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Nevada's Fast-Growing Hawk Fire Leads Thousands To Flee Homes; Trump Administration Turns Focus To Economic Pressure On Iran; Canada Hits Back After Trade Talks Collapse; Pete Buttigieg Returns To South Carolina To Appeal To Black Voters; Flock Surveillance Cameras Triggering Protests And Vandalism; Paramount-WBD Merger Antitrust Trial Set For Next March; IndyCars Roar Down D.C. Streets For Freedom 250 Grand Prix; One-On-One With "The Pitt" Actress Katherine Lanasa. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 23, 2026 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Good to have you with us here in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday evening. I'm Erica Hill in New York. And we do begin with breaking news.

Tens of thousands of people in Nevada forced to evacuate as a fast- moving uncontained wildfire is torching northwestern Reno. We have new video to show you which, as you can see, this is image of the flames spreading rapidly down a hillside. Washoe County under a state of emergency at this hour. The Hawk Fire as it's known has now exploded to more than 13,000 acres. A number of structures have already burned. Thousands are without power.

Reno's police chief -- police chief, rather, Cory Solferino, is with us now.

Chief, it's good to have you with us this hour. Last I spoke with officials, this was still at zero percent containment. Is that where we stand right now?

CHIEF COREY SOLFERINO, RENO POLICE: Correct. Thank you for the invite.

HILL: So zero percent containment. What is your biggest challenge right now?

SOLFERINO: Our biggest challenge right now is honestly maintaining the evacuation zones, ensuring that people are not waiting until it's evacuation. Now time to start preparing. So we're asking our public, we're asking everybody to be prepared. Don't wait for that evacuation order to happen before you start gathering those documents, grabbing your medicine, and getting out and creating the chaos.

The last thing that we want to do is have tragedy strike our roadways as we're trying to get our people out of that area. So the heroic efforts of our public safety officials and our amazing firefighters are able to save property lives and tackle this fire and get some containment on it. The next 48 hours will be very, very important to our success.

HILL: I mean, the numbers are really something. I spoke with the mayor last hour, the mayor of Reno. She said 42,000 people had evacuated, some 40,000 they were hoping would.

SOLFERINO: Correct.

HILL: She noted, too, it's helpful that Reno, of course, is a heavily touristed area. A lot of hotel rooms, but logistically, when you talk about that, getting tens of thousands of people to safety in a short amount of time, when you talk about for people preparing ahead of time, how have folks who are evacuating, how have they been dealing with the orders and responding to those requests when you encounter them?

SOLFERINO: What we're trying to do is we're trying to message unified through all of the different public safety professionals that we have through fire, through the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, the Reno Police Department, and now the Hawk Fire Web page is putting those areas on alert. So they're planning ahead. They're getting everything that they need. So when we call that order, they can get out or they can evacuate ahead of time.

Last night we had some issues where we had to shut down the freeway where the fire overran the freeway. So we only had one way of egress pushing people south back into the city limits. That allowed them an opportunity to not go into the path of the fire and create another issue. Every year, we see a tragedy that strikes across our nation literally when people are stuck holding on to the last minute to evacuate.

We can replace vehicles, we can replace property, we can replace homes, but we can't replace individual lives. And we really want to focus on the lives of our public safety professionals and our citizens.

HILL: And we certainly don't want to put their lives at risk for folks who, you know, as we see, as you point out in these tragedies, whether it is a wildfire, a hurricane, you know, waiting until the last minute does put those first responders at risk.

We have been told that this is human activity. I know it's under investigation. Any further information at this hour about what that activity was?

SOLFERINO: Not at this time. They're still looking at the initial origin of the fire to determine. We do know that it was human or manmade in this instance, but I think you brought up a very, very important topic just earlier that I want to key in on. We just -- obviously our region is subject to wildland fires. And we just recently finished containment on another one just two weeks previously.

