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Trump Faces 37 Criminal Counts In Detailed Indictment; Trump- Appointed Federal Judge To Oversee Criminal Case Against Trump; Trump On Campaign Trail As Indictment Unsealed; Missing Children Found After 40 Days In The Amazon; U.S. Air Quality Improves As Fires Start To Ease; Nuggets Take Control With Game Four Win Over Heat. Aired 11a- 12p ET

Aired June 10, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:25]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're now just hours away from Donald Trump speaking publicly for the first time since the U.S. Justice Department unsealed its historic indictment against the former president. The DOJ laid out its case in stunning detail, charging Trump with 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information.

The 49-page indictment includes new details about how Trump allegedly took classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in 2021. Then resisted the government's attempts to retrieve those materials.

Special counsel Jack Smith also releasing new photos showing the scope of the investigation and evidence, including photos of boxes containing classified markings at locations around Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump is expected to speak at GOP conventions in both Georgia and North Carolina today.

CNN's Zach Cohen and Randi Kaye are following all the details for us today.

Zach, let's go to you first. Trump is now the first former president ever charged with crimes in federal court. So, how potentially damning is the evidence against him?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, those photos that you were just showing really speak to the level of detail in this indictment where prosecutors are accusing the former president not only retaining highly-sensitive documents that -- after leaving office that he was not supposed to keep. But then resisting when the government tried to get those documents back.

Now 31 of the 37 counts laid out in this indictment related to Trump are about retaining what's known as National Defense Information. And the indictment lays out very clearly what this means, this information relates to U.S. nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities, potential vulnerabilities the U.S. has to attack.

So really some of the most highly sensitive and highly guarded U.S. secrets were found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Now, the photos are not only a great illustration of what Trump took, but where he put them once he took them back to Mar-a-Lago. And there's really a stark example of a photo showing classified documents spilled all over the floor of a storage room, and its labeled what's known as -- to be only shared with Five Eyes allies, so the U.S. closest foreign allies and it speaks to how sensitive that document was and where it was found when the FBI eventually went to Mar-a-Lago in an effort to get these documents back.

Now, the other charges here relate more to obstruction and to concealment, and again, the prosecutors are really laying out very clear and detailed case showing that Trump tried to resist when the FBI, when the government tried to get these documents back. They even quote a communication between Trump and his former lawyer before the FBI executed a search warrant.

And Trump says they're discussing the subpoena and the documents the government's trying of get back and Trump says wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here? And then he goes on to ask his lawyer to pluck out anything that might be bad.

So obviously Trump knew that there were documents there and discussing ways to potentially keep prosecutors from getting a hold of them.

WHITFIELD: And Randi, from your vantage point, you're there in Miami. On Tuesday, the former president is to make his court appearance there in court. We had a taste of what security would be like when, you know, Trump was at his arraignment in New York not long ago, how might it be similar or different in Miami?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're quite concerned Fred about security here at the federal courthouse in Miami. And I'm told it really begins as soon as the former president leaves whichever of his properties he's planning to stay at here in Florida on Monday evening.

According to my law enforcement sources, we can expect them to have some type of exclusive lane, an exclusive drive or route for him as he makes his way from that property here to the federal courthouse.

Also we can expect to see a perimeter here around the courthouse, not only to keep the former president safe, but also those who show up here. They're expecting very large crowds of supporters and protesters, as well as media.

They did do a threat assessment here at the courthouse. They didn't find any immediate threats and of course this is a very coordinated effort with social -- with Secret Service, of course, keeping a close eye on the former president. Miami PD will make sure that there are detours, and road closures in place where needed. Then you have the U.S. Marshals and the FBI. [11:04:57]

KAYE: They've also been scouring social media, looking for any type of actionable intelligence that could be of concern. They're also making sure that there isn't any type of call to action, like something that would encourage another January 6th, if you will, here in the state of Florida.

So there's a lot of concern, a lot of eyes on the courthouse. And when the former president does show up there's, according to my sources, they believe that he will go in some type of entrance where he's -- he's not exposed to the groups that will be out here on the courthouse steps or in the area here. This is a very vast area.

So they will likely take him through some side door or back door and then through the tunnel underneath the courthouse, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Randi, the former president likes it when people show up. You've had a chance to talk to some of his supporters and other voters there in south Florida. What have they said to you?

