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CNN This Morning

Pence, Christie To Announce Candidacies This Week; Biden Signs Debt Limit Bill, Averts U.S. Default; At Least 275 Killed In India's Worst Rail Disaster In Decades; Trump Appointed Judge Rejects Tennessee Drag Show Ban; First !0 Words Of African American English Dictionary; School Bus Driver Saves 37 Children; Sun Belt Stanley Cup Final. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 04, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:03]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So you're going to start to notice those temperatures. While we've got at least a glimpse of summer the last few days, that's going to go away here. It will however remain across the high plains and into portions of the northwestern U.S.

Back to you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

CNN THIS MORNING continues right now.

(MUSIC)

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, June 4th. I'm Rahel Solomon, in for Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It is good of you to be with us. Thank you for spending just another hour with us here this morning.

And thank you for coming down to Atlanta.

SOLOMON: I didn't know if that was going to come my way. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, we're going to thank you, too, Rahel, for coming!

SOLOMON: Good to be here.

BLACKWELL: All right. Here's what we're watching for you this morning. Of course, the focus for Republican presidential hopefuls on Iowa. Their message that these candidates and soon-to-be candidates are given to voters as they try to set themselves apart in a growing field.

SOLOMON: Also, there are new details on that train crash in India that killed nearly 300 people. Our team is at the crash site with more on what we are learning about the cause of the crash, and also the recovery efforts.

BLACKWELL: A federal judge in Tennessee says that the state's law limiting public drag shows is constitutional. His reason for striking down the law and what happens next.

SOLOMON: Also, a school bus bursts into flames in Milwaukee. Coming up, the driver, a pregnant woman who is credited with saving the lives of dozens of children. She will join us live.

Two names will soon join the ever-growing list of Republicans running for President. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who you might remember ran in 2016, well, he's expected to announce his candidacy on Tuesday. And former vice president, Mike Pence, says that he will formally enter the race on Wednesday.

BLACKWELL: Yesterday, Pence and other GOP candidates gathered in Iowa for the annual roast and ride gathering, hosted by Senator Joni Ernst. Now, other major contenders were present during -- including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Former president Trump was not at that event. Governor DeSantis continued his criticism of the former president, arguing the Republican Party needs to dispense with the culture of losing. He also doubled down on his feud with Disney and defended putting culture wars front and center in his campaign.

Here's CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Rahel, the field of Republican presidential candidates is expanding and the race is intensifying. That has been clear for the last several days, and it certainly was over the weekend here in Iowa.

Where most of the leading Republican presidential candidates introduced themselves to Republican voters and made their case for why their vision, their message is the best to win the party's nomination and go on to win back the White House.

Of course, all of these candidates are seeking to be the alternative to former President Donald Trump. He was the only candidate who was not in Des Moines on Saturday for Senator Joni Ernst's annual roast and ride. That is a political event featuring a side of barbecue, some motorcycle riding, as well as political rhetoric.

Now, it is clear these Republican voters, most of the ones we talk to say they are indeed looking for a change, they are indeed looking for someone, the strongest candidate to win back the White House and defeat Joe Biden's policies. It's unclear, of course, at this point, who that may be. But one of the contenders, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, she made the case to voters, why she believes her time is now. FORMER GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to

start doing this in a way that we can win a general election. It's time for a new generational leader. We've got to leave the baggage and the negativity behind. We've got a country to save. Don't complain about what you get in a general if you don't play in this caucus, because it matters.

ZELENY: And Haley was also a member of the Trump administration. She was the ambassador to the United Nations. She did not mention that fact. In fact, Donald Trump's name did not come up at all on Saturday during hours of speeches by these Republican candidates. But, he does loom large in this race. Of course, he is the leading contender at this point. Others are vying to be his alternative.

Now, Haley will be answering more questions from Iowa voters tonight here in Des Moines at a CNN town hall at Grand View University. She has been making the case for the last several months here, in fact, holding more campaign events than most any other candidates.

