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New Day Saturday
Joe Biden Holds Major Rally Today In Pennsylvania; Missouri Passes Bill That Will Ban Abortion After Eight Weeks; Pence Denies His 2006 Immigration Plan Offered Amnesty For Immigrants In The Country Illegally; Report Finds Ohio State Had Knowledge Of Late Doctor's Sex Abuse; Search For Maleah Davis Leads To Area That Suspect Described As Good Place To Hide A Body; Police: Chicago Woman Plotted Murder Of Pregnant Teen For Weeks; Military Planes Gather Data Crucial For Forecasting Hurricanes. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired May 18, 2019 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[07:00:00] JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I'm going to be able to beat Donald Trump in 2020, it's going to happen here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A campaign headquarters and kick-off rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BIDEN: The best way to change it, and I'm not joking, is to get Donald Trump out of that office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Missouri House of Representatives passed this bill 110-44. But here, they specifically outlawed abortions after eight weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would support the legislation as it's written in Missouri. Any incremental improvement in pro-life legislation is always going to help save more lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our partners will be suing to prevent this unconstitutional, illegal law from going into effect. We need our patients to know that our doors are open.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tornadoes have been spotted in several states.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is called a rope tornado. And you can see that defined by its narrow band of cloud cover. It's quite a traumatic sight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It is the battleground state where Donald Trump cemented his 2016 win -- Pennsylvania. And later this morning, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden will stake his claim there, holding a major rally in Philadelphia where he'll open his campaign headquarters. VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Also, at the same time in Washington,
the battle continues over the current president's tax returns. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is defying a house subpoena for the documents. The next step, likely a court battle. And Ohio State University is apologizing after a report shows the university doctor repeatedly preyed on athletes in his 20 years at the school.
Well, Missouri is the latest state to pass a strict anti-abortion bill following Alabama, and Georgia and other states that have enacted similar legislation this year.
PAUL: There's been a sudden flurry of Republican states to enact anti-abortion laws; setting up a showdown over the fate of Roe v. Wade. Now, the Missouri bill is headed to Governor Mike Parson's desk who does plan to sign it into law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned?
GOV. MIKE PARSONS (R-MO): Yes, I do. I believe (INAUDIBLE), and I think there'll be a day come we may see that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: The Missouri bill bans abortion after eight weeks; it includes exceptions for medical emergencies but not for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. Brian Westbrook, he's the Director of the Coalition for Life, the group goes to Planned Parenthood facilities and uses a different approach to reach out to women. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN WESTBROOK, DIRECTOR, COALITION FOR LIFE: Hey, good morning. Good to see you today. Hi, sir. How are you today? Hey, good morning, ma'am? Give her a rose. How about a rose for you? White or red? White or red? You got it! You got it! Have a great one, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You, too.
WESTBROOK: Hey, good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like a coupon?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: So, he's having a conversation with them. And I spoke, yesterday, with him, about what is his intention when he's addressing these women who are getting ready to go into Planned Parenthood. Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WESTBROOK: There's an opportunity for us to talk to women, and offer love, and encouragement, and help. And so, what we find is, you know, going out with graphic images or just being loud is just that, just being loud. Organizations like Planned Parenthood or any other abortion provider, really only provides one choice. And we know that there are three choices if you become pregnant: it's parenting, adoption or abortion. And so, we want to make sure that, that woman is 100 percent educated on her different options.
PAUL: When you talk to them, do you talk to them about all three of those options or just about the two?
WESTBROOK: Yes, absolutely. We walk through each one of them. And we help them to rate those different options and ask them to pick one word that they would describe each one of those different options. And many times, once we get to abortion, their word is regret.
PAUL: There are other infant care for a single child takes 11 percent of the family income. The U.S. Department of health and Human Services said child care costs are unaffordable when they exceed seven percent. That's four percent higher. The Pew Research says only half of Alabama's 67 counties, half of them have obstetricians. There are no maternity leave; no family leave laws in Alabama. The CDC says Alabama has the highest state of infant mortality.
[07:05:01] It seems like there is a hypocrisy from Alabama, that they're saying to women: we're going to take away your abortion rights, but we're not help you take care of your children. If they believe that life begins at heartbeat, at that point, that heartbeat is detected, should life insurance be available? Should affordable health care be available for that mother? These things are missing in Alabama.
