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New Day Saturday

Iranian Missile Launch Investigated; Phoenix Police Department Being Sued; Armed Man Found Outside of a New Jersey School. Mexican Government Outlines Immigration Plan; Trump's Executive Order Cuts Advisory Panels; Mayor Pete Shares a Message of the Importance of Democratic Support; Amanda Knox Delivers an Emotional Presentation; David Ortiz Shooting Investigation Continues; Raptors Win First Team Championship; Tiger Woods Struggles at Pebble Beach; Will Kawhi Leonard Return to Toronto?; Hisslborough County Student Dies of Heat Exhaustion Following Athletic Practice; New York Deemed the Epicenter for Measles Outbreak. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired June 15, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But, of course, you give it to the FBI or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an attempt at damage control after sounding curious about collusion.

TRUMP: I think I said I'd do both. But how are you going -- if you don't hear what it is, you don't know what it is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody should ever, ever take any foreign intelligence or any information from any foreign government.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A tanker still smolders in the Gulf of Oman. While a U.S. Official tells CNN's Barbara Starr, Iran is trying to prevent it from being towed.

TRUMP: They're a nation of terror. They were unstoppable. And now they're in deep, deep trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another strange twist in the investigation into the shooting of David Ortiz. The alleged trigger man Rolfi Ferreira Cruz yells to reporters Ortiz was not his intended target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a potential organization here. It's not just a case of mistaken identity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: Well, you're up early on a weekend. Glad to see you. I'm Christi Paul.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you and you. This morning, we begin with new claims that Iran was involved in that oil tanker attack in the Gulf of Oman. A U.S. official says that Iran launched a missile at a U.S. drone flying over the gulf hours before the attack. That missile missed and fell into the water.

PAUL: Now the drone was able to capture, however, these images. Take a look at this. The U.S. says these are of Iranian boats closing in on the tankers. The official CNN has been speaking to did not determine whether they were actually seen carrying out the attack itself, though.

SAVIDGE: Officials are also saying that Iranian boats blocked the path of a U.S. Navy ship that was trying to reach the tanker right after the attack. Iran continues to deny any involvement.

PAUL: We have a team that is covering this this morning, CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Iran, Boris Sanchez at the White House. We want to do start with Fred in Tehran. Fred, what is Iran saying about this video and the allegation that they tried to launch a missile against a U.S. drone?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. Yes, so far, the Iranians have not commented on those allegations that allegedly Iran shot at a U.S. drone flying there over the Persian Gulf area. And also, as we commented on that video that was released by the U.S. military, allegedly showing an Iranian patrol boat going up to one of those stricken tankers and seemingly taking something off of the side of that tanker, which the U.S. said could be an unexploded mine.

However, the Iranians very much sticking by their story, adamantly sticking by heir story, that they had absolutely nothing to do with the attacks on the tankers. One of things playing out big here in Iran is the fact that the company that owns one of the tankers, in fact, the one in that video, apparently said its sailors are saying that they don't believe that the ship was hit by a mine. In fact, some of those sailors apparently saying they believe it was projectiles that were fired at the ship.

Of course, unclear how much situational awareness those sailors would have had in the moments leading up to the explosions, and then as the explosions were occurring as well. The Iranian, however, firing back at the U.S. The Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accusing the U.S. of trying to destabilize the situation of trying to undermine diplomacy in the Middle East. Of course we always have to keep in mind that the attacks took place as Iran's supreme leader was meeting the Prime Minister of Japan. But one of the things the Iranians are very much making clear, which is something they have said in the past as well, is that they say if this confrontation escalates they are not going to be the ones who are going to back down, Martin and Christi.

PAUL: All right, Fred Pleitgen thank you so much.

In the meantime, President Trump is convinced that Iran was indeed behind these attacks. The big question this morning is, if that turns out to be true and Iran was responsible, what does the U.S. do about it now? SAVIDGE: CNN's White House Correspondent Boris Sanchez joins us this morning and Boris, we understand that a key U.S. ally is also supporting the president's claim that Iran is responsible? What have you learned?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Martin and Christi. The U.K. is standing by the United States on this suggesting that it couldn't have been anyone else, really, that it was most plausibly Iran that carried out this attack.

