

7 Sep 2026 · 1h 24m · 22 chapters

The episode is a fast news roundup led by CNN’s Situation Room, centered on a deadly Amazon cargo plane crash in Miami and followed by major U.S. politics, international disasters, and crime. In Miami, investigators examine why an Amazon Air Boeing 767 overshot runway 30, killing five and injuring five. Witness and flight-data details say it left the runway at about 130 mph, still traveling far too fast mid-runway. A key claim is that a last-minute wind shift could have turned a headwind into a tailwind, reducing braking effectiveness; the FAA’s EMAS runway safety system is not installed at Miami International.
No single “guest” is clearly identified in the transcript excerpt. It mentions Karen Parkinson as a guest for the parenting debate segment, and David Soucy as CNN safety analyst, plus multiple CNN correspondents (Pete Muntean, Betsy Kline, Simone McCarthy, Whitney Wild, Gloria Pasmino, Claire Sebastian) who report segments rather than being “guests.”
Trump’s Supreme Court appeal to restrict mail-in voting; Nepal border flooding at Jirong Port; an Illinois mother charged with first-degree murder of her 2-year-old; an armed man arrested after lunging at Ohio nominee Amy Acton; and a Virginia “free-range parenting” case involving a five-year-old walking to a pond.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes.
Details surrounding the deadly crash of an Amazon cargo plane in Miami.
“And we begin this morning in Miami where there are new details and new images of the deadly Amazon cargo plane crash that killed five people and injured five others yesterday afternoon.”
Discussion on President Trump's efforts to change mail-in voting regulations.
“the FAA has promoted this system called EMAS, engineered materials arresting system.”
Exploring the case of a Virginia mother charged for letting her child walk alone.
“He signed an executive order back in March that really lays out new mail-in voting requirements.”
Coverage of Hurricane Lowell's impact and preparedness in Hawaii.
“Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required.”
Simone McCarthy reports live from Jirong Port, detailing the destruction after floods and landslides.
“CNN has been granted unprecedented access and was taken by Chinese officials to see firsthand what is left at the Jirong port.”
Details emerge about an Illinois mother accused of killing her toddler amidst troubling circumstances.
“Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra.”
Coverage of an assault incident involving a man lunging at a Democratic nominee in Ohio.
“Happening now, a 38-year-old man is facing assault charges after allegedly pushing through a crowd and lunging at Ohio's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Amy Acton.”
Discussion on a mother's conviction for allowing her child some independence.
“So when does parental discretion become a public safety issue?”
Exploration of legal implications surrounding free-range parenting laws.
“Barrett, I want to start just with this charge, contributing to the delinquency of a minor.”
Discussion on parental rights and recent legal movements in the U.S.
“All right, Barrett Berger, thank you for coming on to help us understand the legal aspects of all of this.”
Analyzing the causes and details surrounding the Amazon cargo plane crash.
“We're learning new details after an Amazon cargo plane overruns a runway in Miami, killing five people.”
Report on an armed incident involving a Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
“A disturbing incident at an Ohio campaign event.”
Discussion on the increase in gas prices and its effect on American consumers.
“or$180 for a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent.”
Senator Fetterman addresses allegations from former aides regarding his work ethic.
“CNN senior reporter Annie Greyer is here with us in the Situation Room.”
Discussing John Fetterman's responses to claims made by former staffers.
“And after this article came out in his statement to CNN, Fetterman says that was a bad joke taken out of context and that he has met with those officials many times.”
Exploring Brett Bonner's challenges with PTSD and brain injuries.
“Happening now, a national day of mourning in Nepal after more than 1 ,300 people have died in the devastating floods.”
Describing the events leading up to Brett's seizure and its aftermath.
“With us now is Brett's wife, Jenna, and his daughter, Kaylee.”
Kaylee discusses her research on brain injuries among surfmen.
“So I was in the restroom at a camper campers world.”
Addressing the Coast Guard's efforts to improve brain injury recognition and treatment.
“I wonder, what is your reaction to the Coast Guard saying it's making these changes now, Jenna?”
Learn about the Coast Guard's response to TBI awareness and prevention efforts.
“We've talked to Admiral Allende and Mass Street Petty Officer and actually the Admiral's wife.”
Explore the geopolitical tensions between Iran, South Korea, and the US.
“saying it would face, quote, serious consequences if it did.”
Learn about the new CNN film exploring the legacy of the Windows on the World restaurant.
“As we approach 25 years since 9-11, a new CNN film is sharing a story you likely haven't heard before.”

Get the gist, explore an idea or ask about something said.
On The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown, what are the key points of this episode?
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.
0:00Every day, animals across the country face abuse and neglect. And every day, the ASPCA shows up to rescue animals in crisis. But they can't do it alone. Visit ASPCA.org slash need. Become a donor today to provide the care and shelter these animals urgently need. And for a limited time, the ASPCA will send you a free gift as a special thank you. Visit ASPCA.org slash need. This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget.
0:43We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Happening now on the scene, investigators are trying to find out what caused this Amazon cargo plane to overshoot the runway. Five people are dead. The new reporting coming into the Situation Room. Plus, campaign confrontation. An armed man is under arrest this morning after pushing through a crowd toward an Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
1:23And what we're learning about the suspect's past coming up. Also, invisible injuries in the Coast Guard. They lost a husband and a father. Now one family's search for answers converges with a groundbreaking discovery about brain injuries in the military. And how young is too young? Intense debate this morning over this Virginia mother, now charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after letting her five-year-old walk to a neighborhood pond alone. Karen Parkinson is my guest coming up. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is off today and you're in the Situation Room.
2:10And we begin this morning in Miami where there are new details and new images of the deadly Amazon cargo plane crash that killed five people and injured five others yesterday afternoon. Take a look at this witness video.
2:31which captured as you see the moment the plane raced off the runway crashing into cars and erupting into flames in this video posted on social media you can see the moments just before impact as the plane was going nearly 130 miles an hour when it left the runway according to flight data. We're also hearing from some of the fire and rescue units first on the scene.
3:20Here's to be two black, two black. We have two black and one red. Make this an M.C.I. We're out of water. We have to back up. CNN is learning two of the four runways at Miami International Airport are closed today as investigators try to piece together why this deadly crash happened. I want to bring in CNN's Pete Muntean. What is the latest with this investigation, Pete? Well, Pamela, investigators still assembling on the scene here. Many of them arrived after midnight last night here in Miami after launching a go team from NTSB headquarters in Washington, D.C. They really have their work cut out for them here as they try to piece this together, this attempted landing that clearly went wrong.
4:05What is so interesting here is the layout of this scene. I am just north of where this crash took place. This is 67th Avenue Northwest behind me. Runway 3-0, where this plane was attempting to land, the end of the runway, essentially going left to right here. The plane kept going off of the end of the runway, through four lanes of traffic here, then ultimately coming to rest behind this Amazon warehouse and logistics center in the parking lot here. The plane still visible there with its tail in the air. And the latest from fire officials here in Miami is that this is still an active scene. We will hear later this afternoon from NTSB board chair Jennifer Homendy.
4:44She will brief the media sometime later today, the NTSB tells us. As the preliminary data keeps coming in, and the NTSB, of course, will want to look at some of these videos that have been posted online, one of them very, very telling. It shows this Boeing 767 still somewhat airborne as it passed way down the runway. The two-thirds point is where the airport radar and firehouse is visible. You see the airplane with its left main landing wheels still somewhat airborne. That would typically be the point that an airplane like this would be clearing the runway and taxiing to where it needed to go.
