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Crypto Investor Kidnaps, Tortures Man For Weeks; Remembering George Floyd Five Years After His Murder; Independent Pharmacies Face Rising Costs, Tariff Threats; Trump Ramps Up Unprecedented Use Of Presidential Power; Millions Face Severe Storm Threats This Memorial Day Weekend; Israeli Embassy Staffers Murdered; Alabama Sewage Problem. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired May 25, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Be sure to tune in to a new episode of "EVA LONGORIA SEARCHING FOR SPAIN," airing next Sunday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.
All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
We begin with a disturbing criminal case out of New York that prosecutors say involved a brutal plot to steal bitcoin. They allege a cryptocurrency investor identified as 37-year-old John Woeltz kidnaped and tortured a man for weeks, leading him to believe his family was in danger if he didn't give up his bitcoin password.
According to authorities, the victim managed to escape the upscale Manhattan townhouse where he was being held and flagged down a traffic officer for help.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino joining us now.
Boy, is this peculiar.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Fred, really bizarre and disturbing details that we are learning from both law enforcement officers as well as prosecutors. The man that we were just seeing on the screen there, that's John Woeltz, and he's been charged after being arrested Friday night. He's being charged with kidnaping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a fireman.
Now, here's what police say happened. Apparently, John Woeltz lured an Italian man here to New York City who arrived in town earlier this month. This Italian man was then kidnaped, held hostage inside this fancy Manhattan apartment where he was drugged, beaten, shocked with electric wires, hit in the head with a firearm and dangled over a ledge and threatened to be killed.
All of this, Fred, over a bitcoin password. Now, what's not clear to us just yet is exactly how John Woeltz and the man from Italy, who police have yet to identify, were known to each other. We don't know yet if they had some sort of personal or business relationship, but we know that for days John Woeltz is accused of torturing this man, trying to get him to give up his bitcoin password.
Now, as you said, John Woeltz is a cryptocurrency investor and he had been here in New York City for the past several weeks while this incident unfolded. Now, some of the evidence that was found inside this ritzy Manhattan apartment includes cocaine, ammunition, chicken wire that was apparently used to tie up the victim, body armor. And there were also Polaroid photos of the victim, which showed him with a gun pointed to his head.
Now, Fred, as you said, this went on for several days, but it was the last Friday that the victim felt that he was about to be killed. This is what he told police officers. He thought he was going to be killed so he finally gave up his password. That allowed him some minutes to actually flee from the apartment. He ran out to the street and flagged down a traffic officer, and that's how he was able to get some help.
He remains in the hospital in stable condition, and we are expecting the suspect here, John Woeltz, to appear back in court next week -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That's incredible. And then authorities are saying that there might be other people involved in all this?
PAZMINO: Yes. The prosecutor has said that there is an unnamed individual that's yet to be arrested. We're trying to learn whether this person was directly involved or how they might have been involved with the alleged incident that took place here over the last several weeks.
WHITFIELD: All right. Keep us posted as you learn more.
Gloria Pazmino, thanks so much.
All right. We turn now to a somber day of remembrance in cities across the U.S. Five years ago today, George Floyd was murdered on a Minneapolis street. His neck held firmly under the knee of a police officer. Floyd's last words, I can't breathe, became the rallying call heard around the world. Massive protests followed, and in response, some police departments enacted reforms. New laws were passed.
But now, as Floyd is being remembered, Trump's Justice Department is working to end police reform agreements and halt investigations into police departments. This morning outside Houston, Floyd's family gathered around his gravesite. The Reverend Al Sharpton spoke out against the Trump administration's push to end reforms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON, ACTIVIST: Police reform and justice for the George Floyds of the world will not be Trumped. That's right. We will keep fighting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: I want to bring in now CNN's Sara Sidner. She is joining us from Minneapolis. Sara, you have heard and seen a lot there in this location just in the
past couple days. People are, you know, paying homage to George Floyd in a lot of different ways. What are they saying and doing right now?
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, a lot, including many of his family members are here, his uncles and aunts and a niece all came here, and they came here because they wanted to come back to the spot, the spot that horrified not just this community, not just the Floyd family, but the world.
