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CNN This Morning

Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial; On Monday, Michael Cohen, Former "Fixer" For Trump Scheduled To Testify; Threats Against Major Witnesses In Trump Case; Michael Cohen Instructed By Judge To Refrain From Discussing The Trump Trial; Bracing For Cicada Invasion; Unusually Large Double Brood Of Cicadas Predicted To Emerge; 35 Million At Risk For Severe Weather; Threats Of Flooding And Tornadoes Growing In The South; CNN's "Champions For Change"; IDF: 300,000 Have Evacuate Rafah To "Humanitarian Areas"; MSF: Can No Longer Guarantee Patient Safety In Rafah; Trump Holds Beachfront Rally In NJ, Close To Battleground State PA; Biden Wraps Up 2-Day Tour On The West Coast; Biden Calls Trump "Clearly Unhinged" At Seattle Fundraiser; House Rejects Effort To Oust Mike Johnson From Speakership; Controlled Demolition Planned At Baltimore Bridge Collapse Site. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 12, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- being trans in order to slim. I was like, I just -- I have to, but like, I just couldn't anymore. I want to switch teams and my goal is to compete on the women's team.

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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: All right, "The Playing Field: The Battle Over Transgender Athletes," airs on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Another hour of CNN This Morning starting right now.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, May 12. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, to you as well, to the bonus moms, all the mother figures out there. I'm Amara Walker here with Danny Freeman and of course, meteorologist Allison Chinchar.

Here is what we're working on for you this morning. A dire situation in Gaza is growing worse. The U.N. says it's humanitarian agencies could run out of food by tomorrow. Thousands of people are forced to evacuate Rafah as a threat of a potential major Israeli assault looms large.

FREEMAN: And in just hours, crews will use small explosives to break apart a massive chunk of the Baltimore bridge that collapsed on a cargo ship six weeks ago.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it is that time of year, we are looking at another threat of severe thunderstorms, not just today, but also Monday. We'll take a look at the timeline and exactly what impacts there will be coming up.

WALKER: And former President Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, is set to take the stand in the high stakes criminal hush money trial tomorrow. A look at some of the intimidation tactics some witnesses have been facing from some Trump's -- some of Trump's most loyal followers.

FREEMAN: But this morning we begin in Gaza, where Israel is carrying out airstrikes. And this morning, Palestinians say they have no safe place to go. Israel is striking targets in northern, central, and southern Gaza, hitting areas they say contain militant infrastructure.

Hours before the strikes began, Israeli forces dropped leaflets telling people to leave. The civil defense in Gaza says an estimated 10,000 bodies are trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza.

WALKER: And in the south, the Israeli military says about 300,000 Palestinians have evacuated Rafah to what Israel calls expanded humanitarian areas. The president of the European Council calls those areas unsafe zones and the evacuations unacceptable.

We need scripts.

And all this comes as anti-government protests erupted across Israel yesterday. The protesters marched to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence, calling for his resignation and for early elections.

Elliott Gotkine joining us now. Hi there, Elliott, first off, let's talk about these operations that are ongoing across Gaza.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Amara, they've been taking place, as you say, in the north, in the central part, and also in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. And we're seeing a lot of Israeli activity in areas that, a few months ago, it pretty much said was job done, but then withdrew its forces, and that has allowed Hamas militants to try to re-establish themselves.

Indeed, in Jabalia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Israel says that the reason for its operations there is to prevent Hamas from reestablishing itself there. Now we've had a video that was filmed for CNN showing people trying to flee amid gunfire and also social media video showing tanks near the market in Jabalia.

As you say, some people in some neighborhoods were advised to leave by the IDF. We've also seen something similar taking place in Rafah. Now Israel says that its operations in Rafah were are in its words, precise and limited, which I think is aimed at the United States trying to reassure the Biden administration that it hasn't crossed President Biden's red lines of going in for a full blown ground operation.

Nevertheless, there have been airstrikes which we understand from officials in a local hospital killed 15 people over the weekend, among them four children. More than a dozen neighborhoods there in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, have been advised to evacuate either to Khan Younis in the north -- sorry, further north, or to Al- Mawasi, due west of Khan Younis, which is effectively just a barren stretch of beach lacking basic infrastructure in which any way we understand is filling up or full.

