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Mamdani To Meet Trump Monday Ahead of U.N. General Assembly; Moscow Mayor: Several Drones Reached Moscow Area Refinery; Trump: Arch Will Double As A Military Complex With Drones, Snipers. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 20, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, just in to CNN. CNN has learned that New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani will meet President Donald Trump on Monday ahead of the U.N. General Assembly. That's according to Mamdani's office saying the meeting will take place at the Mayor's Residence.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is joining us right now with this brand new reporting.

Gloria, what do we know about this meeting and the focus?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this will be the third time that President Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani have a meeting and the big difference with this one happening tomorrow is that, it will be the first time that Trump will be essentially meeting with Mamdani in his home turf, right?

He is going to be meeting with the mayor at Gracie Mansion, that's the Mayoral Residence here in Manhattan and there will certainly be no shortage of topics for both the President and the Mayor to be discussing. We got a statement from the Mayor's Office saying that this meeting is confirmed for Monday and as the Mayor usually says, that the expectation is that their conversation will be focused on issues that affect New Yorkers, right?

We have been asking the mayor for the past few days whether or not he planned on meeting with Trump ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, which is starting on Monday, and he had said, over and over that when he talks to the President, and they talk, that it is always focused on issues that affect New York City and its residents.

But I think very likely these two will have a lot to talk about. You know, there is housing, affordability, funding that New York State and New York City depend on from the federal government. And I think it is sort of politically interesting that the President is coming to Gracie Mansion very much the Mayor's domain, right?

Now, as you mentioned, Fred, this is happening ahead of United Nations General Assembly week here in New York City, a week where dignitaries from all around the world will be in town. We expect President Trump to attend the General Assembly. It is also happening, as we are expecting a lot of demonstrations and protests here in New York City ahead of the visit of Prime Minister for Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also expected to be addressing the General Assembly.

The Mayor, as you know, a fierce critic of the Israeli government has been asked whether or not he plans to participate in any of the demonstrations that are scheduled for next week. He has said he will not be doing so, but he has said that if people want to protest, they will be able to do that.

And then, of course, there is the whole backstory of Mamdani saying that he believed Netanyahu should be arrested should he come to New York City. He has since backed away from that threat, acknowledging that it is not something his police department is actually able to do legally.

So I think certainly an interesting meeting. You know, these are two very politically different figures that surprisingly have had friendly meetings in the past. Right? We heard Donald Trump speak very highly of the Mayor and the Mayor, just kind of always bringing it back to his advocacy for New York City and New Yorkers -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Gloria Pazmino in New York, thank you so much.

All right, overseas, Ukraine hit Moscow and the surrounding area overnight with what is being called the largest ever drone attack on the Russian capital.

Daylight this morning showed the extent of the damage in residential areas. A major oil refinery near Moscow was also targeted. This latest attack comes on the final day of voting in Russia's Parliamentary elections.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: as far as Moscow's mayor is concerned, this was the largest Ukrainian drone attack against the capital since the war began. Now, he said that there were some 1,600 drones that were shot down across Russia since Saturday, 450 of them, he says, were targeting the capital itself.

Now, authorities say at least two people were killed. Some 20 people were injured, including three children. We do see footage of a residential building that appears to have been struck, and also images of one of the biggest oil refineries in the region, at least in terms of volume.

Now, this was video that was posted by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he praised the attacks. He says that facilities targeted were bringing in billions of dollars that sustain the war machine. Moscow's mayor said he believed that these attacks were intended to try and disrupt the ongoing election, something which Zelenskyy did not mention. Sunday does mark the third and final day of the first Parliamentary elections across Russia since the full scale invasion of Ukraine back in 2022. They are widely expected to go Vladimir Putin's way, and his party is expected to win. Critics say that these are not fair and they are not free elections, as there is no credible opposition.

Now, what we also saw was Russia continuing its significant attacks against Ukraine. We have seen near constant aerial attacks for almost a month now against Ukraine. In the latest barrage, we understand three children and one woman has been killed, we hear from Kyiv authorities.

We also heard from President Zelenskyy on Sunday, putting this into context, saying that this week alone, more than 2,000 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 19 missiles have been fired by Russia against Ukraine.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:05:10]

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you, Paula.

In this country, a new plan and a new justification for President Trump's proposed Triumphal Arch in the nation's capital today.

