Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Prosecutors in Former President Trump's Election Interference Case Ask Judge to Prevent Defense Attorneys from Sharing Evidence with Trump for Fear He Will Make This Evidence Public; Social Media Influencer Charged with Inciting a Riot After Thousands Gather in New York City for Advertised Giveaway; Some Officials Concerned Russian President Putin Factoring 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections into His Ukraine War Strategy; Ukrainian Drones Attack One of Russia's Biggest Oil Tankers. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 05, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:03]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Fulton County grand jury is expected to decide in August whether to bring any charges against Trump and his allies. If so, a new jury will be seated to hear the case at a date yet to be set by the trial judge.

Thanks for watching THE WHOLE STORY. I'll see you next Sunday.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It is Saturday, August 5th. I'm Amara Walker.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

WALKER: This morning, Special Counsel Jack Smith is taking aim at former President Donald Trump after he appeared to make threats against his opponents. Last night, prosecutors made a filing, citing this social media post from Trump that reads, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

BLACKWELL: Trump's campaign defended the post as the definition of political speech and said it had nothing to do with the case. Now Smith wants the judge to ban Trump's defense team from sharing sensitive evidence with the former president. He argues Trump may publicly disclose that information, as he's done in the past. Yesterday, the former president also entered a not guilty plea to three new charges. Those are in the classified documents case. The filing marked the second time in 24 hours that the former president entered a not guilty plea.

WALKER: The former president's extensive legal troubles don't appear to be slowing his campaign. Last night in Alabama, he called the cases election interference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every one of these many fake charges filed against me by the corrupt Biden DOJ could have been filed two-and-a-half years ago. They didn't want to do it two-and-a-half years ago. They wanted to wait, and they did wait, they waited right until the middle of an election, and they waited until I became the dominant force in the poll.

They want to interfere in my campaign, they want to interfere in the elections, a commonly used tactic in third world countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now from Columbia, South Carolina. Now, the former president's legal trouble, it is not hurting him on the campaign trail. Still in the national polls and in the state polls he is the far-away frontrunner for the nomination.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That is right. Good morning, Amara and Victor. I'm here just outside the venue where Donald Trump is slated to speak tonight ahead of a crowd of Republicans. And similarly to the speech in Alabama last night, he will be speaking to a very respected crowd. And I think you're going to hear Donald Trump, similar to what he did last night, air a list of grievances and continue to frame the legal troubles that he is facing as election interference, and also that they're not just going after Donald Trump, but they're trying to go after the conservatives at large. Let's listen to some of what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you. In the end, they're not after me. They're after you. And I just happen to be standing in their way. And I will never leave. I will never let them do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Victor and Amara, Donald Trump also during those remarks said that if he were elected president in 2024, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Biden family and continue the work that Congress is doing through their investigations, looking at the president as well as other members of his family.

But I do think if you look at what you are saying, Victor, which is that Donald Trump is still keeping on with his very aggressive campaign schedule and also that this hasn't so far affected him that much politically in his race, you will see him point to that tonight. I mean, he is going to argue that they're going after him because he is up so high in the polls. They do recognize that he is still the Republican frontrunner despite all of the legal troubles that he is facing.

And that's part of why he is still talking about these charges so much. I know through my conversations with Donald Trump's advisers that they do see the political advantages to talking about his past indictments and the one that was just filed on Tuesday night. They argue that his base is rallying around him. But I do think it is also important to point out that that's what his Republican primary voters are seeing, they're rallying around him. But in a general election, this very much could end up having a much bigger impact on his campaign.

WALKER: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you very much.

Joining me now is Michael Moore, former U.S. attorney and partner at Moore Hall in Atlanta. Michael, always good to see you. Thanks for coming in.

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Good to see you.

WALKER: Let's start with this Friday night filing by the special counsel, Jack Smith. The point of it is he is trying to prevent Trump from sharing any evidence in public, on social media. Do you think the judge will grant it?

