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Evacuation Orders In Place After Texas Rivers Flood To Hurricane Harley Levels; Colleges Tighten Security As Pro-Palestinian Protests Continue; Former Trump Aide Hope Hicks Testifies In Hush Money Trial; Outrage Grows After Viral Video Shows Confrontation at Ole Miss; Gaza War One Of The Deadliest Ever For Journalists; 6 Months Out, Polls Show A Tight Presidential Race; Boeing Starliner Preparing For First NASA-Crewed Flight. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 05, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:01:28]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin with a widespread floods devastating much of Texas. Today millions in the southeastern part of the state are under flood watches after several days of heavy rain. Entire neighborhoods are inundated with water. As the flooding spreads, the high rescues have also surged. So far in Harris County, which includes Houston, more than 200 people and more than 150 pets have been rescued from the flood zone.

We have team coverage from CNN correspondent Rosa Flores and CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

Rosa, let's begin with you there in Harris County. You had an opportunity firsthand to talk with people and to survey some of the damage.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Fred, people here are counting their blessings because there have been no deaths and no major injuries, but there will be major damage. You can just see around me the water has swallowed roads and inundated some communities. This road leads to a community that back there you can see that there's a restaurant, there's also some homes, and an RV park.

And the water levels, while they have receded some, they are still very high. You can't get access to this area by vehicle. You have to get access by boat and that's exactly what we did. We rode along with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Now this team has been going door- to-door for several days trying to rescue people who don't want to be rescued from this mandatory evacuation zone.

Now we rode along with them over fences and over mailboxes. We saw that stop signs were at eye level. That just gives you a sense of the amount of water in this area. Now they also shared some pictures and we have those pictures for you of some of the rescues that they conducted in this area. They rescued children, the elderly, also pets. Now this area is an area that has the San Jacinto River running

towards the Gulf of Mexico. And these first responders took us to the area where we were supposed to see the banks of the San Jacinto River. But you can't see them. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. DAVID JASPER, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It's the San Jacinto River. It's kind of hard to tell where the river ends because of the blood but past the pylons. And if you look back that way, you can see Interstate 10 and the bridge going over the San Jacinto River, and you see, you get a feel for how swollen the river is and how far it is out of its banks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And Fred, just to give you some perspective, because perspective is important here, Harris County is one of the largest counties in this country. At last check authorities believed that several hundred homes are impacted, but they also say that they have not done damage assessments for obvious reasons.

You can see that the water is still very high in some areas, but those damage assessments are expected to start either tomorrow or later this week.

Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: It's a terrible situation. All right. Rosa flores, thank you so much.

Chad Myers in the Weather Center.

All right. So what is happening weather wise? What can they look forward to or brace for?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They can look forward to many, many more days of dry weather, dry, drying now, but not completely stopped, but that this is at least some good news here.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

MYERS: The weather will remain stagnant and not really move any more big water into the Houston area over the next few days, but water is still rising.

[16:05:02]

Water still rising because there's still water up river that has to come down river. There's Houston way down there, but all of these, this is 10 inches or more, some spots picked up two feet. This is 10 inches or more. All of this as Rosa said has to get down to the Gulf of Mexico. So there's these bubbles in the rivers where some people downstream aren't seeing flooding yet but they will as that water continues to rise. There are a few showers out there right now, but not like earlier and

certainly not like we've had over the past couple of days. The good news is there are flood warnings. There are no flash flood warnings, and there's a huge difference. Flash flood warning means water is coming up fast. Flood warning means yes, you're wet, you're going to stay wet, but were not going to put people in life-threatening situations with that rapidly rising water.

There's your radar tomorrow at 5:00. It'll be the prettiest sunrise you've seen Texas in a long time. Still could be some severe weather today, but that's not really the threat today. Tomorrow is the threat for severe weather. We've had a lot of tornadoes.

The last day without a tornado, Fred, April 24th.

WHITFIELD: No. Oh, well.

MYERS: Ten days straight.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's been too much and a lot. All right. Thank you so much, Chad Myers.

We're also seeing new developments today in the nationwide pro- Palestinian protests on college campuses. The main campus of the University of Southern California is now back open after police cleared an encampment earlier today and arrested at least 25 protesters for trespassing.

CNN's Camila Bernal is on the campus at USC.

So, Camila, what's been the reaction? How are people feeling now that the campus is back open?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Things have been calm this morning and the university is saying that the operation of clearing all of these students, the encampment was peaceful and it was successful. It took them 64 minutes to get everyone out of the university and it's a very, very different scene from what we saw about two weeks ago here on campus when things got extremely violent and many people got arrested.

