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Rapidly Growing Wildfire Prompts Thousands Of Evacuations In CA; Record-Breaking Heat In Southwest Begins To Expand East; Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell Dies At Age Of 97; 3 More Victims Of 9/11 Terror Attacks Identified After Nearly 24 Years; Israeli Protesters Take To The Streets Over Plan To Occupy Gaza City; Israel Facing Backlash Over Plan to Occupy Gaza; Trump Admin. Seeking $1B Fine Against UCLA; MLB's First Woman Umpire. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired August 09, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We talk about cocaine on a broader scale and it feels so disconnected to most folks, but then you wanted to see where the human aspects of it lie. We're able to do that and I think the fact that, you know, we open up this documentary with the story of a missing young man and his parents who clearly had never had exposure to media, let alone international media, and are sharing their story.

And it's in that uncertainty that we begin to then delve into this topic and see how cocaine, which roughly 70 percent of the world's cocaine, flows through Ecuador, even though it's not produced there for the most part, it's Columbia and Peru, and then pours through. And then goes out through the coast and goes around places like the Galapagos Islands, which has essentially become the fueling station for these drug runners. And then continues on to the U.S., continues out to Europe.

You begin to realize how vast this network is. And I think you also then to start to see the violence that is a result of it. And now as we start to see more headlines about the U.S. involvement, signing a security agreement just in the past week and a half or so, and sending more resources, there's even the possibility of troops being deployed.

It's not confirmed at this point, but it's something that could come and certainly Ecuador at this point, Fred, is calling for that. The president himself was at President Trump's inauguration front and center and has met with President Trump on subsequent visits and trying to push for this.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Yes, important reminder. Oh, also very sad and eye-opening, but we look forward to watching all that you bring us.

David Culver, thank you so much.

CULVER: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: It's an all-new episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, "Ecuador: The Narco Superhighway." It airs tomorrow, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me from the nation's capital. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour with breaking news out of California, where thousands of people have been evacuated from the canyon fire that's burning at an alarming rate just north of Los Angeles. The wildfire started Thursday and has already burned more than 5,000 acres.

Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far in much of the region as high temperatures hit or exceeded 100 degrees. And extreme heat led to the dangerous conditions that fueled these flames so quickly. Officials say three firefighters received minor injuries and will make a full recovery.

CNN National Correspondent Nick Watt is there as firefighters are working to contain the blaze.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is just one of a number of active fires in California right now. We are in fire season. Long, dry summer, hot temperatures as we always get, July, August, into September, maybe October as well. That is when this place is at the most risk.

Now, I'm going to give you a little bit of a look of the anatomy of this fire, the canyon fire. So, firefighters are trying to save that community down there, Hasley Canyon. The way they do it, Mike, if you pan around a little bit more, you'll see pink stuff there. That is dropped from the air. That is false check. That's a flame retardant.

They're trying to create a barrier around the fire. And if you look a little bit, you can see those guys and men and women wearing orange there with chainsaws, with hose, with shovels, actually physically cutting a line around the fire. Meantime, they also drop from the air. I can hear a helicopter coming in now, one of the water droppers, and they will hit hotspots.

You know, we've also got these guys here, you see. So, within this area, which is already burned, there are little embers. There's little bits of smoke. You don't want to leave any of that because that can get reignited by the wind, picked up and moved elsewhere and start a spot fire somewhere else.

So there are hundreds of people on the ground here working. Their priority, life and property. That's what they want to save. So, hillsides burn. They try and contain them to save properties like that.

Now, this one, 25 percent contained as of midday Friday. That is pretty good. We were told that they had done a lot of work overnight trying to contain it, that the day would show how well they had done that work. And it looks like they did a pretty good job because this fire is looking for now to be under control.

But the temperatures here are still very high. There's no rain in the forecast. Humidity is low. The wind, talking 20-mile-an-hour gusts today, apparently. So, certainly not out of the woods for fire season in Southern California, and not yet out of the woods for this particular fire.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Watt, thanks so much.