Trump says after a request from the U.S. Military, he now plans on using the monument to double as a military complex. Trump wants to build the 250-foot tall structure across from Arlington National Cemetery, and in a social media post today, he says the Arch could be used to "house, store and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus snipers on both the roof and plaza areas," and additionally "... and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition."

Adding, "... there will be no facility like this anywhere in the world."

Joining me right now to talk about this new plan is Phil Mudd. He is a former CIA counterterrorism official and a former FBI senior intelligence adviser as well.

Phil, always great to see you.

So what are your thoughts on the President's new plan to use this Triumphal Arch to double as a military complex?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Boy, they are practical questions. The President has talked about the design for some time now. You've seen him in the Oval Office and other places holding up a model of it.

The first question I've had has to do with engineering and design. If we're just hearing about this now, it takes a lot of work to figure out how to hold and secure ammunition and drones, and obviously, how to house military personnel. Was this designed part of -- or was this plan part of the design from the outset, or did we just now add this engineering design at the back end? And what does that say about how well designed this is to hold those kind of forces?

I close by saying I also have questions about how this would be deployed under U.S. law against U.S. citizens, but that's a different question.

WHITFIELD: Meaning, let's start with its locality right there. You know, right in between the Memorial Bridge that takes you to the Lincoln Memorial and on the Virginia side, the Arlington National Cemetery and that roundabout where you've got traffic. I mean, private citizens coming and going, tourists on bikes, walking, et cetera.

So, if you were to have something like that, an installation like that, and that arch, which is going to or the whole plan is to attract tourists, right? I mean, how do you also have security to have military munitions inside and snipers around it?

MUDD: Well, you've raised an interesting question about location. I used to drive across that bridge every day to get to work at The White House. That's a tourist area of Washington.

For those who haven't lived in and around Washington, D.C., there is not a lot of crime in that area. So, if you're talking about rapid deployment in the D.C. area, that is not the place that you would pick.

The broader issue, though, that I haven't seen mentioned yet is if you look around the Washington, D.C., area and in the city itself, which is not that large, remember, you have MPD, the Metropolitan Police Department, they've got SWAT. You've also got an FBI field office in Washington, D.C., WFO, the Washington Field Office that has a SWAT capability.

So if this is really about adding a necessary capability to Washington, D.C., how is that necessary when you already have the local police and the FBI with SWAT teams of their own? So, not only do you have questions about deploying in a tourist area and safety in a tourist area, you have budgetary and policy questions about why we need at least a third and maybe more SWAT capability with the FBI and the police. I don't really understand.

WHITFIELD: And again, this isn't very far from the Pentagon, this proposed structure that the President is saying this is the U.S. Military's suggestion, and he is potentially following through on a suggestion coming from the U.S. Military. What are your thoughts on that?

MUDD: No way. I want to see the documentation on that, that can't be true. One of the questions you have from the military is not only why wouldn't you use a current military facility? And there are plenty around Washington, D.C.

But if you're the military, especially the military operating in America's capital, your first question has to be not with just with drones and ammunition, your first question has to be with what are your rules of engagement? If somebody asked you to engage in a U.S. city, presumably that's against U.S. citizens. Why wouldn't you call in law enforcement? How often are we going to call in the U.S. Military with a SWAT capability and drones to attack U.S. citizens?

I think we are going quickly to the question of, is the President just doing this for political purposes to ensure there is not a legal case, and skipping over the question of, Mr. President, exactly how do you want to employ our own U.S. Military to fight people like me if we are on the Washington Mall? I don't really understand how they would be deployed, not only how they would be secured.

WHITFIELD: Well, just a reminder, there is a legal case right now involving American military veterans challenging this proposed Triumphal Arch. The then, you know, you brought it up a little bit earlier, it is a very comprehensive plan to now come up with a facility to store weapons in a safe manner, and also to be a post for any kind of snipers.

What kind of cost would that entail to have such a plan?

[15:10:17]

MUDD: Well, I don't know how they re-engineer an arch that looked to me like it was a tourist facility from the outset, so the first question would be, has the engineering been done to even do a cost estimate if you want to house both people and munitions.

My guess is that engineering hasn't been done. I don't think that's the primary question in terms of costs. My long-term question, if I am looking at budget for a country that has $40 trillion in deficit, the long-term question would be, if you're securing and deploying troops in that facility for maybe decades, because presumably as a new facility, it is going to be around for a long time: What is the annual cost of housing SWAT forces in that facility 24/7?

