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New Day Sunday

Far-Left And Far-Right Activists Face Off In Oregon; Trump Targets Far-Left Group But Is Mute On Far-Right Extremists; Man Interested In Mass Shooting Arrested In Connecticut; GOP Rep. Steve King Unapologetic For Rape And Incest Comments; Workers Given Three Choices: Attend Trump Speech, Use Paid Time Off Or Lose Overtime Pay; Massive Anti-Government Protests Flood The Streets Of Hong Kong; Massive Kabul Bombing Leaves 63 Dead And 182 Injured; U.S.-Taliban Peace Plan Intended To End Afghanistan War; U.S. Farmers Fed Up With Chinese Tariffs; Tropical Moisture Brings Heavy Rain To Florida; Little League Teams Honor Former Player; Racer Avoids Catastrophe On The Track. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 18, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:15]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dueling protests in Portland, Oregon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Far-right groups holding a rally in downtown were met with the far-left group known as Antifa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are resisting the fascism. We're not allowing them to just take over our streets.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love the unions and I love the workers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A stark choice for union workers in Pennsylvania we're learning ahead of the president's speech there earlier this week. Show up if you want to get paid or burn one of your days off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shell is denying that they wrote that memo and they are taking particular issue with the line about how workers were not allowed to protest President Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was supposed to be a day of joy has turned into terror after a suicide blast ripped through a wedding in Kabul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many folks in that area are trying to find peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour now. Good Sunday morning to you.

We'll start with the aftermath of widespread protests in Portland, Oregon. Officials say six people were injured and more than a dozen people arrested in yesterday's standoff between right-wing extremists and anti-fascists.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Now the Proud Boys, a group of -- designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center billed the protest as a rally against domestic terrorism but the Antifa counter demonstrators were also called out -- calling for an end to white supremacy. More than 700 officers -- look at this -- closed bridges and streets trying to keep the rival groups apart. For the most part they were able to succeed that.

BLACKWELL: According to police as many as 1,200 people were in downtown Portland at the height of those protests.

PAUL: CNN's Sara Sidner spent much of the day on the ground in Portland as well. Here's what she says.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Portland was on edge for most of the day. And the protest is still aren't over. They started late this morning by a group named the Proud Boys, who are a right-wing group who came here to engage anti-fascists or Antifa as they're called here who are a left-wing group.

Let me give you some idea of what is happening now. So, the right- wing group has left. They came here, they protested the police, have been very adamant to keep the two groups from coming together because they were worried about a large amount of violence. That did not take place.

What you are seeing again are the police in the streets. They have been standing between these two groups all day long. But now that the right has left, there is the left that is left here.

Member of Antifa over (ph) here but there are other groups here. Portland residents who just want to come out and show that they do not these right-wing groups here nor do that they want white supremacist groups to show up here in the city.

The police still following them around trying to make sure that they're not in the streets. If they people go into streets and block the streets they will be arrested and have been arrested. So far, more than a dozen people arrested, one injured. But for the numbers of people that showed up here in Portland the biggest worry has not come to fruition, that there was going to be major violence.

That is partly because the police have kept people apart. And that was by design. Eighteen agencies from across the state of Oregon as well as some of the federal agencies, law enforcement agencies have been keeping eyes on this, have been involved in trying to make sure that these groups do not come together. So far, so good. The mayor was very adamant that he was concerned about the city, told people not to come downtown, when usually on a Saturday a lot of folks out at Waterfront Park. This has now moved a little into the downtown area. But so far, again, major violence did not erupt here in Portland as feared.

Sara Sidner, CNN Portland, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Sara, thank you for that.

Let's bring in a "Politico" White House Daniel Lippman. Daniel, good morning to you.

DANIEL LIPPMAN, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, the president weighed in on this in the lead up to the height of the protest yesterday. He tweeted this. I want to read just part of it here.

"Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an Organization of Terror."

We'll talk about the consideration in a moment but first the tweet. The president did not mention the Proud Boys, the people who organized the initial event, the demonstration. And again as Christi mentioned who the Southern Poverty Law Center says is a hate group.

Why? Any explanation from the White House on why?

LIPPMAN: Well, we haven't asked the White House -- I didn't ask the White House this morning about this. But generally they have said that Trump is against white supremacy.

