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CNN This Morning
State Of Emergency Declared In Atlanta Over Water Main Break; Growing California Wildfire Forces Residents To Evacuate; Zelenskyy Thanks Biden For Allowing Limited Strikes Within Russia; Zelenskyy, Austin Discuss Drafting Bilateral Security Agreement; Zelenskyy Calls For More International Pressure On Russia; Israeli, Egyptian, U.S. Officials To Discuss Rafah Crossing Reopening In Cairo Today; Boeing And NASA Call Off Launch Of Starliner Spacecraft; Chad Daybell Sentenced To Death In "Doomsday" Triple-Murder Case; Mass Shooting In Ohio Leaves One Dead, Dozens Injured. Aired 6-7A ET
Aired June 02, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:40]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It's Sunday, June 2nd. I'm Victor Blackwell.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. We are following several breaking news stories for you this morning. A state of emergency is in effect for Atlanta after a string of water main breaks have crippled water service in this city for almost 48 hours now. It is so bad that one hospital having to turn away some patients when the city hopes to have everything fixed.
BLACKWELL: A 10,000-acre wildfire in northern California injures two fighters and is forcing people to leave their homes. The weather condition is working against the crews on the fire lines. That's just ahead.
WALKER: Plus, a major meeting in Singapore overnight. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian president Zelenskyy just hours ago. What President Zelenskyy had to say about President Biden's greenlighting limited strikes within Russia using U.S. weapons.
BLACKWELL: An ISIS-K targets the U.S. What we know about a terrorist threat on the Cricket World Cup, which is expected to bring tens of thousands of people to New York.
We begin breaking news out of Atlanta. The city declared a state of emergency, Saturday, after trying for two days to repair two major water main breaks across the city.
This massive disruption is leaving businesses and homes with little to no water. It has resulted in a boil water advisory for a majority of the city's people. Hospitals in downtown and midtown Atlanta were forced to transfer patients and divert ambulances to other hospitals. Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens has apologized and he says that teams are working nonstop to repair the water main break.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR ANDRE DICKENS, ATLANTA: We take this matter very, very seriously. And our whole team takes it very seriously as you see us working on this. We apologize profusely for this disruption to life in the city of Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: The break also led to several major tourist attractions, including the Georgia Aquarium and Zoo Atlanta to close for the past two days. Thousands of residents in neighborhoods throughout the city had been left without water for over 24 hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY ELLIS, AFFECTED RESIDENT: It comes on kind of infrequently. We managed to take a shower in the one time. It was on this morning, fortunately. But yes, we've had no drinking water, or we've had no cooking, no washing facilities. Yes, it's just crazy.
We can't flush the toilets. We can't have a shower. We can't boil water to cook with. It's -- yes, it's crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Well, one of the main breaks has been repaired. Crews are still working to repair the second break with the Watershed Department saying they are doing everything they can to restore regular water flow to the city.
BLACKWELL: More breaking news now, this is in California. A growing grass fire in San Joaquin County has already consumed more than 11,000 acres and it's forcing people in its path to evacuate. The California Department of Forestry and Fire says the Corral fire started in the -- the wildfire, rather, started in the city of Tracy Saturday afternoon. And by Saturday night was still on only 13 percent contained.
WALKER: Officials in San Joaquin County issued evacuation orders for Tracy residents nearest to the fire and told others nearby that they should also be ready to leave. Two firefighters were injured while responding to the fire. A Cal Fire battalion chief says they had minor two moderate injuries and were transported to local hospitals for treatment.
All right. CNN's Derek Van Dam is here, is tracking the fires for us. So, of course, you've got high winds helping fuel these fires. Bad situation. What more can you tell us?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Amara and Victor. So, this is part of our warming world, the new normal, right? We go a couple of years ago where we had extreme drought in California. Now, we have the complete opposite of this being an abundance of snowfall and rain through the past winter season. And all the vegetation that that sparked has now dried out a little bit prematurely.
Look at this. This is the San Joaquin Valley, the central valley across California. Look at the difference between just a month ago compared to today.
You can see now we're starting to dry out that vegetation. That's all part of the problem here because we're getting the strong winds. And building heat wave that will continue to spur fires like we're experiencing with the Corral fire that's currently at 13 percent containment in the San Joaquin County region.
