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New U.S. Military Package To Include Cluster Bombs; Economists Brace For More Fed Rate Hikes After Jobs Report; Special Counsel Focuses On Heated White House Meeting; New York Officials Ramp Up Beach Patrols After Shark Bites; El Paso Wal-Mart Shooter Sentenced to 90 Consecutive Life Terms; Number One NBA Draft Pick Victor Wembanyama Makes Debut. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 08, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:37]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN this morning. It is Saturday July 8th. I'm Victor Blackwell. Look we have with us this morning, Erica Hill joining us.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, my friend. Nice to be with you today.

BLACKWELL: Good to have you. So I was wondering if I would acknowledge this or not, but I guess I'm just going to do it right off the top. I have I think glitter all over my face, if you see me shiver. I think our makeup artists hit the wrong powder. And I did not just come from the club.

HILL: Is that your natural glow because I noticed any time around you, you do sort of radiate a little bit of a glow but.

BLACKWELL: I mean, you know, elephant in the room, I just want to, if you see a little shimmer, the brush that the wrong makeup kit, all right, we're going to take care of it later.

HILL: I liked the fact that you say it wasn't that you were in the club, but OK.

BLACKWELL: All right, here's what we're watching for you this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: In an exclusive interview with CNN, President Biden defends his decision to send controversial weapons to Ukraine as part of a new aid package. What these cluster bombs do and the reason some Democratic senators are calling this a terrible mistake.

HILL: The job market is being pulled down as the job numbers come in well below expectations, but it's actually a good thing for the economy, say experts. And there's also some encouraging news here when it comes to women in the workforce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have more surveillance, more lifeguards out there than we've ever had in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: New York officials are stepping up shark patrols after five bites in just a couple of days. How drones are playing an important part in keeping swimmers safe this summer.

HILL: Plus, if you've got champagne wishes and caviar dreams, well, you're in luck because you have another chance to live your best life. The billion dollars that is up for grabs coming up on CNN this morning.

This morning, the Biden administration is defending the highly controversial decision to include cluster munitions in this latest military aid package to Ukraine. The new package includes armored vehicles and various types of ammunition but it's really the inclusion of these cluster munitions that is sparking widespread concern.

BLACKWELL: These weapons showers small but lethal bomblets they're called over a wide area. Now the issue is that some of those do not detonate, and they're deadly for years. They're banned by more than 100 countries but not by the U.S. or Ukraine or by Russia. And President Biden rejected Ukraine's previous request for the munitions but told CNN Fareed Zakaria that he reconsidered, given recent changes on the battlefield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: Two things Fareed, and it was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies and discuss this with our friends up on a hill. And we're in a situation where Ukraine continues to be brutally attacked across the board by munitions by these cluster munitions that are had dud rates that are very, very low and very high that are danger to civilians, number one. Number two, the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition, the ammunition that they call them 155 millimeter weapons. This is a war relating to munitions.

And they're running out of those -- that ammunition and we're low on it. And so when I finally did took the recommendation of the Defense Department, to not permanently but to allow for in this transition period where we had more 155 weapons, the shells for Ukrainians to provide them with a something as a very low dud rate. It's about one, I think it's 150, which is the least likely to be blown, and it's not used in civilian areas. They're trying to get through those trenches, and those men stop those tanks from rolling. And so but it was not an easy decision. And it's not -- we're not signatories to that agreement. But I -- it took me a while to be convinced to do it. But the main thing is they either have the weapon to stop the Russians now from keeping them from stopping the Ukrainian offensive through these areas or they don't. And I think they needed them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:11]

BLACKWELL: Let's dig a little deeper here. CNN's Natasha Bertrand has the story for us. Natasha?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Victor, Erica, the U.S. announced on Friday that it will be providing cluster munitions to Ukraine, a controversial weapon that was banned by over 100 countries around the world, including key U.S. allies, like the U.K. and Germany. Now, the U.S. defended its decision on Friday to provide these cluster munitions to Ukraine, saying that it will be necessary in order to maintain Ukraine's ammunition stockpiles as it continues to prosecute its counter offensive against Russia.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that without tapping into the stockpile of U.S. cluster munitions, Ukraine could run out of ammunition later this year. And it is not a scenario that the U.S. wants to see where Ukraine runs out of artillery ammunition given that it is so key in the war they are fighting against the Russians.

