and his campaign have to do to close that gap between now and January to finish within the top three?

KUCINICH: I'm not a political strategist, but I will say there was an interview with the Fox News moderators yesterday that I thought was really interesting that addressed what questions they wish they would have asked. And they said that one of the things that Trump said during the debate was that Trump was the greatest president, you know, in recent memory or something like that, I'm paraphrasing. But they wanted to ask why he's running against him.

And it really seems like this is someone who's positioning himself not for president, but perhaps for something else down the line, maybe for running in 2028, but his effusive praise and refusal to criticize anything from a President Trump. We were existing in a little bit of an alternate reality during that debate. Because there was, he, because former President Trump did not show up.

Should he be on the stage with someone who is giving him effusive praise? I don't know how that looks yet. And I'm looking forward to when he does show up to a debate, assuming that Ramaswamy is on stage with him, what that looks like. Because if you can't provide a contrast how far can you possibly go?

SOLOMON: Yes, that got my attention too, that article as you pointed out that he said, look, he was the best president of the 21st century and then the natural follow-up is, you know, why are you running against him? Jackie, switching gears a bit, sources tell us that Trump's team is weighing how to weave his trial schedule, which of course as we know has gotten quite busy and complicated, into his campaign schedule and how to capitalize on all of that media attention. Does this hurt or help his campaign?

KUCINICH: Oh man, I think it depends on who you're asking. Right now, they're fundraising off of it. They're putting his mugshot on t- shirts, on mugs, on anything that has a flat surface. So, clearly, they're trying to turn this into a positive, but because of, and I think the word unprecedented no longer has meaning, but because of where we are, it's hard to say, because of the political territory that we are in.

We've never had a former president running for president and being under a, you know, of four indictments at this point. It is, but it certainly is a logistics challenge for his campaign. And whether they're able to continue fundraising off of it is the question. How much donors are still going to give?

SOLOMON: A lot more to watch. Jackie Kucinich, thanks for spending part of your Saturday with us. Thank you.

WALKER: All right, so I had this morning, Russian investigators recovered 10 bodies and the flight recorders from a plane crash believed to have, that is believed to have killed Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Forensic examinations and genetic testing are underway to confirm their identities. We'll bring you the latest on that.

SOLOMON: Plus, school board politics are taking a toll on top leadership positions in school districts across the U.S., how fights over critical race theory, diversity and inclusion, and book bans are forcing some superintendents, they say, to quit.

[07:13:50]

WALKER: And later, some of the world's top golfers battling each other and the extreme heat in Atlanta this weekend. How the players plan to try to stay cool when temperatures will soar into the triple digits.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine. And Ukrainian officials say its troops are advancing in a counteroffensive on the southern front lines.

SOLOMON: Ukraine is trying to advance to the Sea of Azov. They hope to cut the land bridge between Crimea and the occupied eastern Donetsk region. Even some pro-Kremlin military blockers are conceding that Russian troops are under intense pressure.

Meantime, Russian investigators have also recovered 10 bodies in the flight data recorders from that plane crash that is believed to have killed Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

WALKER: Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to Prigozhin's family but the Kremlin still vehemently denies any involvement in the crash. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joining us now from London with the very latest. Hi, Salma.

[07:19:04]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. We don't have a timeline yet, Rahel and Amira, on how long this forensic analysis, DNA analysis will take by Russian investigators. But what we do know is, as you mentioned, 10 bodies recovered from the scene, as well as the flight recorder data. So, you can expect right now that that's being looked at by this government-backed body. And it comes just days after, or just shortly after, rather, President Putin broke his silence on this plane crash, speaking of Prigozhin in the past tense, describing him as a talented man who made serious mistakes.

Look, very few who are supporters of Prigozhin in the Western intelligence agency, even President Biden himself, are surprised that Prigozhin may very well have met the fate. In fact, the only thing that was surprising was that, for two months, he seemed to be a dead man walking, posing the most serious threat to President Putin's rule in nearly two decades. Now, the question is, can these Russian investigators carry out an independent analysis without meddling? You have to remember, of course, this plane crash took place on Russian territory.

