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President Trump Continues Tweets Criticizing MSNBC Hosts; President Trump Meets with South Korean President; President Trump's Voter Fraud Commission Asks for Voter Information from States; Chicago Gun Violence Examined; Man Arrested in Connection to Possible Kidnapping of Chinese Student; Woman Burned by Ex-Boyfriend Dies after Two Years; Plane Crashes on Busy Los Angeles Freeway. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 01, 2017 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: -- so grateful to have your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. And now it is 10:00. There we go. All right, CNN Newsroom begins right now. Your voting history, your address, your political affiliation, just some of the information President Trump's panel on voter fraud is demanding from all 50 states. But dozens of states now are pushing back against that request, citing privacy laws that protect personal information.
PAUL: This morning the president of the United States is calling them into question. The president just issued this statement on Twitter, quote, "Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished voter fraud panel. What are they trying to hide?" Well, CNN White House reporter Kaitlan Collins live for us from New Jersey right now. So Kaitlan, what is on the president's agenda besides tweeting today?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the president is spending his weekend at his golf club here in Bedminster, New Jersey. He'll depart back to Washington tonight for a brief visit for a rally at the Kennedy Center with veterans, and then he will return here tonight where he will likely be preparing for his upcoming trip at the G-20 summit this week. He's going to make a stop in Poland and then he'll go to Germany. He's going to meet with several world leaders this week.
But the one that everyone has their eye on is Russian President Vladimir Putin. A White House official confirmed this week that the two men will meet, though no agenda has been set and no format. Everyone is wondering if the president will confront Vladimir Putin over Russian meddling in the 2016 election. However, Donald Trump's mind seems to be somewhere else this morning. He has tweeted multiple times about the TV host Mika Brzezinski whom he is embroiled in a feud with right now. But none of those tweets have been about health care or his foreign trip.
PAUL: And the health care obviously is one of the things that a lot of people are talking about. The president telling GOP lawmakers to repeal Obamacare now and replace it later, which contradicts what he had said earlier. COLLINS: Yes, it does. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has
been in negotiations for weeks now with senators trying to figure out a bill that will repeal and replace health care. But Donald Trump threw a wrench in the plan yesterday when he tweeted that maybe they should just repeal it now and replace it at a later date. Now, all of this is going on, but back in January Donald Trump said he wanted to repeal and replace it immediately and not even provide a two-day window within that period for health care.
Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked if this reflects a change in the president's policy yesterday at an off-camera gaggle. But she maintains that they're still going to try to push through the Senate with a plan to repeal and replace. Christi?
PAUL: Kaitlan Collins, appreciate it so much, thank you.
BLACKWELL: Also this morning the pressure issuing an official statement to again attack TV news hosts, as Kaitlan mentioned there. This statement now on Twitter -- the president of the United States tweets this -- "Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people. But their low-rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses, too bad!" Of course this comes on the heel of those disparaging tweets just a few days ago and yesterday. I want you to see now what Republican lawmakers think of the president's tweeting habits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM KINZINGER, (R) ILLINOIS: That's a tweet that's not even becoming of a city councilman.
REP. WILL HURD, (R) TEXAS: It's beneath the stature of the president and it's a distraction. We should be talking about our strategy on dealing with North Korea.
REP. MARK SANFORD, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: It causes members of the House and Senate to talk about something and to focus on something other than what I think is so important in people's lives.
SEN. PAT TOOMEY, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: This is maddening. It's maddeningly frustrating, because this is beneath the president of the United States, or at least it should be. And it's a distraction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Let's bring in now CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein and national correspondent for "The Hill" Reid Wilson. And I'm going to start with you. You've got to ask, now this is day three of this feud and this mess from the president, is he oblivious? We know he watches the shows. Is he oblivious to all this or is he emboldened by it?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all, it's good to be here my old colleague Reid. We worked together for many years down the hall at "National Journal." I would say, look, I do think this is just random. I think this fits in with the overall strategy and direction of this administration, which is essentially to stoke and mobilize the 45 percent, on a good day, that is with him and to make very little effort to kind of speak to or address the concerns of the majority of Americans beyond their hardcore base.