President Trump has made it clear that he essentially believes that Iran is written all over this attack. He pointed to that video that you just showed purporting to demonstrate that the Iranian ship was removing the unexploded mine from that oil tanker. The president was asked about this yesterday on a cable news show. He used the opportunity to attack his predecessor Barack Obama and the Iran Nuclear Deal. The president saying effectively that Iran is doing this out of desperation because their economy has tanked due to his harsh stance against them, the removal of the United States from the JCPOA as well as harsh sanctions.

You noted that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Iran this week. There was some speculation that he might be brokering a potential meeting between American and Iranian leadership.

[06:05:00]

However, President Trump was also asked about that yesterday. He effectively said that it is too soon for these two sides to be sitting down one-on-one, Martin and Christi.

SAVIDGE: All right, Boris Sanchez. Thanks very much for the update from the White House.

PAUL: So the attack seems to be escalating tensions obviously between the U.S. and Iran and the administration insists the strategy of maximum pressure will bring Iran back to the negotiating table regarding a nuclear deal which is the goal. But many say it's likely to lead to more confrontation. CNN military analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIEUTENANT GENERAL MARK HURTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's very serious and it could get worse. We've seen an indicator that this will reflect the same kind of things we saw in the late 1980s with the tanker wars where Iran actually interfered with shipping in the gulf in the Strait of Hormuz, tried to close down the straits which affects the global economy on a massive scale. Thirty percent of the world's oil passes through those straits to get to various customers throughout the globe and when you think about the potential of closing down those straits, it's horrendous in terms of what it could do to the economy but also what it could do to the private shipping coming in and out of those ports.

The two ships that were attacked yesterday had come out of a port in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They were headed towards Europe and Japan. So, this was an indirect assault on the United States for President Trump's strategy of maximum pressure against Iran. It's affecting their economy and they're looking to fight back in a simple and asymmetric way that causes the most catastrophe and the most pressure on the alliances of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And thank you to General Hertling for talking to me earlier. Now General Hertling also says the fact that this happened while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Tehran is critically important because it sends a direct message he says to Japan and the U.S.

SAVIDGE: In other news the justice department now says the treasury department was correct in rejecting a request for the president's tax returns. It was a blistering opinion that was delivered by Assistant Attorney General Steven Engle and it called the request by the House Ways and Means Committee unprecedented. He said while House democrats are seeking oversight, what they really want is to make the president's returns public. The next step could be federal court.

PAUL: Listen, I want to forewarn you. This is something that's tough to watch. There's this profanity-laced shoplifting arrest that was caught on camera in Phoenix and now a couple is planning to sue the city. We're learning about a load of money here. We're learning now about that video and what that sparked -- why it sparked such outrage on social media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:10:00]

SAVIDGE: A mother and father in Arizona are planning to sue the city of Phoenix after officers pulled a gun on them and their two young children. The couple says the officers approached their vehicle with guns drawn after their daughter accidentally walked out of a dollar store with a doll.

PAUL: To see this video, can you hear all the yelling here? The woman is five months pregnant. She's struggling to comply with commands from officers as they curse, they make threats towards her. I just want you to be prepared, this is video - it's hard to watch but here, let's start it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your [ bleep ] get your hands up! Get your [bleep] hands up! Get your [ bleep ] hands up! [ bleep ]. Get your hands up. Get your

[bleep] hands up. I'm going to (inaudible). Get them up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the other open apartments. I promise it doesn't open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down. Get your [bleep] hands up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't help...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out the [ bleep ] car. Get out the [bleep] car right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What open this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, get out now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out the [bleep] car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: [bleep] [bleep].

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you recording it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm recording it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands up. I don't [bleep]. You put your hands up. Hands up. [ bleep ].