MOORE: Well, I think it's a pretty weak motion at this point. I mean basically, you just have a tweet out there that could have easily have been directed as well to the political opponents as well as to anybody else in this case.

[10:05:03]

So it seems to me like maybe not the best grounds to move forward with this kind of motion. It's also a little incredible, if you think about it, that in this type of indictment with this type of case and the number of documents and information at stake, that they're suggesting that the defendant not be allowed to actually have copies of some of that information to look at as he prepares his defense for a case. So I'm not sure that the message that went out alone is enough to go to that type of sanction.

WALKER: But there is concern that Trump, as he has done this in the past with other cases, where he's talked about witnesses or perhaps intimidated them, allegedly. How could you prevent them from happening? Is there a way to?

MOORE: Intimidation of a witness is a different matter. That's something that can be addressed, the court should address it, and the prosecutors should address it. I'm just thinking they fired the gun a little bit quick based on this one message alone, and to sort of say we think he may do it because maybe he did something in a case or maybe he will give some document that he gave in another case, even though he hasn't been convicted in the documents case, that that could cause a problem. So you can only cry wolf so many times, and judges get tired of it. And so this may not have been the strongest one to move on.

WALKER: This is a really crowded legal calendar for Trump. He's facing six trials right now, three that are criminal and three that are civil. So you have in March this hush money case that he is facing at the state level, then in May is when the federal documents case is set to begin. The special counsel, the prosecution wants this trial, this election subversion trial, to begin as quickly as possible, but I'm sure the judge -- is the judge taking into account his legal calendar, and where could she potentially place this trial to begin?

MOORE: The judge will have to do that just as a matter of course because you can't have a defendant bounce from courtroom to courtroom to try a case. They have a right to prepare a case, to get things in order, to have their lawyers prepare for a case as they move from one to the next. The problem for the special counsel, really, is that this case that he's brought, all of this information they had basically on January 7th, after the January 6th incident, we've already seen Congress, one of the most inefficient bodies of the nation, they were able to have a committee and have hearings, all led into a presentation and almost a mini-trial that we saw last year.

So to now come forward and say, well, now, we're right here on the cusp of the primary season and I know we want to now bring our case two-and-a-half years later and put it forward. And judge, squeeze us in somewhere because we want a speedy trial. They hadn't wanted anything speedy this far.

I think Jack Smith has done a good job. He has been quick since he has been appointed. The problem is, the case is not Jack Smith versus Donald Trump. The case is the United States of America, and this information has been available to the Justice Department all along.

So I just have a hard time imagining a court forcing a defendant to come forward like that just because of the government saying we would like to have a quick trial. I don't think the documents case goes in May. I think that is just sort of another temporary date that has been set. We haven't even gotten into the litany of motions that are going to be filed, the appeals that will go up. This is something that we really are just beginning to see. But the judge has it on the calendar. But that date is subject to be moved.

WALKER: There is a chance that the federal documents case and this election subversion case could go into or past the election?

MOORE: I think it's highly likely. I would be surprised to see the cases tried that quickly, because I do think you are going to have a lot of intermediate appeals issues and those things. You're going to have questions coming up about a change in venue. You're going to have questions coming up about security clearances to look at documents. All of those things are going to be an issue going forward.

WALKER: So let's talk about how difficult or easy this case will be for the prosecution. So there are four felony charges that the former president is facing, which includes conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy of rights. You have issues with the fourth charge.

MOORE: I do think that the fourth charge is going to be difficult. But they've basically charged a civil rights crime in this indictment. In this count, this statute was used, really what I call the KKK statute. It was made to prevent people from intimidating folks who have had constitutional rights. So it really was meant to punish people who burned crosses in front of churches and who burned crosses in front of integrated apartment complexes. That's the case was about where you had an identifiable set of victims.

