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CNN This Morning

Record Number Of Americans Expected To Travel For Fourth Of July Holiday; More Than 1,300 Arrested In France As Riots Rage For Fourth Day; Biden Announces New Efforts To Provide Student Debt Relief After Court Loss; Ukraine Claims Progress But Gains Appear Marginal; Actors Delay Strike Against Studios And Streaming Services; Fred VanVleet Reportedly To Sign With Rockets. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 01, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:23]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Saturday July 1st.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Already? What?

BLACKWELL: Second half of 2023. Get ready. I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you.

WALKER: Good to be with you, Victor. I'm Amara Walker. And it really feels like I say this every year but this year went by faster than previous years.

BLACKWELL: It's almost Christmas.

WALKER: Will you not talk about that?

BLACKWELL: It's almost Christmas.

WALKER: Not it's not.

BLACKWELL: Let's just own it.

WALKER: You can say that in October.

BLACKWELL: OK. All right.

WALKER: We're only in July. Thank you for being with us this weekend on this holiday weekend. As a matter of fact, here's what we are watching for you this morning. It is going to be a searing hot holiday weekend across parts of the country with temperatures in some places that will feel like 110 degrees. We've got to look at your holiday forecast and how the nation's airlines are working to get back on track after a surge of travelers and days of delay.

BLACKWELL: More than 1,000 people have been detained in France after a fourth night of protests after the death of a teenager at the hands of police. We'll take you live to Paris.

WALKER: Thousands of Hollywood actors will stay off the picket lines for now after their union postponed plans to strike the impact these strikes are having on businesses that rely on these productions coming up.

BLACKWELL: And when you look at this, come and look at this.

WALKER: What?

BLACKWELL: A petite purse with this huge price tag. Look at the center of that finger right there. The story behind this tiny bag that costs probably more than your car.

WALKER: I'm confused. Why are we showing that finger?

BLACKWELL: Because do we have the picture to put back up? It's because the purse is in the middle of the finger. See that tiny green dot? They're calling that a handbag and by handbag? It fits on one finger on your hand.

WALKER: That's what a handbag if you can put your cell phone.

BLACKWELL: I don't know what call that but it's tens of thousands of dollars. Wait to hear that.

WALKER: Oh my goodness.

BLACKWELL: OK.

WALKER: I missed that part. All right. Well, on this busy holiday travel weekend, flight delays and cancellations continue to impact fliers looking to get there to their holiday destinations. On Friday, airlines canceled 500 flights with most of those flights being from United Airlines. The TSA projects to screen over 17.7 million people over the long holiday weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Super busy. Super packed. Tensions are high.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew how it was going to be there's going to be long lines, a long way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early, very early, only the -- only to be told that our flight was delayed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now on the road, AAA estimates a record number of 43.2 million people will drive to their destinations. And now on the weather front, it's going to be really hot for a lot of people. Others could have their Fourth of July parties washed out by storms or choked out by the smoke from those wildfires. We're joined now by CNN Allison Chinchar. Some people are waking up to severe weather this morning. What are you seeing? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, we've already got some warnings that are active, at least on the front end of some of these storms, most of them being across portions of the Midwest, specifically the Ohio River Valley where we've got a severe thunderstorm warning, the lot of lightnings.

If you've got travel plans, say in and around St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, you may encounter some delays both in the air all and on the roads over the next hour or so is that first round pushes through. But this is going to be multiple rounds. For some of these areas, you're going to get another flare up yet again this afternoon and into the evening hours, not just across the Midwest.

But then we also start to see another round begin on Sunday across the southeastern tier of the U.S. as well as the Mid Atlantic. So you're going to have multiple rounds here. And not just the fact that it's going to rain, but the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms as well places like St. Louis, Louisville stretching down to Nashville, looking at damaging winds, large hail and a few isolated tornadoes.

So if you have travel plans throughout any of these airports, or expect to be driving through the cities, keep in mind to expect some delays today then by tomorrow, the same system just begins to shift a little bit farther to the east now more impactful across portions of the Mid Atlantic than areas of the Ohio Valley.

