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a burning man mess, thousands of festival goers, they're not going anywhere after rain turned the nevada desert into miles of impassable sludge. but organizers say there could be movement soon. and in a labor day speech, president biden touting his handling of the economy with low unemployment and inflation trending down. he says bidenomics trumps his predecessors records, but new polls show most americans aren't buying it. and welcome back to earth, nasa astronauts splashing down after six months in space. new details about their 79 million mile journey. we're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. ♪ we've got brand new video in to cnn, it shows a huge caravan of vehicles trying to leave the desert. you see how large that lineup

actually is. that's in nevada at the burning man festival. the good news today is the sun is shining. the road to get out of the festival is drying. officials have said that next hour they expect more people to begin to head out. tens of thousands, though, have been stranded in the mud for days after two to three months of rain swamped the area in just 24 hours. i talked to one attendee last hour, and here's what she said about the situation on the ground there. >> there's a really, really long line trying to get out. some people are leaving. i think mostly the four-wheel drives, the subaru type vehicles. not the passenger cars yet. there are a few of those stuck. as you drive you're going to accumulate mud on those tires and those feet, it makes everything harder. and you don't want to get stuck in this and prevent other people from leaving. everybody's being really cool about it. we're just biding our time. >> reporter: cnn national correspondent nick watt is covering this story for us. what is the latest that officials are saying about when

these roads could reopen in a safe way to get people out? >> reporter: latest we heard omar is about an hour from now. they say that for the moment the roads are still too wet and muddy for most vehicles, but not all. we have seen some four-wheel drive vehicles getting out late last night and also this morning. you know, 70 plus thousand people stuck in there, and cnn has spoken to some of those who have managed to get out so far, and they described, you know, a scene on saturday. everyone waiting for that man to be burned, the kind of climax of this festival, the rain started, and initially people were dancing in the mud, having a good time, and then gradually there was a realization. hang on a second, we're not going to be able to get out of this. you mentioned that the sun is right now key. what happens is that is clay. it's a dried up ancient lake bed. the rain comes, makes it totally slick, the water just sticks on top, which makes it hugely problematic to get out b, but ao

if the rain, the water is still on top, that means the sun can dry it, and that's what we're seeing right now. there is an ethos of self-reliance around this festival, and a lot of people did bring in everything they needed to survive for a few days they were planning to be there and extra. some people were not so well prepared, and it got pretty terrible for people. the camps were washed away, it's the desert, it gets cold at night. there were some people who walked out, including a little clique of celebrities including chris rock. i'll let dj diplo take up that story. >> just got up with us and started walking. we walked about three hours in the mud, and he was happy, it was me, i think cindy crawford walked with us. au austin butler, randy gerber, a writer, a couple of producers from tv, a couple of people who wanted to get home to their children, they didn't take no

for an answer. >> reporter: so those walkers managed to get to an actual road out of the mud after a few hours, and a guy in a passing pickup truck apparently recognized dj diplo and gave them a ride. eventually they all made it to reno. during the day today, we're going to try and hopefully see the mass exodus, the 70,000 plus people coming out. but some people are going to stick it out a little bit longer because they plan to burn the man tonight. so there are people who want to stay there until the end, and you know, they'll just be praying for no more rain. and there is no more rain in the forecast. so fingers crossed, omar. >> star-studded walk from diplo. hopefully for the folks left behind, they get some relief very soon. nick watt, thank you very much. let's get you a picture now of the situation on the ground at burning man with a festival g goer, cutter palacios is on the ground for us now.