WESTBROOK: These are all incredibly important questions. And so, these are specific things that we're addressing in Missouri. Part of the legislation that was put forward in Missouri, also allowed tax credits for pregnancy centers. I mentioned earlier that we had 80 different pregnancy centers around the entire state of Missouri. And so, we're first and foremost, addressing all of these different issues.
PAUL: There was a woman, who's older now, who wrote an opinion piece in "USA Today" this week. She was 12-years-old when she was repeatedly raped and became pregnant. She is against this bill. Because she was saying: listen, at 12 years old, children should not be having children. To that you say what?
WESTBROOK: Well, again, we're talking about a little, innocent child who is inside the womb --
PAUL: But a 12-year-old is also an innocent child.
WESTBROOK: I agree. A 12-year-old is also a very innocent child, absolutely. I agree with you.
PAUL: So, when she's saying that the abortion was necessary for her, that she couldn't live in that way, there were so many factors in it, do you -- I just want to be clear about this: do you support the bill the way that it is in Alabama? WESTBROOK: So, I have not read the bill in Alabama, we're talking
about the legislation that is in Missouri.
PAUL: In Missouri. It's the same. Rape and incest would not be --
WESTBROOK: Correct. Correct.
PAUL: Would not be -- yes. You would not be able to get an abortion in those cases.
WESTBROOK: Correct. Correct. So, I would support the legislation as it's written in Missouri. One of the things we want to see is any incremental improvement in pro-life legislation is always going to help save more lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: And we also spoke with President and CEO of Planned Parenthood, Dr Leana Wen. Here's what she had to say about those statements.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEANA WEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: The idea of forcing someone whom is a child and the victim of rape to carry a pregnancy that she does not want to term is emotional trauma, it's physical trauma. And I just hope that we can imagine, if it were our own daughter, is that the decision that we would want imposed by the government on them? They don't know whether our health centers are open.
They don't know whether they need to move up their appointments; they know don't know if they can keep coming to us for life-saving care. And I want to say to the women who are calling us and all those who are listening, this extreme ban in Alabama has not gone into effect. There are a lot of steps, including that we will be suing and our partners will be suing to prevent this unconstitutional, illegal law from going into effect. We need our patients to know that our doors are open and we are here to care for you.
We work with our partners and we sue. We fight in the courts. We fight in the ballot boxes. We fight in the legislatures. I have a mentor who worked in the E.R. In the 1960s and talks about an entire ward of the hospital -- the sepsis ward, that was filled with young, healthy women -- previously young, healthy women, who are dying from infections, kidney failure because they did not have access to safe, legal abortion. We will never go back to that time. Banning abortion will not stop abortions, it will stop safe, legal abortions. It's unbelievable to me that Missouri is having the highest rate of congenital syphilis in nearly two decades.
That five counties face a thousand percent increase in syphilis. And instead of working to improve public health outcomes, these so-called pro-life politicians are, instead, taking away health care access; endangering the health and well-being of women and families. And you know what? I have a message for them, women in this country are paying attention. We are outraged. We know who is standing up for us in our health care and who wants to take away our rights.
PAUL: At what point do you believe life begins?
WEN: There is no medical or scientific consensus about when life begins. I have my personal views on this, you may have your personal views on this. But I believe that it is not appropriate for me to impose my personal views on anyone else.
[07:10:08] You know, one of the most heart-breaking moments for me this week was watching in Alabama when survivors of rape bravely told their stories. And even after hearing these heart wrenching, personal, deeply excruciating stories, 25 white men voted to take away the right of women to make our decisions about our bodies.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: So, you heard that from two people who recognized how personal this issue is to women, how sensitive it is. They want to help, but they want to help in two different ways. So, we want to know your thoughts on the abortion battle. Tweet us. I'm @Christi_Paul. Victor is @VictorBlackwell. And be sure to use the #NewDay. We're going to share your thoughts throughout the weekend and we thank you for, you know, letting us hear -- we care about what you think. And thank you for sharing.
BLACKWELL: Yes, certainly. And this is an issue about which we have a lot of passionate comments coming in already since we put out that request for comments in the last hour. We want to continue to hear them.