[06:05:05]
Look at these wind gusts. We've seen wind gusts roughly around tropical storm force. And that is a problem when we have this dry grass that has just dried out so quickly.
And then on top of that, the building heat wave that will last right through the rest of this week. Temperatures are going to soar into some locations feeling like it's above 100 degrees with that mercury in the thermometer. So, the recipe for more fires is in this weather forecasts. All right. I'll toss it back to both of you.
BLACKWELL: All right. Derek, thank you very much. New overnight, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is thanking the U.S. for permission to fire U.S. weapons into Russian territory, but he says it's not enough.
Zelenskyy made a surprise appearance at a security meeting in Singapore where he gave updates in Ukraine's fight against Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: Ukrainians are dying. Russians are raping our people, our women, stole tens of thousands of our children. Nobody has the right to tell us how to finish this war, how to end this war. It should end according to the law and justice. And this is compulsory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Zelenskyy also met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin where he says the two discussed Ukraine's defense needs. CNN's Natasha Bertrand joining us now from Singapore with more. Hi there, Natasha. Tell us more about what else was discussed.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Amara, Zelenskyy and Secretary Austin, they obviously discussed Ukraine's battlefield needs at the moment, including the requirements really for the Ukrainians that they get more air defense systems because of the massive missile barrages that are hitting Ukraine every single day from Russian forces. That was really top of the agenda here.
But Zelenskyy also took the opportunity during his meeting with Austin and publicly earlier today to thank President Biden for making that policy decision to allow Ukraine to use American weapons to strike into Russia directly in order to fend off those strikes from Russia that are hitting Kharkiv in northern Ukraine. That was really key moment for President Zelenskyy, something that he has been a pushing for for quite some time now so that the Ukrainians can effectively defend themselves.
But really, one of the biggest themes here that Zelenskyy was trying to push was the idea of a coming together, of all nations, for this peace summit that Ukraine wants to hold in about two weeks' time. He said that over 100 countries are going to be joining this peace summit where formula for peace and for the end of the war between Ukrainian and Russia will be discussed. And that includes a formula for nuclear security, additional food security, as well as a plan to get the roughly 20,000 Ukrainian children that Ukraine says Russia has kidnapped since the beginning of the war back to Ukraine, back to their families.
And the key message, of course, was being sent to China because China, according to the U.S., according to the U.K., is actively supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, is providing support for its defense sector. And so, Zelenskyy was trying to convey this message to the Chinese that if they say that they care about territorial integrity, about international law as they do when they repeatedly talk about Taiwan, for example. And he says that they need to step up and stop supporting Russia and join Ukraine at this peace summit, where the United States, notably, is not necessarily going to have a major presence.
President Biden, for example, has not committed to going to that peace summit yet, but this was really an opportunity for President Zelenskyy to meet with key allies here in Asia and try to get their support for ending this war. And it's something, of course, that he spoke to Secretary Austin about as well earlier today is a bilateral security agreement between the U.S. and the Ukrainians.
If this war does not end soon, what kind of assurances can the U.S. actually give Ukraine? They will support them for as long as it takes really until this war finally comes to an end. Amara, Victor.
WALKER: All right. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much. Joining us now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. David, good morning to you. Let's start with the Shangri-La Dialogue, this annual security summit in Singapore. What were the key takeaways from you especially between Ukraine and the U.S.?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Amara. And, I think, that this meeting was significant because it came right after President Biden's, I think, somewhat predictable, but still pretty crucial agreement for the first time to allow American weapons to be used against Russian territory.
Now, he did this in the most limited way. It's only around the current battling near the borders, near Kharkiv. But even Secretary of State Antony Blinken left open the possibility the other day that that might expand.
[06:10:08]
Until now, President Biden has taken the position that there was just way too much escalation risk if U.S. arms were used firing into Russian territory, even just over the border, and even just after missile and artillery in placements, that the Russians were using on their own territory to fire into -- to Ukraine. We're about to go find out.
And it's actually a pretty perilous moment because we don't know how the Russians are going to react to this. But, I think, Zelenskyy made the point it was absolutely crucial if the Ukrainians were going to be fighting with one hand behind their back.