thank you so much for being with us. organizers said departures are officially set to begin in about an hour. i'm wondering what your plan is. are you planning to leave or stick around? >> we're going to see the burn. i think it's great because they're doing all three burns tonight. the man's at 9:00. the chapel of babble is at midnight, and then the temple's at 1:00 a.m., so this is awesome. we were hoping to leave by tuesday or wednesday, and the fact that we're doing it all in one night is going to be a huge celebration, and then we're going to join the mass exodus of people to stand in line maybe for hours and hours tomorrow, and then maybe get home the middle of the night between tuesday and wednesday. >> nice. so for folks that are not initiated in the rituals and the ethos, the spirit of burning man, what is it that drives so many people out there to the desert? because it kind of surprises me that you're saying this is

awesome. while it looks from the outside like a mess. >> it's messy, yeah. i think that's sort of the thrill of it. i mean, certainly people come out here and they're wanting the festival experience, but the majority of us are wanting to create a city from essentially nothing. we bring in our self-reliance, our radical self-reliance, and a big spirit is gifting. last night we had a neighboring camp. we're not part of a camp, but we had a neighboring camp giving out pizza, and they had vegan pizza. we all sat around the fire eating pizza. i have a friend down at the french quarter who was like serving up lobster, you know, which is a real treat. and for those who are in need, we all help each other out, and that's just -- that's not something that you get to see every day, and you get to experience for an entire week, especially through these hardships. we really took care of one another. i think that's incredible. >> that is incredible, especially lobster and vegan pizza. it sounds like you have basic

necessities covered. >> food, shelter, water, you know. that's really what you need to be out here. i did not plan for rain. i didn't bring a raincoat, but we were improvising. we used trash bags. there was definitely some footwear that was being improvised. some people were going bare fat, and then there was like the plastic bag over the sock, no, no, no, it's a plastic bag and then the sock. eventually the radio came out and told us it was a shoe and the sock over the shoe. i don't know about all that. i just went with the tried and true sock and shoe over sock and that seemed to work for me so. >> i'm glad you were able to find a system to get through the mud. there were reports, though, cutter, i want to ask you about this, there were reports that misinformation was spreading around festival goers, rumors, false rumors i should point out about ebola spreading, a s.w.a.t. team at one point was called in because a shooting was reported. did you come across any of that?

>> i don't know about ebola. i will say -- and i don't know about the s.w.a.t. team, but we did get police vehicles coming through the walk-in. we're out at 230 and walk-in, which is where there's no cars allowed. police did respond very quickly to wherever that report was. i think it's important to note, like in terms of communication, there's not a lot of communication out here. you have a radio and they are doing the best they can to communicate accurate information from officials and from outside sources, but just listening to the cnn stuff going on, that's more news than i've heard since i've been out here for a week. congrats to the astronauts landing. yeah, it's word of mouth, and that's really cool too. and you do the best you can and one of the principles out here is immediacy, you know. it generally means that you see something cool and you're called to it, go and participate in it and help out and explore and

live life out hear, and it also means news and word of mouth. it's moment to moment as well. >> that makes sense, we're really glad that you're doing well. i hope you enjoy that lobster and the vegan pizza and i hope you get to enjoy the burnings tonight and a smooth ride back home to you. cutter palacios, thanks so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> of course. in the meantime, omar, we did confirm that president biden was briefed on the situation at burning man. he is keeping busy this labor day. >> oh, yeah, yeah. i have a feeling they're having two hvery different labor days. even for those people, they're going to be back next year despite this experience. on this labor day, president biden wished to push his bidenomics message. it was during a speech in philadelphia today, he got in some digs on donald trump. >> in fact, the guy who held this job before me was just one of two presidents in history, he

was -- oh, but there's an important point, one of two presidents in history who left office with fewer jobs in america than when he got elected office. by the way, you know who the other one was? herbert hoover. >> maybe a preview of what we might see on the campaign trail. trump left office in 2021 during the height of the pandemic. when it comes to biden, despite low unemployment and rising real wages, most americans are still unhappy with how he's handled the economy according to polling. this wall street journal polling shows that only 37% of approve, while 59% disapprove. now, when you look at the gop field, president trump, former president trump, no surprise, way out ahead of everyone else. 58%, the closest ron desantis at 16%. that's according to a cnn poll of polls. when you put trump against biden, they're both in a dead heat when it comes to a faceoff potentially in a general

election, but the key block right there, that undecided 8%, and then a key issue between the two. president biden in his 80s, trump in his late 70s. age is a big issue. the new polling shows 73% think biden is too old for the job, while only 47% think trump has too many numbers under his belt. 36% say biden is up for the job, 46% say former president trump. now the white house continues to push back on the age and economy questions with one adviser saying most americans approve of the components inside bidenomics underscoring the challenges that they may have with messaging, especially as we get into the campaign trail. >> a challenge with messaging is one way to put it. let's dig deeper on this with economics and public policy professor from the university of michigan. thanks so much for sharing part of your labor day with us.

