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New Day Sunday

Trump Praises Vets, Slams Media at "Celebrate Freedom" Event; President Trump Set to Meet Putin This Week; Kentucky Official: "Not Enough Bourbon" to Release Data; Two Major Shake-Ups at the Vatican; Flash Flooding Threatens Central New York. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired July 02, 2017 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:02] DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): His team has secured the park for this very moment. It's rebirth.

David McKenzie, CNN, Malawi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The (INAUDIBLE) river is all ISIS has left of Mosul. They rush in to help the wounded.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are learning more details about the man charged with the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang, the visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those that knew him are quite surprised. There was no hint.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The fake media is trying to silence us. But we will not let them. The people know the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the greatest journalistic challenge of the modern era, to report on a malignant presidency and what it means and where it's going.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.

It is a busy, busy Sunday for President Trump on this Independence Day weekend. Today, the president has back-to-back phone calls with the leader of China and Japan. No word yet on what they will discuss. But it comes after the president declared America's patience with North Korea is over.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And with the campaign promise to repeal Obamacare at an impasse it seem in the Senate. The White House says the president is working through the holiday, putting calls into lawmakers. Last night, the president was back in campaign form, speaking at a celebrate freedom event. He saluted our veterans and continued his attack on one of his favorite targets, the news media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The fake media is trying to silence us, but we will not let them, because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but I'm president and they're not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about this with CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter. And breaking news editor at "The Washington Examiner", Kyle Feldscher.

Good morning to you.

And, Kyle, let me start with you on policy here. Health care, we got a Washington for Congress, senators will, obviously, they're going to going to hear from their constituents, those who rely on the Affordable Care Act and those who wanted to be protected, and those who want the Republican senators to keep their campaign promises and repeal and replace.

Historically, do these breaks move these parties closer to consensus or further apart?

KYLE FELDSCHER, BREAKING NEWS EDITOR, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Well, it seems like they are usually a little -- they kind of break consensus up. They seem to hear from a lot of angry constituents when they go home, especially these Republicans who are going to be bombarded at town halls if they have them, which seems like a lot have decide not to recently. But they will be bombarded by constituents who want the ACA to stay, there is a really big movement behind that at the moment. And it's -- it will be interesting to see what happens if they come home and if they end up having to hear about it from their residents and whether that changes their thinking when they come back here to Washington next week.

BLACKWELL: Brian, it looked like campaign rally last night in Washington. The president, although making this point, he goes after the free press in the U.S. at a celebrate freedom event.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Coming up on the Fourth of July. Yes, indeed, Victor. The campaigner in chief is a great frame, you know, to see the president through. We know he has already established his re-election campaign. He was at a fundraiser for the RNC the other day.

And at events like these, even if the script originally is about veterans and about this long holiday weekend, this acknowledgment of the country's history, he does make some of his most, you know, frequent campaign points at these kind of events.

I would say his campaign right now is primarily against the media. You look at his Twitter feed. It's not about health care. It's been mostly bashing CNN and "Morning Joe" and other major news outlets. We saw that on stage as well.

I was struck by something Chuck Todd at NBC said this morning. He said, I'm really amazed how much time and energy the president is spending on health care this weekend, all those tweets this weekend and the health care rally last night. Obviously, Chuck is being facetious. The point is the president is not tweeting about health care. He is not holding events about health care. Not holding town hall the way Obama did when Obama was trying to get Obamacare through the House and Senate.

So there is a big difference here in what the president is doing publicly. They say he is working privately behind the scenes on health care, wooing lawmakers. But he's not doing that publicly. He is not using his megaphone in order to get this repeal and replace done.

BLACKWELL: And, Brian, let me stay with you on this tweet. You mentioned the president's Twitter account and all that we've seen over the 72 hours over this back and forth with the cable news show hosts.

[07:05:05] And he tweeted: My use of the media is not presidential. It's modern day presidential. Make America great again -- creating a distinction for a Trump era presidential.