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't put my hands up. I have to... [bleep] I can't, I'm pregnant. This is awful, you're just overdoing it.

[bleep].

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now those parents were not charged, we want to point out with a crime and they do plan to sue the city for $10 million.

SAVIDGE: After days of national outrage, Phoenix police have responded to this video but there are conflicts about what appears in this video and what is in the police report. From Zach Crenshaw, our CNN affiliate KNXV, we get this story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ZACK CRENSHAW, KNXV CORRESPONDENT: The cell phone video begins with a man on the pavement, hands behind his back, being handcuffed by a Phoenix police officer. Seconds later, he's yanked off the ground. And then pushed up against the squad car, his feet about shoulder width apart. That's when the officer aggressively sweeps his legs then yells...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tell you to do something you (inaudible) do it.

CRENSHAW: The person recording then asks... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where the girl at?

CRENSHAW: That girl is a mother. Watch the officer here, gun drawn and the maroon SUV. Out walk a pregnant mother and her two daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, look at these kids.

SERGEANT TOMMY THOMPSON, PHOENIX POLICE: And the minute he saw that there were children involved that's when he holstered his weapon.

CRENSHAW: Sergeant Tommy Thompson says Phoenix police got the video Tuesday like us.

THOMPSON: We look at every allegation of misconduct very seriously.

CRENSHAW: All ready the case has been referred to the Professional Standards Bureau.

THOMPSON: Chief Jeri Williams has told PSB to conduct an investigation into this.

CRENSHAW: The officer who swept the young man's legs...

THOMPSON: He's on a non-enforcement assignment right now.

CRENSHAW: That same officer screamed profanities at both parents and tried to take the mother's baby from her arms. Neither adult charged with any crime nor arrested and the officer who had his gun drawn remains on normal patrol.

THOMPSON: We're looking into that matter to see was excessive; we don't know.

CRENSHAW: A family spokesperson claims the call was over a doll allegedly taken by one of the kids from a dollar store.

THOMPSON: That's part of it, but again as I've looked into it, I think there's a little bit more to it and that will come through - no that will come through in the investigation.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SAVIDGE: The Phoenix police department posted on Facebook the following: "The Phoenix Police Department takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and for this reason this incident is currently being investigated by the Professional Standards Bureau."

PAUL: We're also this morning hearing from the father of a man shot and killed by U.S. marshals in Tennessee. A vigil, in fact, was held last night for Brandon Webber. He was shot Wednesday night after he rammed a vehicle multiple times - rammed it into officers' cars and got out of his vehicle with a gun. Now his dad prompted a wave of protests leading to 36 arrests by the way. Investigators say Weber was driving a stolen car at the time of his death but Webber's father does not believe that to be true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SONNY WEBBER, FATHER OF BRANDON WEBBER: His car was sitting right there backed in so how did he ram somebody backed in the car - backed in the driveway?

I don't know about the vehicle -- My son - about (inaudible) the car. They (inaudible) it ain't stole. He got an Audi, it ain't stolen. You know he got a Kia, it ain't stolen. He got three cars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Marshals were trying to arrest him for a shooting and a robbery a week earlier in Mississippi.

SAVIDGE: New Jersey police are questioning a man who they arrested outside an elementary school with a loaded gun.

PAUL: Here's CNN's Brynn Gingras.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police in New Jersey said Thomas Wilkie showed up to that elementary school armed with a handgun, bullets and 130 rounds of ammunition and when officers arrived on that scene they said they found him in the front seat of his car in the parking lot of the school. The school was immediately placed on lockdown as after school activities were in session. Wilkie now faces three separate charges. He was not on law enforcement's radar. He will be in court, though, next week to face those charges. Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

PAUL: Brynn, thank you. Now Mexico announced details of this new immigration plan meant to avoid a confrontation with the U.S.

SAVIDGE: It includes sending troops to Mexico's southern border by Tuesday and that is where we find CNN's Michael Holmes.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Low tech of legal migration in action on the Suchiate River for just over a dollar a head, homemade pontoons ferry people and goods between Guatemala and Mexico; much of this traffic commerce avoiding taxes but also a popular way for migrants to head to the United States, no one here to stop it yet.

