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CNN This Morning

Manhunt Underway After Van Rams Into Crowd At Berlin Pride Event; Sources: Vance, Caine Raised Concerns About Escalating The War In Iran; Wildfires In Southwest France Continue To Spread, Over 250,000 Evacuations; U.S. Military Officially Confirms Identity Of Soldier Killed During Iranian Strikes In Jordan; Gas Prices Rise As Middle East Fighting Continues; President Trump Imposes New Tariffs Targeting Dozens Of Countries; Oil Supply Getting Cut Off At Two Crucial Points In Strait Of Hormuz; Maine Democrats Pick Jackson To Face Collins In November. Jackson Near Unanimous Choice As Maine Senate Candidate; Kalshi, Wisconsin Officials Clash Over Election Wagers; Massive Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked To Nine States; Colorado River's Two Big Lakes Hit Record Lows; More Than 70 Million Under Heat Alerts This Weekend; DC Prepares For Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 26, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:29]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. We are following several developing stories right now. Police in Berlin are on the hunt for a man they say purposefully rammed a van into a Pride event. At least one person has been killed. The latest on this is coming up in just a moment.

We're learning new details about the apparent pause in the U.S. bombing campaign in Iran. Could concerns about the U.S. weapons stockpile have something to do with that?

In Europe, hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated because these wildfires are raging in France and Spain. Extreme heat, the lack of rain are fueling the fires. We'll take you there live.

Plus, in this final sprint to the midterms, there's a warning for people who use prediction markets to bet on elections. How a law from the 1800s could impact your vote.

Brand new week. Let's start it off right. It's Sunday, July 26th. I'm glad to be with you. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Right now, there's a manhunt in Germany for the suspect who drove into a crowd at a Berlin Pride event. Berlin police say it's 21-year-old Abdul B. He killed one person, injured more than a dozen others late last night.

Police evacuated thousands of people from the event. Authorities say that the suspect used a white van to ram into people on the sidelines of the largest LGBTQ celebration in Germany's capital. An eyewitness describes the chaotic scene. Watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ATTENDEE (through translator): At first, we couldn't make out what the screams were because of the party, the music and the atmosphere. And we only realized later exactly what was going on when the police cleared the park with machine guns and asked us to go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The van was later found abandoned after having crashed into a tree. CNN has asked Berlin police if this incident is being treated as an act of terror, and they say that, yes, this is being investigated as a suspected terror attack. Just getting that update.

We have new reporting this morning on the U.S. war in Iran. It involves a key meeting that President Trump had on Friday. Now, a source and U.S. official tell CNN that Vice President JD Vance and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine came to warn President Trump at a meeting about escalating the war. The sources say that Caine told Trump his military options, but he also expressed concerns about further depleting the U.S. munitions stockpile and other possible negative consequences.

Now, it's unclear if those reasons prompted the U.S. to pause what had been nearly two consecutive weeks of strikes on Iran. The U.S. military has continued its naval blockade, though, of Iranian ports. U.S. Central Command posted on social media yesterday that it boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea that violated that blockade.

Let's go now to CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. What is the Trump administration saying about the concerns of escalation ahead of this meeting with Netanyahu on Tuesday?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. The concern is this is something that analysts, CNN, have spoken to as well have said that the defensive missile systems like the THAAD, the Patriot, a lot of them were used up defending against all those incoming Iranian missiles in the earlier part of the war a few months ago. So, that's a concern.

Significant number of Tomahawks also an attack -- land attack weapon also used up. So if you commit more weapon systems to another round of fighting, then you reduce your options for another war or another conflict in another theater around the world. That was from what we understand was the -- was the concern raised.

What it has allowed this pause, whatever the reason, and diplomats I'm talking to are sort of referring to this as an unannounced ceasefire, if you will, that's now gone through two nights, it's given an opportunity for an Omani delegation to go to Tehran. They went Friday, stayed into Saturday, left late Saturday to have conversations.

The Iranian foreign minister saying that there was progress in those talks, that they focused on the Strait of Hormuz. But there's absolutely no indication here whatsoever that the Iranians have given ground on their core point on the Strait of Hormuz, which is they want to have control over it and be able to make money out of it in the future.

[06:05:10]

The Iranians also have spoken about how they've caused a number of vessels, six vessels, to go to anchor and not transit the Strait of Hormuz. I think when you step back just a tiny little bit and look at the messaging from both the U.S. side and the Iranian side, both operate in their blockades, but not signaling it through maximalist shooting of ships but sort of one tempo down, if you will, the boarding and inspection and the ships being put at anchor.