5:23There's a large ramp here for cargo planes here at Miami International Airport. Also, the preliminary data available from open source sites like Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange paints a very interesting picture here. that this plane at the halfway point of the runway, still going about 200 miles per hour, still would be way too fast. Typically, about half the speed is what an airplane would be going there as it was decelerating on the runway here. And then, as you mentioned, still going 130 miles an hour as this airplane ended up going off the end of the runway. This airplane is branded as an Amazon Air flight.
6:02Although it is operated by a contractor, Amazon uses only third-party contractors to operate its planes. 21 Air is the company that operated this plane. Its CEO, Keith Winters, has released a statement saying they'll fully comply with this investigation, Pamela. So tell us more about whether there's a system in place there that could assist with preventing incidents like this, Pete. the FAA has promoted this system called EMAS, engineered materials arresting system. It's at about 70 airports nationwide. I've actually been to the FAA test facility where they came up with this idea in Atlantic City.
6:39This airport does not have it, even though there is so much development here clearly off the end of runway 30 at Miami International Airport. It's a bed of crushable cement that as the wheels of the airplane go into it, it sinks into it using something called resistive drag. That's the property, the theory that causes the airplane to slow down. Clearly, if it was in place here, maybe this would have been totally different. That system designed specifically to prevent incidents like this. Pete Muntean, thank you so much for bringing us the latest there. Very sad. And happening now with just two months until the midterm elections, President Trump is renewing his appeal to the U.S.
7:18Supreme Court to restrict mail-in voting, asking the court to allow new post office rules to go into effect, even as ballots in North Carolina are already on their way out to voters. And Alabama is set to mail out ballots this week. So let's go live now to CNN's senior White House reporter Betsy Kline at the White House force. Betsy, this decision could have a major impact on how voters cast their ballots, right? It certainly could. And it comes as we are seeing mail-in voting become increasingly popular. Nearly 50 million Americans cast their vote by mail in the 2024 election. Most of those, according to Pew Research, voted for Democrats.
7:56But President Trump has spent years making unsubstantiated claims about illegal mail-in voting. And he has really spent part of his second term prioritizing mail-in voting and targeting that. He signed an executive order back in March that really lays out new mail-in voting requirements. What this does is give the U.S. Postal Service sweeping new powers to withhold delivery of mail-in ballots. It requires state and local officials to upload lists of mail voters to portals. It also requires special barcodes on envelopes for tracking. Not surprisingly, this immediately hit legal challenges from dozens of states.
8:36the Supreme Court is now considering an emergency appeal that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to implement this rule with just 57 days to go before the midterm election. And some election officials are warning that it is too late to implement this. The Trump administration are arguing for the urgency here. They say that ballots have already gone out in North Carolina, as you mentioned. Other states will soon follow. And they write in this emergency filing over the weekend, quote, once those ballot envelopes enter the mail stream, there is no retrieving them. And while the injunction allows the Postal Service and the states to continue taking steps to ensure that their envelopes satisfy the rules requirements, each day the injunction is in place risks sowing confusion and chaos because the injunction makes those preparatory steps voluntary rather than mandatory.
9:23Now, the states and voting rights groups involved in this challenge have until Wednesday to respond, Pamela. All right, I want to ask you about something else, Betsy, because President Trump is suggesting now that New Mexico should be renamed, quote, New America. What more can you tell us about that? Yeah, just the latest example of President Trump using social media to rename a geographic location. We saw this as he issued that executive order last year, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America. And then a couple of weeks ago, he renamed Lake Ontario, Lake America. Now, the president does have the authority to rename geographic landmarks like this.
10:01He does not, however, have the constitutional ability to legally rename a state. So what happens next? President Trump doesn't get to decide. Only New Mexico can. Pam. All right. Betsy Kline, thank you much. Still ahead, CNN is on the ground at the Nepali-Chinese border, getting unprecedented access of what's left of the crossing after deadly flooding. And it's the story igniting a parenting debate across the country. A Virginia mom is convicted after letting her five-year-old walk to a pond alone in their gated community. She'll join us in about 30 minutes to tell her story and what she's facing now.
10:40You're in the Situation Room, and we'll be right back.
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11:28Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. happening now. A state of emergency is issued for Hawaii this morning as Hurricane Lowell, a category three storm, is barreling toward the islands. It is the third storm in just over three weeks to target Hawaii.
12:02So let's go live now to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, hurricane and tropical storm warnings are in effect for some of the Hawaiian islands. Who is at risk here? Yeah, that's a significant update because just overnight as the track backshifted a little further east, it gets the threats closer to Kauai County. That's where the hurricane warnings are. Let me show you what it looks like inside of the hurricane. This is new video from the Hurricane Hunters, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. That is a stadium effect textbook. You can see all the way up to blue sky overhead. That's the center, the most powerful part of the storm, of course, right along the periphery of the center of the eye wall.
12:40That's what they were flying in just a few minutes ago. Notice that movement northeast. The fact that it's got an easterly trajectory is concerning for me. Let me show you why, because the computer models, which were several hundred miles off the western islands of Hawaii, have now brought it closer and closer. And that subtle change is now increasing the risk of tropical storm force winds for the outer westernmost islands of Hawaii, including Kauai. But those high elevations can also increase the risk of hurricane force gusts. It's already raining across that area. Unfortunately, the Kauai airport or whether the Kauai radar is currently down.
13:17But this is forecast to remain a hurricane, at least a Category 2, as it makes its closest approach tonight and into early Tuesday morning. 175 miles, that's what separates the outer edges of tropical storm-force winds in the center of the storm. Hurricane-force winds extend over 60 miles from the center. That means the closer and the further it shifts eastward, the more direct impacts we will feel over the western portions of Hawaii. It's not just Kauai. We're talking about Oahu, Maui, and into the big islands getting significant rainfall totals. Pamela, we could see over a foot of rain in many of these locations.
13:51Flash flooding and mudslides are a risk. We'll keep tracking. Derefang Dam, thank you. And happening now, officials in Nepal say the death toll from last month's catastrophic flooding has risen to 1 ,355, and nearly 5 ,000 are still missing. CNN has been granted unprecedented access and was taken by Chinese officials to see firsthand what is left at the Jirong port. That's the crossing at the China-Nepal border. CNN's Simone McCarthy is on the ground there and filed this report. So we're walking into the main hard-hit port area. Now, I mean, even just some of the ground here is incredibly unstable.
14:31It's like, it feels like it's almost hollow underneath. You can see there's quite large rocks here. There's also excavation going on behind us. A number of workers are actively in the midst of some of the response and repairs here. We've been told as well as we were walking over that there are the risk of loose rocks. I'm standing in the location that was once a five-story border checkpoint. This used to be a bustling hub of transit between Nepal and China with travelers, travel agents, people involved in trade coming over that border, moving through what was once a huge building here. This is the spot where a huge wall of water washed over a five-story building in video that was captured on surveillance footage on August 26 when devastating floods and landslide hit the China Nepal border.
15:27I'm standing now in the area where that building was. This is Jirong Port in Tibet where CNN is part of a small group of foreign reporters who've been given access to this site the first time that foreign media have been allowed entry. And now to see what the impact of that was here where there's just, I mean you would never know that there had been anything here at all. There's actually a sign which is indicating that this was a foundation. You can still see some rebar, but that's really the only thing that remains. There have been no survivors found in this location. And right now, the rescue teams are just contending with this heavy, heavy mud.
16:14The road that we took to get in here was actually layered in some places with five feet of mud. It took the better part of a week for emergency workers to be able to enter via road. One of the other things that we can notice is that the flood waters actually reached so high up onto the mountain. You can see some of the greenery has actually been scraped away there as a result of just how high those flood waters came as they barreled through this area. We asked one of the responders how long he thought the operations would continue and he wasn't able to give an answer. They've put up a Chinese flag to memorialize what was here, but there's just absolutely nothing left.