All right. Let's turn to the campaign for 2020. His campaign is calling it the final stage in his three-week announcement tour. And today, Joe Biden is coming back to his home state -- where he was born -- Pennsylvania for a major rally in Philadelphia. That's where he will put his campaign headquarters and the battleground state the President Trump turned red in 2016. Coming up at 10:00 this morning, we'll go live to the state of today's rally with CNN -- our political reporter, (INAUDIBLE).
PAUL: Well, the Washington Post says, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan threatened to quit this week if he wasn't given more authority over his agency. So, who exactly tried to step on his toes?
BLACKWELL: Plus, an independent report finds Ohio State University had knowledge that a university doctor repeatedly preyed on athletes in his 20 years at the school.
PAUL: And the science of keeping American safe; we hear from a hurricane hunter who flies into storms to collect critical data.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:15:19] BLACKWELL: 15 minutes after the hour now. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is now defying the house subpoena for the president's tax returns. He says the request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose and he is not authorized to release them. And while the denial is not a surprise, it does appear out of step with the law as the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee points out, the statute says, Congress can request the documents and leaves little room for discretion on whether they can comply. The next step is likely a court battle.
There are reports of a power struggle at the Department of Homeland Security. Washington Post says, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan threatened to resign this week after it was requested that he make an appointment change. And he said if he wasn't given more authority over his agency, he would be out.
PAUL: The Post says, it all stems from White House Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller attempting to influence hiring at the department. CNN White House Reporter Sarah Westwood following the latest. Sarah, good morning to you. What are you learning this morning?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, good morning, Christi. And yes, a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of immigration in this White House this week. Stephen Miller is one of the most influential people in the White House; very hawkish when it comes to immigration, and he's been carving out a greater role for himself when it comes to the president's immigration agenda and also when it comes to the Department of Homeland Security.
Recall that he was instrumental in the shakeup at DHS earlier this year that saw Kirstjen Nielsen out of the top job, that saw the administration; Ron Vitiello's nomination to lead ICE. But this showdown with Kevin McAleenan, the acting head of DHS all stems from a dispute over where Mark Morgan should go. Mark Morgan was a former DHS official during the Obama administration who stepped down when President Trump took office. But Trump recently tapped him to come back and lead Customs and Border Protection. Now, Miller wanted to move Mark Morgan to another agency within DHS.
Kevin McAleenan wanted Morgan to stay as the incoming CBP head. McAleenan came to the White House; he met with Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and threatened to quit if he wasn't given more say over the hiring process at DHS. He wasn't at least consulted about who would be working under him at the department. And just for context, this all comes the same week as the White House is rolling out its immigration plan. This is a highly controversial plan that would replace the family-based migration system that we have now with a points-based system that would favor highly skilled and educated immigrants. Victor and Christi.
PAUL: All right. Sarah Westwood, appreciate the update, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Well, new this morning, actually just a couple of minutes ago, Politico posted a new story a new report that Republican immigration hard liners are growing skeptical of Vice President Mike Pence that's because of the vice president's past immigration proposal. That plan would have offered a chance of a legal status to immigrants who enter the country illegally. Now, critics are questioning if the vice president played a greater
role in the president's new immigration policy announced Thursday. Joining me now: Daniel Lippman, Reporter for Politico; he co-wrote this Politico article draft a couple of minutes ago. Here it is: "Immigration activists stew over Pence's role on immigration plan." Daniel, good morning to you. What have you uncovered here?
DANIEL LIPPMAN, REPORTER, POLITICO: Good morning.
BLACKWELL: What have you heard?
LIPPMAN: Well, we uncovered the fact that -- the fact that Pence has attended a bunch of meetings that Jared Kushner has led to formulate that immigration plan, and those immigration hawks are saying that Pence is bringing a moderating influence to the debate, which, in large part stems from the fact his grandfather was an immigrant from Ireland and he was governor and congressman from Indiana, which has a large agricultural community. And so, he sees this issue less in terms of good and evil like president Trump and more in terms of his personal family experience and also the fact that you need some workers from abroad to work in the fields and to pick strawberries. Most Americans do not want to do some of those types of jobs.
BLACKWELL: Yes. So, you mentioned his grandfather back in 2006 when he was pitching this immigration reform bill, he wrote for the Wall Street Journal; one of the lines from his column: "America always has been and always will be a welcoming nation; welcoming under the law any and all with courage enough to come here." Well, that "and all" probably isn't applicable today. Is there evidence that he actually is or was in the plan that was announced Thursday, a moderating force? Are there detectable Pence elements in what was announced on Thursday?