But we also have these other two sections here out to the West, including cities like Denver, and Amarillo that also have the potential for some severe storms. Heat is also going to be another big story.

Still looking at areas across the south, although it has shifted a little bit farther east taking the focus away necessarily from Texas and putting it more across states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and then in brand new heat threat for portions of the West.

[06:06:05]

But we begin in the eastern portion. Take a look at this when you combine the temperature with that humidity, Dallas going to still feel like triple digits today, New Orleans looking into the low triple digits out to the West. Those temperatures are hotter from that keep some of these areas up to 115.

WALKER: Whoa. All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you for that.

So speaking of traveling, United Airlines has taken the brunt of the flight disruptions leading up to this holiday weekend. In the past week, United Airlines canceled more than 3,000 flights and now that things seem to be improving. The airlines CEO was issuing an apology, but not for the canceled flights.

BLACKWELL: Yes, he's apologizing for taking a private jet from New Jersey to Denver on Wednesday. The same day United canceled 751 flights across the country. Here's CNN Pete Muntean. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): From Chicago to California, July 4th travelers remain undaunted after thousands of trips melted down this week. United Airlines canceled the most flights of any carrier accounting for 40 percent of all cancellations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a bit ridiculous, and I'm hoping that my bag is here.

MUNTEAN: United says it's grateful to its customers who endured a lot of disruptions, many became separated from their check bags. United now acknowledges its operational issues after CEO Scott Kirby put the blame on FAA air traffic controller shortages in New York.

United Workers who are stranded with passengers across the country are pushing back.

SARA NELSON, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: It is ridiculous to say this is only the FAA. T

MUNTEAN: The good news says Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is that cancellations are down compared to last year.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There need to be more resources for air traffic control. But it is important for airlines to create enough cushion and resilience in the system.

MUNTEAN: Despite delays, Friday stands to set a new post-pandemic record for air travel. The Transportation Security Administration says it will screen 2.82 million passengers nationwide rivaling an all-time record set in 2019.

ANDREW GROSS, AAA SPOKESPERSON: It's going to be big this year.

MUNTEAN: Though the majority of travel this holiday will be by car. AAA says in total 50 million people will travel 50 miles or more the highest in 18 years. A gallon of gas cost an average of $1.30 Less than a year ago. The second biggest one year drop in more than three decades. One silver lining on the roads after struggles in the skies.

GROSS: Be prepared, expect delays, expect cancellations.

MUNTEAN (on camera): The numbers are already huge at the world's busiest airport in Atlanta became even busier than normal on Friday morning. Over a five hour period, TSA screened 31,000 people there but this rush is far from over. The TSA says when it's all said and done it'll screen 17.7 million people in total at airport checkpoints here and at airports across the country. That includes next week when everybody begins coming home. The next big test for airlines. Victor. Amara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Pete Muntean for us there and just check in flight aware now the very latest of delays within into or out of the U.S., 581, that number for cancellation, so far 104 early start to the day. We'll continue to keep you updated on the numbers.

Now let's focus on driving. If you are hitting the roads this holiday weekend, traffic might be heavy prices for gas might be a bright spot.

WALKER: All right. I look good news for you this morning. So the average price of gas is $3.51 per gallon. And as Christine Romans explains it's a massive price drop from this time last year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Victor, Amara, good news for drivers stuck in holiday traffic this weekend expect cheaper prices at the pump. Gas this Fourth of July will cost a staggering $1.30 less per gallon than last year. That's a huge plunge and one of the biggest one year price drops on record. That also means drivers are spending $20 less per fill up on average.

This is a big reversal from last Fourth of July, gas prices were near record high with oil prices rising over fear that Russia's war in Ukraine would disrupt global supply. Russia is the world's second biggest exporter of oil. But despite Western sanctions, that disruption hasn't come to pass and oil prices have dropped this year as the Federal Reserve wages its war on inflation.

Now there is concern that fight will slow the U.S. economy and demand. Still, this is good news for your pocketbook and part of a broader cooldown for consumer prices. Data released on Friday showed the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge the PCE index, once again cooled in May, hitting the lowest level in two years. Victor, Amara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Christine, thanks. More than 1000 people have been detained in France during a fourth straight night of protests over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year old boy.