[06:05:00]

That he doesn't like any of this type of violence. But we should just look at his Twitter and who he chooses to call out. And while it's not -- we don't want him to give the name of every white supremacists group that is protesting but he could have balanced that tweet out and said, I'm against all types of violence especially white supremacy. And it doesn't seem like he has learned those lessons from Charlottesville.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Control room, do we have the sound bites from the president and the FBI director in talking about white nationalism? Because the president has talked about the degree to which he believes that white nationalism, which is affiliated with -- according to SPOC with this group, the Proud Boys.

How much do you think that is a threat to the U.S.? Can we play that? OK. We don't have that.

Well, the president has said that he doesn't see that as a growing threat. Although the FBI investigator says that most of the investigations that are happening about domestic terrorism involve white nationalism.

How have we seen this manifest in the priorities of this administration?

LIPPMAN: I reported early on in the administration that the Department of Homeland Security had cut funding to a group that was fighting white supremacy. It was actually founded by a former white supremacist who saw the error of his ways and wanted to do something. And the administration cut this one group's funding while not making this a priority.

And so we haven't seen until recently much of an emphasis on fighting this huge increase in white supremacy. And so that has been a real cause for concern because the president has a great bully pulpit. And so if he made a major push to say that this is totally wrong and that we have, as Americans, should come together to fight this scourge, then it could make a difference but he chooses to kind of tell his base to use Antifa as one of those bingo words that gets them riled up.

And he gets lots of retweets and, you know, favorable people on the right like Steve King. They can kind of like this type of -- these types of tweets because Antifa is a hated word on the right in some corners. I'm not saying all conservatives are, you know, in that realm, but among hard core Trump supporters, Trump condemning Antifa, that's what they like.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I think we should also point out that this is a conversation -- not one-to-one but a conversation, I guess, through social media, through traditional media. Between some of these groups like the Proud Boys and the president -- I want you to listen -- everyone to listen as we wrap up here. With the organizer of the event yesterday, this is Joe Biggs. He was asked by a reporter why they were in Portland. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the message you got across?

JOB BIGGS, PROTEST ORGANIZER: Go look at Trump's -- President Trump's Twitter. He talked about Portland. He said he watching Antifa. That's all we wanted.

We want national attention, we got it. Mission success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: "Mission success." Daniel Lippman, stay with us. We've got more to talk about when we come back in a few.

LIPPMAN: Thanks.

PAUL: So, police in Connecticut have arrested a man they say was stock piling weapons. Potentially interested in going on a mass killing spree. Investigators say 22-year-old Brandon Wagshol was on the radar after he began traveling across state lines to buy high- capacity rifle magazines.

BLACKWELL: Police also say he made a number of racist and anti- transgender rants online. Several weapons, body armor found during the raid on his home. According to police the weapons are registered Wagshol's father.

Republican Congressman Steve King, we had a really tensed exchange with a couple of his constituents. This was at a town hall in Iowa over those controversial comments about rape and incest. He was asked to defend the comments he made Wednesday, question whether there would be any population of the world left if you pulled out the people who were products of rape and incest.

PAUL: Now, King doubled down on his remarks. In fact, listen here to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE KING (R-IA): I'm depending innocent unborn human life. I'm the author of the Heartbeat bill at the national and also at the state level. I did not allow exceptions for rape and incest in that bill because those babies that are born as a product of those activities are as precious as you are or any of my grandchildren are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: King went on to compare the stigma of being a child of rape or incest with the stigma of being the child of a single mother. Voters also confronted him on his anti-immigration rhetoric.

[06:10:00]

"Politico's" Daniel Lippman back with us.

Daniel, thanks for sticking around here.

LIPPMAN: Thanks, Christi.

PAUL: So, the thing is this is a man who has already been stripped of his committee assignments from his own party, because of some of the things he said, particularly defending the term white supremacists. What is the repercussion that possibly we saw yesterday from his voters?

LIPPMAN: Well, what we saw is that many of his constituents have major problems with what he has said and he is facing a serious challenger who could dismount him from his office. And right now his constituents aren't being well served by a member of Congress who is not on any committees, can't really do the hard work of legislating. All he can do is vote on the floor and be members of caucuses about our -- kind of volunteer efforts in Congress.

And so he might have gone way too far in terms of what his voters were willing to accept. And this all comes as members -- as the Republican Party in Congress has become a very white male party. And you can see why, because of some of this. PAUL: So, you're leading me into my next question because there was another one of his constituents who brought up the man who will be his opponent, J.D. Scholten, the Sioux City native who announced last month that he's going to run for a seat. One constituent said, you have no significance in Congress. King said to that, "If that were true, why is all of America all wound up about this then?"