STELTER: And I think there is a point to be made there, that we don't have to judge everything Trump does based on what presidents did 50 or a hundred years ago. Sometimes his references to the fireside chats or JFK alerting how to work in the television era or, you know, Reagan in the cable news era.

Thing are evolving. Media and to think the Internet acknowledgment is evolving. So, yes, there is a new way to perform as president and to communicate as president. But, Victor, what if President Trump was using Twitter to reply to constituents, so answer their questions, to address their concerns about health care? But we're not seeing him doing that, at least not currently.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The other question is, when those new media were introduced how did those presidents use them?

STELTER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We are seeing this president is using Twitter.

Kyle, back to you. From your reporting, have we seen that there has been any impact, any pushback, any rejection from the president's die- hard supporters of some of the more controversial things he has tweeted out and his White House has said this week?

FELDSCHER: Not at all. There is going to be a solid base of his supporters who really like this kind of thing. They really want him to take on entrench, what do they say? Entrenched special interest, the liberal elites, the news media, in the kind of all run together as sort of the enemies that they kind of resent. And so, there's this really big desire for Trump to do this. This

might be one of his biggest, you know, things -- appeal to most people about him is that he does not -- he's not afraid to take on, you know, people who are, you know, on TV like us, or people who write for newspapers, that kind of thing. In fact, they want him to do that.

And so, there is a portion of his base that is never going to go away. It's never going to be repulsed by this, unless he says something truly terrible. And I don't -- we will see what that point is.

BLACKWELL: They also want --

STELTER: I think some people would say he has already past the point of saying something truly terrible. The question to me, is this leadership? Is it leadership to try to play into people's resentment or hatred rather than bring folks together? The president also said and his believed him and the base also wanted him to repeal and replace Obamacare on day one. The promise was on day one. We are going to get to the six-month mark of the presidency coming up.

BLACKWELL: The White House said that he's working on that this weekend. Ten day recess here for the Senate. We'll see if they can get it done.

Brian Stelter, Kyle Feldscher, thanks so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

FELDSCHER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to watch Brian Stelter on "RELIABLE SOURCES", 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

This morning, a military official says a U.S. Navy warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea. China claims these waters. But the U.S. disagrees. This comes just hours before president Trump speaks with the leader of China.

PAUL: CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, says demonstrations like this are show power for the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Any time is there a claim we don't recognize, we generally send aircraft or navy warships into that area. But we are very scrupulous about maintaining the proper international protocols. We don't sail into waters we don't recognize.

So, we're just telling the rest of the world, we're telling the Chinese that we don't recognize your claim to these waters and we're going to demonstrate our right to be there. Not only our right but anybody's right to be there.

We try not to make these provocative but they can be. At times, it has led to military confrontation. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: This is the second time the navy has performed this operation since President Trump took office.

BLACKWELL: We know name and seeing the name of the face of the man who will be in court tomorrow in connection with the disappearance of visiting Chinese graduate student. Brendt Christensen of Illinois will face a charge of kidnapping for Yingying Zhang.

PAUL: Zhang was last seen June 9. And investigators, along with the FBI, believed she mostly is not alive. As you can imagine, it has sent shockwaves through the campus. Brendt Christensen was a graduate student and teaching assistant at the University of Illinois. And a professor there says the accusations have really surprised people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROFESSOR LANCE COOPER, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN: I've received many, many e-mails from faculty and students expressing shock that happened. Those who knew him are quite surprised. There was no hint of something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: They were both, obviously, from the same university there. And, again, Christensen will be in court tomorrow morning.

Still to come, President Trump meeting with Vladimir Putin this week at the G-20 amid ongoing investigations into Moscow's meddling in 2016 elections. So, what can we expect?

[07:10:00] We're going to talk live with a former Russian TV anchor who knows how the Kremlin operates.

BLACKWELL: Plus, a Kentucky state official says there's not enough bourbon in Kentucky to convince her to do what the Trump administration is asking. What is it? We'll tell you.

