Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Event/Special
Partial Solar Eclipse Begins. Aired 1-1:30p 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.
[13:00:02]
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, hotels totally sold out last night, all the Airbnbs in the area full. So, we made it in at just the last second to be in, and hopefully see totality today.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yes. Normally, Texas is such a good bet.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Right.
FISHER: I know.
KEILAR: And yet, this time, it's not. They will still get the darkness.
But if what you want to do is put on your glasses and see those moments before the total eclipse, and then take your glasses off during the moment of totality for just an unbelievable experience, they're not going to see that looking at the sun, right, if they have that cloud cover.
FISHER: Just ask my father, who is an astronaut, who's here today. He has been eclipse-chasing for most of his adult life.
And he has seen some of these partial eclipses, or he has seen the total solar eclipses that are covered by clouds. And it's just not the same. Like, you just can't -- there's nothing that compares with getting a clear shot of the sun.
But, yes, I mean, if you have some clouds, you're going to be able to get something. You're going to be able to get some of that darkness and whatnot. But I think, you talk to these die-hard eclipse chasers, I mean, there are people out there who will spend all of their money planning vacations around where the next total solar eclipse is.
And you have to kind of play it at the last minute, see where the best weather is going to be. But they just say -- you know, for everybody asking, why is this a big deal, why do we care, why are we here, they just say, you can't -- it's hard to put it into words. You just have to experience it yourself.
And then, once you experience it, you're not going to be asking that question anymore. I asked that question to an astrophysicist. He laughed in my face. He was like: "Don't ask me that question." (LAUGHTER)
FISHER: "You come back to me with that question when you have finally seen one, and then you won't ask me that."
So...
KEILAR: I know. I understand that. My kids are starting to ask for the next one. So we will see.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: They're excited, and they don't get to see this. So they're excited.
FISHER: I know, yes.
SANCHEZ: An incredible experience, unlike any other.
And, right now, you're looking at images from Mazatlan. And the eclipse is also coming into view over Torreon, Mexico. We will -- in the next hour, it's going to be a total eclipse there, right?
KEILAR: That's right. That's right.
So it just started, this little -- this little bite out of the donut, if you will, this little bite out of the sun. And this is just getting started here. So, the total length of the eclipse is going to be 70 or 80 minutes. But it's just going to be that supreme view of more than four minutes that they are going to get there.
So let's go to CNN's Gustavo Valdes.
Set the scene for us, Gustavo. So many people have gathered and traveled so far to see this.
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's it.
And they're expecting up to 40,000 people. And, right now, people are starting to notice what you were saying. They're starting to look up at the sky, because they're starting to see that sliver of the moon getting in the way of the sun.
Unfortunately, it's a bit of an overcast, and it's not that clear. But everybody is very excited. The governor -- governor started to make an announcement. They are obviously trying to gain political points with this event.
But there are two things I want to try. They say it is very dark during the eclipse. There are two colors to look out for, red. This is my CNN Espanol hat, apparently becomes invisible, while, green, the Mexican baseball team, is supposed to be really, really bright.
So let's talk to the people who are gathered here.
Torreon happens to be my home state. So I'm sure I have some relative here.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Is anybody here? You see everybody here is family in Mexico.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
VALDES: They are excited to welcome the world.
These people is -- they came all the way from Dallas?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dallas, Texas.
VALDES: Why did you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
VALDES: Dallas is going to be on the path. Why did you come to Torreon?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I came with my wife. We're from Dallas. And then we came to -- with our families from -- so we can experience this awesome eclipse.
So, we're all here to celebrate this.
VALDES: And you made this like almost like a family reunion. You guys made a T-shirt and everything.
What is different here in Torreon than it would have been in Dallas?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they said it was supposed to be a lot better, but it's actually cloudy.
But the experience is supposed to be a lot better here. So that's why we decided to fly down here with the family and experience this together.
VALDES: And the kids, are you guys excited? (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALES AND FEMALES: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
VALDES: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Ready for the eclipse?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
VALDES: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
VALDES: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Everybody is ready here for the eclipse. They have the glasses. They gave away the glasses. Some people bought their own, obviously. But this is supposed to be a big party.
And on the other side, you can really -- I'm going to try to turn around here, but you will see how it's already getting packed. There are dozens of scientists on the other side. We're trying to come up. The -- there are two telescopes on the other side. NASA scientists are there.