KAYE: Yes, we spent the last couple of days at Mar-a-Lago where a lot of his supporters had gathered after news of the indictment broke and then we went into the town of Palm Beach where Mar-a-Lago is located and we talked to voters about the indictment, what they thought of it, the pictures that were presented as evidence as Zach was just showing there and what they think about what the former president allegedly did.

And the reviews were mixed. We spoke to some people who voted for the former president, others who did not, here's just a sampling of what they told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No matter what happens to Donald Trump I think it's all fixed from the other side. how's that?

KAYE: So you think it's political?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh gosh, yes. And I think it's one-sided -- one- sided political, everything towards him, and they're going to do whatever they can to get rid of him.

KAYE: What do you think about Donald Trump being indicted in the documents case?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's long overdue.

KAYE: Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's obvious from what I read that those documents were mishandled. I think some of them are missing and I'm very concerned about where they are, and who may have access to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KAYE: And Fred, one thing that all the people we spoke with have in common is the fact that they all believe that Donald Trump will benefit from this indictment. They believe that his base will come out even stronger.

Certainly, we've seen supporters gathering at Mar-a-Lago as I mentioned, and that he will benefit from the indictment in the short term.

Legally, of course, that's another question, Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Just the beginning. Thank you so much -- Randi Kaye, Zach Cohen.

All right. Let's talk more about all this and the legal pathway ahead. Let's bring in former federal prosecutor and Robert Mueller's former special assistant at the DOJ, Michael Zeldin. Always great to see you, Michael.

So this --

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Good morning, Fred.

WHITFIELD: -- this indictment seems very thorough from what has been publicly revealed. It lays out in painstaking detail the levels that Trump allegedly went through to keep these documents the way in which the documents were handled and discovered.

So what's your assessment of how the DOJ thus far has been handling this?

ZELDIN: Well, I think they've been handling it as best as they can. It's you know, tricky, because you have a former president who's also a presidential candidate. But we have to remember this investigation started before he announced that he was a presidential candidate again.

And so you can't let the announcement of his impending, you know, presidential run interfere with a criminal investigation. And so they did the best they can under the circumstances and they made a determination that given the type of documents that he retained, the efforts he undertook to conceal them from the prosecutors, they had no choice but to indict.

I'm sure they would have preferred not to indict him if they can because of all of the political blowback from it, but I think that they felt that there was no choice under the circumstances.

WHITFIELD: Trump lashed out at special counsel Jack Smith on, you know, Truth Social, calling Smith a deranged lunatic, and said that he shouldn't be involved in the case.

So in your view, is there any reason why Jack Smith is -- should not be the appropriate lead in this investigation?

ZELDIN: Doesn't seem so. I mean Donald Trump has attacked everyone who has investigated him. Robert Mueller was a political hack, and January 6th members were political hacks, and so was Jack Smith.

So, you know, there's no one who is going to be treated kindly by the former president if they're investigating him. There's nothing in Smith's background that is apparent that would make him unsuited for this position.

So it just goes with the territory that if you're going to investigate him you're going to be attacked.

WHITFIELD: Is it potentially dangerous or might it even backfire that a defendant would go after the prosecutor?

[11:09:46]

ZELDIN: Well, it's dangerous for the prosecutor because many of the Trump supporters seem not too concerned about his safety, that they will attack him physically if need be, but I don't think it's going to really impact the trial itself.

I think that once they get into the courtroom and they close the courtroom door, it will be the evidence and the witnesses that determine the outcome.

WHITFIELD: Ok. And now let's talk about the federal judge here overseeing this case, federal judge Aileen Cannon. She was appointed by then-President Trump in 2020. She was assigned to oversee this case in the Southern District of Florida.

And then last year she oversaw the proceedings related to the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago and appointed a special master which was ultimately overturned.

Now she will be overseeing this case. Do you see a real conflict of interest here?

ZELDIN: Well, I don't know if it's a legal conflict of interest, she might on her own initiative decide to recuse herself from this to eliminate this issue that was created when her decisioning in the Mar- a-Lago documents case was reversed by the 11th Circuit.

The prosecutors may seek to recuse her, but I don't think there's anything, you know, necessarily worth recusing her for, save perhaps, for her inexperience. She's a very new judge, a couple of years on the bench, doesn't seem that she has much national security background.

