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Trump Faces 37 Criminal Counts in Detailed Indictment; Trump Attacks Special Counsel Jack Smith in First Reaction After Indictment Unsealed; Sources: Tone Shifted In Trump World After 37-Count Indictment Unsealed; Four Children Found Alive in Jungle After Plane Crash 40 Days Ago. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired June 10, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to everyone. Welcome to CNN this morning. It is Saturday, June 10. I'm Amara Walker.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It is good to be with you. As you know, there's a lot going on so let's just get to it. Here's what we're watching for you this morning. Former President Trump launched a series of attacks on the Special Counsel after the unsealing of the indictment and the classified documents investigation. The reaction coming in following the indictment and what we expect to hear from the former President today.

WALKER: Nearly 2 million people remain under air quality alerts due to smoke from those wildfires in Canada. We're going to talk to a doctor about how to protect yourself as scientists warn that we could see more of these wildfires in the future.

BLACKWELL: This story is remarkable. It's out of Columbia. Four children are found alive after spending 40 days alone in the Amazon. How they were located and the reaction we're getting from their family. You want to see that one.

WALKER: But we begin this morning with Donald Trump lashing out as we learn new details about the indictment against him. Trump took aim at Jack Smith, the prosecutor, the Special Counsel overseeing the investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. He called Smith a Trump hater and a deranged lunatic.

BLACKWELL: Trump is the first former President to be charged with crimes in Federal Court. He faces 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information. Trump is due in court in Miami at 03:00 p.m. Tuesday to hear the charges against him.

WALKER: And the indictment contains new details about Trump's handling of top-secret documents. It includes photos of boxes containing such documents in various locations at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, including in a bathroom, a ballroom, a shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room. BLACKWELL: We are covering the Trump indictment from the nation's Capitol to the campaign trail. We'll check in with our reporters throughout the hour.

WALKER: Let's start with CNN's Zach Cohen. All right, Zach, among the charges Trump is facing, his obstruction of justice. Just break down these allegations for us.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Amara and Victor, prosecutors are alleging that Trump knowingly and intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents and really layout in very specific detail the evidence that they say underpins these 37 different counts. Now 31 of those counts involve the retention of national defense information. That kind of information includes things like details about U.S. Nuclear programs, about defense and weapons capabilities, about potential vulnerabilities to attacks, and potential response options should that happen.

Now, it really speaks to the level of sensitivity about these documents that were found. And U.S. Officials that I've talked to since this indictment was unsealed, really agree with prosecutors that these are exactly the kind of materials that could put human sources at risk. And also, the way that these documents were found at Trump's resort in Mar-a-Lago could erode trust from allies who really depend on the U.S. to keep these kinds of things secret.

Now, you mentioned earlier these documents were found in a variety of different places, in some cases, a ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, a bathroom, a bedroom, even a shower. And there's one photo in the indictment itself that really puts a finer point on the sensitive documents and how -- I mean, if you look right there, that's a five-eyes intelligence document, something that's reserved only to be shared with the U.S.'s closest allies, spilled out on the floor in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago. So this indictment really does, more broadly speaking paint a narrative or really detail out what investigators have found as they've been probing Trump's handling of classified documents. And frankly, the indictment itself is pretty damning.

BLACKWELL: Zach Cohen for us. Thank you so much, Zach. Joining me now, Shan Wu, Defense Attorney, former federal prosecutor and Andrew McCabe, CNN Senior Law Enforcement analyst and former Deputy Director of the FBI. Gentlemen, good morning to you.

Andy, let me start with you. And -- and the question for months now has been why? When you get looked at, the list of what was in these files, all of these documents, and the reporting was during the Trump administration that he didn't even read these documents, that they had to put his name in certain documents to make him pay attention, put pictures into the daily briefing. Does the why matter, considering what we've learned from this indictment?

[08:05:15]

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, technically, Victor, it does not matter. The prosecutors don't have to prove the why to convince the jury that -- to -- to convict the President beyond a reasonable doubt. Its -- why is not an element of the offense. However, effectively, it's hard to get juries to be convinced until you can sow a kind of comprehensive and understandable narrative. As human beings, we just want to know why other people do the things that they do.

