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Deadly Shooting At Illinois Juneteenth Celebration; Secretary Blinken Begins High-Stakes Meetings In Beijing; Supreme Court To Issue Several Major Rulings Soon; Rickie Fowler Tied Atop Leaderboard In Final Round; DOJ To Investigate PGA-LIV Golf Merger; LA Mayor: Abbott Busing Migrants A "Political Stunt"; Bipartisanship Missing On Dads Caucus; Speedcuber Solves Rubik's Cube In 3.13 Seconds. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 18, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:05]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Hello, and thank you for joining me. I'm Alex Marquardt in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with what has been a violent holiday weekend all across the United States. Gun violence rattling communities from Washington state to Georgia. In Illinois, authorities are trying to figure out who opened fire at a Juneteenth celebration in the Chicago suburb of Willow Brook. That was overnight. One person died and at least 22 others were injured. Investigators say several of those who were hurt were trying to flee the chaos.

CNN's Camila Bernal has been following the story.

Camila, what more are you learning about the investigation?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, while authorities don't have a motive at the moment, we are learning that there could be multiple shooters in this case. Authorities saying that an unknown number of suspects fired multiple rounds from multiple weapons. This is just part of the new information that we got. They're also saying and giving us essentially a better timeline of what happened.

They say that this all -- the Juneteenth celebration started at around 6:00 p.m. and they say that law officers were present at the time and throughout the event, but it was at around 12:25 p.m. when they received a phone call, a 911 call that was reporting an alleged fight taking place nearby. So some of these officers responded to this fight. And as they're trying to figure that out, they hear the gunshots and so they immediately go back to the Juneteenth celebration.

And of course it is chaotic. Witnesses describing just trying to get out of the area, trying to get themselves into safety. I want to you listen to some of these witnesses and what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG LOTTIE, WITNESS: We are all just out and next thing you know shots just got going off and everybody ran and, yes, it was chaos.

MARKESHIA AVERY, WITNESS: I never been to anything like this, honestly. I just have a headache from the whole commotion. All I could do was check on my friends and what if, see if everything was OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And Alex, you mentioned one dead, 22 injured, but authorities also saying that people also got hurt as they were trying to flee the scene. Right now what authorities are doing is that they're watching surveillance video, cell phone video from witnesses and victims who were at the celebration. They say they're still trying to interview all the victims and the witnesses in this case trying to piece together exactly what happened here.

But of course it's going to take a while for them to figure out exactly what happened and what the motive was here -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: And those people just trying to have a good time on what is supposed to be a happy weekend.

Camila Bernal, thank you very much for that report.

BERNAL: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: And now to Missouri where police say 10 teenagers were shot in downtown St. Louis overnight ranging in age from 15 to 19. A 17- year-old died from his injuries. Another teen is critically injured after being trampled while running from the scene. Police say they recovered several weapons including an AR-15 style rifle. Right now they have a 17-year-old suspect in custody.

And then to central -- excuse me Central Washington, where two people are dead and several others injured after a mass shooting at a campground near an amphitheater last night. The Grant County Sheriff's Office saying that the suspect shot randomly into the crowd and then walked away from the scene before they took him into custody. Authorities have not given any details on the suspect, on the victims or a motive. The amphitheater was hosting a two-day music festival at the time. Organizers now say that today's performances have been canceled.

And then in Georgia, officials are investigating a shooting that happened outside a nightclub near Atlanta. That was overnight. Our affiliate WSB reports five people were shot but their conditions have not been released. Authorities are not saying what led up to the shooting or if any arrests have been made.

These incidents all across the country adding to the more than 300 mass shootings in the United States just this year. That means almost two per day on average.

Now, to a high stakes visit to China. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang for more than five hours today. The Biden administration says the trip is meant to thaw tensions between the two countries amid a series of setbacks between China and the U.S. China's foreign minister says relations between China and the U.S. are at the lowest they've been in decades. But he did accept an invitation to visit Washington soon for direct talks.

CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood has more on this critical meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapping up his first day of a two-day visit here in Beijing. His first trip to Beijing as secretary of state, the first Biden Cabinet official to visit the country. The meetings today lasted for more than five hours followed by a working dinner.