All right, for more insight now, I'm joined by Andrew Dowd, the public information officer for Ventura County Fire Department. Great to see you. So, what is the latest that you can tell us about evacuations in your county?

ANDREW DOWD, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Great to see you, too. So as of this morning, at the last night, excuse me, all evacuation orders in the area were converted to evacuation warnings. And evacuation warnings were lifted for those residents under evacuation warning.

[13:05:02]

We had approximately 2,700 individuals that were under an evacuation order, and that has now been lifted as firefighters continue, as Nick said, to make great progress on this fire.

WHITFIELD: So, what does this say about containment in your view?

DOWD: So, containment is a challenging situation because we need to go in, as Nick was describing, and go through the entire fire line to make sure that there are no heat signatures, no potential for that fire to grow. So we are currently at 28 percent containment on this fire, but it should reflect that we have made a tremendous amount of progress.

Nick talked about the coordinated efforts between our aviation assets, the fixed-wing aircraft that drop retardant in the area, coordinating with our ground forces and fire engines in the area. Those containment lines need to be evaluated and made sure that there is no potential for fire growth. Once that happens, we declare it contained.

We've seen a significant reduction in fire activity. We have over 1,000, approximately 1,140 firefighters battling this blaze right now. So there's tons of resources focused on bringing this fire to an end.

WHITFIELD: What started this in the first place?

DOWD: So, we are -- since the beginning of the fire, we have investigators that were dispatched to the incident. We've been in unified command of Ventura County Fire Department with the L.A. County Fire Department, and we're collaborating to try to get that answer. That process can take time.

As you can imagine, the location of the fire and the cause of the fire is -- was burned. And so our investigators are trying to get the information out. We just want to make sure that we get it 100 percent accurate.

WHITFIELD: OK. And even with this 25 -- 28 percent containment, you said that is encouraging. You know, firefighters in general, you know, you're putting your --

DOWD: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: -- your, you know, lives on the line with this kind of work. Talk to me about, you know, how the current weather conditions further complicate the risks for them.

DOWD: Absolutely. So, the men and women that are out fighting this fire are doing a tremendous job. We enjoy a very robust mutual aid system here in Southern California. So when a fire breaks out in a jurisdictional boundary like we had here between Ventura County and L.A. County, our partnership come together and allow us to serve residents regardless of where the jurisdictional boundaries are.

We have firefighters from Ventura County, L.A. County, L.A. City, Cal Fire, U.S. Forest Service, over 1,000, like I said, 1,140 firefighters here. And they're working in steep, rugged terrain in 100-plus degree temperatures, carrying heavy packs put in hose lines, scraping the soil down to mineral earth in very tough circumstances. They have done a tremendous, tremendous job.

In addition, while that's happening, we also have firefighters providing structure protection and structure defense. We're happy to say that despite the conditions, as of this morning, there have only been two minor structures that were just -- we verified two minor structures that have been destroyed by this fire.

We have people on the ground evaluating to see to make sure and confirm that number, but that's where we're at as of this morning. So, again, tremendous work by the men and women that are here.

WHITFIELD: Yes. OK. And so far, thankfully, this is not looking like what people experienced and witnessed in Southern, you know, in Southern California in January. But there is still, right, a sense of unease. There's a lot of anxiety. I mean, what are people telling you, especially having been through the devastation earlier in the year?

DOWD: It's a great question. You know, I live in this community. My family is here. You know, we, all of us, live in this community. So when we say it affects us personally as well. This is not just where we work, this is our home.

And I think what we are encouraging all residents in the area to do is to be prepared for these type of emergencies. So to prepare your home, have a plan for what you're going to do in the case evacuation orders are given. Make sure that your residence is prepared, that if you're in the wildland urban area, you're creating defensible space, space so our firefighters can go in and effectively protect your property.

Nick mentioned earlier, our mission is quite simple, protect life and protect property. And with the help of the residents in the area and everything we've been through, we're just -- we're very thankful to see them continue to do that.

WHITFIELD: I know you said the, you know, firefighters are working really hard. They're doing a magnificent job. I do want to, you know, follow up and ask you about the three firefighters who were airlifted this week with injuries. Another, you know, was injured when his vehicle apparently rolled down a hill. Can you tell me how they're doing?

