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Beyonce's Album Debuts at Number One; Tim Keller is Interviewed about Four Muslim Deaths; Human Remains Discovered at Lake Mead. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 08, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:33:40]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." Next stop, the House after Senate Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act in a party line vote with Vice President Harris breaking a 50-50 tie. The sweeping economic package combats climate change, lowers health care costs, raises taxes on some billion-dollar corporations and is being touted as a move to lower the federal deficit.

JOHN BERMAN: Photos obtained by "The New York Times" Maggie Haberman for her new book on the Trump presidency, actually on Donald Trump's entire career, these photos appear to show the White House records -- some White House records in the toilet. White House staff believe that Trump put them in there and made a habit of it. Trump has denied this.

KEILAR: And the national spotlight for Florida's governor about to get brighter. We have just learned that Ron DeSantis will headline rallies for Republican candidates in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania here in the coming weeks.

BERMAN: A sheriff in North Carolina is planning to house AR-15 rifles in every school campus this fall for emergencies. Buddy Harwood of Madison County says he has the support of the county commissioners, school board and superintendent, but critics of this plan say rifles in schools would be dangerous for children.

KEILAR: Actor Roger E. Mosley, best known for his role as the affable and capable helicopter pilot, Theodore "TC" Calvin, on the '80s TV show "Magnum PI" has died at the age of 83.

[08:35:05]

His family says he was in critical condition after a car crash left him paralyzed last week.

BERMAN: The most famous helicopter in television, brown, yellow, orange. Our thoughts with his family.

Those are the "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day on CNN and cnn.com. Don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning. Go to cnn.com/5things.

KEILAR: Beyonce's album "Renaissance" debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, making it the year's biggest debut by a woman.

Joining us now to discuss is CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon.

There was a lot of discussion at the beginning. Oh, is this just kind of a dance album? Is this conventional? Well, whatever it is, here you go.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's working. I think it's all of those things, right? So not only is she achieving that milestone with this album, but, guys, this is her seventh solo album and she has achieved the same milestone with all of those albums. So, clearly, she does not miss.

And I think what's really resonating about this is that it's so inclusionary, right? It's so inclusive. I mean she pays tribute to dozens of black women icons in the industry. She shows a lot of love for the LGBTQ community. So I think there's something for everyone here and it's clearly resonating.

And, guys, this is just act one. We're expecting act two and act three. So, we're probably going to be talking about Beyonce a lot this year.

BERMAN: So, there are other records this album has broken as well?

SOLOMON: Yes, exactly. So it was her most important streaming week to date for her entire career. So, she is sort of winning on all sort of, you know, levels here.

BERMAN: She never loses.

SOLOMON: She never loses, no.

BERMAN: All right, let's talk about Cracker Barrel, if we can. What did they do? They're offering something and people are mad that they're offering something?

SOLOMON: OK. So, Cracker Barrel announced a plant-based option, right? And at first you hear this and you think, well, all of the sort of fast food chains have plant-based options, so what's the big deal?

Well, this clearly trigged a nerve because people started flooded their Facebook with comments. Some saying things like, do your research. This is a bad choice. Others saying, you used to sell real things and threatening to no longer become a customer.

Not sure exactly what the uproar is because they're not taking away the pork sausage option. They're just adding an option.

And by the way, by some estimates, one in ten Americans say they don't eat meat. So there is clearly a market for those type of consumers. The company then taking to its Instagram and posting something, you know, unifying us as a country. The non-meat eaters and the meat eaters saying, where pork-based and plant-based sausage lovers can breakfast all day.

KEILAR: Cracker Barrel, I mean, it's synonymous with like meat and potatoes and grits and, right? So it's sort of the heavier, traditional food. And if you look online, the uproar is you have people saying, oh, they 're - people who are upset about this, I should say, oh, they're woke. This is getting ridiculous.

SOLOMON: Wow. Yes, I mean, woke has certainly been hijacked to mean something very different than what it was supposed to mean initially. But, yes, I mean, I think it's interesting. Initially it set up a lot of uproar. But if you actually go back now and look at some of the most relevant comments, people are actually saying, hey, thank you. I'm traveling. You know, I'm a vegetarian. I'd like to have options when I'm in certain states.

KEILAR: Watching my cholesterol.

SOLOMON: Yes, lots of reasons.

KEILAR: It's healthful.