These investigators are government-backed for Western intelligence agencies, for supporters of Prigozhin, that's going to put a lot of question marks as to whether or not this is truly an independent body. Now, the Kremlin has, of course, denied, denied, denied any involvement in this crash, calling any finger-pointing absolute lies. But of course, over the course of the last several years from here in England and the Salisbury poisonings to Alexei Navalny, we've seen Kremlin critics meet very mysterious fates from poisonings to falling off balconies. That means we're very unlikely to get true, independent, and transparent answers as to what happened.

SOLOMON: Selma, you know, you say that it wasn't necessarily a surprise that Yevgeny Prigozhin would ultimately meet his death in this way two months after that mutiny. What do we know about what Prigozhin knew or thought about any threats to his life? Any reporting there?

ABDELAZIZ: Look, you can absolutely assume that Prigozhin was worried for his life, to say the least. He was someone who was openly criticizing members of President Putin's government all the way up to the Minister of Defense and was doing it very openly, of course, on social media. In fact, one of the people who warned Prigozhin about possible death threats apparently twice is a close Putin ally, Aleksandr Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, who said he had time and time again warned Prigozhin and that at one point Prigozhin responded to Lukashenko by saying well then I'll die forget about it -- this very bombastic response.

Now, Lukashenko in that interview went on to say that he does not believe President Putin is behind this, but absolutely this was a man who believed, feared that he could be killed for speaking out.

SOLOMON: And we know he certainly kept a low profile after that failed mutiny, with the exception of that forum in St. Petersburg. Salma Abdelaziz, live for us in London. Salma, thank you.

WALKER: All right, let's talk more about this deadly crash, Prigozhin, and what this means for the future with CNN Global Affairs Analyst, Kimberly Dozier. Good morning to you, Kimberly. So, you know, obviously, these denials from the Kremlin rings hollow to anyone inside and outside Russia, who knows what exactly happens to critics of Putin, the Kremlin? This is all part of the playbook, and I guess there really is no advantage, I think that's what you've said, for Putin to even come out and say, yes, I did it, if he indeed was behind it.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, this is the Putin playbook, to deny, deny, deny. Remember, Putin denied that they were going to invade Ukraine, and so Russian troops were actually inside the country. By keeping several different stories out there, by keeping people guessing, he keeps his adversaries off balance, and the message still gets through.

This was a man, Prigozhin, who his influence came from his positioning with Putin, his closeness to Putin, and once he had offended the man, he in a sense lost protection. We may never know who ordered this. Was it Putin himself or was it someone in the upper ranks of power who wanted to make a move to take over Wagner or who simply wanted to possibly curry favor with the boss by taking out someone who'd embarrassed Putin on the world stage? Either thing makes a lot of sense.

The ultimate result is that the top leadership of the Wagner group was on that plane with the exception of the executive director who hadn't taken part in the coup. So, you've sliced off the ideological people who were a challenge towards Putin and Mother Russia and the war in Ukraine, and you've left intact the Wagner structure, which has been very useful to the Russian government in places like Africa, operating as a de facto arm of the state.

WALKER: Let me jump in there though, Kimberly, because that is, I mean, it's surprising to me, really. I mean, you have Prigozhin, who wasn't born yesterday. He's on the same flight as two of his top lieutenants, who apparently were a part of this attempted mutiny. I mean, do you really think that Prigozhin felt like he was out of the woods that he would get on a flight like this with his top two lieutenants, and I guess, break security protocol?

DOZIER: Well, you have to look at the relationship, at least as far as any of us could tell what it was between Prigozhin and Putin. And it seemed like, you know, very close friends. We're talking sort of mafia territory. And Prigozhin had to make a call when he looked into Putin's eyes when they had that meeting after their small insurrection, and decided, apparently, that it was safe to continue in his orbit. And he could have altered his behavior. He could have stayed in Africa. He could have also, as you mentioned, he popped up in Petersburg, St. Petersburg, at an event that Putin was at.

