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New Day Saturday

Heat Wave Continues Across Much of U.S.; Update on Iran Capture of Two Oil Tankers in Strait of Hormuz; Moon Landing Anniversary; Trump and the Congresswomen; Latest on Puerto Rico's Governor; British Open Update. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired July 20, 2019 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some new aggressive moves by Iran. The country seized two oil tankers 30 minutes apart in the Strait of Hormuz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The British government is trying to avoid military action with Iran but in the same breath stressed that the U.K.'s response would be robust.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is completely unacceptable. Freedom of navigation must be maintained.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much of the United States is sweltering.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This year it's really hot. It's like burning hot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 195 million people across the U.S. are under watches, warnings, or advisories due to the extreme heat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For some people this may not even peak until we get to Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engine stop, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifty years ago today, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the proverbial giant leap; humanity's first steps on the moon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO)

ANNOUNCER: This is "New Day Weekend" with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: We are so grateful to have you with us here, although I'm sad to have to tell you that we have to start with the latest death in this blistering heat wave that's affecting so much of the U.S. this morning.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: In Arizona an A.C. technician appears to have died from excessive heat while he was working in an attic.

PAUL: In addition to that, right now, there are 150 million people across 30 states who are under heat alerts. Temperatures feel like they're over 110 degrees in some cities that are not used to this.

BLACKWELL: Now consider this in Michigan more than 230,000 people, they don't have power. That means no A.C. CNN's Miguel Marquez has more.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From New Mexico to New England, intense heat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting too old for this heat.

MARQUEZ: Nearly 200 million Americans sweating it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ice cold. Ice cold.

MARQUEZ: Roads buckling from the heat in Shawnee, Oklahoma and Hayes, Kansas. In Chicago, a thermometer inside a car hit 129.6 degrees; in Washington, D.C., tourists wilting in the hot air, the real stuff. Deadly heat. Thirty-two-year-old former NFL offensive lineman Mitch Petris dead from heatstroke. The young, elderly and those susceptible to heat gathering in cooling centers in New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With this kind of heat, we want people to stay inside, to stay in air conditioning if at all possible. If you're not in an air conditioned space, to find one.

MARQUEZ: Heat and humidity prompting the threat of tornadoes across parts of the Midwest. Heat waves like this becoming more common. Spring nationwide starting earlier and earlier over the last three decades compared to the previous century says NOAA. More troubling since the 1960s, the number of heat waves have tripled in the nation's largest city. The length of the heat wave season tripling as well.

New York City's main supplier of electricity, ConEd on high alert after an outage knocked out power to a huge swath of Manhattan's upper west side this week. And in Madison, Wisconsin, two electric substations catching fire, not the day for it. Animals feeling the effect, too from pets to overheated to take another step on New York's Fifth Avenue to this emu keeping cool at Zoo New England. At Illinois' Brookville Zoo, the bears and tigers staying close to their icy treats.

Yes, it's absolutely brutal here. Cancelling the triathlon. People across the entire city being told just to try to keep cool like these kids are doing right now. This brutal heat, it is not the last we'll see of it. We're likely to see much more in the years ahead.

BLACKWELL: All right, Miguel Marquez, thank you for that. Let's go now to CNN's Allison Chinchar joining us live from the weather center. Before we get to the years ahead, how about the days ahead? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, because it's going to be a

couple more days. Some areas are peaking today but there's a lot more cities that are aren't going to peak tomorrow or even Monday. So again, you're going to have multiple days and here's the thing. We've been talking about the cities that are impacted; it's not that we're ignoring the rural areas but the cities have a little bit of a different impact. Obviously, both of these places when the hot out, they both heat up during the afternoon. The problem is the overnight time line, because in the overnight timeline, the rural areas that heat can be released back into the atmosphere. But in the city environment, that pavement, that concrete that is much more prevalent in cities, ends up absorbing that heat and preventing that heat from being released back in the air, keeping those cities much warmer during the overnight time line.

And that overnight time line is key because that's what helps your body cool down is at night. We can all tolerate some heat in the afternoon, as long as at night your body is able to cool down. But you're talking about as much as 22 degrees warmer in those city environments and it's already warm enough; you don't need to be 22 degrees warmer than some of the surrounding areas.