Here in this count, because the government has incorporated the entire indictment in into this count, it basically says if you were a Biden voter, Trump did not want your vote counted. And if that's the case he was trying to infringe on your civil rights. How in the world are you going to pick a jury when you are telling folks you may have also been a victim, and if you were a Biden voter, you were definitely a victim in this case because Trump wanted to deprive of you of the civil right of having your counted?

WALKER: So then could the defense use that to try to get this case, or that charge thrown out? How could they use that to their advantage?

[10:10:03]

MOORE: I think there will be two things. I think the first thing will be they'll think seriously about a change of venue. And they will go and they'll go and they'll look and do a lot of search and data analysis looking at Washington, D.C., and the number of people that work for the federal government and the number of people who work for federal agencies where Biden is their boss. And they'll say, judge, the man who is running against their boss and it might very well cost them a job transfer or something else, is here to this case, so we can't get a fair trial here. That's an important thing. It doesn't really count because there is a swing one way of Democrat versus Republicans. But they will do other statistical things.

And then they'll raise the issue of judge, are you going to allow then to ask who they voted for Biden? Because they're saying in this indictment that Trump tried to have those votes not counted. And so just like you would be able to ask -- just think about it this way, if you have somebody charged with a bank robbery, you can't put jurors in the box who were depositors at that bank, because you're basically saying this person was here to rob the bank, and he was going to actually steal your money. Now you get to decide if he is guilty of trying to rob the bank.

So I think these are the kind of nuances that we're going to see for the next year. That's why I think the idea that we get into a case in six months or seven months is just a fantasy, because all of these things are going to have to be litigated out. There will be motions, there will be appeals, there will be interlocutory appeals as we go forward. And I think there will be some things that have merit as the Trump team makes an argument. There will be an argument about the First Amendment. We just talked about the threat, or the alleged threat. Is that political speech and protected by the Constitution or was it actually a threat against the prosecutor? As I read it, I can't see anybody's name in it, so I don't know who it is to. So that's the kind of thing that a judge is going to have to ferret through.

WALKER: So in a few words, this is going to be, in your opinion, a very difficult case?

MOORE: I think it is a difficult case to prove his state of mind and also to get past some of the constitutional questions that come out.

WALKER: Wow, really interesting stuff that I learned here. Thank you very much for coming in, Michael Moore. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: A social media influencer has been charged with inciting a riot after thousands of people swarmed Union Square in New York City for a giveaway. Kai Cenat has millions of followers across YouTube and Instagram and Twitch. Earlier this week he announced a huge giveaway of computers and PS5s, the PlayStation terminal, and much more. On Friday, look at this, it got out of hand quickly -- 300 people turned into thousands of people in minutes. Apparently, there really was no giveaway. The crowds quickly turned, some of them, into a mob.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now from New York. Polo, several people arrested there. What are you seeing and learning?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, those thousands of people drawn here with promises of free PlayStation consoles, other electronics equipment, gift cards. Then that situation quickly spinning out of control. Today, very much business as usual, though there are signs of the cleanup. Off in the distance, you can see a power washing crew here working to clear some of the space here of some paint splatter. You see just to the left is a subway entrance that was actually and is still under construction. That green temporary fencing was taken down by the mob. You may even see some paint splatter up on the roof. We've seen workers trying to clear that out.

But aside from this, it really is very much business as usual. So a big focus of this is certainly not just on the injured, which is at least three officers and four civilians, but also on the lessons that can be learned from here. I want you to hear one NYPD official as he had a very direct message to specifically the social media influencers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JEFFREY MADDREY, NYPD: We have to reach out to some of our influencers, and ask them to be responsible with this, to help us with this. I'm not against young people coming here. If we knew about this, we could have had the barriers out here, we could have had police officers out there, we could have did this orderly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: A total of 65 people were arrested. About half of them are juveniles, we're told. As for that influencer who was arrested, detained yesterday, facing misdemeanor charges, Victor, including inciting a riot and also unlawful assembly. Back to you?