The difference between that one and this one, that one was more in our rural community. So we had a fraction of the population. This is coming within the city of Reno limits, densely populated. So while we have 45,000 approximately people currently evacuated from their homes, we have an additional 45,000 or 42,000 plus in the next tier of evacuations. So getting 90,000 people out of that area and ensuring that our public safety professionals have the ability to do their job, that our fire safety professionals have the ability to get in and out of areas, to protect structures, to protect life.

That's our biggest message moving forward is don't wait until the evacuation order. Start planning ahead now.

HILL: Yes, it is such an important. And then as we know, this fire, any fire really, but any fire can change on a dime. They can make their own weather. And so the time, the time to leave is now, as soon as you get that order.

Chief, really appreciate your time. I know you're very busy. Thank you.

SOLFERINO: Thank you for the opportunity.

HILL: Iran is now promising to fight back against new U.S. sanctions, which are expected to be detailed tomorrow. The country's top security chief, former IRGC commander, Mohsen Rezaee, vowing to, quote, "neutralize the economic war" with the U.S. threatening to halt oil out of the Strait of Hormuz for any country that helps the United States.

[20:05:06]

Iran's state controlled Persian Gulf Strait Authority tonight is warning ships violating its transit rules could be seized.

CNN's Julia Benbrook joining us from the White House tonight.

We are also hearing some tough words tonight from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is expected to unveil more details about this so- called economic D-Day plan tomorrow. What is he saying now?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are still a lot of questions about this, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that economic D- Day comes at dawn. In an op-ed published by the "Financial Times," he reiterated the point that the United States will put into place measures never seen before on Iran. He also used this to warn other countries against doing business with Iran, calling them, quote, "enablers."

I want to pull up part of what he wrote for you now. In this he said, quote, "At dawn begins an economic D-Day, the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary. The president has created the conditions to leverage every agency, every authority and action many assumed we would never summon. Any remaining tie to Tehran will hasten the economic ostracism of countries and entities whether that tie be purposefully constructed or willfully ignored."

As you mentioned, Bessent is expected to host a press conference tomorrow. We may get some more details there because, as I mentioned, that op-ed did not go into a lot of detail on exactly what measures would be put in place, just repeatedly saying that this would be taking things to a whole another level. This comes after earlier in the week, President Donald Trump made it clear that he wanted to put more financial pressures in place.

He wanted Iran to feel the economic pressure, and this comes after poll after poll shows that Americans do not approve right now of the way that Trump has handled the conflict with Iran, and it is now nearing its sixth month.

HILL: Julia, appreciate the updates. Thank you.

Well, President Trump is accusing Canada of wanting the benefits of being a U.S. state without being one. That social media post coming after trade talks between the two countries collapsed at the last moment. It means Trump's 50 percent tariffs on some $20 billion worth of Canadian goods will -- are kicking in. That makes a number of Canadian goods a lot more expensive of course in the U.S..

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney promising to fight back dollar for dollar with retaliatory tariffs sparking an escalating trade war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair and undermine the net benefits for Canada and called into question the reliability of any deal. In short, they asked too much and they offered too little.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now is Josh Lipski, vice president of International Economics at the Atlantic Council.

It's good to have you with us. So the "Wall Street Journal," the editorial board calling this the dumbest trade war revisited, noting Trump's decision t to escalate a tariff brawl with Canada makes no economic sense or political sense. Is there any off-ramp at this point?

JOSH LIPSKY, VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Well, thanks for having me. And yes, there is an off-ramp, but it's a very narrow one. And look, right now, as of this moment, we are in a trade war with our neighbor, our ally, and one of our most significant trading partners. And as of a week ago, we were headed toward a deal. And it unraveled very quickly for a range of reasons.

