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CNN This Morning
American Musician Detained In Russia On Drug Charges; Trump Attacks DOJ, Special Counsel Jack Smith In Wake Of Indictment; Unabomber Ted Kaczynski Dead At 81. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired June 11, 2023 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Sunday morning. Good to have you along for it. Good morning. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is June 11th. I'm Victor Blackwell.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for spending a part of your morning with us and my son's third birthday. He's obviously not watching but --
BLACKWELL: How do you know?
WAKLER: Because I spy on my children all the time and I'm checking the best.
BLACKWELL: OK. OK. All right.
WAKLER: All right. Well, here's what we are watching this morning. Russia says it has detained an American citizen on drug charges. What we know about him and the charges he's facing.
BLACKWELL: Former President Trump is back on the campaign trail and taking direct aim at the Justice Department and the Special Counsel. What he's saying about Jack Smith and the indictment and his plan even if he's convicted?
WAKLER: New details this morning on the for indigenous children rescued after spending 40 days in the Amazon rainforest, including what they ate to stay alive.
Plus, what we're hearing from doctors on their recovery.
BLACKWELL: And the news of a partnership between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf shocked the sports world and angered the families of 9/11 victims. The new reporting on the reason the PGA Tour says it had no choice but to pursue a deal. That's just ahead.
We're beginning with the developing news that of Russia. An American citizen has been detained in Moscow. A court there says that Travis Leake was arrested on drug charges. WAKLER: Now, CNN has reached out to Leake's family and his mother confirmed that her son had been detained. Leake is a musician living in Moscow. CNN's Jennifer Hansler is following the story for us this morning. Hi there, Jennifer. What more do we know about these charges against Leake?
JENNIFER HANSLEY, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, good morning, Victor and Amara. We know that this court in Moscow has accused Travis Leake of drug trafficking and that they say he will remain detained there until at least August. Now we know this comes at a time of really high tensions between the United States and Russia. It is a time where they have detained numerous American citizens, two of whom have been publicly declared as wrongfully detained by the State Department.
That's Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan. And of course, you will remember that Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was freed last year in a prisoner swap was accused of drug trafficking. Now reportedly, Travis Leake told police that he did not know what he was accused of. He did not know why he was being detained. We asked the U.S. State Department about his detention. They did not confirm his name.
There are a number of privacy laws that govern when they can say someone's name, but they did say they were aware of reports of a U.S. citizen who had been arrested in Moscow. And they also noted that as they do. Whenever an American is detained abroad, they were working to provide consular access, and they will try to provide all appropriate consular assistance in this case.
BLACKWELL: Coincidentally, Travis Leake spoke with the late Anthony Bourdain almost a decade ago for an episode of Parts Unknown in Moscow and St. Petersburg. He was outspoken then about his frustrations with censorship in Russia. Tell us about that.
HANSLER: Well, that's right, Victor. He spoke with our own CNN the late Anthony Bourdain, and he talked about an incident that had happened between his band and MTV. Take a listen to what he said.
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TRAVIS LEAKE, MUSICIAN: This was a documentary series about musicians standing up and risking their lives in some cases, stand up against government abuse of power, government corruption. And yet a foreign government was able to editorially control what American viewers see on their T.V. screens. That to me is a scandal of epic proportions.
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HANSLER: And now a CNN producer who had worked on that show said that Travis was outspoken even back then, almost 10 years ago about the need for freedom of speech and the state of repression there in Russia. So, we will be watching and waiting to see what else we can learn about Travis Leake's case. Victor, Amara?
WAKLER: I'm sure we'll be hearing more. Jennifer Hansler, thank you for staying on top of that. Well, he is back on the campaign trail and of course on the attack.
Donald Trump slams the federal indictment against him during campaign rallies here in Georgia and North Carolina. He calls it a political hit job.
BLACKWELL: Trump faces 37 counts stemming from the classified documents investigation. He's due in court in Miami Tuesday to hear the charges against him. The former president tells Politico that he does not anticipate taking a plea deal and he vows to stay in the race even if he is convicted. He took aim at Special Counsel Jack Smith once again calling him deranged and calling the indictment a joke.
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CNN National Correspondent Kristen Holmes has more on the indictment and Trump's response.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Amara, former President Trump using a bulk of his speech to talk about that federal indictment when he was speaking to the GOP Georgia convention. Calling it a joke saying it was terrible for the country going after Jack Smith. Stuff we have seen him put out on Truth Social but most of it being the first time we actually heard it. Take a listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration's weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country.