[08:05:00]

Look at this map showing all of the excessive heat alerts that are out there, not just for today, but through the west of the weekend. Again, it stretches basically from New Mexico all the way up towards Maine. Here's a look at temperatures: 96 today in Chicago, 97 in St. Louis, 100 for the actual temperature in Washington, D.C. But then this is a different bit of heat. Normally when we get the huge heat domes it's a dry heat. Yes, you have the hot temperatures but the humidity is not that bad. That's not going to be the case with this particular heat wave. It's going to be very high humidity. So the feels like temperature in Chicago this afternoon 105, St. Louis, 104, Washington, D.C., around 108 and that's going to have big impacts on the body.

The good news, probably the best news I have for this entire hit here is it's going to be short-lived. Once we get to next week, guys, we are going to finally start to see those temperatures below average. Take Washington, D.C. Yes, Victor and Christi, they will be in the triple digits today and tomorrow but by the time we get to Tuesday, that temperature does finally come back into the 70s.

PAUL: Thank goodness.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

PAUL: Another big story we're watching day, the escalation and tensions between Iran and the West. The British government warning now that there will be, quote, "serious consequences" if Iran doesn't release a British flagged oil tanker that's captured in the Strait of Hormuz.

BLACKWELL: Now Iran claims the ship was involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat after reportedly ignoring the boat's distress call. This morning, Germany and France joined with the U.S. in condemning Iran's actions. Clarissa Ward joins us now. What more are we hearing from British officials Clarissa?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, essentially what we've heard, Victor, as you mentioned from the foreign minister here Jeremy Hunt is that they're vowing that there will be a robust but considered response. They have said that they favor a diplomatic option over a military option and in a series of tweets, the Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt also conceded that they would potentially be looking at having a discussion with regards to an Iranian vessel that the British navy seized earlier this month off the coast of Gibraltar. Now that was a very different scenario, of course, because that was illegally smuggling oil, according to the British navy, to Syria, as opposed to this vessel which will has been seized which was lawfully crossing through the Strait of Hormuz. Although as you mentioned the Iranians are saying there was some kind of an incident or accident with a fishing vessel. But really what you have here is a kind of impasse, whereby the Brits would like to resolve this in the most diplomatic way that they can but at the same time, it's difficult to do that because what the Iranians really want to see here, Victor and Christi, is some kind of an improvement to their economic situation. This, of course, on the heels of the essentially collapse of the Iran deal, after the U.S. pulled out of it last year. The collapse, of course, the Iranian economy on the heels of U.S. sanctions and while the Europeans have said that they still honor the deal, that they still want to be part of it and uphold it, the reality is, in the face of overwhelming pressure, from the U.S., in the face of the U.S.' incredible economic power, they have not been able to fulfill that and keep the deal going.

So, essentially, what you have here is a very dangerous inflexion moment where potentially many fear this could divulge into an all-out military conflict. It's important for our viewers to remember, Victor and Christi, this is just the latest in a series of incidents in the Persian Gulf. One well-respected shipping magazine calling this the most serious security incident since the late 1980s. So, a lot of people in the region and here in Europe, and indeed, in the U.S., very concerned that the tensions are only going to escalate further. Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Clarissa Ward for us in London. Thank you.

PAUL: Clarissa, thank you so much and she brings to light something that we have to be mindful of. The Strait of Hormuz is so important, this area, because it's the most crucial waterway in the global oil supply chain.

BLACKWELL: Look at this. This is real time. This is what's happening right now, moving the traffic that's going through the channel. It's only about 21 miles wide at its narrowest point; 22.5 million barrels of oil pass through the strait every day. That's nearly a quarter of the daily global oil production. If the strait were to be closed because of the threat of ongoing attacks, it would be a massive blow to the world's economy.

PAUL: David Rhode, CNN Global Affairs Analyst and executive Editor for "The New Yorker's" website is with us now via phone. David, thank you so much for being with us. With every moment that this goes by, the clock is ticking. The ship is not being returned. What does that mean to you?

DAVID RHODE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: That means that I think there's an Iranian strategy. I'm not sure for all out war yet but I think there's an effort to drive up oil prices. You're exactly right, the point Victor was making about how important this area is. Per month 1,000 tanker ships go through the strait and the U.S. is less dependent on this oil now thanks to natural gas inside the U.S. but the amount of oil consumed by China as its economy has grown and India has risen sharply and that oil is coming from the gulf. So that's where you would start seeing the impact, would be the oil prices around the world and it would impact other countries. And we've seen this in the past, though. If the Chinese economy slows, if Europe's economy slows that will come back and hurt the American economy as well.