WALKER: What did you make of the tone between the Chinese defense minister and the secretary of defense -- the U.S. secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin. I mean, there were some combative words exchanged at least from the Chinese side.
SANGER: Pretty frosty. The only good thing you can say about that meeting is that it happened.
For a few years now we've been in a position where the Chinese defense minister and other Chinese military officers wouldn't talk to the U.S. at all. And the only reason that that's important is that if you had a crisis underway and you needed some crisis communications to deconflict U.S. and Chinese forces, you want to have some kind of open channels.
But the fact of matter is just last week, the Chinese did some pretty aggressive exercises all around Taiwan, even on basically the far eastern coast furthest from China. And that was a demonstration of force after the inauguration of the new Taiwanese president. I would say that at this point, the military relationship is pretty bad. But better to have them talking than not.
WALKER: Yes. Sure thing. Regarding the war, you know, in Gaza as you know President Biden on Friday called for an end to Israel's war. He also laid out this detailed ceasefire plan. And then the next day, the next morning Prime Minister Netanyahu's office, you know, said that they would not agree to a permanent ceasefire.
What's your take on his messaging? Obviously, there's political calculations here.
SANGER: Well, there are a lot of political calculations. So, the first thing is it shows the continuing disconnect between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu. When President Biden gave his speech announcing this at the White House on Friday, he described this as embracing Israel's own plan. But Prime Minister Netanyahu made it sound like something that either was forced upon him or that was being described is to happen on a very different and much faster schedule than he had in mind.
Hamas itself was -- seemed somewhat open to this. And we've heard a lot of the allies, including Egypt, say that they were behind it as well. So, the effort here is to both build pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to something whose outlines his war cabinet has approved. And also, to build pressure on Hamas, which has never actually accepted any kind of an agreement that would involve both release of hostages and the ceasefire.
It's a three-phase plan. And the president was pretty clear about phase one and pretty vague about everything that followed.
WALKER: Lastly, before we let you go, what are you hearing about these trilateral talks about potentially reopening the Rafah Border Crossing? Talks are expected to begin today between Israel, Egypt, and the U.S.
SANGER: So, this is absolutely critical if you are going to get aid in to the people who moved down to Rafah, the Palestinians who moved down to Rafah, in the early days of the war and have been fleeing out of it since. And they're basically in a famine-like situation here. And that's because the American peer or well-intentioned effort to get in aid broke apart in a storm. They're putting that back together.
The Rafah gate at the southern end of Gaza has been closed during these Israeli military operations. There's not much aid moving in from the north. If they don't get that open, people are going to starve. It's just that simple.
WALKER: David Sanger, appreciate you this morning. Thanks so much.
BLACKWELL: Straight ahead this morning, failure to launch. A last- minute decision has scrubbed the historic launch of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
[06:15:00]
The next chance for it to blast off, that's ahead. Plus, the so-called doomsday murderer is sentenced to death for killing his first wife and the two children of his second wife. What the victims' loved ones are saying about the sentence.
And 98 million people are expected to vote today in Mexico's historic elections, which will see a woman win the presidency for the first time. The rising fears of violence at the polls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:20:05]
WALKER: NASA confirms there will be another attempt to launch Boeing's Starliner flight today. The mission was aborted with less than four minutes left before its window for liftoff yesterday. This was set to be the Boeing Starliner's first crewed flight.
BLACKWELL: Here is CNN's Kristin Fisher with what went wrong and when they could try again.
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor and Amara. Yes, NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance or ULA are foregoing this next possible launch opportunity, which would have taken place today at about 12:03 p.m. eastern time. And the reason for it is they say they simply didn't have enough time to fully troubleshoot the issue that caused yesterday's scrub. And that issue, actually, had nothing to do with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, had nothing to do with ULA's Atlas V rocket, which propels Starliner up into space.
So, the hardware actually performed fine yesterday. The issue, frustratingly, was with the ground computers that sit at the base of the launchpad. There are three computers. All three computers have to give the rocket the green light, so to speak.
On Saturday two of those computers gave the green light. The third either was too slow to respond or there was some issue there. And so, that's what triggered the automatic hold.