There is already a disciplinary process in place and starting to figure out what's going to happen to all of these people that were arrested and affiliated with the university. But you're seeing these repercussions not just here on this campus, but around the country as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SABRINA ELLIS, UCLA STUDENT: It's really heavy emotionally. You're hearing the stun grenades. You're hearing shots fired from the rubber bullets, and you don't know what's happening.

BERNAL (voice-over): These are the moments UCLA student Sabrina Ellis is still trying to process. ELLIS: I was just trying to go minute by minute. My feet were hurting

from standing up for so long. I do think that the message of the encampment and the protest was important enough that I felt the risk was worth it.

BERNAL: While Sabrina is not facing charges, the consequences for some protesters around the nation can be serious, and include detainment, misdemeanors, school suspensions, and expulsions. And in the case of Michael Allen, a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis, paid administrative leave.

MICHAEL ALLEN, LECTURER, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS: I was arrested within three minutes of the police's decision to push into the encampment.

BERNAL: He says he was not part of the encampment but was there to protest.

ALLEN: I'm a faculty member concerned about my students getting arrested.

BERNAL: That was the moment of his arrest. He says he's not facing criminal charges but the detainment and suspension mean he's not allowed to set foot on the university pending an investigation.

ALLEN: Don't hurt him.

BERNAL: He says he was told by the university that he cannot finish the semester, have contact with students, or attend commencement.

ALLEN: What the university in effect is doing is actually impacting a lot more people than just those of us who were on campus on April 27th.

BERNAL: The university said they don't comment on personnel matters, but said that of the 100 people arrested, 23 were Washington University students. It's reflective of what authorities have announced around the country. Of the more than 2100 arrested during the clearing of encampments, not all have been students. At the University of Southern California school officials say of the 93 arrested, 51 were students.

Officials have said they too have started a disciplinary process for campus members who have violated their policies and the law. Some California legislators calling for even harsher punishments.

JAMES GALLAGHER (R), CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY LEADER: There does need to be accountability, yes. And I think some people need to be fired.

BERNAL: They point to harassment, antisemitism, and unsafe campuses, and say that those convicted should be punished through the state budgeting process, losing funding for the university or grants.

GALLAGHER: People doing this should have been arrested. They should be suspended, but there should also be other accountability for this action. [16:10:02]

BERNAL: But some of the students that were in the encampment and part of the more than 200 detained at UCLA say that while they won't reveal future plans this is far from over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERNAL (on-camera): And it's unclear if the protesters here at USC have future plans, but the university is requiring IDs for anyone wanting to come in and also saying that there is no camping gear allowed on campus -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Camila Bernal, thank you so much.

So how will these college campus protests impact the political landscape? I want to discuss this more with Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, historian and professor at Princeton University.

Good to see you.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Nice to be with you.

WHITFIELD: All right, listen first, you know, to what Democratic Senator John Fetterman was saying today, who attacked or has criticism for some pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses and argued that liberal voters who turned on President Biden over -- because of the war in Gaza, it will, they will only have themselves to blame if former President Trump is elected in November. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Those voters who say that they are going to sit out the election, those Democratic voters who say they're going to sit out the election.

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Yes, 100 percent, like if they want to throw Michigan to Trump that way, well, if you want to play with that fire, you better own that fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Julian, I mean, what do you say to his point of view there?

ZELIZER: Well, I mean there's competing tensions within the Democratic Party. There are Democratic voters who might be turned off by what they're seeing on college campuses. And if there's not a strong response, maybe they won't vote. On the other hand, there's many young people who are going to feel quite disillusioned, not even about the protests, but the response to the protests.

And if they don't vote he won't get critical numbers that in 2020 helped him get elected. So this is the balance that President Biden politically is trying to deal with. WHITFIELD: Yes, I mean, in fact, election day is just six months away,

you know, today. And while Biden, you know, said just last week, there will be no policy change as a result of him finally coming out and speaking that protests are fine, just, you know, don't break the law.

Do you see that the president will have to make some modifications before election day to either secure or win over new votes ahead of election day on this issue?

ZELIZER: Well, I mean, he's already behind the scenes changed and he has moved trying to find a resolution, and we've heard in the news an attempt to accelerate talks right now. So his words might differ from what the diplomacy is actually doing. And there's a lot of time still between now and the election.