PAUL: David, let's listen together here to our own Jim Sciutto who talked to the Defense Intelligence Agency's director Robert Ashley about what is it, what is the intention of Iran? Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does Iran want war?

ROBERT ASHLEY, DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR: No. Iran doesn't want war. China doesn't want war. Russia doesn't want war. I think everybody has a good rationalization that - and I can't remember who said it in one of the panels this morning. It might have been Wendy Sherman(ph) that the outcome would be horrific for all. There's a great quote from President Eisenhower and he said the best way to win World War III is to prevent it.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This only goes to show what I'm saying about Iran. Trouble, nothing but trouble.

(END VIDEO)

PAUL: So Director Ashley is saying Iran doesn't want war. The president is saying that they do - they are trouble - trouble doesn't equate to war. We know that much. But with the Iran provocations that we've seen just in the last three, maybe four months here, what options does the U.S. have to confront what's happening without escalating the situation?

RHODE: So from the Iranian perspective, it's the U.S. that escalated the situation. They feel that they had negotiated this agreement with the U.S. and the world's other major powers and they were abiding by it. There was a consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies that they were abiding by it. The Trump Administration pulled out of this deal, has put in sort of unprecedented sanctions that have caused their economy to collapse.

So the first thing, you imagine not looking for war. They're looking for an easing of sanctions and they're signals coming from the Iranians that they are interested in talks. There have been signals from President Trump that the U.S. is interested in talks so I think this is an effort to pressure the U.S., pressure Europe and potentially pressure China as these countries are unable to get as much oil. Just this morning the Brits are telling ships to not go through the Strait of Hormuz.

It is to try to get - Iran is trying to get these other countries, the Brits and others to pressure the Trump Administration to negotiate.

PAUL: All right, David Rhode we appreciate you so much taking time for us, thank you.

BLACKWELL: The Eagle has landed. Fifty years ago today, Apollo11 landed on the moon. Rachel Crane, great job today live at Johnson Space Center in Houston. We'll speak to Rachel in a moment.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Victor. In just a few moments we'll bring you inside the epicenter of that historic moon landing.

Apollo's mission control, coming to you - coming up to you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO)

[08:15:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Contact light. OK, engine stopped. ETA(ph) at the deep end. Both control both auto (inaudible) and command override off. Engine arm off. 413 is in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We copy you down, Eagle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.

(END VIDEO)

BLACKWELL: Big celebration there but another reason they're about to turn blue. Neil Armstrong, set the Eagle lander down on the moon just in time. NASA said later it was just 30 seconds of fuel left in the tank.

PAUL: Can you imagine? It's been 50 years now since Apollo 11 landed on the moon and to celebrate, there's a projection. Look at this, of the Saturn 5 rocket. This is on the Washington Monument. Back in 1969 more than half a billion people watched on TV as Neil Armstrong stepped down that ladder and said that line that we all know so well.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

NEIL ARMSTRONG, AMERICAN ASTRONAUT: It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

(END VIDEO)

PAUL: I want to go now to the nerve center of that mission and so many others, Rachel Crane at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. That has got to be something to be there today, Rachel.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, I'm coming to you live from probably the coolest location I personally have ever been to. This is Apollo mission control, the historic landmark here. I was here a couple years ago. It did not quite look at this. If I'm to be honest, it was a little rundown, a little moldy but there has been an incredible restoration that has been going on for about six years now and the funds for it, $3.5 million were donated from a neighboring town, Webster, Texas. The rest of the funds raised by private donations as well as a kick-starter fund and the attention to detail in this room is striking. At every desk you use the Apollo 11 flight plan. You see a R.C. Cola here. You even see the ashtrays that are cigar ashtrays because they were smoking so much at the time. And it's - this room is truly it feels like a time capsule and of course this was the epicenter of the moon landing nearly - 50 years ago now today that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took those historic steps. Yesterday, Victor and Christi, I had the great fortune of meeting Scott Milliken. Now he was an Apollo astronaut trainer. He was coming to see the room for the first time and I asked him where he sat.

He sat in the chair and he was overcome with emotion being transported back 50 years and he was reliving those moments when he was in this room when this incredible event took place. He said it really was like a time capsule that he couldn't believe the attention to detail and really it looked like they had stepped back in time. They even have a rocket coffee maker here. So this week has been flooded with celebrations, galas, all kind of events to celebrate this historic landing, Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: Aah, such a great place to be. I'm sure that was a fascinating conversation you had yesterday.