[16:05:02]

And when you talk to U.S. officials, the primary goal of this trip is to establish regular communications between the U.S. and China, particularly military to military channels. Just in recent weeks there were two incidents between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea, in international air space and in international waters due to aggressive Chinese military maneuvers. So of course that is one of the issues that lays the backdrop of the tension between the two countries right now.

Blinken also said that he is going to raise U.S. concerns on a number of fronts with China. Globally, of course, when it comes to war in Ukraine, locally in the region here when it comes to Taiwan, and bilaterally the issues between the U.S. and China. Those three Americans who were wrongfully detained in the country. The issue of the opioid crisis back in the United States, because fentanyl, the inputs for fentanyl largely come from China. And so that is something that the secretary is saying that he is going to raise with his counterparts.

Now the U.S. is also hoping that there are issues where the two countries can potentially work together. We've heard this from the Biden administration before on climate, on macroeconomic global stability. And for China's part they had a rather aggressive tone leading into this meeting with the foreign minister telling Secretary Blinken that he expects there to be respect while he is here.

He does not want the United States interfering in internal affairs in China. So we'll have to see if that aggressive tone translates into how these meetings occur over the course of the next day or so here in Beijing.

And one more thing, that U.S. officials are looking ahead to is the potential for further meetings between U.S. officials and Chinese officials. They want that to become more regular over the course of the next few months. Of course in addition to the possibility of President Biden and President Xi sitting down on sidelines of some meetings between world leaders in the coming months.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, Beijing. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Kylie for that report from Beijing.

For more, let's turn now to CNN's Ivan Watson who is in Hong Kong.

Ivan, what are Chinese officials now saying after these hours of meetings between Secretary Blinken and Chinese officials?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, more than 7 1/2 hours of talks if you include dinner and even with translation. There is a lot that could be covered in that time. The readout from the Chinese Foreign Ministry is notable, I think, because of the tone. There are no accusations coming from Beijing.

These criticisms that we've seen in the past, instead there is acknowledgment that the relations between the U.S. and China have deteriorated to the worst that they've been since the two governments established formal diplomatic relations. And that it is not serving the interests of Chinese and American citizens, nor the international community.

There are repeated statements about a commitment to improving these ties to ensuring that there are ways to work through crises, to try to get back to a spirit of some kind of negotiations that were established when President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met face-to-face in Bali back in November.

And also a couple of deliverables. The agreement to receive an invitation from Antony Blinken to his Chinese counterpart for a visit to Washington sometime in the future to more people-to-people relations to increasing the number of passenger flights between the two countries. So clearly a shift in tone and perhaps an acknowledgment that the world's two largest economies do have to find some kind of way to deal with each other especially considering that they are huge trading partners -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: And this meeting was rescheduled after it was canceled back in February because of that Chinese spy balloon that was crossing the country. The U.S. said at the time that a meeting then would not be productive so this meeting was put back on the books, but in that time tension really has only grown, Ivan. And I think there is still a big question out there as to whether tomorrow Secretary Blinken could meet with the Chinese president.

Do we have any sense of whether that audience is going to happen?

WATSON: We don't know. And that's going to be something to watch for because if Xi Jinping does not take the time to meet face-to-face, even for a handshake with America's top diplomat, I think it will be perceived as a slight. So that's something we're going to be watching. And also, we haven't heard yet from Blinken himself, we believe that he'll make some kind of comments and it will be very interesting to hear what kind of statements he has to say.

You know, the State Department went into this again repeating this kind of mantra, that the U.S. and China are to be competitors, there has to be competition but not conflict. Not confrontation.

[16:10:06]

Again, this talk of trying to establish some kind of guardrails to what is essentially a rivalry. The Chinese side has repeatedly questioned the U.S. sincerity here, arguing that the U.S. is just trying to constrain China's growth as it sees itself as an equal power in the world.

So we'll watch closely to see what kind of language is there. Is there the chance for finding some way forward for these two giant countries to be able to deal with each other when they're clearly rubbing shoulders in places like the South China Sea -- Alex.

MARQUARDT: Yes. I said this meeting could come tomorrow. Of course it already is tomorrow in Hong Kong and in Beijing where Ivan is up for us at 4:00 in the morning. So we really appreciate it. We know that you will be watching that closely in the coming hours.

Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thank you very much.

As the Supreme Court nears its summer recess, the justices have less than 20 major cases they have yet to rule on. Several closely watched opinions could be announced as soon as this week.