Can this pause for diplomacy hold? And as discussed here, the cost of an escalation, there are implications with that. And that was what was explained to the president.

BLACKWELL: All right. And we'll check the trajectory, of course, after this meeting at the White House on Tuesday. Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

More now than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in southwestern France. Firefighters are battling dozens of wildfires, about 30 fires are burning right now.

French officials say that nearly a quarter million acres have burned. Homes and cars are burned out shells. Crews are working around the clock to try to keep the flames from spreading. Thousands of people now say they have to stay in temporary shelters, and many of them woke up to emergency alerts telling them to leave immediately with whatever they could carry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Evacuating 200,000 people, that's never been seen in France, never. Not since the war have we seen anything like this. Even the worst disasters that have happened, this has never occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Melissa Bell is joining us now from France. Melissa, what are you seeing this morning?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the part of France where the fire, this main fire that continues to spread and has not yet been contained, the Gironde fire, as it's being called, started. This was on the night from Wednesday to Thursday. Four days later, you can see how dangerous it still is.

What we've been watching over the course of the last couple of hours that we've been standing here, is this very dry ground through which the fire had passed, but is no longer active you still have these smoldering embers underneath the pine trees. And it's an indication not just of how flammable this kind of vegetation is, the pine trees, but also the ferns that have acted as a kind of kindling given how dry it is. But also the fact that once -- even once we're outside of the perimeter where the fire is actively burning and the flames are very high, it picks up again.

Again, it was four days ago that the fire spread through here. And still, what we've been seeing over the last hour or so, we've been here, are civilians going around with water on their trucks to try and get these sort of starts of fire themselves, even as the main firefighters, all 1,500 of them continue to battle the actual fire itself, which has overnight because the conditions slightly windy spread much, much further to the south and east.

In fact, what we saw overnight were 55,000 more people evacuated from their homes, which brings to the whole Gironde region over the course of the last couple of days, 220,000 people evacuated and currently living in the kind of shelters we visited last night in Bordeaux. People sleeping on cots with their families, elderly people who've been evacuated from residential homes and none of them any idea yet of when they might be able to get home.

On the contrary, more and more villages being evacuated, the fire continuing to spread. It has now burned 42,000 hectares. Just like this. This pine forest of the southwest of France, a million hectares of it that spread to Spain. And this monoculture, of course, that in these very dry conditions we've seen here in France this summer, these excessive heat waves, these record breaking temperatures, once it gets hot down here and the fire start, they are very, very difficult to stop, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes. It's remarkable how you say that the firefighters are really trying to get those active fires under control. And it's just the everyday citizen going around to spaces where you are trying to douse any of those embers that we know from here in the U.S. can pick up and be moved and cause a greater fire somewhere else. Melissa Bell, thanks so much for the reporting. We'll check back.

Authorities in Spain say that wildfires there have now killed at least one person. More than 100,000 acres have burned near the Spanish capital of Madrid. Ninety thousand people have been forced to leave or take shelter elsewhere. One evacuee described the moment that she realized it was time to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I saw clouds of smoke rising into the sky. That's when I realized something was happening. I think we all panicked. Then we received the message telling us to get ready, take whatever valuables we could. Whatever was most important. I took my cat and we left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:10:01]

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of firefighters are working to keep two major wildfires west of the capital from merging into an even larger fire.

The Pentagon has officially identified one of the service members killed in this month's Iranian strike on a base in Jordan. Officials say staff Sergeant Angel Rampersad, a 28-year-old from New York, was among those killed in the July 17th attack. Officials had previously said they believed that she was one of the victims. They have now formally confirmed her identity after positive identification by military examiners.

Gas prices starting to climb again as fighting between Iran and the U.S. intensifies. The average price for a gallon of gas is now at $4.11 across the country. That's up $0.11 in just the past week.

Renewed fighting has slowed shipping through key waterways in the Middle East, making it harder to move crude oil to world markets. While the tariff time out that's ended despite a Supreme Court ruling, dozens of U.S. trading partners are now being forced to pay up. We'll explain the impacts of these growing tariffs.

Plus, Democrats in Maine named their new Senate nominee in the race to unseat Senator Susan Collins in November. We'll hear from that new candidate.

