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CNN This Morning

Aftershocks Rattle Northeast After Rare 4.8 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Region; U.S. And Israel On Alert About A Possible Iranian Attack; Man Set Fire Outside Bernie Sanders' Vermont Office; Saturday Fundraiser For Trump Has Raised $43 Million So Far; Trump, RNC Raise $43 Million Ahead Of Saturday Fundraiser; Bandera Texas Braces For Solar Eclipse; Diddy's Combs Son Faces Sexual Assault Allegations. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired April 06, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:33]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Good Saturday morning and welcome to CNN This Morning. Today is April 6 2024. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: And I'm Amara Walker. Here's what we're watching for you this morning. Rattled buildings and nerves a series of aftershocks jolts millions across the Northeast after the strongest earthquake in nearly 250 years hits New Jersey. The ripple effects both up and down the East Coast.

BLACKWELL: The U.S. is bracing for what senior officials call a quote significant and inevitable attack by Iran in the coming days. We're live with the overnight developments ahead.

WALKER: Israel says it's approved reopening a key crossing to allow humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. For the first time since the Israel-Hamas war started six months ago. We are live there with the latest.

BLACKWELL: And the Eclipse frenzy sweeping across the country leading to a population boom in one tiny town in Texas. We'll take you there later this morning.

WALKER: At least 18 aftershocks have rattled the Northeast after a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region yesterday. The shaking could be felt all the way from Washington D.C. up to Maine.

BLACKWELL: There were no serious injuries or damage reported in the strongest earthquake to hit New Jersey in more than 240 years. But the shaking did leave some people and some pets startled. More than 23 million people felt light shaking and a lot of it was caught on camera.

CNN's Polo Sandoval spoke to some rattled New Yorkers after the quake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A typical morning in Middlesex, New Jersey. Suddenly interrupted by a rare earthquake that rocked much of the Eastern U.S. on Friday. Second angle captured the rattling of the walls violent enough to knock items to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, my house is shaking.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): It's one of many videos shared online capturing stunned and scared residents during and after 4.8 magnitude quake.

The epicenter was some 50 miles west of New York City in northern New Jersey, according to the US Geological Survey, which estimates at least 23 million people felt some degree of shaking from D.C. to New England. Ned Tanner was working at a Manhattan High Rise.

NED TANNER, FELT EARTHQUAKE IN NEW YORK: My chair started kind of bouncing a little bit. And as soon as I looked around, I immediately realized that I wasn't alone. Everybody else in the building definitely felt something. So, there's a feeling I haven't experienced before. It was quite interesting. And yes, it was a little unnerving.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): The New Jersey quake is the largest to strike that state in over 240 years, according to the USGS and New York City Security Council meeting on the war in the Middle East forced to pause as the U.N. Manhattan headquarters shook.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was that an earthquake?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are making the ground shake.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Critical infrastructure like bridges and the transit system fared well. Many built to withstand seismic events stronger than Friday's assured city officials.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D) NEW YORK: We do not have any reports of major impacts to our infrastructure or injuries. But of course, we're still assessing the situation.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Polo, thank you for that report. The U.S. is actively preparing for a significant attack from Iran in the coming days. Officials in the U.S. and Israel are on high alert after an Israeli airstrike in Damascus that killed at least seven Iranian officials according -- including a top commander.

The State Department says it warranted Iran not to use the strike as a pretext to attack U.S. personnel and facilities in the region. We're also waiting this morning for a word on when Israel will reopen crossings to allow aid into Gaza. The Erez crossing is one of them. Now American officials worry widespread destruction will prevent aid from reaching those in need. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: These are positive developments, but the real test is results. And that's what we're looking to see in the coming days. And in the coming weeks is the aid effectively reaching people who need it throughout Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:05:07]

WALKER: And we have team coverage this morning we will get to Camila DeChalus in just a minute. But let's start with CNN's Nic Robertson who is standing by live in Israel. Nic, what can you tell us? OK, you know, we're actually going to go to Camila first, and Camila tell us more about, you know, the specific intelligence about a looming attack from Iran.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, at this point in time U.S. officials say they believe in attack against made by Iran is inevitable. And even though we don't know exactly how or when they're planning to strike back, we know that it could come as early as next week.

Now, this has been a major talking point, when Biden spoke to the Israeli prime minister over the phone the last time they spoke, and we know that U.S. officials are preparing for a worst case scenario and making preparations as we speak.