[16:05:06]
It sent people to the streets even during the pandemic, when people were afraid that they would lose their breath from COVID-19. But after hearing him beg for his own breath and talk to his mother on his last dying words, it sent people to a place, to the streets because they couldn't believe their eyes. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
This is where then Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd's neck, forcing this community and the world to watch a slow motion murder. A murder that happened over nine minutes with a man begging for his breath and his life. What you are hearing now, though, are sounds of commemoration.
There are sounds of demands that they want people to go back and look, go back and see what really happened and to remember why there was a great call for police reform and why all these companies came out and said, we are going to work on diversity, we're going to work on being better. And now with the Trump administration, much of that has been rolled back.
There's a lot of concern here about that, a lot of frustration here. But there's also a lot of love here. And that is why the Floyd family made sure that they come back to commemorate this moment with this community because look at how this community, complete volunteering, has taken care of his memorial, taken care of this street at 38th and Chicago, here in Minneapolis.
Here's what the family had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SELWYN JONES, GEORGE FLOYD'S UNCLE: So this is a prideful community. And they're trying to make a wonderful community out of a tragic situation. And look, this is unity, man. This is the reason why we had an opportunity to be out here today, to be making the difference with the community, with people in general.
LAURA STEVENS, GEORGE FLOYD'S AUNT: And what I get out of it, the cover-up has been uncovered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
STEVENS: No more cover-up. You have to walk careful before you can look at what kind of color person you're going to start thinking, because you can't get away anymore. That's gone. That is gone. That's been gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: So that is some of the sentiment of the family, sort of the two visions there. One being embraced and wanting to embrace love and send that out into the world, the other recognizing what George Floyd's death meant and what it hopes it means in the future, that a future they hope would be filled with change.
But you are seeing some of the people who work here, who volunteer, who take care of the plants who come in every day to make sure this is beautiful. But there is also another side to this. There is a political side to this, and we've seen the vitriol just explode over the last 24 to 48 hours. You're seeing some of MAGA-land respond. Those who sent out disinformation and misinformation about what happened.
A jury saw all of the evidence, and they decided that Derek Chauvin, then Officer Chauvin, killed George Floyd. But there is all this, all these lies that have been put out there. And then here is how some people are responding to today, a day of commemoration of his death. This is what Laura Loomer, who has the president's ear, put out on social media today, saying, congratulations to George Floyd, five years sober.
A disgusting response to a day when a family is trying to continue to mourn, but also to show love and peace and kindness. Imagine your family member having died five years ago and having to watch that murder in person, live, seeing it go on, and then to see the vitriol that has been placed around him. A lot of heartbreak here seeing some of that online today -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yes, disgusting. Insensitive. I mean, just simply outrageous to see that those sentiments are out there.
All right. Sara Sidner, thank you so much from Minneapolis.
All right. We've heard several major companies say they will have to raise prices as a result of President Trump's tariff war. But some small businesses, including struggling independent pharmacies, are worried they may not be able to survive the impacts of the tariffs. Potential tariffs on prescription drugs could be the final blow to these pharmacies already facing low margins.
Supply chains could also be disrupted and prices could rise on medications made in China, Europe and India.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones joining me now.
And Julia, you spoke with the pharmacist who sounds very worried.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I'll tell you the main worries, because it's also uncertain, Fred. This is a business that has been struggling for years, she told me, not just because of pricing that is actually not set by the pharmacies, but by middlemen that negotiate between the wholesalers and manufacturers and the insurers, and that this could be the extinction of the local mom and pop pharmacy that so many Americans rely on, not just to fill their prescriptions, but also to get some medical advice and guidance that they so desperately need.
[16:10:11]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SONA KAZANGIAN, PHARMACIST, DISCOUNT MEDICAL PHARMACY: There is not a single bottle that I pull up here that doesn't say made in China or made in India. The generics, I think, probably about 80 percent of it or more is made in other countries.
JONES (voice-over): The threat of tariffs for this slice of the healthcare industry looms large, but it's just one of many challenges independent pharmacists like Sona Kazangian now face.
KAZANGIAN: It's very difficult for us to survive.