[07:25:19]

And he also had started churning out some videos on the Wagner network again from visits to Africa. Africa, he might not have understood that he needed to keep a low profile, show more shame, and perhaps hide in Belarus. He kept spending a lot of time in Russia. We don't know if that offended Putin's ego or if it gave one of the Russian military commanders around Putin an opportunity to take out, you know, Prigozhin had been criticizing them for months.

He was an embarrassment and a threat to a lot of the other people around the top level of power. And so, they made a power move. Again, I think even if U.S. or British intelligence figure it out, they're not going to share it with us because it's business as usual and the top critic is gone and the Russian war against Ukraine continues.

WALKER: So, 15 seconds, because you mentioned, you know, just its -- Wagner groups influence in Africa, Syria and other places as well. What happens next to the Wagner group? Because there's thousands of mercenaries now, some of them stranded around the globe. Does Putin absorb them into the Russian armed forces or what? What happens?

DOZIER: I think he goes back to the pre-Propaganda model of small groups, not a monolithic entity like Wagner that could rise to threaten his power or the Russian state as Prigozhin did. There will never be another Wagner like it was. It's going to be entities that they can play off each other that won't stage another coup.

WALKER: Kimberly Dozier, a pleasure to have you as always. Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. And coming up for us, we are following a tropical system that could threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast in the coming days. We'll bring you the latest forecast right ahead.

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[07:31:01]

WALKER: As we near the peak of hurricane season, the Atlantic is very active this morning. We are watching several tropical systems that could develop in the coming days.

SOLOMON: Now, the strongest of these systems at the moment is Tropical Storm Franklin. It's forecasted to form into a major hurricane, as it tracks between the U.S. and Bermuda.

CNN's meteorologist Allison Chinchar, tracking these systems for us. So, Allison, where is Franklin right now?

CHINCHAR: Right. And that's a big question, because a lot of people want to know how close is it actually going to get to the U.S. in the coming days?

Right now, it's a high-end tropical storm, with sustained winds of 65 miles per hour, moving east northeast at just about six miles per hour, it's going to start to veer back towards the U.S. before making that sharp right-hand turn, just as it slides right by Bermuda.

Now, we do anticipate that by Tuesday, likely to get up to major hurricane strength before it continues back out into some cooler water. So, you may end up seeing some rip current issues right there along the North Carolina coast if this starts to shift a little bit farther west.

But again, for the most part, this is going to remain in between Bermuda and the U.S. The bigger concern for the U.S. is actually this system right here just to the east of the Yucatan Peninsula. That system is expected to slide to the north into the Gulf Coast in the coming days.

Right now, it's very disorganized cluster of thunderstorms, but it's expected to move into much more favorable conditions in the next 24 to 48 hours, as it pushes also into extremely warm waters. And that is fuel for a lot of these storms.

So, as it slides north, getting into more favorable conditions, we do anticipate that this system will turn into a tropical depression, and then into a named tropical storm.

So, the concern is really going to be areas of Florida, especially between Tampa and Pensacola in the coming days where this could end up potentially having some impacts. We'll keep a closer eye on that in the coming days.

SOLOMON: All right. Certainly, a lot to watch. Allison Chinchar, live for us there. Thank you, Allison.

Professional golfers are feeling the heat in Atlanta this weekend, as the PGA Tour Championship tees off, the heat index could soar into the triple digits.

WALKER: And with temperatures that high, the Tour is making it a priority to keep both players and spectators safe. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, shows us how.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's virtually impossible to escape the heat here at the PGA's Tour Championship, whether you're a spectator or an athlete.

There are heat advisories in place for Atlanta and the East Lake golf course where this tournament is taking place. Get this, heat indices could range anywhere from 103 to upwards of 109 degrees. That is dangerous heat folks.

Now, there are several heat mitigation efforts around this course that have been set in place. Something as simple as putting up cool towels at every tee for the players. But there's also additional hydration stations, misting stations, sunscreen stations, all to help the spectators and the athletes.