Also, the green flag will drop D.C. -- drop in D.C. next month for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. We'll show you our tour of the 1.7 mile course that wraps around the National Mall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:22]

BLACKWELL: A new round of tariffs just kicked in on almost every single U.S. import. Here's why. The U.S. claims that 60 of its trading partners are using forced labor to produce goods exported to the U.S. These tariffs hit Friday just after another similar tariff expired.

So while it won't hit your wallet too much, rising gas prices will. We'll talk about that, of course, all the factors that have prevented oil from surging recently are either weaker or gone.

I'm joined now by Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance, Ben Werschkul. Ben, welcome back to the show. Let's start with the tariffs.

The tariffs have been unpopular here across the U.S. since so-called Liberation Day. While these tariffs are not nearly as high as the ones implemented that were shut down by the Supreme Court, you've got reporting about the impact and how much it's really going to affect the imports coming in from around the world.

BEN WERSCHKUL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, YAHOO FINANCE: Yes, yes. Good to be with you. These tariffs are, as you mentioned, these tariffs are kind of a changeover of sorts to new tariff authorities that aren't going to have a lot of impacts immediately. But there is a lot of evidence here that what Trump is trying to do is set up more tariffs down the road as he goes forward.

The main -- the main headline this week was a switch up of tariffs from 10 percent tariffs that expired on Friday at midnight to new tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent that came into effect at 12:01. So just one minute later on this issue of forced labor, you mentioned here.

This doesn't change the tariff rate, but it does create a more legally durable option that the White House thinks they can build on. We're expecting more investigations there in the months ahead that could that could raise these rates even as they don't change now.

Another important strand on tariffs to watch this week is Trump's announcement on Canada. He talked about 50 percent tariffs on Canada that could be in effect by August on some goods. This again has sort of limited immediate effects. It's only import -- impacts about five percent of U.S. imports. But this is a new tariff authority that Trump -- that we haven't seen from Trump before.

He's reaching all the way back to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 for this. This is a much more legal -- much more quick acting option that has a lot of legal problems. The question whether this stands up in court is a big one. But the sense I get from listening to the administration and talking to trade officials is that they're trying to see if this will stick. If this will stand up in court and if Trump can do this, he could -- we could see a lot more from that in the months ahead.

But the bottom line, as you mentioned, tariff rates began this week at about 11 percent. They're still at 11 percent. They're just trying to push it up higher to these kind of pre liberation -- or these Liberation Day rates.

BLACKWELL: We'll see if there's any retaliation. Of course, we saw that, excuse me, in 2025 from Canada, China, other countries as well. Let's talk about oil prices above $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May. This morning, as we've reported, $4.11 per gallon for regular nationally on average.

When you add in the Houthi's attacks on vessels passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in addition to what's happening at the Strait of Hormuz. How does that change the prospect for the next several weeks or months of this war and the price of oil?

WERSCHKUL: Absolutely. No, it really creates a real level of uncertainty in the energy sector that is really notable. The third factor I'll add for you is the war in Ukraine. That is an underappreciated aspect of this with Russian refineries being bombarded here. So this is essentially a perfect storm for the energy sector and has seen crude oil prices up 20 percent over the last month.

[06:20:07]

And as you mentioned, prices at the pump 4.11. One important, I think, conversation amongst the sector is how things aren't worse on this 4.11 price. I don't want to downplay 4.11 a gallon of gas. That's lower than it was earlier in the war and it's lower than it was -- it was $5.00 a gallon of gas just a few years back.

This comes as the energy sector has talked about how things could get -- could get worse in a hurry here if inventory levels continue to drop as they're going forward. But there's also been predictions since February, since this war in Iran began, of much more dire consequences here than what we're seeing at moment.

Again, $100 a gallon for crude oil and $4.11 gas is significant, but there's a lot of folks out there that are thinking the inventory levels and things like demand could pick up in the weeks ahead and push things even worse. Bottom line here for oil markets is no one really knows what's going to happen. And we've had predictions for months now that have been -- that have been mixed on this front. But we are seeing pressure on a lot of different fronts from around the globe.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of predictions, and I got 30 seconds for you here, Ben, we've got a Fed meeting coming up midweek. What's the expectation on rates?

WERSCHKUL: Yes, all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve. The expectation is that rates will be steady. But we are going to have a real conversation at the Fed about all these different factors. Oil prices are a major one.