So there's not a lot of good options for people in Rafah. What you're also seeing is that those that are able to move in neighborhoods that haven't received their marching orders are taking it upon themselves to do so anyway on the assumption that at some point they will be asked to move and that by that time it might be too late to find anywhere relatively safe.

Of course, against this backdrop, we have a situation where with Israel in control of the border between Rafah and Egypt, not a single aid truck has gotten through that crucial crossing, the main conduit for humanitarian aid for the past six days. That's according to the border crossing authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.

And so we are seeing some aid getting through from the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip in the southern part of it there.

[07:05:05]

But even before Rafah crossing effectively became closed, there wasn't enough aid getting in. There clearly isn't enough getting in now. And that's why we're seeing those warnings from various U.N. agencies saying that if they don't get more food in now, then there will not be any food left to distribute from Monday.

Danny, Amara?

GOTKINE: Elliott, appreciate your reporting. Thanks so much.

Well, President Biden and Donald Trump are taking a break today after a busy day on the campaign trail. Biden wooed donors at a private fundraiser in Seattle. He called his predecessor unhinged, saying something's snapped in Trump after he lost the 2020 election.

Well today, the president is back on the East Coast.

FREEMAN: Meanwhile, former President Trump stopped in Wildwood in South Jersey, his third campaign rally since the start of his criminal trial in New York about a month ago. He's also pushing back on reports that former rival Nikki Haley could be his VP choice. He vehemently denied those reports on Truth Social.

Now Donald Trump's days off are few and far between now as this criminal trial continues in New York. So stopping in the state that's next door, that's historically voted blue, might have seemed like a strange choice.

WALKER: Yes. CNN's Alayna Treene joining us now with more. So why did he choose New Jersey for a key campaign stop, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Amara and Danny, you're both exactly right. It was an interesting choice. That's exactly what I had heard from many other Republicans when they learned that he was going to New Jersey. But, you know, from when I talked to Donald Trump's campaign, they said, look, part of this is because, you know, New Jersey isn't that far from New York.

This comes right on the heels of a very embarrassing week in the courtroom for Donald Trump after that explosive testimony from Stormy Daniels. They argued that part of the reasoning was they wanted to stay close. It's close to his Bedminster Golf Club. But the other part they argued is that Wildwood is actually a very red districts. It's a part of Cape May County.

That county went for Donald Trump in the last two elections, and we kind of saw that with the big crowd that turned out for Donald Trump on Saturday. Now, his advisers also acknowledged that, look, we know this isn't a critical battleground state and that we're likely going to win it in November. Trump, however, argued on stage yesterday that he thinks they could be competitive there in New Jersey, which I think was a surprising thing to a lot of people as well.

Now, I also just want to bring your attention to some other things. Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, also a top VP contender, introduced Trump at his rally yesterday, and Donald Trump had a lot of praise for him while he was on stage.

Take a listen to what the former president said.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You won't find anybody better than this gentleman in terms of his knowledge of, you know, he made his money in technology, but he probably knows more about energy than anybody I know. So get ready for something, OK? Just get ready. But Doug Burgum has been incredible.

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TREENE: So get ready for something, is what Donald Trump said. Unclear if that's a tease to a potential announcement regarding who his running mate could be. And if he's hinting at Doug Burgum being on his list, we know from our reporting that Doug Burgum is very high. VP contender list. So it's just something to keep in mind.

And another thing, Danny and Amara that I also thought was very interesting to point out is, you know, this comes right in between two very busy weeks of trial. We had Stormy Daniels last week. Michael Cohen is going to be testifying on Monday. And a big question going into Saturday was, could Donald Trump potentially violate his gag order?

Will he bring up either of those witnesses, even though he's not supposed to? Trump didn't go there. He didn't do that. Instead, he talked more generally about the indictments he is facing. He did bring up his hush money trial specifically, but he did so more to baselessly claim that Biden and Democrats are the ones behind it. Something we just know, of course, is not true. But I think it was interesting that he really did not delve into specifics about it again, I think because he knew he couldn't really wait anywhere. That could be a potential violation of that gag order.

