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CNN Live Event/Special
CNN International: Eclipse Across America; The Great Eclipse Across North America; State Of Emergency In Canada. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired April 08, 2024 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: And in this -- if it hasn't happened in the New York minute, we don't care about it. In this, you know, throw-it-away disposable society that you and I have created along with everybody else, we have got to wait an hour and 10 minutes for this thing to happen. And there's nothing we can do about it.
BILL WEIR: CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: That's right?
QUEST: And we could not -- we couldn't prevent it, we can't manage it, we can't -- all we can do is predict it.
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: But then here's the beautiful thing. After waiting, then you get just four minutes, right? Four minutes and some change to actually sort of witness it if you are in the path of totality. So, it's sort of a hurry-up-and-wait type of situation. You wait, you wait, you wait, and then you finally get it. And you have just a few minutes to actually wait --
QUEST: That's enough.
SOLOMON: -- to actually enjoy it.
QUEST: That's enough time.
WEIR: It is. It absolutely is.
SOLOMON: Yes.
WEIR: We live in the golden age of sort of distraction and addiction and depression as a result of that. And it's so tempting. I think we want to capture these events. We want to, you know, have a record of it. That's why if you go to Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, where the Pueblo people saw the eclipse and carved it into pictoglyphs, you know, and their interpretation of it varied by tribe to tribe, whether they were frightened, whether they were invigorated.
QUEST: And at that moment, let us take a moment to tell you what's happening, where we are, and what's happening. It is the great eclipse across North America. And you're most welcome here at CNN as we cover this in all its manifestations.
Partial eclipse has begun in Mexico. And for the next hour, we will be watching as the moon moves across the sun towards totality in Mazatlan, which happens in just over an hour from now.
SOLOMON: It's an event that's been billed as the Great Uniter, as 15 states, 15 U.S. states are here. in the path of totality where they will get to witness for more than four minutes the moon fully eclipsed the sun and get to witness the sun's corona, a rare experience that we don't often receive.
It's an event, Richard, as you know, that is not only sort of majestic if you are witnessing it, but it's also an economic boost to many, many communities, some of which are saying this is their greatest tourism event ever.
QUEST: Just look. There it is. It's happening at the moment. It is quite exciting to try to see. I'm going to take a wander over to the magic wall to show you exactly, if I may, how this is moving.
SOLOMON: Just make sure you come back. Make sure you come back to us.
QUEST: I want to show you exactly how this is happening and what's happening at the moment. So, you can see the picture at the moment on the screen, the double picture there. You can see the way the moon is moving forward. But what is actually happening -- And there you have it.
So, you've got the sun, the moon, and us. And they're all spinning around each other at different times and taking different lengths of time. And this, by the way, is 400 times bigger than this. But Tom Riddle, why is this going to cover that? Explain why that's going to happen.
THOMAS RIDDLE, SCIENCE EDUCATOR AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ROPER MOUNTAIN SCIENCE CENTER: It's just the perfect distance from the sun to cover the sun enough so that we were able to see that shadow.
QUEST: So, as soon as that moves across that, because of the, if you will, distance and size, that is how it will do it. Now, so far so good. But if you look at where we are at the moment in Mazatlan in Mexico, you can see that we've just started. So, the actual movement of it is only just happening.
This is the way NASA has shown the animation of it. There you go. There's us. And as it happens, it will move right the way across. But there's the moon and then the sun will arrive as well.
Now, Bill Weir, you were saying, because that's the path of totality.
WEIR: Right.
QUEST: But, Bill Weir, you were saying that across North America, people will see it in different amounts.
WEIR: Exactly. Depending on where you are. Down in Florida and Miami, you're going to get between 40 and 60 percent. Whereas in Vegas, that area, it's less than half, 40 percent there as well, which is still a thrill. You know, it's not nothing to see a crescent sun like something out of the opening credits of "Dune" or a science fiction blockbuster.
QUEST: So, in this eclipse, essentially talking about this idea of community spirit, in this eclipse, we essentially have the whole of the United States and parts of Canada and Mexico, a sense of community all happening at once.
[13:05:00]
RIDDLE: Yes, that's correct. It's 90 plus percent of the United States will be able to experience this. And actually, there are more people experiencing totality this time than they did in 2017 because it's moving over more population centers.
And so, it is a chance for really the nation to come together for the Great American Eclipse.
QUEST: So, the cities that you should look out for, if you're wanting to see the ways -- oh, I've got a push this one. There we go.
WEIR: It's a slow push. Let it go and -- there we go.
QUEST: Yes, when you say it's just slow push, if we look at the mood of the moon, it is slowly --
WEIR: It is the theme of the day.
QUEST: It is.
WEIR: It's a slow push.
QUEST: It's a -- how fast is that moon going?
RIDDLE: The shadow is going to move anywhere from a thousand miles, actually increase speed as it goes, as across it. So, a thousand miles per hour to 2,000, 3,000 mile per hour.
QUEST: That's where we are at the moment.
RIDDLE: That's the shadow.
QUEST: We're going to the roof later, aren't we? Where are we? Right around right here. And we'll see it, 80 00 -- we're going to get an 80 percent. And then up right the way through until it finishes in several hours from now.
WEIR: I do -- you do -- my heart goes out to all those families who have been planning this, maybe booked the Airbnb and got the kids all excited and are looking at the cloud cover, wherever they happen to be. Sort of the way all politics is local, all eclipse viewing is local depending on cloud cover today. You wish we could have clear skies nationwide just for today.
SOLOMON: Yes, consider this Richard, in Texas they're expecting some 270 to 1 million visitors just coming in to view the eclipse. And we know Texas is dealing with some cloudy weather, the weather is not. QUEST: But no. That's the wrong way to look at it. Seriously, that's the wrong way to look at it. You are looking at from a -- it's got to be perfect and it has got be this and that. The whole point of today, I would argue, is that this is nature on nature's terms. This is the greater than us telling us. And if the greatest than us doesn't want -- and by the way, this is not a religious point, by the way, before somebody starts e-mailing me, they're all excited about it, that is basically bigger than us. If you you've got clouds, I would use a language word, but I won't it.
