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White House Runs Taxpayer-Funded Ads Praising Trump; U.K. Police Arrests 5 Men Suspected of Terror Near Base Used by U.S.; Nor'easter Slams East Coast, Topples Trees and Triggers Flooding; Jurors Hear Texts from Wife's Phone in Flynn Murder Trial; Rare Footage Shows Brutal Life in North Korea; Teens With Phones; Uganda's Gorilla Guardian; Fat Bear Week. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 27, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Polls continue to show Democrats enjoying a lead over Republicans in their choice for Congress. Those polls also show Trump's approval rating at historic lows heading into a midterm election.

This week, the Trump administration began rolling out government funded ads featuring the president. In a new ad that just dropped called "The Final Battle," the president vows to demolish and expel groups such as communists and warmongers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now to talk about this and more on the upcoming midterms is a Stephen Collinson. He's a CNN Politics senior reporter, and he just wrote an analysis piece for CNN.com, headlined "Trump's Odd Midterm Strategy: Give Voters the Opposite of What They Want."

All right, Stephen, great to see you.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Hi.

WHITFIELD: So let's start with these, yes, new government ads by the Trump administration. Another part of the president's kind of odd midterm strategy, will you call it?

COLLINSON: Yes, in some way these ads are almost like a television version of much of the stuff you see on the president's Truth Social feed these days. I think the question about this ad particularly is that strapline it has, which says that it's paid for by U.S. government funds.

And the question is, is this really a public service announcement as the White House maintains, and which it says is, squarely in the tradition of many such announcements by presidents like George W. Bush, going back all the way to Franklin Roosevelt, who issued such announcements pushing the cause for the war? Obviously not on TV in those days.

But that's the key question at issue here. The White House has issued a statement which is similar to one it issued about a previous ad, basically arguing that this is about reminding America what is important, that it doesn't cross the line into politics because the president isn't on the ballot and it is an ad foreshadowing great patriotism. And that is why it is not -- doesn't transgress laws which say you shouldn't use taxpayer funded money for political purposes. I think that is obviously a very subjective issue.

You've already had Democrats and public groups, public citizen groups arguing about previous ads that are thematically quite similar to this, that this is a flagrant abuse of the norms which stop politics and are supposed to separate politics and government. So I think the question is, are we going to see any action, both from the ethics organizations within the government, which is questionable given the way that the president has purged such organizations, or will there be any response from Congress? And we've not seen much of that either in the first two years of the Trump administration.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then on this, you know, voters are saying it out loud, as are a few Republican elected officials, that they want the president to focus on some kitchen table issues. But he won't do it. I mean, Trump keeps talking about money pouring into the United States, but then not lowering any prices.

COLLINSON: Yes. So there was a very interesting set of CNN polls last week. And what they showed was that on many issues, principally on the economy, as you mentioned, on the price of groceries, the affordability of housing, the war in Iran, which is deeply unpopular, and growing public fears about artificial intelligence and the warnings from tech chiefs about the possible damaging impacts of that technology, they show that the president is on the opposite side of a majority of the public on these issues.

People want more regulation. They're deeply against the war, and they don't agree with the president that we are in an economic golden age and that prices have come down across the board. So the positions the president has taken, if you were simply a political strategist in the Republican Party, he's not exactly giving his candidates a great deal to run on. And I think perhaps that's one reason why you are seeing these kind of ads.

They're recreating this persona of the president as an all-powerful figure, somebody, you know, that is very attractive to his base voters. If those voters don't come out, the Republicans are really in deep trouble, even though some of these adverts, you could say, actually could alienate the middle and moderate voters that the Republicans need to actually make a race of this in November.

WHITFIELD: I mean, is there a feeling that despite the president's messaging, you know, GOP voters are losing confidence in the Trump's -- you know, Trump's original campaign, you know, promise that prices would come down or, you know, that his war on Iran promise gas prices will soon come down?

[16:05:10]

COLLINSON: Yes. Anecdotally, we've seen quite a lot of evidence of Trump voters turning against the president on these issues. Gas, of course, is an absolute fundamental one to many people, especially those who live outside the cities and have a lot of commuting to do to get to their jobs and their cars. In the polling, we're seeing increasing resistance to the Iran war among Republicans, and that is something, of course, that was core to President Trump's appeal, both in 2016, and as he made his big comeback to get a second nonconsecutive term.