If you follow the direction on policy choices, whether it's health care, which we'll talk about, or environment and climate or the budget or taxes, all of that is aimed very narrowly in terms of the kind of appeal it has. And the strategy of consistently attacking the media and repeating the arguments about -- the discredited arguments about widespread voter fraud, these are all I think of a piece. This is an administration that has no ambition to be president of all of America or even a majority of America. They are trying to keep what has been, as I said, on a good day 45 percent in most polls, now somewhere around 40 percent, energized and activated, and that's the way they think they can survive the 2018 and 2020 elections.
[10:05:09] BLACKWELL: OK, so Reid, let's play out Ron's theory there. If this emboldens his supporters, what we heard from Sarah Huckabee Sanders is that those supporters elected a fighter. They wanted someone who would fight fire with fire. But they wanted someone that would fight on their behalf. How does this feud help them?
REID WILSON, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE HILL": I think a lot, and Ron has written about this over the years -- it's good to see you, Ron -- that this is, a larger sort of confrontation between the elite and the non-elite, the coastal America and the Acela corridor that we look down at from our ivory towers and the rest of America, which is left behind by a recession that has helped big cities while it's hurt rural areas. This is Donald Trump taking on the elite that has overlooked the rest of America. At least that's what he wants his base sort of core supporters to think. And this is, this is a big part of that.
BLACKWELL: Ron, go ahead.
BROWNSTEIN: Can I add, Victor, this place where this runs aground a little bit, more than a little bit, is because the style certainly is that. He is presenting himself as attacking these kind of economic and intellectual and media elites on the coast on behalf of his left- behind rustbelt and mid-American supporters.
The problem is the agenda doesn't support that. And particularly when you look at health care, the health care problem, the core problem is a collision between what the Republican ideology has been and what their coalition has become because the bill reserves almost all of its tax benefits, literally the income, the health care bill in the Senate and the house, all of the tax benefits on both income and capital gains are for families at $250,000 or above, that's it.
But the hardest hit in terms of retracting benefits are for older and blue collar whites who are the core of the modern Republican coalition. The Kaiser Family Foundation, you can go on their website, an interactive tool will show you every county except for two in Ohio, premiums would go up for 60-year-olds making $30,000 a year or $40,000 a year, or a 40-year-old making $30,000 a year. And those are the core of the modern Trump coalition. BLACKWELL: Reid, let me come to you on health care, because Ron
brought it up. The president quoting this idea that if the Senate cannot pass the bill that they're considering right now that maybe repeal now, replace later. Here's the argument from Senator Ben Sasse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BEN SASSE, (R) NEBRASKA: If we don't get this resolved by the Monday of next week, July 10, if there isn't a combined repeal and replace plan, I'm writing a letter to the president this morning urging him to call on us to separate them. If we can't do them together, let's do as much repeal as we can and then let's have the president ask us to cancel our August state work period and stay here and then work on replace separate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So the president sent out the tweet floating that idea. You would expect the president would have known, or at least Vice President Pence who went to the hill to try to convince Republicans, Kellyanne Conway who went up, they would know that there's not enough support to simply repeal and then replace later. So how did it get to the point of that official statement from the president?
WILSON: Not only is there not enough support, but from a legislative rules standpoint it gets a lot harder if you do the repeal first and then the replacement because you eventually need 60 votes for certain pieces of that process instead of the 50 votes. And let me tell you, if you're having trouble keeping two Republicans around, you're going to have a lot more trouble keeping all of those Republicans and then attracting eight more Democrats, that's just not going to happen.
So this, and by the way, as we talk about a CBO score that was so terrible for the Senate version of the bill that said that 22 million people would lose their health care, what do you think the CBO is going to say about repealing Obamacare? How many people are going to lose their health care then? The Affordable Care Act clearly needs to be fixed in some way, but the Republicans who couldn't stomach 22 million people losing their care are not going to like a CBO score who says that 30 million or 40 million are going to lose their care whatever they say based on the ACA.
But the fact is Republicans are having a really difficult time keeping their caucus together. There are three factions within the Senate. There's the moderate faction that has tried to pull the bill to the left, largely states that have expanded Medicaid. You've got to sort of leadership faction that's trying to corral everybody, led by Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, and then the conservative faction that wants to upend, uproot the Affordable Care Act from the bottom, starting with Senator Sasse, who you just showed, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee from Utah, and getting all these guys together on one package is monumentally difficult. And the simple fact is Mitch McConnell faces a real challenge, and that challenge gets harder if you try to repeal before replacing.
BLACKWELL: It has not been easy at all. Ron, is this a president who just wants to pass something, anything?