What is his significance in Congress? You touched on it a moment ago but at the end of the day to be truthful, to be realistic, what is his power there?

LIPPMAN: So his power right now it seems as that he makes these very controversial, often hateful comments. And the media and his colleagues, both Democratic and Republican, condemn him for doing that.

I can't think of any major bills that he has passed in his time in the last couple years. And so he is really kind of seen as a negative force in Congress by his own colleagues. Liz Cheney who is the, you know, head of the Republican conference has called on him -- on him to resign.

And if you actually look at what he said, he said, well, we shouldn't have any exceptions for rape and incest, we support all human life but look at his comments about Hispanic immigrants. He is wildly seen as racist. And so it doesn't seem like his respect for human beings extends to people he maligns as having, you know, ankles the size of cantaloupes because they're bringing marijuana across the border.

PAUL: All right. Daniel Lippman, we appreciate you taking the time to be with us this morning. Thank you.

LIPPMAN: Thanks, Christi.

BLACKWELL: So, we're learning that workers at a chemical plant in Pennsylvania where President Trump spoke last week were given an ultimatum. This was by the employer if they didn't attend the event.

PAUL: Yes. They either had to use their paid time off or lose their overtime pay. So, those who attend would receive overtime but they were instructed not to protest the president.

CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood joining us now from Berkeley Heights near Jersey -- New Jersey I should say, where the president is vacationing. Last day of his vacation as well, I understand.

What more are you learning about this ultimatum?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Christi, these workers who attended President Trump's event they were told that they could either skip the event, in which case they would have to use, like you mentioned, one of their limited paid time off days, they would have to go a day without pay, and they wouldn't be eligible for all of their overtime pay for that week because they would have missed a day that was considered work in the eyes of the company or they could attend the event but they were instructed at least some of the workers not to protest -- not to do anything that could have implied resistance to the president. And they were told that that arrangement had already been decided by their union leaders.

Let me read you a part of a memo that at least some of the employees at the Shell Company received. "No yelling, shouting, protesting or anything viewed as resistance will be tolerated at the event. Those who are not in attendance will not receive overtime pay on Friday."

A spokesman for the Shell Company that operates the petrochemical plant where President Trump's event took place also confirmed that this was the arrangement to which employees were subjected.

The spokesman said, "It was understood some would choose not attend the presidential visit and were given the option to take paid time off instead. As with any workweek, if someone chooses to take, paid time off, PTO, they are not eligible to receive maximum overtime."

Now keep in mind this was not supposed to be a political event, not a campaign event, it was a taxpayer funded speech that was supposed to focus on U.S. energy dominance. But, of course, the president's speech did veer into political territory at times. For example, Victor and Christi, he pushed the union leaders there to support him politically during the event.

[06:15:04]

BLACKWELL: All right. Sarah Westwood, thank you so much.

Ahead this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate South Bend, Indiana mayor, Pete Buttigieg. They're both with Jake Tapper live. That's on "STATE OF THE UNION" at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: There are massive crowds this morning in the streets of Hong Kong. Anti-government protests engulfing the city for the 11th weekend and China state media now pushing a dramatic military propaganda video. We have a live report for you from Hong Kong.

BLACKWELL: Plus, 63 people are dead after a suicide bombing at a wedding party in Kabul. We'll have the details for you.

PAUL: And farmers in the heartland fear a trade war with China could change their lives not just for them but for generations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sometimes stay up at night worrying about what the future does hold. You know, what do you tell your children that want to farm?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Happening right now, there are massive anti-government protests -- protesters, I should say, in Hong Kong. Look at this gathering. Huge pro-democracy rally.

This is in the city's Victoria Park and they have filled that park so much organizers at one point started asking them -- asking them to please, you know, eventually trickle out a little bit because there literally was no more room.

[06:20:03]

BLACKWELL: Now, look at this space. This is where Chinese government officials -- they are ramping up the deterrent rhetoric with the release of this dramatic propaganda video and there are some pretty brooding music there too. Watch and listen to a bit of it.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

BLACKWELL: Yes. They added that music. That was not ours.