Remember his second inaugural address last year? He said that his presidency, his second presidency, would be remembered for the wars that weren't fought. And yet, a year on, just over a year on, he is embroiled in a war in the Middle East that he's finding it very difficult to get out of, which is an experience that has been common to many Republican presidents over the -- and Democrats over the last 25 years.

WHITFIELD: Early voting is underway already in a few states and will soon start in others. Does the president and his fellow Republicans -- I mean, do they have any confidence that they can actually turn things around quickly, or is there a feeling that voters have pretty much made up their minds at this point, 37 days away?

COLLINSON: Well, of course, a lot of voters have been experiencing these high gas prices all summer. That's a grinding experience that could tend to consolidate political feeling. And of course, when voting starts, the window for persuading any vulnerable or wavering voters that starts to get a lot smaller. If you look, however, at some previous elections, the polling has shown that the president tends to tighten things as it gets closer to the election.

So I think there is some hope, at least, that the polls will close a little bit and that they are underplaying the president's support. But it's -- that's one reason why it's absolutely vital why the voters that the president has got out in his two winning presidential elections and the voters that he is able to reach that other Republicans can't do come out and vote in November. Get their early votes banked. And that, I think, is something the Republican campaigns are going to be banking on.

WHITFIELD: All right. Stephen Collinson, always great to have you. Thanks so much.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. New this hour, the U.S. embassy in London is warning Americans in the U.K. to, quote, "exercise caution" and be mindful of personal security. It comes after British police say they thwarted what could have been an attack on an air base used by U.S. forces in Fairford, England. Five men were arrested on suspicion of terror and explosive offenses.

CNN's Nic Robertson is following the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The five men were detained in the early hours of the morning, and it does seem to be as a result of a tipoff from somebody who lived very local to the air base here.

Now, villagers have been telling us that the air base had been on a lockdown. That's what they believe for the past week or so because there were -- there was nobody, they said, coming off the base into the village, and they're used to seeing people, you know, service personnel in the village all the time.

And when I asked a local councilor here who was involved in the evacuation of those 85 families who live close to the base, close to where these five men were arrested, and these three white vans seized, and then investigated by the army bomb squad, when I asked him about the base being on lockdown, he said, yes, that there was extra vigilance. There had been extra security around the base.

In fact, he said that the IRGC, the Iranian high military command, had actually threatened RAF Fairford Base by name just five weeks ago. Now, certainly the police are not saying that this is linked to Iran. They're not saying the five men are linked to Iran at the moment. They are saying that they're being held on suspicion of terrorism offenses.

But the local council are framing it this way, that it was very good that somebody in the village had been perceptive enough and had actually called in to the police when they saw something that was out of the ordinary. The investigation is going on. And because these five men are now being held on suspicion of terrorism charges, they can be held for up to two weeks.

While we've been standing here now, I heard what sounded like a controlled detonation coming from the direction of the air base, but there's very little information about the nature of the explosives that the police believe that they seized from the vehicles, or the five men who've been detained.

[16:10:11]

But it does appear as if the security of this base was helped by one of the local villagers, spotting something out of the ordinary in the early hours of the morning.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

All right. New today, at least 30 people are dead after three separate mass shootings overnight in South Africa. Police said Sunday they are still hunting for suspects who opened fire at a bar in one of the incidents. The police commissioner said a business dispute may have been the motive for at least one of the shootings. South Africa has been experiencing a recent rise in violence across the country.

Still to come, a coastal storm continues to batter the northeast of this country with wind and rain. Ahead, how this nor'easter is crippling air travel across the region. Plus, the competition is big, furry and fiercely fun. Fat Bear Week is back and we'll talk with an expert about the chunky contenders and what it takes to become the heavyweight champion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:52]

WHITFIELD: Breaking news on the nor'easter that has been pummeling the East Coast. The storm has brought flooding, rain and fierce winds to the region and now has turned deadly. Officials say one person was killed and four others, including two children, were injured in Brooklyn by fallen trees.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam brings us the latest on this powerful storm.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, even though our powerful early season nor'easter is slowly starting to lose its strength, its presence is still known. I mean, just look at the crashing waves here in Hull, Massachusetts. This has been the story over the past couple of days as the powerful northeasterly winds associated with this storm continue to churn up the Atlantic Ocean, push it towards the seawall.