WEIR: And so, again, a lesson of resilience for the kids.
QUEST: Yes.
WEIR: Part of the central systems, right?
RIDDLE: That's right. It doesn't always work out, you know, that's going to be OK. You're still going see, even if you have cloud color, it's still going to get dark if you're in totality. You're still going to see things that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
So, as parents, hey, make the most of it, if got those kids there, and you are building memories. You are making memories.
QUEST: If you've -- I want to know what your -- you may be experiencing or how you're going to be looking at this. You can either treat to @richardquest or X, as people now say, but you know, what I mean. @richardquest you will get me, or send me an e-mail Yes, I can't believe I'm going to do it richard.quest@cnn.com.
SOLOMON: Opening the flood gates.
QUEST: Well, I always figured that if anybody can't work out what my e-mail address is, they ain't that bright to start with. richard.quest@cnn.com. It goes right into that phone over there, I promise you that. How are you going to experience it? What is going be your moment when this happens? Maybe it's not going a be a moment for you, richard.quest@cnn.com or @richardquest on X.
SOLOMON: All right. I want to -- actually, Richard, stand by for a moment. I'm hearing from our friends at the control room that we have new photos. This is from Mazatlan. This is being provided by NASA of the partial eclipse as it unfolds. Beautiful.
Now, if you are on the beach there, we just saw that shot of hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand people on the Beach there in Mazatlan, Mexico. This would be the time when you definitely want to be wearing your sunglasses as you wait for total totality there as it begins. as it begins its stretch across Mexico, the United States, Canada, but this is what we've been waiting for.
QUEST: I do worry a little bit that some people may be wearing dodgy glasses or, you know, they've got the 50 cents off the street, a bit like at New Year's Eve when people buy --
WEIR: Yes. QUEST: And balloons and things from the streets. This is not something that you want to mess around with.
WEIR: Even though. It looks like a 3D movie handout, these are these are actual certified -- they're strong enough, the paper ones can be, if they're -- if you get the right ones.
SOLOMON: What if what if don't know? If you don' know, if you're not sure today's the day? What do you think? What should people be looking out for?
RIDDLE: I say better safe than sorry. And there's other ways you can observe it --
SOLOMON: OK.
[13:10:00]
RIDDLE: -- up to totality, because remember, it's safe to look at it once it is totally covered. OK. That's when you want to take the glasses off. As you're looking at it partially, you can observe the trees around you. The patterns on the shadows cast on to the ground, as you are -- like already, they'll be able to see that the shadow is going to be different. You're going see these crescent shapes and those leaves on ground.
Or take a pencil and a piece of paper or card, punch it through, make it as smooth as you can. And then hold it up, and you're going to also see that partial eclipse happening up to the point --
SOLOMON: With your back to sun.
RIDDLE: Right, right.
SOLOMON: Right. OK.
RIDDLE: With your back to sun, to get the shadow. You have to get the shadow.
SOLOMON: Yes, yes.
RIDDLE: Correct.
SOLOMON: Yes.
RIDDLE: But you just don't want to look up at the sun.
SOLOMON: Yes.
QUEST: So, by my reckoning, we are one hour away from totality. One hour away from totality in Mazatlan in Mexico. And you know, as the sun -- as the moon is eating into the sun, we're getting an idea of just how long this is going to take. And as you can see, we could see from pictures from NASA clouds starting to interfere a little bit in Texas with things -- which does sort of create issues. But I'm not going to let that get to me. SOLOMON: I love, Richard, as someone who knows you quite well, I think I loved the glass half full vibes that I'm getting today. It must be the eclipse. It must be the eclipse. It's -- the optimism is -- it's beautiful.
WEIR: Did you check your horoscopes in light of the eclipse?
QUEST: It's life on life's terms.
RIDDLE: Life on life's terms.
QUEST: Life on life's terms. And you can spend an enormous amount of time trying to change the wind without instead of just trying to just change your sail.
SOLOMON: Well, speaking of trying to the change wind, the winds might change.
QUEST: The wind?
SOLOMON: The wind. The wind literally might.
QUEST: Why is that?
SOLOMON: Yes, talk to us about what's happening. Why?
RIDDLE: That has to do with the amount of solar radiation that's hitting the earth.
SOLOMON: OK.
RIDDLE: And sorry -- it just came out. And so, the -- as it is -- as the sun's being covered, you're having less radiation. So, there's less heat, and it's going to bring about the cooling temperatures. So, that's going to affect the dew point with the clouds, and you are going have this wind and develop.
Richard, you're --
QUEST: Partial totality has begun in the United States, I'm being told. So, remember the way this thing rolls across the country and across -- or across a continent, partial -- you got to get your head around this.
You know, what's happening -- because we're moving, and they're moving, the sun and everything, therefore, it's going to happen in little bits and drops throughout.
Dan Chris has said, he's in Sarasota in Florida, it may not be a full view. This is still a great experience for me and my family.
The question from various other people which are coming in, or at least Kennedy Morales, I'm in Queens, New York City. I'll be sitting in my backyard looking at the sun with my glasses. I will not use my phone. I want to experience the eclipse and soak it in with all the positivity. SOLOMON: You know, New York is actually -- thanks for writing in Kennedy. You know, New York was actually going to get a pretty decent shot at looking at this. Was it 90 percent?
WEIR: Close to 90 percent.
SOLOMON: Yes.
WEIR: Yes.
SOLOMON: I mean, that's pretty awesome.
QUEST: I'm not sure why Jeremy Nava (ph) is going to be experiencing an eclipse with nature's finest gifts, brussels sprouts. There we go.