Now looking at the material that's referred to in the indictment, it's really not very easy to figure out why he took this stuff. Its -- and it covers a broad range of material, at least in the way that it's described across those 31 documents. The best hint that we have in the -- in the indictment as to why are the two episodes that it refers to, the one which we've reported heavily on here at CNN about the conversation that the former President had with Mark Meadows, co- authors of his memoir, where he allegedly referred to a classified document about Iran.

There is a second episode referred to in the indictment in which he has a conversation with a member of one of his PACs in which he shows that person allegedly a classified map about U.S. Military presence in some part of the world in conflict zone. So, you know, I guess one of the answers to that question of why is to impress others, show people what he has access to, to maybe use that information in his interactions with other people in some -- in some way. But at the end of the day, we're really left wondering what the answer to that question is.

BLACKWELL: Mere trophies in some of these examples that we read from the indictment. Shan, on the question of looking forward in this case. We saw that two attorneys, Jim Trustee, John Riley, they resigned yesterday morning, and Trump will be in Court on Tuesday at 3 o'clock. We kind of expect, you know, know what will happen on Tuesday.

Is that damaging to his defense at this point, to have those two attorneys leave and now having to bring in other people? We know that Todd Blanche who's part of the legal team representing him in New York will be joining this defense as well.

SHAN WU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, generally Victor, the kind of disarray that's been in Trump's legal team is certainly a disadvantage to him. It's like a revolving door and people will keep leaving all the time. Some of them end up having to testify, and having, you know, their attorney-client privilege, his attorney-client privilege pierced.

I think here, there could be some benefit for Trump because it's a tried and true tactic of delay for a defendant to get rid of their counsel. They don't like them, they can't get along with them, and you bring in new counsel and they need time to get up to speed. So this is an old trick that I've seen as a prosecutor. I wouldn't say I've played it as defense counsel. But if you're under a deadline, you're trying to slow things down, changing counsel can slow things down, so that might be of some benefit to him.

BLACKWELL: There were references in the indictment to Trump as a candidate talking about the importance of protecting classified information in 2016. Of course, he was very critical of former Secretary Clinton during the campaign. What was the legal relevance of that? Did that strengthen this indictment, Shan? WU: I think it does. So much of the focus that we've discussed previously has been about trying to prove his state of mind. And, you know, the question that you and Andrew were discussing about the why. I mean, prosecutors have to be careful of not falling into a speculation type of situation that could cause an appellate issue if they convicted.

But they do have to prove that his retention was willful, that he knew what he was doing. It wasn't an accident. The documents ended up in the shower, for example. So evidence like that he'd spoken about this, that he was cognizant of it, the evidence in the indictment where, you know, the audio tape saying he can't show this document because he knows he can't declassify it, those things all go to the willful aspect of the retention.

BLACKWELL: Andy was it a mistake not to search Bedminster?

MCCABE: You know, Victor I would -- I strongly suspect that the prosecutors very much wanted to get into Bedminster and search it. There's been a number of signals over the course of this investigation that tell us that they are not comfortable, that they've actually recovered all of the classified and sensitive material. However, my guess and this is purely speculation, is that they never felt they had probable cause to be able to convince a judge to give them a search warrant.

The information that we know, particularly about the episode we were discussing earlier about the conversation at Bedminster in which he referred to and maybe had in his possession a document about Iran that occurred about a year before prosecutors discovered it. So when you're applying for a search warrant and one of the aspects of the information you use to base the request on is it has to be fresh, it has to be recent because ultimately you're trying to convince the judge that there is probable cause to believe that there is evidence of a crime in that location now. That's why you have to go get it.

So my guess is they never had enough current, recent, fresh information to go back into court and get a search warrant, which is what would have been required to search Bedminster.

BLACKWELL: Shan, Judge Aileen Cannon is over this case now and she's a Trump appointee, which is less important. What's more important, though, is that she was criticized even by some conservatives for her decision to appoint a Special Master early, in this case, to determine which documents could and could not be included. It's part of the investigation or what Trump would be able to keep, that was overturned later. Are you concerned about her role in -- in this case?