The new chairman, Kevin Warsh, has sort of taken the Fed out of the business of offering forward guidance here but they are expecting to keep rates steady. The question is when they have to step in on rates. For right now lower inflation -- lower inflation readings for June means the Fed probably holds steady, but they're likely to raise this fall is what the expectation is.

BLACKWELL: Ben Werschkul, thanks so much. Enjoy the week. And be sure to watch "STATE OF THE UNION" later this morning. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, White House Border Czar Tom Homan, and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy will be among the guests. That's at 9:00 a.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

Place your vote and not your bet. Why was Wisconsin election officials are using an old law from the 19th century to scare election gamblers away from the prediction markets.

And good morning to our friends in the beautiful Windy City. Sun's just coming up in Chicago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:26:53]

BLACKWELL: Democrats in Maine formally tapped Troy Jackson this weekend as their U.S. Senate nominee. Jackson is a former state Senate president. He replaces Graham Platner on the ballot after Platner dropped out amid sexual assault allegations.

Jackson's nomination sets up a showdown with Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins in November. Democrats believe Maine is firmly in play and the race is considered a central battleground in their fight to get control of the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TROY JACKSON (D), MAINE SENATE NOMINEE: This is the absolute honor of my life to accept the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Today, we turn the page. Today, this becomes a general election campaign. And today, we begin the work of defeating Susan Collins in November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Michael Shepherd joins us now. He's a reporter with the Bangor Daily News. Michael, good to have you.

All right. So, he replaces Graham Platner. Graham Platner, obviously, galvanized Democrats there in Maine in this showdown with Susan Collins. Troy Jackson he won all but five of the delegates at this convention. So, he had the people in the room. But outside of that room, how is he compare to his predecessor?

MICHAEL SHEPHERD, REPORTER, BANGOR DAILY NEWS: Yes, I think Troy Jackson is the best one to one comparison that Democrats could have made to Graham Platner, similar base, similar progressive stances, big in the labor movement. He was a guy who was campaigning with Graham Platner before. It was clear that Graham Platner was even going to beat Janet Mills in the primary, which seems like eons ago.

So I think in that sense, Democrats avoided sort of an ideological issue by substituting a candidate who's pretty similar to the guy that that was obviously knocked out of this race. He's a much different guy. He's 58 years old. He's been around for a long time in Maine politics. He kind of got famous up here when he and a few other loggers blockaded the Canadian -- part of the Canadian border over labor issues back in 1998, got elected to the legislature four years later and has kind of risen from a backbencher to the Senate presidency and to these very high profile campaigns.

Obviously, he's from northern Maine. He's got -- he's from a place where it's very socially conservative, had a lot of social conservative votes early in his career, anti-abortion, voted against gay marriage in 2009, was NRA endorsed, has kind of flipped on all those issues.

So he's got a story. I think a lot of Mainers understand on one hand, but it's a little hard to translate to the national level. And he's going to have to be explaining that to a lot of different people in a really quick amount of time.

BLACKWELL: You mentioned that previous anti-abortion stance. CNN's "KFILE" revealed his 2010 pro-life lawmaker survey, a questionnaire he filled out in which he said that he did not think that abortion should ever be legal, did not answer the questions about exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother.

His campaign released this statement. In the years since these questionnaires, Troy listened to and learned from the women, doctors, and families across Maine, and evolved.

[06:30:01]

Unlike Susan Collins, who stripped millions of women of their constitutional rights by casting the decisive vote for justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Has that created any problems with him in for in this race?

MICHAEL SHEPHERD, REPORTER, BANGOR DAILY NEWS: Well, I think it's just something he has to explain to a national audience. I think this is something that people in state understand a little bit. This is this is northern Maine. This is a much different cultural place than the rest of the state. There's a long history of Democrats up there who had these views. Also, it's a place now that's controlled by Republicans in the state legislature and everything else.

So, Troy Jackson's case here is that I have evolved and I have been able to win in places where other Democrats can't. I think this is obviously a big step up. And that part of the state is not so easily translatable to the rest of it. But I think there's a story here that he can tell. It's going to be on the voters and on the national folks who are also viewing this, how they're going to respond to it.

BLACKWELL: You've reported on the significant funding gap in this race. The Republicans have a larger bank than the Democratic candidate here. Does Jackson, does his campaign, do they seem to be concerned about the deficit?

