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President Biden And Former President Trump Prepare For Their First Presidential Debate of 2024; Donald Trump Speaks To Gathering Of Christian Conservatives In Washington, D.C.; At Least 52 People Dead Or Missing Following Two Airstrikes In Central Gaza According To Palestinian Officials; Biden Administration Announces Support For Israel In Possible War With Hezbollah In Lebanon; More Than 100 Million Americans May Experience Temperatures Approaching Triple Digits; Some Religious Schools In Arizona Partially Funded By Taxpayer Dollars; Mexico's Failure To Deliver Water Resources To Southern Texas Hurting U.S. Farms; Droughts In North America Causing Difficulties In Water Sharing Between U.S. And Mexico. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired June 22, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we're now just five days away from the first presidential debate of 2024 between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Both candidates are spending today preparing in their own unique ways for the upcoming showdown that will air right here on CNN. This morning, Biden is at Camp David where he and his team are spending this weekend poring over briefing binders, holding mock debate sessions as he prepares for this high-stakes debate.

Meantime, Trump, well, he's skipping the traditional debate prep and he's spending his Saturday on the campaign trail. Right now, he is speaking to a gathering of Christian conservatives in Washington, D.C., before traveling to Philadelphia for a rally tonight.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is covering President Biden's preparations, and Eva McKend is at the conference where Trump is talking to the crowd right now. So Eva, let's get started with you. What is Trump saying?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: So Fred, the former president, he's just getting started here. He was introduced by Ralph Reed, who leads the Faith and Freedom Coalition. And he mentioned that this is actually Trump's ninth time addressing this Road to Majority conference. He thanked him for keeping his promises to evangelicals during his presidency. That seemed to be a reference to the three Supreme Court justices that Trump appointed that ultimately led to the reversal of Roe versus Wade.

This is an important group, and the former president knows this. He said millions, this group will be responsible for turning out the vote of millions of Christians across the country. He also notably rattled out a series of early voting dates in different states. That is really a departure from when he cast doubt on the mechanism of early voting before. He told people in this crowd that they should vote early, if they will, as a way to compete with the Democrats.

We also know that the debate is on the former president's mind. Listen to what he told his crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Nobody is going to be watching the debate on Thursday night, nobody?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Will anybody be watching?

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So we know that Trump has really been downplaying the need for him to debate prep, but he is debate prepping, Fred. He has held over a dozen policy discussions with people high up on his V.P. contender list. And we know that he is expected to focus on this issue of inflation in his attacks against President Biden on the debate stage next week. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Eva McKend, thank you so much.

Let's check with Kevin Liptak now with more on President Biden's debate preparations taking place at Camp David. What do we know about what he's doing?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it's going to be an intensive stretch of days for the president out there in western Maryland. The way it's been described to us as it will begin somewhat informally, going through binders of potential questions, potential answers. Some of these policy differences between President Biden and President Trump eventually culminating in some of these mock debates that the president will engage in before he heads down to Atlanta on Thursday.

The president has surrounded himself with a group of very close aides that will help him over this stretch of days. They aren't necessarily all going to be there the same time, but it will reflect sort of the closest people to President Biden as he helps -- as they help prepare them for this debate, led by Ron Klain, who is the president's former chief of staff, but perhaps more importantly, is the most seasoned debate coach in the Democratic Party.

[14:05:13]

He's worked with President Biden, but he's also worked with President Obama, President Clinton. So he does have a wealth of experience getting ready for these showdowns. Also, out there at Camp David is Bruce Reed, who is sort of the top

policy hand to President Biden. And he was one of the ones who helped compile these binders ahead of this intensive debate camp out in Maryland. Also out there, Jeff Zients, the president's chief of staff, two of the top messaging gurus for President Biden, Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, and also Steve Ricchetti and Cedric Richmond who are very close to President Biden. In a lot of ways this overlaps very closely with the team that helped prepare President Biden for his 2020 debates. They feel like they had a good thing going there that they want to replicate this time around.