Police forces are shown holding the training exercises including makeshift kind of improvised riots there, tear gas, police dogs in the video as well. Earlier this week, CNN saw dozens of paramilitary forces staging on the outskirts of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Let's go to CNN's Paula Hancocks in the middle of the crowd there in Hong Kong. What are you seeing and hearing around you?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor and Christi there was supposed to be capacity of 100,000 within Victoria Park. We're about a 10-minute walk away from there. And some of the protesters have told us that it took them three hours to try and get to this point. Just shows how many more people have turned up today.

It is absolute log jam here. And this is a scene across many parts of Hong Kong. It just shows that in its 11th week the passion of these protesters in Hong Kong have not gone away. They are still calling for more democracy. They're calling for an investigation into what they believe is excessive police force.

They've also been having statements from the police as well saying that they are coming up against an element of protesters that are violent, that are using criminal behavior. One thing they have been talking about today in this crowd I've been asking them, is that video of the Chinese paramilitary troops across the border do they think they would cross? For the most part they say they can't imagine it.

Let's listen to what they said. OK. We don't have that sound at this point. But they were saying if these Chinese paramilitary police did come across, it would ruin the social order of Hong Kong. They just couldn't imagine that Beijing would take that decision to move those riot teams in.

Hong Kong police have been saying that they have the situation under control but this is a scene that is being played out across Hong Kong. At this point thousands of people chanting "support Hong Kong" calling for the chief executive Carrie Lam to stand down. And calling for the police to stop using what they believe is violence against them. The police, they have been saying if certain elements of these protesters don't use violence, then they won't use force. But we have been seeing this in recent weeks. This particular rally is legal. It's been approved by the police. The problem comes when it peels off.

They decided to not allow a march through the streets of Hong Kong. Inevitably there is so many people that can't get into the venue, this garden in the midst of Hong Kong, that they are spreading out to other areas. We know there's one contingent going to a police station not far from here.

They've been pointing lasers at the police station. That is something that has sparked reaction from the police time and time again in the past. So this has been going on for about four (ph) hours. Most people trying to get home. The peaceful protesters. But of course as you can see it's very difficult to get across.

PAUL: My goodness. Paula Hancocks.

BLACKWELL: About an hour out from sundown there. And sometimes, not always, that's when things turn. When the organized protesters dissipate and then those who are part of the additional demonstration as Paula said become violent.

PAUL: And we need to watch that today because there are so many more out there as well.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Paul, thank you.

Coming up, you can see by just the ceiling tiles here, the strength of the blast. This deadly suicide explosion in Kabul. 63 people dead, dozens wounded. We've got more of this really dramatic aftermath.

PAUL: According to a senior administration official, the White House is moving forward with a plan to cancel billions of dollars in foreign aid funding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:01]

PAUL: This morning 63 people are dead and 182 wounded after a suicide bomb attack at a wedding celebration in Kabul. Now, listen, we do want to show you this video from the blast but we don't want you to be caught off guard because there are images here that are really hard to watch.

BLACKWELL: Yes. This is the aftermath. Here you see first the pile of shoes from the people there. Blood stains. We showed you -- you see the blood stains here on some of the table cloths. The shattered ceiling of the banquet hall. One eye witness say he felt the blast from his home near the site.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were sitting in our home when the strong sound of the blast came up. We came to the site of the blast and I saw that many women and children were screaming and crying. Many martyrs and injured people were transferred by the ambulances and it was a really terrible situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Afghanistan's president blamed the Taliban for the attack in a tweet. The Taliban denying any involvement in the suicide attack.

BLACKWELL: The explosion is just coming a day after President Trump discussed a U.S.-Taliban peace plan with his national security advisers.

PAUL: Now, the plan would include a U.S.-Taliban cease-fire that could end America's longest running war but without a commitment by the Taliban to hold its fire on Afghan people or the military.

Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst and former army commanding general with us now.

Lieutenant General Hertling, thank you so much more taking the time to be with us.

I want to go through a couple other things that are in this peace plan just so we're on the same track here. It includes a reduction of troops from 15,000 to 8,000 or 9,000. Commitments by the Taliban to counter terrorism efforts in Afghanistan. A U.S.-Taliban cease-fire. And as we said, what is not included is the fire hold on Afghan people or Afghan military. There's something initially that stood out to me, when we see the Taliban commitments to counterterrorism.

[06:30:02]

And so we're talking about a group that the U.S. sees as a terrorist group being charged with the responsibility of counterterrorism. How would that work?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, that's going to be one of the questions that will be continued debated as the Afghan peace plan comes about, Christi.