CNN's Supreme Court reporter Ariane de Vogue joins us now.

Ariane, the court has already ruled on several big cases over the past few weeks but we are waiting on some big ones to come this week. Two of them school related. What can you tell us about those?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT CORRESPONDENT: Right. All eyes are on this conservative court to see just how fast and how far it is going to move the court to the right. As you said, there are affirmative action is before the court. And the question is, can colleges and universities continue to take race into consideration as a factor in admissions?

The two plans before the court are having to do with Harvard and the University of North Carolina. And basically the schools here say we want to achieve diversity, diversity is important, part of the academic experience, and we have a compelling need for it. And they say, as Elena Kagan said during oral arguments that basically the schools serve as a pipeline to society so they want diversity, but the challengers here, they come back and say, look, this violates equal protection.

It amounts to discrimination based on race and they contend that it thwarts the ideal of a color blind society, and keep in mind they are asking this court to once again overturn precedent, something that the court did just last year when it overturned Roe v. Wade.

The courts also taking aim at the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan. This plan was meant to go into effect to provide relief to millions of borrowers in the wake of COVID. They were going to get up to $20,000 in some instances. And Biden had mentioned a lot of this on the campaign trail.

But Republican led states, they pounced on this. They went right to the lower courts. They got the program frozen and they basically argued, look, the Biden administration does not have the authority to step in and erase billions of dollars of debt for a move that important, they argued, that Congress has to act. And at oral arguments, the conservative justices, they seemed really skeptical of this plan and that would be a big blow to Biden and it would come of course as the campaign season is heating up again, Alex.

MARQUARDT: A huge blow to Biden. Ariane, there is also a case that could have a big impact on the LGBTQ community. Tell us about that one.

DE VOGUE: Right. Well, this case involves a graphic designer. She wants to expand her business and start making Web sites to celebrate marriage. But critically she does not want to make these Web sites to celebrate same-sex weddings. The case is being closely watched because supporters of LGBTQ rights say basically if the Supreme Court sides with her it will basically give people a license to discriminate, businesses a license to discriminate against some people. They say that she can't have this exception to public accommodation laws.

But on the other side, the Web site designer, she sees this whole dispute through the lens of free speech. She says the government can't force her to create custom product with a message that violates her religious beliefs. She says that she does -- she should not be forced to make these Web sites for same-sex couples. So a very interesting case. Pitting religious liberty against LGBTQ rights.

And particularly because supporters of LGBTQ rights are worried about this court, they are fearful that it might be setting its sights down the road, not in this case, but to chip away at that landmark decision of a few years ago that cleared the way for same-sex marriage.

[16:15:03]

MARQUARDT: All right. Well, shaping up to be a very busy few days and weeks for you.

Ariane de Vogue, thank you very much.

DE VOGUE: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Coming up, the final round of U.S. Open is underway right now. We'll take you there for all of the highlights and latest standings. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUARDT: The final round of golf's U.S. Open is underway right now. Several big names are on top of the leaderboard including Rickie Fowler who has rebounded from an extended slump to lead the major tournament after 54 holes. Fowler is tied atop the leaderboard with a golfer who idolizes him and even plays with a putter that is the exact replica of the one he uses. CNN's Patrick Snell joins us now from Los Angeles.

Patrick Snell, this championship really shaping up to be a very exciting final round. So where do things stand right now?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi, Alex. Yes, welcome to the L.A. Country Club where we are as you say expecting a very, very exciting afternoon golf with history on the line for so many players potentially including that man Rickie Fowler.

[16:20:10]

What a story it would be if he could go on and finally get his hands on that illusive first career major, a player who burst on to the scene as a youngster. No one ever doubted his talent but also, Alex, no one ever saw coming the career slump you just referenced. A year ago his world ranking had plummeted to around 185 in the word. Remember this is the former world number four player.

But I'll tell you what, I've been out on the course these last couple of days and the passion and the energy that the thousands of fans have been displaying on his behalf is a joy to behold and that in itself will be huge encouragement for Fowler himself.