And so, you know, if I were picking a judge, I would want to pick a judge who had much more experience than does she. And we'll see what the prosecutors decide to do, if the Mar-a-Lago round one is something that they think should be grounds for recusal, they'll file a motion with her.

WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Zeldin, we'll leave it there for now. Thanks so much.

ZELDIN: Thanks, Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. The Trump-appointed federal judge who will

oversee the former president's criminal case is back in the spotlight. Aileen Cannon, as we've been talking about, has been a federal judge for less than three years and she's already embroiled in controversy. She's the judge who appointed a special master in the documents probe last year.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on what kind of influence she may have in this trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This 42-year-old judge from south Florida now faces enormous scrutiny because of her history with former president Trump. Multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CNN federal district judge Aileen Cannon has been assigned, at least initially, to oversee the criminal case against Trump in the Mar-a- Lago documents investigation.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If she does end up with this case on a permanent basis I'm concerned that her bias is out there, that she will not handle the case fairly.

TODD: The concern stemming not only from the fact that Donald Trump appointed Cannon to the federal bench when he was president, but also from her earlier involvement in the Mar-a-Lago documents probe.

Last year, she approved Trump's request to block Justice Department access to the recovered documents until a special master could review them for potential executive privilege, a ruling that even surprised legal conservatives.

WILLIAM BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The opinion, I think was wrong, and I think the government should appeal it. It's deeply flawed in a number of ways.

TODD: The government did appeal Cannon's ruling and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned it. If she now oversees Trump's federal criminal trial --

RODGERS: She only has to take really small steps in order to throw this thing off track for the Justice Department by delaying it until we're past the election, and Trump, of course, hopes that if he manages to get himself elected again, this case goes away as he would direct his Justice Department to drop it.

TODD: But a former colleague of Cannon's in private practice disputes accusations that she favors Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think she has any bias at all. I know that she would do the right thing.

TODD: Judge Cannon was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in May of 2020, confirmed later that year. During her confirmation hearing Cannon thanked members of her family including her maternal grandparents who she said had to flee Cuba in 1960 and her mother. JUDGE AILEEN CANNON, TRUMP APPOINTED JUDGE: To my loving mother,

Mercedes, who at the age of 7 had to flee the repressive Castro regime in search of freedom and security, thank you for teaching me about the blessing that is this country and the importance of securing the rule of law for generations to come.

TODD: A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School Aileen Cannon once practiced law at a firm in Washington, where she said she handled cases related to government investigations.

She also served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida in the major crimes division.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I learned one thing about working with Judge Cannon, I know that she can be counted upon to work as hard as she can work to get the right answers.

TODD: We reached out to Judge Cannon's chambers to ask for a response for the criticism that she's been biased in favor of former President Trump. We didn't hear back.

During her confirmation hearings she was asked if she'd ever had any discussions about loyalty to Trump. She decisively responded no.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:14:49]

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, former president Trump is heading to Georgia where he is set to make his first public appearance and make comments since his federal indictment was unsealed. We'll take you live to Columbus, Georgia.

Plus an unbelievable story of survival. Four children missing in the Amazon jungle, found alive after more than a month. How they are said to have survived, next.

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WHITFIELD: An incredible story of survival. Four children are found alive in the Colombian jungle after more than a month living in the wilderness. The children appeared gaunt and weakened after missing for 40 days following last month's plane crash in the Amazon.

Colombia's president broke the news on Twitter, sharing a photo with the message, "A joy for the whole country".

CNN journalist Stefano Pozzebon has details.

[11:19:49]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: A rescue mission successful against all odds. Four children found alive after spending 40 days in the thick of the Amazon jungle, bringing their relatives to tears.

NARCIZO MUCUTUY, CHILDREN'S GRANDFATHER: Let them come here to their grandparents, to their aunts and their uncles, their grandmother.

POZZEBON: Colombian President Gustavo Petro sharing the news with reporters.

GUSTAVO PETRO, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT: The indigenous and the military together found the kids after 40 days. They were alone -- a historical statement of survival today.

These are the children of peace and the children of Colombia.

POZZEBON: The rescue on Friday night caps an all around effort by hundreds of soldiers and indigenous scouts to locate the little ones who had gone missing since the small plane they were traveling on with their mother crashed in the forest on the 1st of May.

