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CNN Live Event/Special
Kerrville, TX, Now Experiencing Total Eclipse; Solar Eclipse Now Underway In Dallas, TX; Animals At Dallas Zoo React To Total Solar Eclipse; Russellville, Arkansas, Now Experiencing Total Eclipse; Hundreds Of People Tie Knot In Arkansas During Eclipse. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired April 08, 2024 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're going to be moving this way a little bit. LEON only because our camera is -- a signal is breaking up a little bit, so we're going to move it closer to our signal to make sure that we don't break up.
If you see me breaking up, let me know.
But as you can see, the color is starting to dim here in Kerrville, and you're starting to hear people screaming. I'm going to look up just a sec to see what we see. And let this breathe a little bit.
And, Leon, show us the crowd a little bit. I'm a look up.
So right now, there is some cloud cover. That's why you don't hear the crowd scream. But any moment now, the clouds are going to part and this crowd is going to go wild because, the last glimpse that I saw, it was this tiny, tiny crescent, which makes me think that people see totality here pretty soon.
And I can tell you that there is this chill in the air almost that gives you goosebumps. The colors all around me -- I don't know if you can tell -- but the colors all around me have a different hue. It really looks like you have added a filter to your cell phone.
Now, I can see a few puppies reacting to what's going on, too, Leon. Let's walk over here.
Because we have been talking to pet owners about what they're going to do during totality. And something tells me that pets might be a little smarter than humans. I don't see the pets looking up like we're trying to look up to experience it.
But we can hang out here.
Hi.
We're going to start getting a little closer.
And you can -- and you can start seeing that people are reacting to what's going on. I'm going to take a look.
What I can see is this tiny, tiny crescent with totality about to happen. And the darkness has settled into Kerrville, Texas. Everybody with their cell phones, with their glasses looking up, trying to capture the moment when of totality.
The chill in the air is getting cooler and cooler.
And let's just take in the crowd.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap.
(CHEERING)
FLORES: And you can hear the ews and aahs here in Kerrville, Texas, as totality is happening. There is complete darkness at the moment.
As I look up, I don't see anything because of the cloud cover. But if those clouds were to part just for a second, I'm sure we would see full totality at this point in time because it is completely dark.
Here in Kerrville, the temperature has definitely dropped. There is a light cool breeze. And it just gives you the chills to experience this here in person, knowing that it is 1:34 p.m. local time, and there is complete darkness in Kerrville, Texas.
[14:35:00]
(CROSSTALK)
FLORES: And if you're just joining us, we are in Kerrville, Texas, with maximum totality of the 2024, April 8th eclipse.
And what we're witnessing right now is a drop in the temperatures, total darkness, people waiting for those moments for the clouds to part so that they can look up at the sky as this celestial show, that we will not see in another 20 years.
Everybody here been very patient as they wait for that cloud cover to give them a peek of this total eclipse.
Again, there's this weird chill in the air right now as the temperature has dropped. And the colors all around us have a hue that I really cannot describe. It's just really magical. It's just a really magical moment.
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING)
FLORES: And the sun is coming up. This is a special moment. You can hear all around me, people clapping taking in this moment as we're starting to see the sun coming out again. As I look at the sky with my glasses, I don't see it yet, Boris and Brianna. But again, just a magical moment. A lot to take in here from Kerrville.
Back to you
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes, despite that cloud cover, still an amazing sight to behold, an amazing experience to go through.
Rosa, thank you so much for that report from Kerrville.
An emotional moment there in Texas.
Emotions were also running high at the zoo in Dallas where Ed Lavandera is.
Ed, we hear there's some stuff going on with the animals.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, try to keep up with me here. So about 10 minutes ago, we started hearing like a lot of more bird chatter. Out in a distance out there, there's some guinea fowl that started running around and making kind of crazy sounds.
And then we actually saw one of the younger giraffes start galloping around. A zebra started chasing him, and then the ostriches got into the mix as we'll. So that was all kind of going on in the distance.
Our friend, Tobogo (ph), who you guys have known here for the last few hours, he's chill, cool as a cucumber, unphased by what is happening.