WU: Oh, very much so. I mean, she's a terrible pick for the case, not just for the prosecution but just in terms of her ability to oversee it properly. She really was heavily criticized by the Federal Court of Appeals in that attempt of hers to basically interfere in the criminal investigation by appointing the Special Master. I have to say, I was surprised that the case was brought in Florida versus Washington D.C. since the focus seemed to be in D.C. Not privy, obviously, to what went on there in terms of internal deliberations. The Justice Department might have been trying to head off arguments about whether venue was proper in D.C. or not. They perhaps wanted to show that they weren't venue shopping themselves, not looking for a more liberal type of jury pool, which would be found in D.C.

If there was some element of discretion there, it was a calculated risk, and certainly drawing Cannon would be the worst outcome of that calculated risk.

BLACKWELL: So she'll stay -- she'll oversee this throughout?

WU: It seems that way. At the moment, it's a little bit hard to figure out until we get to Court for the arraignment. And it doesn't seem like she's merely been picked to kind of oversee the arraignment. It seems like it has been assigned to her and from the reporting, it seems like it's random. It is possible the Justice Department prosecutors could move to disqualify her based on what she had done in the other case. That's an uphill battle, though.

BLACKWELL: So, Andy, President Trump will not be remanded into custody on Tuesday. He's a former President. This is -- he's a presidential candidate. And I'm not even suggesting that he should be. However, there was a 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, who was arrested for leaking classified information on discord who was not afforded bail. He is -- is behind bars. What is the national security difference between Teixeira and Trump. When the government doesn't believe that they even have all of the documents, or they're not sure that they have all of the documents from -- from Trump's properties, and he's going back to the alleged scene of these alleged crimes?

MCCABE: There's no question, Victor that, you know, you've hit on a -- a very relevant issue there in terms of is there a continuing national security threat. However, in the context of incarceration and pretrial, what the Court looks at is primarily two factors risk of flight and danger to the community.

The former President has a lot going for him in that analysis, right? He has absolutely no history of prior criminal convictions. There's certainly no threat of violence or danger to the community here. You know, he -- -obviously, he has the resources to travel and passports and those sorts of things so that you could make an argument on risk of flight. But his -- his high profile makes that almost impossible, right -- right? People pretty much know where he is and what he's doing. He's got the Secret Service around him all the time. So there's a very, very remote argument for incarceration.

In the case of Mr. Teixeira, he's a young man. He also was heavily armed, I think. There was also evidence of communications about violence-related and shootings and things like that. None of that is he certainly hasn't been convicted of a violent offense. But the -- but the elements that the Court looks at to make that determination very different in those two cases.

[08:15:14]

BLACKWELL: All right. Shan Wu, Andy McCabe, thank you. WALKER: So former President Trump expected to be on the campaign trail today. What we expect to hear from him as some of his 2024 rivals weigh in on the indictment. Plus, four children survive alone in the Amazon jungle for 40 days. One of the children as young as one. The methods rescuers use to find them.

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WALKER: Donald Trump is keeping his schedule as planned following his Federal indictment. The GOP frontrunner is expected to hold campaign rallies in Georgia and North Carolina today.

BLACKWELL: And it will be the first time Trump will give live remarks on the new charges he's facing. CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now. Safe to expect, he'll be talking about the indictment. What do we know about the preps for the President's -- former President's events today?

[08:20:11]

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. I am here in Bedminster, New Jersey, just outside where the President will be leaving shortly for those campaign stops at his golf club here in Bedminster. And I spoke with some of his aides yesterday and following news of the indictment and they told me that they spent yesterday working on Donald Trump's speeches, as well as said that he remains "defiant". Now, that is the image that they're trying to portray to the media. And I do think that you should expect to see some of that bravado from Donald Trump during his campaign stops. But I should add, Victor and Amara, that behind the scenes, I'm told the mood had shifted in Bedminster. Unlike Thursday night, when some of his allies and his team was really focusing on the political implications of these Federal charges, they felt emboldened by the show of force from Republicans and Conservatives issuing statements of support and defending Donald Trump.