Jack Smith, what do you think his name used to be? I don't know. Does anybody -- Jacks Smith. Sounds so innocent. He's deranged. This is a political hit job.
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HOLMES: And that was just a small snippet of what he said. He also gave reasons why he couldn't have been doing something bad, he went after Joe Biden. I said it was unfair that he, Trump was being prosecuted and not Biden. And it was very clear that these legal issues were hanging over him. And he spent the majority of his speech talking about them, not just the federal indictment, but the multiple legal battles that he faces.
And while he may be somewhat consumed by them, the people here in the audience did not seem to care. They cheered him on. I spoke to voters who said that they were happy that he was running in 2024, that they planned on voting for him. That none of this made a difference. Now, obviously, this is just a sect of the Republican Party. I've spoken to a number of Republicans who are deeply concerned about that federal indictment.
But here in Georgia, it was not that reaction. Now. I also want to point out just a video of Trump after he spoke him at a Waffle House meeting with locals. And someone in that video in particular, Walt Nauta. His body man, his aide who was charged alongside Trump in that conspiracy case. We had had some questions about what exactly Nauta would do, what would happen after he was charged. As of now looks as though he is staying by Trump's side. Victor and Amara?
BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you so much, Kristen. Joining us now is New York Times congressional reporter Luke Broadwater. Luke, thanks for joining us this morning. So, you are the congressional (INAUDIBLE) with Congress. And the reaction there to this indictment. The chairman of the House Judiciary, Jim Jordan has now asked for documents from the -- from the Justice Department relating to the scope of this special counsel's authority.
He hit a wall when he was trying to investigate Alex Bragg because of the state case. What is the plan here from -- or Alvin Bragg, I should say? What's the plan here for the congressional element to defend and support the president?
LUKE BROADWATER, THE NEW YORK TIMES CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Right. On the House side, the House Republicans especially the leadership of the House, and the committee chairmen are lining up all around Donald Trump and they're rallying around him. You're seeing statement after statement come out in support of Donald Trump and attacking Merrick Garland, Jack Smith, the FBI and the Department of Justice.
And the Judiciary Committee has already demanded documents and records and communications about this special counsel investigation. You know, it's quite possible that they will get no such records, or very limited records. They only have access to certain materials. For instance, usually the Justice Department will not give them anything regarding an ongoing or active case.
But they can try to make Jack Smith's life miserable. They can condemn him publicly, they can inundate him with subpoenas or demands for records. And they can try to restrict funding to the Justice Department or the FBI in retaliation. So, there are some things Congress can do to fight on behalf for Trump. But they cannot stop this case from moving forward. That as well outside their power.
BLACKWELL: So we've heard from Jim Jordan, we've heard from Matt Gaetz. And really those House Republicans that one typically hears from in defense of the former president. How representative of the broader Republican conference, are these outspoken members? Are there some whom typically you would expect to hear from that you're not now?
BROADWATER: Right. On the House side, it's correct that I think most of the House Republicans and certainly the leadership are rallying behind Trump. On the Senate side, we're seeing a different story. Senator Mitch McConnell has said nothing so far in defense of Trump. Same with the number two Senator John Thune.
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And you've seen some senators even speak out against what Trump has done in this case or is alleged to have done including Mitt Romney.
The former standard bearer for the Republican Party. Now, perhaps that's not surprising because Mitt Romney has become somewhat of a critic of Donald Trump in recent years. But I will note that Mitt Romney was critical of the New York case against Donald Trump followed by Mr. Bragg as you mentioned earlier. But this time he's not. He is saying if -- what if Donald Trump is alleged to have done in this indictment he actually did, then that posed a grave threat to our national security.
BLACKWELL: Did the indictment -- the release of the indictment change any trend from what we heard earlier in the week? If everyone remembers, we first heard that the former president received the target letter of the investigation that -- and there was a lot of reaction to that before the actual unsealing of the indictment. What do we know about any trends congressionally from the degree of maybe support we saw or heard?
BROADWATER: Well, there were a number of people who early on said, I want to see the evidence, show me the facts first. Let's see what's actually in the indictment. And then once the indictment came out and presented, you know, all -- this lengthy case against Donald Trump with recordings of his own words and witness interviews were recording people who talk directly to Donald Trump.