But she certainly is trying to make up for some ground here, trying to really get her name better known among these Republican voters. But as the summer begins, as the field grows, there is no doubt, Republicans are hungry for change, but they're also open to considering a wide variety of candidates.

Iowa, of course, has a great tradition of humbling front-runners and evaluating challengers. That's exactly what Nikki Haley hopes happens. This race is just getting underway, but you can feel it's intensifying as summer comes on -- Victor and Rahel.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Jeff.

President Biden signed into law the bill that suspends the nation's debt limit for two years.

[08:05:05]

SOLOMON: And just in time as the last-minute bipartisan agreement prevents the federal government for defaulting on its debts for the first time in U.S. history.

CNN's Jasmine Wright joins us live from the White House this morning.

Jasmine, President Biden was very clear that this could have been catastrophic for the American academy. Bring us up to speed here.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. Simply put, crisis was averted when President Biden signed the bipartisan bill to raise a debt ceiling into law. He did it privately, behind closed doors here at the White House.

The White House released a photo and a short video afterwards, as well as a statement, really a private ending to a months and weeks'-long political drama that engulfed Washington, D.C. and could pose a real catastrophe for Americans if the U.S. would default for the first time. Now, in that statement, President Biden, he highlighted and really

thanked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's Republican counterpart over there in the house for his efforts to try to get a deal through. We know they spent a lot of time on the phone and in meetings, trying to get something passed. And of course, now they're there.

Now, on Friday, we heard from President Biden in the Oval Office, where he was really right to get the last word in this weeks' long discussion. He talked about what was in the bill, what was not in the bill that didn't get chopped up, as well as the importance of bipartisanship in this negotiation period and getting this bill done.

Now, with the debt ceiling no longer hanging over the White House's shoulder, as that bill extends the debt ceiling for -- until early 2025, really the White House is in a place now where they're looking to move on.

BLACKWELL: And moving on to foreign policy. Talk us through the week.

WRIGHT: Yeah. Yeah, that's going to feature a big part of the president's week this week, foreign policy. We know that we haven't really seen him in this arena, not focus on domestic policy for a while. The last time we saw him in a foreign policy agenda space is when he was at the G-7 in Japan earlier in May.

But even that trip, the debt ceiling discussion really loomed over it. So now that they're moving past that, that President Biden can once again focus on foreign policy. He's going to have two key meetings. One on Monday with the prime minister of Denmark, a U.S. ally. Of course, the White House says that they want to strengthen and deepen ties with that meeting.

And on Thursday, as you can see on the screen here, the White House meeting with prime minister of the United Kingdom, a really U.S. ally and they're going to have a full schedule that includes an official meeting as well as a press conference.

So, a real focus on foreign policy. But other domestic things are happening as well. A full cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris attends. And on Thursday, we will see the president celebrate pride month.

So, a busy week here at the White House, now that this debt ceiling issue is behind them -- Victor, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Busy agenda for President Biden, Jasmine Wright, thank you.

And joining me now is Lynn Sweet. She's the Washington bureau chief for "The Chicago Sun-Times."

Lynn, welcome to the program. Good morning.

So now that the debt ceiling appears to be in the rear view, does the economy come back front and center? And I wonder if, what would it take for President Biden to shift the narrative and start to get credit for things like inflation, that is cooling. Still high, but cooling job growth, which is strong, which was evidenced by Friday's job report, and a consumer that still continues to spend.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, we'll know Monday. The markets will probably have a positive response, certainly not a negative response to the deal. And President Biden, I think, pretty cunningly, isn't looking for massive credit. That helps him keep his relationship with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Doesn't hurt him to make it look like McCarthy did well on this thing.

It's part of, I think, a craftier plan, and maybe a smarter plan, looking ahead to working with the Republican-controlled House. The economic signs, by the way, are good. A very good jobs report for the Biden administration on Friday.

SOLOMON: And yet, it doesn't seem like he gets the -- when you look at the polling, it doesn't seem like Americans really feel like the economy is good, whether the data says otherwise or not. In terms of the relationship between the president and Speaker McCarthy, this was a really big test, perhaps one of the biggest of Kevin McCarthy's leadership, as house speaker.