PAUL: Also, major shake-ups at the Vatican. A top advisor to the pope is out, while he's facing sexual assault charges. Is the Catholic Church doing enough to tackle these issues?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: President Trump and Russian President Putin are set to have their first meeting this week at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg. It's arguably one of the most highly anticipated meetings so far this year. And yet, word from the White House is there no formal schedule for it.

Last week, national security adviser H.R. McMaster said, quote: We have no specific agenda. It's whatever the president wants to talk about.

So, let's talk to Liz Wahl. Liz was a correspondent for Russia TV. She resigned live on the air back in 2014 over what she called the network's partiality to Russian President Putin.

[07:15:02] So, she is now a reporter for Scripps News.

Liz, so good to have you with us. Thanks for being here.

LIZ WAHL, REPORTER, SCRIPPS NEWS: Good morning.

PAUL: Good morning.

Thomas Graham, former White House aide to President George W. Bush, said this: Putin will come to this meeting with an agenda. He comes to these meetings prepared.

With that said, and we don't know if the president has any formal ideas about what he will say but how risky is it for the president, President Trump not to have a specific agenda as H.R. McMaster asserts?

WAHL: Yes, it's very risky because as that quote just mentioned, Putin is prepared. He is a former KGB operative, so he kind of thinks in that way. He knows his adversaries. He knows how to kind of get what he wants out of people. He tries to manipulate others and at the end of the day, he is representing Russian interests. And he, for years now, has been trying to make Russia great again.

So I think that absolutely Putin knows what he is doing. He knows how to kind of play people. He knows American politics and he knows how to use American politics against us. That is a big part of this disinformation campaign that the investigations are looking at.

So, it would be wise, I think, for President Trump to go into this meeting even if it's informal kind of a meeting to have some things he wants to convey. One thing that would comfort the American people, I think, is for him to say something about the meddling in our elections, to say, you know what, that's not something that's tolerated, that's not something we will not tolerate again. I think --

PAUL: Right, we don't know if he'll do that.

But I wanted to bring up these pictures. Last month's release by Russia of the pictures of President Trump with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the Oval Office. These are pictures that President Trump didn't want to be released publicly. Is there any indication that the president, that his administration, is skeptical, is suspect of Russian intentions or integrity?

WAHL: There isn't any indication yet. And I think that those pictures exemplify the extent to which Russia is able to play our own kind of system at this particular meeting. There were no American reporters allowed into that meeting, and, of course, that was the former ambassador. He had recently been recalled and he got into that meeting and he at the center of these Russia investigation and these pictures come out released by Russian state-funded news agency when our own reporters were not allowed in and they are laughing and smiling and there's no indication that he's conveying any seriousness to them about these issues, one of which is, you know, our democratic process and meddling in our democratic process.

And so, it just sends a very bad -- it's a propaganda message for Russia. It's been -- it was a propaganda one for them. For us, it was just very bizarre and puzzling. So, hopefully, this could be an opportunity to show the American people that we won't tolerate this kind of meddling in our elections.

PAUL: I want to play some sound from our global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. She had some thoughts on this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: He had both George W. Bush and President Barack Obama thinking that Russia and the United States could reach some sort of cooperative arrangement on things like counterterrorism. But every time, according to the officials that I've spoken to who dealt with Russia in the past, that they were near to what they thought was a good give-and-take. Russia would sort of use that relationship to get one over on them. So they worry that this is what Trump is going to get, convinced to do, enter into some sort of partnership where it's one-sided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Kimberly Dozier with, of course, our own Victor Blackwell just yesterday. So, when you hear the word partnership as she said, what does Putin want? What kind of partnership may he try to establish with this president?

WAHL: Well, I think that's a key question that at this point we should realize that there is not really a viable partnership that can be formed when it comes to Syria, for example, and when it comes to Ukraine.