WEIR: Do each his own folklore around.
QUEST: I mean, people are watching, of course, telling it. So, richard.quest.cnn.com, your experience, please, how you're preparing, praying, spirituality, enjoying, or simply going to open a very good expensive bottle of something and enjoy it.
SOLOMON: Yes. And, Bill, if we could take a step back. I mean, before scientists were actually able to understand what was happening. I mean, this is an event that at times really sparked a lot of fear. I mean, imagine an ancient times trying to understand what exactly was happening. And so, with each passing eclipse, we get the opportunity to learn more and more.
WEIR: Yes, and we were talking about that earlier, and I want to hear more from Tom on his favorites. But it really says so much about the psychology of a given culture at any particular time, what's around them, right?
So, the myth among the Cherokee is that it's a big frog eating the earth. If you see similar stories from South American tribes, whether it's a panther or a frog in China, it was a dragon devouring the sun. And you needed to make a lot of noise to chase the dragon away.
And other places, even other indigenous tribes within the same continent, here in the United States, the Navajo see this as a moment of quiet reverence. Like they closed Navajo National Park for this. And -- but you've had some other insights to cultures that just, in beautiful ways, interpret this event.
[13:15:00]
RIDDLE: It is. And one of my favorites is the Tammari people of Togo, Menen (ph) in Africa, when they would -- they believed that what we were experiencing is the sun and the moon doing battle with each other, but they're doing that because they were influenced by humans' negative emotions.
The strife and the violence on earth was influencing them to fight. And so, the Tammari people called for a time of peace. And if you needed to make amends with someone, you go to them and make amends. It really is a beautiful sentiment. And, you know, I think it goes back to what we were talking about earlier, Richard, about how people interpret this, you know.
And this is one of my favorites, because it says, hey, it's time for us to come together and not to pull apart, we're better together.
SOLOMON: Yes.
QUEST: Let me tell you, you know, the e-mails I'm getting are proving the point. Eclipse in Barcelona, not that sure they're going to see it, Eclipse in Barbados, South Africa, Montreal, Dubai, England, Vermont, even in parts of the world where you are not going to see it, you are e-mailing me to tell me about your experience, because I believe the next big eclipse is going to be in Spain and other parts of the world.
So, you're -- and that's next year. So, you are already enjoying it, but this is a good moment for something that's like, right?
SOLOMON: Yes. We'll reset. We'll be right back. It's beautiful.
WEIR: That's awesome.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back to our coverage here on CNNI of the total solar eclipse across America. The Great American Eclipse, as it has been called.
We want to go now to Gustavo Valdes. He joins us from Torreon, Mexico. Gustavo, give us a sense of what you've been able to see so far where you are.
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, the excitement is -- I can't see you right now. I have my glasses because we looked up, and I think you have the live signal. You can hear the people clapping because the clouds break through a little bit, and you can see, and you can start seeing like the cloud move through, and you see the edge of the moon start to pull in. You can hear the excitement of the people. Tens of thousands.
A little bit of the sun, that's what they saw, that's what they said.
[13:20:00]
But you can see the excitement is growing, they're expecting here in Torreon, in this particular park, some 40,000 people in the city, up to 750,000 in different points. This is a really good point to view the eclipse, if the clouds allow it, because it's in the middle of a desert. So, there's not a lot of urban lighting outside the cities. It's going to be really dark once the sun is completely covered.
What's your name?
GABRIELA: Gabriela.
VALDES: What are you seeing?
GABRIELA: I'm seeing a little bit because it's cloudy, but it's so amazing.
VALDES: Where are you from?
GABRIELA: From here.
VALDES: From Torreon. What does it mean for you guys to have all the people, all the attention on you?
GABRIELA: I really don't know, but -- not really know, it's a lot of people here.
VALDES: There's a lot of people here. So, there's something very interesting, because also on the other side, and it's getting every time harder to see on the other side of the hill. NASA scientists and scientists from all over Mexico and the world are actually here studying what's happening.
It just so happens that Torreon has a couple of telescopes. One of them is always straight on the sun. So, they had all the infrastructure in place precisely for something like this on the right spot at the right time.
But what they're telling me also is that the fact that the attention is in Mexico is allowing people outside the United States, which is one of the places where science grows -- and there's some other TV network doing something here -- that for the local, for the Mexican students, this is also an opportunity to see that they have the infrastructure in place to become scientists, to be interested in science.
So, they are also hopeful that this is going to raise awareness and more people want to be scientists and, you know, have the opportunity. But as I said, something else they did here in Torreon, if we can walk this way so we could move away from the local station. They are providing the glasses for free for people who forgot or didn't get the glasses on time. People can -- as you can see just come here and they can share it so that everybody can share on the experience.
Now, unfortunately, the cloud cover is still a little thick. It's not that easy to see the sun. But like I said, once you look up, you put the glasses on, you see the bright yellow disk, the clouds move on and you're starting to see the moon creeping in.
Mazatlan is about to get the full eclipse, the total eclipse, total darkness, and that's going to be the first chance in North America to see this event.
SOLOMON: Yes. You know, Gustavo, I think it's so interesting that despite the cloud cover there, clearly, that's not doing anything to dampen the enthusiasm or the excitement out there, which is really beautiful to see. Gustavo Valdes, thank you.
QUEST: Looking at the eclipse with your eyes isn't uncomfortable only, it's also dangerous. Safely viewing the rare event requires special glasses.
SOLOMON: Now, if you don't have a pair -- and I don't -- so, I guess I'll just take Richard's. There is some hope for you. All you need is some cardboard -- if Richard wants his back -- here to show us what to do is CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa.
So, Elisas, for those of us like myself who somehow find ourselves without glasses, is hope lost? But what can we do? What can I do?
ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. Actually, a lot of these things you should have right at home. So, I have glasses, but I also was able to make this pinhole projector viewer. I decked mine out and decorated it a little bit for the occasion. Brought you guys some stickers. You can decorate --
WEIR: You (INAUDIBLE)?
RAFFA: Yes. We're going to make them. So, this will help because you'll be able to look at the shadow with the sun to your back and kind of project it in the box instead of staring with your eyes directly at the sun.
QUEST: A pinhole camera type of --
RAFFA: Yes, exactly.
WEIR: So, you're watching the shadow change --
RAFFA: In the box.
WEIR: In the box.
RAFFA: Correct.
WEIR: Got you.
RAFFA: So, what we'll start is you want white paper on the inside. So, it is -- you can see the shadow the best. So, yes. So, you want to trace the bottom of your box on the white paper. I pre-cut some, if you guys want it.
WEIR: Oh, I see. This little thing.
RAFFA: Yes, yes, yes.
WEIR: I see. OK.
RAFFA: Like that. So, then it winds up going on the inside. There's some tape if you want to tape it on the inside.
WEIR: All right.
RAFFA: Yes, tape it on the inside of the box.
QUEST: All right. Something is telling me -- so, I take the white paper to, what, to the bottom? RAFFA: The inside -- the bottom of the box.
WEIR: Inside of the bottom, like that.
RAFFA: All the way in the bottom. Exactly, like that.
QUEST: You -- something tells me you were really good at this sort of stuff at school.
WEIR: My baking soda volcano kicked ass, Richard.
SOLOMON: I have no doubt. No doubt.
WEIR: Can we say that?
QUEST: You know, we could say it. Whether we say it or not, we've done it.
RAFFA: Well --
SOLOMON: Oh, thank you.
RAFFA: Yes, there you go. So, yes, you can just put that at the bottom.
QUEST: What -- I can't get --
RAFFA: Yes. So, with the white surface, we'll be able to see the shadow pretty well.
QUEST: It won't go on the bottom -- all right.
RAFFA: There's some tape if you need to like secure it in there. OK. Then we need to like get rid of the flaps on the box. So, you're going to cut off the flaps on the side.
QUEST: All four of them?
RAFFA: No, no, no, no. Just the two on the side.
QUEST: See?
WEIR: Oh, OK.
QUEST: Yes, yes, yes. But you --
WEIR: Oh, the little ones or the big one?
[13:25:00]
RAFFA: Cut off the two on the side. No, no, no. The side. The side.
WEIR: Oh, the wrong ones. OK.
QUEST: Mr. DIY.
RAFFA: What happened to your volcano? We messed it up already.
WEIR: Story of my life.
QUEST: Yes. Your volcano just went up in flames.
WEIR: Yes. Direction -- reading the direction is optional.
RAFFA: This two on the side. And then, you only want like the center of the flap -- on the big flaps. So, you want to cut them into like thirds. So, you like cut them into thirds and then cut off. So, you see what I mean?
WEIR: I see.
RAFFA: So, you see there's the middle.
WEIR: Yes.
RAFFA: So, cut off --
QUEST: Oh, right. What does it turn?
RAFFA: Right. So, do it on both sides.
WEIR: OK.
QUEST: All right.
RAFFA: So, cut off the like the ends, but leave that flap in the middle.
WEIR: OK.
RAFFA: Yes. How's it going?
WEIR: Oh, yes.
QUEST: You have no idea what PTSD. This is bringing back from my days at school.
WEIR: Today's eclipse vision brought to you by Cheez-Its.
RAFFA: Yes. So, we won't wait. Yes. I decided to pick a snack that I like to snack on. I don't know. So, you could use like a cereal box. You could use any type of snack box, any type of -- your favorite snack or cereal.
WEIR: OK.
RAFFA: I've even seen people use shoe boxes online too.
QUEST: I can't help feeling that we should have been telling for people about this two weeks ago when they could have got it already. But don't worry.
RAFFA: Hey, people have some snack boxes and some scissors at home. QUEST: All right.
WEIR: All right. What's nexst?
RAFFA: OK. So, now you tape your --
SOLOMON: Are you laughing at me?
WEIR: Oh, you need to flap in the middle. I got it. Got it. OK.
RAFFA: Yes, yes, yes. You need the flap --
QUEST: All right.
RAFFA: Guys, what is happening over there? OK. That's perfect. There we go. Like that.
SOLOMON: All right. All right.
WEIR: Oh, good for you.
RAFFA: Beautiful. So, we just want the middle to flap and then you tape that closed.
QUEST: Sorry. What do I do?
RAFFA: Yes. So, you tape that -- tape your center closed.
QUEST: With what? We the --
RAFFA: Have some trash tape.
QUEST: This? Yes?
RAFFA: Yes, yes, yes.
QUEST: Oh, no. Now, oh, epic fail.
RAFFA: Oh, no, where is it?
QUEST: I can't get the -- you know, when you're wrapping Christmas presents, and you lose the end.
WEIR: Yes, it's the worst.
RAFFA: Yes. So, we just tape it close.
WEIR: All right.
QUEST: This is just it. Here we go.
RAFFA: People thought you might be up for the challenge. So, I'm glad to see you're enjoying it.
QUEST: Hey, I'll be on the roof with you. I'll be on the roof with you in a couple of hours. RAFFA: I see, and then we'll be able to use it.
WEIR: This is a sobriety test, isn't it? All right.
QUEST: There we go.
WEIR: There we go.
RAFFA: Yes, like that.
QUEST: What's next?
RAFFA: OK. So, we tape it like that. So, then the last thing that we need is the foil.
WEIR: OK.
RAFFA: So, the foil, you just cover up one of the sides, and then you tape it on one of the ends. That's going to help really reflect that shadow.
SOLOMON: All right.
RAFFA: So, we just -- and then you just tape it on one of the sides.