BROWNSTEIN: I think that's abundantly clear. I mean, you know, first of all, if you kind of think about all the ways in which this -- it's hard, I've covered Washington since the early 1980s. It is hard to think of another bill that does as much harm to a party's core voters as this.
[10:10:04] I mean, you know, if you look at what it does to older and lower-income Americans, particularly those in the last two decades before retirement, those are -- two-thirds of all Americans between 45 and 65 are white, and most of them voted for Donald Trump. They are the ones who would be hardest hit. If you look at the states that are dealing with the hardest effects of the opioid crisis, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, places like that, they would have declines of 35 percent or 45 percent in their Medicaid population. But I think they feel caught between seven years of promises that they were going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something better and the reality that they have not been able to come up with something that would in fact be better despite all the problems that Obamacare is clearly having, that would be better, particularly for voters at the core of their coalition.
And I think when you look at the shifting goalposts of the president, it is pretty clear they just want to be able to notch something on the scoreboard. I would say -- normally you'd say, OK, that's going to give them legislative momentum. This is a bill that is looking at 20 percent or less approval in public opinion polling. So it's not clear that success is really a better option than failure for the congressional Republicans and the White House at this point.
BLACKWELL: Reed, let's turn to one more thing here. And this is I guess was borne out of the president's assertion that three to five million people voted illegally in the 2016 election, that he started this commission to investigate voter integrity. We now have the vice chair of that group who is asking the secretaries of state across the country to send him this information about voters, and many of them have said no. The Republican Mississippi secretary of state told them to go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great place to launch from.
The president tweeted this this morning, "Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished voter fraud panel. What are they trying to hide?" First, the president never offered any support for his claim. But does this give the president and the panel an out to say, hey, we would have shown you the three to five million, but these secretaries of state are blocking us?
WILSON: Well, let's begin with the fact that the president has claimed that three to five million people voted illegally is not true and has never been supported. There has never been any evidence offered. And as a matter of fact every state audits their own voter rolls every year, and no state has found more than a small, small handful of improper votes.
Now the second part about this, the Trump administration and this election integrity panel, as it's called, has requested everything from the names of voters to their addresses to Social Security numbers, their party I.D. and even how often they voted going back --
BLACKWELL: Which is illegal in some states, you can't just hand it over.
WILSON: In some states it is illegal. The secretary of state of Kansas, who is the vice chair, has requested this data. The secretary of state of Kansas, who is the vice chair, is not able to provide some of that data, because, as you say, state law doesn't allow that. A lot of other states, a lot of this data is public and it's openly available. You or I can go check somebody's voter registration. You can check my voter registration status here in the District of Columbia, it's all public.
But the fact is the federal government has requested this. A lot of states, think we're up to 24 states now, have said no way, we're not going to give you this data, or we're only going to give you the data that is, you know, sort of the most broadest possible public data. And, as you say, you know, the Republican secretary of state of Mississippi, who is slightly to the right of Attila the Hun, has told them to go jump in the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, do one thought experiment here. What do you think would have happened if the Obama administration had asked for this amount of voter data from the states? I can guarantee you there would have been a thermonuclear detonation in states run by Republicans. Now we're seeing both Republican-led states and Democratic-led states --
BLACKWELL: And probably a response from then private citizen, Donald Trump himself.
WILSON: Exactly.
BLACKWELL: We've got to wrap it there, but Ron Brownstein, Reid Wilson, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Victor.
WILSON: You got it.
PAUL: Violence overnight at a nightclub in Arkansas, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: You hear all of those gunshots. Those are on the dance floor. More than a dozen people were rushed to the hospital. We have an update for you.
BLACKWELL: And after more than three weeks, finally a break in the case of the missing college student in Illinois. But the FBI now says although they've caught their prime suspect, there is potentially more bad news here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:18:45] BLACKWELL: Police in Little Rock, Arkansas, looking for the person who opened fire early this morning inside a packed nightclub. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Authorities say those are all gunshots you're hearing there at the Power Ultra Lounge. Police say at least 17 people were shot. Thankfully no one was killed, but there were people injured as they were trying to rush to the front door to get out of the building.
BLACKWELL: Reporter Price McKeon from our Little Rock affiliate is on the scene with details for us.