Putin's interests are not -- they don't align with our interests. And as the commentator said earlier, he is always trying to get a one-up. So if he says, you know, the big push that I hear from them is that we can work together on Syria. But as we are seeing, that is not -- Putin's primary goal inside of Syria is not to battle ISIS or take out ISIS but to prop up Bashar Assad.

So, I think you really have to I mean, you're hearing this rhetoric, we need to work together, we need to work together. But I think you need to look at the facts and the motivations and, at the end of the day, Putin's interests tonight align with ours and he is going to try to manipulate our politics --

PAUL: Right.

WAHL: -- and our people, and that is something that when you go into this meeting, Putin is going to be prepared and the president should be fully aware of this.

[07:20:04] PAUL: So, let me ask you this, Liz, because you have more insight into the Russian administration and Putin and his team than most others. If President Trump does confront President Putin with intelligence that Russia interferes in the 2016 election and it's a private conversation, how might Putin react in private as opposed to what we have seen in public?

WAHL: Well, I mean, he won't like it. He doesn't like being called out. I mean, our own media and own intelligence agency has called him out and he has kind of essentially done the Russian version of calling it fake news. So, I mean, he probably won't react positively to it.

But I think just merely saying, as the head of state representing the United States interests, to say something on the sidelines. I mean, the last time the President Obama had met with Putin at the sidelines of an event overseas, he had said, hey, cut it out. So, just merely showing that this is not something that -- or first of all, just acknowledging it, it's been very difficult just to get the president to acknowledge anything Russia, anything Russian meddling, which I think is very bewildering to the intelligence community or people that really watch Russian relations because we know that Putin -- Putin plays people.

So, just saying, hey, cut it out, this is not something that we're going to tolerate again will show that he does, in fact, believe in or is an advocate for the integrity of our institutions.

PAUL: All righty. Liz Wahl, we appreciate your insights. Thanks for being here.

WAHL: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Next, we will talk with a state official who says there is not enough bourbon in Kentucky to make sense of the Trump administration's latest requests.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Welcome back. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you.

PAUL: A senior White House official says the president is going to be hard at work this entire holiday week.

BLACKWELL: First up today, back-to-back phone calls with the leaders of China and Japan. We don't know yet what they'll discuss, but it comes after the president declared America's patience with North Korea is over.

PAUL: The president will also, we understand, call members of Congress over the July Fourth recess. Far from giving up on health care bill stalled in the Senate, the White House is doubling down they say and hoping to come to terms on a deal.

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, the president told supporters at a campaign style rally his administration is making progress and he also took aim at the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Their agenda is not your agenda. You've been saying it. I will never stop fighting for you. I am delivering on trade, on the economy, on the Supreme Court, on the Second Amendment, on our military, for our veterans, and on our borders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And let's talk about some bipartisanship now. Both Republican and Democratic state officials are vowing not to imply with the administration's request for voter information. They are getting more and more creative in how they are doing it. Mississippi's Republican secretary of state told the administration to go jump in the Gulf of Mexico. And now Kentucky's Democratic secretary of state says there is not enough bourbon in Kentucky to make her release the voter data.

Joining us now live, Kentucky secretary of state, Alison Lundergan Grimes.

Good morning to you.

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES (D), KENTUCKY SECRETARY OF STATE: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, this is all part of this commission to investigate voter integrity. Why are you pushing back against this administration's request?

GRIMES: Well, the question simply put before the American people, if Donald Trump only asked for not only your name and address, but your date of birth, your voter history, your party affiliation, the last four digits of your Social Security number, would you give it to him? The answer resoundingly no.

Many people are worried about Donald Trump's divisiveness. He's managed to bring not only Democrat but Republican secretaries of state across the nation together because they don't want to risk the privacy of billions of Americans simply for a political stunt and a lie that the president continues to pry to perpetrate for a fake commission that he's put together.

BLACKWELL: So, this came as, I think everyone knows now, after the president tweeted out that he actually won the popular vote if you don't count the 3 million to 5 million people who voted illegally. Of course, people then ask for evidence of that. We now know from the vice chair who is also the secretary of state of Kansas, he says that this is not about that claim.