I think for this debate, the team has a number of objectives. One is to turn out a very punchy performance that can show President Biden is aggressive and is willing to go after President Trump. They really do want to hold Trump accountable for some of his past statements and comments. And certainly, that is something that they will be practicing out there at Camp David. Ordinarily, I think presidents like to get outside when they're out there in the woods. I looked it up. The high out there is 98 degrees today, so I think they're probably doing their prep indoors. But certainly, an intensive stretch of days for the president.

WHITFIELD: That's right, most likely. All right, Kevin Liptak, Eva McKend, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

All right, let's talk more about all of this. Joining me right now about this key presidential debate is Kadia Goba. She is a political reporter for Semafor. Also with me is Michael Gold, politics reporter for "The New York Times" who is covering the 2024 presidential race. Great to see you both.

MICHAEL GOLD, POLITICS CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": thank you.

KADIA GOBA, POLITICAL REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. Michael, let me begin with you. Since you are in Philadelphia covering Trump's rally, which will be happening later on today. For this debate, there will be no audience in this presidential debate. And I wonder if you think Trump is kind of using today's appearances to kind of gauge possible debate material. I mean, just now when he was in Washington D.C. at the Christian conservative conference, he says, nobody will be watching, right? I mean, I'm not sure if that was a question or if it was kind of a statement. Maybe he was gauging the audience there to, to know what the energy level might be like ahead of the debate for him.

GOLD: Well, I think Trump generally views his rallies as good debate prep. It's where he hones his lines. It's where he hones his attacks on Biden, and attacks on Biden are such a major, frequent feature of his speeches that there is an extent to which he is sort of testing material every time he's on the trail.

I will say he spent months essentially trying to challenge Biden to a debate, and lately with the debate approaching, he seems to sort of be casting doubt that the debate will be fair. He jokes with his supporters who is going to watch while at the same time saying that he gets good ratings for CNN and that's why they agreed to do it. His words, not mine.

But I think we're going to see today the beginnings of what he might say when he's on stage on Thursday, and he's really been honing his attacks on Biden over the last few rallies.

WHITFIELD: Kadia, Biden's debate preparation is, of course, very different here. He's doing what presidents traditionally have done. They have mock debates, and a lot of times it's at Camp David. So does this symbolize anything to you about how Biden, I guess, his discipline toward this debate and how his preparation will put him? Does this speak to his confidence about being able to be policy driven?

GOBA: Yes. As you mentioned, President Biden is at Camp David. He is with a big team along with Ron Klain, his former chief of staff. But I think he is the norm here and former President Trump is the outlier, not doing the debate prep, or, I should say, taking a different approach by talking to a number of different people around a policy- specific for the, for the debate.

This is this is typical, because even throughout his presidency Donald Trump was very much kind of didn't follow rules. So I think Biden is right on track and consistent with what previous presidents have done in the past.

WHITFIELD: Michael, Trump, he's skipped all five Republican presidential primaries, then accused Biden of being afraid of debating him. Biden turned around, challenged Trump to a pair of debates, and now here we are. So Trump is trying to lower expectations, even saying I think Biden is going to be very prepared.

[14:10:02]

What is he laying the groundwork for, in your view?

GOLD: I think there's an extent to which Trump's standard attack on Biden is that he can't put two sentences together. He said it for months, if not a year or more at this point. And there's an extent to which all the preparation that Biden is doing might strike back at that.

But when I speak to people in the Trump campaign, their debate strategy is to let Biden be Biden. They point to recent speeches. They point to his track record of gaffes. And I think there's an extent to which even as Trump is downplaying the importance of this debate, he also does want to make sure his followers are watching because he has kind of created this narrative that Biden is going to flub somehow. And if that happens, then Trump gets to say he was right. And if it doesn't happen, then we'll be having a different conversation on Friday.

WHITFIELD: Kadia, what do you think each candidate needs to accomplish during this debate?

GOBA: I think both candidates in their campaigns are going to be looking for breakout moments on both sides. I think they'll need that for campaign fodder going forward. But I think we talked about what the rules are, and we talk about cutting the mics off when the other person isn't speaking. I was in Pennsylvania four years ago and I remember how contentious it was. And I remember being at a Trump event where even Trumps supporters were very dismayed about the performance.