[07:20:06] LIPPMAN: So, in some of those meetings, he has talked about the need to have skilled labor, particularly in skilled industries like agriculture. He talked about the need to have skilled labor, particularly in critical industries like agriculture. He's talked about retaining talent, train in American universities, particularly STEM -- those science and tech jobs where people, we don't educate someone from abroad and then say, sorry, you can't stay here, even though we spent all of this money on you. And a lot of Silicon Valley companies, they are arguing all the time for people to stay who are people from India and China instead of having those people go back and start their own tech companies, let's use that talent here.
And Trump has described his plan as pro-immigrant and immigration activists are not happy that it doesn't actually cut the number of immigrants coming in every year and doesn't actually deal with the people who are here illegally. So, it's hard to define exactly what came from Pence, but he talked about some of the themes of his 2006 moderate immigration bill that never went anywhere in some of those meetings. So, President Trump may have listened, and Jared Kushner, who doesn't know that much about the issue going into it, that definitely, probably factored into his thinking.
BLACKWELL: So, the immigration hard liners see Pence potentially as a moderating force. How problematic is that for the vice president? Because we know that this president prioritizes the issues important to his base. The president believes that you got the nomination and maybe the White House on immigration and being an immigration hard liner. Is this enough, any indications that this fissure is enough for the president to reconsider Pence moving into 2020?
LIPPMAN: I don't think there's any chance that Trump is going to remove Pence from his ticket. He's proved to be very loyal and he echoes a lot of the themes now about securing the border and the crisis on our U.S.-Mexico border. So, it doesn't look like he's not on the team. Trump, himself, has moved to the left a little bit in recent weeks on immigration in terms of this plan, which doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And so, I would not say that they are not on the same page; it's more like Pence is not the type of person who talks about American carnage and doom and gloom and the crimes that are being committed by immigrants.
He brings a little bit of a more nuance perspective. And he doesn't -- he sticks to his lines. He's not going to talk about the wall constantly like President Trump. He has his own lines, you know, according to my White House sources. And you know, he doesn't want to mimic the president in terms of talking all the time about all the problems that immigrants bring. And he actually has gone to the border, he has talked to Homeland Security employees to thank them for their work. So, he does everything the president asks him to do.
BLACKWELL: OK, we'll see how much we'll hear about this. Hot off the presses there at Politico.com. Daniel Lippman, thanks so much.
LIPPMAN: Thank you.
PAUL: Well, a new report finds that Ohio State University was aware of complaints that a school doctor sexually abused students, but the university failed to adequately investigate those claims. We'll have more on what happens now.
BLACKWELL: Plus, the mother of a missing 4-year-old girl, Maleah Davis, is talking about the search for answers in her daughter's disappearance. The latest on the investigation is ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:27:35] PAUL: Well, an independent report found Ohio State University had knowledge that a late doctor, sexually abused students. This was dating as far back as late 70s.
BLACKWELL: Dr. Richard Strauss, who died by suicide in 2005 is believed to have sexually abused at least 177 male students while he worked at the university. The report also finds that Ohio State personnel were aware of the complaints, but failed to adequately investigate the allegations. CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A message of deep regret and apology is coming from Ohio State President Michael Drake. He said the independent report commissioned by OSU contained findings that were both shocking and painful to comprehend. The redacted document shows the school failed to investigate or act after being told Dr. Richard Strauss sexually abused male student athletes. The findings detail acts of sexual abuse believed to have carried out against at least 177 students while Strauss worked at the school between 1978 and 1998.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I could not get the image of predator's face out of my head; him standing over me while he sexually assaulted me in that clinic.
SANDOVAL: Strauss was allowed to retire from the university in 1998 two years after sex allegations led to his firing from a student clinic and the university's athletic department. He was never prosecuted and took his own life in 2005. His death left behind dozens of survivors encouraged to speak out amid the recent investigation. In November, some pleaded with university officials to institute change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The question isn't did this or did this not occur is irrefutable with hundreds of lives negatively affected. The real question becomes what would it say about OSU if it turned a blind eye again.