Actually I want our viewers to first listen to the president in February, and then listen to Kris Kobach, the secretary of state of Kansas, who is the vice chair of this effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, TV HOST: The data has to show that 3 million illegals voted. TRUMP: Forget that. Forget all of that. Just take a look at the

registration and we're going to do it. And I'm going to set up a commission to be headed by Vice President Mike Pence and we are going to look at it very, very carefully.

KRIS KOBACH, KANSAS SECRETARY OF STATE: The commission is not set up to disprove or to prove President Trump's claim nor is it just looking at the 2016 election. We are looking at all forms of election irregularities, voter fraud, registration, fraud, voter intimidation, suppression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What do you make of the discrepancy here?

GRIMES: Well, I think that the secretary from Kansas is mincing words. The public is well aware of why this fake commission was set up. It's in violation of the Tenth Amendment as we look especially to elections being left to the states to run and even the secretary from Kansas can't imply with the own request that as vice chair of this fake commission have put forward.

What we have seen to date, we are 72 hours from when the request for the private sensitive information of voters all across this nation came forward, and we have no state that is going to be fully complying across the United States.

[07:30:03] Even Republican secretaries following the lead of Kentucky saying that they, in no way, intend to compromise the privacy of voters across the United States.

BLACKWELL: Let me get your response to a statement from the president this weekend via Twitter in which he suggests some nefarious intent on your part and the part of other secretaries of state were rejecting the claim or the request.

Numerous states refusing to give information to the very distinguished voter fraud panel. What are they trying to hide?

Your response there to that suggestion from the president?

GRIMES: Well, the secretaries of state across this nation don't have anything to hide. And whatever Putin may have over the president is not worth risking American lives and privacy here. If you look at the timing of this request, it's suspect. It comes during a week when the president launches at his own hotel, his re-election campaign and then, secondly, in the same breath, the funding for an agency that is supposed to look out for the integrity of our election system and administration, the EAC completely defunded in a House appropriation bill, at the same time, the president requests sensitive information of every American voter.

You don't have to be from Kentucky to know that this smells like horse manure.

BLACKWELL: OK. So, in the discussion of evidence that the president has to provide in his claim that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegal, I've got to now challenge you on a comment you just made about whatever Putin has over the president. Are you suggesting that this request or the president's claim is some way involved or related to the president's relationship or lack thereof with Vladimir Putin?

GRIMES: I'm merely pointing out what data expert after data expert over the past 72 hours have noted, which is if we want to make the job easier for foreign actors to interfere in our elections, then, by all means, hand over the sensitive private information, folks' Social Security numbers, their dates of birth, their entire voting history, their political affiliation, put it in an unsecure Web site which is what the government have asked the secretaries of state across this nation to do. It would be easier to hand it over to Putin. It's not worth the risk, no matter what is going on between the president and Vladimir Putin.

BLACKWELL: Final question here. The panel really does not have any legal authority for force these states to hand over the information. Justice Department might, though, exercise some legal authority here. If they do, what's your intention there? Do you intend to fight it?

GRIMES: Not on my watch. Am I going to promise 3.3 million Kentuckians' sensitive personal information? We have an obligation as the chief election officials to make sure that the integrity of our elections is protected and that includes the privacy of registered voters all across this nation.

BLACKWELL: All right. Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, good to have you this morning.

GRIMES: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Later this morning, Senators Ben Sasse and Bernie Sanders join Jake Tapper live. Can President Trump save the health care bill in the Senate or Democrats there stop him? That's on "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning at 9:00 Eastern.

PAUL: Well, the Vatican is facing backlash after a top adviser to the pope is charged with sexual assault. Is Pope Francis doing enough to hold church officials accountable?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:37:26]BLACKWELL: Major shake-ups to the Vatican over allegations of sexual abuse and major disagreements. A top adviser to Pope Francis, Cardinal George Pell, is taking leave to fight sexual assault charges in his home country of Australia. He says the accusations are false and part of a relentless character assassination.