So I think they will be careful to let people actually talk. I think that's probably beneficial. But I also think they're going to -- people are pretty dug in at this moment. And if they're going to change anything or if they're going to change any minds, it will be based around policy and attitude on how they approach one another.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, thank you so much for your points of view. And of course, we're all going to be watching. Kadia Goba, Michael Gold, thanks to both of you. And you can watch it a variety of ways. You can tune in right here to CNN and watch the presidential debate June 27th, that's Thursday, 9:00 p.m. eastern. And of course, you can stream it on Max as well.

Coming up, new details on how the White House is prepared to support Israel in the event that war breaks out with Hezbollah. Plus, scorching temperatures are smothering millions of Americans with intense heat this weekend, the cities that could see record highs and when you'll start to feel some relief.

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[14:17:08]

WHITFIELD: All right, new today, at least 52 people are dead or missing following two airstrikes in central Gaza. That's according to Palestinian officials. The Israeli military says it's fighter jets targeted Hamas military infrastructure were in the area around Gaza City. And just as Israel has increasingly been at odds with the U.S. over the war in Gaza, the Biden administration is now pledging it's support in the event of a full-blown war with Hezbollah along Israel's northern border.

Aaron David Miller is a former U.S. State Department Middle East negotiator and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Always a great pleasure to see you. so how important, in your view, is this show of support.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: I mean, I think it suggests that the administration is extremely worried that the Israeli-Lebanon front could easily explode into a conflict that could easily morph into a regional war. And I think whatever problems the administration has with the Netanyahu government, and there are many for sure with respect to the conduct of its war in Gaza, I think the administration is doubling down on the reality. And they want to make it unmistakably clear to Iran and Hezbollah that if, in fact, it escalate, the U.S. will essentially have Israel's back and could, I think, it may be likely get involved in this confrontation itself.

We saw April 13, 14, Iran launched 300 plus higher trajectory weapons toward Israel. The U.S. mounted, with others, a significant air defense. And I think its presages, I think, a more robust involvement by the United States should that war -- I'm not predicting it will happen, but should that were actually escalate.

WHITFIELD: Is it your view that these incidents with Hezbollah could continue indefinitely even without it erupting into a sizable war?

MILLER: I mean, I think you broke the code here. As long as the Israeli-Hamas work continues, then you can count on the fact that he escalatory cycle that's been building between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese board is going to continue as well. And that's 18 years, Fred, since Hezbollah and Israel less tangled in the summer of 2006. Then Hezbollah only had 5,000 high trajectory weapons, and they shut down the northern half of Israel from Haifa to the Lebanese border for 33 days. Now Hezbollah possesses 150,000 high trajectory weapons of varying ranges and lethality. We're talking about being able to cover most major cities in Israel and Israeli infrastructure. And of course, the Israeli response it's going to be devastating both in terms of Hezbollah's assets and Lebanese infrastructure and the loss of Lebanese civilian life.

[14:20:08]

So I think this is a war that everyone still has a stake, I would think, in avoiding. But the longer the Israeli-Hamas war goes on, the greater the chance of an errant missile, a stumble, an accident.

WHITFIELD: Have a listen to what a senior spokesperson for the IDF said this week about the war in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT HEAD (through translator): Hamas is an idea. Those who think we can make Hamas disappear are wrong. I'm not talking about the alternatives. This is a decision of the political echelon, and the IDF will implement. But the issue the issue of eliminating Hamas is simply to throw dust in the eyes of the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What does this tell you now, or what do you read into what the Israeli Defense Forces are saying, particularly as it pertains to support for the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

MILLER: I think it's fascinating. On the analytical level, I think the IDF and Israeli intelligence has held this view for quite some time, that Hamas may not survive as an organized military force, but it will survive as a political organization, as an insurgency.