let's break down the details of the economy because there is this difference between perception and what is actually happening. you've got historically low unemployment, inflation that appears to be cooling, wages are going up, and yet polling indicates that the majority of americans do not believe president biden is properly handling the economy. >> it's a puzzle for sure. so i will tell you as an economist, i believe the hard numbers. the hard numbers tell us that the economy's growing and it's growing at a healthy rate. if you'd fallen asleep in 2019 and you woke up in 2023, you would discover pretty much the sort of economy you would have expected, and you wouldn't think to sask, hey, was there a globa recession is and a global pandemic in between, and i think that's really the president's great claim that things are as good or better than they would have been without a pandemic. >> it really is fascinating in part because we have been talking about the potential for

a looming recession for the better part of nearly two years now. do you think these numbers indicate that we've reached that soft landing that we've been talking about too? >> well, never hang up the mission accomplished banner too soon. i will remind you i've been happily coming on cnn telling you there's no recession and there hasn't been. what there has been, though, is a lot of dpepressed people. this is where there's this disjunction between reality and perception. the poll you were just describing asked people do you think the economy has gotten better or worse over the past two years, and there's no question on this by the way. unemployment is down, inflation is down. economic growth is up. real wages are up. everything has gotten bet every o -- better over the past two years. yet only 28% of people say things have gotten better over the past two years. a big part of that is this

enormous partisan gap. it's gotten to the point where it's almost pointless asking republicans how they feel about the economy, only 7% of them were willing to admit the economy had gotten better over the past two years. i think when we ask these questions, people are no longer telling us how they feel about the economy. really they're telling us how they feel about the president. >> fascinating. it's like a rorschach test. >> absolutely. >> i want to ask you about the fed because their strategy with interest rates has contributed to the cooling of inflation. we should note it is still higher than the 2% goal that they have for it. would you say that the fed has been effective? >> the fed's been remarkably effective, and this again is where you get one of these disjunctions. let me tell you the fact. the fact is over the the past year inflation has fallen from 9%, arguably a crisis level, down to 3%, not quite down to 2 yet. in public opinion -- the same

public opinion when they asked people has inflation moved in the right direction or the wrong direction over the past year, it's fallen from 9 to 3, only 20% of people say it's moved in the right direction. reality has gone the right way, but for some reason public opinion has yet to catch up. >> so professor, would you predict then a potential easing of interest rates in the near future? >> so i think seeing inflation move from 9% down to 3% is a tremendous relief, and your viewers, i'm sure, are feeling it and seeing it in their everyday lives. there the fed is looking to get inflation down to 2%, and you can think about this as the last mile of the inflation problem, and i think the fed remains very worried about how to knock that last little bit of inflation out of the system, and so it looks like things are slowing. if you've drowawn a picture of what the soft landing looks like, it looks like the data we've been getting.

it's always hard to see exactly what's going on, and so there's still a chance that the fed may feel the need to raise interest rates maybe one more time. >> we will be keeping a close eye on that, professor swrus tin wolfers, please come back when those numbers come out and interpret them for us. >> thanks so much. omar. >> i'm going to have to be there too, it's good insight. we've got a lot coming up in this show. russia is accused of releasing a drone attack targeting civilian infrastructure. also ahead, at a critical point in the counteroffensive, president zelenskyy fires his defense minister and nominates a new one. we'll explain the shake-up. and later, home again, several astronauts splash down in the atlantic after spending six months aboard the international space station. you're watching cnn "news central." we'll be r right back.