DOWD: So we did have three minor injuries as of yesterday morning. And then yesterday at approximately 6:20 p.m., a vehicle rollover occurred involving a Kern County fire department individual. That individual was treated and transported from the scene. I don't have any information on his conditions and we'll just -- our thoughts and prayers are with him.

We are one huge fire family. And of course our concerns go out to him, his family, the entire Kern County fire department. And we're just referring all inquiries about his status over to the Kern County fire department for follow-up.

WHITFIELD: Yes. OK. We share similar concerns.

[13:10:02]

Andrew Dowd, thanks so much for taking the time. All the best to all of you. Thank you so much.

DOWD: Thank you so much. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, a wave of extremely high temperatures is expected to make its way this weekend eastward, breaking a dozen records and fueling dangerous fire conditions there as well. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is a very busy Saturday. We're talking heat, we're talking fires, and even the potential for some flooding across areas of the Midwest, not just today, but even lingering into the back half of the weekend. But we begin out west where we're concerned about a lot of the fire weather conditions here.

You can see this orange highlighted area where that elevated risk is. That includes areas of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and even Utah. The combination here of the heat, but also incredibly low humidities and also those gusty winds up around 15 to 25 miles per hour.

The concern with the heat is it's not going away anytime soon. Look at Phoenix, for example. Yes, it's summer. It's always hot in Phoenix, but their average high is 105. You're going to be looking at at least 5 to 6 degrees above that for the next several days. We don't see the temperatures drop until the very end of the upcoming week.

But we are going to start to see some of those temperatures shift into other areas, namely the Midwest and the Northeast, as we head into next week. For example, New York, the average high is 84. They will spend every single one of the next seven days above that average high, peaking about 10 degrees above where they normally would be by the middle of the upcoming week.

Kansas City, also going to see the heat, just not in the short term. We've got those rain chances we talked about. Those are going to keep things on the cool side the next few days before temperatures start to spike as we head into the end of the week and also even into next weekend.

Speaking of that rain, this is where the greatest threat is going to be for that excessive rainfall. It's across portions of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and even the UP of Michigan. So all of these areas have that potential for heavy rain today, but it's also for Sunday and even into Monday.

You've got this stationary front that's really not going to move all that much. So a lot of these areas are not only going to see the rain today and tonight, but even as we head into the day Sunday over the exact same areas. So the concern here is that you're talking multiple days of rain and heavy rain at that that could in turn cause some flooding. Widespread totals of about 3 to 5 inches, but there could be a few spots that pick up even higher amounts than that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, three more victims of the September 11th terror attacks identified after nearly 24 years. We'll -- we will hear, rather, from the son of one of those victims.

Plus, $1 billion, that's what the Trump administration is seeking from UCLA. Exclusive CNN reporting on the latest effort by the White House to reshape higher education.

And a major milestone in the MLB, the first woman umpire of a regular season game. What another baseball trailblazer told me about this moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:45]

WHITFIELD: The commander for the famed Apollo 13 mission has died. NASA reports Jim Lovell passed away Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois. Lovell flew to space on several missions, including Apollo 8 before NASA selected him to command Apollo 13. The mission was planned as a third successful moon landing, but an oxygen tank explosion forced him to head back to Earth, surviving a risky splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean.

The 1995 film "Apollo 13" dramatized the ordeal. Actor Tom Hanks playing Lovell said the famous line, Houston, we have a problem. Jim Lovell was 97 years old.

All right, nearly 24 years after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center buildings in New York, three more victims of those terror attacks have been identified. Thanks to advances in DNA.

CNN's Leigh Waldman spoke to the son of one of the newly identified victims and is joining us right now. Lee, bring us up to speed on these new developments and how the family members are responding.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it's good to be with you. The family members clearly shocked after all this time, sort of losing hope that their loved ones would ever be identified. We know that more than 2,700 people were killed in those terror attacks on 9/11. More than half have been identified.