But even more important and consequential is the fact that the IDF's chief spokesman, Admiral Daniel Hagari, is openly saying that there are those who are, quote, trying to throw sand in the eyes or the Israeli public. And he links that to the political echelon. So I think pressure on the Netanyahu government is going to build. And the Israeli Defense Forces, the reservists, the active combat duty forces that are participating in this war, 300 dead since October 7, an additional 200 Israeli military killed on October 7, I think that this presages the one pressure point on the Netanyahu government that may actually have an impact on altering Israeli government political behavior. But again, whether this is a headline, Fred, or trend line remains to be determined.

WHITFIELD: And what kind of impact is being made with Netanyahu dissolving the war cabinet?

MILLER: I think it's all about Knesset arithmetic. It's 120 Knesset Israeli parliament. You need 60 plus one to govern. The prime minister has 60 plus four. It's a pretty cohesive, tightly bound coalition, two religious parties and two messianic Zionist parties, and rightwing, extreme rightwing. And I think as long as that prevails, the Netanyahu government is probably safe.

On July 25th, which is the day after Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress, the Knesset goes into recess. It doesn't resume until, I believe, two weeks before our election, which in my mind means that if Mr. Netanyahu's government can make it to the 25th, he'll probably be around through most of the fall and in a position to judge on November 5th and what follows who the next president of the United States is going to be. I suspect bad leader and bad circumstances at a very bad time, it's possible Mr. Netanyahu will be with us into early 2025.

WHITFIELD: All right, Aaron David Miller, thank you so much.

MILLER: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, the cities that could see triple-digit temperatures as a dangerous heat wave settles in across the country.

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[14:28:05]

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures right now from St. Louis out where it sure does look picturesque and beautiful, but it's feeling really hot as well as the temperatures creep up into the 90s. St. Louis is just one of dozens of cities feeling some intense heat this weekend. More than 100 million Americans will see temperatures creeping towards triple digits. And for the first time this year, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for New York City.

Joining me right now, CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is in Brooklyn. And I'm wondering, Polo, when you're going to run through that splash pad yourself. I see the kids are trying to stay cool.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe the next hour, Fred. I was actually surprised, a local Italian ice vendor said it's actually not, business is really not that high up, which is kind of surprising because if you're out here, you will find just about any way to beat the heat. As you see, some of the youngest of the nearly 100 million people that are directly impacted by some sort of hearing advisory today finding their own way to keep cool. Maybe I might give this a try later on. But the reality is, look, this combination of heat and humidity, it

could prove deadly for the most vulnerable. And that's why you're seeing cities all throughout the northeast, they're keeping some of those cooling centers open. And they're also issuing those warnings and the reminders for people not just to stay hydrated, to stay cool, but also checking on the elderly, checking on the most vulnerable, especially those who don't have air conditioning.

A few days ago, I was in Burlington, Vermont, found out that about a third of that state doesn't have air conditioning. Why would they? It's Vermont. But when you have this unseasonably hot and humid weather, that's the dangerous potential for those people who simply aren't used to it. I grew up in Texas, I know what heat is. But when you're not used to this, that's where things can get quite dangerous.

So in Washington D.C., the mayor there, Fred is considering extending that heat advisory potentially into next week because today they will be nearing triple digits. It's very similar in Maryland as well.

[14:30:05]

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval, we're appreciating the warnings. I know the kids are having fun out there, but we understand and underscore that it is dangerous heat out there. So all the precautions have got to be taken. Thank you so much, Polo.

I want to bring in meteorologists Elisa Raffa, who is tracking all of this from the CNN Weather Center. So yes, it's summertime, it's supposed to be hot, but this is exceptional, Elisa.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've seen daily records fall multiple days this week, and we could do that again as we go through the de today. You've got excessive heat warnings from Philadelphia, parts of Pittsburgh, too. And then look at the advisory stretching down to D.C. in Norfolk, Virginia. We are finding that more than 80 percent of the lower 48 will continue to find temperatures because above 90 degrees as we go into week. More than 250 daily records, both daytime highs and overnight lows could fall as we go through the next couple of days.

Look at the high temperatures today -- 97 Dallas, 92 Kansas City, 95 St. Louis, 93 Cincinnati, 92 in New York, 98 in Washington D.C. That is your forecast. We could, though, see temperatures get up to 100 degrees. The last time Washington D.C. hit 100 degrees was 2,868 days ago. It was back in 2016. So it has been a long time. So D.C. I last checked was 97 degrees so far. So again, we're watching to see if we can hit that century mark.

