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Hurricane Michael Aftermath; Trump Will Call Saudi King Over "Next 24 Hours"; SNL's Kanye West Goes To the Oval Office; Trump To Announce New White House Counsel Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 14, 2018 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now the move on to another perhaps even more difficult and potentially dangerous phase. They have to go through all the large debris piles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But no running water or electricity here in Panama City, folks are now getting desperate.

CHRISTOPHER DONAHUE, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: This hit to hard and so fast the different aspect of human nature is going to come out.

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Instincts say that there is no question Saudi government did this.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I've never been more disturbed than ever right now.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very strong and we will do them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much for being with us. Listen. It is a grim picture this morning for some of these communities on the Florida Panhandle that have been hardest hit by Hurricane Michael.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: In Mexico Beach, the homes and buildings left partially standing those have been searched, no victims were found but hundreds of people still are unaccounted for so, today, the dangerous task of sifting through all of this, the piles of rubble and debris. That is going to start.

Martin Savidge is in Mexico Beach and explains how that search will happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SAVIDGE: No other victims have been found and the city officials have reported that all of the major structures that are still standing, that would be the homes and also the businesses they have all been searched but now they move on to another perhaps even more difficult and potentially dangerous phase. They have to go through all the large debris piles and there are many of them throughout this devastated town.

And they will carefully and methodically have to search and investigate every single one. Authorities are working off a of a list of about 300 names. These are names of people they know were in this community just prior to the storm coming ashore. Now after the storm, what they are doing is trying to match up those names with the people that are still here.

They actually have a map with almost 300 dots on it and they are carefully checking the list off. The problem is that in some cases you go to a home and there's no one there. In other cases you go there is no home there. And in other cases, they have been able to cross people off a list because people witnesses saw them after the storm or those people have been able to self-report.

However there's still a disturbing number. They won't say how many that are unaccounted for, hence, why the search goes on and will do for four more days.

Martin Savidge, CNN Mexico Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And this morning, Florida's governor Rick Scott and FEMA administrator Brock Long will tour the communities most impacted by the storm. President Trump, of course, expected to tour those same areas tomorrow.

Scott McLean is live in Panama City here. What we understand this morning, Scott, is that there is an urgent need for food and water. Is it true that that desperation has turned into looting?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, whether it's desperation or people just seeing an opportunity, it's not clear.

Yesterday, they were able to get several stations open where they were handing out food and water because they had told officials had told people initially before this hurricane hit. Look, you are going to have to fend for yourself for the first 72 hours. That window has now closed and so a lot of people have run out of their own rations. They're now relying on the state to supply them with MREs, meals ready to eat, and water as well which are being passed out by the National Guard. That is undoubtedly good news.

There is still a curfew in effect here from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. It makes it eerie to drive around because it is pitch dark and there is not a person in sight and not a light on either. But it's hard to imagine that there would be many people here any ways because many of the homes and businesses while they look like this a little more than a pile of rubble. You can also see, though, that all of these businesses they are open.

We think this was a print shop and a bakery as well in this little strip plaza and people can just go in and take what they want. Many of the homes in this area look, you know, the same way. And so that makes it an attractive area for looters.

I spoke to the fire department yesterday. They are concerned about security because of this looting. And so oftentimes they will go out on their calls with police escorts because they are concerned about the safety.

The death toll is expected to rise in this area. That firefighter told me that he would not be surprised if it was double digits in this area alone. There are 240,000 people across the state of Florida without power but for the local school system, power is honestly the least of their concerns.

That is because most of the schools in this district were badly, badly damaged. They will not be able to be used any time soon. For some months and others it could be years.

[06:05:02]

They will have completely tear down the school and rebuild it from scratch. And so it brings up this question, what do you do with all of those students? There are 26,000 of them in this school district.

Where are they going to go to school? And so the district is considering actually having two sessions of classes in one day in the buildings that did survive this hurricane. The board, they're going to be meeting on Monday to make a final decision on that -- Victor, Christi.

PAUL: All right. Scott McLean, thank you so much for the update.

BLACKWELL: President Trump has not yet taken any steps against Saudi Arabia this, of course, is over the missing "Washington Post" journalist but he says he plans to call the Saudi King Salman very soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I didn't want to call until we had enough information. Now I want to call. So probably over the next 24 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Jamal Khashoggi disappeared more than a week ago and was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. What you're looking at there is the last picture known of him to be alive.