WEIR: OK. And are we poking a hole in the foil?
RAFFA: Yes, and then you wind up -- I have some paper clips, and then you can --
QUEST: Oh, I see. Shall I look through that one?
RAFFA: Yes.
QUEST: That's --
RAFFA: Yes.
WEIR: That's all --
RAFFA: Yes.
WEIR: It's all coming from clear.
RAFFA: So, here's some --
QUEST: Ritual humiliation, had to be -- have a purpose to it. No, what are you doing?
SOLOMON: I've been told to give you the paper clips.
RAFFA: Yes. So, once you tape your foil, you tape your foil on the edge of the box, then you can kind of unwind the paper clip, so you can poke your hole, not that quite as big, but just poke your hole, little pinhole.
WEIR: Do you suggest just one hole?
RAFFA: One hole. Yes.
WEIR: One hole. OK.
RAFFA: Just one little pinhole, and then that's where essentially the sun's rays will come in here, and then reflect on the white on the inside of your box, so you're looking on the open one, and the sun is essentially behind us.
QUEST: OK. I (INAUDIBLE). Could you just put a bit of tape on there?
RAFFA: Yes, I think that should be good.
QUEST: Just put a bit of tape on there to make it all work.
SOLOMON: All right. Let the record reflect that the women at the table are done first.
WEIR: All right. Good job, ladies.
QUEST: Yes. Let the record reflect we don't know whether it's going to work. It might be that the men who are taking a little bit longer are going to get it right.
RAFFA: That may be.
SOLOMON: Maybe.
RAFFA: That may be.
QUEST: We will find out in a few hours.
WEIR: Which planet do you want?
QUEST: Oh, I don't care. Something big and bold.
RAFFA: We've got some planets.
SOLOMON: We're going to decorate ours. We're going to accessorize. We're going to bedazzle.
QUEST: Oh, now she's excited.
SOLOMON: We're going to bedazzle.
QUEST: Now, she's going to get --
SOLOMON: And we're going to take a quick break. And we will be back in just a few minutes.
QUEST: Accessorizing.
SOLOMON: Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:32:43]
QUEST: You are most welcome just. Look at it. There it goes, he or she, the moon. Choose your pick, I don't mind. Anyway, trundling across the sun. And for millions of people across North America, this is a man -- an amazing day at living out nature, natural world in its most beautiful.
SOLOMON: Yes, this is the shot from Mazatlan, Mexico. You might remember just a few moments ago, we spoke to Gustavo Valdes, who was on the ground in Mazatlan, and despite the clouds there, you could still hear the enthusiasm, you could still see the crowds, people were smiling, people were happy, clearly not doing anything to dampen spirits as we watch this really rare phenomenon.
But from Mexico, we want to now turn to Miguel Marquez, who's in Ohio, and he is at the Cleveland Science Center. Miguel, give us a sense, also filled with a lot of friends there, what you're seeing, what the vibe is like.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it is -- there is that sense of everybody coming here, thousands of people here at the Science Center, tens of thousands all over the county and all over the town, and millions of people pouring into that zone of totality.
This is what it looks like out here right now, but people are just coming here with a sense of awe and wonder and hoping to see the full power of our sun through this eclipse. I can show you. You know, it was cloudy this morning, it rained overnight, everybody peeking out their curtains was a little concerned, but right up there is where the sun will be around 3:13, when the totality begins.
The Rock and Roll Museum, which is right next to where I'm standing, they are going to DJ the eclipse. They're going to play Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moon" as the eclipse starts, but just at totality, they will play a bit of the song eclipse. Here's a little bit of that, I'm going to let you look at what's happening here.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
And if everything goes according to plan, just as totality ends, the lyric they will hear it, because they have speakers all over Cleveland. The lyric they will hear is, the moon has eclipsed the sun, and that will be the end of this eclipse.
[13:35:00]
There'll be another one not too long from now, 420 years, 2444. See you guys there, here then.
SOLOMON: Yes. Well, we'll see if science gets us there. But, Miguel, Ohio expecting a huge boost of people, of visitors just sort of coming in to hopefully a catch a view, 125 to half a million visitors.
MARQUEZ: It's going to be massive. And look, Cleveland alone -- I mean, this has just begun. There were huge lines this morning at 10:00 a.m. when the science center here opened. This is also where the NASA Glenn Visitor Center is. The NASA Research Center, the Glenn Research Center is in Cleveland. It's the only NASA facility in the path of totality. So, there's a massive NASA contingent here as well.
We also had basketball, the NCAA, the college women's final four in Cleveland this weekend, the home opener for their baseball team, The Guardians, that's happening today as well And there's an international film festival in Cleveland. Cleveland rocks on a normal day. It totally rocks today. Back to you.
SOLOMON: It's all going down in Ohio, in Cleveland. All right. Miguel Marquez live for us there. We'll check back with you throughout the hours. Miguel, thanks so much.
MARQUEZ: You got it.
QUEST: Now, when these eclipses happen, as we were talking earlier, there are a huge amount of myths, beliefs, devotions attached to it.
WEIR: I find this so fascinating, Richard, you know. You're going back to the civilizations that really centered themselves around the sun.
QUEST: Mayans.
WEIR: The Mayans, right? They literally described it as the day when the sun is eaten The Incas, a similar sort of idea of doom and foreboding, that things are being rearranged in the sky above.
QUEST: Well, this idea devouring the sun, which is also -- and indeed, in some past times, they would kill the king.
WEIR: Yes. That's the Hindu interpretation. The Chinese believe there was a dragon eating the sun. The Hindus had a myth about the trickster god trying to steal a sip of the nectar of the gods and is beheaded. And that is what we see is the head of this trickster god rolling across the sun.
In Mesopotamia, this is -- there was a belief that the universe was angry and the king would be -- have to die, that the heavens were angry at the king. And so, what would they do? They would put a fake king in, murder him, just in case the real king could slip out the back, essentially, a bait and switch.