But just this week, we learned the identities of three more of those victims through positive DNA matching. They are Ryan Fitzgerald, a woman whose name isn't being released at the request of her family, and also Barbara Keating. We spoke to Keating's son, Paul, and he said that he was truly shocked.

He said his mother was on one of the planes that was hijacked. And because of where she was sitting, the medical examiners back in the day said, don't hold out any hope for any DNA matching to positively identify her. At the time, they found part of a debit card and were able to identify her that way, but don't expect any DNA identification.

But just a few years ago, they found a hairbrush with hair in it they believed to be hers, and they asked Paul's siblings to donate some of their DNA to try and work through and positively identify their mother, Barbara. And this week, they got that news that she was, in fact, identified. He said that he was truly shocked that the medical examiner's office worked through six city blocks of debris, working bit by bit to make this happen for their family. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

[13:20:15]

PAUL KEATING, SON OF RECENTLY IDENTIFIED 9/11 VICTIM|: They were possessed and did it for us. And I can't tell you what that feels like. It's -- I mean, no one's ever done anything like that. And it's amazing.

And yes, they did it milligram by milligram. They're still at it. They still have, if I'm not mistaken, they still have over a thousand people that they have not matched.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WALDMAN: Yes, 1,100 people still not matched yet with their DNA, but it's work that is still continuing. In a statement from New York City's Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Jason Graham, he said, quote, "Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time. We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost."

Keating says that his mom was a wonderful person. He described her as a superwoman who was dedicated to her family and also to her causes. And he hopes that the families of those who have not been positively identified yet find the same kind of closure that his family was able to get this week, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And that closure, I mean, you can see how meaningful that is to Paul Keating and the entire family.

Leigh Waldman, thanks so much for bringing that to us.

All right, Israel is facing a backlash over its plan to occupy Gaza City. We go live to Tel Aviv as protests are happening right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:06]

WHITFIELD: Happening right now, demonstrators take to the streets in Israel. They're protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to occupy Gaza City. Several Middle Eastern countries, as well as Germany and the U.K., are among global voices condemning the plan.

Satellite imagery shows Israel building up its military forces near the border of Gaza City. Dozens of military vehicles can be seen as a staging location, just 2 miles from a key border crossing.

CNN's Matthew Chance is there in Tel Aviv. As the protests get underway there, we see a lot more people than we did last hour when talking to you. What are people saying?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, people here gathering in the center of Tel Aviv, you know, a lot of them are absolutely furious, frankly, that the Israeli government, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has made this incredibly controversial decision to deploy more military forces into Gaza, to, you know, basically capture Gaza City and to evict the Palestinian population there to evacuation centers.

That's the sort of outline of the plan. But, you know, for many people in Israel, 70 percent or more, according to the latest opinion polls, they are utterly opposed to that because they believe it will jeopardize, for instance, the lives of the surviving hostages still being held inside the Gaza Strip.

There are 50 hostages still unaccounted for inside Gaza. 20 of them are still believed to be alive. And there's all this allegations of bitterness and anger in Israel that Benjamin Netanyahu is, you know, perpetuating the war for his own political survival to placate those on the right-wing of his fragile political coalition.

You can hear all this hullabaloo behind me. But look, there's a guy here, a performance artist dressed as Netanyahu, holding a baby with his hands, a hand-cuffed-to-dead baby, a big, long nose like Pinocchio, indicating that many people think that the Israeli prime minister tells lies. There, of course, the tattered flag of Israel as well.

All this as Israel begins or threatens to begin its military operations again inside Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): This is Gaza City in the hours after Israel's controversial decision to escalate its war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

CHANCE (voice-over): "It's a fierce airstrike," the voice says, as people scatter in panic.

With a newly approved Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City and destroy Hamas there, many desperate Palestinians already on the brink of bracing for worse to come.

"We're going from bad to worse," says this man. "We're all praying for a ceasefire and that this Israeli decision to invade won't ever be implemented."

But from the air, you can see how brutally determined Israel has been so far on this aid flight. We flew over multiple damaged landmarks in Gaza City, including the Yarmouk sports stadium, now a shelter visited by a CNN freelancer for thousands of displaced Palestinians.