16:56This area has also been a focal point for families who are desperate for information about what happened to loved ones that they believe were at this border crossing at the time when that landslide and flooding hit this area. They're still waiting for answers. The government has yet to publish publicly a list of who was at the border crossing at the time. Families are really desperate for more information about what happened here. And looking around, you can see that there's no answers immediately visible. Simone McCarthy, CNN, Jirang Port. All right, Simone McCarthy, thank you. and you can help those impacted by the floods by going to cnn.com slash impact.
17:44And coming up, an Illinois mother is accused of killing her two-year-old son. Questions now surround text messages before the incident. CNN's Whitney Wild is live in Chicago for us with this story. Whitney? Well, coming up, Pam, we'll tell you what police say she told them about why she carried out this crime, and then we will also tell you what a neighbor saw horrifically as she walked into that home.
18:13This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can't afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Well, new this morning, an Illinois mother is set to appear in court tomorrow on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of her 2-year-old son.
18:55Court documents say Corey Walsh became very invested with the Lindsay Clancy trial and was texting her friends about it just before her toddler's death. Her attorney says the mother of four was experiencing a mental health crisis. Let's go live now to CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild in Chicago. Whitney, these details are so disturbing. What are you learning from investigators? Well, Pamela, it's the timeline here that I think has investigators fixated on the role that the Lindsay Clancy trial may have played in this tragedy. So what we know, according to police, is that she was on a group.
19:29The mother, Corey Walsh, was on a group text with her friends about the Lindsay Clancy trial up until 1230 Tuesday. By 4 o 'clock, police were responding to a report of an unresponsive toddler. A neighbor went inside the home and found 2-year-old Barrett Walsh hanging from a rafter. That neighbor tried to bring the 2-year-old down, tried to perform CPR, tried to save that toddler's life. But tragically, that toddler was pronounced dead about an hour later at a hospital nearby. That neighbor also found Corey Walsh in an upstairs bathroom actively trying to harm herself. So the neighbor grabbed the knife, threw it into the sink, and as police arrived, they found the neighbor pushing a towel against Corey Walsh's thighs.
20:13Law enforcement finding Corey Walsh basically covered in blood in a bathtub. They say that after this incident, she told them that she did this because two-year-old Barrett was the devil and was the antichrist, and also gave them information about this crime that they say was consistent with the evidence that they themselves witnessed as they went inside that home. At the time of this tragedy, there was a baby inside that home. And then horrifically, Pamela, two school age children came home around the time Barrett Walsh was found. Corey Walsh's husband was not in town at the time. He was traveling.
20:50He flew home. She is now in custody. Law enforcement is trying to keep her in custody because they say that following this incident, she also made comments about harming her other children and harming her husband. As you mentioned, she has a court date tomorrow. Her attorney says that this is clearly a psychotic episode. Here's the statement from her attorney, Andrea Lyon. She says this is a tragedy for the Walsh family, all of whom are mourning the loss of this child. It is also a tragedy that Corey herself was experiencing a psychotic episode. at the time this happened. It is our hope that through a thorough presentation and investigation of the facts that all of us will come to see this heartbreak for what it is.
21:34Again, that is Corey Walsh's attorney, law enforcement saying plainly, Pamela, this is first degree murder. Back to you. Whitney Wilde, thank you. And help is available. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health, just call or text 988. And coming up, New details about the armed suspect accused of lunging at the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor during a rally. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
22:06Happening now, a 38-year-old man is facing assault charges after allegedly pushing through a crowd and lunging at Ohio's Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Amy Acton. It all happened at a fair in Canfield yesterday as Acton was speaking to a crowd right inside the county Democratic Party tent. An armed individual came barreling through the crowd, pushing people out of the way, actually knocked down a couple of senior citizens and elderly people in the crowd right in front of Dr. Acton. Authorities say they found several weapons on the man after his arrest. Acton was not hurt in the incident, but as you just heard, several bystanders were injured.
22:44And in southern Lebanon, officials there say at least nine people were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight. The Israeli military says the strikes were triggered after a pair of Hezbollah explosive drones were launched at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Despite a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon and ongoing diplomatic talks, Israel also carried out strikes in several other areas in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon's national news agency. agency. A new video shows the tense moments after a Colorado murder suspect who was out on a$3 million bond crashed into two vehicles. Oh my God. Oh my God.
23:23Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. As he allegedly tries to leave another driver steps in front of his truck, apparently to stop him. Moments later, the The suspect backs up and then drives away. He has not been charged yet in the alleged hit and run, but authorities arrested him a week later for violating the terms of his house arrest. And happening now, Russia and Ukraine are launching fresh drone strikes, including a Ukrainian attack on an oil refinery, as we learn more about a new push by the Trump administration to bring the war to an end. U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Vladimir Zelensky yesterday in their first visit to Kiev since the war began.
24:06And they arrived straight from Moscow, where they held intensive talks with Vladimir Putin. A Kremlin aide called those talks, quote, useful. But Whit Kopp is going a step further, saying he's confident they can reach a good resolution. We came to see President Putin first. We needed to hear where he stood. We had good, concrete conversation with him, which we advised President Zelensky and his team about. Both sides have to come to a resolution here. And my job and Jared's job together is to bring the parties together, to narrow the issues between them, to create good communication channels. And hopefully we began that process constructively in the last 48 hours.
24:50And we're confident that there'll be a good resolution here. All right, let's go live now to CNN's Claire Sebastian. So tell us more about what came out of these discussions, Claire. Well, Pamela, I think it was striking that you heard there from Steve Witkoff that he said, we began that process of beginning the two sides together. I think that really throws into sharp focus just how much time has been lost here. They're now pushing the U.S. side for trilateral meetings to restart. They already held three rounds of those at the beginning of this year between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia. So they want to restart that.
25:24So we're essentially getting back to where we were at the beginning of this year. That is one thing. But I think what is clear is that the U.S. really believes that now is the moment to reinvigorate, to restart this diplomatic process. And it was meaningful for Ukraine that the U.S. envoys turned up in Kiev for the first time. That was Steve Witkoff's eighth visit to Russia by contrast. So the optics there were really important, as was the promise of potentially new aid in terms of energy and air defense to help them through winter, as was discussions of security guarantees. So there were positive notes there for Ukraine.
25:57But I think, look, what we have now in terms of next steps, potentially trilateral meetings, the Kremlin said today that it's not ruling them out. Ukraine is open to any form of diplomacy. It just wants it to continue. So that could be the next steps. But look, meanwhile, there are no new ideas, as far as we know, as to how to end this escalating cycle of violence. And as you say, there were more drone strikes. The facility belonging to British American tobacco, a cigarette maker, was hit in a town a couple of hours east of Ukraine. That was hit by Russia. The company says there was damage. No one in terms of employees was injured.
26:33And meanwhile, Ukraine also firing drones at Russia. Russia saying it intercepted more than 300 of them overnight. We had footage of a residential building in a central region being hit. Ukraine hasn't commented on that. So this is an escalating war. And this diplomacy is coming in at that time of escalation. All right, Claire Sebastian, thanks so much for bringing us the latest on that front. And coming up, a Virginia mother is sparking a national debate of when is too young to let your children walk alone. Her decision to let her five-year-old walk to a neighborhood pond alone led to charges.
27:10Carrie Ann Parkinson joins us next.
27:17This holiday, all plants, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want... Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables.