SOLOMON: Environmental reasons. Some people cite health reasons. Some people cite animal, you know, welfare issues. So, lots of reasons people have decided to scale back on the meat. And Cracker Barrel is just trying to appease everyone. Unclear if this will work with their, you know, their core audience, though. We'll see.

KEILAR: Can't make everyone happy if you're Cracker Barrel or if you're Beyonce, I will say, even with his album.

SOLOMON: You don't -- you don't think people are happy?

KEILAR: Well, some people were ticked off, Rahel.

SOLOMON: That -- this is true.

KEILAR: There was some controversy.

SOLOMON: This is - this is true. This is true.

KEILAR: There was some controversy.

SOLOMON: But she has -- she has rectified that.

KEILAR: Yes. And, clearly, a lot of people are excited about this album.

SOLOMON: Yes.

KEILAR: Including one Rahel Solomon, right?

BERMAN: And me. I mean who's not excited.

All right, Rahel, thank you very much. KEILAR: Albuquerque's Muslim community is on high alert this morning

after the shooting of four men. Three of these men were killed just here in recent days. And we have an update from the city's mayor, next.

BERMAN: And more human remains have been discovered at Lake Mead as the reservoir continues to recede.

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[08:43:09]

BERMAN: This morning, Albuquerque is on high alert after four Muslim men were shot and killed over the last few months, three in the last couple weeks. Police do believe these cases could be connected. The most recent shooting happened on Friday night. The body of 25-year-old Naeem Hussain was found by police just before midnight. He had actually attended a funeral for two of the other victims, Muhammad Afzaal Hussain and Aftab Hussain. He went to their funeral just hours before he was killed. The fourth victim, Mohammad Ahmadi, shot to death back in November. Police say these victims were ambushed with no warning.

Now, Albuquerque police this morning are looking for information on this vehicle of interest. Take a good look at it. They say it could be connected to the killings.

Joining us now is the mayor of Albuquerque, Tim Keller.

Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for joining us.

We just put the picture up of this vehicle of interest. Any other leads you can tell us about this morning?

MAYOR TIM KELLER (D), ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO: Well, right now this is the best lead that the public can help us with. And so we know this vehicle has been connected to the scenes for a couple of these incidents. And we're asking everyone, especially, obviously, in our community down here, to really help us track this down. It's a relatively unique vehicle. And so we know there's roughly 100 of these in central New Mexico. And so it's just a question of time and identification of finding this vehicle and then, of course, connecting the dots further to bring justice to what's happened. But this is our best bet right now.

BERMAN: Obviously, all four victims we're talking about here, Muslim men.

Anything else you can tell us about how these cases are linked?

KELLER: Well, you know, at this point in the investigation, we want to make sure and focus on that as our priority. And some of that really - some of that really means not sharing every detail of the investigation.

[08:45:02] But we're very concerned that these are obviously tied together. They're obviously targeting Muslim men. And they're happening right here in our own refugee community, historically which has been a very safe and welcoming and inclusive place for decades. And so our community is extremely in a place of grieving right now, but also in a place of outrage that this could happen in our city.

BERMAN: Now, officials at this point tell us they aren't using the word hate crime to describe this. Why?

KELLER: Well, it was certainly a hateful act. I mean I think you have to call it what it is. It's obviously targeting Muslim men. It's a string of killings that are all related. We know that.

Now, there are different terms that speak to motive. And I think at this point we have no indication as to motive. And we don't even have an indication as to where the perpetrator, you know, is even from. The assumption is they're from here. They might not be. And so it is just the norm in law enforcement communities that you don't categorize things without knowing any kind of motive. But, you know, it obviously is a person and, in my opinion, clearly it's hate-driven.

BERMAN: So, no exact information on motive yet, other than the identity of all of the victims.

And another phrase that authorities have been loathed to use so far is serial killer. Why?

KELLER: Well, it's a similar situation there in that, again, we have a string of killings and they're targeted towards Muslim men. So we know that that is the case. And that's what a lot of people feel that that term reflects. But if you work with the FBI and so forth, again, that term speaks to motive. And, again, we -- unfortunately, we don't even know that right now. And so there could be a number of motives that may or may not be specific to this -- these individuals for different types of reasons.

BERMAN: Mr. Mayor, you know, you were speaking about the Muslim community and the fear that must be going through that community and your city right now. If you were a Muslim man, how could you feel safe going out in public?