BLACKWELL: Those pictures are crazy. Polo Sandoval for us there in New York, thank you.

WALKER: The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to about $1.5 billion dollars after nobody won Friday's jackpot. It could be a new record for Tuesday's drawing. Multiple people across the country won at least $1 million for matching the first five white balls. But nobody got all six. BLACKWELL: Check your tickets for those five numbers. Here they are.

Friday's numbers, 11, 30, 45, 52, 56, and the mega ball, 20.

WALKER: Still ahead, Ukraine ramps up its attacks at sea. The country targeted an oil tanker soon after attacking a Russian warship.

[10:15:00]

Also, historic approval for the FDA and a major advancement for new mothers. The agency signs off on the first post-partum depression pill in the U.S.

BLACKWELL: And she's back. Gymnast Simone Biles makes her return for the first time since the Tokyo Games. We'll have the latest on tonight's competition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: The 2024 presidential election may play a role in Vladimir Putin's Ukraine strategy. That is according to U.S. and European officials.

BLACKWELL: Depending upon the outcome, the Russian leader could see support for Ukraine diminish. CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood looks at how that might influence Putin's plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: American and European officials are concerned that President Putin may be factoring the 2024 presidential elections into his Ukraine war approach, essentially banking on the possibility that if President Biden loses and Trump or another Republican candidate wins, that U.S. support for Ukraine would diminish, which would then, of course, benefit Putin.

[10:20:07]

And now this is not a steadfast hard U.S. intelligence assessment on Putin's mindset, but U.S. officials do think that he is taking this into consideration. And as one expert said, it's basically a potential light at the end of the tunnel for Putin that would drive down any possibility of a near-term resolution to this war. Now, obviously, we know that the likelihood of a near-term resolution is quite low now. But this could incentivize Putin, folks are concerned in the U.S. and Europe, to drag on the war through November of next year.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLACKWELL: Let's stay focused on Russia's war in Ukraine and the latest on an attack in the Black Sea. Ukraine struck one of Russia's biggest oil tankers in an attack overnight. A source tells CNN that a sea drone carrying almost 1,000 pounds of explosives struck the ship. Russia says the ship was not carrying oil. Ukraine, a source there says that it was full. The attack came just hours after Ukrainian sea drones targeted a coastal naval base, then hit a Russian warship.

WALKER: CNN's Nada Bashir joining us now with the very latest. Nada, tell us more about the strategy behind the sea drone attacks by Ukraine.

NADA BASHIR, CNN PRODUCER: We're hearing now from Ukrainian authorities that this has proven to be a crucial element in their continued counteroffensive. And we know that that counteroffensive has been going slower than was anticipated, territorial gains made by Ukraine at this stage not as substantial. Now we are seeing a shift, particularly on the Black Sea, since Russians withdrew from the Black Sea grain initiative.

We are seeing these increasing attacks against Russian targets, and we heard this morning, of course, of another attack on the on the Kerch Strait against a Russian oil tanker using maritime drones. And we've heard from the Ukrainian security service. They say that these attacks will only continue to increase, that these attacks will continue so long as Russian troops are in Ukrainian waters and on Ukrainian land.

There hasn't been an outright acceptance of responsibility by the Ukrainian authorities, though one source has told CNN from the Ukrainian security service that this was a joint endeavor, joint operation by the security service and Ukrainian navy. Their naval spokespeople have denied comment, or responsibility on this matter at this stage.

We also have the secretary of Ukraine's national security and defense council, he spoke about this uptick in drone operations both with maritime and air operations, and these are growing more accurate with time, that their operators are only increasing in their experience, and that these will continue, that the aim and the focus for Ukraine at this stage is to expand in the scale and the range of the attacks targeting Russian positions. And this will form a crucial part of Ukraine's continued counteroffensive. And of course, we have continued to see fighting on those eastern front lines increasing with intensity, artillery fire increasing, although Ukraine's progress has been slower. We have heard from Ukraine operations, and they say they are persistent. They will continue to move forward to try and push and break through Russian defensive lines, and they have had some success at this stage, and that is continuing.