SANDOVAL: Another accuser, Michael DiSabato, reacted to the finding saying, in part: "Now the truth is being told, I feel vindicated, but I have mixed feelings. Although a weight has been lifted off my back, I'm deeply saddened to hear the stories of so many others who suffered similar abuse by Dr. Strauss while Ohio State turned a blind eye." The report found Strauss' behavior was an open secret to more than 50 staff members in Ohio State's athletic department.
[07:29:55] Now, appearing in that redacted report, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, a former OSU assistant wrestling coach. Several victims have come forward with claims that he stayed silent about Strauss.
On Friday, Congressman Jordan's spokesperson wrote, "Investigators concluded would we have said from the beginning: Congressman Jordan never knew of any abuse."
But the report says, investigators could not conclusively determine each and every allegation made about a particular coach's knowledge. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[07:30:28] PAUL: And thank you to Polo for that there. Now, the mother of missing 4-year-old girl, Maleah Davis is talking about the search for answers in her daughter's disappearance. And she says, as a mother, she absolutely hopes her daughter is still alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITTANY BOWENS, MOTHER OF MALEAH DAVIS: Where is she? How did she feel before? What was she thinking about? Will I ever find out what happened like what really happened to her? CHAUNCY GLOVER, ANCHOR, ABC-13: Do you think Maleah is still alive?
BOWENS: As a mother, I want to hope that she is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Now, earlier this week, authorities were searching an area that Darion Vence, the suspect in her disappearance allegedly described as a good place to hide a body. Vence told police, three Hispanic men knocked him unconscious and abducted Maleah. Within days, police said his story just didn't add up.
Court documents point to a "substantial likelihood that Vence is going to be charged with murder.
BLACKWELL: Disgusting, thoroughly disturbing. That's how police in Chicago are describing the murder of a pregnant teenager. Coming up, how police say the suspect lured the victim into her home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:35:28] BLACKWELL: We're learning some new gruesome details about the murder of a missing pregnant teen in Chicago.
PAUL: Police say, a woman who strangled the victim and cut her baby out of her had planned this killing now for weeks in advance they've learned. Here CNN's Jean Casarez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chicago police say these two women are responsible for the murder of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, forcibly removing her baby from her womb.
EDDIE JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE: Really cannot express how disgusting and thoroughly disturbing these allegations are.
CASAREZ: 46-year-old Clarisa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree, are charged in the strangling death of Ochoa-Lopez.
The elder Figueroa's boyfriend has also been charged with concealment of the crime. Ochoa-Lopez was nine months pregnant when she disappeared last month. Her body was found May 14th on the suspect's property.
JOHNSON: It was there, the detectives finally located the remains of a female in a trash can that were later verified to be 19-year-old mother-to-be Marlen Ochoa.
CASAREZ: Clarisa Figueroa responded to the 19-year-old social media post for baby items, and allegedly lured her to her home with an offer of baby clothes and other items. The two met on April 23rd, hours later, a 911 call from the home not from the mother-to-be, but from the now defendant Figueroa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The caller gave birth 10 minutes ago, 46 years of age. The baby isn't breathing.
CASAREZ: The next day, Ochoa-Lopez's husband reported Marlen missing. But it wasn't until May 7th when the case took a turn after a friend of the victim told detectives about Ochoa Lopez's Facebook chat site, where authorities find exchanges with Figueroa. This led officials to Figueroa's home where they spoke to her daughter.
BRENDAN DEENIHAN, DEPUTY CHIEF OF DETECTIVES, CHICAGO POLICE: And they talked to Desiree for a while, and they're able to kind of solicit from Desiree, well, where is your mom at? Then, they continued to talk to her, and talk to her. And Desiree, says, "Well, my mom also did just deliver a baby."
CASAREZ: Police interviewed Figueroa at the hospital where she claimed the baby was hers, and admitted to knowing the victim, saying she gave her baby clothes in the past, but denied seeing her on the 23rd. She was arrested after DNA evidence showed she was not the mother of the child.
Ochoa-Lopez's family say they want justice for their only daughter. All three defendants were denied bond. Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: The Iranian Foreign Minister is apparently trolling President Trump after the president said his administration's mixed messages were a good thing for Iran.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:42:27] PAUL: Well, two U.S. officials who are familiar with recent intelligence tell CNN that new images show some Iranian ships that the U.S. claims were carrying missiles are now back in port.