The bodies of their mother and two other adults were soon recovered. But hope never faded to find them alive. The Colombian military finding footprints and scattered relics to keep the search going day after day until finally a photo emerged from the depth of the forest. We have them, they're coming home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Photos and a story still hard to believe but we're all anxiously awaiting even more details.

All right. Coming up, in the days following Donald Trump's indictment his Republican rivals wasted no time weighing in. Their reaction next.

[11:21:22]

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WHITFIELD: Former president Donald Trump hitting the campaign trail today, just one day after he was indicted in the classified document probe. This is video of Trump's motorcade arriving at a New Jersey airport just minutes ago. I think we have it. Well, when you see it, you'll know what it was. But we don't have it right now.

So just -- there we go, all right, there's the motorcade imagery. All right.

And then we do expect that he will be delivering remarks at the Georgia Republican Party convention. And in the hours since the federal charges were announced yesterday, Trump has launched a series of attacks on the special counsel, and accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the Justice Department to politically hurt him.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Columbus, Georgia where the former president will end up. Kristen, Trump has really been lashing out, in videos, and on statements, and on his social media platform, particularly targeting Jack Smith. So, is that kind of a preview of what is to come later on today in front of a live audience there?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this will be the first time he's actually responding to that indictment in front of a live audience and that's what we're waiting to see, how is he going to frame this?

Now if his Truth Social posts are any indication he's going to be on the attack, he's going to be going after Jack Smith, comparing himself to Joe Biden, comparing himself to Hillary Clinton, saying that this is all political and as we've continued to report, saying that this is election interference.

And that is something we've actually heard from Republicans who are even skeptical about this indictment. They are still coming out and saying that they should not be indicting someone who is running for president. So an interesting thing to watch there.

Now, the other thing to note when we're here in Georgia is how this crowd responds. That's been a big question. How are Republicans going to respond? And if it's any indication from the few that I've talked to since we got here, they don't care about the legal issues right now.

They are here to see the former president. We are in a packed house in Georgia. They -- most of the people I spoke to -- are here just to see the former president and that's the kind of energy that this crowd has.

And as we know, Donald Trump feeds off of the energy of the people around him. That will be interesting to see if that revs him up even more.

I am told that he has been, quote, ready to fight. That he is defiant. I will note, though, even though he is doing that, I have talked to a number of Republicans who are very unsure right now.

They know the legal implications and they don't know what this means for a 2024 election, or if he's even electable after something like this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. We'll check back with you there in Columbus, Georgia.

All right. Let's talk more about all this, the political impact of this indictment. Julian Zelizer, he's a CNN political analyst and historian. He's with us -- and professor at Princeton University. Also with us Jennifer Horn. She's a former chairwoman for the New Hampshire Republican Party and the co-founder of The Lincoln Project, an anti- Trump group of Republicans. Good to see both of you.

So Julian, you first, I mean, Trump is really leaning into claims that this indictment is all about the weaponization of the DOJ and a political witch hunt to interfere in the 2024 election.

We've seen similar tactics from him, whether it was the Robert Mueller-led investigation, you know, demonizing Robert Mueller and other agencies. So is that political strategy going to work this time?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's worked before, at least in terms of solidifying or maintaining his support within much of the Republican Party. Once a president is involved in trying to overturn an election and can survive that, I think it's an indication of why this might be possible as well.

But the indictment's incredibly serious. I think it shows we're talking about very substantive documents, we're talking about intentional efforts to protect those documents. And I think the question comes back to electable.

I think what's floating through many Republican minds and what makes him vulnerable is, does his strategy overcome concerns that he would lose the election?

[11:29:52]

WHITFIELD: Jennifer, you know, Trump is expecting, as are many of his supporters, that he will get a real boost, you know, in the polls, and even in his fund raising as a result of the indictment -- this latest indictment. After all, he did get a boost after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury.

So do you see these circumstances as different? Or do you believe that he will be kind of riding this, you know, wave of popularity for a while?

JENNIFOR HORN, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Well, there's no question that he has the ability to turn this into a fund raising boost for himself. You know, whether or not his numbers will go up or down I'm not really sure what's going to happen there. Frankly, I think he'll probably stay steady. He's already shown, and more importantly the Republican Party has already shown that they're willing to take him as is. They know his weaknesses, they know his faults. There's nobody defending him who actually believes he didn't do anything wrong, you know.