PAUL: And just yesterday, the pope replaced another top leader who publicly disagreed with him about the future of the church.

Let's talk to CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck, and investigative journalist on the "Boston Globe's" Spotlight team, Michael Rezendes. He helped them cover abuse in the Catholic Church in Boston, and his team's work was featured in the film "Spotlight". Gentlemen, we're so grateful to have both of you here. Thank you.

Cardinal George Pell is taking leave of absence on Thursday to face historical sexual assault charges. Do you think, Father Beck, that the pope has done enough to address these charges and the charges not just, obviously, with Cardinal Pell, but across the board in the Catholic Church?

REVEREND EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Well, Christi, you know he has set up a special commission that has been working for some time now, looking at church protocol with regards to this. It has had some bumpy steps here because the two lay people on the commission have resigned, saying they don't think it's moving quickly enough. There have been some disputes among members of the commission. But even Marie Collins, who is one of those who resigned, said that she believes that Pope Francis is committed to this issue and is, in fact, doing a lot for this issue.

PAUL: OK.

BECK: So, I mean, he is getting mixed reviews in some quarters, but I don't think anybody is denying his commitment to work on this issue in a serious manner.

PAUL: OK. Michael, what did you think, first of all, when you heard about Cardinal Pell?

MICHAEL REZENDES, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Well, it's an extraordinary development, no doubt about it. He is the highest ranking Vatican official to ever be charged with abuse. However, at the same time, I also felt this is a long time coming, because although Pope Francis has said many fine things about addressing the problem of clergy sexual abuse, the panel that Father Beck mentioned really has not done anything, even though it's been meeting for several years.

Moreover, initially, Pope Francis said he would establish a tribunal to hold bishops accountable who cover up for the abuses committed by their priests. And now, we've learned that the tribunal will be scuttled and instead church leaders will rely on Canon Law. So, I think this has been a long time company.

[07:40:01] The accusations against Cardinal Pell have been around a long time. So, in a way, I guess I was not surprised.

PAUL: Cardinal Pell actually asserts that this is a character assassination against him. He says he's looking forward to his day in court. Let's listen to what Pope Francis said. This was back in Pennsylvania in 2015.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): I commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected and that all responsible will be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: The jolt of this, Father Beck, is that Cardinal Pell sits on the pope's advisory council, as Michael was talking about, but that council is tasked with addressing sexual assault in the church. If he is found guilty, will the Vatican stand by him?

BECK: No. What Pope Francis has said is that the legal system must take its course and that he will make his comments once that has happened. Remember, now, this is presumption of innocent until found guilty. He said that he wants to return now to Australia. He has a court date on July 18th and he will face these charges.

This is a very conservative prelate who has spoken against same-sex marriage, who has spoken against abuse, very theologically conservative on many issues. So, this does, indeed, come as a surprise. He is the first cardinal and the first Vatican official to be charged, criminally charged with sexual abuse. So, it is big news.

However, he is claiming his innocence. He is going to return to Australia. We have to let the court process play out.

Again, this is part of the issue at this, Christi, what the investigator was just saying, this is a worldwide church. There are different rules in different countries. There's different statute of limitations. There's different age of consent. So, it's not like just because in the United States, it grew some way that a worldwide community would could move as rapidly as would like because many different strictures and problems in different countries.

PAUL: Michael, what is your reaction to that?

REZENDES: Well, I would like to say also that Cardinal Pell is certainly innocent until proven guilty of these charges. We don't know a lot about the charges but, of course, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

PAUL: And he staunchly denies them, we need to point out.

REZENDES: Yes, we do. But I would like to also point out that the issue of how Cardinal Pell handled allegations of clergy sex abuse while he was in Australia is another matter. And while testifying before the royal commission, Cardinal Pell pretty much admitted that he had not done the job he wish he had done in handling allegations of clergy sex abuse. Essentially he admitted that even though he may never have committed abuse himself he essentially has been a part of the problem when it comes to dealing with clergy sexual abuse.

