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Unabomber Ted Kaczynski Dies at 81; Trump Attacks DOJ, Special Counsel After Indictment; Security Ramps Up For Donald Trump's Court Appearance In Miami; Four Children Survived The Amazon Jungle For 40 Days; Allies To Discuss Sweden's Biden To Join NATO; Donald Trump Faces 37 Criminal Counts In Detailed Indictment; Arcangelo Pulls Ahead To Cross Finish Line; Trump-Appointed Federal Judge To Oversee Criminal Case Against Former President. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired June 10, 2023 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:30]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Jim Acosta has the day off. I'm Alex Marquardt in Washington. Thank you so much for joining us.

The Harvard educated math professor we came to know as the Unabomber has died. The federal Bureau of Prisons announced that Ted Kaczynski was found unresponsive in his prison cell this morning. He was 81 years old. He spread terror across the United States after mailing and hand-delivering sophisticated bombs, killing three people and injuring many others.

The Unabomber case stumped the FBI from 1978 until 1996. Almost 20 years. It wasn't until Kaczynski's brother came forward with his suspicions that the FBI got the break that they had long needed.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has been following this story for us.

Polo, what are you learning about how Kaczynski died?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, as expected, the man infamously known as the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski died in prison. He was serving multiple life sentences. He had recently experienced some medical complications. Still, the Federal Bureau of Prisons not saying if that was a factor. What we do know is that he was found unresponsive in his cell overnight. He was rushed to the hospital but the convicted bomber was pronounced dead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Known infamously as the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski was serving eight life sentences for his 17-year deadly reign of terror when he died Saturday. As an official tells CNN the ailing 81-year-old was found unresponsive in a cell overnight. His cause of death, not yet released.

In December 2021, Kaczynski was transferred to a federal medical facility in Butner, North Carolina, used to house inmates with health conditions. ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: I think it's very important

for transparency reasons to fully understand the circumstances around the death but I would caution speculation at this point. We don't really have any reason to believe anything untoward happened here just yet.

SANDOVAL: Andrew McCabe is a former FBI deputy director. He was with the bureau as agents closed the Unabomber case. It was in 1978 when Kaczynski started his campaign of violence by leaving a mail bomb in a parking lot at a Chicago university. He would go on to plant explosives on an airplane, university buildings and by computer stores. He also mailed powerful bombs to university professors and business executives.

By the time he was arrested in 1996, his 16 devices killed three innocent people and injured 23 others. His own words published in a manifesto were what eventually led FBI agents to his off-the-grid primitive cabin in the woods of Montana, tipped off by his Kaczynski's own brother.

MCCABE: He pursued this bombing campaign as a way of striking back against technological advancement which he believed was damaging the environment in ways that needed to be stopped.

SANDOVAL: Before becoming a prolific bomber, Kaczynski was a high school honor student in Illinois who enrolled at Harvard at just 16. It was during his college years that Kaczynski took a dark turn, recalled his brother.

DAVID KACZYNSKI, BROTHER OF TED KACZYNSKI: Ted was withdrawing. There wasn't the desire to come home and enjoy the family.

SANDOVAL: As part of a deal with prosecutors to dodge the death penalty, Kaczynski admitted to the bombings and was sentenced to Colorado supermax prison where he remained until his medical transfer. At the time of Kaczynski's 1998 sentencing, the widow of victim Jill Murray wrote, he will never, ever kill again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: No doubt Kaczynski's death now marking the end of a very dark saga that will prompt many of those involved in the case to look back at this decades-long investigation, Alex, and certainly for the victims of Kaczynski themselves, and of course the investigators certainly. In fact Merrick Garland who currently serves as the state's attorney general, back then he not only oversaw the investigation but also the prosecution of Ted Kaczynski.

MARQUARDT: All right. Polo Sandoval in New York, thank you very much for that report.

Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail today after becoming the first former president in United States' history to face federal criminal charges. He's not letting that stop his bid for the 2024 presidential election. Instead, he is using it to rally supporters today, at a Georgia state Republican convention this afternoon. And he is set to speak again later this hour at another political event in North Carolina.

