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Police Recapture Michael Burham After Nine Days On The Run; Manhunt Underway After Four Killed In Shooting Near Atlanta; Alabama Woman Who Vanished After Calling 911 About A Toddler On Interstate Found Alive; Heat Wave Intensifies In U.S., Millions Under Heat Alerts; More Than 55 Million Under Flood Alerts In New England; Three Dead After Being Swept Away By Floodwaters In Pennsylvania; Powerball Prize Grows To $900 Million, Next Drawing On Monday; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Released From Hospital; Search And Rescue Mission In South Korea Underway In Flooded Underpass. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 16, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:34]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Victor Blackwell.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rahel Solomon in for Amara Walker. Victor, good to be with you again. And good to be with you at home.

BLACKWELL: Good to have you.

SOLOMON: Thank you. And here are some of the headlines we are following this morning. After more than a week on the run, a Pennsylvania inmate has been captured. We will tell you how it all played out.

BLACKWELL: Plus, we will hunt you down, that's the message from a police officer to a suspect on a run in Georgia after four people are shot and killed. We will have the latest on the investigation.

SOLOMON: Also, all eyes on Wimbledon today ahead of the men's finals. Novak Djokovic trying to make history as he gets ready to face off against the top player in the world. We have a preview.

BLACKWELL: And it's climbing. Another night with no winning Powerball ticket. We'll tell you how high the jackpot is now.

We begin though this morning in Pennsylvania where authorities have recaptured an escaped inmate after a nine-day manhunt.

SOLOMON: Authorities have warned that the prisoner Michael Burham had military experience and survivalist skills and was -- quote -- "dangerous." But despite being on the run for days, he didn't get very far. Polo Sandoval has the latest on how it all unfolded.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After about nine days on the run, in parts of rural Pennsylvania, the search is now over after an inmate was recaptured by authorities on Saturday afternoon. The man's name Michael Burham. He was recaptured without incident in a wooded area in Warren County, Pennsylvania. The 34-year-old former reservist and survivalist was also a prime suspect in a New York homicide case as well as a related arson case in western New York.

It was back on July 6th that Burham reportedly used a rope fashioned from bedding to escape out of the window of a recreation room at the facility that he was being held in in northwestern Pennsylvania. During the search for the last few days, search that was conducted by hundreds of states, local, federal officers they were able to locate some camp sites and various stockpiles that they believe were directly linked to Burham.

However, then Saturday came. I want you to hear directly from Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens describing how a private citizen called in a tip that led to the arrest of this runaway inmate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: He was being pursued by the officers along with K-9s. New York state police had a bloodhound. And customs and border patrol had a search and patrol dog immediately behind the bloodhound. And so, yes, he was being tracked and pushed by a line of tactical members.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You can also see this incredible image obtained by CNN. You can see those moments immediately following the re-arrest of Michael Burham. Officials saying that he was dirty, wet, tired and also wearing his prison pants that had been turned inside out. However, officials have not been able to say anything about the conversations that were held with the inmate there on the ground.

There is still a lot to be determined, including where he will eventually be housed, what kind of correctional facility or at least the name of it, and also what kind of additional charges he may face. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

BLACKWELL: Authorities in Georgia are searching for a man accused of killing four people in a suburb of Atlanta. Officials have released few details about the shooting, but they say the crime scene is spread out over four locations in the same neighborhood. Authorities have not identified the victims but they say there are three men and a woman.

The suspect is 40 years old. Andre Longmore is his name. He is believed to be armed and dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF REGINALD SCANDRETT, HENRY COUNTY: Wherever you are, we will hunt you down in any hole that you may be residing in and bring you to custody. Period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Investigators do not have a motive at this time. The sheriff's office is offering a $10,000 reward for any information there leading to his arrest.

And I want to now bring in Charles Ramsey. He is CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and a former Philadelphia police commissioner. Commissioner Ramsey, thanks for being with us on a Sunday morning.