But the bigger picture here, Amara and Victor, is that this could potentially escalate into a wider regional conflict. And that is something that Biden has long tried to avoid. Amara, Victor.

WALKER: All right. Camila DeChalus, thank you very much. What are we going to Nic Robertson? Are we -- OK. We don't have him anymore. So we will go now to CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. Kim, it's good to have you this morning.

First off, let's talk about, you know, the U.S. actively preparing for significant attack that could come as soon as within a week, next week by Iran. This is from our MJ Lee, who broke this reporting yesterday. What are you hearing about where and how Iran could target U.S. assets?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, this would be highly unusual if Iran does a strike directly on Israeli targets or Israeli territory. In the past, what Iran has done is use proxies to attack obscuring its hand, obscuring its command orders, even though it's known, for instance, that Iran trained and supplied much of the weaponry that Hamas used in its October 7 attacks against Israel. Iran said that it wasn't informed of that actual planning and that day that it had, yes, supported the Hamas movement. But it tried to erase any culpability.

In this case, Iran has directly warned that it is going to target Israel in some way for the attack on the diplomatic compound inside Syria that of course, Israel has said, was a Quds Force or Revolutionary Guards Command Center as well as being a diplomatic compound. And it killed high ranking officials in the Quds Force, which the U.S. also considers a terrorist group.

So could it be some sort of Hezbollah rocket attack on the north at a level we haven't seen before? Or at Iranian drone strike on Israel proper? I think if it's the latter, that would possibly trigger some sort of larger response by Israel, or possibly by the US. And in the past, Iran hasn't wanted to risk that.

WALKER: Tell us more about how you expect the U.S. to respond to, I guess, any attack on U.S. interests, and particularly on Israeli interests as well, because, you know, you heard the U.S. warning Iran, you know, do not use what's going on in Israel as a pretext to attack us interests.

So what could you expect from the U.S. then if Iran does indeed, go ahead?

DOZIER: Well, Iran has said things like, don't get caught between U.S. and Israel on this to the U.S. and even on Twitter, or the platform, now known as X, as some of its officials have tweeted, you know, don't get in the way. And there has been a two-month pause by Iranian proxies in the region on U.S. military facilities, but it could be something like, you know, Iran has threatened to attack anyone transiting certain parts of the Gulf or, more precisely, it's threatened to respond if some of its tankers are seized by US.

There are a number of different ways that there are U.S. troops throughout the Gulf. There are U.S. naval ships, all of these present potential targets, but again, any one of them could trigger response by the U.S. or Israel that escalates this into a hot war, which all sides have hesitated doing.

[06:10:00]

WALKER: CNN's reporting is also that the Biden administration is embracing for one of the worst case scenarios. And that would be a direct strike on Israel by Iran. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, is that likely?

DOZIER: Again, they haven't risked it in the past. But what Iran could do is target a military facility and scrupulously avoid civilian areas, which is hard to do in Israel, which is a very small country, and military facilities are often cheek by jowl with Israeli neighborhoods.

And depending on the level of that kind of attack that would -- we know that Israel is a nuclear power, even though it doesn't admit to being one. And that could escalate to at least a volley of missiles back and forth. And then I don't know where you go from there.

WALKER: Yes. This is the escalation that the world has been extremely concerned about. Let's go back to the potential or the expected reopening of the Erez crossing. It would mark a major shift by Israel, but also which is notable, we're seeing a major shift in tone by the Biden administration.

And notably, that conversation between Biden and Netanyahu on Thursday after that deadly strike on the seven aid workers with a World Central Kitchen.

And on that call, Biden demanded several things to Netanyahu, including allowing aid to get in. I want you to listen to what John Kirby had to say about that call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: We'll watch closely and monitor how they do on the commitments that they make. And as I said earlier, if there's no changes to their policy and their approaches, then there's going to have to be changes to ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: It sounds like an ultimatum, Kim. I mean, what do you think about the fact that you know, Biden is basically saying, the U.S. policy on Israel could change.

DOZIER: It was certainly language that was perceived in Israel as an ultimatum. But ultimatums are also tools, because the Israeli government isn't just one monolithic group of people. You've got the conservative cabinet that Netanyahu put together after not having enough seats to take power. And that's got a lot of right wingers that don't want to -- they want to cut off aid altogether from Gaza. And then you've got the war cabinet, which includes some of his opponents. And that word cabinet is much more open understands the need of getting aid in there.