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28:25A Virginia mother was convicted of a misdemeanor and is now on a child abuse and neglect registry after letting her five-year-old walk alone to collect feathers in their gated community, according to The Washington Post. The legal fallout has sparked intense debate over parenting rights and government oversight. And joining us now is the mother herself, Carrie Ann Parkinson, who is currently appealing her conviction. Carrie Ann, thank you so much for coming on the show to talk about this. So I want to go back to earlier in the summer. You're eight months pregnant. You're studying for the bar exam.
28:59Tell us what happened that day. So Sam and I went for our morning walk that we always go on. and as we were coming home and going past the pond near our house, he was picking up goose feathers and sticking them in his backpack. And then he beat me home. He was on his bike. And so he dashed into the garage, put his bike away. And as I was walking up to the house, he walked out to me and asked if he could go back to get more. And I kind of thought for a second. I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, we just did that walk. I know where he's going. And I said, sure, I'm going to go make lunch. You go there and come right back.
29:33And so he went. And then about 20 minutes later, I had a security guard at my front door with my son with wide eyes and a scared look on his face. And then what happened from there? So he was the security guard was upset, told me that a neighbor had seen him alone. And I said, you know, I gave him permission. He's OK. He he knows where he is. And and the security guard had even asked Sam to get in his truck to go home. And Sam had said, I can't I can't go in your truck. You know, you're a stranger. Um, and so he walked the security guard home. He showed him how to get home. And so I was explaining to the security guard, this is something that he's capable of doing.
30:14And I, you know, this isn't against the rules of the HOA. And he said, well, if it's not against the rules, it's against the law. So I'm going to call the police. So then the police came and I, by the time the police came, I was pretty upset because Sam had told me that the security guard had told him there were bad people in the neighborhood who wanted to hurt him. So Sam was just really upset with me and saying, like, are there bad people in our neighborhood? So police get there. And they're telling me, you know, that they had come because security had found him alone. And I said, I'm really not interested in talking to you.
30:44And they said, well, if you won't talk to us, then you're going to talk to CPS. So then they called CPS. And I just thought, what is going on? Like, this is, I'm surely they have, you know, bigger fish to fry, other things to take care of. But no, the CPS workers showed up and my husband got home from lunch and was talking to them and they were just insisting a five-year-old can absolutely never be alone under any circumstances. And it was just bewildering because it wasn't some impulsive parenting decision. It was this is a trail that Sam walks on every day. It's the trail his siblings take to go to school.
31:20It's the trail he takes to go to swim lessons, to tennis practice, to the park, to his friends' houses. He has made this walk hundreds of times. And suddenly it was a crime and I'm a child abuser on a child abuse registry. And you're eight months pregnant during all of this. How did that make you feel? Yeah, that was horrible. Honestly, that was something that just navigating that experience during the summer, you know, right before having the baby. I was served with a warrant for my arrest. a week before the baby was born. I received the notice that I had been found neglectful and would be placed on the child abuse registry on my 16th anniversary, a month after the baby was born.
32:04My trial was when my baby was eight weeks old. And so there were a lot of crazy thoughts going through my head, like, you know, they could show up and take my kids away. You know, people are going to think I'm a really bad mom. I, you know, how am I going to get through this? People are going to, you know, just think that I hurt my kids. And I really felt so isolated. And then when Lenore Skenazy and Let Grow were really, you know, saying, we need to share this story, I was really kind of afraid of what would happen. But it has only been positive. You know, Let Grow has been extremely supportive.
32:37Jonathan Haidt and Lenore just helped me to get the word out and help people know that parents know their kids, and we need to give them opportunities to get out and grow. But it was extremely difficult and scary, especially being, you know, newly postpartum. Yeah. And tell us more about how Jonathan Haidt, who's written books about the importance of kids being independent and not being on their cell phones or tablets inside and just being a kid. How has that played in to your sort of parenting style? Well, one thing that I think is really important that he writes about is that children are not going to suddenly wake up and become capable 18 year old adults who can go out into the world and encounter difficult challenges.
33:20That begins when they're very young. It begins with allowing them opportunities to encounter age appropriate risks. And so when Samuel asked me, he asked to go make this trip and he was enthusiastic about it. He wanted to do it. And I, you know, there have been other times where he's asked me to go to a friend's house and then gotten a little nervous that they would say no one came back before he even made it all the way. So I knew he was capable of that. But Jonathan Haidt, he talks about that in his book, The Anxious Generation, and says they need opportunities to challenge themselves, to try what they're capable of.
33:51And so as you see signs that your kid is ready to approach those risks, give them the opportunity. And so that's exactly what we were doing with Sam. No one was pushing him to do this. He didn't wander off. He wasn't lost. He knew where he was going. He knew what he was doing. And it's perfectly in line with good child development that I learned when I was doing my bachelor's degree at BYU. It's what I've taught countless parents as part of my professional career before going to law school is give your kids a chance. We need to allow them to stretch because if we are denying them opportunities to grow, then they're not going to suddenly be capable of encountering difficulty when they're an adult, when they're going to college.
34:34But the other problem is that parents see that if they do something that seems a little out of the ordinary or seems to have any amount of risk, even if it's reasonable risk, they're going to be subjected to all of this stigma, all of this judgment, and possibly criminal charges. So on that note, in Virginia, you have what's known as the reasonable childhood independence law. This bill says neglect is only when you put your child in serious, obvious danger. Being a lawyer yourself now, having studied this, why do you interpret that this law doesn't apply to what happened in your situation? Tell us more.
35:11I think the law does apply in this situation. And those are good questions. I mean, I'm very newly out of law school, so I'm a baby lawyer. But what's really important about that bill is that it places the decision in the parents' hands. They're the person best situated to assess the child's ability. And that really wasn't something that was taken into consideration at my trial at all. It was simply, you know, the police and CPS felt like five was too young, and so five is too young, and without any sort of recognition of the fact that this was a reasonable childhood activity on foot, near home, and that he was capable of taking that risk on his own.
35:52What do you say, though, and I know you've heard from the security guard and others, and you were convicted by this judge of delinquency of a minor charge. What do you say to those who say five years old is just too young to be out alone given present day dangers? I think every child is different. When my, you know, I have five children. When my third was five, I wouldn't have let her do that same activity because she wasn't ready for that, right? And she didn't ask. And so I think what's important is we shouldn't be drawing bright line rules and saying never always under any circumstances, especially with saying things like in today's world, the world has never been safer, honestly.
36:34America has never had lower rates of child kidnapping. I think Lenore Skenazi talks about if you wanted your child to be kidnapped, you'd have to leave him outside for 700 ,000 years to guarantee that outcome because it's just so rare. And we hear about it all the time and we care about kids and we want them to be safe. But we also are not very good at predicting how risky certain things are. It's much more dangerous to get in the car and drive to the grocery store than it is to let a kid walk down the sidewalk in his own neighborhood. And so I understand that people have those concerns. And I'm not telling people how they should parent.
37:13Everyone should look at their own children and determine what they think is right for their kids. But what we shouldn't do is criminalize people who do know their children and do know what they're capable of and allow them to explore those capabilities. All right. Carrie and Parkinson, thank you. And by the way, congrats on finishing law school. That is no small feat. Thank you. Juggling all that you juggle with with your kids. My goodness. Thank you so much. Thank you. I want to talk more about this case with former federal prosecutor Barrett Berger. Barrett, I want to start just with this charge, contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
37:48Explain what that means and what it's typically associated with. Yeah, so this is really interesting. There's no uniform national rule that establishes things like what age can a child walk by themselves, bike by themselves, stay home by themselves. You see different approaches taken by different states. So you alluded to this Virginia provision. So it's interesting. Virginia is one of these reasonable independent states, and there's a growing number of these that sort of expressly protect certain unsupervised activity. This protection is an absolute and courts have to look at the child's age and maturity.