But take a look at the crowd here. Dallas Zoo. They have sold more than twice the number of tickets they would normally sell for a Monday. And this is the crowd out here.
Everybody looking up at the sky right now as it is such a difficult -- to twilight feel. To kind of describe it, it's unlike any twilight that you have seen.
But everyone looking up. And if you look down on the ground, you can see the shadows that are cast by the light coming through the trees here at this point.
I think we were talking about this earlier. So that's kind of really dramatic moments as we are just a few minutes away from totality.
We're going to bring in Lisa VanSlett, with the Dallas Zoo, to kind of give us a sense of -- what are you starting to hear? You're on the radio with everyone scattered around the -- around the zoo.
What are you hearing from people right now?
LISA VANSLETT, ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF MAMMALS, DALLAS ZOO: Yes, right now, we're getting (INAUDIBLE) aviary, which is where we have several species of birds. Are going in their nesting areas, like they would at nighttime. (CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: The elephants are just over this tree line. We can't totally see them.
VANSLETT: Yes, but the elephants, they said behaving a lot more active during this time, just like we saw with zebras and the giraffe and the ostrich. And then the ostrich who laid the egg.
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: Oh, my gosh.
All right, I have to tell you guys the best part. Literally, seconds ago, right before we came on the air, if you look between those two tree trunks, there was an ostrich that laid an egg.
And the ostrich was kind of standing over the egg for a moment. And she's kind of got off elsewhere. I don't know where she went. I lost track of her.
[14:40:05]
Look, I can't tell you if she laid the egg at this particular time because of the eclipse or what the deal might be.
But even the zoo folks here were kind of curious about the timing of it all, considering it happened as the birds we're becoming much more active, much more loud here in the moments before totality.
And as you can see, now the darkness is really starting to settle in. I feel like it is our final turn here to descend and slide into the darkness and the totality of all of this.
So let's take a moment to enjoy this moment.
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING)
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: Unbelievable.
The ostriches are running.
(SHOUTING)
(CROSSTALK)
VANSLETT: (INAUDIBLE). And all of the flamingos gathered and went to the center of the bond.
LAVANDERA: All the flamingos went to the center of the pond?
VANSLETT: Yes. LAVANDERA: Wow.
VANSLETT: The penguins are clustered together.
LAVANDERA: The penguins are all clustered together.
VANSLETT: Yes.
LAVANDERA: The flamingos are all clustered together.
VANSLETT: Yes, and other birds are joining together and that's protection, to feel safe.
LAVANDERA: How exciting is it to experience this moment?
VANSLETT: It's pretty cool, yes. This is very neat, very exciting to experience, not only in general, but here at the zoo where we work and get to see the animals change their behavior during this time.
LAVANDERA: Yes. I mean, it is -- the color and the feel of this moment is unlike anything --
VANSLETT: It's great.
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: -- that I was expecting. It was absolutely magical. Absolutely magical.
VANSLETT: We love to the enrich the animals in different ways, but this is something we can never replicate.
LAVANDERA: No.
VANSLETT: So what a cool thing to be able to do for them.
LAVANDERA: You can -- let's take another look -- oh --
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: Yes, the other zebras are running. You can see the ostriches have huddled together there in the distance.
Where's our friend, Tobogo (ph)? Has gone over by his pen where he normally would go right before he puts himself to bed.
Not sure if you can make out the ostriches that are now kind of standing. There's three of them standing in the distance next to each other.
An absolutely captivating moment. And you can feel the excitement with all the people standing around watching here this afternoon at the Dallas Zoo and all across this north Texas region.
You can also see the zebras deep in the part -- this part of the area. They're -- they seem to be gathered together as we'll. Now, kind of settled down, being very quiet.
Here's Tobogo (ph), just walking around. He's very chill. Seems unfazed by it all, very.
Brianna and Boris, an absolutely special moment. I did not know which way this was going to go. I thought it could have been a complete flop, like all of these animals, like didn't -- not doing anything terribly interesting.
But it was absolutely breathtaking to be here, especially among this massive crowd of people who are just energized and kind of their breath taken away by what they've -- what they've witnessed here this afternoon.