A few miles away, the beginnings of what Mexico has promised Donald Trump. Marines watch over immigration workers checking vehicles. Every now and then, an illegal immigrants dream shattered or at least interrupted, taken away to detention and processing standards. At this checkpoint, sometimes, 100 dreams a day end this way.

The Mexican government Friday outlined its plan to curb immigration. Thousands of national guard, police and others will be in place by Tuesday at several key places along the border, trying to arrest what Mexico's foreign minister said was a $6 billion a year trafficking industry that even involves children being rented to migrants to improve their chances of getting into the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) MICHAEL EBRARD, MEXICAN FOREIGN MINISTER: (through interpreter) Let's all work together to disarm traffickers. This is slavery we're talking about here.

HOLMES: At a migrant processing center in the town of Tapachula, they queue sometimes for days, sleeping on the streets with little children, waiting for a piece of paper that will allow them to stay in Mexico at least temporarily. Among them, we find Elkins Santos and his 3-year-old daughter Alison (inaudible) hoping to get into the U.S., his story typical of so many here.

ELKIN SANTOS, IMIGRANT: (through interpreter) I fled from the MS13 gang because I received threats when they charged me a tax.

HOLMES: Did you think they would kill you?

SANTOS: (Through interpreter) Exactly. So, I took my daughter and left. It's easier to get to me through her.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES: Mexican authorities tell us in the first 12 days of this month, nearly 12,000 migrants arrived here in Mexico and that's just a drop in the bucket. Obviously, they tell us horror stories of what they fled. Family members killed in gang violence, and so on. So much fear that most of them won't talk on camera but they will talk privately. And the stories are tragic. The one thing they have in common is a determination to keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through interpreter) Nobody is going to stop. Migration will never stop. It's like somebody trying to stop crime, trying to take away air, trying to do something that is impossible. They'll never stop this.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, Tapachula, Mexico.

SAVIDGE: President Trump is saying he's following through on a promise to cut government regulations but next, will his last executive order cause more damage than it prevents?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:00]

PAUL: Twenty-three minutes past the hour. Welcome to the weekend. I'm Christi Paul.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge in for Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: So late last night, President Trump issued a new executive order. This one is aimed at federal regulations.

SAVIDGE: But experts are warning at the cuts that he wants to a series of advisory panels that were created in the '70s could actually cost more money than they save. The panels do things like advise the Department of Homeland Security on chemicals and data privacy and counsel the transportation department on drones and motorcycle safety. Now, President Trump is ordering agencies to cut their expert panels by one third and experts say driving government agencies - or depriving them rather of access to experts could end up hurting consumers. Joining me now live from New York, CNN Political Commenter Errol Louis, host of You Decide podcast. Good morning to you.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right, let's start about these panels. Many Americans may not have actually even been aware of them so how relevant are they and how important are they?

LOUIS: Well they're definitely relevant. In the pre-internet age, Martin, this was a form of sort of crowd sourcing where you reach out -- bureaucracy would reach out to all kinds of experts and try and get their assessment about a very, very wide range of procurements, different programs, not just scientific and technical information, but housing programs, social service programs, asking people who know about these things, what's the best way to do this? Is this the right way to go. How should we do it in a way that's likely to yield

good results?

And over the years, it's been a really robust system. It's a way, frankly, of taking power away from bureaucrats. That's what's so ironic here is that in the name of slashing bureaucracy, he's actually going to put more power of the president in the hands of people sitting behind a desk in Washington when this system was actually created to make sure that people who had their finger on the pulse, people who are out in the field, people who are out in the world have a way of conveying that knowledge and expertise to the government.

SAVIDGE: Do you look at this as just the president looking, I don't know, to cut cost wherever he can or is there some other plan to all of this?