We've seen instances of some of those waves crashing up and over the seawall, in Scituate, Massachusetts, yesterday, making for dangerous and treacherous conditions. Speaking of that, we know how impactful this nor'easter has been from transportation to airlines, canceling flights, delaying flights. Also canceling festivals and music events, all kinds of plans upended by this early season powerful nor'easter, which, by the way, for this to happen, there's some sea spray coming in from that angry ocean, getting our lens wet, right?

And then this is just really what we've been experiencing because with this blinding rain that's been coming in and out, it has caused flash flooding in parts of Massachusetts. There was a wind gust of 70 miles an hour as my photojournalist wipes off the camera lens so we can broadcast to you. It has been powerful. And even though it wasn't a hurricane or a tropical storm, it had similar impacts to that, meaning the coastal flooding, the coastal erosion, the power outages, as well as the localized flooding that occurred.

We're going to say goodbye and good riddance to this storm as it slowly turns off the East Coast in the coming days. We're not quite done with it just yet. There's still more wind, more rain for parts of southern New England, but the worst is behind us. And that's the good news.

Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, a little bit of good news. Thank you, Derek.

CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord is here.

So what more can we expect in the hours ahead? MELISSA NORD, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's a very long lived

storm. A lot of people are ready to like kick it to the curb. But, Fredricka, it's not done yet. But it is starting to weaken. The pressure, which is a measurement of kind of the strength of some of these low pressure systems, has been increasing, which is a sign that, yes, it's hit its peak strength. That pressure this morning was 986 millibars. Now it's up by 10 millibars.

And it's actually worked its way south on to lower New Jersey. So we have seen that pressure drop, rather, increasing a bit. But look at the rain where it's pulling in a lot of deep moisture off the Atlantic. It's bringing this huge slug of rain onshore. And that includes places like New York City, where there was a long standing rain delay between the Yankees and the O's. And now they have said, we're canceling the game. We're not rescheduling because we're going into the playoff season.

So that's unfortunate news for diehard fans that were out there, but that's going to make for a really messy evening there. And that huge area of more widespread rain pushes northeastward up through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and out towards Boston by first thing tomorrow morning. Speaking of Boston, they've been in a ground stop. We've not just seen delays from flights in the northeast, but cancellations.

Those cancellations growing because of Boston's ground stop, but not as many delays, though, as you're looking at the mid-Atlantic, where the winds have really been subsiding. The winds are now offshore there. Wind gusts as a whole have come down a lot from yesterday. And this morning we saw some of the peak wind gusts that were in excess of 70 to even 80 miles an hour. That peak wind gust, Montauk Point, New York, 81-mile-per-hour gusts. So, you know, that's above hurricane strength even though we're not talking about a hurricane and is a nor'easter in nature.

OK, here's the big area of rain. Even though the storm is weakening, it's a really messy overnight. And for some folks up near Boston, it's really messy tomorrow morning. You can see that tomorrow morning. But by the afternoon, Monday, that rain lifts to the north and it's just the coast of Maine.

[16:20:03]

It's still dealing with that rain first thing on Tuesday morning. So still some gusty winds, still rain. We'll start off the week messy, but, Fredricka, we should see some improvement starting Tuesday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Very good. Something to look forward to.

Melissa Nord, appreciate it.

All right. We'll continue to monitor the storm throughout the hour. And you of course can check on it as well 24/7 by downloading CNN's new weather app. And you can find a link to it at CNN.com/Weather or the iPhone App Store. You can make a purchase there or just use the QR code at the bottom of the screen right here. All right. Straight ahead, the latest on the murder trial of former

"American Idol" contestant Caleb Flynn, who is accused of killing his wife. What could come next after jurors heard from his former mistress and saw texts that prosecutors say point to a motive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:17]

WHITFIELD: Testimony is set to resume on Monday in the murder trial of Caleb Flynn. The ex-"American Idol" contestant is accused of killing his wife. Last week, the jury heard from Caleb Flynn's former mistress, who testified about their affair. Prosecutors say texts between the two show a motive for why Flynn killed his wife back in February.