And because this way an instantaneous launch window, meaning that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had to launch it this exact time in order to sync up and rendezvous with the International Space Station, that automatic hold is what triggered the scrub.
And so, now those two astronauts going back into quarantine. And NASA saying that they are going to try again on June 5th followed by a backup date of June 6.
So, definitely a disappointment. NASA, ULA, and Boeing all saying that in a post scrub press conference, but very important to note that scrubs are so common in spaceflight. These things happen all the time, especially when you're dealing with something as risky as a first crewed test flight of a brand-new vehicle. Victor and Amara.
BLACKWELL: All right. Kristin, thanks. Chad Daybell has been sentenced to death. A judge followed the jury's recommendations after Daybell's murder conviction.
WALKER: He killed his first wife, Tammy Daybell, and his second wife's two young children. CNN's Camila Bernal has more on the response from the families.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, the jury in this case, deciding that Chad Daybell should spend the rest of his life on death row, and agreeing with the aggravating factors in this case presented by the prosecution, saying that the crimes he committed were cruel and atrocious, saying that he had utter disregard for human life, that he had done on this for money, and that he would be a threat to society.
This is the same jury that found him guilty of killing his first wife, Tammy, and killing the two children of his second wife, Tylee, who was just 16-years-old, and JJ, who was just seven 7-years-old.
The prosecution in this case saying this was all about sex, power, money, and religious apocalyptic believes. Saying that this was a man that marked people for death, that marked them as dark or as zombies. And the prosecution said that essentially, he would get rid of anyone that was in his way of being with Lori Vallow Daybell or anyone that they could gain any financial benefits from whether that was Social Security money or a life insurance money, and that these people would be marked for death.
This was extremely emotional for the families of the victims. Of course, we know that the two children were found in Chad Daybell's property. And so, the families throughout the trial just dealing with all of this being extremely emotional and speaking out. Here's part of what family members said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLBY RYAN, LORI VALLOW'S SON: You never wish harm on anybody regardless of what they've done to you. But at the end of the day, it's good that he's -- he can't hurt anybody else.
SAMANTHA GWILLIAM, TAMMY DAYBELL'S SISTER: We got justice for our loved ones and that was always what this was about getting justice for them.
JASON GWILLIAM, TAMMY DAYBELL'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: We can all start to heal from this terrible loss we have suffered. We'll miss Tammy every single day of our lives. But we do have some comfort knowing that we will see her again someday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: And while we had a lot of emotion from the family, no emotion, no reaction from Chad Daybell as his verdict was read. He chose not to speak after his sentencing.
His attorney did speak during the sentencing hearing and essentially putting the blame on Lori Vallow Daybell. She was also found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The death penalty was not on the table for her. Amara, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Camila, thank you. Voting starts soon in the largest election in Mexico's history, but the political cycle has been plagued by violence.
[06:25:06]
We're going to take a closer look after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: A mass shooting in Ohio overnight has left one person dead and dozens injured. Gunshot victims started arriving at Akron hospitals overnight. And CNN affiliate WEWS is reporting that as many as 26 people were shot.
Both the Cleveland Clinic and Summa Health System in Akron are confirming this morning they are treating patients for this incident. One spokesperson saying, our thoughts are with the victims and their families. And I want to thank our first responders and caregivers for everything they did to care for our patients and community.
[06:30:03]
It is unclear right now what has led to this shooting. Of course, will bring you more details as we get them in.
Well, this morning, millions in Mexico head to the polls for a historic election as they chart a path forward that could see a female president for the very first time.
BLACKWELL: It's also the largest general election in the country's history. More than 20,000 positions are on the ballot across the country. Public Safety though is one of the top issues. Voting has been shadowed by political and cartel violence. CNN's Rafael Romo has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): It happened in broad daylight. A mayoral candidate in Mexico shot in the head on the last day of campaigning.
ANA MARIA SALAZAR, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: He was killed in front of all his followers. And he had 10 people who were supposed to be providing him security because he had been threatened.