BLACKWELL: Nada Bashir live from London, thank you.

One of Vladimir Putin's harshest credits has been dealt another legal defeat. The court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to almost 20 additional years in prison.

WALKER: Navalny was already serving 11-and-a-half years. And he is willing to put his freedom and his life on the line again. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Entering a courtroom that looks as flimsy as the legal case against him, Alexei Navalny and his legal team line up to hear his almost predictable sentencing -- 19 years. The judge's words utterly unintelligible in the pressroom next door, convicting Putin's harshest and most persistent critic of creating extremist communities, charges Navalny denies. He was neither bowed or cowed, even shared a joke with his lawyer.

After sentencing, using his Telegram channel to tell his supporters, "19 years in a special regime colony, the number doesn't matter. The verdict is not for me. It's for you. They want to frighten you."

Not for the first time is Navalny being made an object lesson of the cost of challenging Putin. Poisoned and almost killed with a deadly nerve agent, Novichok, almost three years ago, an attack he blames on Putin, which the Kremlin denies.

[10:25:02]

He barely survived, recovered in Germany, then returned to Moscow six months later despite the certainty of what awaited him. He was arrested, charged with fraud and other offenses he says are bogus, and is currently serving nine years. In jail, he says, he has been denied sleep, kept in isolation, intentionally made sick, and almost completely cut off from his family and lawyers.

Putin's brutality has taken its toll. Navalny has lost weight.

DARIA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEI NAVALNY'S DAUGHTER: There are no calls, no visits, no human conditions. He is allowed to write 35 minutes per day with a pen and paper. He's allowed to have two books. These actions are clearly an open strategy to destroy my father's physical health and maybe mental, too.

ROBERTSON: Putin, it appears, intends to silence not just Navalny's supporters, but the man himself. The new sentence expected to be served in one of Russia's harshest and remote penal colonies, will cut him off from the outside world. It is a price, he said at his trial, he would be willing to pay.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ROBERTSON (on camera): It really does seem to be a test of wills. At the moment, Putin has the upper hand, but Navalny seems to be quite literally betting his life that that is going to change. In fact, he said as much in that Telegram statement. He said this is a life sentence, but a life is the length of my life, or the life of this regime. Victor, Amara?

WALKER: All right, Nic, thank you very much.

Still ahead, the White House is touting Bidenomics after Friday's strong jobs report. We will take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:31:00] WALKER: In other headlines this morning, there's new hope for mothers experiencing post-partum depression. The FDA has approved the nation's first-ever pill, Zuranolone, specifically created for the condition. The drug can be taken at home daily over the course of two weeks and has been deemed safe and effective in at least two clinical trials. Patients of those trials say it has worked very quickly for them with sustained effectiveness. At least one in eight women in the U.S. and 17 percent of women globally experience symptoms of depression after giving birth.

BLACKWELL: At least 11 people have been injured in Idaho after a YMCA bus carrying teenaged campers was involved in a rollover crash on Friday. State police say there were about 30 people on the bus, including children between the ages of 13 and 18 when the crash happened. Officials say at least seven of those injured are in critical condition.

WALKER: A massive manhunt under way in Florida this morning after two Orlando police officers were shot at a traffic stop late on Friday night. Officials say they were investigating a vehicle wanted in a Miami homicide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ERIC SMITH, ORLANDO POLICE: During the stop, the suspect shot two of our officers. The suspect had carjacked another car in a vehicle pursuit. We are right now actively looking for suspects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: The Orlando police chief also said the two officers remain in critical condition.

BLACKWELL: The White House is directing cabinet agencies to bring federal workers back into the office at the end of the summer. An email to the agency cites the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and the benefit of increased productivity from in person work. Each agency sets its own work requirements for employees, but the White House is asking them to aggressively execute the return to work.