Turkey said he was killed there. Saudi Arabia denies those charges though.

BLACKWELL: Sarah Westwood is live at the White House this morning. Sarah, what is the president saying about potentially other options? SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Victor, the president so far not even saying whether he believes that Saudis were involved in the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi but he is making clear that he wants to preserve a proposed arms sale to Saudi Arabia worth billions of dollars. He says that he is open to punishing Saudi Arabia severely if it turns out that they were indeed behind what is suspected to be the murder of Khashoggi but he is not specifying what those punishments might look like.

He was asked specifically yesterday whether, for example, sanctioning the crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman personally was on the table. He said first he wants to get all of the available facts. He says the U.S. is investigating the situation, again, not specifying exactly how that is.

Take a listen to what had to say yesterday in the Oval office about this arms deal he wants to protect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I actually think we would be punishing ourselves if we did that. There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very strong and we will do them.

Now as of this moment, nobody knows what happens, as of this moment. We are looking into this very seriously. Turkey is looking into it at a very high level, at the highest level and so is Saudi Arabia.

I mean, they're going to get back and they have been getting back. And I know Mike has been dealing with them, John has been dealing with them. But in terms of the order of $110 billion, think of that, $110 billion, all they're going to do is give it to other countries and I think that would be very foolish for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now, the president is coming under enormous pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to take action against Saudi Arabia. When the call -- when the crown prince happens perhaps we will know more about what specific kind of punishments the president has in mind -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Sarah Westwood for us at the White House. Thank you.

PAUL: Julian Zelizer, CNN political analyst and historian and professor at Princeton University with us now. Julian, the president said he will call the crown prince Salman within 48 hours. What should that call look like?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, obviously I think everyone is expecting him at this point to voice his concerns about what happened and demand some kind of response and many people want some kind of a threat or a suggestion, that if nothing is done this is not tolerable. We don't know if President Trump will do that but that is the outstanding question. PAUL: All right. Julian Zelizer you're going to stay with us here. We have a lot more to discuss with you in just a couple of minutes. He's going to stick around.

BLACKWELL: And including White House counsel Don McGahn who is on his way out possibly in a couple of weeks and now there's word that the president is moving forward on McGahn's replacement.

PAUL: Also the CDC has confirmed 38 cases of a polio like illness in children across the country. They believe it could get worse. What you can do to keep your family protected and what this is all about.

BLACKWELL: And "Saturday Night Live," listen. You know when you saw this this week that SNL would have their own take on it. Kanye West oval office meeting with president Trump. Some say he was rambling on about everything and simultaneous nothing, really. We have got the best moments from last night's show ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS REDD AS KANYE WEST: The 13th amendment, Chiraq, trap doors lead to the Unabomber, male energy, Trump is my dad, Hillary is a woman and the media needs to start making this president look good.

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: Poopity-scoop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:43]

BLACKWELL: CNN has learned that President Trump is very close now to announcing his replacement for outgoing White House counsel Don McGahn. Sources tell CNN the president is expected to name veteran Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone in the coming week or so. Cipollone has advised the president and his legal team on the special counsel probe.

So let's about it. Let's bring in Jim Schultz, CNN legal commentator and former Trump White House lawyer. Siraj Hashmi, commentary writer and editor for the "Washington Examiner." And Julian Zelizer is back with us, CNN political analyst and Princeton University professor.

Gentlemen, good morning to all of you. Jim, I'm going to start with you. So Pat Cipollone right man for the job?

JIM SCHULTZ, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I think he would be a tremendous pick.

Here are the things. He gets along with Emmet Flood who's running the investigation inside the White House. He gets along with Jay Sekulow who said great things about him, who's running the Mueller probe outside the White House.

He has got tremendous experience in investigations. He is also -- he has also worked in a Republican administration under attorney general Barr during the George H.W. Bush administration. He has all of the bonafides for this job.

He has the political, the legal, and he is also very conservative as well. And is a Kavanaugh (ph) conservative that will satisfy a lot of folks that were wondering how the judges are going to be handled going forward. So I think he is the right man for the job.