Now the U.S. is aware that allies had concerns about this. Many of them have banned these munitions because they potentially pose a risk to civilians a long term risk because many of the little bomblets that these cluster munitions detonate, they actually fail to explode when they hit the ground, and that can pose a risk to civilians that is similar to the danger posed by landmines. But the U.S. says that the munitions that they will be providing it to the Ukrainians will have a dud rate of lower than 3 percent, around 2.35 percent.

And that is much lower than the dud rate of the cluster munitions currently being used by the Russians in Ukraine. The U.S. argument is that the Ukrainians will not use these to target civilian areas like the Russians have been, and that these cluster munitions will be used by Ukraine to help defend its own territory rather than attack another sovereign country as Russia has been doing.

But the U.S. has been trying to reassure allies behind the scenes that this is what Ukraine needs right now. And according to the National Security Adviser, U.S. allies have embraced that argument with open arms. Victor Erica?

BLACKWELL: Thanks so much. The Ukrainians are claiming some progress in their counter offensive against Russia.

HILL: Yes. The military they're making the advances according to Ukraine on Bakhmut, putting pressure on Russian forces in the city. Here's CNN's Ben Wedeman with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as one artillery round blast toward Bakhmut, the crew rushes to prepare for another. Ukrainian officials report gains around the town since last year has been the epicenter of the war. Gun commander Artem has been in the area for months.

The task of taking down coordinates and barking orders now routine. He says he is now half deaf from the blasts. Yet, he has sensed the change. It seems like they're often running away, he says, referring to the Russians, and then the order to fire.

There's barely a let up in the distant thud of shelling. The Russians says this gunner call sign, Aries, are falling back, we know because they hit us much less. One or two months ago, there was a lot of incoming. It was scary to be here. Now, it is different.

On another flank, the big guns are out. This is a Bohdana, a Ukrainian made 155 millimeter self-propelled howitzer. Ukraine claims the Russians have poured as many as 50,000 troops into the defense of the town, dug in deep.

The Russians had fortified their positions and stands strong, Commander Dmytro tells me, but I think that's temporary. Russian soldiers captured in the battle here told us the shelling on their positions was relentless.

(on camera): That was a high explosive anti-personnel munition fired at the direction of Russian troops outside of Bakhmut.

(voice over): As soon as they fire, they prepare to fire again.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, near Bakhmut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Joining me now is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, good to have you.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to be with you, Victor. Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Good morning to you. So let's start here with two of the major concerns about sending these munitions and I want to cite here an op-ed from former Senator Patrick Leahy and sitting Senator Jeff Merkley in which they say this, sending cluster munitions to Ukraine would not only reverse decades of U.S. policy and practice, it would also kill more civilians and exacerbate the very problem we're seeking to address when we provide millions of dollars for ordinates clearance. And it would go against the two-thirds of NATO members and other allies and partners who are party to the convention and whose support is critical to our collective defense of Ukraine. The last thing we need to do is risk a rupture with key allies over a weapon that the United States should be leading the global effort to prohibit.

[06:10:18]

So let's start first with the threat to life. Are U.S. munitions, these cluster munitions, any safer less likely to create the duds than the Russian cluster munitions do?

LEIGHTON: They certainly are, Victor. And the key thing to remember is the so called dud rate, which is basically the rate at which these munitions become unexploded ordnance. The dud rate for the U.S. weapons is much, much, much lower than the Russian dud rate. The Russian dud rate is somewhere around 30 to 40 percent. The U.S. dud rate is less than 5 percent. And they were advertising a rate of about 2.3 or so percent. Now, the dud rate will probably be higher on the U.S. side than advertised. But it will definitely not be as high as the Russian dud rate.

BLACKWELL: And those two senators, they point out in their op-ed in "The Washington Post" that there was a law passed that there can be no transmission or use of anything with a dud rate over 1 percent. And that would be unlawful. So we'll see, I guess there will be some way to know the dud rate of these. Does the transmission the sending of these cluster munitions to Ukraine provoke further use of them by Russian military or should that be a concern?

LEIGHTON: Well, the Russians are going to be using the cluster munitions regardless of what we do. So in one sense, and when it comes to the law of proportionality, the Ukrainians are fully justified in using cluster munitions because the Russians are doing that. Now, that's not the White House argument. They specifically say national security adviser has specifically said that that is not the reason they're doing this.

