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Police Officer Dies After Shooting Near US's CDC Headquarters; President Trump Announces He'll Meet With Putin In Alaska Next Week; Thousands Evacuate As Wildfire Rapidly Spreads In California. Trump Warns of Another Great Depression if Court Strikes Down Tariffs; U.S. Federal Law Enforcement to Begin Interviewing Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Government Custody. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 09, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:35]

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday, August 9th. I'm Isabel Rosales in for Victor Blackwell. Here's what's happening this morning.

There are new details in that shooting at the CDC that left one officer dead. Bullet holes in the windows in parts of metro Atlanta locked down for hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he was like, did you hear that? Did you hear that? I said no. Then we started hearing the helicopters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: What we know about the officer, the gunman and his motive. A high stakes meeting is set between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the talks to end the war in Ukraine don't include Ukraine. Reaction is coming from President Zelenskyy this morning.

Thousands of California residents are still out of their homes this morning after wildfires forced them to evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went up, it was just like a big explosion. I thought for sure the house was going to get it. They saved it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: We'll take you to the front lines of the fight to contain those massive fires.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we've got heat going from one end of the country all the way to the other. We'll detail that timeline coming up.

ROSALES: This morning we're learning more about the police officer who was killed while responding to a shooting near the CDC in Atlanta Friday. The fallen DeKalb County officer was 33-year-old David Rose and he leaves behind a wife and two children with another one on the way.

Authorities say the lone shooter had multiple guns and fired several rounds near the CDC at Emory University's campus. Photos shared with CNN by CDC employees show bullet holes in the windows of one of the buildings.

After speaking with the suspect's family, police say they believe he targeted the CDC because he was either sick or believed he was sick and blamed the illness on the COVID-19 vaccine. No civilians were shot and the gunman is dead. A CDC employee who saw the shooter right before he opened fire spoke to CNN about what he saw.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was sitting at the light waiting for it to get green. I noticed a gentleman sort of walking on the sidewalk with what I thought looked like fishing gear at first. And then he sort of made a left, walked up a couple of steps in front of CVS, put his backpack down. That's when I realized that they were -- I think I saw two rifles. I can't be certain. But by the time, just before the light went green, he raised the rifle sort of at angle and started firing into CDC's campus.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROSALES: CNN's Ryan Young has more from Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, tragic day here in the city of Atlanta. We have NOW learned a DeKalb County police officer was shot and killed responding to the active shooter that was taking place outside of CVS and as a shooter directed a long weapon toward the CDC.

There's video and photos of the windows inside the CDC that we can see some of the impacts from the bullets that were flying in there. We've learned no one at the CDC was injured, but we did learn about that officer who was killed and the fact that he had a pregnant wife. Take a listen to DeKalb county officials talk about the officer who was killed this evening.

LORRAINE COCHARAN-JOHNSON, DEKALB COUNTY CEO: There is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father. There is a mother and a father, as well as siblings who also share in this traumatic loss. Let's join together to give this family the support that it needs during this traumatic loss.

YOUNG: Yes. And I have learned from a police source that apparently this shooter had not only two bags full of ammo, but he had several weapons, including a shotgun, two handguns and that long weapon that he was using. He was also dressed and prepared for the shooting. He had earmuffs to cover his ear while the shooting was going on, a surgical mask and a hat to cover his face.

At some point while he was firing, a nearby fire department heard it called 911. When the officer arrived, he stopped shooting at the CDC, according to the source, and turned toward that vehicle with the officer inside.

[06:05:02]

Our John Miller is reporting that he's found out from a police source that they believe this shooter was upset because he believed that he was sick because of a COVID-19 vaccine and that's why he was targeting the CDC. Atlanta's police chief actually talked about how they found the shooter on the second floor of the CVS. Take a listen.

CHIEF DARIN SCHIERBAUM, ATLANTA POLICE: We later found the shooter on the second floor of the CVS. He had been struck by gunfire. We do not know at this time whether that was from officers or if it was self- inflicted.

YOUNG: While all this was going on, the shutdown was happening and hundreds officers were running around and clearing some of the rooms. There was a daycare nearby with 92 school kids in the inside. We're told none of them were injured, but parents were obviously worried and concerned. They were released later on.