[06:15:01]

But most importantly it seems the president is very comfortable with him.

BLACKWELL: Yes and that confidence is paramount when you work for the president. Let's break down a couple of elements, Julian, starting with you. And I want to separate out what could be coming from Democrats if they take control of the House and the Mueller probe.

And let's start with, you know, this will be, obviously, he's going to need those liaisons, that relationship that reportedly he does not have with Republican members of crucial committees in the House if there are subpoenas coming, the oversight that will be ramped up. The investigations that will happen.

Is that a disadvantage significantly for this White House if he does not have those in the style that Don McGahn has?

ZELIZER: No, absolutely. He is going to need as much support from a Republican minority if that was the case next year as he can get. Those kinds of personal ties still matter in politics.

We have seen how the connections to the GOP have been instrumental in his first two years and if the Democrats control the House we can expect some kind of investigations to intensify so that will be important. Obviously, we will have to see how he handles the political atmosphere which is different than the last time he was involved politics and also how he handles President Trump but those ties are essential back to the Republicans and the House.

BLACKWELL: Siraj, Axios which was the first to report that he's now filling out the paper work to get through this process. That he is a as they write it, a true Trump believer.

I mean, that would be a bit of a departure from the current White House counsel at least from the president's standpoint because the president reportedly does not trust Don McGahn.

SIRAJ HASHMI, COMMENTARY WRITER AND EDITOR, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Right. And with respect to the Russia investigation, you know, the Mueller probe, Don McGahn hasn't had President Trump's interest in mind. He had to refer to, obviously, to Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow to be the attorneys who really give him the best advice.

Look at the Mueller investigation trying to interview President Trump it's really Sekulow and Giuliani who kind of pivoted him to go for the question and answer in written form as opposed to in person. But if you're also looking at the Supreme Court, you know, with Cipollone being a Catholic conservative you can look at the next replacement whoever that may be obviously Ruth Bader Ginsburg is at the top of the list, you can look at her being replaced by someone like Amy Coney Barrett who is another Catholic conservative and a true Trump believer.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And let's talk about -- Jim, to you because I'm coming right back to you here. Something didn't get a lot of attention this week and Siraj just mentioned it. These questions now that Trump legal team are preparing the answers to these questions from the Mueller investigation. Does the Cipollone choice from your perspective and what you know about him make that sit-down the president says that he is willing to have with the investigators more or less likely?

SCHULTZ: So I want to go back to the McGahn issue for a second. To say that the president doesn't trust McGahn is just flat out laughable given the scope of the issues that he's had to deal with, deregulation, the judges and all of the issues that have come up. Whenever there was an issue that the president needed McGahn carried the ball across the finish line on it.

But moving back to your question about the written questions. I think -- I don't think it impacts the strategy at all. He has been advising president all along as outside informal adviser it appears and again is close with Emmitt Flood. So I don't think there's going to be much change in strategy as it relates to those questions because of the new incoming White House counsel.

BLACKWELL: Do you think it gets to a sit-down one-on-one or with investigators with the president?

SCHULTZ: I don't know. That is tough to say. I mean, it looks like they have been negotiating this very -- very well the whole time, so there are written questions now. I think it depends on what the written questions, what the answers are to those written questions as to whether the Justice Department and Mueller investigation are going to ask for more information by way of oral testimony or written testimony for that matter.

BLACKWELL: Siraj, let's stay on the Mueller probe a second here because we are now 23 days out from the midterm. Even anecdotally do we know or do you have any evidence that would indicate where on the spectrum the existence of this ongoing investigation falls for voters now? Certainly maybe not as much as it did three to six months ago, but where after the Kavanaugh fight and that being the front of mind for a lot of people, the Russia investigation is when they go to the polls?

HASHMI: Right. The question and answer part of the investigation with the President Trump probably is a good signal that it's the beginning of the end. Of course, with the midterm election being very much contested and the Democrats having a pretty good chance of winning the House and not sure about the Senate, but with respect to the status of attorney general Jeff Sessions staying at the Justice Department is big because it might determine, obviously, the outcome of the Mueller probe.

[06:20:06]

And if you remove, obviously, Sessions and possibly deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, then obviously bigger questions are going to probably surmount and find that Robert Mueller's investigation will be coming off to a close.