SANCHEZ: It's so funny the emotions that go through people and obviously the emotions that go through animals. An ostrich just laying an egg in the middle of an eclipse.
[14:45:02]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Galloping zebras and giraffes, amazing.
And next up, we have something crazy people are doing, which is a mass of them getting married. We're going to get in a quick break and then take you to Arkansas, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We want to snappily get you to Russellville, Arkansas, where a mass wedding just took place.
CNN's Stephanie Elam is there.
Stephanie, what's going on?
[14:50:01]
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everybody is very quiet because totality is hitting. It is getting very dark.
I want to walk over here so you can see how everyone is looking up, all of these brand-new husbands and wives and couples here. They're all here. They just finished saying their vows to each other, kissing.
And now everybody is looking up at totality that is just about to occur. They're going to have a big horn that goes off to say, hey, you could take your glasses off and look at it.
And then everybody will take -- wow, it's really getting dark now. People are saying how dark it's getting, how cool it is.
Take a listen to what everyone is saying.
(CHEERING)
ELAM: There you go. Oh, it's amazing. (HORN)
ELAM: There's the sound.
(HORN)
ELAM: You can look at it now. It's amazing.
There's nothing like it.
So that sound means everyone can take their glasses off and look at the sun and the moon having their romantic interlude, if you will, since I'm here in Arkansas where everyone else has just gotten married down here.
They're all just celebrating their nuptials. We just listened to them all say their vowels. We saw tears, we saw lots of eye contact and hugging and kissing. And after this, they'll get to celebrate.
But here, I think because so many people were joining their hearts, unlike when you heard everything else, they're just silent. They really had a little bit of a cheer, but they're all just kind of hugging up on each other.
Let's take a look. Let's walk through so you can see how people are -- over here, people are just kind of looking up after just getting married, enjoying this moment.
Because, here, we have over four minutes of totality. So it is amazing. You can look out in the distance and you see there's a little bit of gold out beyond the trees. People are pointing. They're taking pictures.
But I'm looking at the couples hugging up on each other and really enjoying this moment, the first moments as newlyweds here.
Some people have on blinking vests. Do you see blinking vest over here? We've got blinking vests. Now that the darkness is here, they are enjoying all of the moments here.
I'm very surprised by how quiet it is. It's very different than what I expected. But people here are really just soaking up this moment together with their loved ones.
The sky cleared up. We thought it was going to rain and it did not. It's just stellar.
I don't -- I think this might even be clearer than the last time we saw it in 2017. Just absolutely beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I'm looking at all the sparkles in the -- in the light here.
Let me just see. I talked to this couple. I talked to guys, 15 years in the making. You just got married.
Just tell me how are you guys feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ecstatic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ecstatic.
ELAM: What do you think about this show in the sky?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god, it's amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel my mom's energy.
ELAM: Because your mom passed away. How many years ago now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been eight years now.
ELAM: Eight years.
And so you guys held off getting married until now. And now look at this. You feel your mom here. You guys are finally married. And this show in the sky.
How are you feeling? How are you feeling, Gary?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, he made me cry. I didn't think I'd cry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, tears of joy, obviously. I'm just -- I'm just so happy to be married to her.
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: Ashley (ph) and Gary, you here, now married.
So we talked to them earlier, but, yes, this is -- this is something that has been in the making for some people for years, for some people in months.
But, yes, I wasn't expecting everyone to get so quiet to really enjoy this moment like we are, and for over four minutes. This is very different than anything else I've seen. People hugging, kissing.
Some people have their -- this is their second marriage. They've got their children there with them. It's just been really beautiful to see all of the love that is happening here today.
And just watching the different colors in the sky. The sky is levels of peaches and little bits of blue, faint wisps of purple in the sky as well. And in some places, a deeper blue.
But it is absolutely phenomenal. And I would say we've lucked out here with the weather being as clear as it is. And to see these people enjoy this moment, to remember April 8, 2024, with this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful moment here and this sky. Just wonderful.
Take a listen again just a little bit of the crowd.
It's much more spiritual and emotional here. Like I feel the emotion from people.
(HORN)
ELAM: Oh, and there's the sound saying it's time to put your glasses back on.
