Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Camp Mystic Parent Speaks Out; Hurricane Melissa Targets Jamaica; Roblox Sued Following Teen's Death. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 28, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:31:28]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And now to a SITUATION ROOM special report.

More states are taking legal action against Roblox and more parents are asking if it's safe. This popular gaming platform hosts more than 111 million daily users. And Roblox says it reaches about half of all American children and teens under the age of 16.

Well, Kentucky sued Roblox this month, alleging it failed to protect children. And Florida's attorney general just last week issued subpoenas, calling the platform a breeding ground for predators.

Joining us now for her first television interview is Becca Dallas. Her son, Ethan, was 15 years old when he died by suicide last year. Becca's family is now suing both Roblox and the messaging app Discord. And her attorney, Alex Walsh, also joins us.

Thank you for coming on.

And, Becca, I really appreciate your courage to come on to tell the story of Ethan, because you want to warn other parents. So tell us as we start what happened, what you believe happened to Ethan.

BECCA DALLAS, SUING ROBLOX AFTER SON'S DEATH: Ethan loved gaming. That was his favorite thing to do, one of his favorite things to do. He built worlds. He did so much amazing things with Roblox.

And it was an outlet for him. He thought and we thought it was a good, safe environment for him. It was geared towards children. I read reviews. It was a safe place, what we thought. But little did we know the dangers that were behind it and what was lurking behind it. It blew my mind.

BROWN: Tell us more about that because I understand that you put parental controls on it, but tell us what you learned and when Ethan came forward to you and told you what was going on.

DALLAS: We did everything we thought -- we did -- we did our best. We put the parental controls. We talked to my son about the dangers. Don't click any links. Don't trust basically anybody. You have any questions, please feel safe enough to come tell us. We just -- we wanted to be -- we were up front with him because of the dangers of anything out there, viruses.

And let alone little do we think this would happen to our child, a predator, somebody would reach out to my son.

BROWN: Yes, tell us more about that, what happened. Ethan came to you one day and said -- told you what happened, meeting this predator, as you say, on Roblox initially. Walk us through what you were told.

DALLAS: Ethan built up enough courage in January of last year to tell me something was going on and he was getting, his words, groomed.

He was getting exploited. And this man at the time, this person at the time, he thought was a friend, a kid, someone his age, someone they would bounce ideas back and forth and just -- he thought he was corresponding with a minor. Little did we know it was a 30 something- year-old man.

BROWN: Alex -- go ahead. Go ahead, Becca.

ALEX WALSH, ATTORNEY FOR BECCA DALLAS: Yes. Well, I will jump in here for a moment if I may and say that Ethan's story, sadly, is all too common on this platform.

Roblox provides this incredibly powerful tool to pedophiles and it does that by allowing sex offenders to come onto the site and pretend to be kids.

[11:35:02]

They can -- as in Ethan's case, this man turns out to be a known sex offender, pretended to be a little kid on Roblox, and he identified Ethan, he approached him, he built up a friendship with him, and then manipulated that trust, the trust that Roblox allowed him to develop with Ethan, to begin to sexually exploit him, to coerce him into sending pictures, explicit pictures, engaging in explicit communications.

And he then sort of threatened Ethan for years, really. I'm going to tell your parents. I'm going to put this on the Internet if you don't keep doing it. It was horrific.

BROWN: Alex, we did reach out to Roblox.

And a spokesperson tells CNN in a statement that -- quote -- "We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and our hearts go out to the family. Roblox does not allow users to share images or videos and none of the images involved were shared on our platform."

The spokesperson added that: "The company is committed to leading in safety through close collaboration with law enforcement, system enhancements, and policies that are stricter than those on other platforms."

So, Alex, how do you and the families you represent respond to that statement?

WALSH: Words are all well and good, Pamela. What we need are actions. What we need are concrete actions that are actually capable of protecting these kids. What Roblox needs to do, if it's going to continue to hold itself out as a safe place for kids to be, is to stop pedophiles from being able to masquerade as kids and go after innocent and unsuspecting children.

That is fundamentally the problem with Roblox. And more so than that, Roblox continues to market itself as being safe for kids. It's not telling parents the truth. It's not giving parents the information that they need to make an informed decision about whether or not to allow their kids onto this platform.

BROWN: And as part of the complaint, you say that the chat between Ethan and this predator, as you say, then was taken over to Discord, where there were inappropriate messages and pictures that were exchanged.

We reached out to Discord as well, Becca. And, Becca, it says it doesn't comment on legal matters, but the platform is -- quote -- "deeply committed to safety." Discord also detailed some of the steps it takes to quote proactively find and remove content that "violates our policies" and says it requires all users to be at least 13 "to use our platform."

Is that sufficient, in your view, Becca?

DALLAS: No, it's not, because not even 13-year-olds should be able to see what's getting sent on these platforms. It's not safe, in my opinion at all. Things need to be done and there needs to be change. It's just a cop-out. I think it's just an excuse for them to just say, like Alex said, use words, and the words aren't doing anything. They didn't save my child.

They're not going to bring him back.

BROWN: What does the world need to know about Ethan and how he changed after using these platforms, in your view, Becca?