JONES: Her father started the business 41 years ago. Now she's fighting to keep it open among razor-thin profit margins in what she calls a broken reimbursement system.
KAZANGIAN: There are drugs that I don't even buy anymore because I already know that there is no plan that reimburses me even at cost, much less at a profit.
JONES: That reimbursement is set by pharmacy benefit managers or PBMs, companies that act as middlemen between insurers and pharmacies.
KAZANGIAN: They control, you know, what the patient pays as a co-pay. They control what we as the pharmacy receives as payment. These entities are paying us less than what the drug costs for us to buy it.
JONES: This business model is not sustainable for the pharmacies, experts say, but often more profitable for PBMs.
ROBIN FELDMAN, PROFESSOR OF LAW, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO LAW: PBMs are paid by the discount they get. So they've learned that if prices rise, they get a better discount and their pay goes up. That's PBM.
JONES: So can they benefit from higher prices of medication?
FELDMAN: If the prices rise because of tariffs or for any other reason, they will do better.
JONES (voice-over): If enacted, the cost of tariffs on those drugs would be passed down from manufacturer to wholesaler to pharmacy, squeezing these businesses even further.
KAZANGIAN: We don't really know exactly what's going to happen, but I think all independent pharmacies have thought about this issue. If you're acquiring this drug now for X dollars more because of a tariff, the likelihood that the PBM is going to pay me X dollars more to make up for that is probably slim. JONES: But the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association says PBMs
generate at least $148 billion in savings for the healthcare system annually, and support independent pharmacies through innovative programs to increase reimbursement on prescription drugs.
Earlier this month, the National Community Pharmacists Association issued a statement saying that unless the federal government ensures that PBM pharmacy reimbursements are increased to reflect higher costs, the ripple effect of tariffs could be fewer pharmacies, stranded patients and inadequate pharmacy networks for Medicare and Medicaid. A grim prognosis for institutions that play a vital role in so many communities.
KAZANGIAN: In parts of this country that are very rural or not very accessible, those pharmacies are really the only like medical facilities that exist. So those patients are really going to -- they're really going to suffer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES (on-camera): And it's important to point out, Fred, that these pharmacists, as well as the Community Pharmacists Association, they are actually in favor of bolstering the production of medications in the United States, but that the infrastructure is just not there yet, and that imposing these tariffs will eventually not be the solution and hurt just pharmacies as well as patients.
WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.
All right. Still to come, as President Trump takes aim at Harvard University, concern is growing about the unprecedented moves by the White House to exert control over private institutions.
And later, a man quit his job, set off on an incredible journey. Details on an important milestone that he just reached with his cat naturally by his side.
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[16:18:33]
WHITFIELD: President Trump continues to ramp up his unprecedented use of presidential power as he launches attacks on institutions, businesses and individuals that he considers hostile. This past week, his administration tried to ban international students from Harvard, a move temporarily halted by a federal judge.
The president also threatened massive tariffs of 50 percent on the European Union, citing stalled talks on a trade deal, and he threatened a 25 percent tariff on Apple and other smartphone makers like Samsung unless they move their productions to the U.S. Trump also found time to lash out at musicians Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift on social media.
I'm joined now by Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and Bloomberg opinion columnist. His new analysis piece on CNN.com is titled "As Trump aims to expand presidential authority, can anyone stop him?"
Ron, great to see you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. So Harvard University is just the latest example of this president uniquely expanding his executive authority. There are checks and balances pillars in place to exert. But except for some court rulings, little is being leveraged from dissolving agencies, mass federal worker layoffs.
Why is this presidency getting away with so much more than some predecessors?
[16:20:02]
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean, it's easy to lose sight, you know, of the breadth and depth of what's happening in the daily kind of firehose of activity. But if you kind of look at the big picture, the Trump -- second Trump presidency, he is trying to shatter the boundaries that were built in the Constitution and have developed since to limit the arbitrary exercise of presidential power.
And, you know, you're seeing it in all directions, marginalizing Congress, defying lower courts, looking to erase any kind of independence in the executive branch from undermining civil service protections, to firing inspectors general, to really undermining the independence of regulatory agencies. And then all of these efforts to control what states are doing. To impose red state social policies on to blue states, and kind of erasing the traditional notions of federalism, especially as articulated by conservatives.