This is an active investigation. George's GBI is taking over the investigation from the Atlanta Police Department as a they try to figure out exactly what happened and why this shooter had the motive to go after the CDC. Ryan Young, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: President Donald Trump is eager to deliver one of his biggest campaign promises, ending Russia's war in Ukraine. He says he'll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. And now we may have an idea as to the terms that could be discussed in that meeting. He told reporters yesterday it could involve a land swamp. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's very complicated, but we're going to get some back. We're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is already turning down that idea. He says he is ready to work with Trump, but says his people will not give up their land.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are ready to work together with President Trump, together with all our partners for a real and most importantly, a lasting peace, a peace that will not fall apart because of Moscow's wishes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us now from Kyiv. Nick, is any deal that involves a trading of territories even possible here?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, it depends really what Ukraine can expect to get back from this. And it's always been a red line for President Zelenskyy to not cede territory to Russia without Russia forcibly occupying it.

Obviously, Ukraine was invaded. And so for the thousands of Ukrainians who have died, their families, the public sentiment here simply giving Russia land in exchange for a ceasefire, no matter how long that may last, is politically toxic as an idea and also unwise, frankly, given that Russia has a history of violating ceasefires it's agreed to.

How a land swap would even work? I struggle to think what it is that Russia currently occupies that it would be willing to give back to Ukraine. There are slivers of land north of Sumy, to the east of Kharkiv, northeast of Kharkiv, which are occupied by Russia in the border areas.

Putin calling them a buffer zone. Maybe they could pull out of those areas, but they're comparatively tiny to the huge swathes of land that appear to be in Russia's sights that it wants Kyiv to just give to them without a fight. That would include two towns in the Donetsk region, Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka, that are close to being encircled by Russia's summer offensive. Still some way off, but that's closing the net there, certainly.

And then other towns north of that, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Dobropillia, under pressure, but also too heavily full of Ukrainian civilians at this time. So you're essentially asking Zelenskyy to agree to a frankly horrific moment for Ukraine where tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers would have to up sticks from these towns and move out to hand them over to the Russians without a fight. Politically impalatable, frankly.

So, yes, this is going to be a very complex move. If indeed the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are all that Russia actually says it wants, there may be wider demands. Indeed, the maximalist position of Putin has been to demilitarize what he calls Denazify Ukraine. That's playing to a false narrative of far right extremists being involved in the government here, and then also large areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. He appears to also want to.

So, it's important to remember that what we're seeing in Alaska on Friday is a Russian president getting a formal invitation to come to the United States, Putin's first visit in a decade, the first president of Russia to visit Alaska, bought from Russia by the United States in 1867, and indeed their terms, it seems, being discussed prior to this particular meeting.

Ukraine out of the picture and the concern, I think, being that we will now have some kind of deal hatched between Washington and Moscow that ends up being presented here to Kyiv with the sort of ultimate past months of threats hanging over them.

[06:10:05]

ROSALES: Nick Paton Walsh in Kiev with that context, thank you very much. Joining me now for analysis is CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Daugherty. Jill, good morning. Thank you for being with us.

Let's start with the significance of this meeting happening on American soil. We were talking about, or at least the Russians, a specific quote from Putin was that the UAE would have been perfect. We knew Europe likely wasn't going to be a point of meeting because of the threat that Putin faces from the ICC. But were you surprised at all to know that this was happening on in Alaska, American soil?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, definitely. Just the mere fact that the American president is inviting the Russian president onto U.S. soil. I remember even though the U.S. doesn't recognize the International Criminal Court, really, the United States has up to this point isolated Russia, isolated Putin. And then, you know, it's -- I think it is a very big deal to say welcome to Alaska.

And then as Nick mentioned, you know, there's a lot of history here that this used to -- that Alaska used to be part of Russia until the United States bought it. And to this, at this moment, there are nationalists in Russia saying we want it back.

So there's, I think there's a lot going on. I would say there's a new wrinkle, though. The Russians now are saying that maybe because all of this is so complicated, we need a second summit.

The first one hasn't even taken place. Now they're talking about another one in Moscow. And they're also talking about what I would say is kind of luring President Trump with the idea that the Arctic, of course, up near Alaska, that the Arctic is a place that could be developed and there could be all sorts of deals.

So I think Putin is now pretty skillfully trying to raise that idea that, yes, you know, relationship back on track, we can work together, we can have deals and etc. It's a really an amazingly complex and fascinating moment.

ROSALES: Yes. You couldn't miss the number of times that Russia -- the Russian side, mentioned the Arctic in their statement, clearly giving their hand here as to what negotiations will go with what subjects they'll be bringing up.