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liberating more areas along the southern front line where some of the heaviest fighting is taking place. all of this coming as ukrainian president zelenskyy shakes up the highest ranks of his military. he fired his defense minister as his country enters the 19th month of this war. let's take you now live to ukraine with cnn's melissa bell. so melissa, walk us through this decision by zelenskyy to replace the head of the ministry defense. >> reporter: it comes at an extraordinarily delicate time. r trying to keep this war effort going, not just ukraine's own defense industry trying to ramp up its production of weapons capable of taking this war to russia, but also of course keeping all of its many varied allies on board for the long-term. now, out goes oleksii reznikov, he has been credited with shepherding the first few months

of this war fairly successfully, his ministry, the ukrainian defense ministry was dogged by corruption scandals. there were allegations over procurement and bribes that may have been paid to certain people by people refusing not to go to service, a bunch of different allegations, there have been sackings, there have been arrests. oleksii reznikov, i should point out was never tainted by any of those. this change that came at the request of mr. reznikov does allow president zelenskyy to draw a line under the first 18 months of the war. the man coming in is considered a widely capable man who should be able to take on this formidable challenge of looking ahead to the next few months of this counteroffensive in convincing the allies that he's going to need all the weapons he can get to try and keep pushing those lines forward, boris. >> and melissa, we also have some news out of russia, a photo published for the first time since the attempted coup featuring a key russian general. what can you tell us about that?

>> reporter: now, general sor rof kin, it was back in october of last year, the hard-liners had been put in charge or become more prominent within the kremlin and certainly in charge of ukraine's war efforts. that included his appointment at the helm of the russian special operation as they call it war here in ukraine. he didn't last very long, just a few months in the top job. he was then demoted to deputy, but what really got him, of course, was the attempted march on moscow by yevgeny prigozhin, now deceased. you'll remember that at the time there was a lot of speculation that general sor rof kin may have had advanced warning of it, may have been a secret member of the wagner. many people around him denied that, suggested that he was simply resting. the fact is, since that attempted push, there had been no sighting of him. he'd been nowhere to be seen. so today he's popped up on this telegram channel apparently

alive and well and in moscow, boris. >> melissa bell, thank you so much for the reporting from zaporizhzhia. nasa is welcoming home four astronauts after their successful return from a nearly six-month stay at the international space station. they were traveling at more than 17,000 miles per hour before the crew's dragon capsule deployed its parachutes and splashed down just after midnight. its expeerterior temperature go $3,500, as it sliced back into the earth's atmosphere. the astronauts are from the u.s., the united arab emirates and russia. they conducted three space walks and oversaw 200 science and technology projects during their stint in space. we've got a lot to talk about, that's why we've got leroy chow, he flew on three space missions. leroy, thanks for joining us here on earth for these questions snow, look, i want to start with there are oftentimes launches that capture the

collective attention of the world, of the country, but there is a lot more being done in the day-to-day space work, and this mission strikes me as one of those. give us a sense of what is happening day-to-day in places like the international space station. >> sure, day-to-day aboard the i.s.s. everybody on board has a full day. your schedule is planned down to the minute, and you're doing a lot of different things. certainly you're conducting scientific investigations, but you're doing a lot of other very important work like scheduled maint maintenance. you might have to repair things that broke down. you're doing logistics work. it's not all glamorous. you've got to go find these things and put them in the right places. you're unpacking a cargo ship. maybe you're packing an empty cargo ship with garbage to deorbit. everything is different, and it's all planned down to the minute. >> when you talk about these types of tests, what types of tests are they doing. is it on air pressure, or you know, whatever it might be i'm

not going to pretend to know exactly the range of tests. what types of things are they actually studying? >> sure, we do a lot of different kinds of experiments, research aboard the international space station. a large portion of that is devoted to biomedical examinations, both of the astronauts themselves as well as experiments on cellular level and even some small animals. we're trying to understand the negative effects of zero gravity and that harsh environment, radiation and other hazards up there. we're trying to come up with countermeasures so we can send crews to mars in places like that and have them stay healthy. besides that, there are also material science experiments doing a lot of things difficult to do here on earth. you're also doing basic physics experiments too. there's a whole gamut of a whole lot of different things that are