And then what you cite, kind of the new front that really has expanded to a degree, even beyond what we saw in Richard Nixon, which is trying to leverage all of the different mechanisms of the federal government, all the awesome power of the federal government to control, shape and punish institutions in civil society, law firms, universities. Individuals, people who we criticize him in his first term.
And so when you add it all up, you get what is I think what many experts would say is the most serious threat to the constitutional system of separation of powers and checks and balances since at least the Civil War and arguably at any point in our history.
WHITFIELD: And, you know, is this deluge of grievances this White House exerts, you know, part of its success? I mean, there's just so much so fast and furious. It's hard for the general public to actually keep up with.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Yes, absolutely. I mean, you know, it's interesting, you know, as I write in the story, avoiding the undue concentration of power in any individual or even any faction was a critical element of the constitutional debate. I mean, the -- what we'll call the anti- federalists who opposed the Constitution. Patrick Henry, who President Trump signed a proclamation honoring the 250th anniversary of his "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech, he ended up opposing the Constitution because he worried exactly that it would authorize or allocate too much power to a president who was determined to misuse those powers. And there weren't enough mechanisms, ultimately, to check him.
Now, you know, Madison and Hamilton and other architects of the Constitution argue that the system that they built would, in fact, by diffusing power primarily prevent any single individual from, in essence, kind of undermining the guarantees of freedom and democracy in the document. But what we are seeing is that those defenses become pretty flimsy when Congress will not intervene because it is being guided more by kind of partisan considerations than institutional considerations.
And you're left with only the courts. And we, you know, the lower courts have tried to stop Trump on a number of fronts. Not easy to do from a court always. And it's unclear how far the six member Republican majority on the Supreme Court is ultimately going to let him go. They may be the final arbiters that decide what our democracy looks like in 2028, and how much it veers away from these historic principles.
WHITFIELD: Right. So then clearly a lot of pressure on these lower courts, lower federal courts, and, of course, the U.S. Supreme Court, unlike ever seen before.
All right. Ron Brownstein, so great to see you. Thank you so much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, a sewage crisis drowning a rural Alabama county. Residents there fighting to stop raw sewage and parasites from entering their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes they come through the kitchen sink, and then sometimes it will come through the bathtubs. The odor is unbearable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:28:27]
WHITFIELD: Heavy rain and severe storms are bringing a flood risk to the central U.S. this weekend. Water rescue teams, in fact, were dispatched in Missouri Saturday to reach a man trapped by rising floodwaters. High winds also brought down trees and utility poles across Springfield, leaving thousands of customers without power. Parts of Missouri could see up to six inches of rainfall and remain under a flood watch through tomorrow night.
And this Memorial Day weekend, millions of Americans are remembering those who died serving the country. It's also a chance to connect with family and friends. But as Jenn Sullivan reports, rough weather could put a damper on the holiday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENN SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Millions of people are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend, and many of them are facing the threat of severe weather.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Some of the heavier rainfall here anywhere from four to six inches of rain locally. So it's a half a foot of precipitation expected.
SULLIVAN: Strong storms and flash-flooding could impact parts of the Central Plains and Mississippi Valley. The greatest threats are in Oklahoma and Arkansas, as well as Missouri and Kansas. Areas of those two states were decimated by tornadoes last weekend.
TARYN DICKMAN, LOST HOME TO TORNADO: We've had to move out of our house. It's going to be under construction for a long time.
SULLIVAN: Taryn Dickman's family is just one of many who lost everything last weekend, when an EF-3 tornado battered the northwest Kansas town of Grinnell. Another area in the line of this weekend's storms, Laurel County, Kentucky. The town of London, entire neighborhoods wiped out last weekend. And now that same area could get pummeled with rain.
SHERIFF JOHN RIOT, LAUREL COUNTY, KENTUCKY: Just keep London, Laurel County, in your prayers, because right now I'm telling you there's people that really need it.
SULLIVAN: Meanwhile, the Northwest and parts of the Mid-Atlantic are dealing with a rare May nor'easter, that's bringing cooler temperatures and heavy rain. All of this coming as AAA estimates a record 45 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday weekend.