38:27But usually these kind of charges are for when somebody is left alone for, you know, hours and hours, situations where a child might be left in a hot car, things that really exceed what any parent would think of as, you know, normal, responsible parenting. Here, this is a situation where you have two sets of discretion, right? You have the discretion of the parent who, as you heard Ms. Parkinson saying, really thought in the context, given her children and what she knows about each of them, that this was an age-appropriate activity for her child. And then the discretion of law enforcement who sees this through a different lens.
39:03Obviously, you know, these two don't always line up neatly, but it is surprising to me that they brought this kind of a charge for that kind of activity. Yeah. Like I mentioned, you had the judge convicting her of a minor charge, a first-degree misdemeanor, which comes with a six-month jail sentence, by the way. The judge suspended that sentence pending good behavior and compliance with CPS's conditions. But I guess the question is, how unusual is it to see this applied in this way, given the circumstances here? So I won't say it never happens. There are, you know, we have seen a lot of examples of situations where parents have made what they considered to be thoughtful decisions.
39:46Law enforcement sees it differently and gets involved. This one seems particularly striking given all of the thought and consideration that went into this mother's decision here. This doesn't appear to be somebody who is, you know, checked out, who was doing this haphazardly. She seemed to have put some thought behind it. Now, as I see this, you know, is this a situation where it was right for the security guard to stop, to ask questions, even for law enforcement to ask questions, to make sure that this is something that's being done thoughtfully? Absolutely. Is this something where we should have resources dedicated to bringing a criminal case?
40:23I'm not sure. I don't think, you know, the criminal law is not always the best venue for some of these things to be, you know, for these things to be considered. And it's not in isolation. Not totally rare, but it doesn't happen all the time. No, it's not rare. I mean, it is not happening in isolation. You have this example in Maryland, Georgia, and Texas. Parents have also been held with a similar way, delinquency of a minor. They've been held responsible for child neglect, for allowing their children to walk around independently. Some of those charges have later been dropped. But it does raise the question, how do different states approach the issue of free range parenting from a legal perspective?
41:03Because it's like you said, there's no clear, bright line. Yeah. So states really take sort of these three approaches. So as we talked about, Virginia, Utah, other states have these sort of reasonable independence laws that protect this activity. Other states apply these kind of broader neglect standards. So they don't specifically embrace like free range parenting. But they define neglect in general terms, right? If you fail to provide adequate supervision, put your child in a situation that could be dangerous, you might fall into this general neglect. And then you have states that don't have any particular age rules, right?
41:41New York would fall into that. So there's not one statewide minimum in the state where I am in New York for a kid where they could be left home, something like that. the state actually says, you know, there are circumstances where a 12 year old left at home could be, that could be neglect. There are circumstances where, you know, an eight year old that's left at home, if there is, you know, depending on the circumstances could be okay. So you sort of have these three approaches. There is, I will say this, a real movement, a push coming from a lot of states to embrace more of these reasonable independence protections for exactly this kind of situation, really driven by parents who feel that a lot of their rights to make thoughtful decisions for their children have really been infringed.
42:24All right, Barrett Berger, thank you for coming on to help us understand the legal aspects of all of this. We appreciate it. And here's what's coming up all new at the top of the hour, invisible injuries, how one family is fighting to raise awareness of brain injuries among elite rescuers in the Coast Guard. That's all new next hour.
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43:21We're learning new details after an Amazon cargo plane overruns a runway in Miami, killing five people. And later, fighting for change. How one family turned grief into action and is now raising awareness of brain injuries in the Coast Guard. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown. Wolf Blitzer is off and you're in the Situation Room.
43:50Happening now, investigators are working to uncover what caused this Amazon cargo airplane to crash just moments after it's seen in this social media video barreling off a runway at Miami International Airport at nearly 130 miles per hour, according to flight data. Another eyewitness captured this terrifying moment.
44:18as the plane slams into several vehicles and bursts into flames killing five people and injuring five others joining us now with cnn safety analyst david souci david you have investigated numerous accidents what role could wind conditions play in this crash what do you make of all of this? There's going to be a lot for the investigators to look at in this accident because there's so many variables. But you can see in that video that you showed earlier that just after that truck passes by, you can see that's about the middle of the runway and the left truck or the left landing gear still isn't touching the ground at that point.
44:54Now, there's a lot to be able to slow down an aircraft. You have speed brakes, which are on top of the wing, You have wheel brakes and you have thrust reversers, but none of those work until the aircraft is firmly on the ground. So you can see that halfway down the runway, it's still going, by my calculations, 153 knots at that point. And as you mentioned before, it was over 100 miles an hour when it went off the end of the runway. So there's a lot to investigate, including whether a lot of changes happened very quickly on this accident. And the pilots, we should note, did not declare an emergency before that landing, according to a CNN review of air traffic control audio.
45:33What does that tell you? That's an incredible clue at that point, because what that tells me is that they were probably working off of the previous weather report, which showed that there was only three knots of wind at that at that airport. However, I have a friend that was on the flight just prior to that, maybe four minutes before this. And when they came in to land, he said it was jostled everywhere. He called it a sporty landing, which is pretty scary for even this experienced pilot. He said he was jostled left and jostled right. And then they landed the aircraft. Now, here's my question is, because that happened, did those pilots give a pilot report, they call it a PIREP, to say, hey, there's some problems with this airport.
46:12We're having some wind shear at low levels. and did that get communicated back to them, the fact that they did not declare an emergency or make an immediate go-round tells me that they probably didn't have that information. And help us better understand what the reason would be, why the plane wouldn't be able to slow down after landing. Okay, so that's a really good question. It appears that the speeds coming into the airport, coming into land, were appropriate. I think that they were at the right speeds. Now, what you expect when you land is that you're flying into the wind and so that that wind is coming at your nose so you can predict exactly what it's going to take to get down on the ground.
46:53Now, in this case, what appears to have happened is the wind changed and it went to 190 degrees, which is almost parallel but behind the airplane. So at that point, it changes from a nose forward wind to a tail wind, which accelerates the aircraft. It literally tries to push it forward. And so at that point, the airplane can't get down on the ground. So that appears to be what happened here is that wind shift at the last minute caused a tailwind, which lifts the airplane. So it was really hard to predict without having that information about a wind shear on the ground. And what about the maintenance history of the plane?
47:30How important is that, especially given the fact that it has had a history of foreign ownership in the past? Well, I don't think from what we can see here, I wouldn't relate this to maintenance, especially at this early stage of the investigation. But of course, the investigators will be looking at that. But what I know about the trucks are that they have to be down below one degree, both left and right. And the nose gear has to touch to to allow the aircraft to use the thrust reversers and the wings, the spoilers. So at this point, there's nothing that indicates to me any kind of a maintenance discrepancy at all.
48:08But again, the investigators will have to make that determination. David Soucy, thank you. We appreciate it. We'll do this morning. A disturbing incident at an Ohio campaign event. An armed man is now in custody facing assault charges after authorities say he lunged at Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton. Police say the 38-year-old suspect pushed through the crowd, knocking over some elderly attendees as Acton was speaking at a county fair. He was confronted by her security detail, according to the sheriff, and they found several weapons on him, including two firearms and a set of brass knuckles.
48:43So let's go live now to CNN correspondent Gloria Pasmino for the very latest. What more are you learning about the suspect, Gloria? Yeah, Pamela, you know, this was a really scary moment yesterday when we first found out about it. Amy Acton was scheduled to deliver remarks at this county fair in Ohio where this took place. And what we're seeing here is that this appears to be yet another incident of political violence that we have been seeing these types of events on the rise here in our country. Thankfully, there were no major injuries, but it was certainly a very scary event, both for Acton, who was in the middle of delivering a speech, and for those who were there in attendance.