I will just say one thing. The question and answer part and the written questions going to President Trump, that's really a sign that the White House says the upper hand in this. And the fact that Mueller cannot get in front of the president is probably the biggest disadvantage that he has right now.

BLACKWELL: They still agree from CNN's reporting is that if there are follow-up questions that Mueller can come back again and those are in writing but there has been no final decision according to the D.C. reporting whether or not there will be that sit-down interview with investigators and the president.

Julian, I want to come back to you on one other thing that happened this week. Pastor Andrew Brunson back in the U.S. was in the Oval office yesterday. You have a piece up now on CNN.com that really details the political value of not just Pastor Brunson's release but all of the high profile prisoner and hostage releases that have happen during the administration.

Why are these so valuable and how does this play into what you say is the philosophy of this administration?

ZELIZER: Well, they are very valuable in the accomplishment itself. Obviously freeing hostages is tremendously important in bringing them back home but they are also very dramatic forms of foreign policy historically. And they resonate often in a way that other kinds of diplomatic initiatives don't.

They are, in some ways, made for television, they are made for the media to consume, and so they fit in the kind of politics that President Trump is very connected to, which are theatrical, which are meant to be seen. And again this doesn't diminish the actual accomplishment but they are different than big diplomatic agreements which are usually more complex and dry.

So I think these are actually an essential part of what he has tried to achieve.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jim Schultz, Siraj Hashmi, Julian Zelizer, thank you all.

SCHULTZ: Thank you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

HASHMI: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Senators Marco Rubio and Bernie Sanders along with Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia Stacey Abrams are all on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper. That's at 9:00 and noon Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: Well, President Trump says he will call Saudi King Salman soon to discuss the missing "Washington Post" journalist. We're going to have a live report for you from Istanbul as well as Riyadh. Just stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:25]

BLACKWELL: President Trump says he plans to call Saudi King Salman very soon to discuss this missing "Washington Post" journalist. Now he is vowing severe punishment if it's proved that Jamal Khashoggi was killed by the Saudis. But he says cancelling Saudi arms order, that's not the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There is a lot at stake and maybe especially so because this man was a reporter. There's something -- you'll be surprised to hear me say that there is something really terribly and disgusting about that if that were the case. So we're going to have to see.

We are going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN's senior intelligence correspondent, international correspondent Sam Kiley in Riyadh right now. The CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson also with us live outside the consulate in Istanbul.

Sam, I want to start with you. What is the official response from the Saudis this morning?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is the same response that they have all the way through, Christi, and that is that Mr. Khashoggi left the consulate Istanbul safe and sound and they are as baffled as to his whereabouts as anybody else.

On top of that Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud who is the interior minister put out a statement yesterday through the state news agency saying the allegations to the country or any allegations to the country were baseless lies and part of a disinformation campaign and that is something that is being echoed here in the local media. But this all comes at a very difficult time for Saudi Arabia.

Just -- we are about a week and a day away from the future investment initiative. A massive conference that was supposed to be the "Davos in the Desert" gathering, bringing in people and intellectuals, CEOs from around the world, ministers from all over the world. Those have been rapidly cancelling and even the secretary of state Mike Pompeo is saying that the Americans are still not fully committed to whether or not they would go. This is what he said just recently.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think we need to continue to evaluate the facts and we will make that decision. I talked with the Secretary Mnuchin about it last night. We'll be taking a look at it through the rest of the week.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KILEY: Now what they will be taking look at as President Trump has intimated is the evidence that the Turks say that they have that may prove one way or the other what happened to "The Washington Post" columnist inside that consulate.

But because the Saudis have such a firm line they have left themselves no real wiggle room in speaking privately to people here who are Saudis and keep a close eye on these things there is a sense that the government here really doesn't quite know how to get out of this impasse.

[06:30:17]

That is assuming, of course, and there is no physical evidence yet that Mr. Khashoggi did meet with a violent end or was somehow abducted -- Christi.

PAUL: All right. Sam, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to Nic now in Istanbul. Nic, Khashoggi's wife has written this really moving op-ed published in "The New York Times" calling her husband a lonely patriot. Tell us more about what she says.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, she was on the verge of becoming Khashoggi's wife, his fiancee. She was the one that raised the alarm. She was -- she was standing outside the consulate and she was the person who was able to say he went in but he didn't come out.