WALKER: Yes.

TREENE: Danny, Amara?

WALKER: That is notable that he wasn't attacking any of the witnesses or, you know, the other parties involved in this trial.

Alayna Treene, great to have you. Thanks.

Also, President Biden is back in Delaware after a two-day tour of the West Coast. It ended in Seattle.

FREEMAN: Let's get right over to CNN's Kevin Liptak live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Kevin, what else did the President say about his Republican rival?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, you really see President Biden's continuing to hone his attacks on President Trump at these closed door fundraisers, really needling the former president trying to get under his skin.

And what you heard him say at this fundraiser in Seattle is really going after Former President Trump's mental state. He said that, "When Trump lost in 2020, something snapped in him." President Biden went on to say, "He's not only obsessed with losing in 2020, he's clearly unhinged."

[07:10:03]

And his evidence President Biden pointed to that interview with Time magazine that Trump did a few weeks ago, trying to lay out some of his second term agenda. President Biden, really using that as an example of the dark moments that could portend a second Trump term.

Now, President Biden was speaking there at the tail end of a fundraising swing on the west coast, really trying to maintain his fundraising advantage over former President Trump. That's really one of the unquestionable bright spots of President Biden's campaign so far, this cash advantage at the last fundraising filing deadline.

At the end of March, we really did see President Biden doubling President Trump's cash. So really putting that cash to good use and television ads. The President's campaign recently unveiled a 14 million ad campaign targeting blacks and Latinos really trying to focus on battleground states.

There are signs that Trump is catching up on the fundraising. He has raised tens of millions of dollars at events over the last several weeks. His advisers are telling donors that he raised 76 million in April. We will learn how much President Biden raised this week. Certainly, that's only one metric that the president's campaign really looking to maintain as this campaign heats up. FREEMAN: Kevin Liptak, thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

Let's bring in now CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent and Anchor of Inside Politics Sunday, Manu Raju. Manu, let's, if you will, circle back to the Trump trial for a moment here. Former President Trump barreling full steam ahead to November, but is there any indication that Republicans on Capitol Hill are concerned about how the trial will play out with voters?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, there's just a lot of uncertainty. I mean, a lot of the Republicans that I speak to believe that it has helped him in a lot of ways with his base. But the question is among swing voters. That is something, an answer that really no one can actually say with authority. Whether or not swing voters in suburban districts and some of those key states will be put off by some of the more tawdry allegations that have come out through the course of this trial by Stormy Daniels testimony from last week, and whether there's actually going to be a conviction in this case.

Of course, Donald Trump could also be acquitted and how will that play out. Now, putting this question to Republicans over the last several days, I had asked them about not just what they think about the case, but also the underlying allegations of the former president paying off an adult film actress to try to keep an extramarital affair, alleged extramarital affair quiet. Listen.

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SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: I don't know that she's the most credible witness in the world, but whether he had an extramarital affair or not, I mean, Bill Clinton was hugely successful having multiple affairs and listening to the details of it. I think it's unfortunate.

I think it's sad that we're at this point. But all of that said, that's past history. He's a redeemed man, and he's a really good president. And we have a really bad one right now, and we need a good one back.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I think this is a, in some ways, I think the litigation against President Trump is helping him particularly with his base because they feel like he's been the victim of abuse of the judicial and legal process for many years now. And so --

RAJU: But the swing voters though.

CORNYN: This is -- I don't think this is going to have much impact on the ultimate outcome.

RAJU: The swing voters or women voters?

CORNYN: You'll have to ask them. I'm not one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: And that is really the question that is driving so much of this, the impact this will have on swing voters. And when I put this question also to Democrats, a lot of them are concerned about the fact that it appears that only this criminal hush money case, of the four cases that Donald Trump is facing, will reach a verdict before November. That's something that they believe could potentially give Donald Trump a boost if this is the only one that reaches a verdict. Danny?