So by issuing an ultimatum like that, Netanyahu was able to silence some of his critics on his extreme right wing government and say, we've got to open the passageways in the north and get more aid in there because this has been such a public mistake by the Israeli Defense Forces. We've got to give something back, or we threaten our weapons supplies, we threaten our western support, we threaten our White House support, which we need no matter what happens in the U.S. election, come the fall.

WALKER: Regarding the strike of -- the deadly strike on the WCK, there was an internal investigation by Israel and they determined that there were some grave mistakes made. Mistaken identity was basically what happened and they mistook the convoy for Hamas terrorists.

We're hearing from around the world from the World Central Kitchen, and also from the U.N. Secretary General, that there needs to be an independent third party investigation. You know, what are your thoughts on that? And I mean, do you expect Israel would allow an independent party to step in to investigate this?

DOZIER: Israel hasn't in the past, especially when this is a military matter that involves highly classified intelligence on their side. I think what you're going to hear from the White House and the Pentagon who've been studying this detailed report behind closed doors, is that look, they accepted fault. People got fired. We've done similar mistakes. We've hit civilian targets as well.

I don't think they're going to push any further. This was a public enough acceptance of culpability, that it will be enough for the White House if not for World Central Kitchen.

WALKER: And the U.S. has also said to has no plans to conduct an independent investigation. Kim Dozier, good to have you this morning. Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead this morning. Police are searching for a man they say set part of Senator Bernie Sanders' office on fire. What we're learning about the incident and a possible motive.

Plus, forecast of fire and ice. That was dramatic. Millions of people out west are bracing for the threat of wildfires and millions more battling freezing conditions.

[06:15:05]

And we're just a couple of days away from the total eclipse of the sun, that really puts me in the mind of Audrey II.

WALKER: I was about --

BLACKWELL: All right. Total eclipse of the sun.

WALKER: Yes, I was going to sing that for you.

BLACKWELL: How small towns in the past and totality are preparing for their big moment.

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[06:20:00]

WALKER: Right now police are searching for a man they say started a fire at Senator Bernie Sanders' office in Vermont.

BLACKWELL: The Burlington Police Department released these pictures last night and they're asking for help to identify this man. CNN's Melanie Zanona has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Office has determined that this fire was quote incendiary in nature and the investigation is now being turned over to local police and state police. Senator's office is located in a historic building a Masonic Temple that houses a number of other retail offices and a number of other office spaces and officials said they arrived on the scene and they located a fire in the vestibule in between an elevator and the entrance to Sanders office.

The official said that they evacuated the scene and that there was some fire and water damage with that. Thankfully, no one was injured. We do have a statement from state director Kathryn Van Haste. This is someone who works for Senator Sanders, and she said they were grateful to the fire and police for first responders and that they were relieved that no one on their staff or anyone in the area was harmed.

But even though no one was injured, it is still very alarming incident especially given the recent uptick and threats that we have seen leveled against members of Congress.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Melanie Zanona, thank you so much for the report. 11 million people in the West are facing red flag warnings of a critical fire weather threat in a place from New Mexico to Kansas.

WALKER: And while the West deals with the heat, the Ohio Valley is faced with an April freeze with cold air causing temperatures to drop into the 20s. CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa is joining us now. I'm just confused with all the weather going on. I mean, so many extreme --

BLACKWELL: Spring fight back. Fight back.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Busy for sure. And yes, we're still getting a little bit of taste of winter that week likes to sneak in and you've got these temperatures on the cold side this morning where we're below freezing in spots. And that's why we've got these, you know, frost and freeze concerns because the growing season has started in location. Temperatures again, dipping below freezing from Cincinnati to Chicago to Detroit as well.

We've got the frost and freeze alert stretching from St. Louis to Nashville, even just north of Atlanta, Charlotte and Raleigh because the growing season is in effect, and then you get these cold temperatures and that puts them as vegetation at risk the crop, the farmers really need to kind of handle those crops a little bit differently.

Here's our next storm system that's brewing on the West Coast. You'll see some lightning in there with some snow as it develops over the Four Corners region. This is going to really be a wind maker. We've got high wind warnings and effect we're going to find gusts upwards of 65 miles per hour if not greater, and that's going to it could even be damaging in parts of a, you know, the Four Corners region here going into the southern plains, as it couples with dry air. That's where you get the fire danger.