I do wonder, though, how he's going to handle the heat of the battle. The heat of the competition. This is the first time he's had the lead or a share of the lead through 54 holes going into the final round of a major. Now after his third round on Saturday, I asked him what would it mean to him to finally win that illusive first career major? Take a listen to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICKIE FOWLER, U.S. OPEN LEADER: After, you know, going through the last few years I'm not scared to fail. I've dealt with that. So we're just going to go have fun, continue to try to execute, leave it all out there and see where we stand on 18.

This is the best I've felt, you know, let alone in a normal tournament, but especially a major and I would say really ever in my career.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Wyndham Clark is also co-leading the way with Fowler. Of course Fowler had such a big influence on Clark's career. Clark had his first PGA Tour victory last month. He is another player also seeking his first career major. He's been speaking very emotionally this week about the memory of his dear beloved mother who passed away 10 years ago but says he's inspired this Father's Day Sunday by his father, Randall Clark, a former professional tennis player.

He says he will be doing it for him and what a moment it would be if they could celebrate together later on this day.

Alex, your timing just impeccable because Rory McIlroy is just walking that way. He's come out to fine-tune his game. He's going to be a threat this afternoon, you would think, along with Scottie Scheffler as well, another powerhouse name from the United States. Back to you.

MARQUARDT: That seems like a safe bet. What a thrilling tournament. Patrick Snell, thank you very much. You can hear the excitement in your voice. Really appreciate it.

Now sticking with golf, the Justice Department announced this week that it is planning to investigate the upcoming merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed your LIV Golf. Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have their own concerns arguing that the planned partnership would violate multiple antitrust laws and suppress competition in the sport after it lured some of its biggest players away from the PGA Tour.

This morning Senator Richard Blumenthal, the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, he explained his committee is trying to uncover the facts. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): There are very, very few details, but remember, what we have here is essentially a repressive autocratic foreign government taking control over an iconic cherished American institution for the clear purpose of cleansing its public image. I think a hearing is possible within weeks. The American people deserve a clear look at the facts here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And CNN's Brian Todd has more on what has come in these investigations. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a controversial sports mega deal from the get-go, and now it could soon be the subject of a Department of Justice investigation. "The Wall Street Journal" reports Justice has notified the PGA Tour that it will investigate the tour's planned merger with Saudi-backed LIV Golf. "The Journal" says Justice officials would be looking at antitrust concerns.

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: It's the idea that if you have within one industry major players that merge together, there's no longer any competition. I mean, the whole point of the economy under our system is for people to be able to compete. So if you have the two major entities merging with each other, they're going to suck all the oxygen out of the free competition.

TODD: According to "The Journal," antitrust lawyers have cited comments like this from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan who discussed why the merger would be good for the tour.

JAY MONAHAN, PGA TOUR COMMISSIONER: Ultimately to take the competitor off of the board, to have them exist as a partner, not an owner. TODD: Last year, LIV Golf succeeded in luring away top PGA players

like Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson. It reportedly offered superstar Tiger Woods between $700 million to $800 million to join, which Woods turned down.

The PGA Tour fought tooth and nail to stem LIV Golf's momentum, barring defecting players from competing in some PGA Tour events, engaging in legal disputes with the Saudi-backed tour.

[16:25:10]

What changed?

DAN RAPAPORT, GOLF JOURNALIST, BARSTOOL SPORTS: The money went out in the end. The Saudis had way more money than the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour I guess came to a conclusion that they couldn't continue to fight this fight. It just didn't have the resources to continue.

TODD: The surprise announcement of the merger last week outraged critics who pointed out that one of America's most iconic sports entities was now teaming up with a tour backed by a wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, the man who U.S. intelligence said approved the operation which led to the murder and dismemberment of "Washington Post" columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 which bin Salman has denied.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Basically, the headline is never mind. Everything we talked about, the outreach of the PGA Tour. How they spoke about the 9/11 families and their concern about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, that's all out the window. The PGA Tour has wimped out. Let's just say what it is.

TODD: Could a Justice Department investigation kill the potential merger?

WU: Yes, a DOJ investigation like this could stop the merger. DOJ could not approve it and say this is going to violate antitrust laws.

TODD (on-camera): CNN has reached out to the Department of Justice, to the PGA Tour and to LIV Golf, seeking comment on the "Wall Street Journal" report of an investigation. We haven't heard back. This comes just days after two entities in the U.S. Senate, the Finance Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations announced their own investigations into the merger.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Brian Todd for that report.