They were feeling good about it on Thursday night, or at least not too worried. But that did change Friday afternoon after learning of the Federal charges and seeing them that the indictment was unsealed. Now, I'm told that concern had really begun to settle in among some of Donald Trump's allies and those with him at the club. And that really now they're concerned about the legal implications here and how that could play out moving forward.

WALKER: And what are we hearing from his Republican allies in Congress and also from his GOP challengers for 2024?

TREENE: Well, it's interesting. We did see a lot of his allies in Congress coming out and defending him immediately after learning that Donald Trump had been indicted by the Justice Department. People like House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republican leaders on Capitol Hill issuing statements of support. But notably, we didn't see that same type of reaction after the indictment was unsealed. We also, though, did see some straw of support from his presidential rivals, people like Ron DeSantis and others. And we did also hear from Governor Asa Hutchinson yesterday as well, who said that even though he's been a big critic of Donald Trump, he did think that this could be a distraction in the 2024 Presidential race.

BLACKWELL: Alayna Treene for us there near Bedminster. Thanks so much.

President Biden was repeatedly asked for his reaction to Trump's Federal indictment yesterday. Every time, he gave the same answer no comment. He's trying to distance himself from the Special Counsel's investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.

WALKER: And CNN's Jasmine Wright is at the Whitehouse with more. So how long, I guess, we will expect Biden to stay quiet on this issue till the very end, right?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITEHOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, we certainly saw it yesterday when President Biden was in North Carolina, really carrying on his schedule, business as usual in a trip that was focused on both jobs and military families. And I think that we'll see him adopt that strategy, which is basically to say nothing for quite some time.

Now, it's there for two reasons. First, it's because the President wants to project an air of normalcy and calm amongst his predecessor who's really engulfed in this chaos. And then secondly, President Biden and his aides have talked about the fact that they don't want to add any fuel to President -- former President Trump's claim that he is a victim of a political witch hunt by President Biden's Justice Department. So, of course, President Biden has been really saying that he will not comment. Repeatedly, we saw that in North Carolina on that official agenda trip that he took, where he was repeatedly asked about his reaction to former President Trump's indictment by reporters and he continued to say no comment including when CNN asked him, take a listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Biden, have you spoken to Attorney General Merrick Garland yet?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have not spoken to them at all. Not going to speak to him, and no comment on what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So I expect that we will hear a no comment from the President going forward, at least for the next few days. We will see him today at the Whitehouse when he hosts a Pride celebration on the South Lawn, another opportunity for reporters again to ask him for a reaction. Though to be frank with you, Victor, and Amara, I don't think as of today he will answer.

WALKER: Jasmine Wright, appreciate it. Thank you very much. Here now to discuss this further is Larry Sabato, Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Good morning, Larry. So we've heard a lot of this, right?

LARRY SABATO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Amara. WALKER: This is the weaponization of the DOJ, a political witch hunt, interference in 2024. I'm sure you saw the fierce reaction and, of course, tweets from Republican lawmakers before the indictment was unsealed. After the fact, it's been a bit quieter, as our correspondents have been reporting. But look, I mean, we can expect Trump loyalists to continue the same line of attacks, right? What do you say, Larry to -- to those attacks especially when they're making these false equivalencies about Biden and saying, what about Clinton? Hillary Clinton, I should specify.

[08:25:03]

SABATO: Well, the attacks -- the attacks are ridiculous s and they're comparing apples and oranges, but they always do that. Trump is famous for doing that. So you can expect more of that.

Remember, it's not just the MAGA people, the very enthusiastic Trump people who are backing him. It's also most of his opponents. They're -- they're trying to get on the record early. And the reason is obvious. They think that the legal difficulties that Trump is going to be facing, not just in these documents case but in other cases that will be arising. They think that Trump will be knocked out of the game one way or another. And then they will not have alienated Trump and his backers. And they'll have a better chance, if they're the nominee to win the general election. It's a political calculus.