They are away from home. Housing those forces in that facility over years. That's got to be tens, hundreds of millions of dollars. So it is not just the construction, it is the after action when you're paying for it for many years.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well, it is a serious proposal. It is a serious matter. But I have to say, Phil Mudd, you did make me laugh with your guttural no way.

So thank you so much for your candor all the way around and expertise. Appreciate it.

MUDD: See you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, singer, Ed Sheeran faces his fans for the first time since his tour was thrown into chaos. We will show you his message to the crowd as he took to the stage without any opening acts and we are taking a trip across the cosmos with the world's most celebrated astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. His new guide to navigating the universe from our home planet to the furthest reaches of space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:29]

WHITFIELD: An emotional Ed Sheeran returned to the stage for the first time since rapper, Macklemore was dropped from his tour over pro- Palestinian comments. The move had prompted all of Sheeran's opening acts to quit in a show of support for Macklemore.

On Saturday night, Sheeran stood alone on stage in Philadelphia and he apologized to fans for his "mistakes."

He also said he never wanted to be an activist musician, but now felt the need to speak out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SHEERAN, SINGER-SONGWRITER: I've tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SHEERAN: But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.

What is happening in Gaza is a catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians, lives, of children's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jenn Sullivan has more on the controversy over free speech, Israel and Gaza that has engulfed Sheeran's tour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice over): A clash between pop culture and politics overshadowing Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour.

Saturday, Sheeran taking the stage for the first time following the fallout from his show on September 5th in New Jersey, where rapper, Macklemore opened the show with comments on stage showing support for Palestinians.

MACKLEMORE, RAPPER: I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart, "Free Palestine."

SULLIVAN: The New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft threatened to bar Sheeran's shows this weekend from a stadium he owns in Massachusetts if Macklemore wasn't removed from the lineup. Kraft, releasing a statement earlier this week saying, "Gillette Stadium has a long standing commitment to providing a welcoming environment, not providing a platform for hate speech."

Saturday's performance in Philadelphia, attracting protesters who supported Macklemore and Palestinians.

(PROTESTERS chanting "Free, Free Palestine!")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Macklemore is going to be silenced, if Macklemore won't be able to say "Free Palestine" on stage, the city of Philadelphia is going to show up to advocate for the Palestinian people.

SULLIVAN (voice over): Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, yet ticket sales were down ahead of Saturday's show. The price tracking site, TicketData notes while it is normal for many concert resale ticket prices to drop closer to the show date, resale for Saturday's Sheeran show falling by a notable amount.

KEITH PAGELLO, TICKETDATA FOUNDER: Over the past 24 hours, the getting price, which is the price of the cheapest tickets, which is kind of the best marker for demand for the event for this show, has gone down now 50 percent since Monday.

SULLIVAN (voice over): Macklemore said he was donating $1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts; Kraft and Sheeran have each agreed to donate $2 million, but have not specified where the money will be directed.

I am Jenn Sullivan, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Jenn.

All right, still ahead, a world on edge prepares to meet in New York as President Trump reshuffles alliances and rolls out the red carpet for a tech and trade rival. What could come out of this week's critical meetings. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:30]

WHITFIELD: President Trump has a busy week of diplomacy ahead of him. On Tuesday, he will address the United Nations General Assembly, and according to the White House, he may speak with Venezuelan president, Delcy Rodriguez, and then on Wednesday, the President will personally greet Chinese Leader Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews.

Then on Thursday, the two leaders will meet at The White House, followed by a state dinner.

On the same day, we have also heard about a possible meeting that the President will have with the heads of several A.I. tech giants, and this comes days after the President announced an A.I. -- a proposed A.I. Force.

[15:25:10]

Let's talk about all of this with CNN political and national security analyst, David Sanger.

David, great to see you.

I mean, all of these are pivotal, very high profile events, particularly at The White House that credentialed journalists, you know would be covering. But now with the three news outlets, including CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO banned from White House coverage, how do you see coverage of these important events, including that The White House being impacted?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it is a real dilemma for news organizations because, I don't think that anybody who cherishes the First Amendment wants to see the government or the President deciding who is going to be doing coverage.