CNN's Jean Casarez catches us up on what else happened in court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prosecution had a full day on Friday of testimony. One witness, Special Agent Andrea Kunzig, with the FBI, took the stand. She had done an extraction of Ashley Flynn's cell phone. And she found many things in it. One, she said that there was some frustration in the marriage between Ashley and her husband, Caleb. At one point relatively close to her murder, she had asked him where he was in a text, and he said that I'm worshiping, and she asked him, is it her?

And the evidence has shown that she did know or potentially knew about the extramarital affair that he was having. At another point, the day before, she was so brutally killed, the extraction of the phone showed that she went to Casey's General Store, which was also a gas station. She went to Goodwill. She went after that to a car wash to get the car done. And then in the afternoon, she went to Target, and then she went home. And she did not leave the house. And it was several hours later that she was actually murdered.

We want to play for you a little bit, about 14 hours after the killing, her husband, Caleb Flynn, voluntarily went to the police department. They asked him a lot of questions. It was a lengthy interview. It was played for the jury. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALEB FLYNN, ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS WIFE: (INAUDIBLE), I froze. I was scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK.

FLYNN: I didn't know what happened. I mean, I knew what I heard, but I didn't know. Did I -- I don't -- I walked out and the door leading to the garage was open, and I went into the room and suddenly grabbed her foot. Grabbed Ashley's foot. (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP) CASAREZ: The prosecution's case in chief continues on Monday. We did hear in open court that they have another video to play to the jury, and it is a long one. Once the prosecution rested their case, the big question is, will the defense present a case and will the defendant, Caleb Flynn himself, take the stand?

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Jean, thank you so much.

In North Korea, never-before-seen footage reveals the consequences of decades of living under Kim Jong-un's communist regime.

CNN's Will Ripley shows us some of this rare access that captured the famine era hardship that few outsiders have witnessed. We should warn you, some of the images in Will's report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are images the North Korean government does not want you to see. Far away from the showpiece capital Pyongyang, inside the homes of everyday people struggling to survive during the darkest days of the North Korean famine in the 1990s.

KATHI ZELLWEGER, SWISS AID WORKER: And this child had the same old face than her grandmother. That struck me.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Kathi Zellweger is a Swiss aid worker who spent nearly 25 years running humanitarian programs in North Korea. 75 trips, five years living there. Foreign journalists have never been granted this kind of access. Not even me on my 19 trips.

We're looking at them, but they're looking at us as well. Every time I try to take a picture of those girls, they run away. What is it like to be born and to grow up in North Korea?

ZELLWEGER: I think you know parents try their best to look after children well, but it's challenging, especially in the countryside, to provide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3200 tons of rice arrived several days ago.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Kathi brought in massive shipments of food, but she still had to verify where it was going. Following the food took her deeper and deeper into North Korea.

MIKE CHINOY, FORMER CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of North Koreans who are alive today, who would be dead if it wasn't for the work that Kathi Zellweger did.

[16:30:07]

RIPLEY (voice-over): In later years, she could feel the government tightening its grip, especially after diplomacy with the U.S. fell apart and North Korea was no longer interested in engaging with the west.

KATHI ZELLWEGER, SWISS AID WORKER: The word, control, was used much more widely than before.

RIPLEY (on camera): So, you thought it was getting more restrictive and more controlling in more recent years.

ZELLWEGER: Yes. Yes.

Bye-bye. Can you say bye-bye?

RIPLEY (voice-over): Then, suddenly, the door slammed shut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

RIPLEY: Kathi often thinks about all the people she met, the people she may never see or hear from again.

CHILDREN: (SINGING.)

RIPLEY: Will Ripley, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And still to come, new concerns about children and smartphones. A study now shows a link with higher risks of eating disorder. What parents should know about screens and body image.

[16:31:06]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For many teens, getting a smartphone is a big step toward independence. But a new study is raising questions about whether that step may come with unexpected risks. It found 12 year olds with phones are more likely to develop eating disorder symptoms by the age of 14.