If they thought they could get ahead by going after Trump now, that's exactly what they'd do. It isn't exactly a profile in courage, but you can understand what they're doing and why.

WALKER: Yes. Do you think Trump will get knocked out of the game and if so, when? Because the expectation seems to be that Trump will get a boost in the polls and fundraising at least in the short term.

SABATO: Well, that's been the -- that's been the practice, hasn't it? It's been the past pattern that he has actually gone up when attacked. But I would add this.

First, you're going to see a cumulative effect if there are indeed additional indictments plus new information coming out about the indictments we just saw. A cumulative effect in the sense that voters, particularly in the first contest where Trump isn't that strong in Iowa and New Hampshire, they're going to be thinking, is this the strongest candidate we can put up to defeat President Biden? So I don't think Trump is out of the woods by any means. He certainly isn't out of the woods legally. But he's not out of the woods politically and I don't think he's as strong as he may appear in the early polls.

WALKER: You know what I found fascinating, as I was just researching and just reading several papers and articles, a convicted felon or someone behind bars does not face any legal barriers to run for the U.S. Presidency. But a convicted felon or someone who's incarcerated cannot vote, right? So let's talk theoretically here, because let's say Trump is convicted in connection with the mishandling of these classified documents. He's behind bars, yet he runs for the 2024 presidency. He wins the -- wins the nomination, and he wins while he's incarcerated. What would happen then?

SABATO: Probably a self-pardon during his first minute in office. You know, we're stretching the possibilities here. I'd like to think the American public is more rational than -- than we've just suggested, and they wouldn't do that. But, you know, people don't believe that this is true but it is for a very good reason. The Founders did not write any qualifications regarding criminality into the Constitution.

And so for a very long time, it's been clear, I mean, decades and decades, a century plus, it's been clear that people can serve in the Presidency or in Congress even if they're behind bars. That may not make sense, but, you know, I kind of think the Founders expected the Electoral College or eventually the people when the popular vote spread out to the country, they would have more sense than to elect someone who was in serious legal difficulties. Well, I guess they may have overestimated us.

WALKER: Yes. Well, you know what? I bring up this wild theory, you know, because we've seen some wild things happen since 2016 that we never thought would. You know, but can you just speak to this moment, Larry? Because it really is an extraordinary time for the nation. It's the first time a former President has been indicted on federal charges. You have a former President. You have the front-runner for the 2024 nomination who will or may face President Biden, whose administration is seeking to get a conviction on these charges. This is just monumental.

SABATO: It is. And we're so polarized and divided anyway. Imagine what this would do to the embers that exist in various parts of the country that CNN easily become a major forest fire and pollute the atmosphere. We've recently had experience with that. So we have to be concerned. We should be concerned. But again, you have to hope that voters will be more rational once they have a chance to think about it.

WALKER: My last question to you is Judge Aileen Trump -- excuse me, Judge Aileen Cannon, excuse me, a Trump appointee will be overseeing the criminal case against former President Trump, at least initially. And we've talked a lot of people who are more concerned about her lack of national security experience than the political angle here. How do you feel about her overseeing this?

[08:30:00]

SABATO: I think it's completely inappropriate, especially given her prior actions. She is clearly or has clearly let her partisanship interfere with her decision in the past. So I would hope one way or the other, and there are ways to do it, she would be removed and would not be the judge in this case. We'll see what happens, but it's going to taint the process if she remains the judge handling this.

WALKER: Larry Sabato, great to talk to you as always. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, relief. Relief for some major U.S. cities trapped under the thick smoke and smog of the Canadian wildfires this week. We'll speak to an expert about some of the health concerns. Next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: A lot of that wildfire smoke that blanketed some of the major U.S. cities along the east coast that's now lifted a lot of it. Not all of it. The reprieve is partly due to cooling temperatures across Canada and those have lessened fire activity and intensity.