LOUIS: Well, I think it's just a campaign promise. It will sound great on the campaign trail. We slashed one-third of bureaucracy. Get rid of the bureaucrats, that kind of thing. It will sound great when he's boasting about it in rallies. It will probably save a tiny amount of money in the short term. But over time, you'll start to see more and more mistakes that are not caught. Or more and more waste that's trickled into the bureaucratic system. Because, again, these outside experts are there to make sure that we're being efficient and we're being smart. And we're using state of the art standards.

SAVIDGE: Let me switch subjects here. I want to get your reaction to this statement from Mayor Pete Buttigieg as he was speaking, I believe, the other day. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a fantastic field right now. I'm honored to be part of this field. We're also competing and so our job is each to present why we'd be the best nominee, why we're the one best able to win and why we'd make a great president. But we've got to remember, at the end of the day, we're all on the same team and we all have to support the 22 people who don't become the nominee, have to support the one who does and everything we do now should reflect that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: He is making a subtle point over what is actually a very big issue for democrats at this particular time. And that is, you have so many democrats running, and each one of them wanting to stand out in the minds of voters and the concern is that they do damage to the overall effort which is of course to get a democrat elected president this time around. Do you think this kumbaya is sustainable?

LOUIS: Oh no of course, not, Martin. There's an old movie called "Reservoir Dogs" and there's a scene at the end where a bunch of guys who are all trying to rob the same bank have guns pointed at each other's heads and it's a perfect example of something that they teach in political science called, "the prisoner's dilemma." If nobody shoots in that situation where everybody's got a gun pointed at each other's head. If nobody shoots, they could all sort of get out of it but if one person shoots, everybody starts shooting and I think something like that is what we can anticipate.

We're not talking about sort of a high school debate here. We're talking about possibly becoming the most powerful person in the world. The temptation is far too great for people to move from what we currently see behind the scenes which is kind of throwing shade at each other and kind of dropping little hints about the weaknesses of their opponents to simply on the national stage coming out and saying, "Look, I'm the better candidate because this person has problems. This person has inconsistencies. This person is not electable to the degree I am. This person is going to get picked apart by Donald Trump if we make them the nominee." They're going to say that. They're going to say that indirectly, they're going to say it subtly but increasingly, I think, we can expect them to say it directly and frankly that's what the contest is. You know we're not going to have 24 winners at the end of this process, we're only going to have one nominee.

SAVIDGE: This is a topic that President Barack Obama also spoke about back in April. Just listen to the way he sort of described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things I do worry about sometimes, among progressives in the United States, maybe it's true here as well, is a certain kind of rigidity where we say, "Oh, I'm sorry. This is how it's going to be." And then we start sometimes creating what's called a circular firing squad where you start shooting at your allies because one of them is straying from purity on the issues. And when that happens, typically, the overall effort and movement weakens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: If democrats cannot, or decide not to go after one another, then it leaves them to go after the president. And yet, that's a strategy that also may not be effective. What's the democrats to do if they're running for office here?

LOUIS: Well, what a democrat is to do is put forward their vision for the future, their vision for the country, their ideas how to get there and then let the voters decide. I mean, that's really what the whole thing is about.

[06:30:00]

The reality, though, is it's much easier said than done. It's very tough when one of your opponents starts picking apart your vision. If you say, that, for example, you've got the greatest health care plan in the world. And then somebody jumps up and says, well, it's not Medicare for all. So, you should be driven out of the conversation. Well, people are going to get their back up. People are going to debate. It's going to be a little bit ugly. You know, folks should not kid themselves. The road to the republican nomination in 2016 was littered with the broken and failed and ended careers of a lot of really important -- really interesting career public servants. You know, Jeb Bush, it ended his political career. There's going to be something similar that happens here. Again, there aren't going to be 24 winners. There's going to be some grief along the way. And voters should, especially democrats should be getting ready for that now.

SAVIDGE: Excellent point. Errol Louis, also a pleasure to talk to you. Thanks so much for joining us.

LOUIS: Thank you, Martin.