Inflation is slowing, wages are rising, and recession fears are easing, but Americans are generally pessimistic about the economy. And according to the latest polls, they blame President Biden. Polling shows Bidenomics is not resonating, and the president is not getting credit for the improving economy.

WALKER: The White House plans to put up signs with his name on major infrastructure projects. White House reporter Jasmine Wright joining us now with the details. Jasmine, tell us more about this new strategy.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, this strategy, Amara and Victor, is reflective of the fact that on paper the Biden administration continues to see really trends of positive economic data come to them on their doorstep. But in reality, that positive data is not translating to the American voter, not translating to their pocket. So there is a major disconnect there.

Now, the administration has a lot of positive data to fall back on, including that Friday's jobs report number, 187,000 jobs added in the economy in July, a historically low unemployment rate, the lowest inflation rate in the last two years, and rising consumer sentiment. But still, we know that voters just don't see it. According to a CNN poll, taken in July, released just this week, it found that 37 percent of respondents approve of President Biden's handling of the economy. Now that breaks down really totally when it comes down to partisan lines.

Also, we know from that poll that just 25 percent of respondents say that the economy is doing good right now. So therefore, what the Biden administration is trying to sell is not exactly making it to their voters, really making it so they're having a shift in their approach, trying to be more aggressive when it comes to telling the American people exactly what President Biden has done for them and their pockets. And we heard vice president Kamala Harris talk about it very intensely on Friday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As today's jobs numbers make clear, Bidenomics is working. Today's numbers reflect the point that President Biden has made many times -- America's economy is strong and experiencing stable and steady growth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:01]

WRIGHT: Now, when you talk to White House officials, they will say that they know that that message of Bidenomics, which is basically the positive outcomes happening in the economy, plus President Biden's legislative wins together, will take a while to sink in with the American voter and the American electorate as a whole. But they hope that that overt messaging that we just heard from Vice President Harris, we've also heard it from President Biden over the course of the week, talking about what they've done for the economy, but also subtle messages, what you mentioned at the top, this kind of project that the administration is putting on to fully brand President Biden's name, as you can see on this screen here, funded by President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law, across the country in projects like rebuilding roads, bridges, dams, et cetera, to make people's lives better. They hope that the American people will put those two and two together, seeing President Biden's name when they're having a better road, when they're driving to work or to the gym or something like that, and really try to move the needle when it comes to consumer sentiment and just the overall approval of President Biden's handling of the economy.

Now they have about 15 months to see if that actually does what it is intended to do until we get to the 2024 election. But as we know right now, the American voter is pretty pessimistic about where the economy stands right now.

WALKER: Jasmine Wright, thank you very much.

She is back. After stepping away from gymnastics for two years to focus on her mental health, Simone Biles is returning to gymnastics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:32]

Simone Biles is slated to return to competition today at the U.S. Classic. Biles looked like her typical dominant self yesterday in practice, completing her signature moves. This will be the first competition since pulling out of several events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She was suffering from what is called "the twisties." Now, that is a mental block that causes athletes to get lost in the air.

I'm joined now by five-time Olympic medalist, gymnast, Nastia Liukin. Nastia, good to be with you. Thanks for waking up and being with us. Did you watch anything yesterday to see how she looks and your confidence of how she will be able to perform tonight?

NASTIA LIUKIN, 2008 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Yes, absolutely. I watched a lot of training footage. And to be completely honest, it's so baffling to me how she's able to come back every single time, not just back to where she was and the shape that she was in, but even better than she was. And being better than the best in the world and the GOAT is nearly impossible, and she continues to prove that it is possible.

BLACKWELL: She's got 11 Olympic medals, four of them gold, dozens literally of national championship medals. She could have retired, right? You could have gone to commentary, endorsements, speaking deals. Why do you think she's coming back?