This is going to be a big event. It's a big opportunity for science, for experiments. So, everybody's excited, waiting to see what happens. You can see they're putting the glasses on, because there's that sliver of the moon already covering the sun. We're ready for it.
[13:05:06]
SANCHEZ: Gustavo Valdes, we're going to check back in with you.
Actually, we're going to stay with Gustavo, because it seems like a pretty good party down there.
You spoke to that family from Dallas just a few moments ago. And, Gustavo, earlier, you mentioned that there were some 30 to 40 people from Spain that traveled to be at this celebration. Walk us through how many people are there and just what the general ambiance is for those folks that came so far.
VALDES: So it is getting a little harder to walk.
But you can see there's the group of 30 or so Spaniards. There are about three good spots in this city, this being the planetarium. There is a hill about 20 kilometers from where we are. They have a big sculpture of Jesus Christ. It's the second largest in the world after Rio de Janeiro.
And they're also expecting a big crowd. And then there's a university. And the reason Torreon and this part of Mexico, in Central Mexico, is a good spot to see the eclipse, it's because it's a deserted area. And in a lot of places, there are no -- there is no urban pollution. There's no artificial lighting.
So it's going to be really, really dark. So that is what's helping also the scientists track better the eclipse. So, you can see the families are getting together. So there are -- there's a lot of excitement here and for a region of the country that perhaps a lot of people don't know about.
I have talked to scientists who said they have traveled the world to see other eclipse. They have come to Cancun or Baja California and to -- for different events. But they said this is the first time they get to experience real Mexico. This is not a tourist destination. It's an industrial agriculture area.
So the people here, as you can see, are very excited to have people. We saw at the hotel, which was sold out months ago, two busloads of British people who were going to the university to be part of that experience there, so a lot of excitement, people ready.
And, unfortunately, the clouds are not cooperating. Let's see what happens in the next hour.
KEILAR: All right, let's bring Kristin Fisher back in.
Gustavo, thank you so much for that view.
The clouds right now not cooperating, Kristin, but they have a little bit of time there in Torreon, in Mazatlan. We're watching the Mazatlan -- well, it just clicked out there for a second, but we're right on cue.
(LAUGHTER)
FISHER: Oh, here we go.
KEILAR: All right, here we -- here we see.
So we see -- I think this is actually from Torreon, because you see that they have not begun their partial eclipse? Is that -- this is Mazatlan. We're getting all the views, people.
But they have a little bit of time for the weather to cooperate. This is not imperative that it does right now.
FISHER: They do.
They still have a little bit of time. And you look at all the people kind of looking up at the sky and checking the weather and hoping that the clouds are going to clear in time for their few moments of totality.
As we watch this, I'm struck by this interview that I did recently with a member of the Navajo Nation. And we come out here,and part of our culture and what we do is, we like to come out here and get together, and we have race cars, and there's bands playing. And when totality happens, we're all going to go stand in the middle of the racetrack and look up
And, who knows, there's probably going to be some cheering, some moments of silence. But as we watch what's happening in Mazatlan, Mexico, I'm starting to -- you feel that gravity of the moment almost. And the Navajo Nation, what they believe is that this is actually a very spiritual and sacred time.
It's a moment when, instead of going outside onto a racetrack and looking up, you should actually go inside and meditate and pray. And it's just so fascinating how all these different cultures view a moment like this, a total solar eclipse.
But the one real unifying factor here is the fact that, throughout millennia, throughout centuries, throughout all different cultures all around the world, whatever you think a solar eclipse is, whatever you believe, it's a moment when everybody does something, right?
It's a moment when you stop what you're doing and you take note of this incredible celestial event that takes place. It will not take place here in Indianapolis for over 100 years. It's been over 800 years since we have gotten totality here.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
FISHER: So I'm just struck by how so many different people celebrate...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
FISHER: ... a total solar eclipse differently.
SANCHEZ: That's partly why this is so special, right?
In a moment where culture is so divided...
FISHER: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... and different people have completely different experiences, and maybe don't even share the same reality, it feels like at times...
KEILAR: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... we're all unified watching the moon cross over in front of the sun, and marveling at the majesty of it as we take a look at live images from Mazatlan in Mexico.
[13:10:06]
KEILAR: And I think, also, we have been through some collective events that have not been so great here in recent years.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: So, to see something like this -- and not to knock 2017. It was fantastic. But this is going to even outshine or out-dim what we saw in 2017.