PAUL: So you know the name Amanda Knox. Well she was accused of killing her roommate while both of them lived in Italy. Today she is speaking about trial by media at a criminal justice festival in Italy. What brought her to tears? We'll talk about that.

SAVIDGE: Plus prosecutors say they are almost ready to tell the whole story David Ortiz's shooting in the Dominican Republic. But the shooter said that it was an accident. That's coming up.

PAUL: And see what happens when victims and offenders of violent crimes meet face-to-face on the new CNN original series, "The Redemption Project" with Van Jones. That's tomorrow night at 9:00, followed by "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell at 10:00 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

SAVIDGE: This morning, Amanda Knox is back in Italy. It's her first visit to the country since she was acquitted of murdering fellow student Meredith Kercher. And speaking at a criminal justice festival on trial by media a short time ago, she teared up saying I'm not a monster, I'm simply Amanda.

PAUL: Knox and her then Italian boyfriend were accused of killing Kercher back in 2007. Her conviction was overturned in 2015 after you know a sensational legal battle there. CNN's Melissa Bell is with us from Italy where Knox spoke. What, Melissa, brought her to tears?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was very emotional from the very beginning, Christi. This is something that the press following her around, ever since she landed in Milan on Thursday had been trying to work out. Whether she was quite prepared for the media spotlight that she decided to use by returning to Italy in order to raise awareness about the injustice that she felt she was the victim from. Have a listen to what she had to say. It was in fluent Italian but often through tears that she spoke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA KNOX, CONVICTED MURDERER: (through interpreter) And then it was then that I understood how serious the situation was because I have never seen my father crying my whole life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: She was talking there about her time in prison. It was a very personal speech really going back over what she'd experienced. Bear in mind also that by returning to Italy, she was really coming back to a country where a lot of people are still convinced of her guilt and she spoke to that. She spoke about the fact despite her exoneration by the Italian judiciary; so many people continue to judge her. The power, she said, of a false narrative.

Her speech was really all about the dangers of the course of public opinion. How there are no rules, there's no requirement for evidence- based accusations. And she spoke a great deal of that vicious cycle of the media deciding early on that she was guilty. Italian prosecutors trying to prove the same thing and each feeding off the other to portray her as something that she was not.

She also spoke to the question that's been asked of her over and over again, why come back eight years after being released from prison? Why this return to Italy? Because, she said, it was important to come and confront this on Italian soil even though she admitted she was scared. Scared of being molested she said, scared of the possibility of being rearrested, scared of that court of public opinion and what people continue to think of her today, Christi.

SAVIDGE: Melissa, it's Martin Savidge here, real quick another question. I wondered, youknow, her trial, of course, generated so much interest. Was she talking about her efforts to try to return to normal life? Did she mention that?

BELL: Well, she does talk about that. She did talk about that a great deal. She's trying to get back to normal life. But, of course, as she said, the problem is when your life becomes television or newspaper content. This is an article that she wrote before she left and alluded to in the speech again today; you lose control of that narrative. She made it clear it's very difficult to escape that. So that's what she's trying to do here, Martin, is really come back to try and reclaim the narrative herself with all of the dangers that go with it and the knowledge that so many people are wondering why she's here and not least the family of Meredith Kercher, the girl who was killed back in 2007. Their lawyer said that they believed Amanda Knox's return to Italy is inappropriate and uncalled for. It is of course, open wounds that are being reopened here.

Since although there is a man serving 16 years in jail for the murder of Meredith Kercher, Rudy Guede, a man, by the way, Amanda Knox pointed out. No one really knew the name of or very few people given the Italian judiciary had proved his involvement. It his verdict, Martin, it is stated that the Italian judiciary does not believe he acted alone.

The man in jail for the murder, a man Amanda pointed out very few knew the name of. In his verdict, the Italian visual 84 judiciary believes he did not act alone. There are still even after all these years, so many questions about exactly what happened that night. I think it would have taken an awful lot of courage for Amanda Knox to step into what she knew was going to be another media storm. Martin.