(HORN)
ELAM: Oh, wow, that's amazing. It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
(HORN)
ELAM: Oh, wow, wow. That is absolutely stellar. That is amazing.
[14:55:01]
It looked like someone just made that up in a film and put it up on the screen.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
ELAM: People are now clapping, cheering for the new show --
(CHEERING)
ELAM: -- the sun reappearing.
(CHEERING)
ELAM: Feeling that joy here.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder --
(CROSSTALK)
ANNOUNCER: -- Boyd is going to do our first dance, an original song.
(CROSSTALK)
ELAM: There we go. So now we've got a performance. This is Craig Lloyd Boyd (ph). He also won seventh season of the boys. He -- we interviewed him earlier this morning.
And now he just was the efficient and now he's about to sing his song "Golden" here for everyone so that they can have the first dance.
So you see people are starting to get into position. You can see people are starting to get into position. So they can dance with their loved ones, now as the sun is coming back out.
We've got "Golden" here as the light starts to get a little bit gold in here and filter through.
(SINGING)
ELAM: But you see the happiness on people's faces. People kissing still. You can feel the emotion here. The emotion is palpable with how happy people are and the love that's here in Russellville, Arkansas.
(SINGING)
ELAM: A little town of 30,000 people. It looks like 100,000 (INAUDIBLE).
(SINGING)
ELAM: (INAUDIBLE)
(SINGING)
ELAM: Such a clear, clear sight to see, that ring around the moon here and all of these people enjoying their new rings on their fingers.
(SINGING)
ELAM: Absolutely beautiful.
(SINGING)
ELAM: OK, yes, this happiness. So fun to see how different couples react. Some are moving around fast, some are slow. Everyone is looking into each other's eyes. So much love here.
(SINGING)
ELAM: Listen. Listen. I have to say, one of the most beautiful things that I've seen.
And I'll send it back to you guys there. But absolutely beautiful. Let's experience 2024.
(SINGING)
KEILAR: Steph, that is something to behold. What a very different way that people are experiencing this eclipse there in Arkansas, with their first dance and their nuptials, and in-between an eclipse. Really unbelievable.
As we are awaiting totality here in Indianapolis, it is going to be happening in just under nine minutes.
And we're joined here by Spacey Casey, who is representing NASA, which is such a big part of this day and has, amazingly, helped us understand, to the second, how everything is happening.
SANCHEZ: Absolutely. Spacey Casey took a quick look lunch break from the International Space Station, popped down to Indy just to be able to watch totality as it comes in about eight minutes.
He's not going to be able to answer any of your questions, obviously. He's in a pressurized suit.
KEILAR: That's right.
SANCHEZ: But what do you think of all the experiments and all the cool stuff that's going on today on behalf of NASA as researchers take advantage of this eclipse to figure out more and advance science? Pretty cool, right?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: That is an answer.
SANCHEZ: Some stellar moves. Spacey Casey, we'll let you get back to the ISS. I know it's a heck of a hike.
KEILAR: Yes. Thank you so much.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much. Appreciate you.
KEILAR: And let's get to Adam Frank.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: Who is going to tell us a little bit more about the science here.
Because, Adam, this, it's really so much about the science. There are actually rockets that NASA is launching into space as they're trying to find out some information that is actually even just very important. You wouldn't know it necessarily, but it is to us day-to- day.
Tell us about what they're hoping to learn when it comes to satellites and things that we can only learn during an eclipse like this?
ADAM FRANK, PROFESSOR OF ASTROPHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: Before I go there, do you mind if I just say how I'm watching your amazing coverage and, you know, it is sacred, it is special watching people's response.
You know, I'm a scientist and I love science. But, you know, what science really reveals for us is how extraordinary the world is.
And how, you know, the moment of the eclipse shows us that we're part of this intricate web of not only all life on earth, as you saw with the zoo, but also this dance of the heavens.
[14:59:46]
And so watching people's response has been so moving to me. Because, as much as I love all of the experiments that we can do and all of the things we're learning, it flips back on itself.
And science is really a way for us to reveal how sacred our own lives and our own place in the world.
And watching everybody from Mexico, you know, now it's charging through Texas and onward.