[08:35:00]

WALKER: But experts warn that Canada's wildfire season is off to an unprecedented start. This video shows a massive fire in British Columbia. It is one of 78 active wildfires in that province alone. CNN's Paula Newton with more Canadian officials.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Say that there are fewer fires burning now than there were earlier this week. Having said that, you have to keep in mind there are fires burning right across this country, from the west to the east. It is on track already to be the second worst fire season ever in this country. And it will likely be surpassed given the fact that this is still early in that wildfire season.

Now, having said all of this, what is going to help the most is some cooler, wetter weather moving through some critical regions like Quebec, hopefully in the next few days. This will continue to be a problem though, and I want you to see why.

Have a look at this map. This is Canada. In fact, North America. That includes Alaska, the boreal zone. It includes millions of hectares of boreal forest. Those places have been susceptible to more wildfires given climate change. It's not a clear pattern, it is incredibly complex. But the fact remains that there have been more wildfires and they emit carbon of their own. That also adds to the climate crisis.

Given what you see there, officials in the United States and Canada are trying to see if they come up with some kind of joint fire management system that includes better ways to try and manage wildfires in the future. And also obviously trying to pool resources, trying to really not just prevent the fires, but when they see hotspots, get on top of it right away. Having said that, officials say to prepare for what unfortunately will be a very severe wildfire season in the months to come. Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Nearly 2 million people remain under air quality alerts related to those fires, including the greater Cleveland area. Joining me now to talk about the health risks is Dr. David Hill, a pulmonologist and chair of the American Lung Association's Public Policy Committee.

Doctor, really appreciate you joining us. So first off, can you tell us how dangerous or how toxic wildfire smoke is? DR. DAVID HILL, CHAIR, AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION'S PUBLIC POLICY

COMMITTEE: So wildfire smoke, particularly at high intensity can be very irritating and cause inflammation in our lungs. The levels we saw on the east coast this past week were unprecedented and really severe air quality that affects particularly at risk groups, but at the levels we saw in New York and the mid-Atlantic states can affect anyone who breathes.

WALKER: In terms of the symptoms, should people be concerned about just the short-term symptoms or are there going to be long term effects for those who've been exposed?

HILL: So there are both short term effects that can cause disease and be deadly, and long term effects related to exposure. We know when we have acute events like we saw this week that we see increased disease and death over a period of days to weeks. And we know that long term exposure to particulate pollution, such as wildfire smoke, causes increased lung heart disease and is associated with lung cancer.

WALKER: So we said, Doctor, that nearly 2 million people are still under air quality alerts. Yes, the air is getting better, but what do you advise for these people in these areas? Should they still be wearing N-95 masks? What kind of precautions should people be taking?

HILL: So I think, given the degree of wildfires we're seeing, people need to get used to checking air quality along with other factors in the weather report. And if the air quality is bad in the red or purple zones, taking action to avoid exposure, higher risk populations need to be even more aware and be concerned when pollution levels are lower.

So it's better at the end of this week. But we're still seeing high levels of pollution. Some of it has moved towards the Midwest as opposed to the East Coast. In terms of staying safe, staying indoors and avoiding outside exposures is best. When air pollution is bad, avoiding exercising outdoors is important.

WALKER: Yes. Some good advice, don't exercise. You could be breathing much heavier and obviously, staying indoors. All right. Dr. David Hill. Appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much.

HILL: I'm sorry. And it's important to avoid outdoor exposures --

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Doctor. All right, up next, this is the best story of the day. And we need something to make us feel good, don't we? Amazing story of survival. Four children who'd been missing in the Colombian Amazon rainforest for weeks after a plane crash have been found alive. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:44:17]

BLACKWELL: Good news alert.

WALKER: Yes. BLACKWELL: Now this extraordinary rescue. All right. That's a lot of

pause in my thought. All right.

WALKER: Did you want a better reaction?

BLACKWELL: I was expecting more. Four young children missing in the Colombian Amazon rainforest for 40 days they've been found. Hours ago, they arrived in Colombia's capital city. They were on a military ambulance that airlifted them from the jungle.

Colombian president Gustavo Petro, says that the children appeared weak when they were rescued and they received medical treatment before they boarded the plane.