Is this the beginning of what appears to be a solid working relationship between the two?

SWEET: Well, yes, it's a relationship, solid, it will always be back and forth.

Let me call your attention quickly to the roll calls on this debt ceiling bill in the House and Senate. Both the far-left and the far- right voted against it, in the house and the Senate. Now, they did so knowing full well that the -- that everyone had been counted ahead of time, and that they had the luxury of voting "no," knowing that they were not threatening to throw the nation in its first of ever default.

But those forces are still at work for Kevin McCarthy, who only needs one member to call for him, for his speakership to be re-voted and re- litigated.

[08:10:02]

President Biden doesn't have to worry about that, but it doesn't do him any harm to give McCarthy the appearance of being able to have -- work with the White House and still, at times, oppose it.

SOLOMON: It's a fair point, Lynn. In terms of the far right, does that really pose a threat, at least this time with a debt ceiling deal, is there any real threat to his leadership, or at this point, is it really just much ado about nothing?

SWEET: As long as you have a four-vote margin in the house, which is how he clings to power, and any one member can call into question his speakership, it's never going to go away.

SOLOMON: I want to turn now to 2024. The Joni Ernst roast. President Biden notably not there as every other major Republican contender was. Does it matter? He has done this before, of course, and it has worked to his benefit. Does it matter if he doesn't go to major sense and is seen aside some of his challengers?

SWEET: Well, for the moment, here's what's matters, is that the primary right now is also about getting into that first Republican debate in Milwaukee. And to do so, you have to have 40,000 individual donors or at least 1 percent in the poll.

Whether or not President Trump shows up at these events, and he's never going to do that. He did it in 2026, what this big field of challengers needed is a way to try to get into -- to meet the threshold that the Republican national committee has set.

So these debates are very useful. Not necessarily for the top, top tier. Trump, DeSantis, Haley, for example, but almost everybody else has to worry about getting into the debate, so these group events are very -- or does being in Iowa, or in New Hampshire, the first of the nation votes are very, very important to them establishing just viability at this early stage.

SOLOMON: And, Lynn, to that point, I mean, how likely is it? Is it a growing field, and growing even larger this week, as we know? How likely is it that some of these candidates will meet that threshold?

SWEET: Not everyone's going to. When you're looking for only 1 percent, it seems pretty low. But also getting 40,000 individual donors in every, you know, spread out throughout the states is not easy.

Even if it's $1 a piece, you have to be organized. So it forces the campaign to work, to have to reach out to people. One of the notable things about a President Trump campaign is that he's never had to do that kind of on the ground work, because he has a massive base of support.

So, in the sense, you have, you know, multiple things going on at the same time. But the overriding thing is that you have two front- runners, Governor DeSantis and President Trump. They will be in the debates. That is, if President Trump, as has been noted, and Jeff noted in his report, it's very uncertain whether he would ever even consider showing up.

SOLOMON: Yeah, watch that space.

Lynn Sweet, great to have you this morning, thank you.

And tonight live from Iowa, let's go back to Iowa, Jake Tapper moderates a CNN Republican town hall with former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. The evening kicks off tonight at 8:00 only on CNN.

BLACKWELL: More now on that deadly train crash in India that killed at least 275 people on Friday. It's one of the country's worst train disasters in decades. Official say the derailment was caused by a change in the railway's electronic signaling system. Also that the speed and impact of the collision may have caused the higher number of casualties.

CNN's Ian Watson is there near the site of the derailment with the latest now.

Is the search and rescue effort over? Is now the work just to move the trains? Or are they still looking for people? What do you have? What's the latest?

IAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the scene of one of the deadliest railroad disasters that India has seen in its modern history. On Friday night, at least three trains, two passenger trains and a cargo train, they derailed and collided here after dark.

What you see along the side of the tracks here is at least 20 railroad cars like this one, which was served for passengers with disabilities, and you can still see the luggage, the belongings of the many people who were onboard when this terrible accident took place.