This is truly an amazing show. Not all total solar eclipses are created equal. And as far as this one goes, it is really going to be something to behold.
SANCHEZ: Yes, let's discuss with an expert on this rare solar eclipse.
Janna Levin joins us now. She's an astrophysicist, also a professor of astronomy at Barnard College.
Janna, thank you so much for being with us.
I just want to get your first impressions as we're watching the first signs of this partial eclipse come over Mazatlan.
JANNA LEVIN, PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY, BARNARD COLLEGE: It's always amazing to see the moon start to take a bite out of the sun, because it's really a cosmic accident that the moon just happens to be 400 times smaller than the sun, but it's also 400 times closer. So, the fact that we even have a total eclipse is just a celestial
accident. And it's really wonderful to watch when we do get them passing over -- overhead. It's pretty exciting.
KEILAR: The other thing is, there are things to learn about what is happening with the sun...
LEVIN: Yes.
KEILAR: ... that there are charged particles that are important to understand how they behave, how they affect the Earth's outer atmosphere.
Talk to us a little bit about what scientists are going to hope to learn today.
LEVIN: It just happens that this eclipse is occurring when the sun is at a maximum of its 11-year magnetic cycle.
So, the sun has a lot of incredible magnetic activity, and so people in the path of totality will get a moment, a few minutes, when they will be able to see the corona, which is the kind of outer atmosphere of the sun. It's much fainter and it's not as dangerous to look at.
But you will see lots of activity there. It'll be much more enlarged and spectacular than it was, for instance, in the great eclipse of 2017. And you might even be able to see ejections of mass from the sun. So scientists will all be watching that very closely.
SANCHEZ: Janna, I think we have to do a disclaimer, because we have been saying it over and over again, but it bears repeating. Folks have to be careful about staring into the sun.
And there are different rules about monitoring it. You have to have the ISO glasses. But if you are in the path of totality, there is a moment, a very brief moment -- and you have to be careful about this -- that you can actually look at the eclipse without glasses on. Is that right?
LEVIN: Yes, that's exactly right.
I mean, we see the sun overhead almost every day, except for in very inclement weather, and none of us have the urge to stare at the sun. We don't have to go around warning children, warning adults not to stare at the sun.
(LAUGHTER)
LEVIN: And the same thing is absolutely true here. At any point in the partial phases, you absolutely cannot look at the sun without protective gear.
And even if you have the protective gear, you should really give your eyes a rest every few minutes. It's kind of like standing near a hot fire. Your eyes will actually get hotter if you stare too long, even with the glasses. But there's a very brief time during complete totality where it's safe
to look, and the corona is just much less luminous, much less intense, this outer atmosphere. But you will be able to see that without protection and, again, maybe even see some of this incredible magnetic activity that we're looking forward to.
KEILAR: Amazing. That is what I am looking forward to.
Janna, thank you so much for taking us through this.
LEVIN: Thanks so much.
KEILAR: We need an expert, obviously, to explain some of what we're seeing.
And we're taking a look now at -- well, this is Mazatlan, Mexico. Next we're going to be going to Kerrville, Texas, which is going to be one of the first places in the United States to be catching a glimpse of that totality. Right now, we're looking at a view from there.
We will get a live report when we get back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:18:45]
KEILAR: The eclipse. Am I wrong?
SANCHEZ: The small town of Kerrville, Texas, has one of the biggest gatherings of eclipse watchers we are covering today.
You're looking at a live image right now. We're expecting to see the beginning of the partial solar eclipse there very soon.
CNN's Rosa Flores is there.
Rosa, the weather has been a concern for stargazers there. It looks like you will be able to see quite a bit, though.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, Boris?
The mayor of the city told us that she had looked through her crystal ball and that the weather was going to be amazing. And I think she has delivered.
(LAUGHTER)
FLORES: I don't know if you and Brianna have any questions for me about your future, but I think this is a pretty good crystal ball...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
FLORES: ... given the fact that there was supposed to be thunderstorms today. And just look around me. The sun is out. The partial eclipse has started in Kerrville, Texas, in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. And we're starting to experience this.
Now, I want to bring in some guests. They're here from Wales. This is Ian and his father.
Now, this is not your first eclipse.