And if there was a big breakthrough, you could imagine the politics change quite quickly in addition to summer time, when most college kids are off campus. So I don't think it's impossible despite that statement to see some dramatic changes.

WHITFIELD: And you write this week, you know, about how this is a dangerous moment however for Biden, when it comes to losing more young voters. Explain.

ZELIZER: Well, because this is going to be a narrow election. All indications point to that. He is struggling, the president, in the polls. It's very close with the former president. So all these votes matter and he will need young voters in states like Michigan to come out, not just to support him in a poll, but to actually come out and vote.

And this is the kind of issue which potentially might not turn them toward Trump, but could make them decide they're just not going to come out. So again, it's a turnout election. That's why this matters. And then just, you know, morally, he is someone who invests himself in being a uniter of the party. So he is going to try to figure out ways to bring these constituencies to the same place. Even if there's differences over policy.

WHITFIELD: How do you see Republicans taking advantage of this moment?

ZELIZER: Well, this fits a theme for Trump. Trump in some ways as a chaos president, I think he is going to argue there is chaos in the country. There's chaos in the campus, and he's going to bring back Richard Nixon's 1968 theme, law and order in America. This is exactly what Nixon when he appealed to what he called the silent majority of Americans who didn't support what was going on in the protests.

And I imagine this is going to be central. Whatever kind of variations happen in the next few months, it will be central to Trump's campaign.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julian Zelizer, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much.

ZELIZER: Thank you. WHITFIELD: CIA director Bill Burns is heading to Doha as the latest

rounds of negotiations between Israel and Hamas have come to an end. What comes next for the high-stakes talks?

[16:15:06]

Plus, Donald Trump is back in court tomorrow for his criminal hush money trial. What to watch for as new witnesses take the stand for the third week of testimony?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former president Donald Trump will be back in court tomorrow morning as testimony in his criminal hush money trial enters its third week.

[16:20:04]

Friday's proceedings wrapped up with a day of dramatic testimony from one of his top and most trusted former aides, Hope Hicks.

CNN's Zach Cohen joins us now.

Zach, how does the testimony from Hope Hicks fit into the prosecution's case against Trump?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, the testimony of Hope Hicks really sets the stage for prosecutors to now begin addressing the alleged crimes in this case, specifically laying out the evidence for why they believe Donald Trump falsified business records in order to hide, the way that Michael Cohen, his lawyer, was reimbursed for this hush money payment allegedly made to Stormy Daniels in order to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 election.

And look, Hope Hicks' testimony was important on a few fronts. It really laid the foundation for the jury to hear the prosecution now, move in to explaining this evidence and explaining these crimes. They did so by introducing the transcript of the "Access Hollywood" tape, the infamous tape that came out in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued that this tape being released is what fueled the concern among Trump and his campaign that their hopes of becoming president could be impacted by additional stories coming out.

Hope Hicks also described the crisis that existed within the Trump campaign in the wake of the "Access Hollywood" tape and the concerns validating the concerns among Trump and his closest aides at the time. She also gave testimony about what happened in 2018 as news of these hush money payments first came out. The reaction inside the Trump White House. She said that she didn't believe the story that Michael Cohen and Trump were saying at the time that Michael Cohen essentially paid Stormy Daniels out of his own volition, that he did so on his own and that Trump did not know about it.

She said also that Trump told her that he was glad that the news about the payments did not come out until after he was already in the White House, acknowledging that it could have been bad for his reelection hopes. But listen to what Hope Hicks said about Michael Cohen sort of framing his role in all of this. She said he liked to call himself a fixer or Mr. Fix It, and it was only because he first broke it that he was able to then fix it. Sort of calling into question his ability and his competency when it comes to taking things like this on his own.

So it remains to be seen who they'll call next, but a series of high- profile witnesses still need to take the stand in this trial.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Zach, this could potentially be a big week. Who are the potential witnesses this week?

COHEN: Yes. There are still several former Trump White House aides, Trump Organization employees, but the biggest names really include Stormy Daniels herself, the adult actress at the center of this trial. It also includes Michael Cohen, and Michael Cohen may be the key and most important witness that we have not heard from yet. Obviously, every witness that we've heard from so far has not had very nice things to say about Michael Cohen.

But the prosecution did warn the jury at the very beginning of this trial that Michael Cohen was a complicated witness and trying to separate the fact that he is not very well-liked amongst these other witnesses from the facts, as they put it, that will come out of his mouth when he does take the stand.