Instead, you know, the way the system is supposed to work is that once The White House declares that The White House or parts of The White House are open to reporters to cover it, the government does not get to choose according to whether or not they like the content of that coverage. And I suspect you're going to see the courts dealing with this subject this week, just as the President is dealing with these world leaders.

WHITFIELD: And in the meantime, before there is any court weighing in, how do you suppose this impacts kind of the solidarity of The White House Press Corps? Oftentimes, you're there in The White House asking questions as well. And, you know, while the President might think that removing these three or representation of these three outlets might mean less critical questions, certainly that's not what would happen.

SANGER: Certainly not. And I think one of the arguments in favor of the other news organizations showing up is that if they do not, then the President is simply going to be facing friendly questions from friendly news organizations that he faces. That doesn't mean anybody likes the idea of these kinds of bans of our colleagues at CNN, MS NOW and others, but we certainly don't want to be in a position where the President is never challenged.

And this week is a week to challenge him. There is an interesting question about why he reversed course on Greenland, which he said the United States needed to own. He is now about to go sign an agreement, we believe, on Tuesday, that will basically extend an existing 1951 Treaty and give the United States basing rights, but no ownership of Greenland.

We will have many questions about Xi Jinping, artificial intelligence, just as you suggested.

WHITFIELD: Right. And I mean, the President is in an interesting position, not just domestically, but of course, geopolitically with all of these concerns and interests coming from a variation of countries across the globe.

When he speaks to the U.N. this week, what do we suppose the focus of his message will be?

SANGER: My guess is that the focus of his message will be that he was willing to act in places where previous presidents would not, and that would be against President Maduro of Venezuela, who will be sitting in a detention center just miles from where the President is speaking, Maduro is being held in Brooklyn. He will probably talk about acting against Iran to assure that they don't get a nuclear weapon.

But the fact of the matter is that he is stuck in Iran right now, or stuck in the Gulf Region. He can't win militarily and he can't pull out, and so he is going to have to explain some kind of plan going forward. And so far, we have not heard that. And I think Xi Jinping, as he arrives on Wednesday, senses the President's weakness on this point.

WHITFIELD: Okay. And then, David, we are just learning that Trump and Ukraine's Zelenskyy have just had a conversation and that they have agreed now to meet in New York. You know, Zelenskyy is continuing to be very concerned about kind of what kind of munition support they will continue to get from the U.S. and European neighbors as well. What do you suppose that conversation will be like? The tenor of it given precedence of when these gentlemen have been in the same space and what the direction of these conversations might be, especially now.

SANGER: Well, it has been interesting to hear the President in recent times, criticize Zelenskyy for continuing to bomb energy facilities or hit with drones energy facilities in Russia, which the President argues is sending up diesel prices; not gasoline prices, but diesel prices.

[15:30:16]

We just saw a very large Ukrainian strike on those energy facilities just overnight. So, I suspect you're going to see some return to the tension here. We just saw two of the President's representatives, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, his special envoy go to meet Putin, but as soon as they left, Putin resumed his bombing.

And I think there is an overall sense that Putin's message was, he will continue that through the winter and hope that Zelenskyy is weakened come the spring after a long winter of bombing with Zelenskyy somewhat defenseless.

I am not sure the President is prepared to offer him any more significant armed support, especially given the shortages after the Iran conflict.

WHITFIELD: Another very important meeting will be the meeting between Trump and China's leader, Xi Jinping.

You know, and thereto, it is very complicated because obviously there is, you know, global business and geopolitics all on the table here. But the President of the United States ahead of this potential meeting, I mean, he has kind of set the stage by, you know, being very critical of China for a number of things, calling it a menace.

Yet, at the same time, he will be rolling out the red carpet, right, you know, with these discussions. I mean, what is to be gained? And what are the risks here with these two men meeting?

SANGER: So the President really wants this to be a successful meeting, and of course it comes after the meeting that they had in Beijing back in May. I was long covering that, and the President put the aura of success and partnership with China ahead of any hard decisions.

On the way back on the plane on Air Force One, he told us he would be making a decision soon on arms to Taiwan. He never made that decision, so that's an indication that he did not want to press the issue very hard there.

On artificial intelligence, it would be useful to see if there could be some basic agreements on things that are walled off for the use of A.I. You'll remember during the Biden administration, there was an agreement on no use of A.I. in the nuclear weapons command and control systems. It seems reasonable. They could extend that to biotechnology, to mutual warning of -- about the powers of new systems developed in each of their countries.