What I would suggest is is any kind of negotiation to end any war is very difficult. And Bashar al-Assad has been cast with an impossible requirement, is to bring together two countries who are actually two entities in this case, the U.S. and the Taliban, to negotiate an end of a war when, in fact, the Taliban has the upper hand across Afghanistan. The Afghan government and the Afghan security forces are not strong enough to take control and govern the people and secure the people across the country.

The United States has grown weary of this 19-year conflict and there is very little support between the government and the people where the continued military and diplomatic approach to what we're doing in Afghanistan. And, finally, you know, there's a desire by POTUS to withdraw all forces.

Now, the commentary right now saying that we will withdraw from 14,000 to 9,000 has not been confirmed. That's a rumor. You also have to consider there are 19,000 NATO and NATO alliance forces along with those 14,000 U.S. forces. And should the U.S. forces withdraw, I would venture to say you'll see many of those NATO forces begin to withdraw as well.

So it is just a very difficult situation, going back to your question, of the U.S. negotiating with the Taliban that has been known from the beginning of this conflict to be a supporter of terrorism, and in fact, that's why we went into Afghanistan in the first place because of the Taliban support from Al Qaeda during the 9/11 attacks. But the policies, the strategies, the military approach has multiple times over these last 19 years. And I think all of the things I've just talked about are going to contribute to some type of negotiations with both sides in the United States are going to see as problematic.

PAUL: So probably the conflict here is a source close to the talks told CNN that the Taliban is insisting the cease-fire is solely with the U.S. But U.S. has -- I mean, there are security agreements with the Afghan government that the U.S. government has to help protect them in battles.

So when you look at that conflict, there are some Republicans who are saying, you know what, this is a surrender to the Taliban. And to that, you say what?

HERTLING: Well, there will be many people saying a couple of things. First of all, that it is a surrender to the Taliban. There will be others that will say, we're throwing the Afghan nation and the Afghan government under the bus --

PAUL: It's a betrayal.

HERTLING: -- by negotiating. And also there are going to be many people that say, keep the security forces there to contribute to counterterrorism conflict. But this is all part of the negotiation, which both sides in the discussion, Republicans, Democrats, left, rights, pro-war, anti-war, pro-security, will both see challenges with.

PAUL: So I --

HERTLING: You're right, there are -- I'm sorry.

PAUL: I'm sorry. I just -- we only have a minute, but I wanted to ask you one other question because you did touch on this just a moment ago.

Secretary Pompeo is promising to basically follow through on the president's directive, as he called it, directive, to have all U.S. troops out by the 2020 presidential election. Is that what this boils down, a political strategy to win 2020 and what vulnerabilities that come with that? I mean, is the U.S. going to be safe after this -- HERTLING: Yes. Christi, one last thing, when you go into a war, you normally have an end state. After you've achieved that end state, you have an exit strategy. What is currently being discussed is not an exit strategy, it's purely an exit. And it is driven by political consideration as all military negotiations are.

But unfortunately, this one is going to have a whole lot of repercussions and it will put many people on the short end of the stick.

PAUL: So do you think the U.S. will be safe after this peace deal?

HERTLING: I'm sorry, will they be what?

PAUL: Safe. Will our security be intact?

HERTLING: Yes. And not from the standpoint of preventing any kind of future terroristic attack that might emanate from Afghanistan, no.

PAUL: Okay. General Hertling, I always appreciate your insight and your perspective. It means a lot, thank you.

HERTLING: Thank you, Christi.

BLACKWOOD: A senior administration official tells CNN that the White House is moving toward with plans to cancel billions of dollars in foreign aid.

Now, the Trump administration wants to decrease what it believes is wasteful spending and make foreign aid conditional on support for U.S. policies.

[06:35:03]

Now, that's despite bipartisan lawmakers and foreign policy advocates opposition to the cut.

Critics say this could be the start of a fight between the Trump administration and Congress, well, we should say a continuation of a fight on a different level here.

PAUL: And farmers in the Midwest apparently have a message for President Trump. They say, Tweets don't pay our bills. Up next, why they're getting so fed up with this trade war with China.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWOOD: We're now hearing from farmers who have been really frustrated and they feel threatened by what they've heard from the U.S. and China over the last several days.

Let's catch you up (ph), the White House has decided to delay tariffs on some Chinese goods until mid-December, but it is going ahead with a 10 percent tariff on other Chinese products, including food. Now, that tax kicks in September 1st, just two weeks from today.