CRANE: Oh, it was, I was overcome with emotion. I was welling up with tears when I was speaking to Scott.

BLACKWELL: All right, Rachel Crane, good to have you there this morning.

PAUL: Thank you Rachel.

BLACKWELL: So we've been talking about the storied history of NASA's Apollo program but the moon missions were originally intended to be a steppingstone for other mad missions deeper into space, even Mars.

PAUL: Yes, and now they're picking up where they left off. CNN correspondent Paul Vercammen went to NASA's jet propulsion laboratory and he took a look at what is next for NASA. Where do we go from here?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 1957, the Russians launched the first satellite into space and it rattles John Casani, then a young American aerospace engineer.

JOHN CASANI, AMERICAN AEROSPACE ENGINEER: Walking out after work it was like 4:30 or 5:00 o'clock and going down the step and we actually saw the dog gone Sputnik going across the sky and that was a - that was sort of a devastating blow. We realized a way we were nowhere near that.

VERCAMMEN: So the United States began its ambitious quest to put a man on the moon. In California a jet propulsion laboratory they leaped to the unmanned Ranger and Surveyor programs.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that Surveyor did land on the moon and worked.

(END VIDEO)

VERCAMMEN: They wanted answers on the surface.

CASANI: Whether the astronauts sink over 14 feet into talcum powder or would they stay on the surface? That was the purpose of the Ranger and the Surveyor programs that demonstrate that the moon surface was a reasonable place to put a spacecraft down.

VERCAMMEN: And the manned Apollo program would follow. And now JPL is riveted on the red planet.

KATIE STACK MORGAN, DEPUTY PROJECT SCIENTIST, MARS 2020: We look at the Ranger - Surveyor missions and we learn from their reconnaissance of the moon and we apply those same kind of lessons to reconning Mars, understanding it from an orbiter perspective.

VERCAMMEN: Eight times JPL has landed unmanned craft on Mars including insight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoof of the (inaudible) five.

VERCAMMEN: And the curiosity rover. They're working on a new six- wheel drive wonder, the 2020 rover.

MORGAN: So, these missions to Mars, they have a science focus. The robotic missions. We're learning about the geology of Mars and its potential for hosting life in the past but each one of these missions makes a small contribution towards the goal of getting humans to Mars.

VERCAMMEN: Instruments on the 2020 Rover including Sherlock which will search for signs of microbial life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a replica of the MOXIE instrument.

VERCAMMEN: And MOXIE testing how to turn the Mars atmosphere into vital oxygen astronauts can breathe and rocket fuel.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ARMSTRONG: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

VERCAMMEN: The plan is to put humans back on the moon.

CASANI: People said, well we've already done that. Yes, we've already done that but we didn't then stay more than a day or two. What's really important is sustainability. Can we get to Mars or the moon or anyplace and stay there on a more or less permanent basis. That's the challenge.

VERCAMMEN: So the massive brains here at JPL predict that their heavy lifting, their unmanned missions will lead to putting an astronaut on Mars and when that happens, they want to remind everyone that they think they are indeed, the center of the universe. Back to you now Christi, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Paul Vercammen, thanks so much.

President Trump will not back down on these racist attacks against four democratic congresswomen and now he's saying he does not care if they're good or bad politically. We'll discuss that next.

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[08:25:00]

PAUL: So grateful to have your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good Saturday to you. President Trump is attacking again today after denouncing racist rally chants. He's walking back the walk-back. Follow us here and investing again in this original attack on four democratic congresswomen.

PAUL: Yes, the president now calling his audience at that North Carolina rally, quote, "incredible patriots" refusing to apologize for his tweet which really, at the end of the day prompted all of this. I want to get to CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood this morning. Sarah, what are you hearing from the president this morning? He's been quite active already, let's say, on twitter.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning Christi and Victor, President Trump, he is not backing down from that initial attack on the four freshman House democrats known as "the squad" but he is continuing to try to distance himself from those racist chants that broke out at his North Carolina rally this morning tweeting, "As you can see, I did nothing to lead people on nor was I particularly happy with their chant. Just a very big and patriotic crowd. They love the USA."