[06:10:00]

Demonstrators have set fires and burn cars and destroyed government buildings in several cities as more than 45,000 policemen have been mobilized across France to try to keep peace.

WALKER: In an effort to lower the tensions, French president Emmanuel Macron has called on social media platforms Snapchat and Tiktok to remove the most sensitive content and identify users who call for disorder or exacerbate violence. CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Paris at the latest. Nic, what can you tell us?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DEPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, there were more detentions last night 1311. But there were fewer police injured and there were more police on the streets 45,000 compared to 40,000 the previous night and the police had more heavily armored vehicles at their disposal.

Also, the French government have banned large social gatherings across the country and pulled all buses and trams off the streets of the country from 9: p.m. last night, the numbers of fires, the numbers of attacks across the country were down from the previous nights, 26 government buildings attacked, 24 schools attacked. But overall those numbers were down.

Paris not quite the epicenter of the violence. They have been previously much stronger violence in Marseille, the Mediterranean port city of the south and also Lyon in essentially the country where there were gunshots fired there. In fact, two police officers, the Ministry of Interior says were injured by those gunshots. Another couple of police officers there heavily bruised as well in those confrontations.

The overall trend seems to be down overnight last night, but then the government's had a much stronger security presence, much stronger controls in place. And today, of course in the next couple of hours in the suburb of Paris, Nanterre where Nahel died. The 17 year old teenager died right here. Actually, he will be buried today. There will be a service at a mosque and who is probably going to be taken to the cemetery later this afternoon.

BLACKWELL: All right, Nic Robertson for us there in Paris. Nic, thanks so much.

The President says he is not giving up on canceling some student loan debt. The new plan the White House has announced after a stinging defeat at the Supreme Court.

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[06:16:30]

BLACKWELL: President Biden has now laid out plan B to provide student loan relief to millions of borrowers.

WALKER: His previous plan was blocked yesterday by the Supreme Court and a six to three decision, that rejected program aimed to forgive up to $20,000 in relief to those struggling with outstanding debt. CNN White House reporter Jasmine Wright joining us now. Good morning to you, Jasmine.

So what more do we know about this new plan that Biden laid out right after this ruling came down?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHTIE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Amara. Well, yesterday, President Biden made it very clear that he felt the Supreme Court misinterpreted the Constitution when they struck down his signature student debt forgiveness program. And that, frankly, he said that they got it wrong. So he said that wow, Friday's session closed one path, he's going to pursue another.

Now that new path the President says is grounded in the Higher Education Act of 1965. A new law that provides him a new authority White House officials feel but they caution that it's going to take time to even get it into place months, in fact, and they wouldn't say whether or not it would impact the 40 million borrowers that were estimated to be impacted by that now struck down law. So the President in the meantime says that he's going to do two

things. First, he says it's going to be about income based repayments. And then secondly, he's going to do provide a 12-month on ramp for borrowers to really get re acclimated into paying their debt.

Now, while interest will increase, of course, we know that those payments are going to restart in October. So while those interests -- while interest will increase over that 12-month period, the White House and Education Department says that if borrowers miss a payment, their credit won't be downgraded, and they won't go into default for that grace period.

Now, one thing we also saw President Biden do, Amara and Victor, was really slammed down a growing Republican talking point that it was actually the president himself that overstated what he could do with that Heroes Act when it comes to canceling billions of dollars of debt. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I didn't give any false hope. The question was whether or not I would do even more than was requested. When I did I felt was appropriate, and was able to be done and would get done. I didn't give bars false hope. But the Republicans snatched away the hope that they were given. And it's real, real hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: Now, that last point, I think is going to be very important going forward when he said that Republicans snatched away hope the president did, because he said earlier that he felt that Republicans snatched away any hope and that it made borrowers angry.

Now, the White House and the President's staff (ph) is going to try to harness that anger as they marched towards that 2024 reelection campaign, really trying to make the case and point to Democrats and other independents, that, frankly, this Supreme Court and this Republicans are basically trying to take away individual freedoms. That's something that the White House has talked about frequently. And we can -- we will expect to hear them continue to do so.