IAN MCKEAG, TOURIST: No, it's not at all.
FLORES: Why Kerrville?
MCKEAG: This seemed to be where the weather might be the best.
And, obviously, the forecast recently might not have suggested it, but...
FLORES: Here we are!
(CROSSTALK)
FLORES: Now, I'm hoping that we can take a look to share with our audience...
MCKEAG: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
FLORES: ... what you're able to look right now.
We're going to use our eclipse glasses that fit international standards. And I can tell you, Boris and Brianna, that it is an amazing image. I can see the sun completely.
Ian, what is your reaction to this?
MCKEAG: Oh, it's incredible to see. I wasn't sure we'd see anything today at all, and you can see a little bit, coming off now -- oh, sorry -- about 3:00. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
FLORES: That looks like the moon. That looks like the moon going into the sun, isn't it?
MCKEAG: It's a little bit, right, yes. It's happening.
FLORES: Yes.
MCKEAG: This is it.
FLORES: Ian, thank you.
MCKEAG: No problem.
FLORES: Boris, Brianna, back to you, but I'm serious about those questions.
If you want to e-mail me, text me, you know where I work -- back to you.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Well, yes, I think, Boris, has some lottery number questions that maybe you can help him with, Rosa.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
I have to tell you, Rosa, for those who know, they will love this. Walter Mercado right now is smiling in heaven. He's a famous Latin fortune teller that was known all across Latin America.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: He's smiling -- and I hear Rosa laughing. You -- what was that, Rosa.
FLORES: I love Walter Mercado.
KEILAR: Oh, these are...
FLORES: I grew up with Walter Mercado.
(LAUGHTER)
FLORES: It is an honor for you to mention that I brought some tribute to Walter Mercado.
(LAUGHTER)
FLORES: Oh, wait, wait.
SANCHEZ: Of course. Of course.
FLORES: Boris, you're going to get to -- you're going to understand this.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: If you had told me that I was going to be imitating Walter Mercado on CNN when I was a little kid, I would have told you were full of crap.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Rosa...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: So, it looks like the weather is fantastic out there. You mentioned that there are crowds gathering.
I'm wondering what the food is like. We just had a donut up here, but I'm hungry again. Is there any special food to commemorate the eclipse where you are in Kerrville?
FLORES: You know, in Texas, there's always special barbecue. I have seen giant chicken legs out here.
There's a little bit of everything, of course, with a Texas twist. And this is the Texas Hill Country. I mean, the cowboy capital of the world is just down the street here. So, there's a little bit of everything. There's people here from Texas. There's also people here from all over the world, just like Ian was coming in from Wales.
But I got to tell you, Boris and Brianna, you're really starting to see and feel just something different. I don't know exactly how to describe it. A little bit of twilight, perhaps, is the best way that I can describe it -- describe it here, because the shadows don't exactly look how we normally see the shadows.
And this is my first total eclipse experience. So this is different for me. I can tell you that it definitely feels different. And every now and then, there's this cool breeze that we can feel, even though the sun is out. It's very weird, but it's a very cool experience.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: It sounds amazing, Rosa. And it's just going to get even better as we're looking at these live pictures, two of them.
One is sort of just the normal camera. Do not do this with your eyeballs, people. This is the camera, so it's OK. And then we're getting this filtered view of the eclipse from Kerrville, where you were starting to see that partial eclipse.
For a lot of people, they're not even going to notice that something is happening at this point in time, just a little chunk of the sun. You can see it slightly obscured by clouds. But it's going to get better and better until it goes to totality.
SANCHEZ: I do wonder if the animals that are in Dallas...
KEILAR: That's right.
SANCHEZ: ... just a little bit up the road from where Rosa is in Kerrville, I wonder how they're going to react to this.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is live for us at a zoo.
Ed, what does it look like where you are?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are at the Dallas Zoo, where we're going to be monitoring the animal reaction to this total eclipse.
And that partial eclipse is just now starting here in the North Texas, Dallas area. So, for the next hour-and-a-half, we will be closely monitoring all this.
We are with Lisa Van Slett, who -- you're kind of a -- you're the expert on all the mammals here at the Dallas Zoo.
LISA VAN SLETT, DALLAS ZOO: Yes.
LAVANDERA: What are you going to be looking for? What...
VAN SLETT: So, we're really excited to see what these animals are going to do, because I personally have not experienced the total eclipse, so this will be new to me.