The main reason that this is happening, Victor is because our defense industrial base, our weapons manufacturers are not keeping pace with the standard artillery munitions production that is required for the Ukrainians to maintain not only their counter offensive, but their ability to hold their positions that they have right now in both eastern and southern Ukraine. So this has basically become an issue of munitions shortages.

And the very fact that we're having to put grab into the cluster munitions bag, that indicates that, you know, we have other things that we have to face in our defense industrial base, both in the United States and with our NATO partner nations.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I was going to get to that later. But you brought it up. So let's go to it. Now, I found that to be the most I guess jarring part of the snippet of the conversation the President had with Fareed that we saw a little earlier was that he said that they're running low on ammunition and supplying, from the U.S. perspective, at least, is slowing a bit. What does that portend for next winter, spring, as we get deeper into this, is this just a small short slowdown? Or is this something that's going to be a challenge chronically? LEIGHTON: I think it's going to be a chronic challenge, Victor. And this is something where we really have to think about how we produce weapons, and the quantities in which we produce weapons. You know, the one thing that we know about warfare is that it takes a lot longer than initially anticipated. That's almost always the case. The few exceptions in history, you know, being, you know, kind of remarkable incidents, but in and outliers in that sense.

But the key thing about this is that our defense industrial base has not kept pace with the demands of the Russia-Ukraine war. And that should give us a lot of pause not only for the current conflict, the one that Ukraine is in, but any type of future conflict that the United States or where its NATO allies might find itself in. But it also goes of course, for Taiwan on the other side of the world.

BLACKWELL: Can we extrapolate from here? I mean, if the reason that these cluster munitions which are controversial globally, and even domestically, as I just read from these senators, the shortage of munitions for Ukraine is why we're sending these, what happens after that? I mean, if this is not going to change the trend in a war of attrition, is there a more controversial or I'm not talking anything that's not conventional but another weapon that might we have to resort to, to at least keep the Ukrainians on in an even field?

LEIGHTON: Well, yes, the beyond, you know, something terrible like a nuclear weapon there's where a chemical weapon which are both basically forbidden you heard by law or by practice. The real answer is not really. There are some weapons that are out there some precision guided munitions that could be used. And of course, the Ukrainians have been asking for the ATACMS system, which generally uses conventional warheads, to do its job conventional rockets and missiles to do its job.

[06:15:20]

So that's the kind of thing that, you know, will have to be done. The other thing, of course, is a bit of a longer term or medium term issue, and that is the provision of fighter jets for the Ukrainians. And that's where the bulk of the F-16 comes in. So if you had, you know, provided the F-16 beforehand, perhaps we wouldn't be using cluster munitions for in time.

It's hard to say if that's actually would have actually been the case. But I think that that is a, you know, something to definitely look into and see whether or not to the provision of F-16 and the ATACMS together would have prevented us from using cluster munitions is kind of this method of not quite last resort, but at least something is a stopgap at the moment.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Well, certainly the Ukrainians have been arguing that if we'd given as much military hardware as rhetoric that maybe they'd be in a better position, grateful as they are. They certainly want it more earlier. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

And make sure to watch Fareed Zakaria GPS tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. to see more from that exclusive one-on-one interview with President Biden.

HILL: U.S. stocks tumbling on Friday to end the week lower on the heels of that latest jobs report which triggered concerns that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates again, the Dow fell roughly 2 percent for the week that actually marks the biggest weekly decline since March. Important to note though, it's not all doom and gloom here with job growth still outpacing pre pandemic levels, there is optimism on Wall Street, that the Fed can still lower inflation without triggering a recession. Here's CNN's Matt Egan with more.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Victor and Erica, we're still in this weird place in the economy where cooling job growth is actually good news. The jobs market has been simply on fire. It's been so hot this year, that Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, and even the White House, want it to chill out because if it doesn't, that's going to overheat the economy. At the same time, no one wants to see hiring fall off a cliff because that would signal a potential recession.

So you want something in between and that really is pretty much what we got in June, 209,000 jobs added last month. April and May, they were revised lower. The trend shows that hiring is slowing. But it is still solid. The unemployment rate ticking down to 3.6 percent, that is historically very low. And it is miles away from that spike to nearly 15 percent back in 2020.

Another encouraging development is Americans continue to come off the sidelines re-entering the workforce, including women, many of whom were forced out during COVID. The participation rate for women aged 25 to 54 hit a record high in June, for the third month in a row. There are right now more women in the workforce than ever before.