And the reason the off-ramp is so narrow is because there's so many sticking points. It's not just one thing they need to get over before September 8th, when the Canadian retaliation comes into effect. They have to deal with trucks. They have to deal with streaming issues and probably most importantly, from the Canadian perspective, they have to deal with what Prime Minister Carney called sovereignty issues, which he meant the Americans are telling the Canadians they can't make other trade deals with a range of countries, potentially China. That was a bridge too far for the Canadians. That's why things fell

apart on Friday. We have two weeks to put it back together. Otherwise this could be a spiraling trade war across North America.

HILL: So, I mean, that is stark, to put it mildly. There's also -- I mean, as we look at all of this, right, there is so much happening for consumers, all of this out of their control. What does it effectively mean, though, for consumers on both sides of the border?

LIPSKY: Right. So if you just look at the products targeted, it's about 5 percent of what we import from Canada. Not a huge amount, but it varies by state. So if you're a Michigan or you're in Maine right now, you're going to get hit very hard because Canada is such a significant trading partner for you. Things like hockey sticks, you're gearing up for the fall season, Canadian beer, Canadian whiskey, dairy products, a range of other agricultural products.

[20:10:00]

So not everyone is going to feel the pain, but that's just the base level of course. Then there's the Canadian retaliation, as you said, dollar for dollar. We don't know exactly what they're going to hit, but that's going to be significant. And I think we know, as we learned from President Trump in the trade war with China, when one country retaliates, he retaliates again. That's how you get the spiraling effect. So it's not clear how it's going to affect every consumer, but everyone will feel it in some way, shape or form.

HILL: Yes, I was struck by, so you recently penned an op-ed for "The New York Times" where you argued -- we've talked a lot about the bond market this week. You argued that the bond market had become addicted to the revenue from these tariffs. Can you explain for our audience why you see that as such a problem, and especially as we look down the road, what that means?

LIPSKY: It is a problem because there's a lot of thinking going on quietly in Europe and Japan and other places that after President Trump, the tariffs are going away. And I was trying to say in this op- ed that not so fast. It's not going to be so easy. These tariffs are raising 100 billion to 150 billion a year. And yes, tariffs are a tax, but they are revenue generating for the United States, even though we're all paying them in various ways.

And the next president, whoever he or she may be, whatever party they come from, are going to have their priorities. And when they start trying to spend the bond markets, as we saw this week, get very jittery about our debt and fiscal situation in the U.S.. So the message to the rest of the world is, we may be living with tariffs for longer than you anticipate. And that's why I think what's happening with Canada is so significant.

The rest of the world is paying attention to Canada retaliating. So few countries have retaliated on Trump's tariffs. If this actually works for Canada, and we'll see if it does, then I think the Europeans, the Japanese, even the Mexicans might come back and say, did we have the wrong strategy when negotiating with the U.S.? HILL: Which would be interesting, right, because we remember back to

-- at Davos in January, you had Prime Minister Carney saying to allies, look, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu, and encouraging other countries to stand up. The fact that we're seeing it in this moment is really a test as you point out.

LIPSKY: It is a test. And I do think Canada tried to get to a deal. Despite what Carney said at Davos, they were very close to a deal. There were concessions being made on both sides, and we may get back to it over the next two weeks because Canadians feel the pain, too. Right? We talked about the American side, but the Canadian exporters of these products are already hurting. They export something like 70 percent of their economy to the U.S..

So as much as we are thinking about how it affects us, this is existential for the Canadians. They're trying to avoid the worst outcome. But from their perspective, they just couldn't make this deal as it stands. And now we're in the most delicate trade situation we've been in since liberation day.

HILL: Do you see a strategy from the administration?

LIPSKY: Well, I think that's an interesting and complicated question. I think targeting allies is not a successful strategy. I'll put it like that. I think the way the administration looks at it is that any country that has a trade imbalance with the U.S. needs to be targeted, and they don't think in terms of, let's target China, the country, which is the source of the largest trade imbalances in the history of the world right now, versus let's target Europe or let's target Canada.

And it's not to say we don't have trade issues with these countries. And it's not to say there aren't some unfair trade practices going on in these countries, but I think the administration doesn't think of things in terms of strategic allies and adversaries, but instead, who's running a trade imbalance with the U.S.. To the extent there's a strategy, I think that's it. I do think revenue is part of the strategy.