Red flag warnings in effect, almost border to border from the Dakotas back down into Texas where that dry air plus the wind will really crank those fire weather conditions. And you can see the gusts really just kicking with gusts up to, you know, 50, 60 even more than that miles per hour as we go through the next day or so.

So that storm system will continue to push its way east will bring some snow up to the Great Lakes or I'm sorry, the northern plains and then we'll have some of the showers and storms that continue to push its way east. Fire danger the next two days. It also comes with a severe risk, which also comes in time for the Eclipse, guys. So it looks like it could be a little bit busy on Monday.

WALKER: Elisa Raffa, thank you so much. Just ahead former president Donald Trump hosts his first fundraiser with the new look Republican National Committee. We'll dive into the state of the race for the White House. Next.

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[06:28:00]

WALKER: President Biden promised to move heaven and earth to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after he visited the site of the collapse, a large container ship hit the bridges supports last week killing six construction workers. The bodies of three of those workers are still missing.

The President also offered his condolences to the victims' families and pledged federal support for the recovery effort.

Your next chance to be a billionaire happens tonight, the Powerball jackpot is now close to $1.3 billion. That is the fourth largest jackpot ever for Powerball. The lump sum stands at almost $609 million. And of course good luck to you all for tonight's drawing.

BLACKWELL: Today Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee will host the first joint fundraiser in Florida for Trump's presidential campaign. Source told CNN that it has raised $43 million. So far one event. A Trump has brought in about $93 million in March. Well, not in the single month of March, in March, that's how much he had, less than $66 million less than what President Biden has brought in so far.

But all this money, it doesn't matter if the candidates cannot win over the voters and both parties battle to unify their ranks.

Let's bring it down national politics reporter for The Hill, Julia Manchester. Good morning to you. So $43 million. I mean, just a couple of weeks ago, President Biden with former presidents Clinton and Obama they set a record of $26 million in a day. Have these billionaires who at one point distanced themselves from Trump. Are they back now?

JULIA MANCHESTER, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, THE HILL: You know, I think that's a good question, Victor. Some of them might be back but I think there's certainly still trepidation because there's really there's a state of unknown about what happens particularly with former President Trump's legal issues and that's what makes this so complicated.

[06:30:05]

You know, normally, in these races, whether it's presidential, Senate, House, down ballot, you know, these donors get involved and they want to elect the candidate. However, Donald Trump makes this different because he has a lot of

legal bills to pay off and legal penalties and fees, et cetera. So, they have to keep that in mind, and we know that President Trump, you know, needs to pay that off. So, that makes things a lot more complicated.

However, I do think as we get closer to November, there is this feeling that look, Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee before during the primary when Nikki Haley was still in, there are still --maybe this -- you know, feeling of hope that maybe there's this alternative. But right now, they have Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's talk. You mentioned down-ballot. Let's talk about that. There seems to be -- and you've got new reporting on this, some optimism amongst Democrats that the likelihood that there will be a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida, specifically on abortion rights, elevates the -- at least, the Democratic candidate in the Senate race, if not the president, although I don't know if anybody says he's going to win Florida clearly here. What do you know about how Democrats view this vote that's coming in November?

MANCHESTER: So, Victor, over the past few years, we've since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we've seen a number of these abortion ballot measures voted on in states, also in red states like Ohio. So, last year in 2023, voters in Ohio, a Republican state voted to enshrine abortion in the state's constitution.

However, Democrats say that they're even more optimistic in Florida than let's say in Ohio, because it's on the ballot at the same time as Joe Biden's running for president, as Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is challenging incumbent Senator Rick Scott, she's on the ballot as well.

So, they say it makes it easier for them to tie the Republican opponents to, you know, abortion restrictions in Florida. However, Republicans and even some Democrats, I talked to acknowledged that look, it's very plausible that this abortion ballot measure will go into effect or will be voted into the state's constitution and training abortion rights.

At the same time, though, tickets, letters are really real thing in Florida. So, theoretically, someone could vote for, you know, to enshrine abortion in Florida's constitution. But at the same time, vote for Donald Trump or Rick Scott. But it all depends on how Donald Trump messages on that issue.

He has been pretty strategic or trying to be strategic on this issue over the past year since Roe v. Wade was overturned. He knows how difficult this is for Republicans. So, next week, he's supposed to make an announcement as to how he's going to deal with this issue, and I think we'll have more of an idea how this will play for Republicans going forward.