Now, we can also expect the President to talk about the fact that he believes that the Supreme Court is becoming more and more radical. We saw him earlier this week, say the fact that there's no iteration of the Supreme Court like this one is -- has done more to take away basic rights. So those are two things that we can expect President Biden to say in the coming months, as they try to put this new path towards student loan forgiveness in place, but again, it could take months. Victor, Amara.

WALKER: Jasmine Wright, thank you very much. Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and defense criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson and Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor for Spectrum News. Good morning to you gentlemen.

[06:20:02] Joey, let's start with you. So Biden's new debt relief plan, obviously doesn't come close to wiping out student loan debt for about 20 million borrowers, it basically gives them this year long grace period, right, to pay back the loans, among other things. Does Biden have another or other powers available to wipe debt balances clean?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN NELGA ANALYST: Yes, well, you would think -- Amara, good morning to you and Errol, you would think that predicated upon the Heroes Act itself that the Higher Education Act that authorizes the Secretary of Education to take steps to cancel that, that that would give the power and that harkens back Amara to the actual Supreme Court decision.

So in direct answer to your question, obviously, he's going to have to be careful with the Secretary of Education and craft something that is in keeping with the Constitution. But just the general interpretation that the Constitution engagement here, you know, you could deem it somewhat questionable.

I read the Heroes Act, right, again, higher education to say the secretary can modify and or cancel, right. And so it talks to the issue of waive or modify. To me waiving debt or modifying debt means you can waive or modify debt. But the Supreme Court says, oh, wait a minute, you can't waive it in that way. Waiver to me is waiver just on the plain language, modifies modify.

And so you know, the Supreme Court, obviously, we have a separation of power executive branch, having the power to administer, Congress authorizing, the Supreme Court saying that the President has gone too far. But I just think that based upon again, the reading any reasonable reading of the legislation and any reasonable reading of what the President did initially with seemingly pass muster with this court, as we look at it did not.

And so fashioning remedies moving forward, the administration is going to have to be careful not to run afoul of this activist court, and the ability of the court to strike down yet another effort of Biden potentially to cancel that of many bars throughout this country.

WALKER: Well, this is obviously a huge blow to President Biden's campaign signature, campaign promise. And Errol, you know, we heard the President say, you know, he didn't give voters false hope. But did he by promising this on the campaign trail?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, he said, what he was going to do is fight for the ability of people to get out from under crushing debt burdens. And that, indeed, is what he did. Look, he also said initially, that he wasn't sure to get the constitutional power. And Nancy Pelosi who was then the Speaker of the House said something similar. They put it to the test. I don't think anybody regrets it.

This is something that they said they were going to try and fight to do. And on the campaign trail, Amara, that's what really matters. And that that's what you're going to hear more of from the President saying, Look, maybe this door closes, but I'll open another one, and I won't stop fighting for you.

That's what the polls show. People want to hear from their democratic president, and that's what rallies the Democratic base, a president who's going to fight for them and try even if the court says no, even if the court slows it down, even if he now has to go through administrative rulemaking that's going to stretch this out for months.

WALKER: I don't think anyone disagrees that higher education has become exorbitantly expensive and so unaffordable to so many people, Errol, who -- how do you think the Republican voters are going to react to this? Because obviously, you know, we're seeing Republican leaders quickly trying to redirect any potential backlash, arguing the White House should have known that this executive order would have been struck down, and also some Republican senators have already signed on to some bills aimed at lowering education costs, but you know, do you believe barrowers will help or will hold Democrats or Republicans? You know, will they hold the Supreme Court responsible for the outcome or Biden,

LOUIS: Any borrower who was struggling and who thought for a brief moment that he or she was going to get out from under $20,000 worth of debt or $10,000 worth of debt is going to probably have blind rage toward everybody in Washington, why can't you get it right? Why can't you just help me win? This is what I was promised. And this is what I need.