Here's a live look at the scene. That stage in Greensboro, North Carolina. As we've come to expect, the Republican Party's current front runner is attacking law enforcement and the Special Counsel Jack Smith in harsh terms just one day after the Justice Department indicted him on charges of mishandling top secret documents and obstructing justice.

[19:05:15]

CNN's Kristen Holmes was at Trump's speech in Columbus, Georgia, earlier today -- Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alex, we've been asking questions the last several days about how this federal indictment, the second time that the former president has been indicted, was going to play with Republicans across the country. And tonight if Georgia is any indication, it is not going to hurt him politically.

Now of course this is just one small subsection. But there was a packed house here ready to hear the former president speak. And they cheered. They cheered as he went after Jack Smith, as he called this indictment a joke. After he went after Fanny Willis in Fulton County, the district attorney there. He spent roughly the first 40 minutes of this 90-minute speech talking about these various legal battles that he is facing. Take a listen to some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration's weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country. Jack Smith. What do you think his name used to be? I don't know. Does anybody? Jack Smith. It sounds so innocent. He's deranged. This is a political hit job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Alex, it was clear that even though he is saying that this is not bothering him, these legal troubles, that this is actually going to help him politically, he's going to get a rise in the poll. He talked about how his fundraising numbers he believes are going to go up. It is clearly still consuming him because he spent so much of his time focused on that.

Now I do want to show you a little bit of other video here. This is from a stop that Trump made after he spoke here at the Georgia GOP convention. You can see Walt Nauta in the background. I'm told Nauta is traveling with him all day. Nauta of course being his body man, his aide who was indicted alongside him in those conspiracy charges.

We had been asking the question, what exactly was Nauta going to do. It appears that he is staying by Trump's side at least for now -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right. Kristen Holmes, in Georgia, thank you. The former president today and on several past occasions has also

defended his handling of classified documents by repeating this claim about President Joe Biden. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: By the way, Biden has got 1850 boxes. He's got boxes in Chinatown, D.C. He's got boxes all over the place. He doesn't know what the hell to do with them. And he's fighting them on the boxes. He doesn't want to give the boxes. And then they say Trump is obstructioning. He's obstructing. No. It's a sad day for the country. Think of it. 1850 boxes he had. Mine is peanuts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: His are just peanuts, he claims. CNN's Daniel Dale joined me earlier for a fact check on all that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL DALE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are boxes that President Biden donated very publicly, legally, and normally, in 2012, to the University of Delaware, his alma mater. The key point here is that they are boxes from his 36-year career as a United States senator. Why is that so important? Well, if you're a president, you're subject to the Presidential Records Act which says that all of your records are owned by the federal government when you leave office.

There is no Senate records act. If you're a senator, you own your office's records and you can do whatever you want with them. You can decorate your house with them, give them to your dog. You can do absolutely anything. The president, like many senators, donated them to a university. And that is again entirely normal.

The second key difference between the Biden case and the Trump case is that there is no current indication, Alex, that there is anything classified in these 1850 boxes of Biden's Senate records. The FBI conducted two searches of the University of Delaware with the Biden legal team's consent. And as of February when they had done initial analysis of these documents, a source told our colleague Paula Reid that there was no sign that there was any classified marking on any of these documents.

MARQUARDT: This is something we've heard from him before. We heard it at our own CNN town hall. Is there any relevance to the indictment that he is now facing?

DALE: I don't think so. He's trying to create relevance by saying things like Biden has been obstructive about these boxes. He's been totally uncooperative. He won't let anyone look at them. Again, that's wrong. He's let the FBI look at them. He even said at the town hall that nobody knows where these boxes are.

We do know where they are. They're at the college, at the University of Delaware where they have been since 2012. The university published an article on its Web site when they arrived. Still has Web page saying the papers are there. They have not vanished whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to fact-checker extraordinaire Daniel Dale for that. You can read more of his fact-check on this at CNN.com.

Now South Florida will be in the spotlight on Tuesday when former President Donald Trump arrives in Miami for his court appearance.