There's a political metaphor in there somewhere, right?
QUEST: OK. Yes, just so -- yes. Imagine being told, good morning. Now, today you are going to be the temporary king --
WEIR: For a minute.
QUEST: -- for a minute. Long enough for us to kill you, so the real king can come back.
WEIR: Exactly.
QUEST: All right.
WEIR: So, he can do it. The Ancient Greeks saw it as a period of abandonment from the celestial gods. The Navajo, as we mentioned earlier, there's over 450 different indigenous tribes in North America. The Navajo see this as a moment of quiet reflection, no eating or drinking, you know, definitely no celebrations during the eclipse, but other tribes felt differently.
QUEST: This is a reminder that in the path of total eclipse, you see one thing, but the rest of the country will experience. This is something everyone can enjoy. And indeed, as I'm hearing from people e-mailing me at richard.quest@cnn.com, wherever you are, you may not even see it, but that feeling of being involved is quite extraordinary.
WEIR: And what's interesting, Richard, when you think about it, is those tribes that, you know, a thousand years ago would carve this moment into rock. That was the tool they had, right?
QUEST: Right.
WEIR: Now, we have infrared spectrometers and camera phones and all myriad ways of modern ways to basically record the same feeling of awe that they felt all those millennia ago.
SOLOMON: And really fascinating. I want to bring Tom Riddle back because he has a prop, which I think, you know, we just talked a little bit about sort of how other cultures and communities try to understand what was happening.
QUEST: Never mind the digital version.
SOLOMON: Let's have Tom explain what's actually happening.
QUEST: All right.
RIDDLE: All right. So, Richard, if you'd like to turn that, then what we're seeing is -- this is called an Ori, by the way, and we use it in our lessons, our labs with students at Roper Mountain. And what it's showing is that how the earth is moving around the sun and the moon is moving around the earth.
And so, what it also shows -- and there's a -- you can't really quite tell it. We can do it more in a classroom setting. You can do it a little bit. Maybe not be able to see the camera. Yes, there you go. But the moon is slightly tipped. To Bill's point earlier, that the -- there's about a five-degree tilt in the plane of the moon as it orbits the earth. And so, you can actually see that in this model.
[13:40:00]
We used to teach seasons and things such as this, but when it's right, if you move back, go back just a little bit.
QUEST: That's -- RIDDLE: Just a little bit. Right around there, bam, there you are. And
so, that's totality, where we're getting the earth right -- I mean, the moon right between the earth and sun. And as we said earlier, you know, it's 400 times smaller than the sun and 400 times closer to us. And so, it just covers -- it's perfect for covering the sun so we can see the corona.
SOLOMON: So, to put a fine point on it. So, the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun.
RIDDLE: Correct.
SOLOMON: And yet, the moon is 400 times closer to the earth?
RIDDLE: To the earth and the sun. And so, we have that perfect connection. And you know, it's -- you have to think in the cosmic scale of things too. You know, if you were to -- if the sun was the size of a basketball, for instance, and then the earth would be about a two-millimeter pinhead, then you'd put the basketball in the center of a football field, about the middle way point width of the football field, then you have the earth on the sideline. That's the distance between the earth and the sun.
QUEST: I have a confession.
WEIR: Yes.
QUEST: I --
SOLOMON: Is here the right place to --
QUEST: It's a day of confession.
SOLOMON: I mean, all right.
QUEST: In a moment of idiocy, stupidity, and ignorance, I forgot which goes around which.
SOLOMON: I think that's a fair --
QUEST: And I had to Google on the plane coming down to Atlanta -- actually, forgive me, from London, you see. Does the moon go around the sun or does the sun go around the moon or does the earth go around it? And I had to Google it yesterday, just so I could remind myself.
WEIR: One of our colleagues, Mr. Galileo, would like a word with you.
RIDDLE: Best case important, how much learning is happening?
SOLOMON: Yes.
WEIR: Exactly.
RIDDLE: Think about how many -- I'd love to see, you know, the number of Google searches that have occurred around the eclipse. Or I love what you're talking about. I'll have to get a copy of the book, because I'm passionate about getting -- that's what we do at the Science Center, right, we want to get kids excited about studying these things, nature, we've got to get connected again. So, this is just a great opportunity for that to happen. So, Richard took advantage of it.
QUEST: Right. So --
SOLOMON: Can I ask?
QUEST: Go ahead, please.
SOLOMON: Excuse me. So, when it's total totality, right, we sort of see the outer edges of the sun, the corona, and that's something that scientists don't often get to study. Can you explain for us why exactly that happens in terms of the corona and why this presents sort of a unique learning opportunity even for scientists?
WEIR: Yes. So, I'll start and, Tom, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but the corona, the Latin for crown, is the atmosphere of the sun, essentially, and it's really hot, much hotter than the plasma on the surface of the sun, but because it's sort of wispy and because the sun is so bright, we can't see it. It's hard to study.
And so, when we get that temporary blackout where, wow, now, it's cooled off for us to look at, that's when you can study that corona. And it wasn't until just a few years ago that science realized -- but this is another thing that I didn't realize. Did you know what we have shot a probe into the sun?
Well, this is a couple years ago. I'm looking through my notes. You know, what this guy is called, it is the Parker Solar Probe. It's named after Eugene Parker who witnessed solar storms, and this was a time when they'd have these solar flares and then odd behavior on earth with telegraphs and whatnot. And he said, boy, if we could send a probe up there and measure what's happening in the corona.
So, in 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe. It is the fastest man-made object ever created. It moved 430,000 miles per hour towards the sun. It has 4.5-inch heat shield on it where the front of it is 1,300 degrees Celsius. That's off the charts hot and the back of it is room temperature. And it's measuring that corona and its activity because all of that energy coming off, right, Tom, is -- affects so much around the galaxy.