PAUL: So, do you think that's because, Michael, based on everything, all of your research, is that because at one point they didn't know what to do about it? Even though I know that sounds asinine. You would think they would. But this was a struggle within the Catholic Church for sometime.

REZENDES: Well, it was a struggle within the Catholic Church, but I think a struggle between those who would cover-up and those who wanted to do something about it. And I think the people who wanted to cover it up won the day.

Let's talk about Cardinal Pell a little bit more. Back in the early '90s, there was a priest named Gerald Ridsdale who roomed with the Cardinal Pell for a couple of years and he is convicted of serial abuses. And when he went to court in 1993, Cardinal Pell accompanied him and supported him.

PAUL: So, Father Beck, you get the last word here. The question is still remains: what can the Catholic Church do to get beyond this scandal that continues to haunt them?

BECK: Well, again, Christi, one thing we must say these are old charges, doesn't lessen the severity of them, but we are still dealing with charges from 40 years ago. So, the trickling out of this make it seem as if it's still happening. It's never ending. These are old charges that are just coming to light with a lot of repressed memory or people coming forward.

So, the Catholic Church has to be diligent in continuing to deal with them. This commission that has been set up has to do its work, be allowed to do its work. And Pope Francis has to take it seriously and show he is taking it seriously. All of that is true.

However, I think what we have to realize the church is taking it seriously. Certainly in the United States, we have found everything about the way the church handles it has changed. So, I think we will see that continue to happen now.

PAUL: Father Edward Beck, Michael Rezendes, we appreciate both of you being here. Thank you so much.

BECK: Thanks.

REZENDES: My pleasure.

BLACKWELL: All right. Severe flash flooding causing a state of emergency.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on what we can expect.

[07:45:00] So, where is the threat?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The threat is going to be in the Northeast today. And the last thing they need on top of the flooding rains they had yesterday is more rain. We'll detail that coming up in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Flash flooding is causing one dangerous mess in Upstate New York this weekend. Look at what's going on here. Look at those cars submerged. Sinkholes are threatening neighborhoods and there are major roadways that are impassable now.

BLACKWELL: Here is the bad news. There's more to come.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the forecast.

CHINCHAR: That's right. We take a look at how much rain actually fell in this area.

Look at some of these cities, Glens Falls, New York, Allentown, Pennsylvania, just a few that actually broke rainfall record yesterday. In fact, Glen Falls had their eighth wettest calendar day on record, not just for yesterday alone.

But it wasn't just rainfall that had issues. We had a lot of severe weather. Over a hundred wind record, damaging wind reports.

[07:50:01] Four tornado reports. In fact, the National Weather Service Office near Portland, Maine, issued seven tornado warnings yesterday. That's more than they've ever issued in an entire year. And they issued those yesterday alone.

So, again, that was a big active day for us yesterday, but more rain is in the forecast for portions of the Northeast and the Southeast again today.

But we're also taking a look a little bit ahead. We want to talk about the big July 4th forecast. So, let's highlight a couple of cities. Boston being one of them. Now, it is going to be hot.

Taking a look at the next couple of days, those temperatures are very warm. But the good news is, it's going to be sunny and dry. But you also need to remember the sunscreen and also, remember to stay hydrated.

Now, another city is going to be Washington, D.C. Today and Monday actually look like relatively nice days, but Tuesday, we do have about 30 percent to 40 percent chance of rain. So, keep that in mind if you have any plans on the holiday itself, you may want to keep the umbrella handy along with you.

St. Louis is a similar scenario. Today and Monday actually look to be fantastic. Again, very hot, so remember to stay hydrated. But Tuesday, we actually have about a 60 percent to 80 percent chance of rain in that region. So, guys, if you have any plans in St. Louis, keep the umbrella handy and you may want to check the radar especially late afternoon and evening hours.