WALKER: The four siblings were found yesterday after a small plane they were traveling on crashed in the jungle. Their mother and two other adult passengers, including the pilot, were killed in the crash.

[08:45:04]

Stefano Pozzebon is live in Bogota. Stefano, of course everyone wants to know how the children are doing. I don't know if you have that information, but also tell us how young these children are.

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Yes, Amara. This is a story that takes your brain away, and we hear so little good news, just as Victor was saying in these days, and it's frankly something that we should rejoice.

The children are extremely young. Think, Amara, that one of them, the youngest, she passed her first birthday in the thick of the jungle. She turned one only a couple of weeks ago, and she was only 11 months old when the plane crashed on May the first. This is really a story that has captured this county's imagination. And everybody that has been involved with it is now just rejoicing this moment that it's truly historic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

NARCIZO MUCUTUY, CHILDREN'S GRANDFATHER (through translator): Let them come here to their grandparents, to their aunt and their uncle, their grandmother.

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

GUSTAVO PETRO, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Indigenous, the indigenous and the military together found the kids after 40 days. They were alone. A historical statement of survival today. These are the children of peace and the children of Columbia.

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

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

POZZEBON: And Amara, Victor, in terms of the latest updates, a spokesperson for the Indigenous organization that the children are part of told us just a few minutes ago that the father and the grandparents of the four kids also traveled to Bogota overnight and are now together, reunited finally, in the Central Military hospital just a few miles away from where I am now. And we can imagine just how joyful this moment is for the entire family. Amara, Victor.

BLACKWEL: Absolutely. 40 days and they held on to hope and faith. How do officials think that these children survive for more than a month there?

POZZEBON: Yes, Petro -- yesterday, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro spoke a little bit about that, saying that he thanked the indigenous, brought up the indigenous education. We need to understand that these, forever young as they are also indigenous kids who are used to that type of terrain. They are used to the Amazon rainforest.

And moreover, the Colombian military has airdropped hundreds of survival kits in the last few weeks to try and make contact with them. We don't know exactly what kept them alive. However, you see, it is just an astonishing result, an astonishing achievement, frankly. Amara. Victor.

WALKER: Yes. Perhaps, survival kits played quite a critical role for them. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you very much.

Still ahead, a teenager rescues a baby deer that decided to take a dip in the family pool. The viral rescue. That video is next.

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[08:53:28]

WALKER: A 12-year-old boy jumps into action after a baby deer accidentally plunged into his backyard swimming pool.

BLACKWELL: And of course, his family recorded the rescue and it's gone viral. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope she'll fall in the pool. I'm going to have to go get her.

MOOS: To the rescue 12-year-old Anthony Masaitis.

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

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

GREG MASAITIS, ANTHONY MASAITIS' FATHER: But when you get her out, just let her go because the mother's not going to be happy. Go ahead.

MOOS: She fell in not just once, but twice. Anthony fished her out again.

MASAITIS: She was shivering.

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

MASAITIS: She could swim better than she could walk.

MOOS: She kept making noises as if calling mom.

MASAITIS: She was kind of like a meh, meh (ph).

G. MASAITIS: Let's get away from her. Let the mother come take care of her.

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

G. MASAITIS: Because she's looking for the mother.

MOOS (on camera): Did the mother ever show up?

G. MASAITIS: The mother? Yes. The mother did show up. Yes.

MOOS: Mother and Fawn reunited a couple of hours later. Posters kept saying it's like Tony's Soprano and his ducks.

[08:55:03]

A comparison Greg found funny. Tony in his bathrobe in his pool with the ducks.

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

MOOS: And when they actually did fly away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel depressed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since the ducks left.

MOOS: Tony had anxiety attack and collapsed.

MOOS (on camera): Neither one of you had anxiety attack. Right? MASAITIS: No.

MOOS (voiceover): The only anxious one here was the one without a leg to stand on. Jeannie Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Did she find the motha (ph)?

BLACKWELL: The motha (ph) came along.

WALKER: Pretty good.

BLACKWELL: Join us again in an hour.

WALKER: That was your time in New York. That's how you got it good. Smerconish is up next. We'll see you back here at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

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