DALLAS: It was dark. We had a dark time with him. He was -- no matter what, he always put a smile on. He was just a baseball player, loved his nieces, loved helping people. That was his biggest thing to do.

But, like they say, the children are people that are -- want to help people the most, are just fun and outrageous and just a fun character are the ones that are holding so much in. And he did. He held it in for years. And to have that shame, to have that innocence taken away by this predator, it just -- it hurts my soul.

And I hate to have any parent to have to go through this ever. And if I can make a difference today by sharing his story, help one family, then my goal is done. I'm not going to stop sharing his story and they can't silence me.

BROWN: Just quickly to follow up, our hearts are with you and I know we want to come on to warn other parents. And if you would, just -- what would you say to parents who lets their child use these platforms and they have parental controls there, as you did initially with Ethan, Becca?

DALLAS: You can never be too safe. Never be too safe with these children.

They're -- it's not safe. You can have their door left open. Talk to them. Have that uncomfortable talk about what's out there. Share Ethan's story. There's other stories that are out there that is coming to light as well with the unsafety -- how unsafe these platforms are. And I think it needs to be talked about. Don't be scared to tell your children about the dangers.

BROWN: Yes.

DALLAS: That's -- if it's going to protect your child, then you need to do it.

BROWN: Yes. And you say that the man he was interacting with on Roblox taught him how to get around those parental controls.

[11:40:05]

Becca Dallas and Alex Walsh, thank you both for coming on. We appreciate your time.

WALSH: Thank you so much.

DALLAS: Thank you so much.

BROWN: And if you or someone needs support, help is available. Text or call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 989.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And coming up: A grieving father demands accountability and change after he says flood victims, including his daughter, obeyed authority and it killed them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Returning now to our breaking news, the eye wall of that powerful Category 5 Hurricane Melissa is now pushing ashore in Jamaica.

[11:45:01]

The National Hurricane Center is warning people on the island it's their last chance right now to protect their lives.

Joining us now is Kristin Morgan.

Kristin, I know you have been visiting Jamaica from Atlanta. You were there for a wedding. I know you're about 45 minutes west of Montego Bay.

What are the conditions like where you are? KRISTIN MORGAN, VISITING JAMAICA: I'm looking right out the window

right now, Wolf, and it is -- it's just gray outside. Palm trees are all to one side. There's no sign of life whatsoever. It's really scary to see.

BLITZER: Where are you staying now during the storm, Kristin?

MORGAN: We're at the Grand Palladium Resort and Hotel.

BLITZER: And are folks there saying it's safe to be there or do you need to go somewhere else?

MORGAN: Well, so far, the hotel has said that the safest place to be would be in our rooms here. We haven't been directed to go anywhere else, and it feels pretty safe. It's just a sight to see looking out your window. And we're just about 50 feet from the ocean. So that's pretty scary, but outside of the winds pounding against the window, I feel relatively safe.

BLITZER: Have you ever experienced anything like this before, Kristin?

MORGAN: Unfortunately, I was caught in the Hurricane Katrina portion in Miami back in 2005, and it was -- it reminds me -- it's bringing me back. So, yes, I have.

BLITZER: It's an awful situation. I know you were supposed to fly home to Atlanta yesterday. What happened?

MORGAN: So, on Saturday night -- we arrived on Friday. Saturday night, our flight was canceled, and it may not have even been Saturday night. I think it was Saturday afternoon, and they told us to look for more flights, and we would book a flight and then the flight would be canceled, and we would book another flight and the flight would be canceled.

So right now we're scheduled to be -- to leave out on Wednesday, hopefully, but it doesn't sound like that flight is going to be -- I don't know, just remain because the airport has been closed.

BLITZER: Yes, it's very windy, obviously. Do you have any idea, Kristin, how long it might take for you to get home?

MORGAN: I mean, we have been told that worst-case scenario could be Friday or Saturday, when we were originally supposed to leave on Monday. My daughter's birthday is on Thursday. There are lots of things going on.

And this is extending -- this trip has not been obviously convenient. But I think, as long as we get there safe, I'm happy with it. But it's looking like it's going to be Friday or Saturday.

BLITZER: And you were there in Jamaica for a wedding? Is that right?

MORGAN: Yes. Yes.

BLITZER: And did the wedding occur?

MORGAN: The wedding happened and it was beautiful. It happened on Sunday. It rained a bit, but it felt magical.

BLITZER: And so all of the guests who were coming from out of town presumably are still stuck in Jamaica right now, right, with all these flights canceled?

MORGAN: Yes. Yes. We're all for the most part -- I don't know anyone from the wedding who has been able to leave. I believe the airport closed on Sunday at 12:00 p.m., Montego Bay. MBJ is the airport, yes.

But I think we're all just stranded right now.

BLITZER: It's a tough, tough situation. Stay safe over there, Kristin, and good luck.

MORGAN: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:34]

BROWN: A man who lost his daughter to devastating floods over the summer in Texas has this message -- quote -- "Camp Mystic failed my daughter. Now my hell on earth has a mission."