PRICE MCKEON, KARK-TV REPORTER: For people that aren't familiar with Little Rock, we're pretty much right in the heart of downtown Little Rock, less than two miles away from the capital. I'm going to step out so you can get a look at what's going on right now. Crime scene investigators have been out here since this all happened around 2:30 this morning.
Police say that 17 people were shot when there was some type of dispute inside this club. They said that a group from Memphis was performing here, and that's when gunfire erupted. They said 17 people were shot. They said there were even more injuries because some people got injured as they were trying to exit the building.
[10:20:03] We heard video, we've seen video on Facebook, counting more than 20 gunshots in what we could hear. We've been watching this crime scene investigators are collecting evidence. The police chief says, again, it is not -- they don't believe it's terror-related. They have people at hospitals all around Little Rock. They even have one victim they said at a North Little Rock hospital, which is the city right next to Little Rock, so victims are out there. Detectives are on the ground right now investigating, questioning people, trying to get more answers.
BLACKWELL: It's too early in the investigation, but we know police have not made any arrests.
PAUL: We have some new developments to tell you about this morning out of Illinois. Authorities have arrested now a man in connection with the disappearance of Chinese grad student Yingying Zhang.
BLACKWELL: FBI investigators say she disappeared June 9th from the University of Illinois, one of the campuses there. And CNN correspondent Kaylee Hartung is here with more details. What are you hearing from investigators now? KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We're learning really
disturbing evidence now as the police have arrested a 27-year-old man living in Champaign, Illinois, by the name of Brendt Christensen. He had been under surveillance by the FBI for about two weeks before they captured him on an audio recording explaining to someone, unknown to us, that he kidnapped Yingying, how he held her at his apartment against her will. We don't know what else was captured on those audio recordings, but enough for the FBI to write in an affidavit based on this, this being the audio recording, and other facts uncovered during the investigation of this matter. Law enforcement does not believe Yingying Zhang is still alive.
Police have also conducted a forensic examination of the suspect's phone whereupon they found visits to a website with forums such as "Abduction 101, "Perfect abduction fantasy," and "Planning a kidnapping."
PAUL: And I know you just got back from Champaign. I cannot imagine what her family is going through, but you were able to talk to her dad, is that right?
HARTUNG: I was. The family learned what we know now late last night. Her father, her aunt, and also her boyfriend had travelled to Illinois from China about two weeks ago as the search was ongoing. All three of them delivered very strong messages of hope to me when I spoke with them on Thursday morning. Speaking with the dad through the translator, here was some of that hope we saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family hopes that the kidnappers would not hurt her. And knowing she's really well-loved and by the families and the friends. Just let her go. Let her come back as soon as possible.
He understands if the kidnapper did give a moment perhaps has this took this action, he will forgive him, if he, if the person lets Ying to come back. And the dad would understand how the person got this action. But just let her to come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARTUNG: That message of hope delivered the same day authorities captured Christensen on audio explaining how he kidnapped Zhang.
PAUL: Goodness, Kaylee Hartung, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: Thank You.
Authorities in Pennsylvania are searching for the person responsible for a deadly road rage incident, ended with the death of a recent high school graduate. We've got a sketch here authorities have released of the suspect. When the incident happened, this was Wednesday afternoon outside Philadelphia. Police say the surveillance video shows moment the suspect who was in the red truck shot the young woman in the head. Her car veered off the road, crashed into a tree. The victim was 18-year-old Bianca Roberson. The family says she was heading to Jacksonville University in two weeks to start her freshman year. Police are now offering $5,000 for any information.
PAUL: And police say a disgruntled doctor is who went on a shooting rampage at a New York hospital. This is a hospital where he used to work. Shooter Henry Bello killed a doctor, wounded six others, and then killed himself. The incident had hospital workers, as you could imagine, barricading themselves in rooms. They were ducking behind desks and doors. According to authorities there, the former doctor did have a troubled past, didn't elaborate on it, but police are still investigating his motives and whether he knew any of these victims personally.
BLACKWELL: Three-hundred-twenty people have been murdered so far this year in Chicago. Although police say that shootings are down, one person has been keeping track and promising a change, the president, Donald Trump. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What is going on in Chicago? To allow -- I mean literally hundreds of shootings a month, it's worse than some of the places that we, that we read about in the Middle East we have wars going on. It's so sad. Chicago has become so sad a situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Well, now federal agents are in Chicago to help stop the spread of illegal weapons in that city and target repeat gun offenders. President Trump says he's delivering on a campaign promise here. CNN national correspondent Ryan Young is with us now live from Chicago. Ryan, what are you hearing from there this morning?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know obviously, guys, a tough conversation when you think about this, the people who are affected, the lives that have been changed by all the gun violence here in Chicago. You think about last year, over 700 murders and over 4,300 people who were shot just in Chicago.