I think what the administration is trying to do is generate some jobs back home over the long term, generate revenue in the short term, but that's not going to work if you get into trade wars with your neighbors.

HILL: Josh Lipsky, really great to have you with us tonight. Thank you.

Thousands of people -- on a much different note -- turning out Sunday to see the first ever Indy Grand Prix on the streets of Washington, D.C.. We've got a look for you at the big event. Plus a major push for South Carolina voters ahead of a runoff on Tuesday. We'll dive in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:47] HILL: Voters in South Carolina will head to the polls on Tuesday for a high stakes primary election runoff to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham. But Republicans aren't the only ones stumping in the state this weekend. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is there as he weighs a potential 2028 presidential bid. Buttigieg appealed to black voters, a group he notably failed to win over during his first presidential run.

For more on all things South Carolina, CNN reporter Patrick Svitek joins us now.

So you were in South Carolina. Walk us through the significance of Buttigieg choosing to visit there this weekend.

PARICK SVITEK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. He had not been in South Carolina a long time. Actually, the last time he was there was when he was Transportation secretary in the Biden administration. So this was a very notable return to the state for him. And it came just several days after Democrats reaffirmed that South Carolina will be the first presidential primary state in 2028. So there was a lot of significance and meaning to this trip for him.

As you pointed out in his 2020 presidential campaign, he really struggled with black voters in South Carolina. That is a crucial voting bloc in the Democratic primary. And so throughout this trip, as we wrote about today, you saw him make all kinds of appeals to black voters there.

[20:20:01]

He visited a historically black college in Orangeburg. He spoke to the local NAACP branch there and at other events throughout this trip. He spoke about Republican redistricting efforts that he said are diminishing black representation across the south and across the country. And so we heard him speak in very stark terms about the dangers that he said that the Trump administration and Republicans writ large posed to the black community right now.

HILL: Interesting to see if that is actually a step one for him. I also want to ask you about Republicans, of course, because on Tuesday, Republicans have a primary. This, of course, related to the late Senator Lindsey Graham's seat. What are you watching for in this race, which has a whole lot of national attention?

SVITEK: Absolutely. All eyes are on the power of the Trump endorsement in this race. He's endorsed Darline Graham, of course and he held a rally for her on Friday night in Myrtle Beach. But there's still a lot of lingering questions about her readiness for the full six-year Senate term after that debate last week where she declined to answer a question about national security, saying, it's not my thing.

You continue to hear from Republicans in the state who are concerned about whether she is knowledgeable enough or prepared for this very important role that she'd be stepping into, six-year term in the Senate. South Carolina is a very red state, so it's likely that you would win that seat again if you ran for it again. And so this is a very consequential moment in South Carolina and for the Republican Party.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. And we'll be watching.

Patrick, really appreciate it. Thank you.

SVITEK: Thank you.

HILL: Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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[20:26:06]

HILL: You could say opposition to Flock cameras has reached a galactic level. This week, one protester invoked Darth Vader to San Diego City Council meeting to make his point against those cameras, which track license plates and other vehicle data.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The emperor is a fan of Flock, and we must continue utilizing Flock technologies so that we can follow and surveil the rebel scum as they move from playground to playground, from playground to pool, from pool to gymnasium. Because we all know that the Flock cameras are not only following the license plate readers, they are following children. They are following children in parks and gymnasiums. And we need this. I need this so I can stalk my ex- girlfriend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Meeting attendees could be heard laughing at Vader's support. The opposition, though, against Flock cameras has actually been a really serious movement despite law enforcement defending the cameras as major crime fighting tools.

CNN's Meena Duerson sat down with one activist known as NoMark to understand just what's driving the growing backlash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're in downtown Minneapolis where hundreds of people have come out to protest against Flock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Flock cameras, bro. I hate those things.