I think what we're going to see though, to answer your question, Amara, is you're seeing already sort of an attempt by some Republicans to say that, well, this was always an elitist project, that this was for people in private schools who didn't even need the help, and they were going to charge we the taxpayers in general, for the education of people who had no need for the loan in the first place, and certainly have the means to pay it back. That's not necessarily true. But I think that's where the political conversation is going to go.

WALKER: Well, let's move on now to the ruling where the Supreme Court sided with the web designer in Colorado who refuses to create Eight wedding websites for same couples.

[06:25:02]

I mean, this came down to the super majority on the Supreme Court defining her line of work as a form of speech protected free speech. But it turns out that this supposed potential customer identified as Stewart in the lawsuit is straight and that he also told CNN he didn't even ask for such services. Joey, what is your take on the merits of this case?

JACKSON: Yes, you know, Amara, with respect to the merits, it's troubling. And I'll tell you why. Yes, we have constitutional rights and freedoms, et cetera. But obviously, those are limited. Why are they limited when they impair someone else's rights. You can't yell fire in a theater, it will impair someone else. You can't defame anyone that speech because it would ultimately deal with a reputation by giving false statements. And ultimately, in that reputational damage that's deemed not to be constitutional. Right? You look at gun control, hot button issue, but that doesn't mean the right to bear arms. Everyone could run out in the street with guns.

So what am I saying? I'm saying that there are plenty of First Amendment protections that are circumscribed, right, that are limited because they impair someone else. And so to suggest that wait a second, because I don't want to for same sex couples to do something. It's a form of expression, I can do whatever I want. I think it goes too far.

And so the reality is, whenever you look at constitutional rights and protections through -- throughout history, whenever your right goes and affects someone else's, it needs to be looked at and limited, just like commercial speech would can't be false and misleading.

And so at the end of the day, I just think it's a troubling decision in many ways it oversteps and I think it sends reverberations around businesses who might act in the future to impair someone else who has same sex, transgender or otherwise.

WALKER: Another major decision made this week by this report (ph) had to do with gutting affirmative action, and of course, we'll have a big conversation on that as well later in the show. Joey Jackson, Errol Louis, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: One week after that short-lived rebellion in Russia. Where is Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin? Now he's not the only high-profile commander who's missing. Next, questions about a Russian military leader known as General Armageddon.

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[06:30:00]

WALKER: Ukraine is claiming progress in its counteroffensive against Russian forces in the south and the east of the country, but gains appear to be marginal. In another development, we have learned that CIA Director William Burns recently traveled to Ukraine and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the visit was before the rebellion led by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, there are still questions about Prigozhin's whereabouts. CNN's Melissa Bell compares his treatment to the treatment of another person forced into exile to escape charges in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two Russians in exile, one, a student with a rebellious tattoo --

YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, HEAD, WAGNER MERCENARY GROUP: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) --

BELL: The other, an insurrectionist war lord. Only one of them is on the run on terrorism charges. Meet 20-year-old Olesya Krivtsova, her alleged crime, an anti-war social media post last year that led to her conviction and her escape to Europe. Now in Norway, as she looks for work, she was glued to the images coming out of Russia over the weekend.

OLESYA KRIVTSOVA, RUSSIAN EXILE (through translator): I watched it nonstop. I followed this justice march all day. I wondered how it would end, and I really wanted to see in person how Prigozhin was taken to the pretrial detention center.

BELL: Pretrial detention centers are well known to Olesya, but that's not where Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ended up, heading instead to Belarus where Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko offered him refuge.

ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, PRESIDENT, BELARUS (through translator): I also realized there was a harsh decision taken to destroy. I suggested to Putin not to hurry. Let's talk with Prigozhin, with his commanders.

BELL: No such help for Olesya, she fled Russia, pricing off her own electronic bracelet on the way to the border. CNN first brought you her story earlier this year, she just arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, after fleeing her home in northern Russia, taking very little.

KRIVTSOVA: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL: But a reminder of the cost of her freedom, the reason she was made an example of, she says, is there are many ordinary Russians like her.