FREEMAN: And, Manu, I don't want to forget the other big news that seemingly came and went this past week. Remember, Speaker Mike Johnson survived an attempted ouster, and he did it with the help of some Democrats, which, you know, hardly earned him points with his critics. What's been, though, the reaction from Republicans on Capitol Hill?

RAJU: Well, they hope that this messy episode, this chaotic Congress, this divisive GOP House Republican conference that has devolved into infighting all year long, they hope it's over because essentially their agenda has been completely stymied because of this bitter infighting that led to the ouster of their first speaker, Kevin McCarthy, that did not end up with the ouster of Mike Johnson because Democrats came and helped ensure that Mike Johnson had the votes to push back.

The question among some of these members is, how this will impact them in November? That's a question I put to a swing district Republican Mike Lawler about the efforts by the far right, led by Marjorie Taylor Greene to push out Mike Johnson, and he had some choice words.

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REP. MIKE LAWLER (R), NEW YORK: In everything that they claim they're fighting for, they have been unable to accomplish. Not because of the Uniparty, but because of their stupidity and their ineffectiveness.

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[07:15:05]

RAJU: And that's the question about the tactics, the division in the House GOP over tactics, how best to effectuate their agenda. And you're seeing right there, some Republicans say it is time to just push those folks on the far right to the side, try to move ahead with their agenda for members on the right.

Say that Mike Johnson has compromised too much and has hurt their ability to keep control of the House. And that's a debate that will continue into November. The question is, will that undercut their chances? That's something that a lot of Republicans worry about, that they're essentially getting in their own way in trying to keep control of the House.

FREEMAN: Yes, this GOP infighting not quite over just yet.

Manu Raju, thank you so much. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju begins at 8:00 this morning. WALKER: All right, it has been six weeks after the devastating and deadly Baltimore bridge collapse. Now, crews will try to free the cargo ship trapped under the wreckage in just a few hours. We're going to talk to one former merchant mariner about what to expect from the controlled explosion, that's coming up.

Plus, just call it a cicada get in as many as 1 trillion, really trillion cicadas are starting to emerge in spots around the country, also here in the South. Everything you need to know.

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[07:20:55]

WALKER: Today in Baltimore, crews are planning a controlled demolition of a massive chunk of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which came crashing down back in March after a container ship full of cargo crashed into it. The controlled demolition will allow the ship that's stuck under the wreckage. It's been stuck there for over six weeks to be refloated and then guided back to the port of Baltimore.

Joining me now is Sal Mercogliano, he is a maritime historian at Campbell University, a former merchant mariner and host of "What's Going On With Shipping" on YouTube. It is great to have you on the program. First off, let's talk about this controlled demolition, but they'll be using explosives, right? So how much control can they have over, you know how, this massive steel portion of the bridge breaks down?

SAL MERCOGLIANO, MARITIME HISTORIAN, CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY: Well, good morning. Yes, they're looking at that big trust section. This is the large section that's off the left side of the vessel. What they have been doing with the other portions of the bridge have been cutting pieces at a time and removing it.

The problem is this is the largest single structure that's up against the vessel. And what they have to do is make multiple cuts at the same time. And that is time consuming. It's also a little bit dangerous to put crews at that risk. So what they're going to do is actually do a series of small detonations and collapse the structure off the vessel into the channel and then they can begin the process of removing that last piece that's on the bow of the vessel and hopefully remove the ship from the channel in the next day or two.

WALKER: Wait, so you're saying the crews could be put at risk so that they're still on board this cargo ship?

MERCOGLIANO: Well, you don't want -- the crews that are working on the bridge cutting it, but there is crews on the vessel. The ship's crew has been on board the entire time. This is still an operating vessel. There are electrical requirements, they have cargo on board, and they may need the crew on board when they eventually back the vessel off to use the ship's engines.

WALKER: But why not evacuate them while they do this controlled demolition? MERCOGLIANO: The explosions are going to be very focused and they're not going to be very large. It's very similar to what you see in control detonations on buildings, but they're going to have a lot of ship between them and the bridge. So they're going to be able to hunker down, get down below. So there's not a lot of risk associated with having the crew on board.

Plus, you want the crew on board to monitor the vessel should something happen when the bridge comes down. They don't expect any issues at all, but they want to be able to be on board. Should they need to run pumps or any sort of damage control?