The loss of life is simply staggering. At least 275 people killed, more than a thousand people wounded. And the authorities say at least 100 of those survivors are in need of critical care. The disaster zone runs as far as the eye can see here with railroad cars scattered on the side of the road and hundreds of workers here in just brutal heat and humidity, with heavy equipment and also doing a lot of the work here by hand with picks and shovels trying to reopen the road.

[08:15:05]

As you can see here, more of the railroad cars in this terrible accident.

The Indian prime minister came to share condolences with the victims and survivors. The cause has been identified as a change in the electronic interlocking here and there have been vows from top government officials to bring to justice anybody who's responsible for this accident, but it highlights both the importance of the railroads for India.

More than 13 million people a day move around on trains in India, but also a tragic history of accidents with more than 16,000 people killed according to government statistics in 2021 in railroad accidents.

The authorities insist that this stretch of railroad will be reopened and operational again by Wednesday morning. A bigger question will be how to make the trains in this country and its aging infrastructure safer for future use.

Ivan Watson, CNN, in Odisha state, in eastern India.

SOLOMON: Our thanks to Ivan there.

Ukraine, meantime, says it is inflicting, quote, significant losses on Russia ahead of its long-awaited counteroffensive. The latest on the intensifying battle in Belgorod, just ahead.

BLACKWELL: Do you know what bussin' means?

SOLOMON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: If I would were to say, man, that was bussin'.

SOLOMON: By the song (ph).

BLACKWELL: I mean, in part. How about Hagar's children? Do you know who they are?

SOLOMON: No.

BLACKWELL: So, we're getting our first look at some of the words in the new Oxford Dictionary of African-American English.

Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:02]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is calling on China to, quote, reign in its behavior after another close encounter between the two country's militaries. The latest confrontation happened Saturday in the Taiwan Strait.

The U.S. says that a Chinese military ship came within 150 yards of a U.S. destroyer and the U.S. ship had to take steps to avoid a collision. It comes days after a mid-air incident between a Chinese yet and a U.S. supply plane.

Austin is calling China's actions, quote, irresponsible, but China's defense minister says it's the U.S. that's being provocative by sending its military assets near China.

And turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine. A top Ukrainian military official says that Russia is suffering, quote, significant losses and fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

BLACKWELL: We're also getting reports of deadly attacks in at least four areas in Russia's western Belgorod region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells "The Wall Street Journal" that Ukraine is ready to launch its counteroffensive.

CNN international correspondent Fred Pleitgen joins us live from Kyiv.

So, Fred, Ukraine's move to take the fight to Russian territory or some of their allies taking the fight to Russian territory. We're seeing more of that. What's the latest?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Victor. And it was quite interesting. An adviser to the Ukrainian presidency said on Friday that the gates of war had opened for Russian citizens. Obviously, meaning that the fight was now on Russian territory.

But you are absolutely right. The Ukrainians remain quite coy about their actual involvement in all of this. On the face of it, they say that it's anti-Putin Russian fighter who is normally fight on the side of Ukraine here in Ukraine. However, when they conduct actions inside Russia, they do that independently, the Ukrainians say.

Now, these groups themselves have also said that they are behind. Some of these cross-border attacks and some of these cross-border shellings that have been taking place.

And, of course, those have been pretty significant. One of the things you're pointing out, several regions in that Belgorod area of western Russia, it's a pretty big area and a pretty wide area where this cross-border shelling is taking place.

One of the places that's become an epicenter is a small town called Shebekino which is very close actually to Belgorod city itself, where what we're hearing today, shelling has been going on over the past couple of days. The authorities there are saying that several people have been injured, several people have been killed.

But on the whole, what is clear, Russia is having serious problems coming to terms with all of this. That is one of the things that we've been hearing there on the ground. So, the Russians clearly are on the back foot there.

At the same time, you're absolutely right. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said and he came out in an interview with "The Wall Street Journal" so that Ukraine is now ready in his mind to start that counteroffensive.