Let me start with the Georgia shooting. We are closing in on 24 hours since the shooting. What would investigators be doing at this stage of the investigation?

CHIEF CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they are doing everything they can to try to track the individual. The one advantage they have is they very quickly identified the individual, which tells me that perhaps there is a relationship of some kind between at least one of the victims and this individual.

[06:05:07]

Now, I am told this is a very small community. Everybody knows one another. Someone may have observed him going in or coming out of the location where the victims were found.

But in any event, they identified him. They identified his vehicle. All those kinds of things. And they are putting out a lot of information.

So, they are trying to track cellphones. They are doing everything they possibly can to get a location on this guy. But he is -- he is on the move. I mean, he does have a vehicle. So, he may not be anywhere near Henry County at this particular point in time. You just don't know.

SOLOMON: What does it tell you that there were four different crime scenes in terms of trying to understand this person's motive and potentially how he knew his victims or chose his victims?

RAMSEY: Well, yes, I mean, when I saw that, I was wondering are these four separate locations, like four different homes, were they all found in one, are you talking about shell casings, because that's a crime scene in and of itself. So, until we get a little more information it's going to be difficult to say.

But there could be more than one location where a victim was found. Again, it looks like there is some relationship between at least one of the victims and this individual. I don't think this was a random act at all. Simply because they were able to I.D. him so quickly, it tells me that, you know, someone knew this person, knew he had an issue with someone or what have you.

But just because it's four scenes doesn't mean it's four houses or four locations. A crime scene could be anything from finding shell casings or other types of evidence to actually a location where bodies were found. So, we will get more information I am sure as the day goes on around this particular case.

SOLOMON: Yes, it's a good point. Any significance in terms of the time that this happened on a Saturday morning at 10:00? Of course, mass shootings have become all too common so I'm not sure that there is necessarily something that is typical or atypical. But does that -- does that signal to you anything about whether this may have been a crime of opportunity or if there was an event that potentially set this off?

RAMSEY: Well, again, if it was an event, I think they probably would have mentioned that at the press conference. But, you know, the information that they provided at the press conference was not an awful lot in terms of the crime itself other than identifying the individual responsible, which, quite frankly, is probably the most important aspect of this whole thing, is getting that information out to the public.

But, you know, when we talk about mass shootings, we are talking about the definition of a mass shooting, but there is a huge difference. I mean, you have shootings that occur in grocery stores. We have them at block parties and, you know, concerts. And this happens to be one where you've got four victims so it falls under the definition, but it doesn't mean that it's a random act.

Again, I doubt if it's random. I think that there is some relationship here. Because they were able to I.D. him so quickly, tells me that somebody knew this individual and someone probably knew why. They just aren't releasing a motive right now because they have to firm up and they don't want to put too much information out in terms of speculation at this point.

SOLOMON: He is also still on the run, as we know. Commissioner, I want to turn to the investigation in the search in Pennsylvania, in Warren County. As we said at the top of the show the inmate, the escaped inmate, has now been caught. But walk me through what type of search this would have required.

I mean, we heard investigators there say bloodhounds were used. Walk me through the type of search that this would require to finally bring this person into custody after nine days.

RAMSEY: Well, they were using dogs, obviously, to pick up his scent. They were absolutely right in assuming that he was still in the area because a lot of time had passed. I mean, nine days is a long time. He, obviously, had a plan on how to get out of the building but not really a plan on what to do once he got out because he is still right there in that general vicinity.

But they would have been using drones. They would have been using dogs, which, obviously, they did. Helicopters with what is called a FLIR, a heat-seeking device that show whether or not, you know, anything living is in a particular area and they could distinguish between a human and animal, for an example.

So, they were using all the resources that they had. But it's very difficult to search a heavily wooded area. They do a grid search and they take their time. He could set booby traps. He could ambush the officers.