WALKER: OK. So once they get the, you know, that large span of the bridge into pieces, I would imagine they bring in a crane and put on a barge. And then where do these pieces go? Can they be reused to rebuild this bridge?

MERCOGLIANO: They have been dismantling sections of this bridge. And so what they've been doing is hoisting pieces up, putting them on barges, taking them over to a -- what's the old Sparrows Point shipyard and begin the process of recycling them. They're going to be start removing those sections that are in the water.

But the bigger issue is there's a large four-lane section of highway on top of the bow of the vessel. It's about 4,000 tons, and they're going to have to remove that section before they can move the vessel. It has caused severe damage to the bow, so they're very concerned about damage to the ship.

The ship will be pulled out, taken over to a container terminal, and offloaded. And it will have to be assessed whether or not this ship is seaworthy or it's going to have to undergo repairs.

WALKER: You know, it's obviously severely impacted the local economy, right, because you can't have the shipping going through that area until it's been cleared. What is the timeline then where they can allow traffic to start flowing again?

MERCOGLIANO: Well, the Unified Command Authority, the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers have done a phenomenal job. They have actually been able to open the channel, a limited channel, and get most of the vessels that were in Baltimore out. They have actually brought some vessels into Baltimore.

Once they remove this large truss section, they removed the dolly out. They're hoping to be able to widen that limited channel now, which is can handle ships up to a draft of about 35 feet and maybe get down to 45 feet. And that will allow a resumption of fairly normal trade in and out of the port of Baltimore.

They've been doing a really phenomenal job at the timeline here has been way above expectations.

WALKER: All right. Well, at least that's a little bit of a positive note there.

Sal Mercogliano, appreciate your time, sir. Thanks.

FREEMAN: All right. A major showdown is brewing in a New York courtroom when Donald Trump will come face to face with his former fixer Michael Cohen in the criminal hush money trial. What we can expect tomorrow, that's coming up next.

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[07:29:55]

FREEMAN: More than 300 people are dead after heavy flooding ravaged northern Afghanistan, according to the World Food Program. The U.N. agency says the heavy flooding damaged more than a thousand homes with thousands stranded without access to services. And the International Rescue Committee is calling the disaster a major humanitarian emergency. The ruling Taliban says it has asked its government and local officials to use all available resources to rescue those stranded.

WALKER: A manhunt is underway in Ohio after a Euclid police officer was shot and killed last night. Officials say, 24-year-old Deshawn Anthony Vaughn is considered armed and extremely dangerous.

At about 10:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, police were called to a residence in Euclid for a disturbance when Vaughn ambushed the officer. The officer was transported to an area hospital. But did not survive. Police say, the suspect remains at large and multiple agencies have joined in on the search.

Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen is expected to take the stand tomorrow in Trump's hush money trial.

FREEMAN: Cohen is at the center of the hush money payment and he is expected to implicate Trump in covering up reimbursement checks to Cohen for paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels. Now, the past several weeks of testimony has put a spotlight on witnesses in the case, many of whom have faced online threats.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more.

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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stormy Daniels has made no secret about threats she received after the former president was indicted on charges related to 2016 hush money payments centered around her. The former adult film star described how her life has changed in the documentary titled "Stormy."

STORMY DANIELS, CENTRAL FIGURE DONALD TRUMP'S HUSH MONEY CASE: You just signed your death warrant. I don't know what that means.

CARROLL (voice-over): Daniels has spoken about fear, not only for her but for her family. And persistent threats, which she says have gotten progressively worse.

DANIELS: Before it was just like this rat -- like loud mouth, armchair, anti-porn, like judgmental, hypocritical people, you know, faceless. Now they're doing it like a suicide bomber. They truly in their depth --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't care.

DANIELS: -- but more importantly, in the depths of their soul, they feel like they are doing the right thing.

CARROLL (voice-over): Recently, Daniels shared this message with "OutFront", a threat to physically abuse her family. Also, a target, prosecution witness and former "National Enquirer" publisher David Pecker. According to Reuters, on the same day Pecker testified last month, he was the target of a swatting incident. Swatting is when someone calls in a phony emergency report to authorities, accusing someone of a crime with hopes of triggering a police response. It did not work and did not prevent Pecker from taking the stand.