And coming up, we'll introduce you to the dad's caucus, a group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are pushing legislation to help families nationwide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:31:16]

MARQUARDT: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reacting to the State of Texas sending dozens of migrants to her city by bus earlier this week. She told CNN's Jake Tapper that Texas Governor Greg Abbott his move is a stunt and urged Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform to deal with the influx of migrants. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS, (D) LOS ANGELES: I think it's a political stunt. I think it's despicable to use individuals like this. I mean, similar to the Trump administration, where they essentially separated families and took children away. I think that doing this, if he was sincere, he would have contacted Los Angeles. He would have told us people were coming. He would have told us who the individuals were. But they didn't do that. They did it in the cone of silence. We were not exactly sure who was coming, when, how many. So this is a political stunt, and I think it's just, you know, the beginning of what we will see throughout this campaign season.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Do you think President Biden needs to do more to stop migrants from crossing the southern border?

BASS: Actually, what I think is that Congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform. I know that we were expecting a tidal wave of folks coming in, and that did not happen. So I think what the Biden administration has been doing is important. But what the country really needs is immigration reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: According to the nonprofit Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, 42 immigrants, including 13 children, arrived in Los Angeles by bus after leaving the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas on Tuesday.

And just in time for this weekend, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing Father's Day and the role that dads have in improving life for both moms and children. CNN's Jake Tapper profiles a group of dads in the House of Representatives who are pushing legislation to help families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: It's a common question asked by parents all across the United States who is going to watch the baby? And it's one that the Congressional Dad's Caucus aims to address head on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: McCarthy.

TAPPER: During the House Speaker votes back in January, California Congressman Jimmy Gomez was doing two jobs at once, congressman and dad, while Republicans were looking for votes for McCarthy, Gomez was looking for a changing table for his four-month-old son Hodge.

REP. JIMMY GOMEZ, (D) FOUNDER, CONGRESSIONAL DADS CAUCUS: During the Speaker's vote. I just changed him on the floor in the Democratic Cloakroom, and it was fine. But a lot of people don't have access to the Democratic Cloakroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jeffrey?

TAPPER: And after this viral moment on the House floor, the Congressional Dads Caucus was born. The Caucus says it will push for policies that support working families, like expanding paid family leave or making childcare more affordable or increasing the child tax credit.

GOMEZ: I think that the Dads Caucus is creating a dialogue. What's the role of dads in the workplace? What's the role of dads in the household? And how do you combat some of those? I would say outdated notions that dads shouldn't step up and do their part.

TAPPER: The U.S. and Papua New Guinea and a handful of small island nations are the only ones in the world that do not guarantee paid family leave. Family and Medical Leave Act became law in the U.S. 30 years ago, but it does not guarantee paid, job protected leave for workers.

Today, only one in four workers in the U.S. has access to paid family leave, and lower income workers are not surprisingly hit the hardest. The Congressional Dads Caucus now has 30 Democrats members, including Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, but it has failed to gain bipartisan support in the House.

REP. JOSH HARDER, (D) MEMBER, CONGRESSIONAL DADS CAUCUS: I've written more bills with Republicans than any Democrat on the country, not by compromising values, but by trying to find common ground. And if there's one area of common ground that should exist, it's caring about our kids and caring about our families.

[16:35:10]

TAPPER: Republicans have long opposed a government funded paid leave program, and Republicans tend to favor tax credits and policies that will not increase spending. One Republican criticized the Dads Caucus, saying, "Fathers care about keeping their kids safe. They care about putting food on the table for the families and keeping a roof over their heads. They don't just care about liberal policy priorities. If they wanted this caucus to actually be taken seriously, they would have made it bipartisan. Like almost every other caucus in the House is."

The Congressional Dads Caucus has also taken issue with the parents Bill of Rights, a Republican education bill that requires public schools to share their material with parents. The Dads Caucus argues this takes away from the real problems that families face.

While the Dads Caucus advocates for policies they say will help American families, they're also hoping to add a few more changing tables in the Capitol complex for themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Changing your daughter on the restroom is not a Republican or Democratic issue, right? It's something that whether you're a Republican dad or Democratic dad, it's something that we should all be able to push for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Jake Tapper for that report. Now, in less time than it takes me to read this, an incredible 21-year-old is able to solve a Rubik's Cube, setting an unbelievable new world record time just over 3 seconds. His very proud father joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:44]

MARQUARDT: For mere mortals, solving a Rubik's Cube at all is no easy feat. But for one Speed Cuber from California, it's a walk in the park.