So if you put all this together, it does feel very much like the Goldilocks jobs report that we were hoping for. Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, he declared on Twitter quote, the June employment report was close to perfect. Not too hot, not too cold.

So where does this leave the Federal Reserve in its quest to tame inflation? Well, investors are now increasingly confident the Fed will resume rate hikes very soon, markets are pricing in a roughly 92 percent chance of another quarter point hike later this month. So yes, that does mean higher borrowing costs, mortgages, credit cards, car loans.

But the good news is that this jobs market has been able to absorb all of this inflation fighting medicine from the Fed so much better than almost anyone thought was even possible. For the longest time the fear was that the Fed was going to overdo it, crashed the economy right into a hard landing recession.

But now the jobs market is signaling that maybe the Fed can avoid a recession and pull off a soft landing after all. Victor and Erica?

BLACKWELL: All right, thank you, Matt Egan.

Parts of the country could see severe storms this weekend and we're on tap for another few days of extreme heat. Several rounds of thunderstorms are expected to move through the Rockies to the east coast this weekend. Along with the rain, strong and damaging winds or even a possible also possibly some hail.

HILL: CNN meteorologist Britley Ritz joining us now. So Britley, when do we -- when can we start to see those storms moving in?

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we currently have storms across the plains and back into parts of the Ohio Valley. But thankfully they are sub severe. We're watching for this to redevelop once again through the afternoon with the heat of the day and again in through the evening and overnight hours. Take a look. Here's your current radar showing you lots of lightning but everything sub severe at the moment.

[06:20:17]

But again, bringing in that threat of severe weather in some of the same areas that dealt with it yesterday from parts of Colorado back on into Oklahoma right on up into Arkansas, in parts of the Tennessee River Valley even up into the Ohio Valley. We can't rule out a few stronger storms here. Wind over 60 miles per hour and in some cases over 75 miles per hour especially back through parts of Colorado and moving into the panhandle of Texas in Oklahoma.

But large hail also a possibility, isolated tornadoes can never be ruled out. You'll look at the time on this. Here's 1 o'clock. Stray storms popping through the Ohio Valley but ramping up through Oklahoma and Arkansas. You see how that starts to bow out. That's how you know that's more of a wind threat. All that cold air comes rushing out of the thunderstorms. So through the Ohio Valley back on down into parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley throughout the latter part of the evening and overnight hours.

Early tomorrow morning, that pushes further into the Carolinas starting to weaken. But redeveloping another massive storms across the central plains around 4:00 or 5 o'clock into Sunday morning. And then that of course pushes once more into the Tennessee Valley and right on into the southeast. So we'll have to watch that closely.

The heat still on across the Southwest in some cases pushing your record heat where temperatures are feeling like 115 degrees in places like Phoenix. Victor, Erica, we still have excessive heat warnings and heat advisories in place.

HILL: Yes, it is rough out there in the southwest that is for sure. Britley Ritz, appreciate it. Thank you.

That chaotic Oval Office meeting in the final days of the Trump administration is a focus now for the Special Counsel we're learning. Why are investigators so interested in what happened on that December day?

BLACKWELL: Plus, New York stepped up patrols after a string of shark bikes and sightings now officials are using drones to try to keep people safe.

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[06:26:02]

BLACKWELL: The special counsel investigating claims of election fraud is now focusing on a chaotic Oval Office meeting. It was December 18th, about six weeks after Election Day. Several sources tell CNN that Special Counsel Jack Smith investigators recently questioned several witnesses about that meeting.

HILL: So among the witnesses, former Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani, what do these new developments tell us? What do they mean for the special counsel's investigation? CNN senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid has details.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor and Erica. Look, the fact that prosecutors are once again looking at this December 2020 meeting, it suggests that they are nearing the end of their investigation. I mean, this is something we've known about for a long time, nearly two years it was covered extensively by the January 6th Committee. We know in recent months, witnesses have been asked about this meeting.

And most recently, in the past few weeks, Rudy Giuliani who sat down with a voluntary interview to do with prosecutors, he was asked about this. And that's significant because the prosecutors first reached out to him late last year, and then he didn't hear anything. So the fact that you've finally gotten to him as a witness is significant. And he was a key player in this meeting.