We could also get close to 100 degrees from Philadelphia, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, as we go through the weekend. New York sweltering in the low and middle 90s. Notice, though, by Monday we start to find these temperatures get back knocked down into the 80s closer to average. A cold front will come through with a couple of storms, and that will ease that heat a little bit.

But until then, we're not even really finding any of that relief at night. Overnight temperatures have been sweltering in the middle and upper 70s. You can find an overnight low tonight of 80 degrees in D.C. So when you have these temperatures that just stay so warm at night, you just don't get that relief. It's really hard to get relief when, again, it's still so muggy at night, Fred.

WHITFIELD: A low of 80, I mean, that's quite extraordinary. All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, a new CNN investigation, how Arizona taxpayers are funding religious schools pushing rightwing views while public schools are closing due to lack of funding. That's next.

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[14:37:05]

WHITFIELD: A CNN investigation has found some religious schools in Arizona, including a school that has partnered with a Trump-aligned advocacy group, are being partially funded by taxpayer dollars. Some of those funds are going to unregulated private schools that don't face the same standards as public schools or have the same antidiscrimination protections. And this move has in part contributed to the closure of public schools in that state.

Here's CNN's Rene Marsh.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Hello, Phoenix.

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Phoenix megachurch, the setting for a recent Donald Trump campaign rally.

TRUMP: You have to have a choice also in education. You've got to have choice in education.

MARSH (voice-over): The same megachurch has partnered with the Trump aligned political group Turning Point USA to educate students at this private school, Dream City Christian.

CHARLIE KIRK, TURNING POINT USA FOUNDER: Dream City Christian School, a Turning Point Academy.

MARSH (voice-over): Its website underscores a far-right Christian viewpoint, promising to combat morally bankrupt and liberal ideology, including Critical Race Theory, evolutionism, and gender identification. And it's partially funded by taxpayer dollars.

Like many private schools in the U.S., students at Dream City can use state money to pay for private education. A CNN investigation found Dream City Christian received more taxpayer money than 95 percent of the private schools in the state voucher program, a total $1.3 million last year, according to data CNN obtained. That's despite anti-LGBTQ mandates in the parent handbook, stating faculty must believe and parents must agree to their children being taught that homosexual behavior is sinful and offensive to God, and rejection of one's biological sex is a rejection of the image of God.

PROF. SAMUEL E. ABRAMS, NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY CENTER: It's a civil rights issue.

MARSH (voice-over): Professor Samuel Abrams studies school privatization.

ABRAMS: This is no way for any school system to operate, whereby public money is funding such discrimination. That's reprehensible.

MARSH (voice-over): Two years ago, Arizona was the first of nearly a dozen states to go to a universal voucher system where families can use public funds regardless of income. Red states are leading the charge, fueled by a backlash over COVID closures at public schools. And a major campaign funded in part by a handful of conservative billionaires pushing for more public dollars for private education.

TOMMY SCHULTZ, CEO, AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN: There's been more gains made in the last few years of the school choice movement than there were in the prior 30 years.

MARSH (voice-over): The American Federation for Children, founded by former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has led the way by opposing anti-voucher candidates. Tommy Schultz is CEO.

SCHULTZ: We've been involved in more than 2,000 state legislative races, and overall, we've got a 75 percent successful win rate.

[14:40:02]

We've utterly changed the narrative, and this issue of school choice has been a deciding factor in so many elections across the country.

MARSH (voice-over): This school year, vouchers cost taxpayers in Arizona hundreds of millions of dollars more than anticipated, funneling public money to unregulated private schools that don't face the same educational standards as public schools.

SCHULTZ: I would submit that school choice is the best government funded anti-poverty program that's out there.

MARSH (voice-over): But although vouchers have long been pitched this way, as a means to help disadvantaged students in public schools, a CNN analysis found that Arizona's program is disproportionately benefiting students in richer communities. As the state's private schools, like Dream City, get a windfall in tax dollars, public schools are seeing declining enrollment and shrinking budgets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hurts the neighborhood. People bought into this area with the fact that we have a school. Now we don't have a school.