However, there was a video that was released today by Ukraine central command saying there will not an official announcement when that take place. Obviously, the Ukrainians want to keep that element of surprise.

Zelenskyy also saying that he believes that that offensive is actually going to take quite some time, and no doubt will be difficult. But he also said that he believes in the end, Ukraine will win.

And at the same time, of course, you do have these strikes that are continuing -- Russian missile and drone strikes on to Ukrainian territory. And once again in the Ukrainian capital, we have some air raid sirens that happened. The Ukrainians, however, are saying that they managed to shoot down all the missiles and drones that were fired at Kyiv, guys.

SOLOMON: Fred Pleitgen live for us in Kyiv -- Fred, thank you.

All right. Coming up, a federal judge in Tennessee has ruled that a state law limiting drag show performances is unconstitutional.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:28:40]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The body of Brandon Colvin Sr. has been recovered from a six-story

building that partially collapsed in Davenport, Iowa, last week. Officials say they informed the family on Saturday. That same day, his son Brandon Colvin Jr. attended his high school graduation. The 18- year-old slept on the pavement near the collapsed building and refused to leave despite the risk of the structure falling.

A federal judge in Tennessee appointed by Donald Trump has ruled that a state law limiting public drag show performances represents an unconstitutional restriction on the freedom of speech.

BLACKWELL: Well, Friends of George's, that's a Memphis-based nonprofit that produces drag events, they sued earlier this week to stop the law from going into effect.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is with us now.

So, break down for us what this judge said and why he determined that the law is unconstitutional.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Judge Thomas Parker put out a 70-page ruling, not only saying that this was a violation of the First Amendment, but also finding it quote, "unconstitutionally vague" -- this law unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.

Also barring the defendant in this case, namely the district attorney of Shelby County -- Memphis is in Shelby County -- from actually instituting the law in that county saying as part of his ruling, as a matter of text alone, the Adult Entertainment Act is a content and viewpoint-based restriction on speech. "The AEA was passed for the impermissible purpose of chilling constitutionally protected speech."

One of our affiliates caught up with some LGBTQ members at the Memphis Pride Festival who were celebrating this ruling. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantastic. It was just very vague and very -- just, ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good on them. I feel like that's what judges are supposed to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Yes, and earlier this year, the Tennessee Republicans who hold a super majority passed this measure, it was shortly signed into law by Republican Governor Bill Lee.

Here's what the law sought to do, specifically to limit adult cabaret performances in public property to shield children from viewing them. It also threatened violators with a misdemeanor and repeat offenders with a felony.

The ban also specifically included, quote, "male or female impersonators who perform in a way that is harmful to minors". It was originally set to go into effect April 1st.

We do have a response from the Tennessee Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti in a statement saying that his office is reviewing this order and they do plan to appeal at an appropriate time. Here's what he had to say.

"The scope of this law has been misrepresented in public by those more interested in pressing a narrative than in reading the statutory texts. The Adult Entertainment Act remains in effect outside of Shelby County. This narrowly tailored law protects minors from exposure to sexually-explicit performances."

And listen, guys. This is not only Tennessee. We've seen Republican- led legislatures pass similar laws like this throughout the nation. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis passed something similar. You've been working on that story, empowering the administration to take away -- to take away licenses from establishments if they let children on to adult-like performances. We also saw something similar in Montana.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And I spoke with the business owner in Florida who filed suit against the state for the bill that -- or now law -- that focuses on drag shows there. We'll see what happens in that case.

ROSALES: Hamburger Mary's.

BLACKWELL: Hamburger Mary's -- there in Orlando.

All right. Isabel, thanks so much.

ROSALES: Thank you.

SOLOMON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, a first of its kind dictionary of African- American English. A look at the first ten words, that's next.

[08:32:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The first ten words of the upcoming Oxford Dictionary of African-American English had been finalized. Now this is the first of its kind dictionary, has its roots in African and Creole languages. It's spearheaded by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. It's served to acknowledge the contributions of African-American writers and thinkers and artists and everyday people to the evolution of the English language.