ROMO (voiceover): The murder is the latest example of a wave of political violence in Mexico as voters get ready to go to the polls on Sunday. In early April, another mayoral candidate in the city of Celaya was gunned down. One of more than 20 political killings in September according to the Mexican Government. By some estimates, that number is even higher. At least 34 candidates murdered according to Mexican consultancy firm Integralia.
SALAZAR: One of the most violent and deadly elections in Mexican history.
ROMO (voiceover): Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Ana Maria Salazar says organized crime is at the root of most political violence in Mexico.
SALAZAR: Well, they're controlling the economy, the formal economy of these -- of these municipalities, so they're hostages. And this is clearly being reflected during this electoral process where they're trying to also control who's going to be elected.
ROMO (voiceover): Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador acknowledged in early May that there have been more murders than in previous administrations but he also said that other crimes like robberies and kidnappings are down.
CARLOS RAMIREZ, POLITICAL RISK CONSULTANT, INTEGRALIA: It's a multidimensional problem which Lopez Obrador hasn't tackled.
ROMO (voiceover): But political risk consultant, Carlos Ramirez, says the president's policy of spending on social programs in the hopes of improving the security situation has failed.
RAMIREZ: Yes, Lopez Obrador cherishes that some of the criminal numbers have been going down but really they have been going down marginally, and others have been going up very quickly as extortion for example.
ROMO: There are nearly 99 million Mexican voters who are eligible to participate in this election. Mexican officials say there will be around 170,000 polling places around the nation, but security analysts say many voters may choose to stay away because in some areas, exercising one's right to vote is not safe.
ROMO (voiceover): The threat of political violence is personal for Jesus Corona. The mayoral candidate in the central Mexican city of Cuautla survived an assassination attempt earlier this year when two men on a motorcycle sped past and open fire.
They want me to drop out of the campaign, he said. They don't want me to participate. They want to continue with this corrupt government.
The risk of violence is also faced by those tied to the candidates, including relatives and aides. According to Integralia, more than 700 people have been threatened, kidnapped, extorted, or murdered among other crimes since campaign started in September.
Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Well, their school is closing for good, but a college baseball team is getting one more chance at glory. Birmingham-Southern overcame financial problems and food poisoning to make a trip to the College World Series.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:38:34]
WALKER: So, the college baseball team with no school keeps its hopes for a national championship alive in really thrilling fashion. Coy Wire is here with more on Birmingham-Southern College's magical World Series run. I mean, literally keeping hope alive.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. And this is a wild story that just seems to get more wild each and every day. Due to financial difficulties, Birmingham-Southern College closed permanently on Friday after being open since 1856. But their baseball team earned a spot in the Division III College World Series and they traveled to Ohio thanks in large part to more than $100,000 raised on a GoFundMe page.
Well, the Panthers lost their first game on Friday, the day the school closed. And if they lose again, they are done. But last night against Randolph-Macon with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, Jackson Webster keeps what he's calling a baseball miracle alive, a game- winning home run. This is a team that was trailing 7-4 to four at one point in this game.
And look at the scenes, Amara, back home in Alabama, the Panthers have another game this afternoon at 3:00 Eastern. If they are victorious in another must-win game, they'll play again Monday. Either way, this is an inspiring run. Despite the school closing, some of the players described it as losing a family member, they're really torn up about this. Nine or 10 players uh got sick with what they thought was a food poisoning. One went to the hospital but they just keep being bonded by this adversity. It's pretty awesome.
[06:40:05]
WALKER: In the ninth inning.
WIRE: Yes.
WALKER: But they have to win today.
WIRE: They have to win today and from here on out.
WALKER: Fingers crossed.
WIRE: Let's go.
WALKER: Coy, good to see you. Thanks for coming in. Victor?
BLACKWELL: Homeland Security and the FBI are taking precautions to make sure the Super Bowl of Cricket continues despite a threat from ISIS-K. Day two of the T20 Cricket World Cup picks up today in Long Island, New York. Officials say the terrorist group made a global threat against the tournament back in April specifically targeting the match between India and Pakistan next week. Local officials say the safest place in the county is inside the stadium.
Joining us now CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and former Secret Service Agent Jonathan Wackrow. Jonathan, good morning to you. So, the fear here is that this is going to be a lone wolf. And that's the call from ISIS-K to "The lone wolf to act out here" because there is no chatter.