Cannot get enough of that video. That is Speed Cubing legend Max Park and he made history last weekend by solving a Rubik's Cube in just 3.13 seconds. Let me say that again, 3.13 seconds. The 21-year-old now holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest time ever solving the traditional three by three Rubik's Cube. And he even beat his own personal record shaving 34 seconds off of his previous time.

Joining me now is Max's father, Schwan Park. Schwan, thank you so much for joining us on this Father's Day. Please, if you would describe to me the moment that you watched your son breaking that world record. What was that like?

SCHWAN PARK, SON BROKE WORLD RECORD FOR SOLVING RUBIK'S CUBE: Well, to be honest with you, I was actually not paying attention. I was actually turned around talking to somebody else and then all of a sudden I just heard this crazy screaming from all the kids. And then I turned around and I saw the time and immediately I was ecstatic. You know, with everybody else, but unfortunately, I didn't get to see it live. I was distracted. I feel pretty embarrassed about that.

MARQUARDT: I love watching the reaction of all these kids around your son. They're just going absolutely nuts. My wife showed me this video, and I had to watch it over and over again. It was just so exciting. But tell us a little bit more about Max. He's 21 years old. He now has this world record. But how did he get to this point?

PARK: Well, we started -- Max has autism, and he was diagnosed when he was two years old. And ever since then, we've been always working on therapies. And my wife, Mikki was always trying to look for things to help him with his fine motor skills because he actually had finger problems. And she started him with the Rubik's Cube and just to help him with his -- strengthening his fingers, and then it just took off from there. We found out that he was actually good at it.

MARQUARDT: And we're watching video of him doing this obviously extremely fast and not just solving the cube in seconds, but doing it with one hand as well. As Max is heading into these competitions, how does he prepare? PARK: Oh, he practices usually he'll give himself about one or two

hours before he's going into the competition, and he tries to warm up, warm up his body. And he's very much a stickler for doing the same thing before every competition. So he has the same type of breakfast and -- but essentially what he does is he warms us as much as he can, and get as many salts as he can before the competition starts.

MARQUARDT: What's his breakfast? What's the secret?

PARK: It's McDonald's. We travel a lot, and he's really a big stickler on being consistent, and the only thing that we could find that's consistent wherever we travel within the United States and even sometimes abroad, is McDonald's, so we kind of stick to that. And he has a very specific McDonald's breakfast every time he --

MARQUARDT: Totally get it, a lot of high-level competitors are very strict about their traditions. So he's obviously been doing this for a long time. When Max was 10, he won a Cubing competition against college kids, and that story was actually featured in a Netflix documentary called The Speed Cubers. Is it hard to keep Max grounded as he becomes this Speed Cubing megastar, or is he still quite modest?

PARK: He's very grounded, as a matter of fact, I don't think he sort of really is impressed with sort of the pageantry and the fame that comes with it. I think he's just so much more focused on the actual times and beating the times and his goals. It's funny, because I think maybe part of his autism just prevents him from really understanding the fame or the adulation. I think he intellectually understands it, but I don't think he feels it, and so he's very grounded under those circumstances.

MARQUARDT: That's great to hear. Schwan, before I let you go, I'm not able to solve one of these cubes. I found this cube solved already. Are you able to solve a Rubik's Cube? How does your time compare with Max's?

[16:45:11]

PARK: Oh, no, no. I could do it like in about 15 minutes with some help. You know, it's been a long time. I mean, his mom originally taught him. She forgot to and, you know, I don't know, it's really tough for me.

MARQUARDT: Well, this has been such an inspiration. I'm going to get on YouTube and figure out how to solve one of these things. Schwan Park, congratulations to your family, to Max. Thank you so much for joining us on this Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to you.

PARK: Thank you very much.

MARQUARDT: Take care. Now, before we go to this break, meet CNN's Hero this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAMAYIM HARRIS, CNN HERO: After Jakobi got killed, I needed to -- this basically change grief into glory, pain into power. Folks thought that I was crazy. Like, that lady crazy told me, she bought the -- buy that block and fix it up because they didn't see, I saw crystal clear what it could look like.