BLACKWELL: Yes, they said the missiles are no longer on those ships, but they say what is not clear is if that move was to hide those missiles or just de-escalate, or as a de-escalation tactic.
CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is following the developments from Tehran. Fred, hello to you.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Victor. Yes, and it certainly was a really, really tough week here in Iran that saw a really a lot of escalation in the situation bringing the two sides to the brink of an armed conflict. Many of them were saying certainly, some are interpreting the fact that these missiles apparently have been offloaded as a possible sign of de-escalation.
We haven't really had any official word from the Iranians, yet. But I want to give you a little color from the ground that we thought was also interesting, because yesterday, we thought that Friday prayers -- the main Friday prayers here in Tehran would be really fiery after such a strong week with the U.S. sending an aircraft carrier. Sending B-52 bombers.
It was actually pretty subdued here at Tehran that could also be a sign that maybe Tehran also doesn't want to necessarily continue to fan the flame. At the same time, though, they are maintaining a pretty tough position.
The Iranians saying, at this point in time, absolutely no negotiations with the Trump administration. They say they want to see some of the sanctions against themselves ease before they pick up the phone and call President Trump or any of his advisers, Victor.
PAUL: So, we heard that Iranian foreign minister was trolling the president this week. I never knew anything like this was going to happen on Twitter.
PLEITGEN: Yes.
PAUL: I mean, the all these international relationships that we're seeing firsthand. Help walk us through what this means, Frederik.
PLEITGEN: Yes. Well, I mean, potentially, it could be, at least, a better sign than if they were -- in or, than if they are in a confrontation in the Persian Gulf.
I guess on Twitter, it's probably a lot more safe for this region and for the world of President Trump and the Iranian foreign minister are engaging there. But essentially what happened was that President Trump, after some of the criticism that he doesn't seem to be on the same page, as some of his advisors was as he fairly often does, blaming the media for it. Saying, it was all fake news.
And because of that, the Iranians have no idea what's actually going on. Well, to that, the Iranian foreign minister, then came out. I want to read his tweet for you, this is from Javad Zarif, he said, "With the B-team, those are the people that Zarif says are trying to get the president to go to war even though if he doesn't -- even though he doesn't want to. With the B-Team doing one thing, and @realDonaldTrump saying another thing. It's apparently the U.S. that doesn't know what to think. We in Iran have actually known what to think for millennia and about the U.S. since 1953 at this point in time. That is certainly a good thing as he puts it."
So, a little bit of trolling going on there from the Iranian side, whether or not that could inflame anything. We'll have to -- we'll have to wait and see. But it's certainly in general, we have to say, it certainly seems as though towards the end of the week, see things do seem to be calming down between the U.S. and Iran here in the -- in the greater Middle Eastern region.
Even though today, by the way, guys, just to say that really quickly, the FAA has actually issued a warning to pilots a note to two Airmen, saying that they need to do precautions when they fly in the Persian Gulf area because of the increased military activity. And because there is a threat, that jets could be misidentified here.
So, certainly, still some tension going on, though it seems that eased here on the ground a little bit, guys.
[07:45:57] PAUL: Wow, all right, especially, with that new warning. Frederik Pleitgen, always appreciate having you. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: All right, we're two weeks from the start of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the military is now working to make sure that forecasters will have all the information they need to track a storm. We'll hear from a hurricane hunter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: "STAYING WELL", brought to you by Aleve p.m. Aleve p.m. for a better a.m.
[07:50:21] PAUL: I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Well, some various therapists now say that the kitchen is exactly the place you need to go to fight anxiety. "STAYING WELL" looks like culinary therapy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE OHANA, CULINARY ARTS THERAPIST: If I'm preparing dinner, and I'm chopping my vegetables and cutting things in a certain way, that's really an exercise in mindfulness.
What makes culinary therapy so helpful and beneficial because you're really able to focus on what you're doing, be in the moment? In a traditional therapy session, there's really nothing else to focus on other than the person you're talking to.
When you're in the kitchen, doing something else with a therapist, people are really able to just kind of relax and be more themselves as I try to incorporate the things that people already have positive connections and positive feelings too. And it just kind of helps to set the right stage.