He was the person that the former president, then President Trump called in to try to mediate between these two sides that were arguing shouting obscenities at each other over whether the military should be used to seize voting machines. This is widely considered to be one of the most chaotic moments of the Trump administration, which is really saying something.

But it is a key moment for investigators as they look at what happened between Election Day and even the days leading up to Election Day and January 6th. They can see from this meeting, once they talk to people once they gather evidence, what the former president was hearing, what different people were proposing and how that was received. They can put that in the timeline and then look at what then President Trump did after this meeting, right. He started tweeting about January 6th.

So it's very significant for them to get all the details about what was said in this contentious meeting. Now, in terms of when charges could be filed, based on our reporting, it does, it appears that they are nearing the end of their investigation. But we also know they have recently reached out to some people for possible interviews. Those have not been completed yet.

So it appears they still have some work to do. The biggest question, of course, is whether former President Trump will be charged in this investigation. And even based on our very detailed reporting, it's just not clear. But it does appear that a charging decision could happen in the next few weeks. Victor, Erica? HILL: All right, Paula, thank you. Well, let's get some more perspective on what this could mean for not only the investigation, but the former president's legal troubles, joining us now Dave Aronberg, State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida. Dave, always good to see you. Let's start first with this Oval Office meeting which as Paula pointed out, we all know a lot about, learned a lot about it in those hearings with the January 6th Committee from the House. What do you make of the meeting? How significant do you think this could be in the overall investigation?

DAVE ARONBERG, STATE ATTORNEY, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Good morning, Erica. I think it's very important because what you had was a group of individuals called Team Crazy, who came to the White House unannounced, Sidney Powell, you had Rudy Giuliani, you had Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com, and you had Michael Flynn. And they were intercepted fortunately, by what's called Team Normal. You had Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, and Eric Herschmann, who also worked for the White House Counsel's Office.

And then they had this raucous debate with the president at the time, Donald Trump, where this Team Crazy was trying to influence Trump to declare martial law and to use the military to seize voting machines named Sidney Powell, a special counsel to oversee an election review.

[06:29:59]

Fortunately, these ideas were rejected and then another meeting happened, more informal meeting apparently at the residence and at that meeting you had Sidney Powell, you had Rudy Giuliani and you had Mark Meadows, which led to Donald Trump's tweet that said, come to D.C. on January 6th, it will be wild. So, you know, Jack Smith is going to wonder, why did you send that tweet and who knew what? When?

HILL: So when you see all of this, and when this new reporting about the focus, there being a renewed focus on this meeting first came down, my first question that I have, is in looking at everything that we know about this meeting, is there anything that you see there that suggests any sort of criminal activity? Is there anything specific in that meeting that you see that could lead to charges? A lot of crazy things were said, but it's not illegal to say crazy things.

ARONBERG: Correct, but it's illegal to have a conspiracy to defraud the United States. That will get you up to five years in prison, and there's a federal judge, Judge Carter who said it was more likely than not that Donald Trump violated that statute. There's also obstruction of an official proceedings. So yet, a conspiracy, which is an agreement between two or more people, and at least one overt act, because it can't just be thoughts.

You have to have at least one of the people as part of the conspiracy who does something, then that would be a crime. So, that's what Jack Smith is looking. And I think they are going to file charges against people on the top. I mean, we've seen this from the beginning in the January 6th investigation, the foot soldiers have been charged, but not the leaders. I think their time, though, is coming. HILL: When we look at this, it's not just the meeting in the Oval,

right, that is a focus. As we also know from new reporting, there is new information about folks on fake electors, we know about subpoenas to talk to folks in Arizona, the state -- the security of state in Arizona. Also hearing from Rusty Bowers just this week talking to Kaitlan Collins about it. What does that tell you about the scope of the investigation?

ARONBERG: It's a large scope. I think federal prosecutors are trying to figure out where to focus. But I think the fake elector scheme is fertile ground here, because that reeks of wire fraud, which is pretty easy to prove for federal prosecutors. Also, you can have conspiracy to defraud the United States, and you have cooperators. People have flipped who were part of that fake elector scheme.

So, I think that's why they went into Arizona, and I think that's going to be a focus of the upcoming charges. Those fake electors. But beyond that, yes, anything goes. I mean, a fraction of the official proceedings, Erica, has been charged many times against the foot soldiers. Will that be charged against the leaders? I think so. You don't actually have to be at the Capitol that day to be charged with the crime.