One piece of very interesting technology that I've never seen before is this cooling med. It actually has the ability to cool the core internal temperature of your body in a matter of seconds if you stick your hand within this device. So, very, very interesting and critical piece of technology should a person become overheated.

Now, the executive director of the Tour champion says he wants the players to focus on the $18 million purse that's at play, but not being dehydrated or overheated.

We spoke -- actually, the press spoke to one of the Georgia natives. He thought maybe he would have an advantage growing up in this heat and humidity find out what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN HARMAN, GOLFER, PGA TOUR: And you would think it would be a little bit of an advantage. But maybe the heat being in him for so long has worn you down. I'm not sure yet. It never seems to get easy to play in heat like this. The tour has done a really nice job with some amendments to the tee boxes with some cold towels and stuff and some more hydration stuff.

We watch a lot more fans go down and players in caddies. So, the fans that are coming out, they need to be really careful because you get in a lot of trouble out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:35:02]

VAN DAM: Now, this event used to take place in November. And you bet, spectators and athletes wish that it was in November this year. But that's not the case. So, they're going to do their best to play through this brutal heatwave that continues to impact the country. Back to you.

WALKER: Sorry, but it's too hot to do anything outside for longer than 20 seconds here in Atlanta.

Derek Van Dam, thanks.

Up next, across the U.S., school administrators are being fired are calling it quits at alarming rates. What's driving this nationwide trend and the impact it can have on students?

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[07:39:56]

WALKER: Across the U.S., local school districts have become ground zero for heated political debate. Some turning physical, like these clashes over the summer in California.

And now, we're learning that fights over critical race theory, diversity, and inclusion, LGBTQ content, and book bans, have now taken a toll on top leadership positions.

SOLOMON: As school board elections become more and more political, CNN's Natasha Chen, shows us how some superintendents are losing their jobs and others are just quitting while they can.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- away. We are not here to fight.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From east to west --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why we've terminating his employment?

Mr. Barrow, I'm not going to discuss personnel matters in open session.

CHEN (voice over): Some school superintendents are being fired. Often after recent elections change the makeup of local school boards. Other leaders at various levels have quit or retired early, citing a changing hostile atmosphere.

BETH LEHR, FORMER ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL, SAHUARITA HIGH SCHOOL, SAHUARITA, ARIZONA: It was things like, you should be shot, you should be run through the -- through a cornfield backwards. CHEN (voice over): Beth Lehr was Arizona's assistant principal of the year in 2020, when the public seemed to show deep appreciation for teachers during lockdown. But a few years later, she said, schools have been made the villain.

LEHR: My decision to leave when I left was not because I hated what I did. It's because I wanted to leave while I still loved what I did.

CHEN (voice over): A study looking at all U.S. school district data, showed that one-third of districts changed superintendents in the last four years. Some even had two or more turnovers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for a change.

CHEN (voice over): Moms for Liberty, a nationwide conservative group, has been aiming to shake things up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I, for one (INAUDIBLE) and thrilled that we are disrupting the balance of power, because teachers' unions have an undue influence on our children's education and it must stop.

CHEN (voice over): Several state associations of superintendents say there are more vacancies right now than average. They say it's getting harder to recruit experienced people to take the positions.

JULIE VITALE, SUPERINTENDENT, OCEANSIDE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: We're losing people who are at the top of their game. Now, the folks that are coming up, are coming up with a lot less experience.

CHEN (voice over): Julie Vitale is openly gay and still serving as superintendent of her district, despite receiving threats.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You use your power and your position to glorify your sexuality.

CHEN (voice over): Vitale says the anger is coming from a lack of understanding.

VITALE: I'm just disappointed that this is where the conversation is going. I think we're better than this as a people.

CHEN (voice over): Even acknowledging Pride Month can stoke repeated clashes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back! Get back!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back off!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back!

CHEN (voice over): Like in Glendale, California, where Vivian Ekchian was the L.A. County Superintendent of the Year and 2022.

Did that play any factor at all in your mind as you decide now is the time to step away?