So, you have a lot of considerations to take into account when you are trying to find an individual in an area like that. It is one of the most difficult searches there is in an area like that.

[06:10:02]

SOLOMON: And I would imagine made even more difficult by the fact that they said this person had survivalist experience. Commissioner Charles Ramsey, wonderful to have you this morning. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Police in Alabama say that a woman who disappeared after calling 911 to report a toddler walking along the interstate has been found alive. Investigators say 25-year-old Carlee Russell returned to her home overnight.

She is now at a hospital. Her car and her phone were found the day she disappeared but there was no sign of her, no sign of the child. And right now, it's unclear where Russell had been since Thursday.

SOLOMON: The heatwave that has been baking the U.S. is intensifying this morning. Eighty million people are under heat alert stretching from the Pacific northwest down to Florida. Triple digits temperatures will be a fixture in more than a dozen states.

Today is expected, for example, to be the hottest day in years for some cities. More than 100 temperature records are possible through Monday.

BLACKWELL: The city of Las Vegas is expected to challenge its all-time high temperature of 117 degrees. The high heat has prompted a citywide effort to collect thousands of bottles of water for the homeless population there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBY QUINN, HELP OF SOUTHERN NEVADA, CHIEF COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICER: It's life and death. I mean, there is no joking about that. That is literally this water will save a life. They are literally baking on the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: In California, fire crews in Riverside County are fighting four wildfires all fueled by the extreme heat. The largest of them is the Rabbit fire. It's growing from just 20 acres on Friday to now more than 7,600 acres. Here is CNN's Mike Valerio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Temperatures throughout the southwest are soaring into the triple digits. In Death Valley, California, the high could top 130 degrees. The National Park service warning hikers not to hike after 10:00 a.m. and -- quote -- "travel prepared to survive."

NICHOLE ANDLER, DEATH VALLEY PARK RANGER: It can be a little painful. And I personally sometimes when I feel that sun, I think about it and it feels like it's going straight through my skin and, you know, deep inside to my bones. VALERIO (voice-over): In Austin, Texas, misting tents are being deployed to try to keep people cool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is, in fact, a dangerous time and that's why we want to get these warnings out.

VALERIO (voice-over)): In Pasadena, the head coach at the high school checks the turf to make sure it's not too hot for players to practice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our heat stress tracker. This actually helps us out daily.

VALERIO (voice-over): It's heat at least 110 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona, every day this month, and the heat streak is expected to continue for at least Wednesday.

BRANDON MILLER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's the hottest time of the year and the hottest places in the country, but even with that, these temperatures are five, 10, even 15 degrees above average. And that's why it's a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels like if hot sauce could be felt without you having to taste it. Like it got poured on my back.

VALERIO: Well, the southwest is seeing the worst of the heatwave this weekend. Forecasters say temperatures will get even hotter across the south central and the southeast in the coming days.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Valencia, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Hot sauce on the back will never get old. I mean, we could play that every day.

SOLOMON: Will never get old.

BLACKWELL: It will never get old. Meteorologist Brandon Miller is with us now. Brandon, ahead my goddaughter sent me a screen grab of the gauge on the dashboard. She lives in Henderson, Nevada. And it was something crazy. Like, I can't even -- it was 116 or something crazy like that. How long will the heat last there?

MILLER: For a while longer. There is really no end in sight. Not necessarily to that extreme, but I do think, you know, at least through the rest of this week and, you know, quite honestly, until the monsoon really sets in. You are talking weeks of heat. But in Henderson, Nevada, you're expecting some of that just not to that degree.

You know, speaking of hot sauce on the back, it probably feels like that if you are taking a dip in the Gulf of Mexico. We know the Gulf of Mexico is at record temperatures right now and that's why the morning -- keep in mind this is the cool of the morning temperatures, 94 degrees Lake Charles, 94 in Mobile. I mean, these are really hot temperatures at the coolest point of the day. It's only going up from there and it's only going to go up over the next couple of days. Feels-like temperatures over 105 nearly every day.