DUERSON: They're protesting what they say is surveillance that they didn't sign up for.

(CHANTING)

DUERSON: One of the biggest faces of this protest called himself NoMark. He says he's a masked vigilante who's saving the country from Flock. (Voice-over): Flock license plate cameras use A.I. to track vehicles.

Police contract with the company using its national database to find stolen cars and missing people. But dozens of officers are now accused of misusing the data, like a cop, investigators say, searched for his ex 717 times. In videos that have gotten millions of views, NoMark destroys the cameras, making him a hero to a growing following angry over surveillance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took down a Flock camera in honor of you.

NOMARK, ANTI-FLOCK ACTIVIST: Yes, actually? Look at that.

DUERSON: Oh, wow, someone got this one.

NOMARK: Someone beat me to it.

It seemed like, you know, every like week I would see a new article about how these cameras are being misused, how they're being used to stalk people.

DUERSON: When you hear law enforcement talk about all the uses, you know, for these cameras, what's your reaction?

NOMARK: Flock cameras haven't been here forever. Crimes, they can solve crimes without them. But I think for every crime that these cameras solve, there's 10 issues with them.

DUERSON: What do to you makes these cameras different? Because there's surveillance cameras everywhere.

NOMARK: They can look up exactly where you've been. It stores your information. Like if they put in your license plate, they can have it. You know, this person is right here, right now.

DUERSON: Do you feel like it's too much information?

NOMARK: I think it's way too much information. I think it's way too powerful, especially, you know, you don't even need a warrant to search it. You can look up anyone, even if they're, you know, suspected of a crime or not.

DUERSON: Flock is one of a handful of companies that make ALPRs, which is an automated license plate reader. And they work by capturing when your vehicle goes past them, the license plate, but also any markings on the vehicle that are distinguishing. Flock says they have over 120,000 cameras across 49 states.

(Voice-over): Anger against Flock has now reached a fever pitch. We found its cameras have been vandalized in more than 33 states. Earlier this month in Winona, Minnesota, police announced that every single Flock camera in town had been stolen.

This is one of the eight cameras that Winona Police say were cut down by vandals. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the Flock camera.

DUERSON: Did you get that? This guy just drove by and shouted, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) the Flock cameras. That seems like basically the sentiment that led to these getting chopped down in the middle of the night.

JEROME CHRISTENSON, WINONA, MN CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: Yes, that's the post. You bet you.

DUERSON: So somebody just cut this off?

CHRISTENSON: Uh-huh. Just got up here and --

[20:30:01]

DUERSON (voice-over): Jerome Christenson is on the city council here in Winona.

What do you think should happen?

CHRISTENSON: I'd put them back right where they were. I think that they provide a useful tool for our local police catching the bad guy.

DUERSON: Do you think that these are legitimate concerns that people are having?

CHRISTENSON: Of course they are. A.I. is creeping into our everyday lives. We're on the edge of the profoundly unfamiliar.

DUERSON (voice-over): Nearly two weeks after the cameras were stolen, Winona Police announced they would not be replaced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, so I had prepared to talk about the horrors of Flock cameras and surveillance, et cetera. I'm now going to say thank you to all of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While I don't like rewarding bad behavior, I'm glad to see the Flock cameras gone.

CHRISTENSON: For the moment, we're not going to rush out and buy new cameras and put them up and make a big deal out of it. Just let it settle down. It'll go away.

DUERSON: Do you think people are going to forget about this?

CHRISTENSON: Oh, yes, yes, yes, as soon as the football season starts. If the Vikings start winning, nobody in Winona is going to pay a whole hell of a lot of attention.

DUERSON (voice-over): Last week, Flock announced changes to address criticisms, shortening the time the company stores data and adding safeguards to flag inappropriate lookups. In an interview with CNN, CEO Garrett Langley apologized to those who felt they'd been victimized by the technology. GARRETT LANGLEY, FOUNDER AND CEO, FLOCK: I'm sorry that the system has

failed you. I'm sorry that you no longer trust the police department that's job is to protect you.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Does Flock take accountability?