But I don't get the impression that the administration has done the groundwork that would be needed to build up to that, and the President's declaration yesterday that he wants to build an A.I. Force, but without saying what it would do, I think sort of underscored --

WHITFIELD: Or who would be involved.

SANGER: -- that confusion.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SANGER: That's right -- or whether it be military or civilian.

WHITFIELD: Exactly.

All right, David Sanger, always great to have you. Thank you so much.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

WHITFIELD: Also this week at the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. is expected to sign an agreement to increase its military footprint in Greenland. We talked a little bit about that. This comes months now after President Trump threatened to take over the island, which is an autonomous Danish territory.

However, this new agreement does not compromise Denmark's sovereignty.

Melissa Bell takes a look at what we know about the deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Greenland is once again in the global spotlight after President Donald Trump said the U.S. had reached a new security deal with Denmark and Greenland that involves a U.S. Military presence on the strategic Arctic island. Details of the agreement are still unclear.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We need Greenland!

BELL (voice over): But it appears to fall short of Trump's aggressive threat to take over Greenland.

But Denmark and Greenland say the deal won't compromise Greenland's sovereignty, and some locals say they are relieved by that.

GORM DUPONT, NUUK RESIDENT: To be honest, I have never thought that they will take over Greenland. I think it is just a -- it is just a play -- a political play they do to put some focus on Greenland.

JACOB LUDVIGSEN, NUUK RESIDENT (through translator): It has been such a stupid thing that Trump wanted to take over Greenland. It is a crazy way of thinking for Greenlanders.

BELL (voice over): Many Greenlanders say they felt on edge after months of strong rhetoric from Trump about buying or seizing their homeland, which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory, and even though there is a sense the agreement could cool some tensions, there are questions about how it differs from a 1951 Pact that already allowed the U.S. to expand its military footprint in Greenland.

[15:35:13]

Some residents say they are still wary of the U.S., but recognize the need for stronger defense.

MARIANNE HANSEN, NUUK RESIDENT (through translator): If I can say it like that, I don't mind that Denmark and the U.S. want to protect us and our enormous seas.

BELL (voice over): In recent years, countries like Russia and China had rapidly deepened their presence in the Arctic, and according to Trump, under the Agreement, no U.S. adversary will be allowed to have a base on Greenland without written U.S. approval. NATO says the deal is a major win for regional stability.

ADMIRAL GIUSEPPE CAVO DRAGONE, NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We have a lot of stuff going on there from the military point of view. We have the Arctic Center Activity, which is a huge commitment for NATO on that. I mean, just consider NATO has three flanks to take care of. It is the North Flank, the East Flank, and also the South Flank. So this is our 360 degrees and the Arctic, Northern Flank is part of our -- I mean, patrolling activities.

BELL (voice over): The agreement is expected to be signed by the U.S., Greenland and Denmark this week with Denmark's Foreign Minister signaling there could be a good outcome ahead. Even on the streets of Copenhagen, there is optimism that more peaceful relations will prevail.

STEFFEN NIELSEN, COPENHAGEN RESIDENT: It is going to be more quiet now, and I think that the United States is probably going to get what they could have had the whole time if they just asked nicely. So, in that sense, I think it is going to be nice.

BELL (voice over): Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Just ahead, heavy rain pushes across the Midwest into the Ohio Valley and the Northeast in this country. The forecast on which major cities could get hit with flash flooding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:38]

WHITFIELD: Heavy rain and thunderstorms set to slam parts of the Midwest and Northeast today, bringing the threat of flooding. CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar says some of the hardest hit areas could catch a brief break before more wet weather arrives later in the week.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Millions from Wyoming all the way over to Maryland have the potential for some flooding today. That target point, really from areas of Eastern Missouri to Western Maryland. Here you can see that includes Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati -- some of those areas already saw heavy rain yesterday. Now, we are going to be adding to it.

There is a little bit of a break for some of these areas on Monday, specifically across the Midwest, but there is still the potential for some heavy showers in the mid-Atlantic.

Then we push into Tuesday and we see that threat increasing yet again. So this is going to be a multi-day impact for areas of the mid- Atlantic and portions of the Northeast.

Now, we've already had a lot of these ongoing showers and thunderstorms even since this morning, going to about 10:00 to 11:00 tonight, you can still see some very heavy rain across portions of Ohio, West Virginia, even areas of the Northeast.