This new strike force will have 20 members from about the ATF and 20 members from the police departments and state patrol. They're going to go after the illegal gun sales here. If you remember this, they find more illegal guns on the streets of Chicago than they do in L.A. and New York combined. This has been a great problem for quite some time. And in fact when you talk to people here at the police department, they've been asking both administrations, the last one, the Obama administration, and the Trump administration for help because they want to find the source of the guns that are being brought into the city. We've got a chance to talk to some of the investigators who will be leading the charge just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM JONES, COMMANDER, CHICAGO CRIME GUN STRIKE FORCE: This is a unique and new concept through ATF. We have had the ability to redirect resources in the past for temporary measures. Other areas that have had spikes in violent crime, we can send a team of agents that can assist with the local police department and the prosecuting agencies to make an impact. Chicago is the first place where this will be a permanent fixture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Look, we've seen some of the changes already. Crime is down about 14 percent in the city already this year, and there's been a definite tactical change here because they've been using technology to sort of go after the hot pockets and some of the parts of Chicago. In the areas with the most crime we've seen a big drop, about 32 percent in those tough neighborhoods. But when you talk to people who are community members here, especially when you go out to some of the shootings, they want more than just police officers. They want help, they want social change, they want jobs in the area, especially with all the young people who are out of work and cannot find employment. So they welcome this, but they want to see more. Guys?
PAUL: No doubt. Ryan Young, thank you.
BLACKWELL: President Trump and South Korean President Moon, they met in Washington. They now agree that North Korea needs to abandon their nuclear ambitions, but they disagree on how to get there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:31:41] PAUL: So good to have your company. It's 31 minutes past the hour right now. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. President Trump issuing official statements this morning, aka tweeting, taking aim at states that are refusing to divulge voter information to the voter fraud commission. He wants your voting history, your address, Social Security number, political affiliation. And he tweeted this, "Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished voter fraud panel. What are they trying to hide?"
PAUL: And not just that. Here's what he's saying about the TV host that he's been talking about on Twitter this week. His latest this morning reads, quote, "Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low-rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses, too bad!"
PAUL: Meanwhile, the U.S. and South Korea seem to disagree on how to stop North Korea from pursuing these nuclear ambitions. President Trump is warning that Washington's patience is over. But South Korean President Moon is urging open dialogue.
PAUL: He said President Trump and I will not pursue a hostile policy against North Korea. We have no intention to attack North Korea. We do not wish to see the regime replaced or collapse.
CNN's Barbara Starr has this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's first White House meeting with South Korea's newly elected president Moon came with a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
TRUMP: The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed, many years that it's failed. And frankly, that patience is over.
STARR: But now what? How does the Trump administration intend to stop North Korea's rapidly accelerating effort to build a missile and a nuclear warhead that could hit the United States?
TRUMP: We're working closely with South Korea and Japan as well as partners around the world on a range of diplomatic, security, and economic measures to protect our allies and our own citizens from this menace known as North Korea.
STARR: The U.S. military remains on alert, watching for any hint of a missile launch or even another underground nuclear test. Trump initially leaned on China to help stop North Korea's weapons testing.
TRUMP: The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding.
STARR: Pressuring Chinese President Xi to use his influence with Kim. But that appears to have changed. The Trump administration issued new sanctions against a Chinese bank for allegedly helping North Korea, then hours later announced a massive U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, which China views as a renegade province. Beijing is furious.
LU KANG, SPOKESMAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): The U.S. arms sale to Taiwan has seriously violated international law and basic principles of international relations.
STARR: With diplomacy uncertain, U.S. military options for North Korea have recently been updated.
H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The threat is much more immediate now. The president has directed us to prepare a range of options including a military option, which nobody wants to take.
[10:35:03] STARR: But a U.S. military strike could trigger catastrophe.
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER TOM DONILON: I think that if U.S. chose to strike North Korea in any way, we would most likely see an immediate North Korean response. That could take different forms. It could be a counterattack on South Korea. It could be another cyber-attack. And Kim Jong-un, feeling as emboldened as he does, would likely react in a very strong way.