going on up there. >> musk tends to be in the headlines for x or twitter or tesla. spacex has become a very instrumental infrastructure alongside nasa when it comes to space exploration. is that private company, government partnership going to be the new reality of space exploration as opposed to in a previous era when it was more government led? >> absolutely. this is a new paradigm, and it's working out very well. way back in 2008, 2009 i was part of white house committee that put forward this option, this idea of government commercial, you know, private aerospace cooperation, and that's how spacex and boeing got the contracts to develop their spacecraft. spacex, this particular spacecraft endeavor, this is its fourth flight. it's been extremely successful program, and they have been launching astronauts now for nearly two years. they've been launching cargo even longer, many more years than before they got the crew up there and star liner, boeing, spacecraft will hopefully be flying sometime next year.

so this absolutely is the new partnership. this is the new model. nasa has gone out and used the same model to look for private commercial companies to co-invest, if you will, in space stations, smaller space stations that will take oaf the functions of the i.s.s. once that is deorbited in 2030. >> and all this comes in the context of india being the fourth country to make a soft landing on the moon, china's space program jumping leaps and bounds. a lot to keep an eye on it. leroy chiao, thank you. >> thank you. >> of course. >> boris. still to come this afternoon, an update from the campaign trail, republican candidate nikki haley doubling down on her call for older lawmakers to take mental competency tests. this comes after mitch mcconnell's second time freezing on camera in front of reporters. details from the road next.

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and that issue and debate over it has gotten more intense since senate minority leader mitch mcconnell froze while taking questions last week from reporters. the second time this summer that that's happened. right now some republicans are sparring about it. >> i am completely for term limits. i'm completely for mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75, and i'm not saying that to be disrespectful. here up mitch mcconnell who's done great service to the country. you have dianne feinstein who had a great career. you've got nancy pelosi who's been there a long time. at what point do they get it's

time to leave? >> mitch is sharp, and he is shrewd. he understands what needs to be done. i'll leave it up to him as to how he wants to discuss that with the american public, but there's no doubt in my mind that he is perfectly capable of continuing on at this stage of the game. >> let's discuss this and more with cnn political commentator and republican strategist alice stewart. also joining us, "axios" national politics reporter sophia chi. thank you both for being with us. the issue with mcconnell is that it creates an opening for people like nikki haley who's 51 years old to talk about age on the campaign trail. do you think that's an issue that resonates with voters? >> it does with some, and i think it's really important that we look at each of these instances that she brings up separately. look, watching the video of senator mcconnell freeze up twice, it's concerning, but look, i take the word of his doctor, of senator rounds who we just played, and our colleague

scott jennings who has actually spent time with him since this happened and says he's fine and says these were just instances that happen, and they're not common place. look, keep in mind, he's recovering from an injury and this takes time. we need to show him the same grace that everyone gave to senator fetterman. that's important to keep in mind. but look, i would love nothing more than for every person who is an elected official in washington to be able to show up, speak up, and dress up the part, but it's up to the voters to decide. it's not up for someone who has an ulterior motive in the republican party or the democratic party to call for mental competency tests or age requirements. it's up to the voters to decide those important issues, and that's exactly where this should lie. keep in mind, if you're going to throw stones and you're going to have a standard for age and mental kcompetency. it goes both ways and democrats can do the same thing to republicans if you're going to throw across the aisle. this with mcconnell is a health

issue, much different than what we're seeing with senator feinstein and president biden for that matter in some cases. >> what i found interesting about nickki haley's soundbite s if you read between the lines, former president donald trump would also be taking a mental acuity test if it were up to her. she doesn't mention him by name. if you look at polls, trump is only about three years younger than biden. biden, i think we have that poll to show our viewers, biden routinely is viewed by those questioned in the poll as being unable to do the job because of his age in comparison to former president donald trump. >> yeah, i mean, i just saw a poll that you guys put up. one-third of voters think that he is mentally able, that is biden. for trump it's only about ten points higher. on the one hand you've got biden who's 80, on the other hand you've got trump who's 77. alice made a great point. it cuts both ways. i think it's significant that in this case with mcconnell, you