KELLER: Well, it's very difficult right now. We know that folks in our community, in the Muslim community especially, they are afraid to even leave their house, especially at night. They're afraid to pray. They're afraid to go to school. We have schools starting, including a large Muslim population at our university. And so that's why our city, we have marshalled every resource to have now police presence at all our mosques during prayer time. We're working with our different police departments with respect to safety at schools and specific sort of buddy system related programs at school for kids. And we're even doing meal deliveries for families that are afraid to leave their house, even to get food. We're also providing counseling and trauma.

So, we are marshalling every resource we can to both make the community feel safe but also try and understand that we have to support this community and we have to make sure that we physically show up for them, and that's what we're trying to do.

BERMAN: I was just going to ask, what's your message to the Muslim community in Albuquerque this morning?

KELLER: You know, I think they know that this is not our city. We have had a long-standing, wonderful relationship with our Muslim community that goes back hundreds of years. And we believe that we are absolutely unified, from the highest levels of government, down to our neighbors and our community on the street in protecting and in supporting this community right now. And that we are going to get through this and we're unified in that effort.

BERMAN: Mayor Tim Keller, I appreciate you being with us this morning. Let us know what we can do to help.

KELLER: Absolutely. Thank you.

BERMAN: The receding waters of Lake Mead leading to a new, disturbing discovery.

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[08:52:25]

KEILAR: Lake Mead is spilling more dark secrets. The historic drought at the massive reservoir outside of Las Vegas has revealed some more human remains. This is the fourth set found since the water began receding.

CNN's Natasha Chen is joining us now on the latest here.

What have they learned in this case, Natasha?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, National Park Service Rangers got a call on Saturday when someone discovered what could be human remains. And so they responded, formed a perimeter and the Las Vegas Metro Police dive team assisted in helping them recover those remains at Lake Mead. And now the Clark County medical examiner is trying to figure out the cause of death.

As you said, this is the fourth set of human remains. The last found just a couple of weeks ago in the same spot, in what's called the swim beach area of Lake Mead. The first two discoveries were found in May. The first of which people might remember was someone found with a gunshot wound in a barrel. And police believe that was potentially a murder victim killed in the mid-'70s to early '80s because of the clothing found on that person.

Now, these discoveries don't just include human remains. The low levels of water right now in Lake Mead are also revealing sunken boats, including a World War ii era landing craft. And these just unprecedented low levels of water are caused by a mega drought fueled by climate change for the country's largest reservoir. And we're talking about 40 million people in the west that rely on water from the Colorado River, including Lake Mead here. And so this is causing a lot of problems in addition to these grizzly discoveries. This is the country's largest reservoir. It's also our first and largest national recreation area. So, there could be more things discovered as time goes on. Clearly, the water levels are at an unprecedented level. The lowest since this reservoir was filled in the 1930s.

John and Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, it's something to behold where you see just how low that line is.

Natasha, thank you for the latest on that.

CHEN: Thanks.

KEILAR: This morning, President Biden and the first lady are heading to eastern Kentucky to visit families devastated by flood damage.

BERMAN: New revelations this morning about a resignation letter that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, never sent in which he very directly and specifically criticizes Donald Trump.

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[08:59:05]

BERMAN: All right, time now for "The Good Stuff."

The NFL's Washington Commanders hosted 11-year-old cancer survivor and defensive line hopeful Josiah at the team's open practice this weekend in Maryland.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) guys earlier, he aspires to be a defensive linemen. So, he's going to hang out with the defensive line at practice.

But we want -- we want to make sure you feel like you're part of it. So, Chase Young got something for you.

JOSIAH: All right.

CHASE YOUNG: (INAUDIBLE). How you doing? You good?

JOSIAH: Yes.

YOUNG: Good to see you.

JOSIAH: You too.

YOUNG: You got to put it on now. You got to put it on.

There you go. Lap it up. Lap it up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, you ready.

YOUNG: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. All right, appreciate it. All right, so we'll see you outside (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I love that.

KEILAR: He looks good in that.

BERMAN: He smiles too much, though, to be a defensive linemen.

[09:00:00]

Josiah is now an honorary member of the Commanders' d-line. I'm sure he will never forget that day. What's so nice is when you see -- the team was just clearly into it.

KEILAR: Yes.

BERMAN: I mean they were all there for that moment. And I think they shared in his joy at being part of their team.

KEILAR: That kid had a strong handshake. I love it.

BERMAN: Sure did.

All right, CNN's coverage continues right now.

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