BLACKWELL: We'll have to see if that announcement comes. The former president has a history of saying next week or two weeks from now, I'll give a speech or make a statement and that never comes, but we'll stand by for it --

MANCHESTER: Right --

BLACKWELL: Now, since Super Tuesday, the primaries have gotten less attention because we now know the presumptive nominees will be Trump and Biden. But I want to focus it on Wisconsin with you, and significant protest numbers here. I'm going to start with the Republican race.

Former President Trump earned less than 80 percent of the vote in this crucial swing state, 124,000 people got up, drove to the polls to vote for a candidate who was not Trump -- you see Nikki Haley got 76,000 votes, 12.7 percent. What's the level of concern in the Trump campaign as we get further from the Super Tuesday date, and his wrapping up the number of delegates that he's still getting this number of protest votes.

MANCHESTER: Look, I think on both camps, in the Biden camp and the Trump camp, there is a concern about enthusiasm because when we look at polls, we know that a lot of Americans aren't excited for this Trump versus Biden rematch. In fact, some data would suggest they're dreading it.

However, you know, I think you're hearing both of the campaigns, including the Trump campaign say, look, we have a lot of time between now and November, even though that -- you know, the clock is ticking. So, that's why you see Donald Trump going to Wisconsin.

I think you're obviously going to see President Biden go to Wisconsin as well. Remember, there was also an uncommitted vote in Wisconsin that got quite a bit of, you know, traction, pushing back against former president -- or President Biden, excuse me, his handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

So, that's something we're going to see, and I think these candidates since imperative on both of them to really galvanize their basis and also galvanize independent swing voters at a time when they just aren't necessarily excited for the prospect of these two men going up against each other.

[06:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Yes, and just before we go here, let's put up the Democrat votes here, 90 percent -- just short of 90 percent voted for President Biden and the uninstructed, which is essentially uncommitted 8.2 percent of the vote at 48,000 -- we've got to wrap it there, Julia Manchester, thanks so much.

MANCHESTER: Thanks.

WALKER: Just ahead, millions will make their way to the path of totality ahead of Monday's solar eclipse. And that has some small towns bracing for big crowds.

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[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Anticipation is building this weekend. Can you feel it? Can you feel it for this coast-to-coast eclipse coming on Monday.

WALKER: I haven't seen you this excited.

BLACKWELL: I like these types of things --

WALKER: Since Beyonce's album came out --

BLACKWELL: I love these types of things, I'm looking forward to it.

WALKER: Bandera, Texas, a place known as the cowboy capital of the world happens to be smack in the middle of the path of totality. Now, the small town is bracing for a massive wave of tourists, Monday. CNN's Rosa Flores is there to check it all out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome the Bandera, you guys.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the cowboy capital of the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lots of western bands and good dancing.

FLORES: Bandera, Texas, is in the path of totality for Monday's solar eclipse. The town is expected to experience more than four minutes of darkness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rosa, I know you're over there, but I can't see you. I can't see you.

FLORES: Eclipse-mania has taken hold of Bandera, horses and dinosaurs are donning eclipse glasses, even eyewear for a giant cowboy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One monster eclipse party.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are downtown, Bandera, Texas, behind us here is the courthouse.

FLORES: Bandera's population of under a 1,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody knows everybody. Hi, Eilene(ph)!

FLORES: Is expected to quadruple Monday, says the mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were some folks from China in the 11th street last night --

FLORES (on camera): China?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All over the place.

FLORES (voice-over): At a 11th street cowboy bar, the meat --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Medium ram --

FLORES: And greet is about the eclipse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We drove 1,700 miles.

FLORES (on camera): Seventeen hundred miles to see the eclipse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

FLORES (voice-over): These two friends caravan from Pennsylvania.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I've been preparing, I bought a camper, I bought a jeep. I did everything.

FLORES (on camera): You bought a camper for the eclipse --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bought a car --

FLORES: I hear that it might storm in Bandera.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it's going to be a beautiful day.

FLORES: Are we doing positive thinking about this? Positive thinking.

(voice-over): It's not just Bandera's cowgirls praying for good weather. Millions are expected to flock to Texas, and more than a dozen U.S. states in the celestial path of totality. Some officials are worried about traffic jams.