Joining us right now to discuss is Dr. Jason Nagata, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. And he is a leading author of this study. Great to see you, Doctor.

DR. JASON NAGATA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: So, what are the main findings of your research?

NAGATA: Well, exactly as you said. We followed 9,000 adolescents over two years and found that smartphone ownership at age 12 was linked with a higher risk of eating disorders two years later.

And, specifically, we found that there was twice the risk of an individual tying their self-worth to their weight and a 67 percent higher risk of binge-eating symptoms. So, that's like overeating with loss of control and then feeling guilty about it afterwards.

WHITFIELD: So, they're going to places or maybe social media where, you know, imaging is a big deal or influencer or interacting with people who are making them look at themselves differently? I mean, what's happening exactly?

NAGATA: Yes. I think that a smartphone can put a world of appearance- related content in a young person's pocket. So, just as you mentioned, they're exposed to idealized bodies, constant social comparisons and messages about weight and appearance.

And I think that one thing that's really unique to social media is that they're not necessarily comparing themselves to other normal teens. These are influencers with heavily curated, filtered, A.I.- generated content that tends to make them feel worse about their bodies and self-esteem.

WHITFIELD: So, what should we, as parents, do? I mean, you want them to have that sense of independence, or they need the telephone in order to communicate, you know, with you. Whether it's, you know, coming and going to school, all that good stuff.

But then, how can we be instructive or helpful as parents so that some of the worst things that can happen don't happen? Those things that you just described.

NAGATA: Yes, that's a really great question. And I don't think that this study provides a magic answer for, like, when -- what is the ideal age for everyone across the board to have a smartphone? So, I don't think there's a magic age.

I think it is a very individualized decision for each family. But I do think that it indicates some of the potential risks that especially young adolescents may be exposed to.

So, if families are going to introduce a smartphone at a younger age, like pre-teen years, I think it's important for them to kind of be aware of some of these additional risks. And then, provide additional guidance and guardrails for their preteens about phones.

So, it's -- I think it's just so important that when parents allow their kids to have smartphones, they really stay involved with their kids' digital lives. So, they set age-appropriate boundaries, you know, potentially rules like limiting screen time at nighttime or during mealtime.

And then, just having regular open-ended conversations about any of the content that their kids may be seeing, potentially related to body image or eating so that you can help guide them.

WHITFIELD: And what are some of those things that you need to look out for when -- you know, that may be indicators that, you know, your child, you know, has some body-image issues or is being influenced in the wrong way?

NAGATA: Yes. I will say that it's -- unfortunately, body-image concerns are quite common among teenagers.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

NAGATA: But at a point that a young person is really becoming distressed or preoccupied about their own body image, in a way that they're weighing themselves frequently. They're really concerned about their eating or diet, in a way that's really worsening their quality of life.

Like, maybe it's affecting their social relationships. Maybe they're becoming obsessed about it. Or maybe it's affecting their schoolwork or other performance.

Or if you're just noticing that they're having big changes in their eating habits. Like, they're skipping meals, really restricting eating, or having big weight changes. Those are all potential red flags to follow up on.

WHITFIELD: All right. All great advice. Doctor Jason Nagata, thank you so much.

[16:40:01]

NAGATA: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead. An American zoo welcomes some VIPs from China that's very important, pandas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This week's CNN Heroes spotlight focuses on Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian. She has devoted her entire life to protecting endangered mountain gorillas by empowering their neighbors.

[16:45:01]

WHITFIELD: Here she is, in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLADYS KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA, WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN, UGANDA (voice-over): The mountain gorillas used to be one of the most critically-endangered species on earth. When I first came out here as a vet student, I realized how intelligent they were.

And, you know, I felt a really deep connection. And I was, like, wow. I felt it was so important that they're protected.

Bwindy Impenetrable National Park is home to 43 percent of the world's endangered mountain gorillas. Bwindi is threatened by a lot of high- human population growth. There are a lot of interaction between the gorillas and the people.

We used to find that people were not hygienic. Gorillas were picking up preventable diseases, basically.

And this made me realize that you couldn't protect the gorillas without improving the health of their human neighbors.