LANGLEY: I think the whole -- the whole industry does. You know, we have an obligation to make everyone feel safe.

DUERSON (voice-over): But the backlash shows no sign of slowing down. Anti-Flock activists behind the page DeFlock say they've tracked over 100 cities who've stopped using the cameras. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are now calling for the cameras to be regulated or even banned.

Do you think that there is a movement towards this kind of vigilante justice? Do you think it's a dangerous way to go?

NOMARK: I think a lot of people feel that the system is not working right now, so people are starting to take it into their own hands. I mean, I wish people didn't have to do that. You know, I wish the system just worked. I think it is a little dangerous. I think it's a little scary that people do this, but I mean, I do think it's nice to see people fight back.

DUERSON (voice-over): Meena Duerson, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Paramount is reportedly meeting with California officials tomorrow. Still to come, what we know about the talks to possibly settle a lawsuit over the WBD deal.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:37:21]

HILL: Talks that might lead to a settlement and allow Paramount to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of this network, could get underway as soon as tomorrow. Twelve Democratic state attorneys general joined together last month to sue -- suing to block that mega merger on antitrust grounds. So Paramount then threatened to yank its studios out of Hollywood, moving to another state like Texas or Georgia. The merger threatens to get even more expensive, though, for Paramount when its ticking fee kicks in.

Bringing in now CNN media analyst Sarah Fischer.

So, Sarah, when we look at this on Friday night, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said any settlement would have to include robust structural remedies that would change the shape of this mega merger. What is Paramount open to? What is the AG talking about?

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: So when you're trying to evaluate whether or not to approve a deal, Erica, you can have structural remedies, which basically mean that you're going to force someone to divest an asset or not combine an asset or behavioral remedies, which is, you ask the parties merging to uphold a promise. Behavioral remedies historically have been very hard to enforce, which is why Attorney General Bonta wants a structural remedy.

What we understand he's looking for would possibly be the divestiture of some cable networks. Remember, Paramount is home to all of those Viacom cable networks. Everything from VH1 to MTV, and Warner Bros. Discovery, of course, is the parent to CNN, but also TNT and TBS. So he feels as though this could be too much power consolidated on cable, and maybe they should divest some networks.

The other thing that's been reported is that potentially asking Paramount not to combine its movie studio with Warner Bros., and that's a big deal because in the past, when you bring two big movie companies together, there are synergies or sort of ways that you can optimize this merger by bringing those assets together.

The best example I can give you, Erica, is when Disney and FOX merged, Disney bought 20th Century Studios. You know, they have not been as robust of an output or of film. So those are the two things that the attorney general, along with 11 other state attorneys general, are looking at. Whether or not Paramount would buy it. here's the thing, they want to get this done as fast as possible. You mentioned that ticking fee goes into effect October 1st.

If they don't get a deal done, a settlement done, and they got to wait until trial, I mean, this could cost them, you know, nearly $2 billion.

HILL: And what could -- you know, we heard that Paramount has threatened, right, that we're going to move all of our operations or a good chunk of operations out of California. That would take some time realistically. But is there anything that could happen in between, you know, now, once that ticking fee starts and when the trial is set for March, that could change things?

[20:40:01]

FISCHER: I think just continuing to put out headlines of you looking at opportunities in other states, have you considering it basically using it as leverage. Now sources have told me that Paramount is dead serious about wanting to move, but the challenge is not only is a move very costly, Erica, a move also sort of suggests that you're not willing to do any sort of settlement. And I don't think that's necessarily the case.

Paramount wants to get this done as fast as possible because not only is that ticking fee going into effect, but right now they're completely stalled. Like they can't actually reap the benefits of this merger because they can't do anything to really combine. So I think that they are more open to a settlement than these move talks suggest.