VIVIAN EKCHIAN, FORMER SUPERINTENDENT, GLENDALE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA: Yes, I think it did.

CHEN (voice over): She retired in July --

EKCHIAN: I'm an educator, not a politician.

CHEN (voice over): -- just months after her contract was renewed.

EKCHIAN: I think it was becoming extremely difficult to primarily focus on kids and the adults that serve them.

CHEN: Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: New COVID-19 vaccines tweaked to try to teach the body to fend off current variants could be at clinics and drugstores by mid- September, as the U.S. prepares for the upcoming virus season.

WALKER: This comes amid a late summer uptick in COVID, and just as schools are reopening. CNN's Meg Tirrell has more.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that CDC's group of outside advisors is planning to meet on September 12th, to talk about and recommend the updated COVID shots for the fall.

And so, that always happens after the FDA has already signed off on the vaccine. So, that's expected to happen around that timeframe. After that, the CDC director will likely accept that recommendation, and the vaccines will start to become available in pharmacies.

So, we're talking about that sort of middle week of September, around September 12th. The few days after, that really starting to happen.

Now, this updated COVID vaccine targets just one strain of the virus known as XBB.1.5. And it's not too dissimilar from the current strain that is dominant in the U.S. right now, called EG.5. That accounts for about 20 percent of an estimated U.S. cases within the last couple of weeks.

Now, of course, we are in a little bit of a COVID spike right now. We have seen elevated levels of COVID in wastewater monitoring, suggesting that cases are at a higher level.

We also are seeing in the CDC's data about a 21 percent increase in terms of both hospitalizations and deaths from COVID right now. And, of course, it's important to note that's off of a very low base, one of the lowest we've seen for the entire pandemic, but we are starting to see that uptick, and so, many health authorities are looking forward to the availability of this updated vaccine, which is expected to provide better protection against the currently circulating strains.

Now, one thing that public health authorities are paying a lot of attention to right now is an emerging variant known as BA.2.86.

[07:45:03] Now, the reason they are paying such close attention to this, even though only 10 cases have been detected worldwide including a couple here in the United States, is because this is a very mutated variant. So, it looks different from the variants that have come before it.

Right now, there's no evidence that this variant causes more severe disease. It's not known yet how transmissible it will be, if it's more transmissible than others, and that will play a big role in whether this takes off in a big way.

It's expected, according to a CDC risk assessment to still be detected by tests and medications like Paxlovid, are expected to can you continue to work against this variant.

But what the concern is, is that it is so different from previous variants that existing immunity in terms of previous infection or vaccines may not be able to work quite as well against this variant.

And so, will that lead to more infections, potentially more hospitalizations? Those are the questions that folks are wondering about right now. And they expect to have more data on that within the next couple of weeks.

But at this point, this really has not been detected extremely widely, but it has been detected in multiple countries. So, it is expected that there is international spread.

SOLOMON: Meg Tirrell, live for us there or -- not live. But thank you, Meg.

And still coming up for us.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. It is full power? And liftoff.

Go Falcon, go Dragon, go Crew-7.

SOLOMON (voice over): SpaceX and NASA launch for astronauts to the International Space Station. What we know about the mission, just ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stage one propulsion --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:50:46]

WALKER: Four international crew blasted off to the International Space Station after a successful joint SpaceX-NASA mission launched this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. It is full power. And liftoff. Go Falcon, go Dragon, go Crew-7.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off a short time ago from Florida's Kennedy Space Center with crew from the US, Japan, Denmark, and Russia.

SOLOMON: And they'll be joining seven other astronauts at the ISS, conducting experiments for future missions beyond low Earth orbit.

Joining us now to discuss is NASA astronaut, Leroy Chiao, who is also the former commander of the International Space Station.

Leroy, good morning. Good to see you this morning.

So, a successful launch always exciting. But this one came with a few hiccups. So, there was a delay this morning. But also, the original Thursday launch, that was abruptly scrubbed. Do we know why?