It took about eight years or so to actually clean up the block. We started buying the lots next door, and now we have 45. It was so many things inside of my head that I wanted to actually build for the people.

I felt that that is what we deserve. Beauty is healing. You can change your environment. You really can. Sometimes I just sit and I just smile, but then I say, you know what? I'm not done yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And to get an inside look at the amazing transformation of this block, go to CNNHeroes.com. And while you're there, nominate your own hero.

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[16:51:]

MARQUARDT: Research on psychedelics is making a comeback, particularly the effects and benefits of psilocybin, which is the active component in magic mushrooms. They are being studied for their potential therapeutic effects on conditions like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. And in the next episode of the whole story with Anderson Cooper, CNN Correspondent David Culver takes us on a mind- altering journey to a psilocybin wellness retreat in Jamaica, where magic mushrooms are legal. David decides to take psilocybin himself and explore firsthand the so-called magic within the mushroom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You describe a psilocybin experience as shaking the snow globe. What do you mean by that?

ROBIN CARHART-HARRIS: Sometimes, you know, to make progress, you've got to break things down. So there's something about how these compounds like psilocybin stimulate the serotonin system that opens up the mind and the brain to potential change.

CULVER: Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris is going to see if psilocybin physically changes anything in my brain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How's it going in there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to do some structural scans now.

CARHART-HARRIS: With the cabling scan, we can look at the health of the fibers. We'll see their health before and after your trip to Jamaica.

CULVER: And the trip while in Jamaica. Trips, I guess there'll be two of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Joining me now is CNN's David Culvert. David, this promises to be a fascinating report tonight. These scientists, are they concerned with any negative side effects?

CULVER: One of the biggest takeaways is that this is not for everyone. And I think that's something we try to stress tonight in this whole story hour, Alex, is that for those individuals, myself included, who go forward as participants in this retreat, for one, there's a pretty rigorous health intake process to screen to make sure you're not predisposed to certain mental health conditions. Could only worsen if you take psilocybin, according to some researchers.

And then the other aspect is more personal. I mean, I met with my doctor before doing this, told her this is what I wanted to do, and after being evaluated, was given the all clear. But ultimately, what you look at from a bigger perspective is the potential here. And I think that's what's been so intriguing as we've been seeing the legalization, because this is not an if. This is happening, happening in places like Oregon, in Colorado, it's rolling out right now.

And so it's looking at those benefits that you mentioned, the potential to help with PTSD. So think about veterans, the potential with certain addictions. And individuals that we were with on this retreat likewise suffered from some of those addictions and so their transformation, I think it's interesting to see how they approach this and also to distinguish, Alex, this from recreational.

So it's very therapeutic. It's about preparation leading up to the retreat, a lot of group meetings, and then you take those two doses ceremonies, as they call it, and after that, it's integration. It's weeks of trying to apply it to your daily lives.

MARQUARDT: Can you tell us a little bit more, David, about the experience that you underwent?

CULVER: So in those two different doses, I took, the first one, I quite frankly, Alex, I didn't really feel much of anything beyond and exhausted and not really having a profound deep impact. So then after consulting with some of the facilitators that's the individuals who, for example, in Oregon as well will be trained to administer the psilocybin, they decided to up my dosage. And I went along with that as well.

[16:55:14]

And that's when I certainly had a trip. It was a journey into spaces that I think, in my mind, I wasn't really prepared for. I think you expect the visual distortions because you hear so much about that with magic mushrooms. But for me, and I know it sounds rather out there, but it's the power and the energy that you feel of loved ones in your space physically and those who have even passed. So I think that's what really kind of took me by hold.

MARQUARDT: Yeah. Well expressed, it sounds really, really interesting. Can't wait to see it. David Culver, thank you very much.

CULVER: Thanks.

MARQUARDT: And be sure to tune into an all-new episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. One whole story, one whole air hour, airing tonight at 08:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

And before we go, I just want to wish all the fathers out there a wonderful Father's Day, especially to my own amazing father, Bob Marquardt, who is such a kind and loving and fun father and husband. There he is, looking very dapper at my wedding last year. I'm sending him all of my love today and every day.

Thank you all for joining me today. I'm Alex Marquardt in for Fredricka Whitfield. CNN Newsroom continues with Jim Acosta right now.

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