HILL: Which is really, I mean, which is really saying something to be at this point that they could be more open to it. I'm also struck by the idea of the cable networks, not just because I work for a cable network, but when we look at that, that hasn't been discussed as much. A lot of what we see in the headlines is about the movie studios. CNN gets thrown in a lot as well as we know.

I mean, let's address the elephant in the room. I know, for example, California's AG has said this is really not my focus. He says he's focused more on the studios. So if there were some sort of agreement when it comes to the cable networks, how much could that perhaps placate some of these AGs?

FISCHER: Well, in some ways it would go against their argument, in my opinion. Right? If you're the attorneys general right now and you're arguing this has nothing to do with us being worried about ownership of CNN, and yet you strike a deal that forces them to divest CNN, you kind of look like you're not good for your word. So I do believe that the attorneys general are looking for something on the structural side that definitely has to do with the movie studio dominance.

If the cables dominance is addressed as well, I think that would be part of a movie studio deal, but not the full thing. I also think there's no way, no way that they would ask Warner Bros. and Paramount to just divest CNN because that then again makes it so apparent that there's some sort of political motivation here. It would likely be that you just can't buy the cable networks part of Warner Bros. Discovery. And that would leave Paramount with its existing cable networks from the Viacom system.

But ultimately, Erica, I do think that a settlement is reached here just because even though Paramount argues that their case, they want to try it on the merits, they believe that they have a strong argument, it's just such a long time to wait until next March to get your deal done.

HILL: And it is very costly, legal fees aside, once that ticking fee sets in to get to March.

Sara, always good to see you. Thank you.

FISCHER: You too. Thanks.

HILL: After the break, a look at this weekend's first ever Indy Grand Prix on the streets of the nation's capital.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:47:28]

HILL: A real first for the nation's capital. Indy cars whipping through the streets at 180 miles an hour for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. More than 100,000 people on hand, including the president and the first lady, and our own Brian Todd who has all the details.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, all told, this race lasted a little less than three hours, but for most of the people out here, it was an all-day experience because they had to get here fairly early through the checkpoints to get to these spots.

This is one of the choice spots, really, to watch this race. This is a general admission grandstand 4A, lots of people packed in here, people filing out over here. This is the racetrack right by turn four. This is one of the most popular places to watch this race today.

Over here we have more grandstands which were packed. And the suites, these suites cost between $200,000 and $250,000. So those were presumably bought up by corporations and other entities like that for some of their dignitaries and VIPs. There was one set of suites over here, and then one by the starting and finish line. That was where President Trump watched the race from, where he dropped the green flag earlier and where some other people were watching the race from.

Overall, it looked like a real success. Everybody we talked to seemingly had a great time. Here are some perspectives from some of the people who were here for the preliminaries yesterday, and for the main race today. Just about what the fan experience was like for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: I'm here with Liz Eustace and Chris Richardson, race fans here.

Chris, you've been to several races, you said, OK. Liz, you have not. OK. Got to get your impression. First time, how do you like it?

LIZ EUSTACE, INDYCAR FAN: This -- I saw the warm up and it was so cool. I didn't think I was kind of like, oh, they're just cars running. But the speed they're going. It was so freaking cool. And I got goose bumps, I got all shaky. It was really cool.

TODD: And now you're a veteran, Chris. You've been to some of these races. What do you think? What stands out to you about this particular one?

CHRIS RICHARDSON, INDYCAR FAN: It's a road course and that's always fun. You know, a road course on my own home roads. I definitely love that. And just having a point of reference for how fast they're going on these city streets is insane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So all told, this whole thing was in the works for actually about a year. The organizer Bud Denker, the president of Penske Racing, had this as a brainchild starting last summer. He ran into some bureaucracy regarding his plan to put some of this track right by the Capitol and on the Capitol grounds. He ran into so much bureaucracy and partisanship on Capitol Hill that he was almost ready to scrap this whole race.