AIXA DIAZ, SPOKESPERSON, AAA: You want to leave as little to chance as possible, because there are so many things you can't control when you're on the road. Other drivers, construction, the weather.
SULLIVAN: I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, still to come. Imagine leaving your job, cashing out all your savings and then setting sail. And who's on board with you? Just your cat. An important update on this journey that is going viral straight ahead.
[16:30:51]
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[16:35:28]
WHITFIELD: All right. In a new development today, southeastern France has been hit by a second day of power outages. Local authorities are blaming the cuts on a malicious act.
Today's outages impacted nearly 45,000 people in and around the city of Nice. Yesterday, the area where De Cannes Film Festival was taking place also lost power. Two self-proclaimed bands of anarchists have jointly claimed responsibility for the power cuts.
And new this hour, Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, landed in Israel just days after the deadly shooting outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Noem was greeted by U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
She later visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and she is expected to meet with Israels minister of foreign affairs before heading back home tomorrow.
Last week's murder outside the Jewish Museum of two Israeli embassy staffers is also being investigated as a possible act of terrorism and hate. Meantime, the suspected shooter has been charged with first degree murder.
Let's bring in now Bill Braniff. He is the executive director of polarization and extremism research, an innovation lab in the School of Public Affairs at American University. So great to see you.
So, how important was this? Is this a gesture, this visit by the secretary, for this trip to take place in Israel, just less than a week now after these murders.
BILL BRANIFF, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, POLARIZATION AND EXTREMISM RESEARCH AND INNOVATION LAB (via Webex): Well, it may be an effective bit of diplomacy that'll depend entirely on what happens on the ground. At the same time, I think diplomacy backed by action is more important or more effective.
And, at the same time, Secretary Noem is visiting with partners in Israel. She's dismantling the Terrorism Prevention Office at her Department of Homeland Security that is best positioned to prevent these kinds of incidents as part of this government drawdown in size.
WHITFIELD: So, how does this killing, in your view, you know, of the two embassy staff fit into the larger picture of violence in the U.S. that is fueled by grievance and hate ideology?
BRANIFF: Unfortunately, this incident is part of a trend line in the United States. Based on data from the University of Maryland's Start Center, there are, on average, three violent plots per day that occur or are attempted and are foiled by law enforcement.
That's a staggering number, especially when you consider that a very significant percentage of those are mass casualty plots intended to kill four or more individuals. Those are up by almost 2,000 percent since the early 1990s in the United States.
But then, you could also look at lesser violent hate crimes. And those, unfortunately, have also spiked in recent years, especially among the Jewish population and Jewish targets. WHITFIELD: The suspected shooter had a history of political activism,
postings on social media before the shooting appeared to express outrage over the war in Gaza. Do author -- do authorities, you know, have the resources, you know, to monitor all the potential threats on social media and elsewhere? I know you've already expressed, you know, your criticism of some of the changes, but overall, you know, is the U.S. equipped to keep up?
BRANIFF: In a free and open society, where we value and protect free speech and freedom of association and political protest, nonviolent political protest, it's not really appropriate for the law enforcement community to be monitoring all protest as threat. That's actually why it's so important for there to be non-governmental and non-punitive preventative approaches to address these kinds of issues.
Not only was this individual engaged in lawful free speech and protest, he was also fixating on a previous act of violence from last year. In which an individual set themselves on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.
And he had been posting comments on his social media that were explicitly in support of violence as legitimate, given what he felt were the war crimes in Gaza. And so, he was talking about violence and supporting violence. That's an opportunity for a non-punitive intervention by individuals around that person.
[16:40:05]
BRANIFF: And those are the kinds of things that the government has been supporting. Not doing the interventions but supporting the interventions conducted by NGOs or local schools or workplaces.
And this is, yet, another case where an individual without a criminal record, who had a legally-purchased firearm, purchased in 2020. Still exhibited concerning behaviors that could have resulted in a non- punitive intervention, if we still invested in prevention. As opposed to just assumed that we could criminal justice our way out of this which is just not possible.
WHITFIELD: What are your concerns right now about the climate of discord and a variety of threats?