Just talked about those record temps. Phoenix set a record yesterday at 118. They are probably going to get there again today, may even go a touch warmer. Kingman, Arizona, not far there from Henderson, Nevada, set an all-time record, 114. That's the actual air temperature. In your car, your car reading would go much higher than that.

Reno also set a record. And that's why we see over 80 million under heat impacts today under these heat alerts, and again the temperatures just going up. Not really abating much. And the other thing I did want to mention just quickly before I toss back to you, another rain threat today in the northeast.

[06:15:04]

Exactly what they don't want to see. Sunday morning thunderstorms and we have got flood alerts for over 50 million people along the I-95 corridor.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The flooding there has just been treacherous for people. Brandon Miller, thanks so much.

SOLOMON: Yes. To that end, new this morning at least three people were killed in Pennsylvania after floodwaters swept them away. The Bucks County coroner confirms that two women and one man were found outside of their cars. At one point the floodwaters were five feet high. Officials say they worked on several rescue missions throughout the night in the county. But right now, we still don't know how many people have to be rescued.

BLACKWELL: The Powerball jackpot is close to $1 billion now after nobody won last night's drawing. The prize balloons again to an estimated 900 million. The next shot at it is Monday. The drawing then.

SOLOMON: That is the third largest pot in Powerball history and the seventh largest in U.S. lottery history. Now, no one has won the grand prize since April 19th and it has rolled over 36 times since then. Getting to almost a cool billion dollars.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I didn't play. I think 900 million might get me to come up four -- $6.00 maybe.

SOLOMON: Have you -- have you reconsidered who you might give some zeros to? Yesterday you told us you weren't giving it to Michelle Singletary. You weren't giving it to your colleagues like me. Have you reconsidered that?

BLACKWELL: OK. I'll say this. If I win the jackpot and it's more than a billion, yes.

SOLOMON: Oh, my goodness. All right. It just takes $1 billion, that's all.

BLACKWELL: Yes. If it's that high, then I'll share.

All right. Still ahead, serious turn here. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been fitted with a heart monitor after being admitted to a hospital. We have the latest on his condition.

Plus, torrential rain causes flash floods and deadly mudslides in South Korea. The latest on the urgent search and recovery effort there.

SOLOMON: Also, a new era for major league soccer. Lionel Messi has officially joined Inter Miami. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:21:16]

BLACKWELL: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been released from the hospital after being treated overnight.

SOLOMON: Netanyahu was admitted yesterday and treated for apparent dehydration. CNN's Hadas Gold joins us live. So, Hadas, what more are you learning about his stay?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we are learning is the biggest news today is that he has actually been implemented with a sort of heart monitor. This after doctors ran several tests on him after he spent the night at the hospital.

This all began, the prime minister's office says, on Friday when the prime minister spent part of the day at the Sea of Galilee. Now, this entire region, like so much of the world right now, is undergoing a heatwave and there is actually a heat advisory warning for the Sea of Galilee.

The prime minister saying yesterday in a video statement he spent the day out there without a hat, without water, saying it was not a good idea. On Saturday he began to feel dizziness. That's when he went to the emergency room where they started to undertake a series of tests and he was initially diagnosed with dehydration.

But then he was kept overnight and he was kept through this morning. It's now about 1:20 here, and he was just released in the last 30 minutes or so, and they continue to do extra tests. And then this morning is when we received word from the hospital that while they were continuing the tests, while still say that the reason for his hospitalization was dehydration, they decided to undertake a series of extra tests.

And while they didn't find any sort of heart arrhythmia or anything, they did -- they did decide that in order to continue routine monitoring they decided to use a subcutaneous halter. This is a very small -- about an inch, inch and a half, sort of long device that is implanted under the skin and it provides continuous heart monitoring of the heart. So, although they say that there was no unusual tests come out of any of the tests they did on his heart or anything of his system, doctors did think it was necessary to implement this sort of heart monitoring device.