[19:10:02]

It's a moment we have only seen once before in history when former President Trump was arraigned in his case in New York.

Joining me now is CNN law enforcement analyst and former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow.

Jonathan, thank you so much for joining us. We have seen this, of course, recently in Manhattan. But take us through what kind of steps are being taken now in Miami to make sure this courthouse is secure and how different it may look from what we did see in New York.

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, good evening, Alex, and thank you. I should mention the arrest of the former president in New York City actually set the model for how law enforcement is going to prepare for really these unprecedented events.

In this week, we're anticipating the federal arrest of the former president in his appearance at the Ferguson courthouse in Miami. And, you know, law enforcement, while there are no credible threats, we've heard that in recent reporting that there is no credible or actionable threats, law enforcement is not taking anything to chance.

And there's careful coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement entities. However, all of these entities do have different roles and responsibilities that they're taking when it comes to both the defendant Donald Trump and the protectee, Donald Trump. Overarchingly, law enforcement has to be concerned with the security of the region as well. So there is a lot going on at once right now. And careful coordination and understanding those roles and responsibilities are important.

MARQUARDT: Of course, in New York, major demonstrations didn't really materialize. Things may be different in Miami, may be different in Florida. It's a very different venue. It's a very different case. Sources are telling CNN that the FBI is aware of groups like the Proud Boys, that they could potentially be traveling to Miami to support the former president on Tuesday. How closely are federal agents monitoring groups and individuals like that who could cause trouble?

WACKROW: Well, I mean, this is the challenge that law enforcement faces, not only in this event but every single day. Online rhetoric from either far left or far right groups, you know, do have, because we've seen from January 6th, they do have the likelihood of transcending from rhetoric to, you know, physical action, physical calls to violence that lead to action by either select individuals or large-scale groups. And that is what law enforcement is worried about.

Now, to date, you know, just before this appearance, they checked again to see what law enforcement was saying. And right now, they are not seeing any of these groups. The Proud Boys or any of these extremist groups really starting to animate around the former president in terms of calling for acts of violence. This call to arms, this call to action. And that's really important. However, it remains a significant threat that law enforcement has to keep constant vigilance on and then prepare for.

MARQUARDT: Of course, the former president still has a Secret Service detail. He's been up at his gold club up in Bedminster, New Jersey. Secret Service now saying they will not seek special accommodations for this court appearance in Miami on Tuesday. So what does that tell us?

WACKROW: Well, it tells us that Secret Service is actually following the exact same model that they did in New York. Right? They are not the primary security coordinator for this event. Typically, Alex, you and I have talked about this in the past on largescale security events involving the president or national special security events, the Secret Service does typically take the lead role. Here they're not.

They are primarily going to be focused on Donald Trump, the protectee, not Donald Trump the defendant, and ensuring that he gets from point A to the courthouse and return without incident. However, their role in just even focusing on the president has a lot of variables that could impact the former president's security. Most notably, if the president decides to spend time at Mar-a-Lago the night before his court appearance, that still is a 70-mile motorcade route, you know, from his residence to the courthouse.

And if we can anticipate what has happened in the past, we know that media will be, you know, hyper vigilant in monitoring that motorcade the entire length. That only increases the vulnerability not only to the former president but the public at large. So what you'll see is law enforcement working in coordination to block off streets, clear traffic, clear public away. Again all in the attempts of de-risking, you know, any type of incident that potentially could occur.

MARQUARDT: And certainly nothing that the Secret Service can't handle.

Jonathan Wackrow, former Secret Service official, thank you very much.

WACKROW: Thanks, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Now much more on the federal indictment of Donald Trump just ahead, including a look at how his 2024 rivals are reworking their campaign messages on the current frontrunner's legal troubles.

[19:15:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Attorney General Merrick Garland, stop hiding behind the special counsel. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: But first, four children finally found after 40 days in the Amazon jungle. How did they survive? CNN is outside the hospital in Colombia where those children are now recovering.