(on camera): And who is this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Worcester(ph).

FLORES (voice-over): In Bandera, cowgirls solved that problem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to jump on Worcester(ph) and I'm going to ride by everybody. And I do my little princesses wave even.

FLORES: Eclipse-mania expected to add $6 billion to the U.S. economy in one estimate. Texas, a slice of the astronomical pie, $1.4 billion. The eclipse merchandise in Bandera --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They sold like that.

FLORES: Is practically sold out.

(on camera): Well, this is beautiful country, Alex(ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

FLORES (voice-over): So, are venues, like the historic Dixie Dude Ranch.

(on camera): And when did you start getting calls about the eclipse? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our first reservation for the eclipse was in 2017.

I think we sold out completely about four years ago.

FLORES (voice-over): What never runs out here are the good people --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a moon-pie.

FLORES (on camera): Moon-pie?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the eclipse, don't you know?

FLORES: Oh, for the eclipse? Thank you.

(voice-over): And the good times.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Many at times, those good times here in Bandera happen on a horse. Here, there's thousands of people who are expected for the eclipse. I know that a lot of people are worried. Is there going to be cloud cover or are we going to be able to see the eclipse or not? But that's not stopping people in Bandera. They're going to have a good time, Amara, Victor?

BLACKWELL: I am checking flights.

WALKER: I know. He's on -- you do your thing --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WALKER: But I mean, do not look up without those eclipse glasses, right?

ELISA RAFFA, METEOROLOGIST: Yes --

WALKER: That's what we've got to remember by the way.

RAFFA: I had some too, I'm going to bring them down in the next hour from upstairs, I left them on my desk. But yes, the glasses and we're all keeping eyes on the cloud cover. This eclipse actually has many more millions of people in its path than the last one in 2017.

So, there are a lot of people that are looking to see what this cloud cover forecasts will be because you'll be able to see the eclipse even with some clouds, it's just the detail that you might be able to see. Here's a look at the storm path, the storm track comes right through Texas.

We do have a growing severe risk, and then those clouds could kind of sit along the path, the best-viewing, it looks like it might be New England. Here's our severe risk for Monday. We have a slight risk level, two out of five for damaging winds and large hail.

Now, it looks like a lot of these storms could kind of fire up after the eclipse, but you don't have a lot of people in Dallas checking out the eclipse. So, you could see where some of the showers and storms might line up. It comes with the clouds for a place like Dallas, you know, in Texas, where we've got this severe risk.

And the clouds, we'll have them for a decent part of the stretch, but again, like I mentioned, you know, just because we have some clouds, it doesn't mean you might not be able to see everything -- you'll probably still be able to feel the darkness coming in, it just might not be as crisp as you want it.

[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: You feel the darkness --

RAFFA: Sorry --

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: I feel the darkness --

RAFFA: Sound-settle, ominous --

BLACKWELL: Seven hundred and eleven dollars round-trip to Arkansas from Atlanta --

WALKER: On your way back?

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's round trip.

WALKER: Oh, round trip --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WALKER: Some of it sold-out --

RAFFA: Right along on their way back --

BLACKWELL: Some of it sold-out for the evening, so, I imagine there are some people who are going there and they've already booked the flights back to Atlanta --

WALKER: Yes --

BLACKWELL: So, maybe --

WALKER: A lot of interest --

BLACKWELL: Maybe --

WALKER: You might do it?

BLACKWELL: Maybe, I could use some points. Elisa, thank you.

WALKER: Thanks, Elisa.

BLACKWELL: Make sure you join CNN for special live coverage of the "ECLIPSE ACROSS AMERICA", starts live Monday at 1:00 Eastern or stream it on Max. Still to come. More legal troubles for Sean "Diddy" Combs and his family. Now, his son faces new allegations. We'll explain next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

WALKER: Son of rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs is accused of sexual assaults in a new lawsuit. A woman says that 26-year-old Christian Combs sexually assaulted her while she was an employee on his father's yacht in December 2022.

BLACKWELL: Now, "Diddy" is also named in the lawsuit under allegations of aiding and abetting. Both Combs and his son deny the accusations. This is the latest in a series of lawsuits filed against Combs and follows raids by federal investigators at his homes in Los Angeles and Miami last week. CNN's Josh Campbell has more for us.