[20:50:02]

But he was convinced to maintain the race, to try to just redesign the course somehow. So he brought the course away from the Capitol grounds and then back down here, more centered toward the center of the National Mall. So that's where this really took place. 1.7 miles around the Washington Monument, near the foot of the Capitol, but not on the Capitol grounds near the Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and then kind of circling around Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues.

Pennsylvania Avenue was like the main drag of this course. That was where it was wide enough to have the pit stop area, but it was just incredible. The logistical operation to put all this together, they started it in mid-July, you know, breaking down some of these -- some of the equipment and getting it here, putting it up, closing roads to do that. They think it'll take until maybe at least the end of the last week in September to clear everything out.

So all told, it's going to be about a two month long operation to stage this race -- Erica.

HILL: All right. Brian, thanks.

Tonight on "DECADES IN SPORTS," the 2000 were filled with historic comebacks, championship runs, and the rise of golfing great Tiger Woods. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can only imagine what it was like if you were in the golfing world and they tell you it's this black Asian dude that's beating everybody. Wait until you see it. But he had been a golf prodigy since he was 3 years old. Fast forward to the 1997 Masters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiger Woods becomes the first African-American to win a major, and he was still only 21 years old. It was an immensely popular moment and immensely important moment for golf and for this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you get to the year 2000, he wins the U.S. Open by 15 strokes. Oh, we're cooking with gas now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then he goes to the British Open and wins. And then he goes to the PGA and dusts that field. And what the world saw at that moment in time was the beginning of the whirlwind of an incredible run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiger Woods did not come in to just be a great golfer. He came to be the greatest. And for him, being the greatest meant breaking Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The greatest career anybody has ever had in golf is Jack Nicklaus. But the greatest skill player was Tiger Woods, by far. He just invented shots. There's the stinger. We'd never even heard of the stinger before. Out of a bunker, around a tree. What? No one has ever done that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was the version of a golfer at that time needed. Aggressive. Fist pump. Overwhelms the golf course. Intimidates opponents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not just that he's the best player in the world, it's that he is a legitimate cultural phenomenon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Be sure to tune in. A new episode of "DECADES IN SPORTS" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:57:51]

HILL: Katherine Lanasa is known for her hit role on "The Pitt," but it's far from her first big role. She's been working the industry for decades, struggling in some cases to break through.

In a new interview with CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister, the actress talks about what kept her going. It's part of a new CNN series coming up featuring Emmy nominees on the career defining moments that led them to success. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Katherine Lanasa, who stars on "The Pitt" as nurse Dana, won the Emmy for her role last year. She goes into this year's Emmys with another nomination as the reigning champ. Now, before Katherine Lanasa landed her role on the hit medical drama, she told me that she had just survived breast cancer.

In sitting down with her, she spoke to me about how her real-life battle with breast cancer inspired her role that you see on screen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHERINE LANASA, ACTRESS, "THE PITT": I've worked at this career, God, I was a professional ballet dancer at 17, so I'm 59. So we're talking about like 42 years I've been performing.

WAGMEISTER: You are a breast cancer survivor.

LANASA: I am.

WAGMEISTER: How did that experience impact the role that you play on "The Pitt"?

LANASA: I think it had a lot to do with it. You know, when you have cancer, you become really in touch with how afraid you are when you're in the hospital. And so I think I was able to bring that into the role, that understanding that Nurse Dana has, that all these people are really having their worst day.

WAGMEISTER: "The Pitt" has really been credited with being different than so many other medical dramas, which are typically focused on the relationships between the doctors and the nurses. And "The Pitt" is really about the patients and also the toll that this job takes on all of the health care workers.

LANASA: The nurses are not only emotionally sort of responsible for these patients, you know, because they want to be, again, because of their humanity. They're just under a great amount of pressure. Imagine having a dying patient with no one else there, but you can't stay there with them because you have another critical patient over here. You know? It's a lot. It's a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: It's really incredible to hear how these real-life health care workers and heroes have inspired her role on "The Pitt."