Let me ask you this. Now, Trump said that a potential peace deal would include swapping of territories between Russia and Ukraine. We've heard Zelenskyy say, no way, we are not giving up land. That's a whole separate question. But what would that mean if the US Officially recognizes territory that Russia conquered from a sovereign nation by force?

DOUGHERTY: Well, it would mean that the United States is saying that it is OK to take some other country's land, invade them, take them over, and that will be recognized legally. I mean, here's where we get into the weeds on this because, you know, it's one thing to conquer territory, et cetera, but for the United States to legally recognize that now this is Russia's soil, that is a very big deal.

And it really blesses the ability for a country, in theory, for a country to take over another country. And the United States up to this point has not done that. There were areas like the Baltics after, you know, that were taken over by Russia, by the Soviet Union. And the United States de facto said, yes, that's what's happening and we have to deal with the Soviet Union, but we don't recognize it.

So, these are the really complex and very important sticking points that could emerge and that are emerging.

ROSALES: Well, let me ask about the elephant in the room, or rather what's missing, and that's Ukraine. Trump has said he eventually wants a trilateral meeting that involves the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And we know that this idea was floated by Steve Witkoff, Trump's White House envoy, during his August six meeting with Putin. And he's been there five times already this year. But the Russians have so far shrugged off that idea. Why would Putin be so reluctant to meet Zelenskyy directly?

DOUGHERTY: Oh, there are a number of reasons, but I think that, you know, a couple major ones. If Putin sits down with Zelenskyy, it is recognizing him as the leader of another country. And Putin, number one, doesn't consider Ukraine an independent sovereign nation. And he certainly doesn't consider Zelenskyy a legal president.

And they -- the Russians explain that by saying, you know, he's been in power even after he was supposed to leave power because, you know, that he now -- he has never been reelected.

[06:15:10]

Now according to the constitution and according to what's happening in Ukraine, they had -- they have martial law right now. So according to martial law, you can't have an election. But this -- so the Russians are saying he's not even legitimate. And I think also it's just the desire by Putin to leave Zelenskyy kind of hanging there as this figure, rogue figure because in the future, if this goes the way Putin wants, he wants to replace Zelenskyy with a Russia friendly leader. That's all part of what Putin is looking at in the not so distant future.

ROSALES: Jill Dougherty, it's already a complicated topic that you simplify for our audience. Appreciate your time as always.

DOUGHERTY: Thanks, Isabel.

ROSALES: Thanks. Well, here are some other headlines we're watching this morning. Police have captured a man accused of killing four people in a Montana bar. Michael Paul Brown was taken into custody following a week long manhunt through the Montana wilderness. Brown, who is an army veteran, was seen fleeing the Al Bar on August 1st where four patrons were found shot and killed. Authorities have not said what charges he will face.

And Detroit Lions safety Morice Norris is in stable condition after suffering a scary head injury during an NFL preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons. A 24-year-old player, he was taken off Mercedes Benz Stadium's field on a stretcher Friday and then taken to a nearby hospital.

The Lions say Norris has feeling and movement in all of his extremities and will remain in the hospital for observation.

Astronaut and commander of the famed Apollo 13 mission, Jim Lovell has died. NASA reported that he passed away on Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois. No details on his cause of death have been released. Now he flew several missions to space, including Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the moon.

NASA then asked Lovell to command the Apollo 13 mission, which was supposed to be third successful moon landing mission, but an oxygen tank explosion forced them to head back to Earth and they survived a risky splash down into the Pacific. Now this astronaut, he was 97 years old.

Still ahead, we're on the scene of wildfires in California. We'll show you what firefighters are doing to keep the flames contained. And a possible new escalation in President Trump's immigration crackdown.

Exclusive, new CNN reporting on the administration's plan to begin interviewing unaccompanied migrant children in government custody. You're watching CNN This Morning.

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[06:22:40]

ROSALES: Welcome back. Thousands of people are evacuating because of a wildfire in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles. CNN's Nick Watt, he explains what communities are under threat right now and how firefighters are responding. Nick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

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

And if you look a little bit, you can see those guys and men and women wearing orange there with chainsaws, with hoes, with shovels, actually physically cutting a line around the fire. Meantime, they also drop from the air. I can hear a helicopter coming in now, one of the water droppers. And they will hit hot spots.

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

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

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

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: Nick Watt, thank you.

[06:25:00]

Well, dangerously high temperatures fueling that fire are lingering this weekend out west. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar, she is tracking that heat for us. Any relief in sight?