49:23The Mahoning County sheriff has identified the suspect as 38-year-old Patrick Havas, and he was apprehended on site. And as you said, he is alleged to have entered the Mahoning County Democratic Party tent, which was at this county fair where the candidate was speaking. He pushed through the crowd. He appeared to be recording while doing so. And as he lunged towards Amy Canton, her security detail was able to stop him. And it was during that scuffle that people were knocked down to the ground and injured. As you said, he has been charged with two counts of assault and one count of disorderly conduct.
50:04And when he was taken into custody, police found two firearms and a pair of brass knuckles. Now, Amy Acton, as you know, is the former health director in Ohio. She's also the Democratic nominee in the very closely watched race for governor in Ohio. She's facing off against Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. We got a statement from the Canton, from the Acton campaign, I should say. They thank law enforcement for their response and said, quote, that while attending the Canfield Fair, an armed individual lunged at Dr. Acton, injuring multiple people. Dr. Acton and Eric are grateful for the swift and decisive action of law enforcement and are praying for the recovery of those injured.
50:49I should say that Ramaswamy, who was scheduled to attend this fair and also speak at this fair, also issued a statement condemning this incident. We don't know much yet about what, if any, apparent motivation this individual had. But as I said at the beginning, Pam, a really concerning instance of what appears to be more political violence, unfortunately, apparently on the rise here in our country. Very disturbing. Gloria Pasmino, thank you. And still ahead, new CNN reporting on high gas prices. Is relief coming anytime soon? And later, saving lifesavers, the push to understand and address brain injuries in the Coast Guard.
51:31You're in the Situation Room and we'll be right back.
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52:08This holiday, all plans, even unlimited, are just$15 a month. A holiday deal this good obviously deserves an enormously expensive holiday song, like All I Want. Right. Okay, we can afford that. You know what? Forget the music budget. We're going to stick with whatever's in the public domain. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for a 12-month plan required,$15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. New customer offer for initial planned term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Happening now, AAA says that the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is$4.15.
52:46That's up more than 10 cents since last month and more than$1.17 since the start of the war. Experts say the pain will likely continue this fall. So let's go live now to CNN business writer Samantha DeLuia. Samantha, let's talk about Labor Day gas prices. They have never been so expensive. Is there any relief in sight? Pam, unfortunately, what we're hearing from experts is that at least through the fall, like you said, we're going to be seeing these elevated gas prices. unless there's some big break in the fighting between the U.S. and Iran that would reopen that critical Strait of Hormuz channel that had seen a huge bulk of the global oil supply passing through prior to the war.
53:30But still, even if oil prices did drop and there was a break in fighting, we don't often see gas prices fall immediately. It usually takes some time. Now, Americans have dealt with multiple oil price shocks in the last few years that have really weighed on the economy and weighed on their finances. Recall in 2022, there was a big spike in oil prices after Russia began the war with Ukraine. Now, that fighting hasn't stopped on top of the war with Iran. It has just compounded the upward pressure on oil prices. So in August, we saw the average gas price was$4.07. cents. That's a record high for that month.
54:10And so all of this means that summer travel has been incredibly expensive for Americans. But Americans told my colleagues, average people told my colleagues at CNN that it's just making their life in general more expensive. You know, some people told my colleagues that they have stopped visiting family members as a result of these high gas prices. Others have said they're struggling to pay off some of their debts as a result. One person said that he has tried to sit home and, quote, do nothing this summer to save money because of how expensive gas has gotten. That tells you a lot. Samantha DeLuia, thank you so much for coming on.
54:47We appreciate it. And up next, Fetterman lashes out why the Pennsylvania senator is now taking on former aides and accusing them of pushing, quote, smears.
55:01we have exclusive new details about senator john fetterman in a statement to cnn the pennsylvania democrat is responding to a wall street journal article in which his former aides claims he shows little interest in his work as a senator and routinely skips constituent meetings senator fetterman called the article a quote hit piece from disgruntled staffers who are pushing to tarnish his reputation. CNN senior reporter Annie Greyer is here with us in the Situation Room. So tell us more about this controversy surrounding Fetterman and how he's responding, Annie. So Fetterman is coming out swinging, completely denying this report from the Wall Street Journal and gave us an exclusive statement where he really goes line by line to try and dismantle what his former staffers told the Wall Street Journal.
55:45So in one example, the former staffers are trying to get Fetterman to meet with some officials from the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania. And Fetterman in text messages says, you know, the first is staffers are saying, you know, they're concerned about Medicaid cuts and Fetterman says, quote, well, I'm not. And after this article came out in his statement to CNN, Fetterman says that was a bad joke taken out of context and that he has met with those officials many times. He has a working relationship with them and showed some examples on social media of how he's met with those individuals. And then in a second example that the former staffers provided to the Wall Street Journal, the staffers were trying to get Fetterman to go to a funeral for three police officers who had died in his state.
56:32And in these text messages, Fetterman is pushing back on the length of this funeral service, writing three hours, as you can see on your screen with a bunch of question marks. And in a statement to CNN following this reporting, in this exclusive statement, Fetterman says that he delivered flowers to those families on the day of, he's met with the families affected, and that he's been there for that community in other ways. And in a third example in the Wall Street Journal reporting, former staffers say that Fetterman blew off a meeting with disabled veterans from his state that was supposed to be meeting with him in his office and had staff conduct that meeting only to later come in and then do a Fox News interview.
57:12And in his statement to CNN, Fetterman says that he was throwing up at the time of that meeting and that felt better later in the day to then resume his daily schedule. So, in total, Fetterman is really just trying to dismantle this entire argument from his former staffers. He says in part of his statement, quote,
57:36And he later adds,
57:43But these former staffers have also made an account on X, and they claim that they have more examples that they want to share. This is not the first time that Fetterman has come under fire from some of his former staffers. And he really is a polarizing figure in the Democratic Party, particularly for his views on Israel, where he said that if the party starts to develop a more anti-Israel approach, that he would leave the Democratic Party. So there is a lot swirling around Fetterman right now, whose term is not up until 2028. But these former staffers say they have a lot more to share about their former boss's behavior.
58:17So do we expect them to drop more then? Are they just sort of taunting him right now with this or what? I think we're waiting to see. I mean, Fetterman had not responded to this story until he provided this exclusive statement to CNN. So this is the new development that we'll see how these former staffers respond to. But Fetterman is very strong in denouncing and denying all of the claims that these former staffers are making. All right, Annie Greyer, thank you so much. Well, just ahead, Invisible Injuries. We're going to bring you one family's fight to raise awareness about brain injuries among elite rescuers in the Coast Guard.
58:52We'll be back.
58:58Happening now, a national day of mourning in Nepal after more than 1 ,300 people have died in the devastating floods. Almost 5 ,000 people are still missing. And over the weekend, two survivors were rescued after being trapped for 10 days. Plus, Rob Reiner received a posthumous Emmy for his role in The Bear. It was his final TV role before he was killed. The actor and director, along with his wife, were stabbed to death in December of last year. Their son Nick has been charged in their deaths and he has pleaded not guilty. And an investigation is underway after 10 people were killed during a fireworks explosion in Mexico.
59:36Another 64 people were injured. The fireworks exploded right next to a church during a religious festival. Happening now, a dedicated push to understand and address brain injuries and the U.S. Coast Guard. This right here is Brett Bonner, a surfman. He was an elite rescuer driving lifeboats through powerful waves, some 25 feet high. But as he worked in a job he loved, those around him saw him fall apart, they say. He had headaches, he had trouble sleeping, and his normally cheery mood slipped. He retired in 2022, but his symptoms only got worse. Then, in February of last year, he killed himself, and his family heard it happen on FaceTime.