But I want you to listen for yourself about how that chant progressed through the crowd at that Greenville rally on Wednesday night and listen to how long President Trump waited before speaking again as that chant built momentum.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

CROWD: Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back. Send her back.

(END VIDEO)

WESTWOOD: Now Trump on Thursday said that he spoke quickly after that chant began to interrupt it. Obviously you can see for yourself that took about 13 seconds for the president to start speaking after that chant broke out. He said that he disavowed the chant but then on Friday at an event ostensibly meant to commemorate the Apollo 11 anniversary, the president called those people who were making that "send her back" chant incredible patriots.

Now CNN reported that President Trump faced pressure from allies, aids, even his own daughter Ivanka Trump, a senior advisor to perhaps consider disavowing those chants. There was some discomfort among republicans who struggled to defend that chant being indulged at the rally.

President Trump yesterday when he was on his way here to Bedminster, said he wasn't quite sure if his attacks on the four progressive democrats are helping him politically but its something he believes in. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

TRUMP: I don't know if it's good or bad politically. I don't care. But when people are speaking so badly, when they call our country garbage, think of that, that's worse than deplorable. When they call our country garbage, I don't care about politics. I don't care if it's good or bad about politics.

(END VIDEO)

WESTWOOD: Now, we should note that none of the democratic House freshmen that the president has been attacking has actually referred to America or Americans as garbage. But the president has sought to tie those progressive House members to the larger Democratic Party in an attempt to paint all democrats as radical. That's something that we could see emerge as a theme of his re-election race. That certainly was a theme Wednesday night at that rally. The president clearly, though, Victor and Christi, not abandoning what people have characterized as racist attacks on the four democrats.

PAUL: All right, Sarah Westwood. We appreciate it so much, thank you.

BLACKWELL: So let's talk about this and more with David Graham. He's a staff writer for "The Atlantic" and recently published an article titled, "An Oral History of Trump's Bigotry." David, good morning to you..

DAVID GRAHAM, AUTHOR AND STAFF WRITER FOR "THE ATLANTIC": Good morning.

BLACKWELL: And this reaches back decades. I first want your response what the president tweeted out, when you saw this tweet addressing these four congresswomen did you think this was an off-the-cuff remark or did it seem to you based on the research to be strategy, to be part of a pattern?

GRAHAM: I think it was a little bit of both. One thing that we found is that Trump has a long history of dividing the world into very much racial and ethnic perks(ph). He uses it that way; he judges them that way but he's also discovered over time, starting probably from around 2011 how to use race and ethnicity as a political wedge and the ways that that can be of great political benefit to him. So I think we're seeing both a reflex and also use of leverage in a political way that he understands will work with a certain segment of the population.

BLACKWELL: So, you talk about that this could work with the population but I wonder if there's ever been any -- any consequence, in the run up to the 2016 election. He called for a shutdown of Muslims coming into the country, told a group of Jewish republicans that I don't want your money, so, I know you won't support me and just turned to the black community and said, you're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. What the hell do you have to lose and he won the Electoral College vote. Has there ever been a consequence for his approach to race?

GRAHAM: I mean there has. He won less than -- he won a majority - a minority of the popular vote. He's been labeled a racist widely. He's often been revile, he's been fine, he's been scolded by the government. He's had to sign consent decrees in his business for discriminating against black tenants. But on the other hand he's also found that with a certain group of people this seems to work very well and we see that even now.

There's widespread, you know, revulsion of the comments but also a certain group of people who are cheering him on.

BLACKWELL: You know, one of the elements that you pointed out that I had not seen before, this was back in 1993, in which he was testifying before Congress about what he called "unfair advantages" for native- Americans for their casinos. Watch this exchange. This is then private citizen Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

TRUMP: I will tell you right now, they don't look like Indians to me and they don't look like Indians -- maybe he way politically correct or not politically correct. They don't look like Indians to me and they don't look like Indians to Indians. A lot of people are laughing at it and you're telling how tough it is, how rough it is to get approved. But you go up to Connecticut an dyou look - now they don't look like Inidans to me, sir.

(END VIDEO)

BLACKWELL: And the congressman then said, pointed out in American history the examples of they don't look like Jews to me. They don't look like Italians to me. Two black, not black enough. How much have we learned about his views on race connected to his business interests and fighting for his casinos, for his housing complexes?

GRAHAM: Yes, you see a ton of this. At the time I think you would often couch this as really just a business imperative. You know? He would say, well maybe we're discriminating against black tenants because white people don't want to live next to them.