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): We will not be intimidated as a community by threats. And we're here to watch our DA's back.

CARROLL (voice-over): Last March, community leaders in New York spoke out in supportive district attorney Alvin Bragg after he and his office were inundated with threats related to the Trump criminal case. And twice last year, the office received letters with white powder. One said, Alvin, I'm going to kill you.

according to an affidavit from the commanding officer of Bragg security detail, at its peak in March 2023 more than 600 e-mails and phone calls received by the DA's office were forwarded for security review.

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST AND FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: You don't have to stretch your imagination to imagine what might happen if some of Donald Trump's most ardent supporters take matters into their own hand, and in some way -- in a way that they think protects him or somehow stands up for him, and they react violently.

CARROLL (voice-over): A gag order put in place to try and deter Trump from speaking about witnesses, jurors, and most others associated with the trial, possibly inciting more threats. Judge Juan Merchan found Trump to be in contempt of the order on several occasions, including most recently, after he made comments about the makeup of the jury.

But the gag order doesn't prohibit him from making comments about the judge. The former president continuing to lash out at him, calling Merchan crooked and highly conflicted.

CARROLL: Trump has repeatedly said that the gag order is unfair. He called it a disgrace, it prohibits him from making comments about the upcoming key witness in the criminal case, that's Michael Cohen. Cohen, for his part, has made numerous comments about Trump, has taken numerous jabs at the former president.

The judge overseeing the case telling prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop making comments about the case, but prosecutors also admitting they have little control over him.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Jason Carroll, thank you very much for that report.

WALKER: OK. Up next, prepare for a whole lot of noise from me screaming and also from these cicadas as the weather heats up. Can you please put that back in the box? Billions of these little critters are emerging from below ground in the U.S.

[07:35:00]

We will speak with a cicada expert in studio. Maybe we'll interview that cicada as well when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Sorry.

FREEMAN: In the coming weeks, the eastern half of the United States could experience something, perhaps Amara would feel this way, out of a horror movie.

WALKER: It's happening right now, actually.

FREEMAN: Billions, get this, maybe even trillions of cicadas flying around in what some have dubbed a cicadapocalypse.

[07:40:00]

Cicadas spend most of their lives underground before they come up from the ground to sing, mate, and then die off all at once. And this year is unusual. Amara, take it away.

WALKER: Well, it's unusual here in the studio as well because we have live cicadas. They're like -- they've been unleashed. So, this is why I was screaming in the break. Two broods. OK. They -- one that appears every 13 years and another that appears every 17 years. They are emerging this year at the same time. So, we're in for a treat.

Joining us now is Saad Bhamla, a biophysicist and assistant professor at Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Ah.

FREEMAN: Oh my god.

WALKER: I'm sorry. (INAUDIBLE). It wasn't going to fly away.

FREEMAN: Look at that. The one thing you were promised is it wouldn't fly.

WALKER: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I did not know it was going to fall.

SAAD BHAMLA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING: They fly for mating and, you know, it must have sent some acoustic cues.

FREEMAN: Yes, yes, exactly.

WALKER: I'm sorry. Sorry.

BHAMLA: That was a rare treat that you really observed live. It's a beautiful phenomenon.

FREEMAN: It signed up for Mother's Day, really.

BHAMLA: Yes, really. Woke you up on a Sunday.

WALKER: I'm sorry. Go ahead.

FREEMAN: Yes, let me ask the first question. Cicadas, they live the majority of their lives underground.

BHAMLA: That's right.

FREEMAN: Tell me, how do they know these two broods that, like, this is the time to come out?

BHAMLA: So, there are multiple hypothesis. The short answer is we don't know. But one of the hypothesis is they measure the temperature of the soil.

FREEMAN: Oh, here it goes again.

WALKER: Oh. No, no, no, no, no, no.

BHAMLA: And so --

FREEMAN: Yes, I got you. Yes, I'll trade with you. I'll trade. This is, you know, how, you know --

WALKER: Sorry.