SHEPHERD: I think they're not saying they're concerned. I think they've got to be concerned. Republicans have just stacked up an enormous amount of outside money in this race, multiple super PACs doing multiple different things for Susan Collins. There are ones that are attacking Democrats. There are ones that are running really positive ads on money that Collins has secured for fire stations and things like that.

So they're running a multi front war to set Susan Collins up. And the thing about Jackson is he's not historically a very good fundraiser. The good news for him is that you don't really have to be in this era of battleground races where the money just comes in and finds you.

So, I expect him to catch up to Susan Collins here. He said in less than a week. Right. He raised or the beginning of his campaign, he raised around a million dollars. He's obviously going to have to plus that up and be one of the bigger fundraisers on ActBlue.

But I think this will even up just because of the stakes of the race. It's just too big for Democrats to leave much on the table here.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And we saw that Chuck Schumer stayed out of the race there in Maine when Graham Platner was the nominee. We'll see if that changes as they get closer to Election Day there now that Troy Jackson is the Democratic nominee.

Michael Shepherd there. Thank you so much for your reporting.

High stakes showdown is unfolding in Wisconsin, where prediction market giant Kalshi is battling state officials over a centuries old law. The measure makes a felony to vote in any election you're also betting on.

CNN's Marshall Cohen has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, you don't see this every day. And this war of words between Kalshi and election officials really highlights how the rapid expansion of prediction markets is scrambling the midterms.

So let me break down exactly what happened here. Earlier this week, the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission warned voters about an old state law from the 1800s that prohibits residents who bet on an election from casting a ballot in that same race.

The press release said, quote, if you bet on an election, it could cost you your vote. And they said voters could even face post-election challenges to their qualifications. And if proven, their ballots could be thrown out and offenders might be prosecuted.

Now, look, the officials were very clear that they aren't policing these prediction markets. They just wanted everybody to be aware, especially before anyone goes on social media later and brags about their winnings. But all of this caught the attention of Kalshi, which is the biggest prediction market in the country.

Company leaders went on the attack against Wisconsin election officials. Here's what one Kalshi employee posted, quote, this is insane. The commission is implying that they will literally disenfranchise voters. He went on to say not only is the commission statement illegal and dishonest, it's active voter suppression.

Now, look, it's absurd for them to claim that it's illegal to send a press release. I don't even know what that means. But the experts I spoke to did agree that there are some legitimate questions about whether this very old law is even enforceable or constitutional. And it's never a good look to possibly throw out someone's vote.

But it is clear from Kalshi's red hot reaction that they don't want anyone standing in the way of their booming business. Not even the public servants who run our elections. And these markets, in fact, are pretty darn popular. Kalshi has seen $30 million in trading volume so far on who will win the House and Senate this November.

[06:35:01]

And by the way, one last thing for full disclosure. CNN has a partnership with Kalshi. We use its data to cover major events, but editorial employees are prohibited from trading on prediction markets.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Nine states now have related cases of a diarrheal illness caused by cyclospora. This could turn out to be one of the largest outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. in three decades.

Here's CNN's Jenn Sullivan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Cases of a diarrhea illness known as cyclosporiasis have risen drastically this summer. It's a gastrointestinal infection caused by a parasite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's transmitted by food and water.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): As of Friday, 41 states have reported at least one case this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But this specific outbreak is concentrated in the nine states listed on this map. Their health departments have reported over 12,000 cases of cyclosporiasis so far this summer. At least 98 people have been hospitalized, according to the CDC.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may be a more complicated set of outbreaks than simply just one with one source.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Symptoms include explosive diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramping, bloating and fatigue. And unlike a stomach bug that lasts 24 to 48 hours, symptoms of cyclosporiasis can last for weeks if untreated.

The Food and Drug Administration says the likely source linked to the nine state outbreak is shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms to Mexico. The company voluntarily recalled the product last week.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We do have the outbreak under control. We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): But experts say symptoms of the illness can take up to two weeks, and the epidemiological curve of new cases hasn't yet slowed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be hard to sort this out for one of these major centralized distributors.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): The CDC recommends washing all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating, and notes washing alone cannot guarantee the parasite's removal.

But cooking can kill the parasite. Make sure you're not eating lettuce that has been recalled.

I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Next, water levels at two of America's biggest reservoirs are at historic lows. Why experts are sounding the alarm.

And we're following breaking news this morning. An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts just touched down in Kazakhstan. They just wrapped up a 240-day -- 41-day mission aboard the International Space Station. We'll get you more of that.