1:00:20In 2009, Brett had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, but his family thought there might be something more, that the years he spent in the Coast Guard may have left him with a traumatic brain injury, and they suspected he wasn't alone. Their story is part of a New York Times investigation that explored the invisible injuries, surfman experience that can be devastating for those who serve and their families. With us now is Brett's wife, Jenna, and his daughter, Kaylee. Thank you both for coming on. First off, I'm just so sorry for your loss, and I really appreciate you joining us to share Brett's story and all that you have learned.
1:00:58Jenna, I want to start with you, if you would. Just tell us about when you first realized Brett was struggling and what he was telling you about what it felt like for him. Well, his struggles started when we were stationed in Golden Gate. They deal with a lot of jumpers off the Golden Gate Bridge and a lot of body recovery. And so initially, that's when he got the PTSD diagnosis. There was he just really struggled with that. He said he joined the Coast Guard to save lives. And so he took it really personally. He just always wondered if he could have gotten there faster or could have done something more to save more of them.
1:01:39And so he had trouble sleeping. There was just mood issues. So he got the PTSD diagnosis. So after that unit, we were stationed at the National Miller Lifeboat School where he was a surf trainer, an instructor.
1:01:58and I guess more of the same he struggled with headaches they gave him muscle relaxers to help with tension headaches but it wasn't until he was in a rollover so a full 360 as he was instructing and he was not in a seat because he was the head instructor so he was just tethered in by each hip and standing. And so there was a rogue wave and they got knocked down and went under. And they actually thought he broke his back because his feet hit the back of his head. He's bent over backwards and then slammed on the boat when they finally came up. And that was in January of 2016. And then he had a seizure in August of 2016.
1:02:50And we attributed it to maybe the medicine for the PTSD that they had him on at the time. But then I kind of, that was kind of a big, that was a pivotal moment because after that, it was hard to piece apart what is, what, what's causing what, but there was a lot of anxiety. He was worried about having another seizure and losing control. But he just kind of lost pieces of who he was from that. I would say from that time on, he got very noise sensitive. He didn't like to eat out. It was just his entire personality was changing from that point on. And he described this feeling of zaps in his brain in 2015.
1:03:29And then in 2016, he had a seizure while parked outside a store. Your kids were watching it happen. I'm sure, Kaylee, you remember all of this so vividly. I want to play a voicemail that Brett left for you just before his seizure. It is hard to hear, but I think it's important to hear to understand how much he was struggling. He just said, I need help bad. That noise at the end, is that him? Yes, that's him. He's lost control of the speech. So that was from a New York Times podcast that you did. Jenna, bring us in to what was going on leading up to that and what sort of evaluations he went through after?
1:04:12So I was in the restroom at a camper campers world. We were actually going to pick up a fifth wheel. We'd sold our house. We were anticipating a military transfer. So I'd gone to the restroom and he was in the store with the kids and he started feeling these brain zaps and feeling himself lose control of his body. Um, so he called me, left that voicemail asking for help and then at the end you hear him totally lose control of his voice and that's what was happening um and so he took the kids into his truck uh to wait for me i came out of i didn't get the voicemail right away i didn't even it's probably on silent and so i'm looking for them in the store and can't find them and i go out to look for them in the car and i don't see anyone the kids were little and he is at this point laid out um across the middle console and kind of into the back seat and so I turned to go back inside to look for them and that's when I get the voicemail and um I'm very confused I know hopefully what is happening and Kaylee sees me turn around and to go back to the store so she jumps out of the car and says come help.
1:05:25Um, and he was still actively seizing. I opened the door and I had no clue what was happening. It looked like he had been beat. Um, so I was just very confused. And then I'm having to hold him from falling out of the car and they called for help. Uh, we went to the ER. He refused. So he stopped seizing and woke up right about the time the ambulance got there. Yeah. And, um, he was still very confused. He could answer some things right but he couldn't remember our kids birthdays or other things and so it's okay he refused the ambulance ride so we followed yeah okay refuse the ambience ride so um kaylee you see this happen and then so sadly your dad died by suicide you were on facetime and just horrible how it how it all happened but it raised a lot of important questions for you and i want to talk about your senior year high school research project where you wanted to understand more about what your dad went through in the Coast Guard, and then you ended up reaching out to other surfmen.
1:06:31Tell us more about what you learned from that project. So I was able to reach out to over 70 surfmen through my survey, and it was just so interesting to see the difference because there wasn't a single research on any part of the Coast Guard. It was other branches of the military, but never the Coast Guard. And so when you look at the other branches, they're talking about major blasts occurring to the head. And I think the difference in the Coast Guard that I found through my studies was that it's not the major blasts that are making the biggest contributes. It's the small times the head is knocking.
1:07:12Every time it hits a wave, your head is hitting the inside of your skull. It's called the bobblehead effect. And so every time that's happening, you're getting minor concussions. And so because it's minor, you're not noticing it, but it's accumulating and it's causing traumatic brain injury. And people aren't even knowing because it's not a huge deal in the moment. So what were some of the comments you received from the questionnaire that you put out? I mean, a lot of people were saying like they were really grateful someone was looking at this. and that it's really hard to talk about these things because, I mean, the common surfman stereotype in particular is a very, like, tough guy.
1:07:54They're not going to talk about their feelings. And so especially coming from mine, everybody, a lot of people knew my dad, so it was, like, they saw it as, like, helping and, like, preventing it for future surfmen. And so I think that made it unique because a lot of them were trying to, like, help. But it was very interesting seeing their point of view and how much they were struggling because of it. Yeah. Tell us more a little bit about that, Kaylee, just what you learned about their struggles and how similar they were to your your dad's. And when you just realize, wow, there's actually a pattern here.
1:08:30A lot of them were very isolating of themselves. I think they were trying to protect others from themselves because I think I saw this in my own dad how he was slowly becoming someone he couldn't even recognize. And I think a lot of people that's scary to lose your identity. And so. And control. And control of yourself because you physically can't control your own body and what you're doing. So. Memory issues were a huge concern. But what was interesting from the people, everyone's responses was they would not have told you they had a head injury at any point in their career, but they had these symptoms.
1:09:10They all resonated with the same symptoms that we were seeing. And we want to note, we reached out to the Coast Guard about your story. And Commandant Admiral Kevin Lundy said in a statement, in part, the Coast Guard is taking action to improve how we prevent, recognize, and treat brain injuries to provide the best care for our people. In April, I directed the start of a service-wide brain health initiative to rapidly improve how we prevent, recognize, and treat brain injuries. That includes training crews and supervisors on how to recognize brain injuries and encouraging people to come forward and report symptoms, including indicating potential injuries.
1:09:46We're implementing a single high standard of care across our medical providers, partnering with our military and civilian medical experts to ensure our men and women receive the best care possible. I wonder, what is your reaction to the Coast Guard saying it's making these changes now, Jenna? They have been phenomenal. We've talked to Admiral Allende and Mass Street Petty Officer and actually the Admiral's wife. And they have all been very receptive, very kind and really committed to finding out more. we've had numerous conversations where they want all the latest research they want to know what to do and I it's been a great response it's that's really our goal is we want it's it's as you can imagine really difficult to share our story and our loss but I feel like our goal is prevention and then and awareness those who were already suffering just even knowing what you're doing We didn't really know the extent of the TBI portion of Brett, and that would have been very helpful to know.