KRIVTSOVA: Every day, we see that people are put in jail for the posts on the internet, but a person who is guilty of killing 20 people, 14 people, according to the official version, and they tell him, you can go to Belarus, every time I think about it, I get angry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

BELL: But there is only one Prigozhin, even if Vladimir Putin never named him as he addressed the failed insurrection.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (through translator): What we are facing now is treason, unreasonable ambitions and personal interests led to treachery, state treason, and betrayal of one's own people.

BELL: The man behind an insurrection facing no charges at all.

KRIVTSOVA: There is no law and no justice in Russia. It's just all one big act of insanity and hatred.

BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Joining us now is Frank Ledwidge, he is a lecturer in military strategy at the University of Portsmouth in Britain, he's also a former military Intelligence officer. Frank, good to have you back. Let's start with Prigozhin. He's not been heard from in several days, almost a week now. Also the Russian General Surovikin also known as General Armageddon.

[06:35:00] And according to CNN's latest reporting, some exclusive document show

that he was a VIP member of the Wagner Group. I wonder, is there any plausible explanation other than retribution for these two men that we have not seen or heard from them in several days?

FRANK LEDWIDGE, LECTURER IN MILITARY STRATEGY, UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM: Well, good morning, Victor and Amara. I think so, yes. It must be remembered always that Putin's regime is not a proper government. It's better compared to a mafia car bomb, and that's exactly what it is. Prigozhin, for example, was as you know, Putin's caterer for some years, and he developed a successful business doing that before he went into the mercenary business.

And as a result, Prigozhin will have -- and does have compromise, not only on Putin himself, but of course, on the entire circle around Putin, Mr. Surovikin, the security man, the strong man. The mafia council, if you -- if you like. As for Surovikin, Surovikin is a very interesting character. He's still a commander of the Air Force.

He is popular among the rank-and-file soldiers that he have set up the defense lines that are causing Ukrainians so much problems now, called General Armageddon, of course, because of his murderous activities in Syria. Formidable character. But I suspect he has been put away for a while, not least because of this -- of this fight -- of this close involvement with Wagner itself and Prigozhin.

BLACKWELL: When you say "put away for a while", make that plain for us.

LEDWIDGE: Rumors around him in Moscow are that he's been arrested. His daughter has suggested that, no, he's working as normal, clearly that's not the case. I suspect he may be in some form of detention, maybe luxurious detention. And of course, with his connections and knowledge, he's likely -- and I suspect to be -- to meet with any accidents in the near future. But he's been put aside for a while, while things die down, I suspect.

BLACKWELL: Yes, on Prigozhin, this deal that was announced after the abandoned rebellion a week ago, he was supposed to be taken to Belarus. There is now from President Lukashenko of Belarus, this invitation from Wagner Mercenaries to train his country militarily, which he said, "if their instructors come and pass on combat experience onto us, we will accept this experience." What do you make of that request to offer to take in Wagner mercenaries as instructors for the Belarusian military?

LEDWIDGE: It's two. It's both Russia and Belarus, really this. As it will allow the remaining or -- yes, the remaining Wagner troops to offset Russian troops who are currently fulfilling that training role in Belarus. It's quite interesting, Victor, that over the last week or so, we've seen, I think, three bases being built that look very much like they are for Wagner training teams.

Because they've being built very near Belarusian -- large Belarusian training areas, you know, like Fort Bragg and places like that, the equivalent. So it may well be that, they are fixing up to do that. But that still leaves the question as to what degree Wagner is going to exist as an independent body. And to be candid, it looks as if they are still going to retain some form -- let's say, corporate independence.

BLACKWELL: The U.S. involvement here, the Biden administration is strongly considering sending these controversial cluster munitions to the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainians have had them, the Russians have used them as well. But this would be the first time that the U.S. would supply these. These are controversial because they're banned in a hundred or so countries, including the U.K., France, Germany have signed onto documents banning them. Would that unsettle the western alliance, do you think if the U.S. were to pass those on?

LEDWIDGE: Slightly, Victor, I think, yes. But the Russians are behind that banning is two-fold. First of all, they're seen as indiscriminate, and they are indiscriminate if used in areas where there are civilians and non-combatants. Clearly, the Ukrainians who are already using cluster ammunitions, and of course, the Russians have been using since the start, are going to be shooting them or firing them against Russian positions, whether there will be no non- combatants.