But we're kind of thinking some of the herd animals might join together, thinking that it's nighttime, where they kind of gather to protect one another, and different things that they would do at nighttime, where great apes or some of our primates might get a little bit quieter, or even think that it's nighttime and they're ready to come in for the evening.
And the birds might get a little bit quieter, is some things that we have heard. So I'm really excited to see if that's true and what we might see for ourselves.
LAVANDERA: I'm not sure if you can see behind us here, but -- well, of course, Tebogo, the giraffe, starts walking off in the other direction.
But we have got lettuce. You guys have donuts over there in Indianapolis. We're going a little bit healthier with lettuce for the animals. So, if the giraffe makes his way back here, we will feed him.
[13:25:04]
But there hasn't been a lot of research that's been done -- been able to be done on animal reactions to the eclipse.
VAN SLETT: Yes.
LAVANDERA: So this is kind of an exciting time.
VAN SLETT: Yes. Yes, it's true. We have made all these predictions, but we're excited to see what actually happens, because maybe there's going to be some new things that we never even thought about.
LAVANDERA: All right, so where are you going to be when the eclipse gets here?
VAN SLETT: So I'm going to go up on our carnivore building's roof, so that we can have a big, wide view, and then we can look down at the African painted dogs and the lions...
LAVANDERA: And the lions. VAN SLETT: ... and look out at the savanna at the same time too. So I'm hoping to be able to see the elephants and giraffes all at the same time.
LAVANDERA: Yes.
VAN SLETT: Yes.
LAVANDERA: So, out in the space behind us that you see...
VAN SLETT: It's a wide view.
LAVANDERA: ... you have got zebras. We got ostrich. You got elephants around the corner over here, and our friend Tebogo making his way.
VAN SLETT: Tebogo!
LAVANDERA: Let's see if we -- oh, not going to happen this time.
(LAUGHTER)
LAVANDERA: It happened earlier.
But, as we mentioned, there's also some really interesting studies being done. Texas Parks and Wildlife is teaming up with NASA. They're going to be doing this, so they're setting up these recorders out in the wild in nature, in urban areas to kind of document the audio of what animals might do out in the wild.
So there will be some really interesting things. We have also reached out to a number of zoos in the path of the total solar eclipse. So, throughout the day, we will be monitoring that and hopefully being able to capture and show you as much of this reaction as possible.
And a lot of this is a little bit of crowdsourcing as well. Here at the zoo, they're giving people pieces of paper, so they can write down their observations and kind of feed that back into them, so they can capture and recording it. I mean, almost everybody's like a little bit of a journalist capturing this almost four minutes of totality here and what they might witness in the animal reaction.
So, it'll be really fascinating to see. The partial eclipse has started. It has been cloudy throughout much of the morning, but there's been some nice breaks in the clouds here so far. Hopefully, that holds for the next hour-and-a-half or so, so that people can get a good, clear view.
And we will monitor what this little fellow thinks -- not little fellow. He is a tall fellow.
(LAUGHTER)
VAN SLETT: Hi, Tebogo.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Not little, by any means.
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: Here we go.
VAN SLETT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And it looks like he wants some lettuce?
LAVANDERA: Oh, he wants some lettuce.
VAN SLETT: Have a little snack there.
LAVANDERA: He doesn't want that Krispy Kreme stuff that you guys are feeding yourselves over there. We're going healthy here in Texas, which is a total rarity, to be honest.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I was going to say...
KEILAR: He loves you, Ed.
SANCHEZ: Yes, I was going to say, maybe we should send Tebogo a donut...
LAVANDERA: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... one of these Krispy Kreme special edition eclipse donuts.
KEILAR: I don't think that's on his diet, Boris.
SANCHEZ: Well, who doesn't love a donut?
LAVANDERA: No.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Ed Lavandera live from Dallas, thank you so much.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We might get...
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Well, we're here to get in trouble, if anything.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We're here to have a good time. Come on. It's the eclipse.
(CROSSTALK) KEILAR: These are live pictures that we're looking at.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Don't do that.
Live pictures out of Mazatlan here, just a beautiful crescent shape taking shape there.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and on the left side of your screen, you're looking at Kerrville, Texas, the partial eclipse just beginning there.
We will -- of course, monitoring every angle of this amazing interstellar phenomena.
We will be back in just moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