Under the first phase of Israel's plan, they'd be displaced again, along with up to a million others, to areas where Israel says it would provide humanitarian assistance.

But many Israelis themselves, exhausted by a costly war, are also highly sceptical of their government's occupation plan.

[13:30:04]

Concerned that military escalation in Gaza could endanger hostages still being held there will lead to more Israeli soldiers being killed.

AMI DROR, ISRAELI PROTESTER: We are here demanding the end of the war, the immediate return of the hostages and the atrocities in Gaza. This war is a political war. The only person that benefits from this war is Benjamin Netanyahu.

CHANCE (voice-over): It is the Israeli prime minister's far-right allies pushing hardest for a stronger military hand. Without their support, his fragile governing coalition could fall. Fueling criticism, Israel's latest plan to escalate in Gaza maybe a political, not a necessary war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Well, the international condemnation, Fred, of that escalating military plan inside the Gaza Strip has been growing. There's been, you know, criticism from European states in particular, but it -- none of it seems to have held back the Israeli authorities, the Israeli government. In fact, President Trump, the key ally, the United States, of Israel, Trump has been, you know, taking a much more standoff approach when it comes to Israel's military plans. Basically saying it's up to them whether they occupy Gaza or not.

And that hands off approach is really being seen by the Israeli government here as a green light to further military operations in the Gaza Strip. Fredricka, back to you. WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew. Chance, thanks so much. All right. Still ahead, CNN exclusive reporting, the Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion fine against UCLA. California's governor calling the move extortion, and threatening to sue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:00]

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, to A CNN exclusive, the White House is seeking an eye-popping billion-dollar settlement after freezing millions in federal funds to one of the nation's top public universities, UCLA. CNN Correspondent Julia Vargas Jones is in Los Angeles for us. Julia, what's happening here?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this is shaping up to be one of the most high stakes confrontations between the Trump administration and a major university yet, and it is an entire order of magnitude bigger than anything that we've seen before.

This proposed agreement obtained exclusively by our colleague, Betsy Klein, requires UCLA to pay the federal government, not just that $1 billion over multiple installments, but also $172 million in claims for people impacted by violations of the Title A of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

It also requires a resolution monitor to oversee the school as well as a new senior administrator that would be focused on the school's compliance with anti-discrimination laws. The proposal also prohibits overnight demonstrations and requires the school to revise its policies and procedures on protests. It also requires UCLA to discontinue race and ethnicity-based scholarships. And then there's a series of requirements that seem to be aimed at transgender students, such as ensuring single sex housing for women on campus, athletic recognition for female athletes in women's sports and for the UCLA hospital and medical school to stop providing gender-affirming care.

Now, in return, UCLA's funding would be restored and the school would be eligible for future federal grants and other contracts. But at this point, school officials are saying that that number is just a non- starter and that $1 billion payment would gut the university, which has already suffered more than $500 million that are frozen earlier this week. And now, they're warning that that could have devastating effects, Fred, in their ability to conduct research in fields like medicine and technology where it is a leader.

Now, the governor of California just last night, weighed in on this very issue. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Donald Trump today is trying to silence academic freedom. He's attacking one of the most important public institutions in the United States of America, one of the finest institutions, fire learning in the world, one of the great research institutions in this country. One of the reasons California is the 10th pole of the U.S. economy. One of the reasons we have more scientists, engineers, more Nobel laureates than any other state in this nation. He has threatened us through extortion with a billion- dollar fine unless we do his bidding. So, as long as I'm governor, I will stand tall and push back against that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And of course, the context for all of that, Fred, is those pro- Palestinian protests that rocked universities across the country in 2024. And just last week, UCLA settled a lawsuit that accused the university of allowing Jewish students to be targeted during those protests, and this is part of a broader push by the administration to reshape all of higher education. Other multimillion dollar deals were just reached in the past few days with Columbia and Brown University. But again, those much smaller amounts, Fred.

[13:40:00]

WHITFIELD: All right. And then, Julia, now, what? I mean, since the consensus is, from the governor, extortion I mean, what kind of response might there be, like a legal response?