The FBI says that they're especially concerned about a lone wolf attack due to the undetected operational information, willingness to attack civilians and soft targets and capability to inflict significant casualties with simple tactics here. That's their statement. How do you investigate if you don't have the chatter?
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, good morning, Victor. You know, this recent threat by, you know, ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K has really elevated concerns by law enforcement both at the federal state and local levels. And it's how they're assessing this threat. So, I want to just walk through why this is such a concern.
When law enforcement analyzes a threat, they look at really three main categories, motivation which is the underlying reasons for an attack, the opportunity which is a moment in time or an event that a hostile group could exploit to engage in an attack, and then really the capabilities. Can they actually do it? Can they carry out an attack in a certain region?
When you apply this assessment criteria to the threat that we're seeing come in from ISIS-K, a lot of red flags go off for law enforcement. And that's why you see them uh really vocalizing what they're doing. We know that a motivation of ISIS-K is really to promote their extremist ideology, and in turn attract new recruits.
The opportunity for them to launch an attack is really this prime event. This is, as you said, it's the Super Bowl of Cricket. It's the second largest most popular sport in the world. So, you know, this is really a great target of opportunity. And then when you think about how law enforcement is concerned as you said about the ideological appeal motivating homegrown violent extremists and specifically that lone wolf, it's in that context that ISIS-K has the capabilities to potentially launch this significant attack.
So, from a threat perspective, what law enforcement is really concerned with is, you know, can they do this? There is a potential.
BLACKWELL: So, I quoted the Nassau County Police Commissioner a couple of seconds ago when he said the safest place on June 9th will be inside the stadium. But we know that they can make their statement without attacking the stadium. The Atlanta bombing during the Olympics in '96, that was at Centennial Olympic Park, not at a venue. The Madrid bombing in 2002 was near the football stadium.
So, is it possible to secure all of the venues related, hotels, restaurants, parks nearby, even if they don't go after the stadium on the 9th?
WACKROW: That's a really great point,. Victor. And law enforcement is taking that into account. When they look at how they apply the security measures, they're really doing it based upon intelligence gathering and sharing amongst all law enforcement entities. And they're thinking about this not just as the event itself, not just the stadium, but really concentric rings of protection that go out from the -- from the stadium to really apply a level of increased physical security at those hotels, transport hubs, routes to and from hotels and the venue itself.
Really what you see mobilizing is a whole of government approach to ensure that law enforcement and their partners can quickly identify and mitigate any type of potential threat should it arise.
BLACKWELL: I want to remind people that ISIS-K, they claimed responsibility for that attack in Moscow, the Crocus City Hall that killed 143 people. So, they have pulled off these types of attacks recently. Is there a threshold, Jonathan, at which the event would be called off? There are now specific threats. They know the date. Authorities are aware of the target. Is there some point at which or what's the variable that would say they're coming, we should call this off.
WACKROW: Well, listen, that's a -- that's a really good question. But we have to listen to the way that law enforcement is talking about this event. They have put together a very comprehensive security plan prior to this threat even presenting itself. You know, they've been working on the security plan for uh at least six months. This is a another data point this threat. But the overall security plan is literally looking at a multitude of threats and potential hazards that could impact this event. And they're applying the right level of security uh to the event and the, you know, adjacent activity.
So, I find it very unlikely that you would see law enforcement, you know, canceling this event. The utilization of, you know, information and intelligence sharing is critical to the overall success of, you know, this event.
[06:45:53]
BLACKWELL: Jonathan Wackrow, always good to have you. Thank you. Enjoy the Sunday.
WACKROW: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Hunter Biden's criminal trial starts tomorrow. Coming up, what to expect as jury selection begins in Delaware?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:50:29]
BLACKWELL: The 2024 tornado season has already damaged and in some cases destroyed communities across the country.