And if you're heading out and you're thinking, I don't want to leave Victor yet, but I got to go. You can take me with you. You can stream the show from anywhere in the U.S., right from the CNN app. You can also go to CNN.com/Watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:34]

BLACKWELL: A lifeline for 40 million people is at risk this morning. The Colorado River is drying up. The crisis is reaching a critical new stage.

This month, two of the river's major reservoirs Lake Mead and Lake Powell dropped to their lowest levels on record. Seven states depend on the river for drinking water, agriculture, hydropower, it helps generate electricity for about 700,000 homes and irrigation -- irrigates rather more than 5 million acres of farmland across the southwest.

CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, much the way we're seeing record-shattering temperatures across the American West and Southwest, we're seeing similar alarming levels when it comes to the water in the American Southwest.

Forty million people depend on the Colorado River system. All the snowpack in the Rockies it falls in the winter should melt and flow downstream, dozens of creeks and tributaries, much of it is caught in Lake Powell, there's a dam there and then released through the Colorado River and then Lake Mead is the other big reservoir. You can think of the two of them that system as really the water tank of the West and it is at record lows after the most recent evaluation. Lake Powell now at 23 percent of capacity. Lake Mead just over a quarter of capacity.

And the fear is that if the drought continues, we're in a 25-year drought in this part of the country there, if it just continues which is expected to and there's another warm, dry, winter like we just had last winter, that it could reach dead pool. Lake Powell could get so low that there's not enough water to turn the turbines and make electricity. About 750,000 homes are powered by the water, the hydropower that flows down the Colorado River there. Not to mention all the drinking water, all the irrigation, that is vital there as well.

And added to this debate, of course, the recent boom of data centers which consume a lot of power and water and Colorado River system only has so much of that right now. Seven states share this under a compact that was written in 1922, one of the wettest years ever so it has been over allocated and money the states especially the upper basin in the mountains versus the lower basin states like Arizona and California and Nevada, there's a fight over conservation. Who's putting too much water on lawns or golf courses in this state versus that state. There's no agreement. The state's blew past the February deadline from the federal government to come up with a plan on how to share this dwindling resource, but nothing has moved on this.

[06:45:16]

And right now, all the locals can do is hope and pray for rain, and then snow this winter. But as one expert told us, hope and prayer is no way to run a water policy for 40 million people.

I'm Bill Weir, CNN New York, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Bill, thanks so much.

More than 70 million people are under heat alerts this weekend. Phoenix, Arizona could hit 109 degrees today. The Salvation Army's Extreme Heat team is out this weekend traveling around in mobile hydration units. They hand out water and other essentials to keep people cool as the temperatures soar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we save one life, it's all worth it because we know how brutal the Arizona heat is. We have sunscreen. We have electrolytes, some hygiene and heat relief kits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The team says since May 1st, they've handed out more than 100,000 bottles of water to about 55,000 people.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with me now.

A lot of people could see triple digit temperatures for, what, a couple of days?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on-camera): Yes, and that 70 million number you said is actually going to jump to 100 million by the time we get to tomorrow because so many more people are going to start to see more of that heat shift.

So, it's beginning out in the west. OK? So you've got those warmer temperatures out there, but you're going to start to see that slide into areas of the central U.S. Now, today, that region is dealing with the potential for some strong to severe thunderstorms, but the heat is really going to be the big story as we head into the upcoming few days.

So, yes, all of these areas you see here, those are the locations that are under those heat alerts. Some are extreme heat warnings. Others, heat advisories. The whole point is it's going to be hot over the next few days. Some, it's already starting today.

Again, you can kind of see some of these temperatures here. Looks like, nope, just trust me. They are very, very warm at this point. They're going to continue to get warmer as we head off towards the east. There we go. We've got Minneapolis.

Look at this. These temperatures are going to start to rise because here's the thing. We're kind of peaking in a place like Denver today, but as you go farther east and farther south, it's just going to continue to go up.

Here's a look at the heat risk. Now, the focus here is notice the red color and the purple color as we push this forward.

So here's a look at Sunday. Notice how a lot more of that purple really starts to build and spread into the southeast because today is kind of the peak for the high plains areas of the Rockies.