JONES: Well, leaders from the university have said that they're willing to go back to that negotiating table, Fred, even though this number is stunning to them. You know, we also heard from the president of U.C., President Milliken, saying that they offered to engage in good faith in dialogue with the department to protect the university and their critical research mission. But they're saying as of now this would just completely devastate the ability of the U.C. schools, their great public university system that rely on the vital work, not just for their students, but as we said, for that research, medical and technology research.

But Fred, these conversations will continue, that's what sources with knowledge of those conversations have told CNN. So, we'll see if that number will eventually go down or not.

WHITFIELD: All right. I'm about to have that conversation about the potential impacts right now. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.

So, let's bring in Dr. David Shackelford. He's a professor of medicine at UCLA. Doctor, so glad you could be with us. So, you know, what is your reaction to the Trump administration going after your university asking for, you know, a billion dollars and then freezing millions in funds that were already allocated?

DR. DAVID SHACKELFORD, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, UCLA: Thanks for having me. It is devastating and it is something that, you know, our research is -- you know, the research that I perform and that I work on is lung cancer. And we are dedicated to lung cancer patients, to all cancer patients. And this -- you know, a freeze -- this freeze, these levees at this magnitude is and will be absolutely devastating to our research community and to biomedical research.

WHITFIELD: Does it mean ending some of that research, lung cancer research that's already underway? You know, explain what an interruption it could potentially be.

DR. SHACKELFORD: Yes, great question. I'll -- it is -- our research has effectively been frozen, and this is biomedical research, cancer research that is impacting patients today, tomorrow, and in the near future. And if I could relate, you know, a story just to give this context. I have a dear friend who is battling lung cancer. Never smoked a day in her life and is benefiting from a drug that was developed through academics. And eventually, she will this drug will fail and she will need a second option. And that's precisely where my research comes in.

We have made amazing breakthroughs that are transformative and we are poised and aimed to identify new therapies and treatments for her as well as many patients, and that has all come to a screeching halt.

WHITFIELD: A source is telling CNN that UCLA officials do want to reach a deal to restore funding. In your view, what would that kind of deal making entail?

DR. SHACKELFORD: Much of the deal making unfortunately is above my pay grade, but what I can speak to about what I know is how critical and important this biomedical research and this community we have. What's been put forth would destroy that community, that ecosystem, if you will. And I really liken it to, you know, an ecosystem such as a coral reef.

Once you -- it takes decades and decades to build, and once you destroy that, it does not come back. And we really need to preserve that art, that biomedical ecosystem because UCLA is a world leader. The U.S. is a world leader, if not the world leader in biomedical research and we need to preserve that. And treat it as a national treasure, if you will.

WHITFIELD: In order to make that kind of comeback as it pertains to UCLA right now, if the leadership of the university says, OK, you know, we will, you know, return or pay back a certain amount of money in this deal making with the Trump administration, do you have long- term worries about. What this means in terms of the relationship between the government, the federal government, and public universities, or even private universities since UCLA is not the first one to be targeted right now, this year by this administration?

DR. SHACKELFORD: Absolutely. I think we all have these long-term concerns. You know, really -- it really come breaks down to two points, you know, one these funds support our laboratory research. And our laboratories work much like a small family business. You know, we use the money to pay salaries, to support experiments. Those experiments lead to discoveries and to cures.

[13:45:00]

And it's a very straightforward metric. And the other point is that we have academic freedom to discover. And that's really what fuels this great biomedical research, is that freedom to discover. And I think we really need to protect that and respect that for all people, because, you know, we know that cancer impacts all of us. So, this is really beyond the scope of just me and just UCLA. This really impacts all of us.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. David Shackleford, we'll leave it there for now. Leave it there. But thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

DR. SHACKELFORD: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, a major milestone in the MLB. A woman behind home plate for the first time in Major League history. How that's being celebrated by many, including another female trailblazer once in the MLB.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:00]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. An NFL preseason game was suspended after a scary injury on the field Friday night. It happened when Detroit Lions cornerback Morice Norris was trying to tackle Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter, and Carter's knee hit Norris in the head. Norris felt the turf and appeared to be unconscious. Medical staff from both teams then rushed in to help him while players were standing by an ambulance took Norris from the field to a local hospital. And then, guess what? A short time ago, the Lions said, Norris, I'm quoting now, "Has feeling and movement in all his extremities," end quote, and will remain hospitalized for observation.