And when you look at -- I'm particularly, I guess, drawn to Kevin McCarthy's response to all this. Before we even knew what was in the indictment, McCarthy came out calling it a sham, blaming Biden for weaponizing the DOJ against a former Republican, really minimizing what this could be about.

And when he does that it makes it much easier for those Republicans that you were just talking about a moment ago who are saying, gee, I do have some concerns, can he win? It makes it a lot easier for them to stay with him when one of the highest elected leaders of the party is saying it's all garbage, this is all just made up, it's a big sham.

So you know, there's really no reason to expect that the party or his supporters are going to leave him in any sort of significant numbers.

WHITFIELD: So, Jennifer, is it really about other members of the GOP who are saying we want his supporters? So if we say something against him then we're going to lose that support. So it's less about really defending Trump, and more about holding onto his base.

HORN: That's exactly what it is, especially when you see how the -- his opponents in the primary respond as well. They're constantly defending and protecting him, when anybody else running in a similar campaign would be taking this opportunity to really cut him down.

And it's interesting, actually, that you brought that up because I was just thinking last night, I'm starting to wonder if the GOP has kind of already in their minds written off their chance at the White House, and now they're just looking at the Senate and the House, because they do know that they need Trump's base to hold or pick up seats in Congress.

And their response to this has just been so -- otherwise destructive. I'm starting to wonder.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Oh, that's a great point, and there was expressed sentiment just ahead of hearing more from -- about that 49-page document, and now there's, you know, quiet, you know.

HORN: Right.

WHITFIELD: There was vociferous -- you know, support for him, but then now not so much. I mean it's more -- I mean the deafening silence is there.

So Julian, you know, back when Trump was running for president, 2016, who can forget, against Hillary Clinton, he based much of his campaign on criticism of her handling of sensitive information, he routinely called for her to be locked up, and jailed, for her treatment of classified documents. I mean, you've got an audience, you know, to say the very same thing. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hillary's private email scandal, which put on classified information into the reach of our enemies, disqualifies her from the presidency.

She did so, knowing full well it would put American lives at risk by making classified information highly vulnerable to foreign hacking.

I mean she should be going to jail. I don't what the hell is going on. I don't know what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So how is it his supporters don't see the obvious hypocrisy?

ZELIZER: It's not about the issue, it's about the politics of this, and that was selective rage that you heard from the former president when he was running. I think many of his supporters are comfortable with that.

It was about Hillary Clinton, it was about attacking her, it wasn't about the underlying issues, and I don't think they're going to back away from him as it's discovered. He left the materials, you know, in his bathroom, let alone potentially handing it, you know, to dangerous actors.

And so I think you're going to see the same. And don't forget there's also kind of a communications infrastructure from social media to different outlets that allow him and his supporters to create a narrative that explains the hypocrisy, that explains the inconsistency. And they watch, they listen, they believe.

[11:34:51]

ZELIZER: So there's a lot of reason to think this won't be some turning point and, even comments like that won't have a huge effect in the coming months, at least politically.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much so much. Julian Zelizer, Jennifer Horn -- great to talk to both of you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And don't miss this Monday on CNN, Anderson Cooper hosts a special primetime town hall with presidential candidate Chris Christie. That's right here at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

All right, still ahead, a break from the thick orange smoke blanketing parts of the U.S., well, a break is coming now that wildfires in Canada are starting to ease.

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WHITFIELD: The wild fire smoke that choked U.S. cities on the East Coast this week is starting to ease, the reprieve is partly due to cooling temperatures across Canada that are slowly slowing the fire activity.

But Canada's wildfire season is off to an unprecedented start and it's not contained to the east, and you can see the massive blaze burning in British Columbia on the West Coast. There are at least 78 active wildfires, in that province alone.

[11:40:00]

WHITFIELD: CNN's Paula Newton has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Canadian officials say that there are fewer fires burning now than there were earlier this week. Having said that, you have to keep in mind there are fires burning right across this country from the west to the east. It is on track already to be the second worst fire season ever in this country, and it will likely be surpassed, given the fact this is still early in that wildfire season. Now having said all of this, what is going to help the most is some

cooler, wetter weather moving through some critical regions like Quebec, hopefully in the next few days.