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JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Nearly two weeks after that dramatic law enforcement surge of music mogul's Sean Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles, reportedly part of a federal sex trafficking investigation, according to law enforcement sources, he and his son, Christian Combs, are facing new legal challenges in a 31-page lawsuit filed Thursday here in L.A. superior court.

A woman who worked as a crew member and bartender on a yacht, leased by the Combs family in December 2022, claims Sean Combs turned what was sold as a wholesome family excursion into a hedonistic environment. It resulted in unwanted exposure to unlawful drug use, sex work and general chaos.

She says Christian Combs pressured her to drink alcohol and then assaulted her. She says she believed Tequila that Christian brought on board the vessel may have been laced with drugs. Now, an attorney for Sean and Christian Combs told CNN, they had not seen the lawsuit, but believe it contains, quote, "manufactured lies".

The lawsuit cites transcripts from a purported audio recording of the alleged incident, indicating the accuser asked Combs, quote, "are you drugging me?" He allegedly responded, "take the shot." The suit claims that later that night, Christian cornered the accuser and became, quote, "physical and extremely aggressive".

Sean Combs is not accused of sexual assault in this lawsuit, but is included on allegations of liability and aiding and abetting. He has faced a series of previous lawsuits accusing him of a range of sexual misconduct and other illegal activities, all of which he has denied.

Of course, there are still looming questions unanswered, including what, if anything, did federal investigators find during the search of Sean Combs homes, and could it be used in any potential criminal prosecutions? Law enforcement sources tell CNN that investigation continues. Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WALKER: All right, Josh, thank you for that. Up next, it was the mission that changed space flight forever. CNN takes a look back at the day the Columbia space shuttle fell apart during its final return to earth.

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BLACKWELL: As a local reporter in Texas in 2003, Ed Lavandera saw the space shuttle Columbia disaster in the hours after the debris from the tragic accident fell from the sky.

WALKER: Yes, and Ed went on to cover the debris recovery efforts in the emotional fallout of the disaster on communities in Texas and the weeks that followed.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we've got a little problem on the space shuttle Columbia, it has been out of communication now for the past 12 minutes.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those were the first haunting words on CNN just over 21 years ago, that something was wrong with the space shuttle Columbia while CNN's live coverage intensified, I got the call to race out the door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, and if you step outside quickly, that's a live picture of the space shuttle Columbia.

LAVANDERA: I turned on my home television and saw that a photo journalist I used to work with at CNN affiliate "WFAA" in Dallas, was capturing the moment live. It would soon shock the world.

(on camera): John Pronk, we've known each other a long time.

JOHN PRONK, FORMER WFAA PHOTOJOURNALIST: Good to see you my friend.

LAVANDERA: Pronk was asked to capture something routine. A live beauty shot of the shuttle coming home, streaking across the Dallas sky.

PRONK: I can still remember the sky? It was real blue, it came right over downtown.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Then the unthinkable.

PRONK: It's high and it's moving.

LAVANDERA (on camera): It looks like you can see pieces of the shuttle coming off.

PRONK: When it broke up, it wasn't like anything I'd ever seen. I mean, it was just like fingers, it looked like contrails. It was like surreal. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ed, what are you seeing?

LAVANDERA: Well, Myles(ph), we are driving --

(voice-over): Our CNN Dallas team phoned in reports from the road all day. It didn't take long to find space shuttle Columbia debris scattered all over east Texas, all seven astronauts aboard were killed.

We have come across the first location where we've seen what appears to be some sort of piece of debris that has been smoldering for some time now in a wide open field.

We're joined by Melissa Raskill(ph) who lives here in Nacogdoches.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, this morning, roughly about 8:03, the walls started shaking, a thunderous noise, booming what seemed to be right in our backyard. It lasted for about two minutes.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us now from Nacogdoches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready Eddy?

LAVANDERA: Well, Wolf, if you can imagine, this is a debris field that is massive for investigators to have to comb through.

(on camera): One of the things that I find the most haunting about my memories of that day is that there were seven inspiring astronauts that were out there somewhere, and I just find that so chilling to think about.

PRONK: It was probably the saddest story I ever covered. It was so unexpected.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But when residents found an astronaut's helmet and a crew members mission patch, the nightmare of what had happened became clear.

(on camera): You were sent out there for a beauty shot --

PRONK: For a beauty shot and the shuttle going over.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That's the last thing it was. The beauty was shattered by tragedy. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

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BLACKWELL: Wow, Ed, thank you for that.