RIDDLE: It does. And you know, this is an awesome opportunity, like you said, Rahel, that we have to study the corona unlike other times. OK. And, Bill, you're absolutely right. It -- we can't see it otherwise because it's so bright.
But -- and one thing I meant to mention earlier, you know, to be looking for during totality are the prominences. So, these are these flares. The prominences -- or it looks like -- you'll see like a little wispy red hairs almost coming off the sun, that's something to be on the lookout for.
So, you know, actually, you know, a lot of research has always been done around eclipses. And in fact in 1919, it was Einstein's theory of relativity that was proven during that eclipse because --
SOLOMON: Clearly the eclipse made him think -- is that what I read? Sort of made the --
RIDDLE: He had proposed it in 1915 that gravity could bend light. And so, they knew -- scientists knew -- astronomers knew where to look for the stars, in the heavens.
[13:45:00]
And then if Einstein was right, during the eclipse, the stars would be shifted somewhere else, and just off where they should be, and that's the light being bent -- or excuse me, the gravitational pull on the light. And so, that was actually proving that.
QUEST: So, we are just about 22 minutes away from totality. As you look at that picture on your screen, which is coming to us from Mexico, and you see the way in which the moon is moving forward. This is what's happening remember, all of this is what's taking place in real-time, the moon, the sun, the earth, everybody's going around each other, but that's the reality of it, it's happening now on your screen.
WEIR: Our celestial dance, the billiards game in the sky.
QUEST: And we'll take a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. So, Canada has declared a state of emergency for its side of the Niagara Falls region. It's set to be -- this is out of an abundance of caution because of all the huge crowds. Spectators have already started gathering in Niagara Falls early this morning. Trying to get a good spot.
QUEST: So, the emergency is really not expecting anything to happen. There's nothing wrong per se. It's just a sheer number of people who are wanting to enjoy this.
On the U.S. side, similar numbers that are expected to the 4th of July holiday weekend. And joining me now from the U.S. side of Niagara, John Percy, President Chief Exec of Destination Niagara USA.
I mean, this is one of those moments, John. You know, please, God, we should have these problems all the time. It's a sheer number of people who want to come and enjoy your destination.
JOHN PERCY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DESTINATION NIAGARA USA: Correct. Thank you for having me. It's great. It's a wonderful day. I can't wait to soon go over to the state park with my official glasses and join the crowds that have assembled over there.
It is probably better than a 4th of July weekend, better than we expected this weekend. We had fantastic numbers, small businesses thriving in the numbers that -- even surpassed the numbers that we projected. So, it's been a fantastic week. A lot of festivities that were planned, that people have been able to take advantage of in the entire region.
[13:50:00]
So, it's been a great week and leading up to this. We're just now praying that the clouds will move ever so slightly so we can get some glimpse of totality here at 3:18 Eastern Standard Time.
QUEST: So, let me ask you, how many people are you expecting? And because I'm "Quest Means Business," how much do you think it's going to bring in?
PERCY: Great question. I mean, we will, you know, pull together numbers over the next couple weeks and we have an official events calculator that will submit everything into, so we get a real precise and more scientific number.
You know, thousands of people. It's hard to project. I know there was a number thrown out there of a million. I don't think we'll have a million people, but tens of thousands have joined us today. All city lots are filled. State Park lot was filled at 10:00 a.m. So, the numbers are significant. Again, I think we will surpass a typical or high season day of 4th of July or a big summer weekend. So, it really is fantastic.
You know, tourism is made up of small business, and our job is to try and drive economic value to those small businesses. That's across the entire country. So, it's great that small businesses being impacted by this greatly, never on a first weekend in April for sure.
SOLOMON: Yes, yes, for sure. And on a Monday, no less. John, before we let you go, as we understand that the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, that is the site where she is planning to enjoy the solar eclipse. What is it about Niagara Falls that you think offers a spectacular perspective or view?
PERCY: Well, I'm getting chills when you just said that. You know, I'm going over to join the governor here very shortly. You know, we're iconic and how wonderful to have this historic moment in one of the most iconic wonders of the world.
So, you tie -- it's a great marriage of both of those. And so, I think with it being such a natural and iconic, and this being a natural, you know, celestial event, the two could not be married together better. And so, we're very excited that people did decide to join us on the Niagara Falls, New York side, especially the governor today.
SOLOMON: Yes, and we're excited to have you. We can't wait to see sort of the view as it crosses New York. John Percy, live for us there at Niagara Falls. John, thanks so much.
PERCY: Thank you, guys.
SOLOMON: And it's not just us. It's not just us here on earth that get to experience this, animals, too. QUEST: Animals are expected to act strangely during the eclipse. Ed Lavendera is at the Dallas Zoo. What are they going to do?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know. That's kind of the fun part of all of this, is that we don't exactly know what we're going to be able to show you on the other side of this total eclipse. But if history is any gauge, there might be some interesting reaction to what the animals will do during the total eclipse.
We are here in the -- what's known as the Great Savannah Area of the Dallas Zoo. We've got elephants, there's some zebra out there in the distance and ostrich and giraffes close by. And so, the question is, you know, there isn't a lot of research on what exactly animals do. So, there's a number of -- like there's a lot of crowdsourcing efforts to document how animals are going to react during the nearly four minutes of total darkness here in the middle of the day.
And some of the theories kind of go like this, so there could be some mating. We'll see. Some tortoises had done that in 2017 in South Carolina. There could be, you know, parents -- or animals that kind of gather around their young because they feel like it's a dangerous situation, so we could see some of that. We also could see some animals who think it's nighttime and start putting themselves to bed. And you know, the more boring option is that the animals could just stand around and say, what's all the fuss about, what are you guys humans go -- what are you humans going crazy for today? So --
QUEST: Oh, look.