PAUL: All right, Melissa Bell, thank you so much for walking us through it. We appreciate it.

SAVIDGE: In other news, overnight, Hong Kong suspended a controversial extradition bill. It had sparked violence protest all this week. The bill would make it easier for Hong Kong to send suspected criminals to stand trial to the mainland. Critics say it goes against Hong Kong's basic freedoms. Opposition leaders say that they still to plan to protest today and will only be happy if the bill is eliminated completely.

[06:40:00]

PAUL: Listen to this, prosecutors in the David Ortiz shooting say they hope to release details on a motive in this case as soon as this week. Now nine suspects are in custody right now after the baseball legend was shot in the back in a nightclub in the Dominican Republic. Dominican police are looking for a tenth suspect. The accused gunman said Ortiz was not his intended target, but he just got confused by the clothing Ortiz had on.

According to Dominican media outlets, Rolfi Ferriera Cruz told reporters that he was hired to carry out a hit. But was only told the color of his victim's clothing which Ortiz happened to be wearing that night. Prosecutors say he's making it up. Cruz is also wanted, by the way in New Jersey on armed robbery and other charges. Ortiz is recovering from his injuries in Boston.

SAVIDGE: And there are reports of another tragedy in the Dominican Republic; a man in Tennessee claiming that authorities there are lying about how his mother died while on vacation. Fifty-three-year-old Leila Cox was there celebrating her birthday when she was found dead in her hotel room. According to CNN affiliate, WATE, the U.S. Embassy told her son it was a heart attack but no toxicology report was ever ordered because officials said all of their machines were broken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM COX, MOTHER DIED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: My mother was too healthy to pass away with a heart attack which is what the Dominican Republic claims is her cause of death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Cox's son William said he warned his mother not to go on her trip after the state department reported several Americans had died there this year. He is still battling to get his mother's remains back to the United States.

PAUL: Goodness. Well, the Notre Dame Cathedral will hold its first mass today, two months after the fire. The service is really small, only 20 to 30 priests will be allowed to attend - that's due to safety concerns of course. The Archbishop of Paris released a statement thanking everyone from donors to workers, for all of the work they've done. As of June 12th, the Notre Dame Foundation had received donations of nearly $18 million. An additional $425 million has been pledged by donors.

And the city of Toronto is quite happy, as you can imagine about the Raptors winning the NBA championship. Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of these fans, Christi, more excited than others. Rightfully so. They won their first ever championship. We've shown you a lot of celebrations here on "New Day" but wait till we show you this guy. With this plant, what is he going to do with it and where is he going to put it? This Raptors fan I going all out. Coming up.

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[06:45:00]

SAVIDGE: Tiger Woods has made the weekend at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. But it doesn't look like he'll be winning a 16th major.

PAUL: Yes, he and everybody else apparently are chasing a guy named Gary Woodland. Who is Gary Woodland?

WIRE: Yes, who is this guy? He's 35 years old. He's from Kansas. He's never won a golf major. He only has three PGA wins in his career. He just broke one of Tiger Woods' records. Woodland was stellar at Pebble Beach yesterday, 6 under tying the course record - he's 9 under after two rounds, breaks Tiger's U.S. Open record at Pebble Beach. It was previously set when Woods won by 15 strokes back in 2000. Look at that putt. My goodness. All right now, Tiger is struggling with the putter yesterday. Nine strokes behind Woodland, ending the day with back-to-back bogeys, he's currently at even par. Here he is.

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TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Yeah, I'm a little hot right now. Just signed my card about a minute ago, so, right now, but right now I'm still in the ball game. There's so many guys with a chance to win. We've got a long way to go and we'll see how it shapes up tomorrow.

There was one scary moment at the course yesterday. A runaway golf cart crashing into a group of spectators when a box reportedly fell on to the gas pedal. The USGA tells our affiliate KPIX that five people were injured, two taken to the hospital. No word yet on their conditions.

Let's go to the women's World Cup where no one is having more fun than team Canada. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GROUP SINGING: I feel like a woman is the prerogative to have a little fun and, oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy...