1:10:56So I feel like the Coast Guard is taking it seriously, and I think they have actionable changes they can make to prevent this for other families. So help us better understand, Kaylee, quickly, if you would, how this change came about and whether you shared your findings with the Coast Guard once you heard back from all of these other surfmen? so it originally started in the new york times paper that's where i got the most like that's where i was able to kind of share my research and then the coast guard found that and then they got in contact with me and so i've been sharing my research and they've been able to kind of build on top of that and kind of start an initiative to kind of help protect surfmen and other people in the Coast Guard, not just surfing, because it's across the whole occupation, people are experiencing these things.
1:11:48Wow, just incredible what you've been able to do and accomplish to help others. I know you went through such a horrible experience, but you're using that and the research that you've gathered to really prevent others from suffering like your father and your husband did. Jenna, thank you both for coming on, and we just really are grateful for it. We wish you both the very best. And if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, there is help. You can call our Texas Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 998. We'll be back. Happening now, Iran is warning South Korea not to help the U.S.
1:12:23in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it would face, quote, serious consequences if it did. South Korea has been under pressure to join the deployment in the strait, and a Korean official said Friday it was reviewing its options. Over the weekend, the U.S. struck three Iranian oil tankers. The U.S. said it was in retaliation for earlier Iranian missile attacks. With us now is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Layton. So what does this show you? Does it show you that Iran is concerned that South Korea could join the U.S. in the Strait of Formos? What do you think? Yeah, I think that's certainly a possibility, Pamela, because one of the things that the South Koreans have been under, of course, is a lot of pressure from the Trump administration to help them out in the Strait of Formos.
1:13:06And the Trump administration has tried to get other allies to help out, and most of them have said no, because they see the Iran war as being something, first of all, that they weren't consulted about. Many of them see it as a violation of international law. So they didn't want to get involved for a variety of political and legal reasons. But the South Koreans are kind of caught in a bit of a difficult pickle because we have to remember that the exercises that we had with the South Koreans were curtailed by the Trump administration in order not to offend the North Koreans. And one of the reasons that was given for doing that was because the South Koreans hadn't helped the U.S.
1:13:45in the Strait of Hormuz against Iran. So the South Koreans are looking at this and they're saying, OK, what are our options here? We still want to get oil from Iran if we can get it, or at least from the Persian Gulf region. And we also want to make sure that we keep the U.S. on our side. They have a lot of need for that politically as well as militarily. So what resources could South Korea provide to actually have an impact in the strait? Yeah, they would have mine sweepers that they could use. They also have a navy that is actually quite competent. And they could deploy them into that region that could help the U.S.
1:14:18with escort services like tank or escort services. So those would be some of the things that the South Koreans could do. And they could also relieve the pressure on the U.S. Navy when it comes to just the deployment pressure that they have. You know, when you were out there on the Lincoln, you saw how much work actually went into doing this. The South Koreans don't have an aircraft carrier like the Lincoln, but what they do have is the capability to provide, you know, ships, destroyers, and other ships that could basically relieve some of the burden that the U.S. Navy has right now. I want to pivot to Russia and Ukraine for a moment because it's interesting.
1:14:54White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were in Russia. They first went to Russia, then Ukraine over the weekend, and then Russia launched these drone attacks. Ukraine responded with drone attacks. What do you make of that? So I think we're not going to see a major breakthrough on the diplomatic front in the near term. At some point, both sides are going to have to reach some kind of an agreement. But that is not happening now because Putin is basically dug in. The things that Putin told Whitcoff and Kushner during their visit to Moscow were basically the same things that he said before.
1:15:27And those include, we want to get to the so-called root causes of what's going on with Ukraine, and basically what that is code for is we want to take over Ukraine because Russia does not see Ukraine as a viable, independent and legitimate, independent nation. So if Ukraine is not a legitimate nation, we should take it over as the Russian point of view. And they haven't moved from that at all. So if the U.S. envoys, you know, both Mr. Kushner and Mr. Woodcoff, look at this and think that they're going to achieve a breakthrough, I think they're mistaken because there are so many different things that the Russians want to achieve, even if they don't.
1:16:09I actually physically occupy some of the territory in the Donbass. They don't have about 10 or 15 percent of it. They still want that, even though they haven't militarily conquered that. All right. Always great to have you on, Colonel Layton. Appreciate it. We'll be right back. As we approach 25 years since 9-11, a new CNN film is sharing a story you likely haven't heard before. And it takes us inside Windows of the World, the legendary restaurant atop the World Trade Center that met a devastating end on that fateful morning. Our Wolf Blitzer has an exclusive first look and sat down with the film's directors.
1:16:45It was one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country and a symbol of New York City's resurgence back in the 1970s. The legendary Windows on the World sat atop the World Trade Center, but its story came to a devastating end on 9-11. 79 employees and 91 guests died that day. A new CNN film explores the restaurant's untold story just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Here's a preview.
1:17:23Then in the 80s, the city came back. Money is rolling in suddenly. Windows on the wall was like a metaphor for what was happening to New York. you had the very wealthy and you had the very poor. And joining us now are the top of the world directors, Betsy West and Julie Cohen. Betsy, let me start with you. What drew you to tell this amazing story? Well, I think you just said it, Wolf. It felt that it was untold, that people really didn't, after 9-11, didn't understand what had happened there. And also, we never really got a chance to celebrate what this restaurant meant to New York. It was just a great opportunity for us.
1:18:17It certainly was. Julie, how was the Windows on the World shaped by its international culture and multinational staff? Yeah, well, Windows not only had an international clientele with people coming from all over the world to eat there, But also, as our film shows, the people who worked behind the scenes, people that were working in the kitchen, people who were on the waitstaff, people who were managers, cooks, came from nearly every country in the world. I think six of all continents except Antarctica had staff members represented there. And like so many restaurants in New York, immigrants are what make restaurants run.
1:19:00And this is just a beautiful example of that. It certainly is. Betsy, what was the most striking thing you learned about the restaurant from speaking to its chefs and employees? Yeah, I think I had, first of all, I had no idea about the immigrant presence. And I also didn't understand the story of how Windows back in the mid 70s was part of the resurgence of New York. I mean, the city was really down and out, almost went bankrupt. They built the World Trade Towers. A lot of people didn't like those buildings. And then the Port Authority had the idea to put a restaurant up there. And they hired the brilliant restaurateur, Joe Baum, who just had a vision for how to make a restaurant that was an experience, very theatrical.
1:19:54and he carried that out through windows and had a tremendous influence, I think, in the restaurant world. So, Julie, when most people think of the World Trade Center, the 9-11 attacks, of course, immediately come to mind. We all lived through that and how sad it was. How did you separate the restaurant's incredible story from those attacks while also acknowledging how the two are intertwined? Yeah, that's right. Well, if the two are intertwined and actually in the end, looking back 25 years later, I don't think those two stories can be separated. But what we tried to bring to the film wasn't just the tragic part of the story, which obviously looms over the Windows on the World story.
1:20:39It was also just what a spectacular place, what restaurant this was. I mean, when Windows started in the 1970s, the idea that going to a restaurant was a full event wasn't so much a thing. Windows on the World is part of what turned chefs into celebrities, is part of what made you think going out to dinner isn't just what you do before you see a show. Sometimes going out to dinner is the show. Yeah, it certainly was. Betsy West and Julie Cohen, thanks so much for doing this. And to our viewers, don't miss the all new CNN film, Top of the World at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific and the next day on the CNN app.
1:21:19And thank you all for joining us this morning. Inside Politics today with our friend and colleague Adi Kornish starts right now. Have a great day. The real cost of a break in isn't your valuables. It's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. Simply Safe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live U.S.-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plan starting around$1 a day. Right now, get 70 % off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com slash Spotify.
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