LAVANDERA: But, you know, all of that kind of a great, great fun to kind of experience this today.
QUEST: Ed Lavandera, very grateful. Yes, that's a nice giraffe. I wonder what that's going to do. Let me know what the giraffe does, how's it moving. Thanks, Ed.
LAVANDERA: That's the bogo. We've made we've made fast friends with the bogo here today.
QUEST: Oh, excellent. I was just thinking, the -- thanks. Ed Lavandera in -- at the zoo. I was just thinking. So, if tortoises are trying to mate and they're not the fastest and they've only got four minutes, they'll have -- in Dallas, they'll have four minutes and 51 seconds.
SOLOMON: Oh, god. To --
QUEST: Three minutes and 51 seconds. They better move fast. These better be fast tortoises. I'm just saying.
SOLOMON: Yes. I'm hearing, let's get it on, in my sort of like musical sort of brain here. Thank you for that reference. Richard Quest. So, if the sun and the moon are getting together, well, so are hundreds of couples in Russellville, Arkansas. And that is where we find our Stephanie Elam. This is where couples are deciding to get married or renew their vows and a mass ceremony. Look. (MUSIC PLAYING)
[13:55:00]
SOLOMON: All right. Stephanie, this is a story that is very --
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can you guys hear me?
SOLOMON: We can hear you now, but this is the story, that is very near and dear to my heart, as someone who is about to get married herself, walk us through sort of all of the celebrations and the happy couples.
ELAM: Oh, it's so full of love out here, Rahel, I got to tell you. You've got right now the Liverpool Legends are on the stage right now. They're a Beatles cover band playing Beatles songs. And you see some of them brides and grooms are out they're dancing.
Last check, there were 358 couples we knew about that were registered for this event, but we heard that more have registered since then. So, this is going to be a massive elopement here for the eclipse here in Russellville, Arkansas.
Our weather has cooperated. We were looking at rain before, but now we've got pretty clear blue skies. It's actually really phenomenal. And because I've gotten my trusty protection here, I can look up and I can see -- yes, it looks like someone took a bite out of a cookie up there. You're starting to see the eclipse happening here. So, people are getting excited.
What's going to happen? They're going to stop playing, everyone's going to get married, there's going to be a massive wedding here for all these couples. And then everyone is going to stop, and we're all going to look at the total eclipse. And after that, of course, your Beatles are going to play. What do they have to play? "Here Comes the Sun." So, that's what they are going play at the end of this.
And then, all of these couples will then have their first dance. They'll have some -- a toast and they'll have cake. But obviously, it's just a beautiful day here that we weren't sure we were going to have, and people are in great spirits. We've heard some amazing love stories, much like, I'm sure, your own, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Elam, go on. Go on. Nobody -- Elam, I saw you earlier, you were in a hot air balloon, and now, obviously, you are back on earth. Just give us a sense of sort of what the vibes are like, how people were feeling. Obviously, you're looking beautiful and feeling good. How are people feeling out there?
ELAM: Oh, yes. No, seriously. We have heard from amazing love stories. The balloons are a morning thing because it gets too hot. I got a whole science lesson. And then, the earth warms up and the balloons can't fly. So, they come out early in the morning. That was really fun. We saw some couples taking rides as well.
And overall, a lot of people have been months to be here, to make this day the day that they wed their love. Some of them have their families out here, some are coming out here and just doing it themselves. And then, we're going to have a bigger ceremony in other places. But a lot of people have come from, I think they said about half of the states. They traveled to be here. So much so that little Russellville, Arkansas, which is a population of about 30,000, they say they have more than 100,000 people who have come here to be in the path of totality for this event here today. And they had gambled and won, because our weather right now is spectacular.
SOLOMON: Yes.
ELAM: And I covered the 2017 eclipse from Missouri. And, I kind of lost my mind. I'll admit it to you guys because we were drizzly and rainy and cloudy. And we actually still saw the eclipse. It opened up in a hole and we could see it.
QUEST: Right.
ELAM: Once you see one eclipse, you'll see why people chase it around. It's amazing.
SOLOMON: Well, Elam, you and I have to talk offline because between this assignment and the fact that you always get sent to the Bahamas for New Year's Eve, I have some questions about how you get all of these assignments, but we'll talk about that another time.
ELAM: It's the same producer.
SOLOMON: Oh, OK.
ELAM: OK.
SOLOMON: I got you.
QUEST: All right.
SOLOMON: All right. Thanks, Stephanie Elam.
QUEST: Stephanie Elam there. Let me just bring you up to date with where we are and what's going to happen as we move forward. So, we are roughly nine minutes and 30 seconds, give or take, from the first totality of this eclipse in Mazatlan in Mexico.
You can see there the -- this is when it really gets interesting, doesn't it? Because now we're almost there, 10 minutes away. We've got partial eclipse happening now in various parts of the United States as the path of totality moves on. But the first one for total will be when -- will be in just about eight -- nine minutes from now.
SOLOMON: Yes. Let's go to our CNN's Rosa Flores, also part of our wonderful team of reporters. She is in Kerrville, Texas, that's where the eclipse has started and they're going to be a totality in about 30 minutes.
Rosa, love the love of the outfit. Certainly, dressed for the part today. Talk to us about the crystal ball and what you're seeing where you are. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Rahel and Richard, there were predictions that there was going to be storms. And I spoke to the mayor of Kerrville, Texas and she told me that she looked through her crystal ball and that it was going to be a beautiful day and that about 100,000 people that were going to descend on this town were going be able to enjoy the eclipse.
And so, I borrowed that crystal ball. Just to let you guys know, if you have any questions for me, I think this is a really good one because it definitely predicted that we were going to have a beautiful sunny day, but stand by for that because I want to look up to give you a play-by-play of what we're looking at right now. And I can tell you that there is this beautiful crescent that has been created by the sun and the moon.