I think that put a lot more facts on the table and allowed people to either shore up their minds and how they felt about the case or come forward and make an opinion. We did hear Don Bacon, Republican who's sort of a centrist or moderate from Nebraska come forward and say after reading the indictment that he now had grave concerns about the national security that was put at risk in this case, according to him.
So, you know, I think that people who did read the indictment, at least some of them, were then giving Jack Smith more credit because of the evidence that it contained.
BLACKWELL: Luke, did a little fact checking for us or at least offer some context. We heard from the former president at the Georgia GOP convention, an accusation of reference to 1850 documents. Similar to what he said during the CNN Town Hall several weeks ago. We'll play it and then on the other side, I want just some facts and some clarity. Here you go.
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TRUMP: Biden's got 1850 boxes, he's got boxes in Chinatown, D.C. He's got boxes all over the place. He doesn't know what the hell to do with them and he's fighting them on the boxes. He doesn't want to give the boxes and then they say Trump is obstruction and he's obstructing.
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BLACKWELL: OK. So clear that up for us. These 1850 boxes that the former president is referencing and the role they play in the context of his indictment.
BROADWATER: Yes, sure. So, Joe Biden, from his time - -from his time as a senator did donate about 1800 boxes to the University of Delaware. They have a collection of his records as a senator there at Delaware. A key distinction here is that senators are governed by a different set of laws than a former president. A former president's records become the property of the United States after he leaves office.
Unlike a senators. A senator is free to donate their records to a museum or to a university in this case. The Justice Department has looked through those records. That's my understanding, and that they -- and they have a special counsel appointed to investigate both cases, whether Joe Biden, you know, violated any classified records laws. So, you know, that matter is under investigation.
We do know, Joe Biden did have some classified records in places who shouldn't have them, including, you know, his garage and Delaware. But a key distinction in the two cases is what the subject did after learning about the classified records. Did he immediately alert the authorities, have them collected and allow them to search for more or did he try to hide obfuscate and in the Justice Department's allegation obstruct the investigation which is what the Justice Department alleges that Donald Trump did here.
BRAODWATER: Yes. Some important distinctions. Luke Broadwater, thank you.
And tonight, make sure to watch The Whole Story. Indicted: The Case Against Trump to learn more about the criminal charges, the Trump team reaction and what comes next. The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. on CNN.
WAKLER: A man known as the Unabomber who unleashed a nearly two-decade long bombing campaign from his shack in Montana has died.
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Federal authorities say Ted Kaczynski was found dead in a cell at a North Carolina prison early yesterday morning. And CNN's Polo Sandoval reports the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): New and infamously as the Unabomber. Ted Kaczynski was serving eight life sentences for his 17-year deadly reign of terror when he died Saturday. Prison officials tell CNN the ailing 81-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell overnight. His cause of death not yet released.
In December 2021. Kaczynski was transferred to a federal medical facility in Butner, North Carolina used to house inmates with health conditions.
ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: I think it's very important for transparency reasons to fully understand the circumstances around the death. But I would caution speculation at this point. We don't really have any reason to believe anything untoward happened here just yet.
SANDOVAL (voiceover): Andrew McCabe is a former FBI deputy director who was with the Bureau as agents close the Unabomber case. It was in 1978 when because Kaczynski started his campaign of violence by leaving a mail bomb in a parking lot at the Chicago University. He would go on to plant explosives on an airplane, university buildings and by computer stores. He also mailed powerful bombs to university professors and business executives.
By the time he was arrested in 1996, his 16 devices killed three innocent people and injured 23 others. His own words published in a manifesto were what eventually led FBI agents to his off the grid primitive cabin in the woods of Montana, tipped off by Kaczynski's own brother.
MCCABE: He pursued this bombing campaign as a way of striking back against technological advancement, which he believed was damaging the environment in ways that needed to be stopped.
SANDOVAL (voiceover): Before becoming prolific bomber, Kaczynski was a high school honor student in Illinois, who enrolled at Harvard at just 16. It was during his college years, Ted Kaczynski took a dark turn or called his brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted was withdrawn. That wasn't the desire to come home and enjoy the family.