FREEMAN: -- we help each other out.

BHAMLA: This is great. Yes. You just witnessed a beautiful, you know, aerodynamic phenomena. They can't fly far, because they are just flying when they are looking for a mate and as they climb higher and higher on a tree.

WALKER: OK. And as much as I'm freaking out about it, it really is beautiful because the wings are translucent. But my question to you is if, I mean, they can stay underground for 13 to 17 years.

BHAMLA: Underground, yes.

WALKER: Can't they just stay down there? Why are they emerging?

BHAMLA: To come out and die. So, they basically come out to mate, lay eggs in the trees and then the juveniles, younger ones will go -- climb big underground and then they live lives for 17 and 13 years. It's just one of those peculiar things about nature. You know, the -- lots of different insects, animals do stuff. They've evolved this particular lifestyle.

FREEMAN: Now, the thing we all know, of course, the most about cicadas is that noise. Can you explain why these little guys make this intense sound?

BHAMLA: It's a mating call. The mate -- males will make this. They have these structures called thimbles and they inflate and dilate them just like a straw. If you have a straw which has these ribs, they basically do this buckling instability to make these loud noises so that they can attract a female.

And it's just a cacophony. They're really one -- they hold the record for one of the loudest insects. So, it's like 100 plus decibels.

WALKER: Yes, I can attest to that.

FREEMAN: That's a record.

WALKER: Yes.

BHAMLA: If you keep it close to your ear, which you shouldn't, for like a minute or two, you'll probably go, you know.

WALKER: So, I want to talk about your research too, because I have learned so much about cicadas as much as, you know, I'm a bit nervous, as you can see, that they are able to discharge --

FREEMAN: Well, look at it go.

BHAMLA: Actually, you can see something very beautiful as they fly. We'll see. We'll catch you.

WALKER: Saad, why did you tell me they don't fly?

FREEMAN: Just hanging by the CNN logo.

WALKER: So, tell us about how they can discharge urine at a force that you -- that is surprising to a lot of people.

BHAMLA: So --

WALKER: Why do they discharge urine?

BHAMLA: So, they're basically -- they feed on liquid. They don't eat anything and they feed on the sap from trees. And they feed a lot because the xylem sap that they feed on is very nutrient food. It's a very frugal diet. And so, they pee -- drink a lot and then they pee a lot. It's just basically if you were to survive on diet soda.

So, the trillions of cicadas that are coming around, there's going to be a lot of pee in the air, but it's unlike any other urine because they're drinking on something just almost water, it's the xylem sap. And what we found is that we thought that tiny insects could not make jets, you know, just like you and I, if you were to take a bio break, we would make a jet of fluid. And we found that the cicadas now, as we showed this year, hold the record for peeing in jets. And one of the fastest jets. Faster than an elephant, a cow, a human, and it's still not clear why they do it. We have hypotheses though.

WALKER: I love that term bio break. I need to go and take a bio break now that I've been scared over this. Just quickly, how can we prepare for the cicada -- cicada-geddon?

BHAMLA: I don't think you do much, you know.

WALKER: No?

BHAMLA: They're just coming, doing their thing and be --

WALKER: They're not going to bother us?

FREEMAN: Just enjoy it.

WALKER: They're not going to fly at us like this one here?

BHAMLA: Yes, it's like a solar eclipse. It's one of those beautiful, you know, miracles of life that we enjoy in this fragile planet. And we enjoy it and we observe and, they'll be gone underground and live underground for the next, N years, prime number years. And then they'll come out to say hello again, you know.

FREEMAN: I love it.

BHAMLA: And just -- we enjoy it while it lasts.

[07:45:00]

FREEMAN: And I love your passion for it too. It's, I think, made us a little more comfortable. Som thank you so much.

BHAMLA: You're welcome.

FREEMAN: I really do appreciate it.

WALKER: Thank you for coming in.

BHAMLA: Thank you for having me.

FREEMAN: All right. Still to come, parts of Texas still drying out from flooding are now bracing for another round of rough weather. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking it all when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: I'm all recovered. Right now, more than 35 million people across the southeast are racing for another round of severe weather that could see some parts pick up five inches of rain.