WHITFIELD: All right. Zach Cohen, thanks so much.

All right. We're also following new developments in Israel where the government has shut down news network Al Jazeera in Israel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:36]

WHITFIELD: All right, new today, the University of Mississippi is opening a student conduct investigation citing what officials call offensive and hurtful language and actions of hostility and racist overtones. It comes after a protest involving pro-Palestinian and anti-protest demonstrators.

We're about to show you some of that, and a warning, you may find some of this disturbing.

(VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Adding to the outrage, that video were shared on social media by Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins, who posted, quote, "Ole Miss, taking care of business."

CNN's Rafael Romo has been looking into all of this.

All right, Rafael, you actually spoke with the woman who was in that video and what did she have to say?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, number one, she told my colleague Dianne Gallagher that, yes, she was indeed the woman in the video and that she also said some things back at the students, but still a lot of controversies about what happened there. And there are multiple videos circulating online, Fred, showing the protest at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

But there's that video in particular that has gone viral that is at the center of the controversy and again, before I show you the video, we need to warn our viewers one more time that it may be offensive to some people.

(VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And as you can see the video shows a group of mostly young white men in the counterprotest yelling at a black woman. At least one counter-protester is seen on video and appears to be making gestures at the woman.

We now know who the woman in the video is. Her name is Jaylin R. Smith. She's 24 years old. She confirmed to my colleague Dianne Gallagher that she is the woman seen in the video. Smith said that during the protest, pro-Palestinian demonstrators were kept in an enclosure which police said was for their safety. She also said that she briefly stepped out of the enclosure to go live on social media and that's when the confrontation took place.

CNN has made efforts but has not identified any of the counter- protesters seen in the video.

[16:30:04]

We've also learned that the University of Mississippi has opened an investigation into student conduct, but didn't say who or what they were specifically investigating. In the letters, Chancellor Glenn Boyce says university officials are aware that some statements made were offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable, including actions that conveyed hostility and racist overtones.

Smith tells CNN she said some insults back, she was yelling back to the counter protesters, but adds the following, quote: People calling me fat or Lizzo didn't hurt my feelings because I know what I am. I am so confident in my Blackness. I am so confident in my size, in the way that I wear my hair and who I am, they do not bother me if anything, I felt pity for them for how stupidly they acted.

And the controversy took another turn when U.S. Representative Mike Collins, a Republican representing parts of Georgia, shared the viral video on X the following day saying, Ole Miss taking care of business.

CNN has reached out to Collins office, but there hasn't been an answer so far.

And then, Fred, yesterday, Congressman Collins' tweet prompted the NAACP to send a letter to congressional leadership Saturday asking for an investigation into Collins conduct. In part, the letter says the following. These actions conducted by a member of the House of Representatives , regardless of intent legitimize, and propagate racism and undermine the principles of equality and justice that our government is sworn to uphold.

Some of our viewers may remember that the University of Mississippi has a long history of racial incidents, including the deadly riots that broke out there in 1962 when James Meredith became the first Black student to enroll at the school. So, a lot of controversy there.

WHITFIELD: All right. Keep us posted on any new developments. Rafael Romo, thanks so much.

All right. The Hamas delegation has left Cairo after the latest round of negotiations wrapped up. Several countries, including the U.S., have been trying to strike a deal that would potentially lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Hamas leaders said in a statement that it had delivered a response to Israel's proposal and that, quote, in-depth and serious discussions took place, end quote.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dismissing the Hamas counteroffers, calling them unacceptable. CIA Director Bill Burns who has been a key figure in the talks, was in Doha today for meeting with the Qatari prime minister.

Also today, Israel ordered the closure of the Al Jazeera News Network inside the country. Video shows the authorities removing equipment from its bureau in Jerusalem, and it comes just days after the world marked Press Freedom Day. And nearly seven months into the war in Gaza, it is already one of the deadliest conflicts ever for journalists.

CNN's Nada Bashir has a look at reporting on the horror of war in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): What should be a moment of reflection reduced to a hurried memory, recorded on an iPhone.

A young girl now an orphan pays her last respects.

A drop in a sea of tragedy, marking its witnesses and victims alike.

But this is the story of the person behind the camera, one of many risking their lives for the truth.

KHADER AL-ZANOUN, JOURNALIST IN GAZA (through translator): Once he now always remember, was in al-Shifa hospital in November last year. It was during a siege.