BRANIFF: It's incredibly concerning. At the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University, or PERIL, we spend a lot of time looking at extremist narratives and polarizing narratives, specifically those that are intended to take anger and then turn it into violence.
And on the positive side, despite how concerning it is, when you when you see the level of sort of violent discourse occurring in the United States right now, there are ways to inoculate individuals ahead of time. So that they're less likely to be manipulated by that content and mobilized to engage in violence.
And we test these innovations in the lab. We test them in a limited field run, and then we disseminate them aggressively, because we know that they're effective in reducing the siren song of these conspiratorial and violent narratives.
The latest anti-Semitism-related video that we tested in the lab, it decreased individuals support for Hamas as a liberating organization by seven percent. And individuals who watched the videos were 23 per -- excuse me, 24 percent more likely to challenge this kind of anti- Semitic violent content if they came across it on social media.
That's really powerful. For a group of 500,000 viewers who would see this video, that's nearly 120,000 people who would be likely to challenge it if they came across it online, instead of just passively let it continue to the -- to the next potential victim.
And when we think about what that cost, an intervention like that, it's less than 10 cents per view. All right? I mean, we can invest more in this kind of inoculation online, so that this polarizing, violent content doesn't manipulate individuals, doesn't coerce them into going down the pathway to violence and engaging in these kinds of horrible acts of violence.
WHITFIELD: Bill Braniff of the American University in Washington, D.C., thank you so much.
BRANIFF: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Coming up. For decades, failing septic systems in one Alabama County have caused raw sewage and human waste to seep into residents' homes and yards. And, recently, the Trump Administration killed the program that would actually help them. The story next.
[16:43:23]
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WHITFIELD: The Trump Administration has shut down a federal program in Alabama aimed at helping some black communities fix a hazardous sewage problem. The Justice Department, last month, said the move was advancing the President's mandate to end illegal DEI.
But an organization receiving money to get low-income families septic systems says the federal government has a duty to help. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, what is this right here?
MAUTREE BURKE-CLARKE: This actually the pipe that's run from our house to actually a tank that was, you know, here. But now, you know, the system just -- it just -- basically, it just caved in.
ROSALES: It collapsed.
BURKE-CLARKE: Right.
ROSALES: The sewage system.
BURKE-CLARKE: Right.
ROSALES (voice-over): In Lowndes County, flushing doesn't come without some thought and preparation.
(on camera): Now, I see some water pulled up to here. Is this raw sewage that I'm looking at right now?
BURKE-CLARKE: It is, yes.
ROSALES (voice-over): Land known for having the richest soil and the poorest people. The black belt of Alabama is where Mautree Burke- Clarke calls home, named after its fertile, black soil. But that hard soil is virtually nonabsorbent. And community advocates tell us conventional septic systems are costly to replace.
BURKE-CLARKE: It's not because it will come back -- you know, it will come back. It flows into the house.
ROSALES (on camera): It back-flows into the house?
BURKE-CLARKE: Right.
ROSALES: How? Through -- where does it come?
BURKE-CLARKE: It'll come -- sometimes, it come through the kitchen sink. And then, sometimes, it will come through the bathtubs. The odor is unbearable.
ROSALES (voice-over): A first of its kind, 18-month federal environmental justice investigation that ended in 2022 found the people of Lowndes County did not have access to proper sewage systems. And the State Department of Public Health engaged in a consistent pattern of inaction and on neglect that disproportionately impacted black residents.
President Joe Biden's government agreed to set aside money to help address the sanitation crisis, including $8 million for Lowndes and two nearby counties to help install new septic tanks.
[16:50:01]
ROSALES: But, last month, the Trump Department of Justice terminated the agreement. The DOJ will no longer push environmental justice as viewed through a distorting DEI lens, said the DOJ civil rights division in a news release, calling the program illegal DEI.
Lowndes County is a 72 percent majority black community. The median household income sits just above the poverty line at $35,000 a year. A standard septic system will run anywhere from $12,000 to $30,000, according to community advocates.
BURKE-CLARKE: That's too much money.
ROSALES: Sherry Bradley works to get low-income families septic systems. When she started six years ago, she estimated 70 percent of homes in Lowndes County had straight pipes, an illegal but sole option that involves rigging PVC pipes above ground to direct fecal matter away from homes. Since then, progress. She's installed more than 120 systems and counting.