STARR: And a North Korean counterattack could have a massive human toll, millions of South Koreans and 28,000 U.S. troops and their families at risk. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: A young woman was set on fire by her ex-boyfriend and her family is pushing for tougher sentences after the man got 11 years in prison. The victim's mother and daughter explain how they hope to prevent any other families from experiencing the same tragedy.
PAUL: And a terrifying moment as a plane crash-landed in the middle of a busy California highway in rush-hour traffic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:09] PAUL: It's 40 minutes past the hours right now. It was a horrific attack against a young woman that prompted her family to push for tougher laws in Ohio. Judy's law is heading to Governor John Kasich's desk. It requires harsher punishments who commit crimes like the one against Judy Malinowski. Her ex-boyfriend doused her in gasoline and set her on fire. This happened back in 2015. He received 11 years in prison. That is the max penalty under the law. Judy passed air way this week. She survived for two years after battling through almost 60 surgeries. Well, Judy's law is something that her family passionately supports here, and they were with us just a little while ago to talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONNIE BOWES, MOTHER OF JUDY MALINOWSKI: It was, it's really indescribable, but I was blessed that God chose to let her live 696 days, and she fought. You know, I was blessed to see her fight that hard for 696 days. And they were long days, they were joyful days and tearful days that she fought so hard to live and fought for justice and fought for those two little girls.
PAUL: What did you talk about during that time?
BOWES: We talked about a lot. She said mainly, mom, you know, she originally wanted to just help him. And then as she woke up after eight months of a coma, she said she had to fight for her girls and to just get her story out to tell, to help just one person. And then she went on to fight for justice. You know, to testify and to back off on all of her pain medicine, which is just horrific for her to do that, to make a tape asking the House and Senator Hughes on why the laws should be stiffer in Ohio.
PAUL: It is really astounding that she had the wherewithal and the strength in the condition she was in to fight so hard to make sure that nobody else suffered like she did. Did you nobody Michael Slager, the man that did this? Did you know him? Did you fear him at all? Did she fear him?
BOWES: She feared him. She had tried numerous times to get away from him. She had quoted to a lead detective he's going to kill me. But, you know, it's so hard to catch them. They have to be there, restraining orders aren't perfect. And she was just right. She succumbed to her injuries. So she did try. She wanted to help him. She thought she had been where he was. And unfortunately it transpired into mom, I just want to help one person. And she said, nobody, no human being should ever, ever suffer, mom, the way I am. Not even an animal.
PAUL: Kaylyn, what did you think of the fact that your mom held on so long, and probably really helped in large part held on for you, because she wanted to be there for you?
KAYLYN MALINOWSKI: I thought it was really like -- I thought it was really nice that she held on just for my sister and I, because we needed her. And we still need her. But I think that we'll get by in a while. It will take a while, though. But we'll be OK. And we, my sister and I are really proud of how she fought for so long.
PAUL: She is fighting so hard for people who are in abusive relationships. I heard some sound from her where I think, Bonnie, you were talking about it. And she said if you are in an abusive relationship, you need to get out. You need to get help. You need to take care of yourself.
A lot of people were enraged that the suspect here, Michael Slager, convicted, only received 11 years. Now that she has died, however, homicide charges are being sought against him. Bonnie, how do you feel about that?
BOWES: I hope, I hope justice will prevail on Judy's behalf, especially because you know, she suffered for two years. You know, homicide is one thing. But it was almost like a cruel -- it was a cruel death to suffer for two straight years and battle every day and then succumb to a homicide. So I hope the laws of justice will prevail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:45:07] PAUL: And our thoughts and prayers again to Bonnie and Kaylyn there for talking to us. And I should point out that if Governor Kasich does sign this law, it will go into effect within 90 days.
BLACKWELL: Coming up, a small plane crashes on one of the busiest highways in the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move back from the plane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just breathe. Just breathe, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: We'll take you back to the highway for some of the moments as the plane crash-landed in the middle of rush hour traffic.
PAUL: And an abduction story so moving involving a police officer here. How a 10-year-old boy ended up calling that officer dad. BLACKWELL: And Amazon's Echo Show comes with a touch-screen, new
skills, video chat. CNN's Rachel Crane spent an afternoon testing out Alexa's new features.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN SPACE AND SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Alexa, Alexa, Alexa, Alexa, Alexa, Alexa, Alexa. All right, we'll come back to you.