This will continue to be a problem, though, and I want you to see why. Have a look at this map. This is Canada, in fact, North America as it includes Alaska, the Boreal Zone. It includes millions of hectares of boreal forest. Those places have been susceptible to more wildfires given climate change.

It's not a clear pattern, it is incredibly complex. But the fact remains that there have been more wildfires, and they emit carbon of their own that also adds to the climate crisis.

Given what you see there, officials in the United States and Canada are trying to see if they come up with some kind of joint fire management system that includes better ways to try and manage a wildfire in the future and also obviously trying to pool resources, trying to really not just prevent the fires, but when they see hot spots, get on top of it right away.

Having said that, officials say to prepare for what unfortunately will be a very severe wildfire season, in the months to come.

Paula Newton, CNN -- Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here now to talk more about the potential health risks of these fires, CNN medical analyst and former Baltimore Health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. Dr. Wen, great to see you.

So here we are, you know, along the East Coast, seeing, you know, these air quality alerts, give us an idea, general idea of just how harmful can smoke like this, from wildfires, be?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It can be very harmful. I think many people are already feeling some of the short-term impacts. People have had hoarseness, some coughing, shortness of breath, headaches from that inhalation short term.

The individuals who are greatest risk are young children, the elderly, pregnant individuals and people with underlying lung and heart conditions.

For these individuals studies have shown that there is an increase in hospitalization due to respiratory issues. When there are -- when there is heavy wildfire exposure, and also that there is an increase in heart attacks, and in cardiac arrest, and the heart stopping because of the stress that's put onto people's bodies during wildfire exposure.

So the short-term effects are really significant.

WHITFIELD: And now, what about long-term effects? DR. WEN: Yes, that's a great question. We don't know a lot about long-

term effects, especially for people who are continuously exposed to wildfire smoke. Some studies have linked individuals living in areas where there is wildfire basically every season to having an increased risk of some types of cancers and to having reduced lung capacity.

I would say, though, that for people who had a one-time exposure, so people who last week breathed a few days of hazardous air, for most of those individuals there's not going to be long-term consequences.

But that said, with the increase in wildfires around the world it's possible that we're going to see more and more of these events, even from hundreds of miles away, that can affect our health.

WHITFIELD: So people with heart conditions, asthmatic, you mentioned the elderly, and the very young == all are particularly vulnerable. Are we overlooking any particular communities who are particularly vulnerable with the air quality issues like this?

DR. WEN: Yes, I'd say anyone with chronic medical conditions that could land them easily in the hospital, they would be more vulnerable as well, pregnant individuals, studies have shown that pregnant women could have an increase in pre-term birth and low birth weight babies or some adverse pregnancy outcomes as well.

And I would just say people should monitor the federal government Website which is very good, airnow.gov to see what's going on in their area and make decisions accordingly.

If the air quality is pretty good, especially if you're a generally healthy person, it's fine to resume normal activities. But if the air quality is borderline and you're in these vulnerable categories consider avoiding strenuous outdoor exercise, staying indoors, running your air purifiers.

We've seen that they could be helpful during COVID, they're useful during wildfire season as well. And make sure to keep all your other health conditions as well tuned as possible, especially if you have respiratory conditions. Make sure that you have all your inhalers, and use them as needed.

WHITFIELD: And I guess it can't hurt, back to wearing masks for a little bit for some?

DR. WEN: If you're in an area --

WHITFIELD: That's a question, not a statement, you're the doctor.

[11:44:59]

DR. WEN: Right, if you are in an area with hazardous air quality and you're in these vulnerable groups and you have to go outside, then wearing that N95 well fitting mask can help because the N95 will also help to filter out these particulate matter, these microscopic particles that are released in wildfire smoke. They can certainly help to filter those pollutants out too. WHITFIELD: All right Dr. Leana Wen, great to see you. Thank you so much.

DR. WEN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, the Denver Nuggets are one win away from capturing the franchise's first NBA championship following a commanding victory in game four of the NBA finals.

So do the Miami Heat have any chances at some kind of comeback? CNNs sports Andy Scholes is joining me next.

[11:45:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The Denver Nuggets just one win away from capturing the team's first NBA championship after beating the Miami Heat in last night's game four of the finals.

CNN's Andy Scholes has the highlights.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredericka, history says things are looking very good for the Nuggets. Teams that go up 3-1 in the NBA finals win 97 percent of the time. The only team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit is Lebron and the Cavs back in 2016.