Now, he has been discharged. They say he is in good condition. Benjamin Netanyahu has no known major previous health conditions. But he is 73 years old. There is a heatwave right here. He has been taken to the hospital for feeling unwell in the past.

Obviously, it's also a very stressful and eventful time in this region with the rising violence across the occupied West Bank in Israel, an internal political strife that Benjamin Netanyahu is facing. But as of right now, he has been discharged from the hospital but does now have this heart monitor on him. Guys.

BLACKWELL: Hadas, thank you. Let's go to South Korea now where there is a major rescue operation happening after flash flooding trapped more than a dozen cars and a city bus in a tunnel on Saturday. More than 400 workers and divers are on the scene now searching for survivors.

SOLOMON: So far rescue workers have pulled seven bodies from vehicles trapped in the flooded underpass. And today crews are hoping to drain the water out of the tunnel. Let's bring in CNN's Marc Stewart. He joins us now.

Marc, look, more than 400 workers, it sounds like a pretty big operation. How's it going? What's the latest here?

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, Rahel, this is a very tough operation. We are now into hour 13 of this rescue effort. And these crews are facing a lot of obstacles.

First of all, they are dealing with these torrential rains. They have been dealing with mud. And then they have had to come up with a way to try and drain the water from the tunnel.

As you can see from these pictures, this is a pretty extensive scene. While there is certainly always hope, we did hear from one emergency responder who kind of quashed the idea that there would be an air pocket somewhere in the water to allow people to survive. Nonetheless, this effort is still moving forward.

This is happening about 60 miles to the south of Seoul, of course, the major city in South Korea. But all of Korea has been dealing with some very heavy rains.

[06:25:04]

Many portions have been dealing with heavy rains this weekend. Monsoon rains that have impacted roads. They have impacted people's homes. They even damaged farm fields.

At one point, there have also been evacuations. So, this is something that is hitting the region very hard. This effort is still moving forward. So, of course, we will keep watch on that. But I should also point out that this extreme weather is not just limited to South Korea. We have seen hot temperatures in China. And here in Japan where I live, just days ago we saw heavy rains. That led to a landslide. It led to flooding. And, sadly, there have been deaths and injuries reported.

Victor and Rahel, we have also been talking a lot lately about extreme temperatures. Here in Tokyo is no exception. Today, we have seen highs going up anywhere to 97, 98 degrees. Although that is not that unusual for this part of the world this time of the year, it does make life very difficult.

SOLOMON: Certainly, a lot of people in the U.S. know what that feels like right now. Marc Stewart, thank you.

Well, still ahead for us, new GOP fundraising numbers are out as the race for the White House really heats up. We will break down what it says about the strength of each candidate coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. And turning to the 2024 presidential race. Donald Trump slamming Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, telling him to get home and do his job. Trump taking aim at DeSantis during a campaign stop in West Palm Beach, Florida after skipping events in Iowa last week.

BLACKWELL: DeSantis trails Trump in the polls and is now laying off campaign staffers as his fundraising slows. But he's still hoping to close the gap with Trump, and win the nomination, of course. CNN's national correspondent, Kristen Holmes, has the latest from the campaign trail.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor and Rahel. Well, former President Trump spoke for nearly two hours to a packed house at that Turning Point event. This of course coming after he missed that "cattle call" in Iowa on Friday. Now, despite missing that event, despite the fact that several of his opponents called him out for that, he actually called out some of his 2024 Republican hopeful opponents for not being at this event, particularly of course Ron DeSantis.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The gentleman named Ron DeSanctimonious at 14 percent. He's at 14 percent. And I don't know why he's not here this couple of days but he should be here. He should be here representing himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, DeSantis was really the only candidate that Trump went after, which again not surprising there. He has been fixated on the Florida governor. The other thing I want to note is just what this speech was filled with because it was, as I said, nearly two hours long. He talked about a number of his grievances. He talked about the deep state. He talked about some of his policies that he believes that he will instate when he gets back into office. He talked about big pharma as well as touting his Supreme Court -- recent decisions that they had made.