CHINCHAR: Eventually, yes. Maybe not as quickly as folks would like to see. The bigger issue is that heat is actually going to start to spread across the rest of the country, sharing those nice warm temperatures so many other people.

ROSALES: Oh, lovely. Great.

CHINCHAR: Exactly. So let's take a look at where we're looking at some of those heat alerts. You can see we've kind of got them scattered all over the map. You still have some in the Southwest where they've really been there for most of this. We're now starting to see them spread up the west coast into portions of Oregon as well as Washington and then, yes, even into the central U.S. especially in the Southern Plains, Texas, Oklahoma, those kind of areas. Still looking at the heat. That is heat, though, mixed with humidity. But out to the west again, these temperatures have been unbearable in some spots. Yes, we get it. Phoenix is a very hot place. But even for them, it's

above average. Their normal is 105. They're going to be at least still another 5 to 6 degrees above normal for the next several days. Same thing for Las Vegas as well as Fresno before we start to see those come down.

Now here's the thing. The heat is going to spread off towards the east. So areas like the Midwest and the Northeast are going to start to see those temperatures rise as well. The only bit of a brief relief, if you will, is going to be across the Midwest because they do have that potential for very heavy rain later on today. That's going to keep those temperatures a little bit on the cool side. But elsewhere you're going to just see those temperatures go up. Take New York, for example.

Look at this average of 84. They're going to spend every single one of the next seven days at or above that average high temperature. And in some cases you're talking 10 degrees above where they normally would be. The Midwest is also going to see those temperatures rise. It's just going to be after that system moves through.

So Kansas City, remember we talked about the rain in the Midwest, so it's going to keep us cool the next few days. But once we start getting into next week, those temperatures are really going to start to jump back up again and again well above where they normally would be, starting at maybe 4 to 5 degrees and then eventually getting as much as 10 degrees above average by the time we get towards next weekend.

And again, that rain, this is where it's going to be focused on for the weekend again. You're going to be looking at areas across portions of Missouri and Iowa as well as Wisconsin.

ROSALES: 10 degrees above average. We're going to feel that.

CHINCHAR: Yes, you will.

ROSALES: Allison, thank you. Well, coming up, President Trump takes on yet another court and this time one that could strike down his use of emergency powers to impose tariffs. What he is threatening could happen. That's next.

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[06:30:00]

ROSALES: President Trump is issuing an ominous warning ahead of a ruling that will determine whether he overstepped his authority in imposing tariffs. Trump argued in part of a longer social media post yesterday that if the court strikes down his tariff policy, quote, "it would be impossible to ever recover or pay back those massive sums of money and honor. It would be 1929 all over again, a Great Depression", he wrote.

The President also took credit for the recent record stock market run, saying it was due to his tariffs. Although experts dispute that claim. Let's discuss all of this and more with Lydia DePillis, she covers the economy for the "New York Times". Lydia, thank you so much for joining us.

The administration just rolled out some of the steepest tariffs in modern U.S. history. In some cases, 50 percent or more. Will history look at this as a small trade fight or major rewrite of how global trade works? How significant is this?

LYDIA DEPILLIS, ECONOMIC REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: This is a major escalation of tariffs. It's across the board, across the entire world on most goods, although there are large exceptions which make those tariffs look a little bit bigger than they actually are in practice. But it is a reordering of global trade if they do stay in place.

Now, you noted that there is a major court case underway that has to do with the legality of this type of tariff that President Trump has imposed on most countries. As he noted, you mentioned some foreshadowing there. If his authority to impose these particular tariffs on national security emergency grounds is overruled, he would have to take off the largest and steepest of those, at least, the most sweeping ones.

There are certain sectoral tariffs that he still has the authority to do, but they knew that this authority was on shaky legal ground. So, if they do end up having to pay back those tens of millions of dollars in tariffs that they've imposed, that won't be something that they couldn't have seen coming.

ROSALES: And Lydia, Trump and his economic advisors have celebrated the considerable higher tariffs that have already gone into effect, correctly noting that they have raised more than a $100 billion in tax revenue without leading to catastrophic inflation or recession. But economists that we spoke with, they warned that this new escalation could actually worsen inflation and slow job growth. What are you hearing?

DEPILLIS: The same thing. It is something that will take time to filter in the economy. And there are totally rational reasons for that. Companies have been trying to hold off on price increases, they did stock up on their major goods before. Many of these tariffs actually went into place, hoping that they would actually ultimately come off, which has been the case in several instances.