She is such a huge linchpin in all of this, in the chain of evidence and information here. It is very emotional and moving. I was particularly struck by what she said the frame of mind that Khashoggi had when he went into the consulate.

He wasn't particularly troubled, she said. He was actually quite cheerful that morning because they were moving towards their marriage expected later in the week. But that was billed partly on the fact he had been to the consulate on the Friday before and had been told to come back at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday which is what he was doing and she is intimating here was that the Saudis knew very, very well that he was coming at that time and this plays into the information that the Turkish authorities have put out that 15 Saudis arrived in around that time just before.

So again, it adds to that picture. I think when we look, you know, the pressure that is mounting from Turkish official and Turkish foreign minister in London have said that absolutely Saudi Arabia must, this is very strong language they are using, must allow Turkish chief prosecutor and expert investigators into the consulate there and for expert read forensic.

And we are now hearing that pressure sort of having a ripple effect in the U.K. as well about the "Davos in the Desert." Britain's overseas investment secretary Liam Fox who would have been expected to go. Now his office is saying his diary for that week is not quite clear.

Britain has massive trade deals, particularly arms deals with Saudi Arabia. So this would be a natural that weeks, even months ago, you know, that invitation to the summit would arrive and he would have automatically click the accept. Now what we are hearing from his office is sounding more like decline with comments maybe.

So this really seems to be a shift in tone coming from the British as well -- Victor.

PAUL: So, Nic, let me ask you this. Turkey says they have proof that Khashoggi is dead. If they have that proof, why don't they release it, even if not publicly, but to other governments to confirm?

ROBERTSON: What we understand that they have shared with other agencies is they briefed other agencies on this evidence that they have and that this briefing has been convincing in that it is -- in that it shows the brutal attack, the struggle, the interrogation and the killing of Khashoggi.

Now it doesn't mean that these agencies actually these former agencies physically have custody of whatever material that is or a copy thereof. So the question that you're right asking why doesn't Turkey just hand it over?

What we understand Turkey's position speaking with a government official yesterday is on this. They still want to have a relationship with Saudi Arabia going forward and they understand the way things work in this region and if you throw it all in Saudi Arabia's face and sort of strategically looking forward here because this situation will get resolved one way or another.

They would like it to get resolved where they continue to have a good relationship with Saudi Arabia, irrespective of who the leader is so that the indication here is that perhaps they think that Mohammad Bin Salman, the crowned prince who has been blamed at the moment publically for a lot of this, who denies that may not be around forever and they want to maintain that good relationship. So behind the scenes, they have this working group, they are trying to work out how to get this investigation done, how to get into the consulate there.

Again they are saying they must get access so they don't want to blow this up yet. A government official said to me making that material public would be the nuclear option and that is not how they want that diplomacy to go. They have strategic bigger goals here.

BLACKWELL: All right. Nic Robertson for us there outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Nic.

A group of Asian-Americans suing Harvard just got a big boast from the Department of Justice. Hear what attorney general Jeff Sessions is saying about a discrimination suit then attended a trial this week and why he wants it to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:39:28]

PAUL: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour right now. And the Department of Justice is siding with a group of Asian-Americans suing Harvard University over admissions policy. It's not a federal law suit, accuses Harvard of capping the number or Asian-American applicants and holding into a higher standard compared to applicants of other races including white students.

Well, the government claims Harvard has failed to prove it does not unlawfully discriminate against Asian-Americans. And in a statement of interest Attorney General Jeff Sessions writes this -- quote -- "As a recipient of tax payer dollars Harvard has a responsibility to conduct its admissions policy without racial discrimination by using meaningful admission criteria that meet lawful requirements."

[06:40:09]

Harvard by the way has denied all of the allegations. The trial is set to begin tomorrow in Boston.

Shan Wu, CNN legal analyst with us now. So, Shan, I know this case is widely been seen as a referendum on affirmative action.

How do you see it? Do you see it that way?

SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No. It's important to make that distinction because both side are actually kind of putting that at the forefront of the focus. The case is not about race or race consciousness. It's about racism.