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COMMANDER: It turns out it was a paperwork issue where the valves -- there were certain valves in the life support system. Out of an abundance of caution, SpaceX wanted to make sure that all the proper testing and certification had been done, because they had recently discovered some corrosion in related valves to -- on a -- an uncrewed cargo ship.

And so, they really just want to make sure all their T's were crossed, and I's were dotted before the attempt. And so, you know, at the last moment, SpaceX and NASA decided it was prudent to delay the mission until this morning. So, it's just the loss of a couple of days and really has no major impact.

WALKER: So, Leroy, tell us --

(CROSSTALK)

SOLOMON: I think that --

WALKER: Sorry about that.

(CROSSTALK)

SOLOMON: I was just saying, that's a no, Amara.

WALKER: Yes. So, tell us more Leroy about, you know, what they are going to be doing out there?

CHIAO: Yes. So, this crew will be conducting more operations, you know, kind of continuing what we've been doing for over 30 years now, aboard ISS, which is continuing to operate the station and continuing to do research, a lot of it related to life science. We're very interested, of course, to learn how spaceflight -- long duration spaceflight affects the human body.

We've already been surprised a few times. And so, we've got to solve these problems or figure out countermeasures, as we like to say, in order to keep crew healthy when we're in space for long periods of time. And that's going to help get us to Mars.

SOLOMON: Leroy, you know, you know, one of the other big stories this week in terms of space was India, becoming the fourth country in the world to successfully land on the Moon this week. It was a major moment for the nation, I think, a major moment for Indians around the world.

But what does this mean for future space exploration?

CHIAO: Well, that's right. India is made a big achievement, big deal. And they are only the fourth nation ever to be able to land a -- soft land a vehicle on the surface of the moon. And they did a first. They landed a vehicle near the South Pole.

South Pole is interesting to exploration, because we believe and indications are that there's a large quantity of water ice near the surface.

And so, that's important, because if you're going to set up a lunar base for humans, you're going to want to bring that water to the surface, you're going to use it for drinking, you can electrolyze it and use the oxygen for breathing. And you can use the oxygen and hydrogen to help you make propellants for rockets in the future that might, you know, need -- you might need spacecraft that need refueling in the lunar or what we call the cislunar space between the Earth and the Moon.

And so, for all those reasons, everyone's interested in the south pole of the Moon.

WALKER: And while India may be cheering and celebrating a successful landing on the moon, a very different story in Russia, right? Because the uncrewed Russian Luna-24 (PH), it malfunctioned, and then, it crashed into the moon last week.

Can you compare, I guess, you know, both launches between India and Russia, and you know, what happened in Russia?

CHIAO: Sure, Luna-25 had been actually started in the works almost 20 years ago. It was stopped, it was started, it was stopped, and then, more recently, there was a push to get the flight launched. I think, Russia was eager to get a win if you will, and in kind of the national prestige public relations arena.

[07:55:03]

And so, it was actually timed. The launch was actually timed such that it would get to the Moon, a few days before the Indian probe.

And unfortunately for Russia, as we -- as you saw, it did make it to the moon, and then, as it was attempting to land had an issue, and it ended up crashing on the moon, becoming more of an embarrassment than anything else to the Russian government.

And so, you know, it was not as sophisticated as the Indian probe. The Indian probe actually has a small rover that was deployed yesterday, and it went down, and is beginning its operations.

It's a -- it's a pretty modest rover, but nonetheless, it's a big accomplishment.

SOLOMON: Leroy, let me ask before I let you go. It seems like more and more people are traveling to space, but as someone who you, yourself, has spent more than 200 days in space. What's it like?

CHIAO: Oh, it's -- surreal is the word that comes to mind. I mean, the moment you get up there, especially the first time, it's hard to believe you're there, you're wondering if you're in a dream. And then, you look back at the Earth, and it's just so colorful and beautiful. It's really gives you a nice, nice, bigger perspective on life.

SOLOMON: Yes. Leroy Chiao, great to -- great to have you this morning. Thank you.

On the next hour, CNN THIS MORNING, starts after a short break.

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