This is the Echo Show. It's Amazon's latest Alexa-controlled device. But now it actually has a video feature. You will be able to watch videos, make video phone calls, see your calendar, in theory get a lot more done using Alexa. We're going to put it to the test.
Alexa, play music. Now -- yes. It's showing the lyrics. I never knew what it said.
(MUSIC)
CRANE: Alexa stop. Alexa, I need a phone charger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Searching.
CRANE: Alexa, go to my cart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like you're trying to see your shopping cart. I can't do that yet. But you can always view your cart on Amazon.
CRANE: Because what happens if I have several things in my cart and I realized I wanted to delete one of them. Alexa answer -- hey there. You have smart devices connected to your Echo, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It works with a light I have inside, and I also have some lights in my backyard, and those all work the same as they did with the dock.
CRANE: What are the things you're finding frustrating about it in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The video quality is kind of iffy.
CRANE: Sometimes you're pixelated, sometimes you're not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's great for watching videos. When you're in the middle of a call, you can't ask Alexa to do anything. But that might be a glitch or it might be on purpose so that you can focus entirely on your very important video call.
CRANE: Alexa, set an alarm tomorrow for 6:30 a.m.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alarm set for 6:30 a.m. tomorrow.
CRANE: Alexa, cancel alarm for Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 6:30 alarm canceled.
CRANE: Who needs that early wake-up call on Saturday?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:52:09] PAUL: Can you imagine the terrifying moment after a plane crashes right in the middle of a busy California highway during rush hour traffic? The plane clipped one vehicle on way down and then exploded.
BLACKWELL: Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but the experience, you can imagine, was traumatic. CNN's Sara Sidner reports this incredible story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday!
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A moment of panic --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I lost my right engine.
SIDNER: -- in a twin-engine Cessna 310. Then this -- it crashes on to the 405, one of the busiest highways in America.
CAPT. LARRY KURTZ, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY: The plane collided, spun across the freeway and burst into flame.
SIDNER: The pilot and his passenger are injured, but alive. Their plane crashing just a few yards away miles from the John Wayne airport in Santa Ana, California. It all happened within a couple of minutes at the start of the July Fourth holiday weekend on a highway known for being jammed with cars day and night. Miraculously the plane only struck one vehicle.
KURTZ: The fact that a plane can land, crash land on the 405 southbound with only striking one vehicle is very extraordinary.
SIDNER: Even more extraordinary, the person driving the vehicle hit by the plane happened to be a firefighter who was uninjured and ran back to try to help pull the two people to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just pulled them both out.
SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: And it's something else. So is this. Listen to this story, rare adoption story here. A 10-year-old boy named John got a whole new life thanks to a man who rescued him. Back in 2015 Oklahoma police officer Jody Thompson answered a physical abuse complaint. Listen to this. He couldn't believe it when he found that eight-year- old boy beaten up badly, and his wrist tied. Well, in that moment he said, he knew he was the only one who could keep him safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was moment that you knew that this was your son?
JODY THOMPSON, PORTEAU POLICE OFFICER, When I seen, when I seen him in that house, I knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: When he saw him in that house, he knew.
And get this, Officer Thompson ended up adopting John's younger sister as well. He says his son, quote, "is the toughest guy he's ever met."
BLACKWELL: This week's CNN Hero is using technology to keep kids battling life-threatening illnesses connected to their everyday lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really difficult for kids to spend a lot of time in the hospital. They get so disconnected from their family and friends and schools. And when we bring them this technology. They're able to dial in and be right in the classroom.
Hello, Phillip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Phillip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can just see their face light right up. It brings them such joy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:55:00] BLACKWELL: To see more, go to CNNHeroes.com. And while you're there, if you know someone who deserves to be a CNN hero, nominate them.
PAUL: We want to thank you so much for spending time with us today. You had five hours to choose it.
BLACKWELL: Five hours.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: Come in, go get some breakfast, come back. Either way, we appreciate you keeping us company. Thank you. Make some great memories today.
BLACKWELL: At the top of the hour we turn it over to our colleague, Fredricka Whitfield. First, quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's 11:00 on the east coast. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me today.
We begin with President Trump who in just four days will return to the global stage. The highlight moment will be the G-20 summit.