PAUL: Yes. And Beijing is responding they're not buying any agricultural products from the U.S.

Vanessa Yurkevich is in Minnesota, which talked to farmers who say they're losing patience with the President's trade war.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christ and Victor. Farmers we have spoken to here in Minnesota say they are drained, physically, emotionally and financially. They're also warning that if this trade war continues, Trump is in jeopardy of potentially losing support from his base here in Minnesota.

We also spoke to one farmer named Cindy who says that this trade war could change the face of American farming forever.

[06:40:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY VANDERPOL, MINNESOTA FARMER: It's very scary. I mean, I sometimes stay up at night worrying about what the future does hold.

You know, what do you tell your children that want to farm? Do you tell them, go find something else to do? One of our sons already has. He's already -- sorry. He always had a passion to farm. And because you don't know what the future is going to bring, you almost want to encourage them to go do something else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: You hear that emotion from Cindy and the fear in her voice about the uncertainty of the future, something we've heard from so many here in Minnesota, including Gary Wertish, whose farm we're on right now. He says that in order for Trump to end this trade war, he's going to need a change in strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY WERTISH, MINNESOTA FARMER: Words and Twitters and Tweets, that doesn't -- that doesn't pay the farmers' bills. That doesn't solve the problem we're dealing with. And this one -- like I said earlier, this one is self-inflicted by our president. And we definitely agreed to them at the beginning.

But it doesn't appear there's a plan B.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: And that's the fear that plan A simply is not working and there is no plan B, which makes it really hard for farmers to plan for their future.

A lot of them say that that market with China is lost and is never coming back. And as we know, farm bankruptcies have been on the rise in the past of couple years, which is forcing farmers to have to make some really difficult decisions about their future. Victor and Christi?

BLACKWOOD: Vanessa, thank you.

So heavy rain is pounding parts of Florida. The storm is expected to move into Georgia and the Carolinas this week. Listen, I spent a lot of my career in Florida and Georgia. And these storms this time of year, it's a good reminder that hurricane season is happening now and we're come up into the height of the season.

Allison Chinchar is with the CNN Weather Center for us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

PAUL: Well, wait until you see what's happening in Florida right now. More than a foot of rain has fallen in 72 hours and it's not over yet. I mean, take a look at this, a video from a hotel balcony in Sarasota. You can hear the wind whipping across the patio doors, see the rain coming down. This isn't what you go to Florida for, but let's face it.

BLACKWOOD: Yes. Well, this is sometimes what you get when you're in Florida this time of the year. You could imagine that the rain here flooded -- started flood warnings for thousands of people.

Now, this looks like a tropical storm or a hurricane. It is not. But the Hurricane Center says a tropical storm could develop this week.

Let's go to Meteorologist Allison Chinchar with us. We expected that this is the time of the year, end of August, beginning middle of September is the height, getting to the busiest part of hurricane season.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, which the thing is you have to keep an eye on these other storms, the ones that don't get names but maybe have the potential over the next couple of days. Because look at this, this is not a named storm, but look at how much rain it's already dumped across portions of this area.

Steinhachee, Florida, 28 inches. I want you to let that sink in, 28 inches since Thursday, 16 of that came just yesterday alone. Steinhatchee, for references, is just a little over an hour west of Gainesville, Florida. sSome other locations also picking up over a foot of rain, even Tampa picking up over 6 inches of rain in the last few days.

The problem is more rain is on the way. And we're talking a lot more rain in some cases, not that they actually need it, whatsoever.

Here's a look at the radar. You can see some of those heavy bands of rain sliding into that northwest portion of Florida. We do have a couple of rumbles of thunder. But, really, the key here is the rain just training over these same spots over and over again.

So, for that reason, you've got flood warnings and flood watches out for several of these locations here, Cedar Key, Cross City, even the Town of Perry and pretty much everything in between. The forecast radar, again, shows a lot of that moisture surging back in. This all started from a stationary front pretty much within this region. When we talk about how much rain basically from New Orleans all the way over through Tallahassee, widespread amounts of an additional four to six inches are possible.

On the northern edge of this, we're keeping an eye on this. This system right here has a 30 percent chance of developing into some type of tropical system over the next 48 hours.

The good news is it's expected to move away from the coast very quickly. However, Victor and Christi, the short-term, we could end up getting some pretty significant rainfall across portions of North and South Carolina within that 48-hour timeline.