WALKER: A new "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES: VIOLENT EARTH" takes a look at the impact of those tornadoes and other natural disasters. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joining us now to talk more about the conditions that they're causing these monster storms.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's that big mystery. It is that moment when a major thunderstorm or supercell drops a monster tornado or when it doesn't. That is what scientists want to figure out because this can save lives in advance. The lead time for these tornado-worn storms. I sat down with both the scientists and a stormchaser and this is what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DAM (voiceover): Determining the precise weather conditions that spawn monster tornadoes is a topic heavily studied by forecasters. Now, that mystery is one step closer to being solved thanks to a first-of-its-kind partnership.
HANK SCHYMA, PROFESSIONAL STORMCHASER: So, this is a supercell that is in Oklahoma in May and it's just beginning to start to drop its first tornado of the day.
VAN DAM (voiceover): Hank Schyma, also known as Pecos Hank, is a professional stormchaser who's documented some of the world's most intense tornadoes. He's collaborated with University of Wisconsin research scientist Dr. Leigh Orf who utilizes one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to simulate the same twisters.
DR. LEIGH ORF, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: He's capturing some of these low-pressure areas around the storm, little tiny worlds that probably last about five seconds. And you can see the same thing going on in my simulation.
VAN DAM (voiceover): Pairing up Dr. Orf's animations with Hank's stormchasing footage provides clarity and realism that gives scientists confidence in their models and hopefully the detail needed to put the last pieces of the puzzle together. SCHYMA: That's another thing that I think these simulations can really
help is we need to figure out why one storm is dropping these big tornadoes and why another one is not.
VAN DAM (voiceover): It's a tag team effort one behind the lens and one behind the screen. But they hope to see the benefits in real life.
ORF: The combined effect looking at lots of storms it's a basically crunching through to get to saving more lives. It's just there's no easy way to get there. It's just the hard way but, you know, it's -- I'm willing to do it.
VAN DAM (voiceover): Knowing when a storm is going to produce the next big tornado and just as importantly if it's not, could reduce the amount of false alarms that the public has to navigate.
SCHYMA: The cried wolf effect is if we can limit that, that would actually be more effective.
VAN DAM (voiceover): With 2024's active tornado season, there has been plenty for this scientist and stormchaser to team up on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DAM (on camera): I like to say that I learned from the best. That was actually my previous meteorology professor from Central Michigan University. But that was my contact, and he uses one of the world's strongest and most powerful supercomputers to create those simulations that you saw on your TV screens just a moment ago. And this information is just so incredibly crucial to scientists, meteorologists, people who study this for a living because they want to know that moment when a tornado is going to drop down from the clouds and ultimately save lives.
WALKER: Yes. But that crying wolf thing as well, you know, the more precise you are, the more people will pay attention --
BLACKWELL: That's right.
WALKER: -- and take it seriously. Thanks so much, Derek Van Dam.
BLACKWELL: Yes, OK.
WALKER: And CNN's "VIOLENT EARTH" with Liev Schreiber premieres tonight at 9:00 on CNN.
Good news for parents. New research shows how they can lower the risk of their child developing a lasting peanut allergy. That's next.
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[06:55:00]
BLACKWELL: New evidence suggests introducing peanuts into children's diets very early could help reduce an allergy risk as they get older. WALKER: According to a new study in the U.K., this strategy could
prevent tens of thousands of cases of peanut allergies for children in the U.S. each year. CNN's Jacqueline Howard has more.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: There's now reassuring new evidence that shows feeding children smooth peanut butter purees during infancy can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy, even years later. In this new study, the children who were fed peanut products regularly from infancy through age 5, they had a 71 percent reduced rate of peanut allergies when they were around 12 years old. That's compared with babies who avoided peanuts in infancy in early childhood.
This is a big deal because previously, it was recommended to avoid exposing infants to peanuts until age 3. But since then, the guidance has changed. And now, the American Academy of Pediatrics says that early introduction of peanuts may prevent peanut allergy. This new study seems to support that you'll definitely want to talk with your pediatrician or allergist first before exposing your little one to peanut butter products, especially if your child has eczema or an egg allergy because they're considered at higher risk.
And your doctor will likely recommend to start with introducing your baby to a soft peanut butter puree or peanut butter puff. Peanuts themselves can be choking hazards. So, start with a small pea-sized amount and set aside at least two hours to watch your baby for any reactions. If they respond well you can repeat feeding them the peanut butter product about three times a week and watch how they do. Back to you.
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