For example, look at Apple, got an exemption for many of its electronics. So, if the tariffs do stay in place for a sustained period of time, however, companies will have no choice. These are not something that they can absorb on an ongoing basis.

[06:35:00]

And I think it's important to put into perspective what this tariff revenue actually looks like. It is typically about 2 percent of federal income. That could rise to as much as 5 percent, but it is not going to replace large amounts of the federal government's tax and spending authorities, even if they do escalate and stay in place for a sustained period of time. ROSALES: Yes, and economists told us that tariff revenue of $70

billion to $80 billion over the past year is what they called, quote, "a drop in the bucket" compared with $7 trillion in federal spending and removing tariffs, they argue, could actually stimulate the economy. Now, I want to get to the piece that you wrote where you've reported on this new 40 percent penalty for so-called trans-shipped goods or items routed from one country through another for the purpose of receiving a lower tariff.

You quoted the executive director of the American apparel and footwear association as saying this, quote, "importers are scratching their heads. The new rules that appear to legalize, but tax currently prohibits transshipment activities flying in the face of common sense enforcement. Can you explain, Lydia, why this has importers so baffled here?

DEPILLIS: Sure, so trans-shipment is evasion. It is importers taking a good and say from China, routing it through another country, putting a made in Vietnam sticker on it and then importing it into the U.S. for the purpose of getting a lower tariff rate. That's currently illegal. You're not allowed to do that. It comes with criminal penalties sometimes and financial penalties.

Now, the USTR, the trade representative is saying that's fine, but we're just going to add this 40 percent tariff on top of it -- so, on top of any penalties you might receive. So, it's very confusing to importers, and to me is emblematic of the seat of the pants way in which this trade policy is being written. It is extremely slapdash.

And the other part of that story is, this isn't the end of what they're planning to do. It seemed to importers that this was for -- say, presaging a different round of tariffs that would involve goods that go into their final finished products. That's still hanging out there along with tariffs on semiconductors, tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

So, nobody can make any decisions in this environment because they still don't know what's going to happen around the bend. I think that's what is frustrating to many American companies right now.

ROSALES: Lydia DePillis, thank you for your time. Well, coming up, a story first on CNN. What we're learning about the Trump administration's plans to interview migrant children who are unaccompanied and in government custody. That's next.

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[06:40:00]

ROSALES: New details this morning about the Trump administration's plans for unaccompanied migrant children. According to an internal notification obtained exclusively by CNN, federal law enforcement agents will soon begin conducting in-person interviews of kids at shelters across the country.

Well, the government says the interviews are part of an ongoing effort to identify and root out potential criminal activity, immigrant and child advocates say the notification raises significant red flags. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Trump administration notified shelter providers who care for unaccompanied migrant children this week that federal law enforcement will be showing up in person to conduct interviews with those children. Now, the children that we're talking about here are kids who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone, therefore not with a parent or a guardian or children who are already residing in the United States.

But their parent or guardian was swept up in an interior enforcement action that then landed them in these shelters. Now, these are all children who now could be subject to interviews with federal law enforcement. Now, it's not clear from this notification that went out to the shelter providers what exactly they're going to be asked about.

Who is going to be asking? How many children they plan to interview? We know, for example, that there are just over 2,000 children in these shelters. But what the notification did do was refer back to guidance provided in July about the ongoing efforts by an interagency federal team to try to root out any trafficking or fraud, pursue investigative leads and launch criminal investigations where a child safety could be at risk.

This -- all of this is stemming from the President's criticism of the Biden administration's handling of migrant children and skepticism among administration officials about the federal program that is charged with the care of unaccompanied children. But there are significant red flags that are being raised.

For example, there are already processes in place if a child is signaling that they may have been victims of human trafficking or some other nefarious activity in those situations, they do often -- they, for example, being attorneys, bring in federal law enforcement, and they also usually conduct those interviews off campus.

[06:45:00]

The concern here is that by bringing federal law enforcement for blanket interviews with children in these shelters, that they could be exposing this already vulnerable population, and in some cases re- traumatizing children. Now, in a statement, the Health and Human Services Spokesperson Andrew Nixon said, quote, "we are committed to working with our partners to identify criminal activities that threaten unaccompanied alien children to root out both trafficking and fraud."

In another -- in another statement, the Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said, quote, "as of July 24th, 2025, more than 59,000 of the backlogged reports have been analyzed and processed, reports concerning unaccompanied kids." She goes on to say that they have resulted in more than 4,000 investigative leads, including fraud, human trafficking and other criminal activity. Now, these interviews that are expected to happen with children in

custody already builds on ongoing efforts. For example, the targeting of legal services for children in custody or other wellness checks that are happening where Immigration and Customs Enforcement is going to the homes of these children who are in the United States.