BASHIR: Khader al-Zanoun has been documenting the assault on Gaza since the war began, sending material to CNN, our gateway into a war zone sealed off by Israeli authorities.

AL-ZANOUN: They were taking this woman to be buried in a mass grave. And I saw this little girl following the crowd. She told me her mother was a victim and she wants to say goodbye to her. She really affected me a lot. Tears were falling when I saw her running after her mother. BASHIR: Living with his wife and children in Gaza City in the north, one of Gaza's worst affected regions. He shows us his home, largely destroyed an onslaught, part residence, part bureau.

Everything is a challenge -- from the search for signal to transmit the day's footage, to the search for food.

AL-ZANOUN: There have been days when we've eaten donkey and a horse food, corn and fodder, as well as barley, just to stay alive.

[16:35:04]

BASHIR: For journalists in Gaza, the biggest challenges are the most basic ones.

Sami Shehadah is a photojournalist for Turkish base broadcaster TRT.

He was filming at a refugee camp in central Gaza.

SAMI SHEHADAH, TRT JOURNALIST (through translator): We went to cover the movement of displaced people, and as soon as we arrived at the place, we were targeted.

BASHIR: Sami had to have his leg amputated above the knee and is now a waiting medical evacuation to Turkey.

At least 97 members of the press have been killed in what the committee to protect journalists has termed the deadliest period for media workers since its records began. But that figure, according to the CPJ, is likely to be much higher.

And yet, despite the risks, Palestinian journalists in Gaza keep doing their jobs, working in groups for protection, covering stories, even if it means getting there on a donkey and cart.

AL-ZANOUN: Every day we wake up, we thank God that we are still alive and that we are still able to continue documenting the events in the Gaza Strip.

BASHIR: In the belief that one day, his work and the work of Palestinian journalists like him won't have been in vain.

AL-ZANOUN: Our hope is that this war will end God willing, and that we will be able to save and protect our children after these targeted attacks, and this continuing war because they want to live like the rest of the world's children, in security and peace.

BASHIR: Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:25]

WHITFIELD: All right. With exactly six months until voters head to the polls and pick a president, a new CNN poll of polls shows no clear leader in the presidential race at this moment. Right now, 46 percent of voters support President Biden, with 47 percent supporting former President Donald Trump.

The poll of polls includes four of the most recent national polls.

CNN White House correspondent Priscilla Alvarez is joining us right now with more on this.

Priscilla, how is the Biden campaign viewing these polls, showing a very tight race?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, and they have shown a very tight race for a while now and Biden campaign officials acknowledged that it is indeed going to be a tight race that's often how they respond to these polls and also make the observation and talking to them. That is, were in May and November is still a ways off and voters may tune in more as we get closer to Election Day.

But breaking down these polls, you have that CNN poll of polls that you just mentioned that was conducted in mid to late April. It showed a 47 percent for Trump and 46 percent for Biden. There was no sampling error there.

Then another poll, the ABC/Ipsos poll, conducted in late April among registered voters chose 46 percent four Biden, 45 percent for Trump with a margin of error of two percent. So, again, this is continuing a trend that we have seen, which is that it is going to be a very tight race come November, according to what the polls are showing us now. And part of what campaign officials and Democratic strategists are focused on is voter turnout. That's what they say this is all going to come down to and something that helps with that is those abortion ballot measures that's again, according to strategies who say that is a way to get voters to come out to the polls even more.

So we are seeing that abortion maybe on the ballot in multiple states and we know that the campaign has put out the president as well as the vice president to talk about this issue. In fact, just this past week, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Florida as that abortion ban went into effect and they are tying it all to the Republican rival Donald Trump. So, it's these types of ballot measures that they think is going to help with that voter turnout, which is really going to be key. Again, in a tight race at the polls are showing now.

But again, Fredricka, in talking to Biden campaign officials, it always -- they always say November still a ways off. They think that people are going to be more tuned in as election day nears. And as of now, it shows what they know to be the case which is going to be a tight race.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

Australia is under siege from climate change on multiple fronts, and things are about to get a lot worse.

On this week's edition of "THE WHOLE STORY", CNN senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, embarks on a journey across Australia to see the evolving threat firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The small team at this wildlife center helps raise some of these orphaned animals by hand, including Pearl who seems pretty fond of humans.

This is a little bit like holding a child but pretty fuzzy kid.

And the other part about this is that the fur really is soft.

There are few things sweeter than cuddling a koala. My teammates couldn't wait for their turn.

That's cute.