Here with a preview of those new words is Dr. Tracey Weldon. She's executive director -- editor rather and advisory board member of the Oxford Dictionary of African-American English. Doctor, thank you for being with us.

I think when people hear a dictionary of African-American English, they immediately go to Dr. Williams' Ebonics from the 70s and culture war fodder for the 80s and 90s. How is this different? DR. TRACEY WELDON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, OXFORD DICTIONARY OF AFRICAN-

AMERICAN ENGLISH: Good morning and thank you for having me today.

It is true that for most of the public, Ebonics is what comes to mind when we talk about African-American language, but linguists have been researching African-American language for decades now and understand that this is a comprehensive language that includes grammar and syntax and pronunciation and, of course, vocabulary.

And so the goal of this dictionary is to really highlight the words and phrases that have been created or in some way reinvented by members of the African-American speech community and have contributed so much to the American English lexicon.

BLACKWELL: All right. So here are the first 10 words. I'm going to read them for the folks who can't see the screen or listening on radio.

Aunt Hagar's children, bussin', cakewalk, chitterlings -- I'm going come back to that and the pronunciation -- grill, kitchen, old school, pat, Promised Land, ring shout. So those are the first ten. Why these first?

WELDON: So we've actually released the first 100 words and those 10 were featured in a recent article published by the "New York Times". The aim was to really just sort of show the breadth of what this project hopes to cover, so you know, as noted, a lot of people really think of African-American language as just slang and there are certainly many slang terms that have been invented and innovated within the African-American speech community, but it's much broader than that.

[08:39:43]

WELDON: And so we try to really focus on, you know, just the full breadth of the African-American lexicon, starting with earlier terms, certainly some that have derived from the plantation era, such as cakewalk. Terms that are representative of religious practice s practices such as ring shout or Aunt Hagar's children, or even the Promised Land.

And of course, terms that have come out of, you know, musical traditions and more slang items like grill. And then, of course, there are many terms you referred to like chitterlings.

BLACKWELL: Ok. I'm coming back to chitterlings because that's going to be the (INAUDIBLE).

WELDON: Ok.

BLACKWELL: So Aunt Hagar's children, that was one I did not know, right. So a reference to black people collectively.

WELDON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: What I saw from the list that there are some that has some biblical origins, there are some that have some hip hop generation origins and are still primarily used by African-Americans.

And then words like cakewalk, that are used beyond the African- American community, but Aunt's Hagar's children, zero in on that one for us.

WELDON: That's right. Yes. So it's not an expression that I think is in wide circulation now and that is part of what we're hoping to show is that, you know, this is not just current everyday, you know, slang terms that are used in more casual settings.

But that if you're looking at the African-American lexicon, we really are talking about years and years of vocabulary terms that are representative of various eras over the course of time.

And so that particular expression is one that is used to refer to black people collectively and has a sort of sense of people in exile and, you know, it's -- the intention is to show that there are -- there's an historical context to this collection of words and that they're not just contemporary.

BLACKWELL: Ok, chitterlings, right? Nobody pronounces it that way. So can we end the Oxford Dictionary of African-American even with the spelling, just declare that it's pronounced chitlings?

WELDON: Yes. I think we can and we do. So, you know, the entries are intended to show alternative spellings as well as pronunciations. So you'll see that there are those other pronunciations.

As an advisory board, we've actually talked quite a bit about how to represent the actual entries. And that was one that was the source of some debate. This is a living document and so it's possible that we might change that spelling to represent more common pronunciation with is indeed chitlings.

BLACKWELL: Ok, good. So now when someone corrects me, I can say, it's in the dictionary. Just look it up. That's how you're supposed to pronounce it.

WELDON: That's right.

BLACKWELL: Last question for you, when is it -- when is it going to be released?

WELDON: That's right. So this is a three-year project. We've just ended the first year. The goal is to have the first publication of about 1,000 definitions in March of 2025.