Plus, a look at the biggest NATO air deployment exercise ever as the alliance gets ready to meet about Sweden's membership bid. We'll be discussing with a former U.S. ambassador to NATO.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: We have new details on what is really an incredible story of survival. Four children including an infant recovering in the hospital tonight after surviving 40 days lost in the Amazon jungle. The children's family members are seen here hugging and laughing when they heard the good news. That was yesterday. The president of Colombia calling it, quote, "The gift of life."

[19:20:05]

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon talked to some of those family members and has more on the children's harrowing rescue.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Alex, here in the Central Military Hospital in Bogota where the four children have arrived in the early hours on Saturday, we have seen a procession of the main institutions of the country, the president of Colombia arrived here to personally meet and greet the four children a few hours ago.

But also the relatives of the four children. Their father and their grandparents are here in Bogota to stay with them. And we were able to speak with one of the grandfather who told us how he thinks these four children were able to survive for 40 days in the thick of the jungle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When the plane crashed, they took out the tapioca flower and with that they survived. And after the tapioca flower was over, they began to eat seeds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: And Alex, the grandfather also told us that he expects his grandchildren to stay in the hospital for the coming weeks as they receive both medical, physical treatment, but also psychological treatment to try to come to terms with what happened. Of course, their mother died in the crash on May 1st. And after that, well, you can only imagine how four or five weeks in the Amazonian rainforest can affect the mental state of those four little ones -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Just an incredible story with such a happy ending. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much for that report. The Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway in the south and eastern

parts of the country, according to most of the indicators that we have seen. Today President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he hopes that Putin and the Russian military feel as if they are running out of time and this comes as more NATO allies vow to support Ukraine's -- support Ukraine reclaim its territory from the Russians.

Joining us now to discuss these efforts is the former U.S. ambassador to NATO, former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, and distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, Kurt Volker.

Ambassador Volker, thank you so much for joining me this evening. Of course it was years ago that NATO promised to put Ukraine on the path to membership. That has obviously gotten a lot more complicated in the past year and a half. Do you think that NATO allies are standing by promises that they made to Ukraine?

KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: I think this issue is very important and I think it has moved a lot in the last couple of months. From 2008 to 2022, when Russia began this full-scale invasion, nothing had moved on Ukraine's aspirations for NATO membership. So 14 years and nothing. Then beginning earlier this year, as people were beginning to realize that Ukraine is going to survive here, they're going to make it, they're a European country, the European Union has promised them candidate status and ultimately E.U. membership.

Our European allies are beginning to realize that hey, we can't have them in Europe, we can't have them in the E.U. unless they're also a secured country. So our European allies are now moving further ahead wanting to see a process, a pathway for membership and NATO for Ukraine.

MARQUARDT: We have just seen Finland join NATO. Sweden is likely next. The Swedish government, however, now saying that they're open to allowing NATO deployment on its territory. How important is that for NATO for Sweden to join?

VOLKER: Well, I think that integration of countries into NATO's collective defense system is very important. We've done a lot with Sweden over the years even as a nonmember. But having them as a member and being able to integrate fully when you think about things like air defense, air space coverage. When you think about sea lanes and Sweden obviously occupies an important coastline in the Baltic Sea and North Sea where Russian naval forces go in and out of St. Petersburg.

So it's an important area and just improving the integration that we have with Sweden is very, very useful. As for where they go on membership, I think we have to see how President Erdogan in Turkey now plays this. He has just gotten reelected. He has named a responsible number of Cabinet choices, people who are going to steer Turkey back into a normal zone. Let's hope he does the same thing on NATO as well.

MARQUARDT: Yes. The secretary general of NATO did announce that officials from Sweden, Turkey and Finland will be meeting at some point next week to discuss that membership bid by Sweden. [19:25:03]

Do you think now in light of the fact that the Turkish election is over, that Erdogan is perhaps on more solid footing, that that bid by Sweden is going to be successful?

VOLKER: I think the chances are greater. I don't think we know for sure. I think that Erdogan feels more politically secure having won his reelection. I think the Swedes have done everything that they agreed to do with Turkey when it comes to showing that they are not a harboring state for PKK terrorists. I think Erdogan might want something from the United States as well, particularly F-16s which I imagine is also something that is under discussion privately. So I think there's a lot of things in the mix right now that could be enough for Erdogan to move on this.