So Boston, New York, stretching down towards Philadelphia, still looking at some of those showers that could be heavy at times through about 10:00 to 11:00 tonight.

Once we spread into Monday, you've got some soggy start to the day across areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio, as well as Iowa and Southern Minnesota.

But for most of these areas, you're getting a little bit of a break. The heaviest rain doesn't really return again until we get into Tuesday, and you can see it begins across the mid-Atlantic, say, around 6:00 to 7:00 A.M. for Philadelphia, D.C., Baltimore.

You also have this next cluster making its way from Iowa into Illinois that will start to die off by late into the day Tuesday, but we can't say the same across areas of the mid-Atlantic.

And a lot of those showers and thunderstorms are just kind of riding around this dome of high pressure that is sitting across areas of the Southeast. Now, that's keeping all of the moisture on the north side. What it is doing for those folks inside the dome is keeping temperatures incredibly hot.

Some of these areas feeling much more like late July or early August than they should for the end of September. We've got a lot of record temperatures potentially here that could even extend even into early this week, say Monday and Tuesday for some of these locations.

You look at Memphis, for example, the average high this time of year, 85; triple digits again today, 97 on Monday; 90 on Tuesday. So we do dip back a little bit Tuesday, but it is still going to be about five degrees above average.

Birmingham, Jackson, Nashville, even Oklahoma City, all of these areas still looking at those temperatures above average for at least the next several days.

WHITFIELD: All right, Allison, thank you.

Still ahead, do you ever wonder how the universe actually works? Well, well-renowned astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, he knows and he is joining us live along with his brand new guide to the cosmos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:58]

WHITFIELD: A journey of discovery is underway as the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope prepares to put a new eye on the universe. This week, NASA successfully activated the telescope's primary infrared camera, known as the wide field instrument.

It also tested its planet imager, the coronagraph instrument, which will block out excess glare from star pollution. And this allows the telescope to focus on light from the actual exoplanets.

And joining me right now to discuss is astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is also author of yet another book, they just keep coming. The new book, "Lost in Space: 5,000 Facts for Navigating the Universe," which just published this week. I don't know where you find the time. Ive lost count of how many books you've got out there.

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, ASTROPHYSICIST AND AUTHOR: I actually am cloned three ways, so -- but don't tell anybody.

WHITFIELD: Of course. Of course you are.

Well, we will get to your new book in a moment. But first, I do want to ask you about this Roman Telescope. I mean, these tools could help answer a lot of burning questions about some of the universe's biggest mysteries. So what kind of burning questions do you have about the cosmos that this Roman could answer?

[15:50:10]

The list is long, isn't it?

TYSON: The burning-est question there is, there is the longest unsolved problem in modern astrophysics, and it has been since the 1930s, and it is what is the nature of the dark matter of the universe? And what is different about this telescope from other space telescopes is that it has a huge field of view -- huge -- and in so doing, you can take in much more of the universe at once to see the impact that the dark matter has on the gathering of matter and energy in the universe.

And so Hubble got its up close and personal in tiny fields of view, this a much wider field of view so that you can answer different questions about the structure, the large scale structure of the universe.

WHITFIELD: So 100 times wider than Hubble's view. So, you know, what does that mean for the chances of finding something completely new or unexpected just out of this world, out of this galaxy, out of this universe stuff?

TYSON: Well, any well-designed experiment in this case, any well- designed telescope, when it opens up a new window, either a literal window. Well, in terms of what forms of light it can see or whether its fields of view are different, it is almost guaranteed to discover something that nobody looked for.

Nobody asked --

WHITFIELD: Yes! That was a mouthful!

TYSON: It's like, who ordered that?

WHITFIELD: Right.

TYSON: That'll definitely happen.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So, NASA revealed too that, you know, Roman, you know, saved so much fuel that its projected lifetime basically doubled from 10 years to over 22. So what does an extra 12 years of operational life potentially unlock? Again, more stuff that you could never imagine?

TYSON: Yes. The good part of that is the once it is in sort of discovery mode, then you can say, oh, that's interesting. Let me go back to it and ask different questions about the observation that I will make to try to get even deeper into what is happening, into the questions that I posed.

So extended missions are always good because you get that next layer of inquiry that you don't always get if a telescope just goes up, gets one round of data and then comes back.