had biden immediately calling mcconnell up to express his support, express his confidence because, you know what? i think dems are being relatively quiet about, you know, this health scare, double health scare with mcconnell because you know what? the same questions can be asked about biden. >> sure. alice, to you. i want to get to another republican candidate that we've been following very closely, and that is senator tim scott of south carolina. he started his campaign with pretty affable outlook. he was mostly positive on the trail, and apparently that is going to shift coming soon after that lackluster debate performance. >> look, i think he was just trying to be more polite in the debate, and that certainly cost him. he didn't get quite the time and the headlines after that. look, here's something to keep in mind having worked on many campaigns, you always start off a campaign with certainly your

message, but you plan your work and you work your plan. and you also have a plan b, and it's political malpractice not to adapt to plan b if the current situation isn't working, if the poll numbers aren't advocating for that, and we've got four months until the iowa caucus, and now is the time to make those changes. if you don't, you're like the people out in burning man, you're stuck in the mud and you have no place to go. so now is the time to make those changes and adapt based on what works and what doesn't work because clearly being mr. nice guy and mr. optimistic isn't exactly working, so it's a good time, and we're seeing this with a wi a lot of the candidates. they're tweaking and massaging their message to what works with the voters. >> sophia, i appreciate alice describing it as tweaking. tim scott not the only candidate to tweak or attempt a rebrand of some kind of the campaign. i think that speaks to just how donald trump is dominating the republican side. >> yeah, i mean, tim scott came out here pitching himself as the optimistic alternative to trump,

and i think he still is, primarily because it's not in trump -- i'm sorry, it's not in tim scott's nature to be combative. it's not in his nature to be aggressive even though, you know, you've got some of his allies saying he's going to try to. i mean, the guy like goes on podcasts and talks about what happiness is, right? and it's because -- and that's not a show. it's who he is. but i think, you know, the debate has showed him and his team that he needs to be a little more punchy, so you see him going after trump on being soft on putin. you see him going after vivek ramaswamy who had a great debate for, you know, potentially refusing to back our allies including israel, so these are some of the issues -- and i was just chatting with his campaign -- that his team expects him to make the case to voters to contrast himself, and that's the word they want to use. contrast themselves with his rivals. >> difficult to contrast themselves when donald trump is

leading by nearly 50 points. thank you both so much, appreciate you. still to come on cnn news central, the cdc is issuing a warning about a specific type of flesh-eating bacteria. we'll tell you where it's being found right now. meet three students all learning to save and spend their money with chase. freedom for kids. hungry? thank you, chef. control for rents. nice. one bank f both. chase. make more what's yours. the america's best celebrity sale is here. with picture-worthy designer frames at a fly price from sofia vergara you're in my shot! ...be sure to get my good side! get two pairs of celebrity frames for $89.95 for a limited time at america's best. book an exam today. every day, more dog people, and more vets are deciding

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...to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, alarming findings from an audit of connecticut state trooper traffic stops. auditors say more than 100 troopers filed false reports during a seven-year span. the period, rather the reason according to the report, was to possibly appear more productive. a key finding in the 72-page audit, a high likelihood that at

least 26,000 recorded stops between 2014 and 2021 were fake. they were false. that means that no stops were actually made, but they filed paperwork anyway. that number could be more than 58,000. an investigation is currently underway. a gender reveal party in mexico turned tragic over the weekend. you can see here a plane spraying pink smoke over the party then immediately crashing. the video captures the moment the plane's left wing appears to separate from the fuselage as it flies away from the group of people below. the pilot was taken to the hospital but he later died. fortunately no other injuries are being reported. and the texas christian university community is in mourning after a beloved student played football for the school was shot tdead outside a fort worth bar. the junior was shot multiple times by a gunman who officials