He attacked these tribes that were trying to open casinos because he was trying to preserve his own casino business and so you see both sort of an instinctive sense of dividing people this way and judging people by their looks as you saw in that exchange. And you also see him doing it to his benefit because he thinks he can make more money from it. There are other examples of this. He reportedly wanted to keep black employees off the casino floors in Atlantic City because he was afraid that white patrons wouldn't want to see them. There's a long record of this sort of thing.

BLACKWELL: And you point out that beyond his businesses and his personal life that this has - and there are plenty of people who argue that it has not overlapped into policy but you point out the disparity between the president's treatment rhetorically and otherwise of Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas and Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico. How does this overlap with the policy?

GRAHAM: I think we've seen in many places where we does this. You know we can look at the hurricane response where the, you know, in Houston which is a city that's both white and black, but a domestic city, mainland city, he views that as a very important issue. When it comes to Puerto Rico though, he's very slow to respond. He is consistently dismissed the deaths there, consistently suggested that Puerto Rico does not deserve money and I think it's not hard to see him consistently coming out against Hispanic citizens.

And we see this sort of division on the census question where he's targeting Hispanics. We see this on immigration. Over and over again we see him dividing people in these ways.

BLACKWELL: Now full circle here. CNN's reporting is that this attack on these Congresswomen was part of at least from his perspective maybe not much broader in his circle, a 2020 play toward reelection. I want you to listen and everyone to listen to white nationalist Richard Spencer here in which he is unsatisfied with how far the president is going. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

RICHARD SPENCER, WHITE NATIONALIST: Many white nationalists will eat up this red meat that Donald Trump is throwing out there. I am not one of them. I recognize the con game that is going on. He gives us nothing outside of racist tweets. And by racist tweets, I mean tweets that are meaningless and cheap and express the kind of sentiments you might hear from your drunk uncle while he's watching "Hannity."

(END VIDEO)

BLACKWELL: First, let's point out this is a white nationalist acknowledging, that yes, those tweets were racist, but saying they are not going far enough. Based on your reporting and investigating decades of his history, what's the likelihood that he'll ratchet it up to get men like Richard Spencer, or others, back into the fold? GRAHAM: I think it's interesting that Spencer uses that "drunk uncle"

comparison because we heard people saying, "Trump is like Archie Bunker. It's an old school mentality." So even people close to Trump view it in that way. You know, I think Trump doesn't need to appeal to Richard Spencer so much. Spencer is extremely marginal. You know the out and out white nationalists are a small group of people. What he wants to appeal to are the kind of people who would not consider themselves racist, would probably be offended to being called racist but hold views that are prejudiced and are willing to sort of espouse these sort of things. These kind of attacks may resonate them -even resonate with them even as they say they aren't racist. These are the kind of people that I think Trump is targeting with this sustained outburst.

BLACKWELL: Well David Graham, it is a fascinating collection of the president's history and his views on race in "The Atlantic." David Graham, thank you so much.

GRAHAM: Thank you.

PAUL: Well Puerto Rico's governor says he can still run the island but the people of Puerto Rico are saying they've had enough and now there are lawmakers calling on him to resign as well. We'll tell you what's happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00]

BLACKWELL: The pressure is growing for the Governor of Puerto Rico to resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

(CROWD CHANTING)

BLACKWELL: (voice over) Protesters in Puerto Rico are calling for the police to join their cause as Governor Ricardo Rossello is refusing to step down, despite several days of large protests on the island.

PAUL: (voice over) Now, members of Congress are also starting to call Rossello to resign included 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. The Hawaii Congresswoman posted these pictures from the island, tweeted a call to her fellow candidates to join Puerto Ricans on the street as well.

(END VIDEO)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh was also there in San Juan last night with the crowds. Here's his report.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice over) Well this is the sound Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello is going to have to get used to. For the second time, central San Juan, the old town, really shaken by these extraordinary protests. Perhaps less maybe in the number by the end of tonight than we saw a few nights ago but really further down the way we saw thousands of people beginning a march during daylight and made their way peacefully up along the shorefront to here where we've seen an intensely noisy and some degree quite organized protest standing off with police, now separated by barricades, but the momentum really building.