But this will be a living document, as I said. And so there is an opportunity for members of the community to submit recommendations for their own entries if they want to visit the main Web site, ODAAE.com. There's a form there where you can submit entries, make recommendations for meetings, spellings, pronunciations, give examples. And even beyond March of 2025, we hope to continue to contribute new entries into the dictionary.

BLACKWELL: All right. Dr. Tracey Weldon, thank you so much for bringing this project to us and we will looked for the additional entries as they are released. Thanks so much for your time this morning.

And if you were waiting for the definition of bussin', here it is --

SOLOMON: Not what I thought it was.

BLACKWELL: -- especially on food. Yes, not the song.

Especially of food -- impressive, excellent, tasty, delicious. That is your gift for today. Go forward and use it.

SOLOMON: Bussin' -- so some might say that my breakfast was bussin'.

BLACKWELL: Some might say.

SOLOMON: We will be back.

Some might say.

[08:44:09]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Some quick action from a school bus driver in Milwaukee saved the lives of 37 students. It was a normal route for the driver, Imunek Williams, when out of nowhere, she started to smell some smoke.

SOLOMON: Yes. So she quickly pulled over and evacuated all of the kids, just seconds before the bus burst into flames. Take a look at this incredible video taken moments later. As Victor said, no one was injured all thanks to that driver.

And that driver joins us now. Imunek, thanks for being here with us. So walk us through, we just sort of laid out how this all happened. But walk us through how you were feeling and how you had the presence of mind to act so quickly.

IMUNEK WILLIAMS, MILWAUKEE SCHOOL BUS DRIVER: Good morning. I just want to say good morning.

Honestly, I didn't know what to think. I was kind of nervous. The smoke -- the way the smoke smelled, I knew it was like something funny. It wasn't like -- it wasn't normal.

So I just decided to like, ok, let me pull over to see what's going on and call into dispatch and let them know what's going on. But as I was calling, the smoke just got -- it started to bother me even more so I knew it was bothering the students. So I just was like, ok, I'll just call the dispatch from my personal phone, but I just want to get these kids off, because, I don't know, I just felt in my heart something was going to happen.

Like it wasn't going to turn out good. So that's why I pulled over and I just told the kids like hey, let's get off, grab your stuff, and let's go. [08:49:57]

BLACKWELL: And fortunately -- --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: They followed suit --

BLACKWELL: -- they listened immediately and got everybody off the bus.

So you were on your way to Milwaukee Academy of Science and these -- what's the range of the kids who were on the bus? The ages?

WILLIAMS: K-12. So the youngest student might have been 5 or 6 and the oldest of them might have been maybe 17 or 18, getting ready to graduate.

SOLOMON: And Imunek just to tell our viewers, you are pregnant and you also have a child. I heard you say, you say that you think motherly instincts played in here and you just told us that you sort of felt it in your heart. I mean tell us about that instinct you feel may have played a part here.

WILLIAMS: I mean, honestly, I think it was my sense of smell like the smell really bothered me, like even my stomach hurt. It just threw me off.

So I just was like, ok. And when the kids are on my bus, they're like my children. So I just treat them as if they're my kids and if it was my kid on a different bus, I would want the bus driver to do the same thing. So I just reacted in a way that I would want somebody to react for my son.

BLACKWELL: Have you heard from any of the parents of those students?

WILLIAMS: I did, I actually had a parent message me on Instagram yesterday and she just thanked me. She actually had five kids that day on the bus and she just wanted to thank me personally for, you know, reacting the way I did.

BLACKWELL: Wow. Well, we want to thank you, too, Imunek for sharing the story and getting those kids off the bus. I know that your baby boy is coming in August. Congratulations on the baby coming and you did some great work. I know there are far more than 37 kids and their families who are grateful for your quick thinking.

Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

WILLIAMS: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

Sin City, south Florida, and the Stanley Cup. The Florida Panthers, the Vegas Golden Knights are both playing for their first championship. Which team got the opening edge in game one last night?

[08:52:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The Vegas Golden Knights and the Florida Panthers are both trying to win the Stanley Cup for the first time.