So -- and by the way, this telescope is a million miles away. We are not servicing it, and unless like A.I. robots evolve really quickly to go out --

WHITFIELD: Oh no! Another conversation about A.I. Okay, but go ahead.

TYSON: That's another conversation.

WHITFIELD: Okay. All right, well, let's now bring it down to Earth if we can. You know, last time you were with us, we actually talked about your book. You know, continuing Merlin's adventures in just visiting this planet. So, now tell us about "Lost in Space."

TYSON: Yes, "Lost in Space" is the fourth, I think, collaboration between my podcast "Star Talk" and "National Geographic" Books. And the book is just beautiful. I don't always do this, but I brought one into view here, just so you can see.

WHITFIELD: Yay! I love it. Oh, okay, as it floats by, it is beautiful. Oh, that's tome. That's a big one.

TYSON: This is a big one, and it looks like when you open it and it is like so thoroughly illustrated and you say to yourself, that must be a coffee table book. Well, yes.

WHITFIELD: It is! Good idea!

TYSON: The difference is most coffee table books you open, look at it and then close it. This one, you open it and then you look around and steal it from --

WHITFIELD: Or you just keep it open for any of your guests to just see it, and then of course, want to peruse. And of course we will, because its filled with so much great stuff and it is, you know, visually appealing, as you just said.

So, you know, let's dig into some of the facts or what makes it so tantalizing.

TYSON: I'd be happy to --

WHITFIELD: Okay!

TYSON: And just to be clear, because it is a "National Geographic" collaboration. And as I say, they don't do ugly.

WHITFIELD: No!

TYSON: So, the book is just gorgeous. It is sensibly priced, especially for the holiday season. And so I am very proud of that collaboration and what they've done with it.

WHITFIELD: Okay. That's a very good -- yes.

TYSON: Now, this is 5,000 facts. Now, you could Google facts. Okay -- WHITFIELD: Yes.

TYSON: But you'll get answers that have no soul, that have no -- that don't feed your curiosity. Like for example, this stuff that you didn't even know to ask this person who is here.

WHITFIELD: Well, here is one that I didn't know to ask because I am not even sure if I am going to pronounce it right. But these neutrinos, did I get that part right? One hundred trillion neutrinos --

TYSON: Neutrinos --

WHITFIELD: -- pass your body every second. Okay. What is a neutrino?

TYSON: It is a particle that doesn't interact very much with -- yes, you are basically transparent to neutrinos. They are made in copious numbers in the center of the sun and in other places where thermonuclear fusion is a thing and the funny thing was when they were discovered, well --

[15:55:10]

-- there was a particle interaction and there seemed to be not enough energy to account for how it all started. They said something must be carrying away the energy. That thing must be elusive and it must move fast, and so people started looking for elusive particles that move fast, and several years later, the neutrino was discovered.

It is Italian for little neutral one, named by Enrico Fermi. And so neutrinos are everywhere in the universe. Yes, you know --

WHITFIELD: Among the many amazing facts to find in your book, whether the book is open or closed. If it is closed, you just open it and you find more facts.

TYSON: Yes, and one of my favorites is just the fact that the Planet Uranus was discovered by a Brit by William Herschel in the late 1700s, and no one had discovered a planet before. He used a telescope to do it. The other planets were just known in the night sky.

And so he discovers it, names it after his principal funder.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

TYSON: He named it after King George. So for a few years, the planets in order from the sun were Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and George.

WHITFIELD: Okay, I love it.

TYSON: That would not be the last time someone tried to, you know, kiss up to who was in charge. It would later be changed, but you wouldn't even know to ask that in a Google search.

WHITFIELD: No! TYSON: And so the book is rich with information that you just want to retell someone. And I joke about this, but I am kind of not joking. If you reach in, grab a dozen facts, put them in your utility belt, go to your next cocktail party --

WHITFIELD: That's right!

TYSON: You can be the life of the party.

WHITFIELD: Oh my God! You are a hit. You are going to be a hit.

Well, Neil deGrasse Tyson, you are always a hit with us and everybody else in the universe love having you and it is "Lost in Space." Reminds me of a show. But this time it is a coffee table book and this is really, really good. Thank you.

TYSON: Excellent.

WHITFIELD: Thanks. And we are out! Bye-bye.

We will be right back.

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