MIKKI FRANK, WORKING MOTHER: Whenever Grandma Dollie cooks, we all would come running.
OHANA: Then, I think about what it is that the client wants to focus on.
FRANK: I'm definitely feeling a lot of the push and pull between -- you know, my priority which is my children. And also a job which I love.
See, look, I'm fluffy (INAUDIBLE).
OHANA: A lot of it is just conversation. The difference is, is that I always have my social worker therapist hat on, and I pick up on certain cues you wouldn't notice. Make a point of reaching out to one another.
We all have to eat, so you're really -- you're learning something that's coping well for you, hopefully. But also, a life skills that we all need.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: What if they make something you don't like.
BLACKWELL: I guess you got to have another sessions.
PAUL: That's what I guess.
BLACKWELL: There you go, next time you do in (INAUDIBLE).
PAUL: There you go.
BLACKWELL: OK.
PAUL: So, let's talk about hurricane season.
BLACKWELL: Yes, it's officially started in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and exactly two weeks from today, it will begin in the Atlantic Ocean.
PAUL: So, meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with us here in studio, talking to us about the military's role in hurricane forecasting.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: As meteorologists, we use three main tools when we talk about forecasting for hurricanes. Satellites, buoys, and perhaps, the most important is the hurricane hunters. And that's very important. These are people who fly those airplanes directly into the storms to get the most accurate up-to-date information. I actually sat down with one of them and got a little bit more insight into the job.
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CHINCHAR: Why did you decide to become a hurricane hunter? Most people run away from hurricanes, you guys are actually flying directly into them, why?
MAJ. CHRIS DYKE, HURRICANE HUNTER: What I see when I'm out in the plane flying is a direct impact that we're able to make to help people protect themselves, and their loved ones, and their possessions. We're operationally flying hurricanes. There's several different agencies that are involved with that effort.
The Air Force is one of those. We support the National Hurricane Center. Then, separately, NOAA has some two P-3s and a G-IV. So, the P-3s and G-IV are primarily for research. However, they can be used for operational tasking if need be.
With the drops on, so when we actually release it from the plane, the shoot is kind of tucked into the top, and as this ejects out of the plane, there's a little probe at the bottom that is going to collect all of our temperature, dew point, pressure, things like that.
It actually gets wind speed and direction from a GPS unit embedded within it. So, it collects the location in one spot, the collect -- location at the next spot, and then it calculates the distance and time it took.
And then, this drag chute opens up as it's coming out of the plane. And the only purpose for this drag chute is to keep the sun upright, and falling at a correct amount, 2,500 feet per minute.
On a standard mission, we'll drop anywhere from 15 to 20 of these. And we pick strategic points in the storm that are going to be important for forecasters to understand what the vertical structure of the storm looks like. And it's going to be critical points where the model needs that information and data to be able to accurately depict how strong the storm is before it really starts forecasting forward.
Many of us, this is our part-time job. So, we have a whole another part of our lives where -- you know, I used to live in the Atlanta area and work in corporate finance. And then, went did this on the weekends. That part-time nature really hits home the point of the significance of the people -- the commitment that people are making.
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[07:54:49] CHINCHAR: Right. So, let's take a look at a real-time example of what those hurricane hunters do. This you're taking look at, it was Hurricane Michael from last year. Now, during the storm multiple times, they sent numerous hurricane hunter missions out to collect and gather data from this particular storm. OK?
Those drops (INAUDIBLE) that you saw in that piece, they will release them from the plains, and it sends us back very important information. For example, the last reading that we got from Hurricane Michael was that winds were sustained around 150 miles per hour, gusting even higher than that. We knew the direction and movement of the storm and even the exact location.
Now, let's bring it forward to the current da because this is why it's important. We may be a couple of weeks away from the start of hurricane season, but that doesn't mean things can't start early.
Victor and Christi, take a look at this. We have about a 30 percent chance of this area having some type of tropical or subtropical development over the next five days. Now, again, the good news is it swell out over the open Atlantic, we don't expect any direct impacts in the short term but it's certainly something to watch in a reminder to everyone that hurricane season is about to start.
BLACKWELL: Yes, it seemed over the last few years that there is been something brewing out there before June 1st. We'll see if that trend continues. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much, learned a lot.
CHINCHAR: Thanks, yes.
PAUL: Stay close we're back in a moment.
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