say told police he would have shot more people if he hadn't run out of bullets. the suspect is charged with murder and being held on $500,000 bond. omar. we're going to go to an urgent health alert now. the cdc is warning doctors to be on the lookout for cases of deadly flash eating bacteria this summer. according to health officials, at least five people have died from infections in connecticut, new york, and north carolina. widespread heat waves and rising coastal sea surface temperatures may be to blame here. now, cnn health reporter jacqueline howard joins us now. first off, what is this? and how are people being exposed to it? >> well, omar, the type of bacteria we're talking about, the way people can get infected. this is a bacteria that naturally lives in coastal waters. so if someone consumes raw shellfish or if they have an open wound or a cut on the skin that's exposed to coastal waters where we know vib rio bacteria

thrive, that's where we are seeing these types of infections, because vibrio bacterias thrive in warm waters, we can expect to see increasing numbers of these kinds of infections, and the cdc now is urging health care professionals to consider vibrio bacteria as a possible cause if they see infected wounds that they were were exposed to coastal waters. and as you mentioned, omar, we've seen some recent fatal cases reported on the east coast in north carolina, connecticut, and new york. so this is something that health officials are watching very closely. >> yeah, it's scary for a lot of folks who see some of these headlines. and so how concerned should people be, and what can they do to be safe here? >> yeah, it's scary, but we don't want people to panic. we know that, you know, each year somewhere between 150 and 200 cases of vibrio infections

are reported to the cdc and about one in five of those can be fatal. so what the cdc recommends people to do is if you do have an open wound or cut on the skin, avoid coastal waters so you can reduce your risk of infection, and make sure that you cook raw oysters or shellfish that you macy consume wash your hands when you are handling shellfish, and if you do have a wound that appears to be infected, call your doctor, seek medical attention. antibiotics can help as a treatment, but you definitely want to seek medical help when needed, omar. >> important context, especially on the frequency of this, jacqueline howard, thank you so much. tennis star coco gauff keeping the drive alive at the u.s. open. she is the first teenager to make the tournament's quarter finals in back-to-back years since serena williams. more on her run when we come back. o surprises. well, my monthly payment did come out lower than expected..

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and keep your wheels on the ! the u.s. open. american coco gauff pulling out a win over 33-year-old caroline wozniacki to reach the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. the milestone places the 19-year-old gauff among the likes of tennis great serena williams. cnn "world sport" anchor don riddell joins us now. gauff is one of the favorites to take this thing all the way. >> absolutely, boris. gauff has a terrific chance of winning the u.s. open this year. she's still only 19 years old but has had a brilliant summer and she is getting it done in new york. it's not always been easy, three of her matches so far have gone to three sets including sunday's fourth round match against

wozniacki but in the end it was fairly one-sided gauff clinch that go third set by 6 games to 1. she's clearly gaining in confidence and trusting in her own ability even dismissing the advice of her coaches at times and she is emerging as a real character. this is what she said afterwards about her dad who is so supportive, but who is also so nervous that he can no longer watch. >> my dad isn't in the box anymore because he gets too nervous, so he's somewhere in one of the suites and he's been apparently doing laps around the stadium i heard during the matches. so i don't know if he can hear me right now but i felt his energy, his good energy, even though i can't really see him. >> gauff's next match will be a quarter final clash with rastapenko from latvia. within the last few minutes another american has advanced

albeit at the expense of a compatriot, madison keys knocked out pegula in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. it is turning out to be a terrific tournament for the american players. no less than three homegrown stars in the men's draw and one is guaranteed to make it so the semis. on sunday the 20-year-old from florida ben shelton knocked out another american tommy pool. that means shelton will play tiafoe, beat nadal last year, he went to the semis then. the other american man still standing is taylor fritz, he has a tough opponent in the quarter final round, boris, you might have heard of him, novak djokovic, he's won a few of these majors, 23 of them and counting. >> only a handful. i look forward to cocoa's dad making more laps around the venue. don riddell, thank you so much. omar. >> he will probably do more laps than me. burning man is wrapping up

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