HILL: Dave Aronberg, always good to talk to you, thanks.

BLACKWELL: Officials in New York are stepping up safety measures after a string of shark bites and sightings. We'll show you how drones are being used to help try to keep people safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

HILL: Beachgoers in New York on high alert after a series of possible shark attacks, and that has officials on Long Island ramping up patrols. Five people were bitten in a 24-hour period this week.

BLACKWELL: Experts say that sharks rarely pose a danger to us, but police are telling swimmers, yes, enjoy the water, but also be extra vigilant. CNN's Polo Sandoval takes a closer look at how Long Island is coping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have more surveillance, more lifeguards out there than we've ever had in the past.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five suspected shark attacks within 24 hours, needing officials to ramp up shark patrols along New York's coast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's their territory and we're invading their territory.

SANDOVAL: The incidents happened at five different locations on Long Island beaches, on July 3rd, officials say a 15-year-old girl was bitten while swimming at Robert Moses State Park. And a 15-year-old boy says he was bit at Kismet Beach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My first reaction to when the shark grabbed my foot was to immediately get out of the water and get help.

SANDOVAL: And on July 4th, three more incidents, this time all involving adults at three separate locations. All five swimmers had non-life-threatening injuries. CNN obtained this drone footage from Robert Moses State Park Beach on July 4th of what was initially described as sand sharks, deciding delay the beach's opening, but State Park officials now say the animals were likely been other species of fish according to the "New York Times".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we're hearing from the shark experts is that these bites are undoubtedly a mistake. They think -- the sharks think they're feeding on bait fish or bunker fish. And that's why these are bites.

SANDOVAL: That's why park officials say having an eye in the sky is a critical asset.

ALEX GOODMAN, NEW YORK STATE PARKS: The drones much more inexpensive to fly. They could be deployed very rapidly. We are entering the natural habitat of these animals, and there's always the potential for risk, but with all the assets and manpower that we have employed here, the idea is to keep people as safe as possible.

SANDOVAL: And it's not just the northeast that's on heightened alert. This was the scene Monday in Pensacola Beach, Florida, where a shark was spotted swimming near the shore. Yes, well, it may seem like we're seeing more shark encounters, experts say that isn't necessarily the case.

GOODMAN: I'd love more documentation because everybody's got a cellphone. So, we see more of these things, so they'll be coming into our living rooms really quickly.

SANDOVAL (on camera): And on Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announcing an initiative to provide some of New York's coastal communities with not only the drone technology they need, but also the training needed to use those drones to keep a watchful eye on the coastline.

[06:40:00]

This just a day after a 10-foot shark was located just off the coast of this beach, was allowed to swim out to the ocean incident-free. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Long Island, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: An emotional week in court as survivors and families of the victims of the Texas Wal-Mart shooting spoke directly to the gunman behind that attack in El Paso. Now, a federal judge has sentenced him to 90-life terms behind bars. We have more just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLACKWELL: The man who shot and killed nearly two dozen people at an

El Paso Wal-Mart was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences on Friday.

[06:45:00]

Patrick Crusius pled guilty to killing 23 people in one of the deadliest attacks on Latinos specifically in modern U.S. history.

HILL: He took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, but he does still face capital charges in a separate case. CNN's Rosa Flores was in the courtroom when the sentencing was handed down, and she spoke with some of the victims' family members.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A federal judge has sentenced Patrick Crusius to 90 consecutive life sentences in prison in relation to the 2019 El Paso Wal-Mart shooting, which is considered one of the deadliest attacks on Hispanics in modern U.S. history. During the allocution, which is when both parties are able to make a statement, the defense said that the shooter takes responsibility, but then went on to blame the shooter's mental illness.

Now, the prosecution rejected that, saying that the judge in this case should really just focus on the facts of the case, which in this case include that a shooter drove to the city of El Paso and went on a hate-filled rampage against Hispanics, and ended up killing and wounding dozens of people. Now, this act, according to the victims that spoke in open court, did shatter the sense of safety in this community.

But what it didn't do is it didn't shatter the sense of pride in this Mexican-American border town, where many of the individuals who live in the city are Mexican-Americans. Now, for the victims, it was very difficult for them to be in the same courtroom with the shooter, but many of them said it was important for them to be there. Take a listen.