The question I think many people are asking is, will the planned march for Monday, potentially though hoping hundreds of thousands of people pour out on the streets from the morning until the end of the day. Will that really increase the sense that maybe the governor here, his time is limited. Now we heard Dennise Perez, his press secretary to some degree the voice of his administration offer her resignation today saying that she felt shame when she was accused in front of her son of corruption and could no longer carry on in that public role.

Part of the House of Representatives here is beginning to debate the process of impeachment hoping a commission to look at that look. There's a sense that the time is changing that Governor Rossello himself on Instagram sounding like he was going about his normal business and not really suggesting he's going to heed the calls for him to resign. The question will be, of course, the turnout on the streets on Monday and whether this growing sense and momentum is changing the political calculus around the governor. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

BLACKWELL: Nick thank you. Beautiful day at the Open championship today but some of golf's biggest names already gone home. Alex Thomas is live from Portrush, Northern Ireland. Good morning to you.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, glorious weather here on Ireland's north coast for the penultimate day of golf action of Britain's Open championship. We'll tell you who the home fans are cheering for and why one leading contender is having conversations with his caddy he's never had before. I'm live at Portrush in just a moment.

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PAUL: So they're in the third round of the Open championship and you know some of golf's biggest names didn't even make it to the weekend.

BLACKWELL: CNN's sports correspondent Alex Thomas is live from northern Ireland. Alex, who should we be paying attention to?

THOMAS: Not Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy, I'm afraid Victor and Christi, that's because both have missed the half way cut here. There are record-breaking crowds here for the Open's return to Ireland for the first time in 68 years, and they will be making a huge noise when the leaders tee off in a couple hours' time. America's J.B. Holmes at 8 under par alongside Ireland's Shane Lowry. Yes, he's from the republic not from the north but he's already been telling us how impressed he's been by the support here.

You know, there have been four Irish winners in 150 years of open golf history but none on home soil before. He's a veteran player but said he's been more nervous than ever before on the first tee on Thursday's first round and he is loving the atmosphere that's for sure. Some big names lurking a few shots off including Brooks Koepka who has dominated mens golf over the last couple of years winning two of the last four majors and coming runnerup in the other two. And the other interesting status, no English winner of the open since 1992 when now Sir Nick Faldo as he's known won it way back then.

There is a veteran called Lee Westwood with a challenge. He's a former world number one but never won one of these big majors and he revealed to us that he's having conversations with his caddy that he's never had before because it's his girlfriend.

LEE WESTWOOD, GOLFER: You'd be surprised the sort of things we talk about out there. My favorite one was from Denmark the first week she caddied for me and I took out a big divot because it was big and soft and she's walking back with a divot like this. And I said, "What's wrong?" And she says, "I hope there's not a worm in this thing." It makes me smile. It's a big advantage.

THOMAS: The life of a touring pro can be very difficult so one solution is bring your loved ones with you on tour. Victor and Christi back to you.

PAUL: Very good point Alex.

BLACKWELL: That's a good way to deal with it. Alex, thank you.

PAUL: So an Iowa man offers a life-changing gift not once but 33 times.

BLACKWELL: Why he helped 33 strangers he'll never get to meet, go to college for free.

And be sure to watch tomorrow night for our new CNN original series "The Movies." That's tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

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BLACKWELL: A man in Iowa, his final act is making the future brighter for 33 strangers. His name is Dale Schroeder; he drew up poor. He never married and worked as a carpenter for 67 years at the same Des Moines business.

PAUL: And despite never having the opportunity to go to school himself, he was able to save enough over his life to send 33 Iowans to college for free.

STEVE NIELSEN, FRIEND OF DALE SCHROEDER: He wanted to help kids that were like him that probably wouldn't have an opportunity to go to college but for his gift.

So I said, how much are we talking about Dale? And he said, oh just shy of $3 million and I nearly fell out of my chair.

KIRA CONARD, SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT: For a man that would never meet me to give me basically a full ride to college, that's incredible. That doesn't happen.

NIELSEN: All we ask is that you pay it forward. You can't pay it back because Dale's gone but you can remember him and you can emulate him.

PAUL: After paying that forward -- $80,000 college tab for the 33 students, they say Dale's account is empty. But those kids, man, their lives are changed forever by that man.

BLACKWELL: Fantastic. Fantastic.

PAUL: I know that's fantastic.

BLACKWELL: We're back at 10:00 a.m. Eastern for "CNN Newsroom."

PAUL: "Smerconish" is next.

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