LIUKIN: I think for her, it's ending on her own terms. And when I spoke to her, I want to say about a year ago, that's kind of what she said. And she really just -- it's not about the medals, it's not about winning again, but really, I think, because it was such a mental block and the twisties, it is almost like you don't want to go out with that as like your last reminder of the sport. And also, because she still loves the sport, and clearly, she is still able to be on top, so it is almost like, why not?

BLACKWELL: The twisties, let's talk about that, because the number of rotations in some of these routines, to get lost in the air when you're upside down several times in a couple of seconds, how do you get over something like that?

LIUKIN: Well, first of all, every single gymnast -- I would say 99 percent of all gymnasts have had it, will have it, go through it. And the most challenging part is you can't really, obviously, control when it happens. And so it was really just the worst timing, unfortunately, for her, because the best way to kind of get over the twisties is just to go be back in your own home gym and do all of these skills on very safe surfaces and landings, such as the foam pit and mats and extra spot. And unfortunately at the games you're not able to do. The surfaces are very -- the landings are hard, and it is very dangerous. And especially the level of skill that she does, it is dangerous without the twisties, and then you throw that on top, it just becomes extremely, extremely dangerous. So to be completely honest, she did the absolute right thing. She was taking care of not only her mental health, but also physically.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Coming back at this level and the level at which she competes, it's like, I don't even know if it is a fair comparison, because this is in many ways a singular sport, when Jordan came back to play on the Washington Wizards, he was at the end of his career, it was a team sport, but you expect the greats to remain great. If she doesn't do great tonight, what does that mean?

LIUKIN: Well, first of all, I don't think that that will happen. And I think by great, she has already proved that just in the training. And the hardest part is, really, gymnastics is physically demanding, but it is really mentally challenging, as we saw from her at the last Olympics. But also to have the expectations and the pressure that she has, I felt it on a very like smaller level and scale coming back. After you win the ultimate in the pinnacle of our sport, which is the all-around gold at the Olympics, so much more attention and expectation and pressure is on you. And so really, she's obviously capable of doing it, she's capable of being on top, and she just proved that in the training sessions yesterday. So really it is just about going out there and getting comfortable again, because it has been a few years since she has competed.

[10:45:00]

Regardless of the outcome here tonight, this isn't going to make or break how Paris will look for her next year. This is really just about getting back out there on the competition floor, qualifying to nationals, which yes, she does have to do -- even though she is Simone Biles, she has to get a certain score -- and yes, moving on to the national championships in a few weeks.

BLACKWELL: Beyond Simone and what's next for her career, what do you think the last two years of her break meant for sports, professional sports, specifically women's sports? And I pair that with Naomi Osaka in tennis saying that she needed a break as well.

LIUKIN: Well, as I said, it's not just physically demanding but it is mentally demanding and challenging. And you're training seven hours a day, six days a week. And the older you get, the more challenging it is, especially in a sport like gymnastics. And so I think she, she needed that break, she needed both to step away from the gym, mentally, physically, heal her body, heal her mind. She got married. And I think living a quote-unquote normal life, whatever that even means to be normal, I guess, but I think just seeing her back out there. When you start gymnastics and when you're training that many hours a day, you have to love it. You have to be so passionate about it. And so you can definitely see that. And not to mention, she is just such a huge role-month-old model for all these athletes, and not just athletes, but women and men, everybody across the country and the world as well.

BLACKWELL: Nastia Liukin, thank you so much for spending some time us with. And I agree, there's probably a very, very small chance that she won't be great tonight, especially after watching some of that practice footage. Good it have you. And we'll both look forward to seeing Simone compete.

WALKER: From "Star Trek" to "Westworld," go inside the evolution of black representation in sci-fi and horror in the new episode of CNN original series, "See It Loud, The History of Black Television," tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. eastern on CNN.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:28]

BLACKWELL: At least 62 million people across the south and the southwest are under heat alerts today. The temperatures are continuing to hammer parts of the U.S. this weekend.