FREEMAN: CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here to track it all. Hi Allison. [07:50:00]

CHINCHAR: Yes, it's that time of year. We get it. This is when we usually have this severe weather. And it's really coming back starting today, but it will linger into next week. So, the focus today, we have already got some showers and thunderstorms firing up across Texas. This will spread eastward along the gulf coast, not just today, but also tomorrow.

We're talking tornadoes, damaging winds and the potential for some hail. You can see by this afternoon, you really start to see those storms begin to fill in. Also, some very heavy rainfall as this continues to make its way across the east. The second round begins to appear Monday afternoon and will continue to spread eastward as we go through the day Tuesday.

The unfortunate part is where the heaviest rainfall is expected is a lot of those same areas, especially the Houston suburbs that saw all of that terrible flooding just a week ago, and now we're adding an additional one to three inches. For a lot of people, some spots could pick up as much as four or even five inches of rain before this finally moves out.

You've got the flood watches in effect but we're keeping a close eye on the rain gauges because we have many of them that are still at flood stage.

FREEMAN: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much and we really missed you during the last segment. So, we'll get the skater back, don't worry.

CHINCHAR: No thanks.

FREEMAN: All right. From world renowned athlete to convicted murderer, still so many questions surrounding Oscar Pistorius and the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Now, take a look at how news of that incident unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: We begin this hour with breaking news from South Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People all over the world woke up to this tragic news. Nobody could believe it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so unexpected to shoot this beautiful, promising young woman and kill her. It's awful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The shooting took place behind the walls of this gated community. Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee, invited CNN into the house a few years ago, and showed us his prosthetic legs. But it was somewhere in this house that Pistorius allegedly fired a pistol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Wow. Tune in tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern for "How It Really Happened: Oscar Pistorius, the Bladerunner". We'll be right back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

WALKER: All this week on "Champions for Change", we are looking at the unsung people whose ideas and innovations are dramatically improving people's lives.

FREEMAN: Today's champion, artist Patty Mitchell has crafted a vibrant workshop for creative people with special needs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTY MITCHELL, PASSION WORKS FOUNDER: A lot of the people that we worked with are deemed non-viable citizens which just blows my mind. We all are amazing creatures, given the right circumstances. Passion Works is turning upside down the expectations and the perceived reality of people with developmental differences.

Our passion flowers are made from upcycled newspaper printing plates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love the passion flower, yes.

MITCHELL: Every single step of that product is a job. We are paying people minimum wage to manufacture those items. We want to infuse opportunity for our community. The worker is number one, and our product development and everything that we do is centered around the worker.

MICHELLE CONROY, PASSION WORKS ARTIST: This is a miracle to come and work here. There's nothing but happiness here. There's nothing but positivity here.

MITCHELL: Good morning, friend.

CONROY: Good morning, good morning, good morning.

MITCHELL: I had a brother who was institutionalized. And as I grew up, I realized that often these spaces were excluded from community. They were almost prison like in their culture, in their control. And I thought, why does it have to be that way? So, he passed when he was 12. I was 10. And since that time, I have been obsessed with the idea of creating space for people to be their best selves.

MARGARET DEMKO, MOTHER OF PASSION WORKS ARTIST EMILY DEMKO: Her good days are her Passion Works days. She talks more, she communicates more. She wants to be part of things more. I've seen her be able to open her mind to different things and I've seen her art absolutely explode.

JERRY JOHNSON, PASSION WORKS ARTIST: My outlook on life has changed so much. I feel more confident in what I do. And I'd be frustrated outside this place. I feel more happier.

MITCHELL: At one time I was told years ago that these people would never make anything anybody would want to buy. We have generated over $3 million in sales. We have sold over 35,000 passion flowers. Every product that goes out into the world helps tell our story and makes people think differently about materials, about people, about regions.

Passion Works is moving society forward. Part of our structure is to create the opportunities for volunteers to come in. Ohio University is here, and if we can capture these students to give them these experiences, when they go out into the world, they're going to remember that there is a different way to problem solve.

[08:00:00]