BLACKWELL: Little light on the graphics presentation today, Allison.

(LAUGHTER)

CHINCHAR: The fireworks, it was a nice --

PAUL: It's beautiful.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thanks so much.

PAUL: Thanks, Allison.

So, you know, boxing fans, they didn't get a lot of sleep last night, Coy Wire.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there were some fireworks Down Under, guys. It's a real life "Rocky". How in the world could an Australian schoolteacher beat boxing legend Manny Pacquiao? A lot of people don't think he did. More on that controversial decision, coming up.

BLACKWELL: CNN hits rewind, bringing us the decade that brought us "Friends", Arsenio, the Clintons, and those eternal dial-up modems. You can hear 'em now. It's all in CNN's new original series "The Nineties." It starts next Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think (INAUDIBLE) decade (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of my favorite shows of all-time aired in the decade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't talk about the '90s without so many monumental bands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nirvana gave the record industry a wake-up call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pressure was building up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gangster rap really starts to take hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a hip hop tsunami.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While the '90s represented so much growth, so much progress, we still had so much to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rodney King in 1992 exposed some of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: O.J. was a guy who felt like he was above race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find the defendant --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Columbine, the bombing in Oklahoma, the Davidian compound in Waco. Something dark was moving in the society.

BERNARD SHAW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Something is happening outside. The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: The promise of a new world order --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Bush took the loss to Bill Clinton very hard. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill Clinton was the president who was turning

the corner to a different time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was scandal, scandal, scandal, scandal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill Clinton is christened the comeback kid because he was resilient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill Gates' game plan was world domination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could see the start of this new online culture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the equivalent of the industrial revolution. It's the equivalent of electricity. The changes are just so profound.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:57:29] PAUL: If you fell asleep, you missed it. Let's just say that. Boxer Manny Pacquiao losing his title to a relative unknown.

BLACKWELL: And people lost their minds.

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Coy Wire here with the controversy.

WIRE: And experts and analysts think the judges lost their minds. They're calling this a sham. They're saying this fight was rigged. It's appalling.

So how in the world does Manny Pacquiao, one of the greatest fighters of all-time, get upset by an Australian schoolteacher named Jeff Horn? Fifty thousand fans were at the stadium in Australia to watch the hometown hero in what they're dubbing as the battle of Brisbane.

Even to the referee, it looked like Manny Pacquiao had this thing locked up. Listen to what the referee told Jeff Horn in the middle of the fight just before the 10th round.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REFEREE: Listen, I'm here to protect you, OK? I think you have enough. (INAUDIBLE) I'm going to stop this fight, that's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: He said, I think I'm going to stop this fight. That's how bad it was. But there he was three rounds later raising Jeff Horn's hand as the new undefeated WBO welterweight champion by unanimous decision. He is now 17-0-1.

And as Victor mentioned, social media had a blast. Even Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers felt the judges got it wrong, tweeting, boxing is a joke and it proves it again tonight. Are you kidding me with those scorecards, #joke, #rigged.

CNN sports contributor Hines Ward is in South Korea this week where he was just named one of the honorary ambassadors for the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Hines was born in South Korea and when he was 1 year old, his family moved to the States where he became a Super Bowl MVP, a two time Super Bowl champ. He joins other notable ambassadors like skiing phenom Lindsey Vonn. The 2018 Olympic Games are now just seven months away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HINES WARD, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: It means the world to me, you know? To come back home in my birth country and to be accepted, to be an honorary ambassador for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games is just amazing. I never thought something like this could happen, but I hope my mom, she's super proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: I believe mom is super proud, and we are very happy for you, Hines.

PAUL: No doubt about it, we are not worthy, Mr. Hines.

BLACKWELL: Mr. Ambassador.

PAUL: Thank you --

WIRE: You're welcome.

PAUL: -- so much, Coy.

Hey, we hope you make some great memories and happy Fourth to you.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King starts right now.