MARQUARDT: Yes. The White House insisting that these two issues are separate but it's clear that Turkey certainly does want F-16s from the United States.

Speaking of jets, the U.K. Royal Air Force they scrambled jets twice in 24 hours to intercept a Russian aircraft flying close to NATO airspace. It's not the first time that we've seen this kind of dangerous maneuvering from Russia. How deliberate is it? What kind of message do you think the Russians are trying to send?

VOLKER: Well, this happens all the time. So we shouldn't treat this as some kind of shock that, OK, you have to send an aircraft to intercept Russian aircraft that is misbehaving. What I think it is trying to do is two things. One, NATO is having a major air exercise coming up and they want to show that they're present, just to raise the flag, if you will. Secondly, because the Ukraine counteroffensive is underway, Russia is not likely to handle this well.

They want to try to convince us that they have the ability to widen the war so that we are more cautious. I think it's a bluff. I think the last thing that Russia can afford is to widen the war. But I think they're doing this in order to try to get us to think that way.

MARQUARDT: That is a very important and a critical moment for NATO.

Former Ambassador Kurt Volker, thank you very much.

VOLKER: Thank you, Alex.

MARQUARDT: Candidates for the Republican nomination are now weighing in on former President Trump's indictment. We will be discussing the impact that it's already having on the 2024 race. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:35]

MARQUARDT: Donald Trump is not letting a 37-count indictment get in the way of campaigning for the 2024 Republican nomination.

Right now, he is speaking, you can see they're at an event in Greensboro, North Carolina. The former president also made a campaign stop earlier today to rally supporters in Georgia.

CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein joins us now. He is also a senior editor at "The Atlantic."

Ron, thank you so much for joining us this evening.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

MARQUARDT: This evening, also, we saw "The New York Times" writing "This is the final battle: Trump casts his campaign as an existential fight against his critics." And here's an example from his speech earlier today in Georgia. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These criminals cannot be rewarded, they must be defeated. We have to defeat them -- have to defeat them -- because in the end, they're not coming after me, they are coming after you and I'm just standing in their way. Here I am. I'm standing in their way and I always will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: That is quite some rhetoric there, Ron. Those supporters in Georgia, eating it up. We now have indictments in Manhattan in the documents case. We have potential indictments coming in Georgia and in the January 6 federal case.

Simply put, does his base not care about this really unprecedented, historic legal peril?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you picked the right soundbite there because I watched the whole speech and that really is the nub of the argument. That's the core of the argument and there is a big part of his base that accepts that argument.

I mean, what the Trump message today boiled down was these indictments are the deep state going after me, because they know I am the only Republican candidate who is strong enough to stand up against them for you.

And you can see how the other Republican candidates, by echoing his claims that he is being the victim of politicized or weaponized persecution, are really painting themselves into a corner here.

I mean, they're basically now in a position of saying, yes, the deep state is going after him, but it is not because they're afraid of him. I mean, they are self-reducing themselves to the chorus in what is fundamentally a play starring Donald Trump against the deep state.

And if that is the dominant dialogue in red America over the next several months, it's really hard to see how any of these candidates overcome his lead -- his early lead in the polls.

MARQUARDT: The former president was told that he was a target in this investigation just a couple of days before this indictment came down, so he really did know that almost certainly this indictment was coming. And of course, there are those other ones that I mentioned that are still potentially in the works.

Of course, that has not impacted, if anything, it is fueled his run for the nomination. But stepping back, what do you think his real motivation is for getting back in the White House?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, I mean, you know, pretty much Donald Trump kind of operates at a kind of a one inch radius from me and I, right? So I think it galls him that he lost, he still doesn't acknowledge that he lost him.

Today, repeatedly, he said that he won in 2020 and I think he wants to erase the "shame" of being defeated. I think that's probably more important than any policy agenda.

[19:35:07]

And the other piece was the line that he has been using, he did not use today, but he has used earlier in his appearances that "I will be your retribution."