(on camera): Hi, Gandhi.

(voice-over): We started the village health and conservation team approach in 2007. They do a lot of good work, promoting health and hygiene practices. And now, we're reaching over 10,000 households.

(on camera): We can make each other sick.

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Yes.

KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA: But we're not making each other sick because you're clean.

(voice-over): Over time, we have seen huge changes. Having a clean toilet, a handwashing station, a separate animal house. But, at the same time, we want to make sure that they're less dependent on the forest, by finding them sustainable livelihoods.

You cannot keep the gorillas healthy when people next to them are poor and hungry. It just can't work.

We found out that the coffee farmers were not getting a fair market price and were still entering the forest to poach (?). So, then, we started to sell the coffee.

We give them an above-market price and a donation from every bag goes to support community health, gorilla health and conservation education. This is showing people that we care about not just the gorillas, but we also care about them.

Gorilla tourism has completely transformed the lives of the people here. And engaging local communities is our way of making sure that gorillas

are being protected.

I always get very excited when I hear that a baby mountain gorilla has been born. And, as long as the communities see the gorillas as their future, the numbers are going keep growing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:47:22]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After a journey that covered nearly 8,000 miles, two very special guests have arrived at Zoo Atlanta. And already stealing hearts even before settling into their new home.

The giant pandas, a male and a female, are on loan from China as part of a -- of Beijing's long tradition of panda diplomacy, which dates back to 1972.

They are the third pair of pandas to arrive in the U.S. in the past two years. They'll spend about a month in quarantine before meeting the public.

All right, fat bear week is underway in Alaska, where size really does matter. Sixteen brown bears started the competition, including last year's champion chunk who was knocked out of the competition in this first round, busting brackets all over the world.

All right. This is a live look at Katmai -- Katmai, rather, National Park, where the brown bears bulk up on salmon to prepare for winter hibernation. And fans around the world get to decide who packs on the most pounds. Hence this contest of fat bear week.

This year, there's a twist. For the first time, entire bear families are actually competing together.

Joining us right now is morning news host and business reporter for Alaska Public Media, Ava White. Ava, good to see you.

So, let's start with the obvious question. I mean, chunk had it, you know, last year. What happened? Why is it now out of contention?

AVA WHITE, MORNING NEWS HOST & BUSINESS REPORTER, ALASKA PUBLIC MEDIA (via Webex): I was going to say, it's stiff competition. But it's just really bulk competition.

Chunk is just --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

WHITE: -- a big bear. You look at his before and after pictures, and he was big before he started bulking up for the winter.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

WHITE: So, I don't really know what happened there.

WHITFIELD: It looks uncomfortable.

WHITE: But, you know, all the -- yes, right. But all of the bears just have different stories. And I think every year it's just, you know, whatever resonates with the people.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

WHITE: And, yes, I was surprised to see him go so early on. But yes, --

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.

WHITE: -- great competition.

WHITFIELD: So, that means others -- does that mean others are a little bit more charismatic or the other ones are just bigger, you know? And, by the way, how do they get these names? Marshmallow, chunk, who did that?

WHITE: So, they're -- the park service told me that there used to be a position that, essentially, like, gave names to the bears. But they stopped doing that about 10 years ago.

So, the bears that have names have been around for a really long time. And there's still two left in the running. You've got Bucky and Backpack still.

So, the ones with the numbers are -- I don't know if -- I don't know about newer bears, but they are, essentially, newer bears. And they just don't have names yet. But it's, essentially, yes, just how big the bears get from the beginning to now.

So, part of it's the story, but fat bear week is all about just celebrating fatness (?).

WHITFIELD: Yes. And people are watching. You know, they're viewing these bears. I mean, they're watching their eating habits. They're watching how, you know, I guess, they cohabitate.

[16:55:02]

WHITFIELD: You know, we were just looking at a live shot, how they kind of cohabitate with the ducks and, you know, fowl that are kind of swimming around them. Waiting for -- I guess, trying to catch some fish that the bear didn't get.

But, you know, what has this fascination been like?

WHITE: Every year -- well, the bears broke the Internet this year, on the first day of voting, which was really fun. But just, like, the bears -- it kind of seems like the competition just gets more fans every year.