(END VIDEO)

WIRE: Yes! That would get your Saturday going. Team Canada staying loose singing "Man I Feel Like a Woman," by Canadian treasure, Shania Twain. They play New Zealand today. How will the Americans celebrate goals against Chile tomorrow? Some love that they celebrated all 13 of them against Thailand in their shutout; some criticizing the Americans. Kickoff is at noon, Eastern.

Now Raptors star, Kawhi Leonard is set to become a free agent in a few weeks. Toronto fans doing they can to keep him north of the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's with the plant, man? Where did you get that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a housewarming gift for Kawhi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's staying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does he know this yet?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm waiting for him. I'm waiting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have seen him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't seen him yet. I think he's in somewhere in Oakland right now celebrating his butt off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see him, tell him I got a house warming and tell him I love him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will. What kind of plant is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell him thank you for the shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of plant is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a plant for Kawhi. It's a Kawhi plant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Kawhi plant? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a Kawhi cactus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a good night, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a Kawactis (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a good night man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kawactis (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kawactis (ph). I like it. I like it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Kawactis(ph), well first of all that is not a cactus, I don't believe. That is plant guy celebrating the Raptor's championship win. I don't know where you get a palm tree in Toronto this time of year but they deserve to celebrate a historic win for that city and if Kawhi goes back, maybe they can do it again next year with another round.

PAUL: And the guy is now known as "plant guy." All right, Cory, thank you. You know he's going to be called that all day. We'll be right back.

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[06:50:00]

SAVIDGE: A high school freshman's death after outdoor football practice is turning the spotlight on heat deaths. The 14-year-old Hezekiah Walters collapsed during football practice this week. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

PAUL: Yes, heat stroke and exertion-related heart attacks are the reason for 9 out of 13 football related deaths in 2017. Jacqueline Howard, CNN's Health and Wellness Feature Writer is with us now. Let's talk about this specific case. What is the school district now doing after this happened?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH WRITER: Yeah, it is a tragic case and Hillsborough County Schools decided to end all practices for all sports in its district until coaches completed two requirements. Coaches are required to review their safety and precautions measures and they're required to look at each student's school record and make sure there's nothing in their medical history that could make them unable to participate. So the schools are taking action. It's a big tragedy for the community and it is a sobering reminder for all of us to be aware of the impacts of heat, especially during the summer.

SAVIDGE: So, it's a good opportunity to remind people. What are the symptoms, what are we looking for when we're talking about heat exhaustion and heat stroke?

[06:55:00] HOWARD: Well heat-related illnesses can sneak up on all of us whether you're a high school football player or whether you're going for a job in your neighborhood. So signs to look for include high body temperature, nausea, headache, dizziness, and then what we all know of is losing consciousness, collapsing. So again, this is just a sobering reminder for all of us to be aware of these signs and symptoms especially this summer while we are out and about.

PAUL: Yes, while we have you here I want to ask you about the measles outbreak. We know there have been1,000 cases of measles reported nationwide in 26 different states, New York in particular is doing something about this, though?

HOWARD: Yes. So, New York has become the epicenter of this outbreak and state lawmakers just decided this week to pass legislation requiring school children to get vaccinated even if their families have a religious objection to it. So this was a controversial move anti vaccination groups, religious freedom advocates spoke out against it, but lawmakers really made clear that New York has been tied to cases in four other states, so it has to become the epicenter of this outbreak in the country.

PAUL: Goodness. Goodness.

SAVIDGE: Jacqueline, thanks so much. Good to see you. We appreciate it.

PAUL: Good to see you Jacqueline. Thank you.

SAVIDGE: And the next hour of your "New Day" starts right after the break.

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(BEGIN VIDEO)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But, of course, you give it to the FBI or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an attempt at damage control after sounding curious about collusion.

TRUMP: I think I said I'd do both. But how are you going -- if you don't hear what it is, you don't know what it is.

[07:00:00]