And all of this together, advocates, experts and former officials say, could have a chilling effect on children, on immigrant families, particularly if the proper precautions are not taken. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you. Coming up, stunning new reporting from the deadliest country in Latin America. David Culver heads to Ecuador to see what's driving the violence there and what's being done to get it under control. He's here to share what he found. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

ROSALES: This weekend on "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper, CNN's David Culver has a rare look into a country that was once known as a popular tourist destination in South America, but is now plunged into violence because of the drug war. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ecuador is not a cocaine producer, and yet, the blood spills here. Cocaine is flooding into these streets, and with it, an explosion of brutality. You might think you know this story. Gangs, drugs, corruption. But what we find here may surprise you, because this isn't just about cocaine.

It's about a system. One that pulls in the poor, empowers the brutal, and protects the powerful.

(on camera): Oh my gosh, there's blood on the ground, careful with your step here.

(voice-over): To understand Ecuador's unraveling, we follow the chain to see who moves, who profits, and who pays.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES: David, I love to see your work, you know, it's going to be good when the name David Culver stamp next to it. Our CNN senior national correspondent David Culver joins us live now. David, can you talk about what you uncovered about how the cartels worked and also what the government is doing to fight this?

CULVER: Isabel, I think this is one of those stories that you look at, a crisis that seems so removed from where we are here in the U.S., right. And you think, well, why does this even matter? I think when folks are going to watch this documentary, my hope is that they start to see that there's an interconnectedness that you cannot deny between what's happening down in Ecuador right now and here in the U.S.

We even saw just in the past week or so that there's a security agreement between the U.S. and Ecuador that has been signed. If you look at the crisis as it's playing out right now, it's like no other. I mean, this is a country that was seen as the island of peace in Latin America. It was known as just really keeping to itself in many ways.

It didn't have anything to do with the violence that you saw elsewhere in the region. And now it's become the place where you've got roughly 70 percent of the cocaine moving through. And because of that, it's become a transit hub of sorts, because the cocaine doesn't even originate in Ecuador.

It starts in places like Colombia and Peru, and just pours out from the coast, goes to the U.S., goes to Europe, and has sparked violence like none other. And I think that's something that we were really trying to understand is, how does that narco super highway, as it's been called now develop? How is it now fueling the violence and essentially who is paying the price for it?

In this documentary, the team and I, we go down there, we spend within two weeks on the ground, and we really try to show folks step-by-step who's being sucked into this system. And it's not as black and white as some might think, and it's incredibly nuanced to see the folks who are really being pulled into this and also now paying the price.

ROSALES: And with Ecuador not calling for U.S. troops to help. What does this tell us about the scale of this crisis?

CULVER: Yes, this really took us by surprise. I mean, you speak to military and police, and a lot of the times, there's a pride in saying, no, we've got this. We're taking this under control. Everyone from, you know, top generals to cabinet members to even now, President Noboa himself has said we need help.

I mean, there's a level of desperation and vulnerability even too, that's coming across here. And I think folks are starting to now put together some context clues, right? If you go back to President Trump's inauguration, one of the things I noticed is front and center was President Noboa and his wife.

[06:55:00]

And then meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago just a few months ago was President Noboa. So, there's a real big push now from the leadership in Ecuador to say to the U.S., we need your help. In recent weeks, they've extradited one of the most infamous gang leaders known as Fito. He's now in the U.S., but the violence is still moving forward.

And so, I think the hope is when people start to see a story like this, they begin to align the headlines that you're going to be seeing, even more so in the coming weeks and months. And that is one of the U.S. potentially sending more resources and even the potential for U.S. troops.

I mean, they had a base in Ecuador, the U.S. did up until 2009, that closed. And so, if you start to see headlines going forward, which I wouldn't be surprised that not only are Intel-sharing aspects being put forward, but maybe even troops on the ground, that's something that certainly Ecuador wants. This is why.

ROSALES: David Culver joining us bright and early from L.A., really appreciate your time. Thank you for that.

CULVER: Thanks, Eva.

ROSALES: Well, an all new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper. Ecuador, the narco super highway that airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. There's much more ahead on the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND, including a live report from Atlanta where an officer was killed by a gunman who appears to have targeted the CDC. Stick around.

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