Now Denver fans were holding their breath in the first quarter as Nikola Jokic rolls his ankle on this play and actually had to go back to the locker room. He would though come back into the game, end up scoring 23 points, scrap 12 rebounds. And where game three was dominated by Jokic and Jamal Murray, game four a complete team effort for the nuggets.

Aaron Gordon had his best game of the series going 27 points. Denver had a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Heat were able to cut that lead down to five but that's as close as they would get.

Denver wins 108-95 and are now a win away from their first NBA title.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKOLA JOKIC, DENVER NUGGETS: We still have one win, you know. We need to win one more. I like that we didn't relax. We didn't get comfortable. We are still desperate. We are still on it.

MICHAEL MALONE, DENVER, NUGGETS HEAD COACH: It's a good win. We've done our job, but we're not celebrating like we've done anything yet. We know we're going to have to go home and turn off the TV, the radio, don't read the papers, don't listen to everybody telling you how great you are. Because we haven't done a damn thing yet. We have to win another game to be world champions.

SCHOLES: So the nuggets can now win the title on their home court as the series heads back to Denver for game 5 on Monday. All right. For those south Florida fans, they're not getting any kind

of break. Tonight the Panthers are going to take the ice for game four of the Stanley Cup final against the Golden Knights.

Florida's championship dreams were looking grim in game three before they tied it near the end of regulation and then won in overtime. It was an amazing emotional win in front of their home fans.

But the Panthers know they don't have time to celebrate as they still trail in this series.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW TKACHUK, FLORIDA PANTHERS: Nobody cares how we got here, you know. It's a 2-1 series. We came to have the best game, just to win one game.

WILLIAMA KARLSSON, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS: I never expected it to go super easy. It should not be. To win is a grind. You know, sometimes you lose. All that matters is the next game and focus on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Panthers will look to even the series at two games apiece tonight. Puck drops at 8:00 Eastern on our sister channel TNT.

And you know, Fredericka, we'll see how Vegas bounces back after be2ing three minutes away from a 3-0 lead in this series.

I can't imagine being a fan in south Florida right now. One night you're cheering your heart out for the Heat, the next night for the Panthers. It certainly has to be exhausting.

WHITFIELD: Oh yes. But that's a lot of great sports excitement.

All right. Thank you so much, Andy Scholes.

All right. Straight ahead next hour, a widow in Colorado is demanding answers from police. She says they took too long to respond to her 911 call asking them to help her husband allegedly held hostage. We'll explain.

[11:53:20]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We've made time for something a little heartwarming. A 12-year-old boy jumped into action after a baby deer accidentally plunged into his backyard swimming pool.

Of course, his family recorded the whole rescue. And it's gone viral. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Move over Bambi. There's a new baby deer to fawn over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope she doesn't fall in the pool. I'm going to have to go get her.

MOOS: To the rescue, 12-year-old Anthony Masitis.

ANTHONY MASITIS, RESCUED BABY DEER: I was actually going to think of like jumping in because I thought she was going to go into the deep end.

MOOS: But a heroic plunge wasn't necessary for this Long Island animal lover.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you get her out, just let her go because the mother is not going to be happy. Go ahead.

MOOS: She fell in not just once, not just once --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oops --

MOOS: -- but twice. Anthony fished her out again.

MASITIS: She was shivering.

MOOS: A newborn with legs so wobbly they refused to hold her up.

MASITIS: She could swim better than she could walk.

MOOS: She kept making noises as if calling mom.

MASITIS: She's kind of like a meh, meh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get away from her. Let the mother come take of her.

MOOS: Online posters got a kick out of Greg's New York accent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she's looking for the mother.

MOOS: Did the mother ever -- did the mother ever show up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother -- yes, the mother did show up, yes.

MOOS: Mother and fawn reunited a couple of hours later. Posters kept saying it's like Tony Soprano and his ducks, a comparison Greg found funny. Tony in his bathrobe in his pool with the ducks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, they're trying to fly.

MOOS: And when they actually did fly away --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel depressed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since the ducks left.

MOOS: Tony had an anxiety attack and collapsed. Neither one of you had anxiety attacks, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

[11:59:58]

MOOS: The only anxious one here was the one without a leg to stand on.

Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)