MARSH (voice-over): Families and teachers said goodbye at Sunset Canyon Elementary, one of three schools shutting down in its district after hundreds of kids moved to vouchers. Those school officials say lack of affordable housing and lower birth rates are also to blame. FELICIA WHITE, PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER: Get in the car with us. Is that OK?

MARSH (voice-over): Felicia White's 11-year-old daughter Riley attends another area school that's closing.

WHITE: Riley has a really hard time with change. She has a lot of anxiety, along with having special needs. So, for her now to start trusting other people and allowing them into her circle at 12 years old is going to be hard, really hard.

MARSH (voice-over): Advocates are sounding the alarm that the future of public schools is at stake.

BETH LEWIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAVE OUR SCHOOLS ARIZONA: Our schools have been so underfunded for so long that there really wasn't any cushion in those school budgets. Even the smallest amount of movement is going to destabilize that, and our public schools simply cannot hold.

MARSH: When CNN reached out to both Dream City Christian School and Turning Point USA, they did not respond to CNN's request for comment. But it's not just Dream City Christian. Our investigation found other Arizona schools are also receiving a windfall in taxpayer dollars despite extreme rightwing policies and accusations that they discriminate against LGBTQ students.

Using public funds for private school is a trend likely to continue. It's an issue in presidential politics as Trump has said as president he would adopt a form of universal school choice across the country.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, Rene. And we should note again that neither Turning Point nor Dream City has responded to CNN's requests for comment.

All right, for years there has been a war brewing along the U.S. border with Mexico. Why a battle over water could be coming to a head.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:37]

WHITFIELD: All right, there's a long simmering war going on between the U.S. and Mexico, and it's not over migration. For years the two countries have been battling over who gets to use valuable water resources along the border. And now it could be coming to a head as drought grips Mexico. CNN's Rosa Flores explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSE SILVA, CITRUS GROWER: Just turned 71 and growing citrus that's always been my passion. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jose Silva, a citrus grower in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, takes us to a grove he hasn't irrigated since January --

SILVA: Well, this grove is about 25 years old.

FLORES (voice-over): -- to show us how his life's work could be in peril due to lack of water.

SILVA: As you can see the leaves folding and the fruit how small it is, because we haven't been able to irrigate like we should.

FLORES (voice-over): The culprits, he says, are both natural and man- made. There's the years-long drought that has reservoirs along the Rio Grande at all-time lows according to Texas water authorities, and a dispute between the U.S. and Mexico over an 80-year-old water treaty that has Silva and many Texas farmers blaming Mexico for their misfortunes.

SILVA: If we had water from Mexico, this grove would be irrigating right now.

FLORES: I'm in South Texas under the 1944 treaty, Mexico, which you see over my shoulder across the Rio Grande, owes the U.S. about 390,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water so far this five-year cycle, which ends October, 2025.

FLORES (voice-over): When Mexico released water to the U.S. in 2020, it sparked violent protests from Mexican farmers. Currently about 90 percent of the country is enduring its most expansive drought since 2011.

Mexico's foreign ministry points to that yearslong severe drought and says it plans to meet its treaty obligations by the October, 2025, deadline.

But it's too late for some farmers. Not only have some citrus growers pulled and burned their wilted groves.

SILVA: When you see this it's just heartbreaking. It just breaks your heart.

FLORES (voice-over): The entire South Texas sugarcane industry is dead, forcing the state's only sugar mill, a $100 million business that employed more than 500 people, to close in April according to this man.

[14:50:05]

Do you blame Mexico?

TUDOR UHLHORN, CHAIRMAN, RIO GRANDE VALLEY SUGAR GROWERS: Yes. I mean, this is not an act of God. This is a man-made situation.

FLORES (voice-over): Tudor Uhlhorn is a chairman of the Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers. FLORES: So is this equipment going to be sold?

UHLHORN: Yes.