SANDOVAL (voiceover): As part of a deal with prosecutors to dodge the death penalty Kaczynski admitted to the bombings and was sent to Colorado supermax prison where he remained until his medical transfer. At the time of Kaczynski 1998 sentencing, the widow of victim Gil Murray wrote he will never ever kill again.
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SANDOVAL (on camera): It as we hope to learn more about the circumstances surrounding Kaczynski's death. The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirming that they located him in his cell unresponsive. Staff there quickly initiated what they described as life-saving measures, EMS and transported him to the hospital, Victor and Amara and that is where the convicted bomber was pronounced dead.
WAKLER: Polo Sandoval, thank you. We are learning new details about the four children rescued from the Amazon jungle what officials are saying about their recovery and how they survived for so long in the wilderness.
BLACKWELL: Plus, the PGA Tour it says it had no choice but to pursue a partnership with LIV Golf. The reasons they give for the deal and what this means for both organizations and pro-golf overall.
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WAKLER: This morning, the Vatican says Pope Francis will not deliver today's Angelus prayer in public but will instead pray the Angelus in private as he remains hospitalized following abdominal surgery last week. According to the Pope's surgeon, he is doing fine and following a careful recovery program aimed at causing less strain on his abdominal wall,
BLACKWELL: The surgeon added that Pope Francis is starting to eat semi-solid food, he's not experiencing any heart problems or respiratory issues. The Pope is expected to stay in the hospital throughout the rest of the week as doctors has continued to evaluate his recovery.
We have some new details this morning about the four children found alive in the Amazon and how they survived for more than a month after that plane crash.
WAKLER: So here's what we know. According to the Colombian military, the children ages 39, four and a one-year-old were malnourished by the time they were found, but they stayed alive by eating cassava flour. Let's go now to CNN Steffano Pozzebon live this morning in Bogota, Colombia. What else do we know, Steffano about how these children stayed alive. And I'd imagine that the cassava flour came from those survival kits that were dropped by the military?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN REPORTER: Actually, no, Amara. Surprisingly, it was -- it was really surprising yesterday when we talked with an uncle of the family who told us that they were traveling in their plane, you know, you remember they were traveling with their mother and the two other adults on May 1st. The plane crashed at about 7:00 a.m. in the morning, in the middle of the Colombian rainforest.
The three adults unfortunately died in the crash. And the kids left at the crash area to try find -- make contact with the search and rescue team. They had some cassava flour. We call it farina here in in Colombia and in the Brazilian Amazon. And it's what's most indigenous populations eat on their daily basis. And the uncle said that they had them on the -- on their plane. It lasted for a few weeks.
And then they started eating just the fruit and seeds from the forest itself. It was astonishing to hear from a Special Forces military operator that told us that they don't think that the survival kits actually reached them. And they were only able to locate them once the kids stopped moving around in the forest. So once they reached that stage, they were so tired and weak that they stopped in a cleared area away from trees and the actual search and rescue teams could find them.
So an astonishing developments here in Colombia, Victor, Amara?
BLACKWELL: So what are you hearing about their recovery?
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We're seeing some video of -- I think that's the president there visiting at least one of the children. What do you know about their health?
POZZEBON: Yes. This is the president, Gustavo Petro. He arrived yesterday on Saturday in the -- in the -- in the hospital. The families saying that they expected the children to stay in hospital between two and three weeks. Of course, they're also receiving some psychological support. We can only imagine how their state of mind is affected after such an experience. But it's heartening to see kids that are willing to play.
Take a listen to what the director of the Colombian Children Welfare Institute told us just yesterday.
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ASTRID CACERES, DIRECTOR, COLOMBIAN INSTITUTE OF CHILDREN WELFARE, ICBF (through translator): Lesly smiled at us. She hugged us and told us about the puppy. Tien is really in the mood to play. He's bored of being in bed and he wants to go out for a walk. He's very happy, but he has a fear of needles. He keeps asking when we'll remove these tubes and we explained to him that we're headed in that direction. He loves to play. He wants to go out and he wants to read. So the books are going to be wonderful for them.
Cristian is the most beautiful and sweet girl. You'll meet her later on. Let her recuperate. They have their education guaranteed because we made a deal with the President to heal and protect these children for the rest of their lives.
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POZZEBON: Just for context, Cristian is the one-year-old baby. She spent her birthday in the middle of the jungle. She turned one just a couple of weeks ago. Amara?