SOLOMON: And it's Vegas getting on the board first for the big in game one.

Coy Wire joins us now. Good morning Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

We have another first on TNT so the Stanley Cup final on our family of networks for the first time.

But we have south Florida and the desert of Vegas, two of the hottest places in the country and they're battling it out on ice. The atmosphere on the strip, though, electric.

We're going to have a party like Lionel Richie said, right? All night long, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Oh, my goodness.

WIRE: Vegas looking to slay their Panther opponents like Jonathan Marchessault slays goalies. Look at this, bearing his 10th goal in his last 11 games.

Vegas though, they wouldn't be anywhere without their goalie, Adin Hill. And look at the effort in the second, lunging and falling away but he's stretching out like Lululemon pants on elephants.

Look at that stick save right there. Game was tied at 2 after 2, but then Zach Whitecloud fires what would be2 the game-winning goal past Sergei Bobrovski. Five different players scoring for Vegas.

Party, Karamu, fiestas, forever --

BLACKWELL: What is going on.

WIRE: And first for the win in game one. Mark Stone says, they just stay the course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK STONE, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS: We don't get rattled. You know, I score the first goal, short handed, you know, it could have been a sort of a back breaker for us. We get the next power play, we score.

You know, Marchessault steps up, Stevenson makes great play and we just keep going. That's what we've got to do. Can't let the momentum swings get too drastic in this series. Got to stay even keel and Keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIRE: The Panthers look to even it up tomorrow in game two. Puck drops 8:00 eastern on TNT.

The Heat, they're also looking to bounce back tonight in the NBA finals after getting smashed in game one. Nikola Jovic playing like he was mad that he didn't win a third straight league MVP. He scored his ninth triple double of the post season.

The Heat's Jimmy Butler though he had his worst playoff game so far with just 13 points. He said that he spent some time with his daughter, Reilly, to keep things in perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY BUTLER, MIAMI HEAT: I'm going to do an escape room tonight. I think my guys are going to see Spider-Man today. Just doing normal stuff, because at the end of the day, I'm as normal as they come. It's not always about basketball. It will never always be about basketball.

Me and my guys -- they are going to love me whether I win or lose. My daughter is going to love me whether I win or lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: You have to come take a look at this hold your breath moment at the end of the Tigers-White Sox game. Bottom of the tenth and the home plate umpire is dropped by a 96-mile-per-hour fast ball to the face mask. Chicago's Yohan Moncada, he scores on third for the win. You can see that Detroit's catcher, Eric Haas, he just misses the pitch and it pelts the ump, cory blazer.

People rush out to help him thankfully, he was able to get up and walk off under his own power.

Good stuff.

All right. Women's College World Series, speaking of good stuff. The number one Oklahoma Sooners looking for a three-peat and they stomp a mud hole in Tennessee yesterday. On the way to the semi-finals, it's a run rule. Game stopped in the fifth inning, 9-nothing Sooners for their 50th straight win, extending the longest streak in D1 history. And during the (INAUDIBLE) -- Sooners have won 28 games by shutout and run ruled opponents 23 times. That is domination.

[08:59:57]

SOLOMON: Can I ask, you know, I'm a visitor to this show.

BLACKWELL: New to the show.

SOLOMON: I'm new. Is this a thing you all do with the lyrics and the music? Ok.

WIRE: Yes. And we tie swap sometimes.

BLACKWELL: We do tie swap. However, you've done now DeBarge (ph), you've done Lionel Richie, what have you got next week, the Pointer Sisters? Why are we doing the 80s?

WIRE: Taylor Swift song tour, I don't know. Yes, Rahel probably doesn't even know these.

SOLOMON: But I'm into it. I'm very into it.

WIRE: Ok. All right. We'll keep them coming.

SOLOMON: Thank you, Coy.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coy, thank you very much.

And thank you so much for spending your morning with us. And thank you for spending the weekend with us.

SOLOMON: It honestly was so good to be here.

And "STATE OF THE UNION" starts right now. Have a great day, guys.

BLACKWELL: All right.