And so the question is not whether Harvard has to completely ignore race, it's about whether the way that they have used race in assessing Asian American applicants is, in fact, racist. And I think the most troubling part of the information that Harvard fought very hard to keep private is this information that their own internal investigation previously had found that there was a concern about discrimination against Asian-Americans, in particular, with this category that they use called the personal or personality category.

And in that category, statistically, overlooking at some 160,000 applicant files, they consistently have scored Asian-American applicants lower for a characteristics like likeability, courage, integrity, and that is very, very troubling, because that really goes to the heart of one definition of racism which is when you imply personality characteristics or behavior characteristics to a person's physical appearance and goes to the heart of a racist belief.

PAUL: So if this goes to the Supreme Court, now that Judge Kavanaugh is now Justice Kavanaugh, how do you see this going?

WU: Well, that is a very interesting question because clearly a bigger part of the movement that Mr. Sessions would like to have and Judge Roberts has also come out in favor of completely eliminating any racial consciousness in looking at admissions, that push is going to be towards and actually racially blind typed of policy. So that's why it could be joined at the Supreme Court on that broader scope even beyond the particular question of whether Harvard in this case is discriminating against Asian-Americans.

PAUL: All right. Let's look at the bigger picture here then too because what is the potential that this suit could affect other universities moving forward?

WU: It's very large potential. I mean, many of the -- I think all of the other Ivy League universities have weighed in with the race and it's certainly at the Supreme Court level could highly impact admissions policies in general.

And, of course, they vary a lot from school-to-school. It's kind of the secret sauce of how you admit students but if the Supreme Court were to come down with a much more restrictive or broader stroke saying that you really cannot use race at all, that is going to put the schools in a very difficult position on how you really implement that legally.

PAUL: All right. Shan Wu, always appreciate your insight. Thank you for being here.

WU: Good to be here.

PAUL: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: Health officials say a paralyzing illness similar to polio appears to be on the rise. We will tell you how you can protect your family.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:32]

BLACKWELL: The CDC has confirmed 38 cases of a really scary but rare polio-like illness in children across country. The condition is called acute flaccid myelitis. And it affects a person's nervous system, specifically the spinal cord.

PAUL: And as Victor said it does affects primary children but there are a lot of questions about the long-term prognosis here. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sunjay Gupta has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARAH PILAROWSKI, LYDIA'S MOTHER: Lydia, where does it hurt, honey? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video is hard to watch.

LYDIA PILAROWSKI, DIAGNOSED WITH ACUTE FLACCID MYELITIS IN 2014: I can't tell you. I just (INAUDIBLE).

GUPTA: This is Lydia Pilarowski four years ago. Play close attention to her left arm. She's really not moving it. She is in the throes of acute flaccid myelitis, AFM. It is rare but scary.

Sudden onset of weakness. Sometimes the face, the eye lids but most typically it's the leg or the arm.

DR. SAM DOMINGUEZ, MEDICAL DIRECTOR OF THE CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: It will start with a respiratory illness and a fever.

GUPTA: Dr. Sam Dominguez is the medical director of the Clinical Microbiology laboratory at Children's Hospital Colorado. He has cared for dozens of patients with AFM mostly children. The culprit is typically a pathogen known as enterovirus.

DOMINGUEZ: Over the last four years it seems to be every other year pattern.

GUPTA: In 2014 when Lydia was diagnosed 120 people were afflicted nationwide. Their stories, frighteningly similar.

SARAH PILAROWSKI: We have this day, this beautiful August day and she started coughing just a little bit before we went to the pool. We got in the car and she started kind of whining and I knew she had a fever. And after that point in time it was like our whole life changed.

LYDIA PILAROWSKI: A lot of time I ask why me but then a lot of times I'm like, well, at least it wasn't in like my legs or my right hand because that's -- I'm right-handed. So that would be a lot worse.

GUPTA: If any of this sounds familiar, it's because you may remember images like this in the early 1950s. Polio caused more than 15,000 cases of paralysis every year in the United States. That is until a vaccine came along in 1955. No cases of polio have originated in the United States now in nearly 40 years.

(on camera): Let me show you what AFM looks like on an MRI scan.

[06:50:02]

You see these bright areas here that represent inflammation of the spinal cord and in the nerves that control the arms.

And here's the important points it's likely not the virus itself causing the paralysis but rather the immune's response to the virus. It's sort of a hit and run reaction.