WAKLER: What an incredible story and just reminder how resilient children can be. Steffano Pozzebon, appreciate your reporting. Thank you.
Turning now to Russia's war on Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for international support to help rescue victims left in Russian-occupied areas after last week's devastating dam collapse in southern Ukraine.
BLACKWELL: But the fighting on the front line of the war continues and maybe this is the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Ukraine's military says its forces have advanced nearly a mile in the eastern city of Bakhmut over the past day.
CNN's Sam Kiley is live in Kyiv with more on this. Give us the latest, Sam.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Victor, Amara, the fighting in southeast of Bakhmut is consistent with what's been going on now for about a week. They claimed to have advanced about a mile in the last 24, 36 hours. This is the Ukrainian forces. Prior to that they claimed to have advanced some 3-1/2 kilometers, about two miles. So, they are making significant gains there which soldiers and officers on the ground really described as part of the tactical change rather than the wider counteroffensive that has been much vaunted over the last months or so in the Bakhmut area. But I think what we're seeing in Zaporizhzhia is clearly part of the shaping operations. In other words, the counteroffensive is already underway at a small scale involving lots of disparate activities. One of the more dramatic developments over the last week and been -- definitely increasing over the last few days have been these attacks conducted by Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia region which is a frontline that runs east west between the Russian-held city of Donetsk and the Zaporizhzhia is still in Ukrainian hands.
A very heavily fortified frontline. Very powerful Russian defense is there. A lot of effort clearly been put in by the Ukrainians to try to probe and find weaknesses along that front line with -- for the idea of possible exploitation in the future. And of course, recently, we've also seen those raids conducted by Ukrainian-backed Russian dissidents into Russian territory itself.
All of that adding up to the shaping operations whilst that kind of ongoing battle in Bakhmut may or may not provide a strategic advantage if the Ukrainians can continue to keep that momentum up, that may well developed into a much more significant fight over the coming days and weeks.
BLACKWELL: Sam Kiley for us there in Kyiv. Thank you, Sam.
WAKLER: The PGA Tour faces backlash after a partnership with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf. Now the tour's commissioner is speaking out about why he made the very controversial decision.
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BLACKWELL: New Mexico lawyers say they've reached a $500 million settlement with Walgreens in March over the pharmacy chain's role in distributing highly addictive prescription painkillers. Plaintiff say Walgreens failed to red-flag prescriptions that were not needed for medical use and continue to fill red-flag prescriptions.
As part of the settlement agreement, Walgreens has to pay to help remedy the opioid addiction in the state. The settlement brings the total to $1 billion in state-won damages for opioid litigation against major drug retailers. CDC data showed that nearly 75 percent of drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved in opioid.
WALKER: The North Carolina Republican Party has voted to formally censure Senator Thom Tillis at the party's annual convention in Greensboro. At least one delegate said their decision was based on Tillis' support for last year's same-sex marriage law and bipartisan immigration reform. The vote came on the same day former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the convention. Former North Carolina Republican Governor Pat McCrory condemned yesterday's vote. It's only the latest example of a Republican lawmaker being censured by their state-level Republican organization in recent years.
BLACKWELL: A source tell CNN that WNBA player Brittany Griner was harassed by a man described as a social media provocateur in Dallas yesterday morning. The source says that Griner and her team were on the way to a game when a staffer for a right-wing website started yelling at her. The confrontation got so heated the man was eventually tackled to the ground and law enforcement got involved. Griner has not publicly commented on that incident. The WNBA has released a statement saying that the league remains committed to the highest standard of security for players.
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The head of pro golf's PGA Tour has bluntly admitted it is partnering with the Saudi-based LIV Golf series because it "couldn't afford to keep battling Saudi Arabia. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has been criticized for flip-flopping after initially criticizing LIV, which signed many PGA players, including film Greg Norman, paying them millions of dollars.
Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Monahan said that dispute cost the PGA Tour tens of millions of dollars, but "we cannot compete with the foreign government with unlimited money." Critics say LIV is a Saudi effort to sport-wash its human rights image tarnished by such things as the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Joining me now to discuss this is curt Sampson, a contributor to Golf Digest, an author of Roaring Back:" The Fall and Rise of Tiger Woods. Kurt, great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us. Extremely shocking. I mean, that's not even an understatement, right? Especially you have -- having this about-face from the PGA Commissioner who was very vocal in his criticism against the Saudi government. And now, this. I mean, tell me more about the reaction that's still coming in from the golf world.