You know, Donald Trump, I think is very clearly, you know, signaling what a second term would be in terms of going after all the forces in society, in the government, in the private sector in blue states that he views as in his way unopposed to him and again, there is a piece of the Republican electorate that wants that level of combat.

It is a very different question whether it is the majority of the American public, particularly in the swing states that will decide the race, that is also, you know, hungering for someone who describes prosecutors as lunatics and Marxists, and so on.

MARQUARDT: And deranged in the case of Jack Smith.

BROWNSTEIN: Deranged, deranged lunatic 00

MARQUARDT: But you mentioned his competitors in the Republican primary. Game this out.

I mean, if Trump is taking up more and more of this oxygen, if he is facing more indictments down the line, you know, but for now, many of them, at least the biggest contenders like Ron DeSantis, are trying to walk this line of not quite absolving Trump for everything that he did, but certainly coming out and bashing DOJ and Jack Smith and Merrick Garland.

But if, as these indictments, if they continue to pile up, as you know, he continues to take up so much of the oxygen, how are they going to play this in order to have their voices heard?

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Look, that is -- they are making the same calculation that we've seen Trump's rivals make all the way back to 2016, that somehow, eventually his supporters will reach a breaking point, and will move away from him toward me, but I don't want my fingerprints on it. I don't want to do anything that he can point to or that could potentially alienate those voters.

And conceivably, you know, if there are in fact four indictments, you could get to a certain level of kind of what someone described to me as indictment fatigue among more Republican voters than expressing it today.

But this is an enormous gamble because they are not even making the -- I mean, they are echoing Trump's fundamental argument that he is the victim of a weaponized deep state assault, and if you believe that as a Republican voter, you know, Trump himself in that soundbite that you played, I really noted that line, too, they can't be rewarded, right?

I mean, it's easy for Trump to make the argument, thinking another Republican nominee would reward Joe Biden and Merrick Garland and all the forces that are out to get him by hoping that voters get there on their own and not doing more to nudge them toward the conclusion that Trump is either unfit to be president, which, Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson and John Bolton are saying or even short of that, that he's not viable to win a general election.

The other candidates are taking an enormous risk in assuming that Republican voters are going to get there on their own.

MARQUARDT: Yes, we have not seen that indictment fatigue set in just yet, but we are still many, many, many months away from all of this being over.

Ron Brownstein, as always, thank you very much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

MARQUARDT: All right, the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown happening tonight. A look at the winner of this year's Belmont Stakes. That's next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:41]

MARQUARDT: An update on the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. Earlier this hour Arcangelo pulled ahead in the final stretch to cross the Belmont Stakes finish line first.

Let's get right to CNN's Patrick Snell with the highlights.

Patrick, how was the race?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi Alex. Yes, exciting one. What a win. What a victory this is for Arcangelo and some history as well made in the process because Jena Antonucci now becoming the first female trainer in the race's 155-year history to win the final leg of the Triple Crown, so an incredible story in its own right.

But Arcangelo, strong all the way round holding a big lead and then holding off the competition right down the stretch. The Venezuelan jockey, Javier Castellanos, who triumphed at the Kentucky Derby, also getting his first Belmont win aboard Arcangelo and it really does cap a pretty wild week, I would say at Belmont.

They've had those big questions during the week about whether this race would go on due to the smoke from the Canadian wildfires, but those scenes there, that emotion, all too apparent to see.

And also, Alex, the industry as a whole, under intense scrutiny after a horse died on the track at Belmont last week, another had to be put down on the track where the Preakness is held, and of course multiple sadly, multiple horses died at Churchill Downs.

So hopefully now, the Triple Crown season is over. They can work to get some better solutions to all of that.

Alex, back to you.

MARQUARDT: Yes, horse racing certainly under a lot of scrutiny, but changing gears. A story I know that you've been following very closely, the UEFA Champions League final Manchester City versus Inter. History made today?

SNELL: Yes, history made if you're a Manchester City fan, you are likely celebrating. I grew up close to that area. Well, for record, I'm a United fan. That's the red half of the city where this is very special indeed for Manchester City. Why? Because they are kings of Europe.