That isn't really a consideration. The second thing, and rather more -- something which will -- right, I think, a bit more is the legacy issues. Is the legacy issues of unexploded ordinance.

BLACKWELL: Frank Ledwidge, good to have you on a Saturday morning, thanks so much.

WALKER: From Hollywood heavyweights like Meryl Streep to Jennifer Lawrence. A high profile group of actors could soon join thousands of writers on strike.

[06:40:00]

Next, we're going to take a look at how a pause in some production has already impacted people who work behind the scenes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Just hours before it was set to expire on Friday, the Screen Actors Guild announced an extension of contract negotiations with studios. Earlier 180,000 members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike.

BLACKWELL: And they could still join the Writers Guild of America already on the picket lines. Now, as that strike wears on, there are a lot of other businesses that are being forced to lay off their workers, dry cleans, and restaurants and make-up artists and janitors are among those affected. CNN's Natasha Chen has more.

[06:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yolanda Cendejas Garcia, a janitor was laid off from Paramount Studios shortly after the writers' strike began. Fewer productions means less to clean. Nearly two months later, she's collecting plastic bottles for cash.

She's buying cheaper groceries, and says she'll soon lose health insurance, and worries about buying her diabetes medication. And now SAG after has announced an extension of talks over its deal with studios, while as 180,000 members have already overwhelmingly authorized a strike. These actors could add to more than 11,000 writers already on the picket line and halt more productions.

YOLANDA CENDEJAS GARCIA, LAID-OFF JANITOR OF PARAMOUNT STUDIOS (through translator): The few savings that I had are going away. Whenever I'm able to work again or what am I going to do, I don't know.

MARC MEYER JR., OWNER, FAUX LIBRARY: A lot of stuff --

CHEN: Marc Meyer Jr. laid off a dozen employees from his set and prop business in early June.

(on camera): This warehouse is usually full of people buzzing around, loading tables, chairs, lamps into 15 trucks a day. But listen, right now in this 89,000-square-foot warehouse, it is quiet.

MEYER JR.: Now, you know, we're lucky to have one order returned.

CHEN (voice-over): Kings Deli down the street from the Warner Brother's lot is seeing half their business that usually comes from catering for productions. Co-owner Rosie Blosser says even three years after COVID-19 began, they've never really returned to normal, now with the strike.

ROSIE BLOSSER, CO-OWNER, KING'S DELI: I'm trying to figure out like what can I do today to keep it going?

CHEN: Corri Levelle does not know the answer either.

CORRI LEVELLE, OWNER, SANDY ROSE FLORAL: And we're all dying out here.

CHEN: She says she was forced to move her floral prop business to a new location at double the rent just before the strike began.

LEVELLE: We still have the paper tags hanging on the doors that describe whose office it is, because they haven't had a chance to completely get set up yet.

CHEN: She's laid off all but one employ. The 100-day WGA strike in 2007 and 2008 caused more than $2 billion in economic damage. The Writers Union says adjusting for inflation, that means their current strike is costing the economy about $30 million a day.

KEVIN KLOWDEN, CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, MILKEN INSTITUTE: The overall economic impact is far more widespread across the country than it was last time round.

CHEN: The Milken Institute's chief global strategist estimates that even outside of California, there will be at least, a $1 billion loss this time in major film hubs like Georgia and New York. Impacting people never named as part of making movie magic.

LEVELLE: And we're so below the line, we're below the credit.

CHEN: Who are essential nonetheless waiting for an agreement on a contract they'll never even see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And action!

CHEN: Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: It's July 1st, so that means Happy Bonilla Day. Why is the former Mets outfielder still getting paid 22 years after retiring? That's coming up next.

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[06:50:00]

WALKER: It's the craziest time on the NBA calendar, the free agency period where teams and players can negotiate on new deals, and we've already had a fury of deals on the first day.