(voice-over): While some children never recover from AFM Lydia has steadily improved over the last four years. SARAH PILAROWSKI: We count our blessing every day to see her being able to do the things that she loves to do. She really is just a normal kid.

(on camera): And again I want to emphasize that what you saw there is rare. It's an important point. We are not trying to frighten people.

And the best way to think about your own safety with flu season right around the corner, do the same things you would do for that. Cover your mouth when you cough, sneeze into your elbow and wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. It really does seem to work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.

Listen, technology is playing a whole new role in the mental health crisis today. Young people in particular are seeing actual effect of screen addiction.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The latest episode of "THIS IS LIFE" Lisa Ling meets with advocates and parents who are challenging tech companies now to take responsibility. Here is your look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA LING, HOST, THIS IS LIFE (voice-over): I'm at Neuroscape, a lab in Silicon Valley that specializes in understanding the effects of technology on the brain.

A.J., RESEARCHER: This is just going to measure your physiology while you do the test.

LING: A.J. a researcher here is wiring me up with sensors that can detect micro changes in my skin.

A.J.: This could pick up real subtle stuff.

LING: A measure of stress.

A.J.: Your job is to pay attention 100 percent of the task as best as you can while ignoring your phone.

LING (on camera): OK. Sounds good.

A.J.: OK.

All right. I'm ready for you to begin.

LING (voice-over): They want me to play a simple game on the computer, while ignoring my phone. Sounds easy enough but what I don't know is that my producers have been instructed to bombard with me calls and text messages. Meanwhile, A.J. will monitor my physical response.

A.J.: I just saw a little spike in the GSR. Imagine a time where you've been stressed out before. Your palms start to sweat. We are actually measuring that and that is what is being reflected right here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: That is frightening.

BLACKWELL: So it's not just me.

PAUL: No. Don't miss "THIS IS LIFE" tonight at 10:00 only on CNN. Wow.

BLACKWELL: Afghan and Iraqi interpreters serving alongside U.S. troops in the Middle East put themselves and their families at great risk every day facing danger in combat but also from persecution and death threats at the hand of the Taliban and ISIS.

PAUL: This week's CNN hero is an army veteran whose new mission is to bring them to safety. I want you to meet Matt Zeller now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT ZELLER, CNN HERO: Afghan and Iraqi translators they are proud patriots who sign up to defend their country and to help us with our mission. We owe these people a great debt of gratitude to feel like they have been honored for their sacrifice.

Welcome home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for everything.

ZELLER: Thank you.

We also owe them is a chance at a new and better life that we promised them in exchange for that service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: To see how Matt is transforming the lives of these brave translators, go to CNNheroes.com.

And still to come "Saturday Night Live" is back with stand (ph) up (ph) of Kanye West at the Oval office this week. (INAUDIBLE) everything from prison reform to universe dimensions. Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:58:20]

PAUL: Well, we have for you the official wedding photos of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank. In addition to a stunning photo of bride's second dress for the private evening reception as well. Photos include traditional family portraits like this fitting for the granddaughter of a queen, of course.

BLACKWELL: Prince Philip and the queen were there for the family as well as Princess Charlotte and Prince George, and their latest wedding cameos here. The photos were taken after the ceremony in the St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle Friday. The same place Prince Harry married now Duchess Markle -- Meghan. I never get this right.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: What are we supposed to call her? Duchess Meghan.

PAUL: Yes, Duchess Meghan. OK.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they got married there too.

All right.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Let's just start it over.

PAUL: Just go on. I'm sorry. (INAUDIBLE).

BLACKWELL: The point always makes this very subtle.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Alec Baldwin is back at "Saturday Night Live," of course, as President Trump and this time he brought rapper Kanye West with him. Well, it's a rendition of Kanye West.

BLACKWELL: This is riveting television. The show owned up with Chris Redd's version of West at the Oval office this week. And some say the rapper used the entire visit to just ramble on about everything and nothing at all. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REDD: First, let me begin with the idea that time is a myth -- infinite amounts of universe -- and I'm a prisoner in a different dimension. Have I lost anyone so far?

[07:00:02]

BALDWIN: He doesn't stop! He doesn't listen to anyone but himself! Who does he remind me of?