But then we learn the real reason Pearl is here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Be sure to tune and to an all new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER", one whole hour, one whole story.

[16:45:02]

That airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern end Pacific only, right here on CNN.

All right. We're counting down to tomorrow's historic space launch.

What to watch for as Boeing's Starliner takes its first crewed launch to the International Space Station.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A big test for Boeing as the company looks to venture into space.

[16:50:03]

Tomorrow, NASA is launching Boeing's Starliner reusable spacecraft from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and it will carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the very first time. And if everything goes well, NASA could certify Boeing system for its commercial crew program.

Joining me right now live from Houston, retired NASA astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station, Leroy Chiao.

Great to see, Leroy.

So how big of a moment is this for Boeing?

LEROY CHIAO, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Oh, this is huge for Boeing. They've had a lot of bad press over the last few years, including about the Starliner, but certainly in their airplane business. So they pretty much desperately need a win and fortunately, I think things are finally settled with the Starliner.

And I know Suni and Butch are eager to go. They'd been watching and then taking care of all the different processes that have been occurring to ensure a safe and successful mission tomorrow. So I'm kind of -- fingers crossed, that everything is going to go very well tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Okay. That's right. Fingers crossed. So we've seen SpaceX and Russian Soyuz spacecraft astronauts to the international space station. What does the potential edition of Boeing mean for NASA?

CHIAO: Well, several years ago when these contracts were first, let -- SpaceX had an interesting idea. They were making some progress, but NASA one to have at least two companies in there making these commercial vehicles. And so Boeing was selected because the idea is that Boeing knows how to do this, even though they got almost twice as much development money as SpaceX did.

Of course, SpaceX came out and its for the last three-and-a-half years or so, have SpaceX has been flying have been flying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS. So Boeing hopefully will join them that effort tomorrow. And then well have two sources to get astronauts there in case one system has some kind of a problem and can't fly for awhile.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So NASA is calling this a flight task what's the agency hoping to find out with this launch?

CHIAO: Well, of course, they're going to exercise everything they can, all different phases of flight, all the systems on board to Starliner, make sure everything's going to work the way its expected.

And so this will be a full test of all the different systems, including the launch tomorrow and then they return. Now the re-entry, the heat shield, the parachutes, everything like that, and all the stuff in between. So, you know, we're going to be watching very carefully.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Okay. And then what are some of the variables NASA watches as it looks at an unmanned mission versus a manned spacecraft mission?

CHIAO: Sure. So, Starliner, of course, has flown unmanned two and on a few different flight tests is had different issues those issues have all been addressed and so now, NASA and Boeing are confident that tomorrows mission is ready to go and so going to be looking at everything that has gone wrong in the past, make sure that there's no sign of anything like that happening again as well as all the other systems that they've monitored previously so you can bet there's going to a lot of eyes on everything that happens.

WHITFIELD: Okay, so we're about 29 hours from launch. What are these two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, doing right about now as they prepare for this flight?

CHIAO: Well, they're generally kind of relaxing. They might be reading over their notes, you know, but basically they're just, they're ready to go. These are professionals, their test pilots. They have a flight test background and they've been in NASA for a very long time, many years. I know both of them pretty well.

And, so they're just kind of relaxing and waiting for the moment to -- when they have their brief, they're suit up and get ready to go get the job done.

WHITFIELD: All right. Are you envious? You wish you were there or you like, eh, I've had enough under my belt, it's okay?

(LAUGHTER)

CHIAO: No, I've -- I had a wonderful 15 years flying career. I got to do everything possible in a flying career, you know, during the time I was there, I'd love a chance to have the moon someday, but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for me.

But no, I'm not really envious, but I'm very interested. And I'm cheering for these guys and I think everything is going to go great.

WHITFIELD: Well, we always love your expertise. Thank you so much. Leroy Chiao, great to see you.

CHIAO: Good to see you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hey, before we go today, some happy news for our CNN NEWSROOM family. Our producer, Jose Diaz, and his wife Hillary, are celebrating a new addition to their family. Meet Nico Donovan Diaz, so cute.

[16:55:03]

Nico was born in mid-April, weighing in at eight pounds, eight ounces, and guess what? He's already sleeping like a champ. So envious of them. Big sisters, Elie and Mila, are excited to have a baby brother now.

And Jose was really happy, too, because he's, you know, not the only boy in the house anymore and we are thrilled for the entire family. Aren't they lovely?

Congratulations, Jose, and family.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jessica Dean after this.

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