Even better than that, Norris spoke out a bit ago saying on Instagram, amen, amen. I'm all good, man. Don't stress it. Appreciate all the check-ins and love. We continue to wish him well.

All right. History has been made today in Major League Baseball with the first female umpire taking the field. Jen Pawol is the first woman to umpire a regular season Major League Baseball game. She is on the bases right now as the Braves hosts the Marlins in a double header. And tomorrow, she'll be behind the plate calling balls and strikes.

Yesterday my colleague Brianna Keilar and I spoke with former Miami Marlin's general manager, Kim Ng, who broke barriers herself as the first female general manager in baseball. And I talked to her -- we talked to her about this historic day and breaking barriers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIM NG, FORMER GENERAL MANAGER, MIAMI MARLINS AND COMMISSIONER, ATHLETES UNLIMITED SOFTBALL LEAGUE: First, huge congratulations to Jen. Such a long road, such hard work that she's put into this. And from what I understand under -- she deserves every single moment that she's going to encounter here. In terms of for women in baseball, huge great step. We've seen scouts, coaches, front-office executives, medical professionals, women coming through the pipeline. But for us to take this next step in the umpiring field is just huge for everyone. So huge congratulations.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And there's so much pressure, when you were the first woman doing something, you know that you broke the glass ceiling as the first female general manager in MLB history. Do you have any advice, sort of about maybe that pressure you felt or how you dealt with it, for Pawol as she's breaking glass ceiling of her own here?

NG: Yes, I've said this at my press conference, it was a lot of pressure to get there, but it's just as much, if not more pressure to stay and to really make your mark and understand -- make people understand that you can do this job. So, my advice to Jen is to just work hard as she has and to be singularly focused on doing her job well. And she'll encounter some bumps and bruises, and that happens to all of us. But, when you've worked this hard, nothing can stop you. So, I'm so happy for her and I'm sure she's going to do great.

KEILAR: You're now the Commissioner of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, as we mentioned, and there's no doubt that women's sports -- you know, women in sport, they're really having this moment. We're seeing the rise of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers in the WNBA. I think certainly other sports are looking at that, hoping that that happens in their sport as well. Can you talk a little bit about the moment we're in and how the AUSL fits in as it celebrates its inaugural season?

NG: Yes. I mean, just such tremendous things happening in women's pro sports for the last several years. And that in and of itself has been such a long road, but we're finally starting to see that all the hard work coming to fruition. For the AUSL, we just had our first inaugural regular season, tremendous results. We had 20 sell-outs. We had 230 million social impressions and almost gained almost half a million new social followers.

So, really had some impressive numbers there. We are happy to be a part of this growing landscape, and I think, finally getting the acknowledgement and the recognition that these women athletes deserve, just incredible, incredible athletes. So, really happy about it.

[13:55:00]

WHITFIELD: Agreed. And I wonder, Kim, I got to ask you, as you talk about the growing landscape, we're talking about the WNBA, women's softball, but there is a distraction out there right now, and I got to ask you about it. And we're talking about on the WNBA courts, you've got some knuckleheads who are throwing sex toys on the court. They're calling it now a prank, but we know it's a distraction and we also know it's very demeaning. So, where are you on this? What do you think is going on here? And what do you think is behind it really?

NG: I think you used a great word, those are knuckleheads, you know?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NG: And I think that, you know, in terms of the athletes and coaching staffs and all the personnel, we've endured a lot of poor behavior in the past. And this is just chalk it up. This is just another example, but these women are such professionals, I know that they're going to ignore it and not let it interrupt their play. So, again, I don't know that this is anything different. It's probably just in a different form and we've all encountered it, but we've just got to keep marching on.

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