Eighteen-year-old Chloe Childress died in July while working as a counselor at a camp on the Guadalupe River. At least 136 people lost their lives in the floods. And the youngest were campers and counselors at Camp Mystic like Chloe.

Their families were upset to hear that Mystic plans to partially reopen next summer. One camper, 8-year-old Cile Steward is still missing.

Joining us now is the author of that opinion piece and, more importantly, Chloe Childress' dad, Matthew.

Thank you for coming on, Matthew.

First off, how are you and your family doing now that it's been almost four months without your daughter?

MATTHEW CHILDRESS, FATHER OF FLOOD VICTIM: Thank you, Pamela, for having me and thank your viewers and thank you for the continued coverage of these issues.

As I have said publicly and in testimony, this is -- this is terrible. This is as awful as you think it is, but my wife, my son and I, we take it day by day. It's been an emotional roller coaster of grief. We have been going through several days of trauma, not knowing about our daughters and then going through the process of identifying our children's bodies that will haunt us forever. [11:55:03]

But we are -- our family is moving forward. My wife and I are back both full time at work. My son's back to school full time. Work and school is a sanctuary for us all to feel good, to be productive. And the work that we're doing is the Greater Heaven's 27 Coalition is helping to provide another further positive silver lining for our efforts.

BROWN: And the Heaven's 27 is a group of parents like yourself who lost their children in the floods at Camp Mystic.

And you have written some op-eds. Your latest one is this piece for "The Houston Chronicle" and it's so powerful. I'm wondering if you will share some of it in your own voice.

CHILDRESS: Certainly.

"As this awful reality sinks in, I find myself repeatedly apologizing to Chloe. My job as her father was to protect her, something I did her entire life. But I wasn't the only one who was supposed to keep Chloe safe. The Eastland/Stacy family has run the camp since 1939. Their primary responsibility was to protect Chloe and the other girls at their care at camp. They failed. And now the Eastlands are hiding behind tradition, camp nostalgia and rhetoric to avoid the consequences of their actions."

BROWN: You helped, Matthew, get that camp safety legislation passed that Mystic now says it's implementing.

So tell us more about what your mission is now moving forward.

CHILDRESS: Certainly.

So, at its core, we're really focused on saving lives in the future. Our coalition of the 27, the 26 families that lost 27 girls are trying, again, to put our sadness and grief into something positive. So this op-ed was a view into -- it's the second one that I have done to really tell our story and our journey. The Heaven's 27 Coalition is focused on really three primary things.

So one is education. We are focused on educating parents and state legislatures about camp safety. Unbeknownst to all of us, there was an enormous divide in basic safety measures at camps here in Texas. These are measures that are present at all other places that take care of children, at schools, at day cares.

Parents need to be more educated on what is in place and what is not in place. And the divides across all the states are pretty enormous. But the second item is legislative change. As you mentioned, we did pass long overdue legislation within three weeks on passing commonsense legislation for camps.

But also it's for parents. It's to give parents confidence, to allow them to have the confidence to continue to send their children to camps for the long haul, so that camps can survive for the long haul, and that our knowing that our children died as heroes, saving future lives of other children of the future.

And then, finally, we're focused on the truth. Right now, the state has announced an investigation into finding out what happened at Camp Mystic. There's now a joint Senate and House committee to investigate what happened there. And hopefully uncovering that truth can ensure that the actions that happened or in actions that happened that night can further help save lives in the future.

BROWN: We reached out to Camp Mystic for a statement. And the attorney, a attorney for Camp Mystic, Mikal Watts, told CNN in a statement that he extends his heartfelt condolences to all of the grieving families and that -- quote -- "the only thing that could have saved lives from this historic flash flooding is an early warning flood detection system, which the state of Texas finally funded after this disaster."

What do you say to that? Because I know you hold a different view. You're blaming the camp. Why so?

CHILDRESS: Sure.

Well, at the end of the day, a lot of these things are already in the public sphere. Camp Mystic, first of all, there is a historical infighting amongst the Eastland family over profits and ownership of the camp. This created an environment of complacency within safety measures in favor of profitability.

Camp Mystic knowingly, and this is in public record, removed camp cabins from the floodway and flood plains to save money ultimately on insurance premiums. This is where 8- and 9-year-old slept. This is where my daughter slept. This was not disclosed to parents.

Major flooding had happened numerous times before. Mystic claims that this was a 1,000-year flood. That is not the case. There were well- documented storms from 1932, 1978, 1985. Tweety Eastland herself was evacuated by helicopter to give birth 1987, and then now in 2025.

In addition to that, from the first warnings, Camp Mystic took approximately three hours to actually start to move the children, when less than one minute would have had an opportunity to actually save all those children.

BROWN: Yes.

And, Matthew, I want to note -- and thank you so much for coming on. We're going to have the attorney representing Camp Mystic, Mikal Watts, on tomorrow in THE SITUATION ROOM for his very first television interview since those deadly floods. And we will pose those questions you raise directly to him. I know it's you and those families who are grieving right now have those questions.

Thank you so much.

CHILDRESS: Thank you so much, Pamela. I appreciate it.

BLITZER: And thanks very much to all of our viewers for joining us this morning.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" starts now.