CURT SAMPSON, CONTRIBUTOR, GOLD DIGEST: It's not good. I believe the hypocrisy is so deep and wide that people are -- all of us in golf are shaking our heads about this. The moral stands that we're taking now seem to have been completely bogus. And money has won out again. It's not a good look right at the moment.
WALKER: No, absolutely not. Tell us more though about this decision because it seems like these talks were held in secret. The players were -- sounded like they were quite blindsided. But what did Monahan mean by saying that he had no choice but to merge with, you know, the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour?
SAMPSON: I think on the legal front, Amara, that the world's greatest antitrust lawyers were telling the tour that they were not going to win the various lawsuits from such as Phil Mickelson. It's kind of murky legal territory about what a private contractor is and is not in terms of working with the PGA tour. So, that was one thing.
Another though is the blending of the three tours. On the -- you don't -- no one saw that coming except for those of us old enough to remember the mergers in pro basketball NBA, ABA, and long ago pro football and even longer ago professional baseball. So, that's the way it's been with rival leagues through history. They tended to join. They merge. WALKER: You know, this act of sports washing about the Saudi
government. I mean, it's -- it continues to, you know, be an action, right? I mean, this is about the Saudi government trying to improve its image, you know, through sports despite its, you know, horrible human rights record and its abuses, including the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post reporter.
The Saudi government, the kingdom hasn't able to lure with its, you know, very deep pockets some really famous world-famous players like Cristiano Ronaldo. We're talking about another sport now, soccer. But as you said, it's a bad book, isn't it? Because the Saudis keep winning because money talks. And where does it stop them?
SAMPSON: Where it stops? I don't know. The other sports, there's chatter about this -- the public investment fund buying an NBA team, for example. I think they're a great counter move, a way to change the conversation might be for these this blended entity that's going to generate so much income and has already paid players astronomical sums.
I'd like to see them have an increased focus on charity as they do on the PGA tour, which raises money for schools and hospitals, junior golf and so on. This would be the time for them to announce their initiative to cure cancer or Alzheimer's or something. They're badly in need of a PR win, in my opinion.
WALKER: What's it going to look like though when now you have these defectors like Phil Mickelson who, you know, is still receiving a lot of backlash versus a Rory McIlroy who turned down these offers and, you know, has been on the record to say that he actually hates LIV. How is that going to work in terms of the tensions between the players?
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SAMPSON: Boy, I can't -- I can't wait to see. I think they're trying to smooth things by giving the players who did not affect -- defect an equity stake in the new organization and that will help. But gosh, the money is just the conversation. I read just now that the top 10 players made between $110 million and $50 million last year.
And the money is singularly off-putting for those of us, the three- five million of us who play golf for fun. I'm highly annoyed at Monahan and Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus when they blow the -- pardon me -- about what's for the good of the game. They don't get to say. They are not the game. They purport to own it sometimes but they're only the top sliver, the entertainment portion of our game which is a participant sport.
WALKER: I wish we had more time, Curt, especially to talk about how this, you know, will change the golf landscape, but we'll leave it there. Curt Sampson, thank you very much. Back after this.
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[06:45:00] BLACKWELL: President Biden praised the extraordinary courage of LGBTQ Americans and acknowledged the discrimination and violence the community still faces. At a White House event commemorating Pride yesterday, the president touted his administration's efforts to fight gun violence toward the LGBTQ-plus community.
WALKER: And he urged Congress to pass the Equality Act which would protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
CNN's Jasmine Wright joining us now from the White House lawn. Hi, Jasmine. Good morning. Tell us more about Biden's speech and his initiatives.
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, President Biden's Pride event was a concerted effort by the White House not only to support the LGBTQ-plus community, but it was also really to draw contrast with the Republicans who have been passing these bills across the country really targeting the same community. And we saw that really reflected in the president's remarks yesterday when he spoke in front of the crowd that included survivors of shootings at gay nightclubs as well as transgender rights activists.