This is the club competition for Europe. They beat the Italian side, Inter Milan by goal to nil. Rodri, their Spanish international got that goal 12 minutes from time. It wasn't the best game, City won't care.

Look at those celebrations there. They are kings of Europe for their first time, Alex, in that 143-year history. They've been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time indeed.

And they also now win the coveted historic treble. That's the English Premier League title. The English have the FA Cup and now the UEFA Champions League all in the space of just a few weeks at the end of a very long and grueling European season.

[19:45:09]

Manchester City getting the job done and those celebrations, a massive parade planned for Monday in Manchester.

Alex, back to you.

MARQUARDT: Terrific scenes there in Istanbul, Turkey. All right, Patrick Snell, thank you very much. And coming up, a Trump appointed judge may hear the former president's

criminal case. Why her previous role in the investigation into classified documents has Judge Aileen Cannon under scrutiny yet again.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:03]

MARQUARDT: A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump will now be overseeing the former President's historic federal indictment on classified documents. She is also in the spotlight and not for the first time.

Aileen Cannon is the same judge who appointed a special master in the documents probe just last year.

CNN's Brian Todd takes a closer look at the influence that she may have in this upcoming trial.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 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 SENIOR 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 (voice over): 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 US 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 (voice over): 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 (voice over): But a former colleague of Cannon's in private practice disputes accusations that she favors Trump.

JASON MENDRO, ATTORNEY WHO WORKED WITH JUDGE AILEEN CANNON IN PRIVATE PRACTICE: I don't think she has any bias at all. I know that she would do the right thing.

TODD (voice over): 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.

AILEEN CANNON, US DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA: To my loving mother, Mercedes, who at the age of seven, 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 for the importance of securing the rule of law for generations to come.

TODD (voice over): 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 US attorney in Florida in the Major Crimes Division.

MENDRO: 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 (on camera): We reached out to Judge Cannon's chambers to ask for response to the criticism that she has 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)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Brian Todd for that report.

Now ain't no mountain high enough and apparently no kennel wall either to keep these sheltered dogs from getting to one another.

We will have that story next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are most of your dogs are able to scale a wall like that?

MADISON WEISSENBORN, MINNEAPOLIS ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[19:57:56]

MARQUARDT: And finally tonight, good news for two shelter dogs with a very special bond. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOOS (voice over): They were to strays found roaming the streets of Minneapolis together named Brenda and Linda after they arrived at Minneapolis Animal Care and Control.

WEISSENBORN: They are best buds, you know.

LIZZY MURRAY, MINNEAPOLIS ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL: They are very bonded.

MOOS (voice over): How bonded are they? So bonded that when Linda and Hank started sniffing each other, Brenda jumped between them seemingly to break them up.

But the real test came when they were put next to each other in separate kennels and this happened, "Mission: Impossible" the shelter called.

Sure Tom Cruise is able to scale walls. He usually has gizmos to help.

("MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE" VIDEO CLIP PLAYS.)

Brenda leaped the five-foot wall on her own to join Linda.

MOOS (on camera): Are most of your dogs able to scale a wall like that?

WEISSENBORN: No.

MURRAY: No.

MOOS (voice over)" Workers first realized something that happened when they were shocked to see two pit bull mixes in one kennel. So they checked out the security cam footage.

WEISSENBORN: And then I saw the magic that was the scaling of the wall.

MURRAY: It was incredible.

MOOS (voice over): So they put the two buddies together in one larger kennel.

WEISSENBORN: Most nights, we walk through and they're just like in a little ball together.

MOOS (voice over): The shelter decided they should be adopted as a package, together. That's exactly what happened.

Brenda dragged her new owner to the car where Linda was waiting to head for their new home. As one commenter noted, dogs that stray together stay together. Ain't no kennel wall high enough to keep these two apart.

Jeanne Moss, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Jeanne Moss for that story.

And thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Alex Marquardt. Jim Acosta is back tomorrow night starting at five Eastern right here on CNN.

"The 2010s" is up next. Take care.

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