PAUL: All right. Thanks you for the heads up, Allison.

CHINCHAR: Thanks.

PAUL: Listen, this was a terrifying moment on the track. Cory Wire, what happened?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Victor. A risk every motorcyclist knows they face flying off their bike at full speed. We'll show you what happens next.

PAUL: And be sure to tune in tomorrow night for the final episode of the CNN original series, The Movies. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we don't give Marilyn Monroe enough credit as a dramatic actress or as a comedian. She could do it all and Billy Wilder knew it.

KENNETH TURNER, AMERICAN DIRECTOR: Some Like It Hot is Marilyn Monroe's most memorable film because she kind of puts everything together for herself. You really start to see her as a person that you care about emotionally.

MARILYN MONROE, AMERICAN ACTRESS: All the girls drink. It' just that I'm just the one that gets caught. Story of my life I ask at the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

BILLY CRYSTAL, AMERICAN ACTOR: When you're in the hands of a Billy Wilder, is the right person saying the line in the right way? They hear the comedy of it. There's a music to a punch line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's me. It would turn out to be a surprise party.

MONROE: What's the surprise?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-uh.

MONROE: Not yet? When? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have a drink first.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a ridiculous movie in a lot of ways. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon played these two musicians in 1920s Chicago. And they accidentally witnessed the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, and they have to escape and decided to join an all-girl band disguised as women.

JACK LEMMON, AMERICAN ACTOR: I could face (INAUDIBLE), just call me Daphen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Lemmon becomes Daphne. And without really trying to, he attracts a millionaire, who falls in love with him.

[06:50:02]

LEMMON: I'm engaged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations. Who's the lucky girl?

LEMMON: I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some Like It Hot is the greatest comedy of all time with the greatest last line.

LEMMON: Well, you understand I was good? I'm a man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, nobody is perfect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: The Movies airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWOOD: So there's this incredible display of sportsmanship, humanity of the Little League World Series.

PAUL: It's pretty incredible to see 12 year olds, I mean, show this sort of awareness.

WIRE: Yes.

PAUL: I just love watching them anyway.

WIRE: Yes, it's so fun to watch them going to have a homerun competition this year, so that's cool. But this moment kind of reminds us that there's good in everyone.

Of course, these kids, they want to win, but that's not the most important thing in this case. Bowling Green, Kentucky, Barrington, Rhode Island, playing yesterday and hanging from the Kentucky dugout was number 11 jersey. It belonged to Mason Goodnight. He died in 2017 at ten years old from a rare form of bacterial laryngitis. [06:55:01]

Mason's dad, Jeff, still coaches the team, and that jersey has come with them to every game since. And before the game, look at this, even players from Rhode Island stopping by to touch the jersey, paying respects to mason.

Kentucky went on to lose this game, get eliminated. But imagine how proud those young kids made the community back home. He is that coach, Jeff Goodnight, Mason's dad, after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF GOODNIGHT, MASON GOODNIGHT'S FATHER: I'm so proud of every one of you. I love you. Hey, this is -- you guys have faced more adversity and overcome more obstacles than most 11 and 12-year-olds have, all right? And I'm proud of you. And you're going to face more, all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: That is leadership from Mason's dad and those young kids.

All right, we're going to change gears here, a terrifying moment at a motorcycle race in England. And we want to tell you that the video is disturbing but the rider is okay.

Look at this, Luke Mossey's cell phone video capturing the moment he's thrown from his bike flying past spectators at a test run at Caldwell Park. Incredibly, he avoids being hit by another racer, who suffers only a hairline fracture in his leg. He Tweeted that he'll be back racing in a few weeks.

And we want to end with a little fun from the Little League World Series yet again, Venezuela's Deivis Ordonez trying to make things tough on the pitcher. Look at him getting down low. (INAUDIBLE) full swat there to sweep the strikes on the ump though, he is still calling a strike on him. I mean, you're not getting away with that.

His teammates call him proyecto (ph) or little chicken because he's such a goofball. He ends up kicking on (INAUDIBLE) stories, showing up some dance moves. I mean, is this not us after a Sunday, the weekend is done, the work is done?

PAUL: pretty much. It's what you don't see here.

BLACKWOOD: This is us between the 6:00 and the 7:00. We're about to go on a break now. Thank you for that, Deivis.

PAUL: Coy, thank you.

And our next hour, New Day starts right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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