Now, one thing that he focused on very quickly here was really disavowing and vowing that his administration would counter these types of more restrictive and targeting laws passed around the country including ones that would allow business owners to discriminate against folks in the LGBT community based on religious beliefs. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know -- we know real change and real challenges still remain. When a person can be married in the morning and thrown out of a restaurant for being gay in the afternoon, something is still very wrong in America. I want to send a message to the entire community especially to transgender children. You are loved. You are heard. You are understood and you belong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WRIGHT: Now, President Biden also in those remarks, he ticked through initiatives that his administration has put in place trying to protect the LGBT community, and that included just as recently as Friday appointing an official within the Department of Education who will monitor and address the growing number of local bans on books with references to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people among the list of other initiatives that you see on your screen here.
Now, we also heard from the First Lady Joe Biden who said, and I quote, that this country is caught between the push and pull of progress. And I think that that's really representative of how the White House feels about their support for the LGBT community and face of this difficult time that the community is facing.
Now, we also heard President Biden call for the Equality Act, but we know that the equality act in addition to some gun rights bills that he wants to see passed have a slim chance of being passed in this current congressional makeup. Victor, Amara?
BLACKWELL: All right, Jasmine. I wish someone had told me. I would have worn my bright fuchsia suit too.
WALKER: Jasmine and I, we're on the same page.
BLACKWELL: I mean, was there -- was there --
WRIGHT: Pride Month. Hello!
WALKER: Apparently, he wasn't aware, Jasmine.
BLACKWELL: Yes, I'm the one who doesn't know it's Pride Month. Will you text me on something I missed? Y'all look great though. All right --
WALKER: Thanks, Jasmine. Good to see you.
MMA fighter Conor McGregor took on the Miami Heat's mascot and the mascot got way more than it could have ever bargained for.
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WALKER: The Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from winning the Stanley Cup for the first time.
BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes is here with us now. Tough times I guess for South Florida fans.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, I guess being down three one is just the thing to do right now in South Florida, I guess. Yes, you got the heat down 3-1 to the Nuggets in the NBA finals. Now, you got the Panthers down 3-1 to the Golden Knights. And history not on their side. Only one team in NHL history has ever come back from a three-one deficit in that Stanley Cup final.
And the Golden Knights just taken air out of the building right away last night. Chandler Stephenson beating Sergei Bobrovsky here to put the Knights up one to nothing less than two minutes into the game. Stephenson had two goals in this one. Vegas was up three to nothing before surrendering back-to-back goals, nearly caught up the lead in the final seconds. But Adin Hill coming up huge, stopped a couple of great shots just before the horn.
And it was so intense at the end. All the players just started fighting as that final horn went off. But Vegas holds on to win three to two to take commanding 3-1 series lead with a chance to clench the title at home.
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CHANDLER STEPHENSON, CENTER, VEGAS GOLDEN NIGHTS: There's a lot of emotion, a lot of everything. You know, I think being at home too, you know, the fans, everybody's going to be into it. Emotion is going to be high, adrenaline, you know, everything. So, I think the biggest thing is, you know, just composed and just shift by shift. I mean, you know, it's all the cliches. But you know, I feel confident.
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SCHOLES: Golden Knights can lift the cup for the very first time Tuesday night in Vegas. Puck drops at 8:00 Eastern on TNT.
All right, it's safe to say the Heat mascot Burnie is not going to be asking for a rematch with Conor McGregor. So, they played a little skit during a timeout at game four where Burnie approached McGregor in a boxing rope, McGregor knocked him out with a left hook, then punched him again on the ground. McGregor then sprayed some of the pain relief spray he was promoting on Burnie.
But it turned -- it turns out, guys, poor Burnie was hurt. They dragged him off, but he was actually injured, went to the emergency room. According to The Athletic, Burnie received some pain medication and was sitting home. He's doing well now. But I imagine mascots around the country are looking at this and saying, you know, despite me wearing a giant head, let's not play anymore skits with professional fighters.
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BLACKWELL: Yes, they're reviewing contracts. Like, you're not -- OK, I'm not doing that. I don't care if you -- if it has a pain spray.
WALKER: I mean, look at the way he punched him, McGregor. I mean, that was -- that was a lot of --
BLACKWELL: It might have been the second one.
SCHOLES: I don't know if pain sprays work on mascots.
BLACKWELL: No. They do not. No. It's the fur.
WALKER: It's the costume.
SCHOLES: Yes, the penetrate.
BLACKWELL. Thank you, Andy.
All right, Russia says it has detained an American musician. Next, what we know about the charges he's facing.
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