FLORES (voice-over): And says a group of 90 farmers went from harvesting 35,000 acres of sugarcane and churning giant piles of sugar like this one to producing less than 10,000 acres in February.

FLORES: Do you in part blame the State Department for not forcing Mexico to provide the water?

UHLHORN: It's definitely the fault of the State Department because this has occurred under Republican administrations, and it's recurring now under a Democratic administration. You start to feel like maybe the State Department doesn't care about you very much.

FLORES (voice-over): The State Department tells CNN that the agency continues to urge Mexico to make water deliveries and continues to work with Congress to resolve the issue.

SILVA: We have to check with the water districts.

FLORES (voice-over): It's at meetings like these that Jose Silva advocates for the water he needs to save his wilting groves.

SILVA: Is there something that maybe you guys can do?

FLORES: But after much discussion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm sorry we couldn't come up with a better solution for you.

FLORES: The outcome was there's no water.

Could this mean that some of your groves die?

SILVA: There's a -- there's a good chance, yes. It's really heartbreaking. It really hurts. It really does.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Rosa Flores. Thank you so much for bringing us that report.

Laura Paddison is the senior climate writer at CNN International and has been writing about this story. She's with us right now. Laura, good to see you. So where is this battle between the U.S. and Mexico headed?

LAURA PADDISON, SENIOR CLIMATE WRITER, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Well, it's a really difficult situation, as you've heard. So Mexico is obliged to deliver water to the us from the Rio Grande on these five-year cycles. We are more than four years into the current cycle, and Mexico has delivered less than one year's worth of water. So there's a huge shortfall, and it's causing a lot this pain.

So in Texas where they rely on these deliveries, farmers are saying our future is hanging in the balance here. Some Texas politicians have called on the Biden administration to withhold aid from Mexico until those deliveries are made. But it is also important to say that Mexico is suffering, too. So grappling with this incredibly severe drought, 90 percent of the country at the moment, and it's particularly severe in the states along the border where 100 percent of some of them are in drought. And some Mexican politicians are saying, look, we can't give you what we don't have right now. So it's a really difficult situation.

WHITFIELD: And it's not just an issue on the border, but some experts are warning that Mexico City could be running out of water. What's happening there?

PADDISON: Yes, absolutely. So Mexico City, a city of around 22 million people could be facing a day zero. This is basically the day where taps run dry for large parts of the city, which obviously is an incredibly alarming situation to be in. The city has always faced water scarcity issues, but they have become much, much more severe. And that's down to a tangle of factors. You've got booming population, chaotic urban development, a leaky infrastructure.

But also Mexico City gets a lot of water from an aquifer. It's been so over pumped the city is actually sinking now. And reservoirs outside the city also provide a significant amount, and heat and drought have really dried those reservoirs out. They've been at record low levels for the last couple of years.

So some experts are saying it could be as soon as the end of June that the day zero happens. Other say it will be later, but what's clear is that there is a big crisis here. And I think both these stories just show how difficult it is to kind of manage, to share water resources in cities and countries when everything, climate crisis is making everything hotter and drier.

WHITFIELD: Yes, all very significant and frightening. Laura Paddison. Thank you so much.

All right, tomorrow, CNN's Fareed Zakaria examines the relationship between the United States and Mexico from the border to the economy to the cartels. These bilateral changes could have a big impact in the upcoming U.S. elections. Make sure to tune into the new Fareed Zakaria special "America's Mess with Mexico," that airs tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

All right, a North Carolina man now has a tale to tell that's absolutely out of this world. After weeks of speculating, Mike Wooton from Franklin, North Carolina, received verification from NASA that the metal object found outside his home was part of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The piece of metal was hurling back into earth's atmosphere at 17,000 miles per hour when it eventually slammed onto Wooten's rooftop and fell onto his front lawn.

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[14:55:10] MIKE WOOTEN, FOUND SPACE DEBRIS ON HIS FRONT YARD: I was so glad to get all this information. I finally find out what it is and connect the dots.

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WHITFIELD: Wow. And Mike says if NASA or SpaceX needs the object back for research, then, of course, he'd gladly return it.

All right, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN Newsroom continues with Omar Jimenez right after this.

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