But then you're going to start to see it shift south and eastward. The key thing here, though, is the humidity is also a factor. You don't have that necessarily in Denver or Phoenix or Tucson, but you certainly do in places like New Orleans, Mobile, even areas of Houston. So the temperatures themselves are going to feel several degrees warmer as you get into the next couple of days.

Look at this. New Orleans, Houston. Every single one of the next few days is going to have that heat index well into the triple digits.

BLACKWELL: Thanks for the great news, Allison.

CHINCHAR (on-camera): Yes, you're welcome.

BLACKWELL: Forget D.C.'s gridlock. It's getting a fast lane. We'll take you on the course for the first Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

And let's take a look at Fort Myers, Florida. Beautiful shot. Thanks to EarthCam.

Good morning, Fort Myers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:43]

BLACKWELL: Top stories for you this morning.

At least one person has been killed more than a dozen others injured in a car attack at a pride event in Berlin. Police say the attack is being treated as an act of terrorism. The suspect is known to police, but he is still on the run. We'll have a live report coming up at the top of the hour.

Funeral services for Lindsey Graham are set for Tuesday in Washington and Wednesday in South Carolina. The D.C. ceremony is closed to the public but will be live streamed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend after receiving an invitation from President Trump.

The Israeli leader will be arriving in the U.S. on Monday and he will also be meeting with President Trump on Tuesday as the war with Iran enters its sixth month. The two leaders have not met face-to-face since this conflict began in February.

Washington D.C. will host its first ever high-speed IndyCar race next month. Imagine IndyCar speeding around the National Mall at 180 miles per hour. CNN got a guided tour of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix racetrack.

We get more from CNN's Isabelle Khurshudyan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABELLE KHURSHUDYAN, CNN SENIOR ENTERPRISE REPORTER: I'll be your racing driver today.

BUD DENKER, CHAIRMAN, FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX: All right. Well very good. We'll see how fast you are.

KHURSHUDYAN: Let's get started.

Has D. C. ever hosted a road race like this before?

DENKER: No, this will be the first time we've ever seen a road race, a motor sports race in nation's capital. I mean, it's so hard to do, first of all. I mean it's -- there's a lot of intrusion, obvious you put up walls and barriers and bridges.

This track, we go 1.7 miles, seven turns, we're on 3rd Street now, which is right in front of the nation's capital. It dissects the National Mall that's on our right here. And these cars on this street, this is about a third of a mile, straightaway will be about 140 miles an hour.

KHURSHUDYAN: It is a little bumpier probably than what a race car driver would want to be going 180 miles an hour over.

How much work still needs to, we just went over a bump, how much work still needs to be put in on the roads to get this ready to be a racetrack?

DENKER: We don't want to have an absolutely, totally smooth surface here because the streets are never going to be that way, right? Our drivers are used to having some bumps. And frankly, it separates the great drivers from the good drivers when you have that kind of technical differences.

So, there are some improvements we're going to make. Of course, the nation's capital, we just went by on 3rd Street, is obviously the most iconic figure.

[06:55:09]

KHURSHUDYAN: What did you think of my driver? DENKER: Very good. A little slow for us, but pretty good.

KHURSHUDYAN: This is a big bet by IndyCar. Why do you feel like it's worth it?

DENKER: Fireworks are great. A UFC fight is fun. How about celebrating on these roads around our city, this iconic structure we're racing around, celebrating our country's history.

KHURSHUDYAN: IndyCar did have some backlash recently over a One Nation, One Race t-shirt that got pulled. What happened there?

DENKER: That was my fault. You know, as we were designing and having people design t-shirts for us, you can imagine my thought of it was a race here in D.C. and the nation here. So, I take the blame for that.

KHURSHUDYAN: What do you say to fans of IndyCar who maybe don't think you should be doing a race here under this administration?

DENKER: I don't have exclusive areas for anybody that's red or blue. It's everybody here. And non-partisan has been the mission from day one.

KHURSHUDYAN: So, this is a show car. Tell me about it.

DENKER: Yes, this is a car we designed to show the spirit of what the race is going to look like here.

Is that crazy? Are you down in there now?

KHURSHUDYAN: Yes, I think so.

DENKER: Can you imagine doing that for two and a half hours, three hours in Indianapolis?

KHURSHUDYAN: Yes, now I won.

KHURSHUDYAN (voice-over): Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN, Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Isabelle, thank you.

There's much more ahead of the next hour of "CNN This Morning Weekend," including the search for that suspect in the Berlin Pride parade attack. We'll take you there live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)