WALKER: Just put it on repeat, repeat. Allison Chinchar is here. Yes, so extreme heat. Can you tell my husband about that? Because he wants me to go on a bike ride after work, and I don't want to. It's too hot.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Take a shower afterwards. The best advice for you. Take lots of water with you, hydrate.

Yes, it feels to some people like this is the summer that is never going to end, because for so many of these places, it's not just been hot like a normal summer. It's you're having daily records being broken consistently for weeks at a time. You've still got excessive heat alerts stretching from California all the way over towards Florida. So again, we're not even just talking one or two states here. This is pretty widespread.

When you factor in the humidity along with the actual temperature, like we often get here along the Gulf Coast region, that feels like temperature, it is going to reach 118 today in Corpus Christi. Not must better in Brownsville, Baton Rouge, 114 and 115. Out to the west, also still very hot there, about five to 10 degrees above normal for places like Tucson, Phoenix, as well as Las Vegas. About 100 locations over the next few days have the potential to break records yet again, at least for the next few days, before that heat finally cools back down maybe late next week.

We've also got have some very heavy rain showers moving across portions of the central U.S. It is not just flooding, but also damaging winds and the potential for hail are concerns today.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thanks very much.

So a real estate agent is in, let's say, some trouble.

WALKER: OK. He was caught on camera. He was supposed to say, "in hot milk." But it's too cheesy for him.

BLACKWELL: Not going to do it. Not going to do it. (LAUGHTER)

WALKER: He was caught on camera chugging milk out of the bottle straight from his seller's fridge. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Milk. The civilized way to drink it is out of a glass versus guzzling it out of a jug, unless of course you're celebrating a win at the Indy 500. But it was no victory when a Canadian real estate agent got caught on surveillance video opening the fridge and chugging out of the milk jug for about six seconds while alone in Liska Fullerton's home, waiting to show it to potential buyers.

LISKA FULLERTON, HOMEOWNER: Why? Why? Why would somebody do that?

MOOS (voice-over): Mike Rose almost closed the fridge, then opened it again for another lingering look. The Fullertons were angry, having each lost a parent to COVID.

FULLERTON: The idea of it just, oh, that just, it just grosses me out.

MOOS (voice-over): Because of the way he --

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Got milk?

MOOS (voice-over): Mike Rose got whacked with almost $17,000 U.S. dollars in penalties and costs. The British Columbia Financial Services Authority calls it "conduct unbecoming." The homeowner confronted Rose last summer when the episode happened.

FULLERTON: I asked him. I said, is there anything you want to tell me about the last time you were in my home? And he said, oh, the milk incident? He was just so nonchalant about it.

MOOS (voice-over): Fullerton says he also accidentally broke her couch by sitting on the arm.

CNN wasn't able to reach Rose, but he has apologized for his very unfortunate and very uncharacteristic decision, telling local outlet CFJC, "I have never done this kind of thing before, nor will I ever behave in this way again."

[10:55:01]

He told the authority he was unusually dehydrated because he was taking new medication and under considerable stress.

What did you do with the milk?

FULLERTON: I threw it away.

MOOS (voice-over): "Hide your milk when Mike's around," wrote one joker on Rose's Facebook.

He's had to move to a new real estate firm. Mike Rose found out what the star of "Anchorman" already knew.

WILL FERRELL, PLAYING AS RON BURGUNDY IN ANCHORMAN: Milk was a bad choice.

MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN --

FULLERTON: Get a glass. Just get a glass.

MOOS (voice-over): -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: They've claimed that he has never done that before. But you're doing it for the first time at someone's house.

BLACKWELL: But if you're dehydrated, do you reach for milk first?

WALKER: No, no. That's a good point, absolutely not.

BLACKWELL: That just didn't make sense. And a six second chug is not a sip. That is a lot of milk.

WALKER: I wouldn't even do this in my own home.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that's true.

WALKER: Thanks for watching, everyone.

BLACKWELL: Much more in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)