CHRISTOPHER MORALES, AUNT KILLED IN MASS SHOOTING: What's going on in -- with all the white supremacists, all the hate. I just feel also that nothing is going to change. You need to do due diligence and due process to a mass shooter.

PAUL JAMROWSKI, FATHER OF VICTIM: The strength and the wisdom of leaders is sit through and be in the same courtroom with the person that killed your family member is harder.

DEAN RECKARD, SON OF VICTIM: This was really hard. A lot of it just hearing what the families had seen, I don't know how you could sit through that and not have a tear in your eye.

FLORES: As the hearing ended, and the shooter was being walked out by U.S. Marshals, Dean Reckard, he's the son of Margie Reckard, a victim in the El Paso shooting yelled out, quote, "we'll be seeing you again, coward." Now, he's referring to the state case because the shooter is facing a capital murder charge in the state.

Now, the death penalty is still on the table in that case, the shooter has pleaded not guilty, that trial has not been set yet. Rosa Flores, CNN, El Paso.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Rosa, thanks. The hottest ticket in Las Vegas last night was not for Adele or some other singer. It was for the NBA Summer league, and basketball's biggest new star, teenage sensation Victor Wembanyama. Coy Wire will break down Wemby's debut, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

HILL: Talk about the night NBA fans have been waiting for. The debut of the number one overall draft pick, the opening night of the Las Vegas Summer League.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Victor Wembanyama, everyone is looking forward to. Coy Wire is here with us now. How did he look?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, mixed bag?

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WIRE: Well, he looked really good.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WIRE: I mean, expectations are sky high for the 7 foot 4 phenom from France, right?

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WIRE: It was a sold-out crowd for his debut there in Vegas, they're playing the Hornets on Friday night. The people are lining up at 3:00 a.m. for this. Wembymania reaching a fever pitch when he stepped onto the court for the first time in a Spurs uniform and he's showing some of what's getting him all the hype. Check him out with a block in the first quarter, and then most big guys right here, Victor, they're going to pass the ball, they'd be like, what do I do with this thing?

Not him. He handles the rot and then the no-look pass. Incredible stuff. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) as you'd expect, is deepest, scary. Game high, five blocks, including a 3-point and 7 and number two overall pick, Brandon Miller, as Spurs had players get five blocks just once last season. And then Wembanyama showing off that range, a 3-pointer and a foul.

Just 9 points on the night, though, but after the game, Wemby told reporters that he still has a long way to go before the game starts to really count.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wembanyama --

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA, CENTER, SAN ANTONIO SPURS: A special moment, really special moment to wear that jersey for the first time is real honor. And overall, I'm glad we won this game. No, there's no great way to start by 4:00 p.m., and yes, honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing on the court tonight, but it's -- you know, I'm trying to learn for these games and be important -- is to be ready for the season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, some baseball now. The Chicago Cubs are one of the oldest teams in MLB, but they did something last night that they've never done before, win a game at Yankee stadium. Jameson Taillon allowing one hit over eight innings in Chicago's 3-0 win. Going into the game, the Cubs were winless against the Yankees in the Bronx, dating all the way back to the 1932 World Series. Can you believe it?

Finally, great moment at last night's Red Sox game against the A's. CNN political reporter Andrew Kaczynski throwing out the first pitch on behalf of team Beans. He and his wife Rachel have helped raise more than $3 million for research to cure childhood cancer. Their daughter Francesca named Beans passed in 2020 from brain cancer, just 9 months old. If you'd like to help, you go to teambeansfund.com by taking your tragedy and turning it into something beautiful there, a perfect example of that.

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: They are doing some great work for that organization. All right, Coy, thanks so much.

WIRE: You've got it.

BLACKWELL: Hey, if you're feeling lucky, this is the time to buy a Powerball ticket. Tonight's drawing, there's still time to get in for what are we up to?

HILL: A lot.

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of millions of dollars now. We'll tell you how much is up for grabs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: You feeling lucky? The potential grab for the massive Powerball jackpot today is $615 million, the tenth largest ever.

HILL: And you've got options when you win, in addition to sharing some of that with Victor and myself --

BLACKWELL: Hey --

HILL: You could spread the payments out over 30 years, maybe take the lump sum payment instead, that's going to be just over $310 million. So, how do we get here? Well, nobody matched all six numbers of course, plus, the red Powerball on Wednesday, but that doesn't mean there weren't some winners.