BLACKWELL: That's what they say. This is the crazy time --

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes --

BLACKWELL: On the NBA calendar. Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: Yes, I love it, guys. You never know what you're going to get in the NBA, there's always so much drama. Yes, a lot of guys think players were signing deals with the teams they were already on. You have Kyrie Irving going back to the Mavericks, Draymond Green staying with the Warriors. Biggest guy to find a new home is point-guard Fred VanVleet, who is heading to the Houston Rockets on a three-year deal worth $130 million.

VanVleet, he was undrafted out of Wichita State seven years ago, worked his way to becoming an all-star in 2022, and now he's getting more than $40 million a year. VanVleet is the first undrafted player to ever get a max deal on the NBA, and after making it to the league in 2016, he tweeted, "bet on yourself", and he once again, retweeted that after the Rockets news, saying again, "bet on yourself".

All right, in today, July 1st, so that also means it's Bobby Bonilla Day. The former outfielder getting his annual $1.19 million payment from the Mets. Bonilla famously turned a $5.9 million contract buyout into almost $30 million by taking deferred payments with interest. The payments started in 2011, so he's got $1.19 million 13 times already, and he's got 12 more coming.

He's going to get his last payment when he's 72 years old. That's how you negotiate a deal right there. All right, and there's no stopping Angel superstar Shohei Ohtani this season. A two-way phenom blasting a 493 foot homerun last night against the Diamondbacks for his Major League leading 30th homerun of the season.

Ohtani, he hit 15 homers in the month of June alone. This was the longest homerun in baseball this season, longest for Ohtani's career. Now, despite that though, the Angels went on to lose that one by a final of 6-2. Now, in the same game, two brothers got to face off in the big leagues for the very first time. David Fletcher, a shortstop for the Angels faced his brother Dominic Fletcher who just got called up to start leftfield for the Diamondbacks.

And all right, this was a special day for the family, and a very emotional one, David and Dominic lost their father Tim, just a few weeks ago, and Dominic said, his dad, every night would put on both of his sons' games on TVs and watch them simultaneously. So, to be there last night would have been one of his favorite things. Both of the brothers saying they miss their dad greatly, and it would have been a special night for him.

Now, Fletcher family, they had more than just baseball to watch last night. A cat ran on the field in Anaheim and jumped right where David Fletcher's wife and Dominic's fiancee Emily(ph) were sitting. And guys, it looks like Emily(ph), not a cat person because she was really excited about --

[06:55:00]

WALKER: She's treating it like a rat --

SCHOLES: Yes --

WALKER: Or a cockroach, it's just a cat.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but was -- even if you're a cat person, you never expect that to happen.

SCHOLES: I guess so. She was terrified, look at her --

(LAUGHTER)

WALKER: OK, yes, it probably scared her in that moment, and then she realized, oh, it's just a fury little cat --

BLACKWELL: Yes, the cat probably was very scared too --

WALKER: Not a rodent. Poor cat or poor --

SCHOLES: Well, if a cat jumps up here, are you -- are you -- what do you do?

WALKER: I'll be like, hey, pet --

SCHOLES: Yes, OK --

WALKER: Let me pet you.

BLACKWELL: What?

WALKER: Yes --

BLACKWELL: You don't say, hey, cat, if you have a cat in the middle of a news studio jumps on the desk?

WALKER: It would be someone's pet probably.

BLACKWELL: Hey, cat --

WALKER: And we're not going to get a stray cat in here.

BLACKWELL: Oh, I'm going to tease you about that for a very long time. Hey, cat --

SCHOLES: How are you?

BLACKWELL: Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

SCHOLES: All right --

WALKER: Thanks, Andy --

BLACKWELL: All right, so this is smaller than a grain of salt.

WALKER: I didn't get the story --

BLACKWELL: It costs tens of thousands of dollars, look at that finger. This purse is something that somebody paid a lot of money for.

WALKER: Oh, it's Louis Vuitton.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's a Louis, a bag, I guess.

WALKER: That's not a bag.

BLACKWELL: Oh, why somebody would pay all this money for this thing, coming up --

WALKER: How do you not lose that?

BLACKWELL: You do.

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