I've gotten to talk to fans from all over the world. It seems like there's a lot of fans down south that love fat bear week.

And I think part of it is like a fascination, just like with the outdoors. Alaska, we're really lucky to just have mountains and animals and critters. Like, I don't know, I can walk the trails 10 minutes from my house.

But it's just, I think, an escape but also allows people to connect with the outdoors that they might not have access to wherever they live.

WHITFIELD: So, I do want to ask you a little bit more about the, you know, remaining two contenders. But before we get to that part, you know, what about this bear family?

WHITE: Yes. So, bear 132, it's a mama and her three spring cubs. And I had a fan. She was, like, they just look like little meatballs. And they really do.

But the mamas have to work even harder to pack on weight throughout the summer, because they have three offspring to take care of. And we all know moms work really hard and bear moms are no different. They also have to nurse their youth throughout the summer. So, yes, I don't know. It's just a celebration, I think, of how much work the mama bears have to put in. So, it was really sweet to see those -- see them included this year.

WHITFIELD: That is sweet. So, then, tell me about the -- you know, these two, I guess. Are they the finalists? Did we say that?

WHITE: We have four finalists.

WHITFIELD: Four finalists. Oh, OK.

WHITE: So, we got 164 Bucky and 910. And I don't know exactly who's going up against each other. I haven't looked. But 164 Bucky and 910. Bucky is just a big bear. A big guy. And kind of like Chunk. You look at his before and after pictures and he is just big. Big before, big now.

But 910, she adopted a bear earlier on, if I remember correctly.

WHITFIELD: Really?

WHITE: And -- no, sorry. She didn't -- she didn't adopt a bear. But she's an auntie bear, and she is a legacy bear. Like I said, she's just a fat bear.

We got family 132, the three meatball cubs. And then we got bear 89 Backpack who, I think -- I'm not going to, like, make any predictions. But he seems to kind of be a fan favorite.

He's won every bracket he's been in. He's won by more than 100,000 votes. So, people love Backpack. And he got his name because he used to ride on his mom's back when he was a cub.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's so cute. And, I mean, there are, you know, degrees of plumpness, shall we say. Everyone carries their weight a little differently. And I wonder if that's kind of one of the distinctions of these bears.

You know, do some, you know, seem to like the ones that are very, you know, heavy kind of in, you know, the neck area or in the torso area or, you know, further down on the --

WHITE: It's all in the bellies. It sound like -- it seems like it's, like, the bellies and the butts. I see -- I've been, like, scrolling on TikTok, and I see a lot of, like -- I don't know.

It kind of reminds me of, like, corgis. You know, people are obsessed with corgi butts. People are obsessed with fat bear butts. So, kind of the whole -- I don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Do you want to make a prediction --

WHITE: And just -- WHITFIELD: -- you know, of these -- of the final, you know, final four, I guess. Do you want to make a prediction on what people seem to be, you know, gravitating toward the most? What they seem to be -- I guess, what they find most appealing?

WHITE: Yes. I think if -- I think if backpack keeps up how the votes are going, I think he's looking pretty promising. And just his story is so sweet. It's hard to look past a bear that got his name because he was just clinging onto his mama. It's so sweet.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it is cute. All right, well, we're going to all continue to, you know, just gaze and watch. And I don't know why this is so relaxing but it is, you know? It's relaxing watching --

WHITE: It is.

WHITFIELD: -- these, you know, brown bear, you know, either dive for the salmon or sit there and chew. Or sometimes they look like they're just kind of drifting with the current. It's been fun to watch.

WHITE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And even more so now --

WHITE: Totally (?).

WHITFIELD: -- that we know it's fat bear week and it's a competition and all.

Ava White, thank you so much.

WHITE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. From fat bears to big flavors. Yes. The big flavors on the plate. Chef David Chang is heading to Texas for his next food adventure.

This week, Dave and comedian, Cristela Alonzo, follow local leads and discover new twists on old classics.

[17:00:01]

WHITFIELD: Watch "THE DETOUR WITH DAVID CHANG" tonight at 9:00, here on CNN. And streaming next day with an all-access subscription.