SHERRY BRADLEY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST, BLACKBELT UNINCORPORATED WASTEWATER PROGRAM: Isabel, follow me in the back.
ROSALES: OK.
BRADLEY: I want to show you some things.
ROSALES: Sherry takes me to a home she says will make the sanitation crisis brutally clear. This is the Perryman (?) family. A disabled couple who tell me they need help.
BRADLEY: I want to show you what a straight pipe looks like. When they flush the toilet, it comes straight out. But it goes on the ground. You see the green tint?
ROSALES (on camera): That's raw sewage right there.
BRADLEY: That's raw sewage. Yes.
ROSALES (voice-over): This is what straight piping looks like, leading fecal matter away from the home. Leaking as it goes and leaving hazardous puddles of waste behind.
BRADLEY: We operate 100 percent off of grants. If you want to fix the problem of getting raw sewage off the ground, it takes funding.
ROSALES: Her organization was a sub-recipient of the Biden-era grant. She says now that it's been shut down by the Trump Administration, at least 300 Alabamians who were in line for help are in limbo.
BRADLEY: I was surprised because everything they said the grant was, was not.
ROSALES (on camera): So, you reject the notion that this a matter of DEI?
BRADLEY: Completely, 100 percent.
ROSALES (voice-over): Sherry says Blackbelt residents are a resilient bunch. And she, too, will fight on looking to other grants.
(on camera): Can this be done without the help of the federal government?
BRADLEY: Oh, no. I think, Isabel, that the federal government has a duty to help. Just like they help in the city. Just like when they lay the sewer laterals. They have a duty to help.
ROSALES (voice-over): Isabel Rosales, CNN, Lowndes County, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Thank you, Isabel, for that story. And we'll be right back. [16:52:40]
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WHITFIELD: All right. Next Sunday, in the CNN Original Series, My Happy Place, academy award-winning actress, Octavia Spencer, takes us to New Orleans, where she explores the unique traditions and culture. That's next Sunday night, 10:00 p.m.
All right. We've also got an update on the man who quit his job to sail around the world with his cat. Oliver Widger and his cat, Phoenix, received an escort from the Coast Guard, as they arrived in Oahu, after a 25-day journey from Oregon to Hawaii.
The pair was welcomed by cheering fans and Hawaii's governor, Josh Green, who presented Widger with a proclamation. A few days before arriving in Hawaii, he spoke to my colleague, Anderson Cooper, about his plans.
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OLIVER WIDGER: I'm going to take, like, a month and just chill out for a minute and, like, snorkel. And then, I need to do some big repairs to the boat. And then, I need to do some big upgrades to the boat. So, I'm going to do that.
And then, I want to -- I want to explore the Hawaiian islands and kind of just -- kind of just do that for a bit. And then, I think the appropriate window for me to leave to -- so, from there, I would go to French Polynesia.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tell the people watching this and that kind of have similar dreams to you or hate their jobs and, you know, dream of doing something like this. What's your -- what's your advice?
WIDGER: OK. Well, the hardest part is taking the leap and going for it. And, like, what I discovered -- I don't know how to put it into words, really. In my head, I'm a poet but the words never come out.
But I get -- my advice would be to, like, there's a point where there's no return. Where you're all in. You have to, like, recognize what that point is and then do everything you can to cross that point.
And then, once you've crossed that point, everything after that is you -- it's just game on, you know? And I think the fear of everything that happens after, at that point, is what prevents people from crossing that point.
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WHITFIELD: Fear can sometimes be the brakes. All right, Widger was diagnosed four years ago with a rare bone disorder. And that's when he realized he didn't like his job, and he cashed out his retirement. And he bought a boat.
And then, there's more. He actually taught himself how to sail by watching YouTube videos. And, yes, thus far, he's done really well.
All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Omar Jimenez in just a moment.
But, first, on this Memorial Day weekend, in which we carry on the tradition of honoring Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the U.S. military, we are grateful.
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WHITFIELD: We also want to say thanks to all the men and women continuing to serve this nation, along with their families.