But it is interesting as we see here, we know that he had just hired a new Nevada state director. We know that they're building out this infrastructure. And again, he's still speaking for two hours in front of this large, energetic crowd. Just keeping in mind that he is running this third presidential bid and continuing full speed ahead and has an enormous amount of support from the party even as he faces all of these legal pressures and these outside investigations. Victor, Rahel?

BLACKWELL: Kristen Holmes for us there, thank you so much.

Campaign financial reports are also in for the second quarter. Joining us is Akayla Gardner, White House Correspondent for Bloomberg News. We want to get into those as well, but Kayla, let me first talk about this event that happened in Florida. DeSantis did not attend. Trump spoke for two hours. It's customary for officeholders who were running for another office to be out of the state to be campaigning. President Trump did it in 2020 when he was running for reelection away from the White House, of course.

But this event was in Florida. Does the governor lose anything by not being there with Turning Point USA?

AKAYLA GARDNER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG NEWS: I think that's exactly the point that Trump was trying to make. He was in DeSantis' home state in Florida, a place that he also spends time basically touting himself as the front-runner. He showed himself to be confident. He basically called for DeSantis to get out of this race and stop wasting time and money that could be used to defeat Joe Biden. And he also implied he wants other candidates to do that as well.

Another thing I think is important to know is this is an event for Turning Point USA, one of the most influential conservative groups, a youth activist group. And they had been in recent months closely aligning themselves with DeSantis, particularly its founder, Charlie Kirk. And that had caused some tension between their camps with the Trump camp.

But him being the headliner here definitely is an affirmation of Trump being the person to beat in this race, and it shows that Charlie Kirk is aware of where the base is and that's firmly behind Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: That's an important context there. Let me get one more in here on DeSantis. The campaign has shed some staff, fewer than 10, reportedly. The DeSantis campaign is 30 points by the latest Morning Consult poll or so, more than 30 points behind Trump's campaign. Campaign reshuffles happen, but we're still five weeks out from the first debate, six months out from the first votes in Iowa. What does this mean at this moment for DeSantis?

[06:35:05]

GARDNER: You make a good point that it's still early in this race. DeSantis pulled in the second most fundraising behind Trump with $20 million. But he was still $15 million short from what Trump pulled in at 35. So, that's a pretty significant difference there. And you -- as you mentioned, he's sort of cutting staff here because a big concern right now is whether he could face bankruptcy. Insolvency is certainly a question here because he's only pulled in about 15 percent of donations from small donors, and that's a huge difference again from Trump whose average campaign donation is $34, just $34.

And that's a huge difference here is Trump has certainly showed his ability to get grassroots support, and DeSantis is mostly relying on top dollar interest. And that's certainly a contrast because most of DeSantis' support and as part of his appeal is his ability to bring in these big donors, but it seems like most of his support is coming from the establishment, from big donors, and from the elite whereas Trump is getting voters which ultimately you need to win an election.

BLACKWELL: Let's take a look at some other candidates here. First up, Chris Christie $1.65 million in the second quarter. Not the bottom of the list but apparently the most aggressive critic of former President Trump here in this race has some work to do.

GARDNER: Absolutely. These aren't great numbers for Chris Christie. But something here to mention, of course, is that he had a slower start here. He was one of the candidates who was sort of a jump ball, who weren't really sure if he was going to get in this race. But he's still ahead of Mike Pence who we were almost certain was going to get into this race. So, that's one thing he has into his advantage as well.

But it certainly undermines some of his claims that he has overwhelming big-ticket donors. A third of his donations notably came from small-dollar donors, which shows he has some broader appeal. But he still needs to get more money. And it sort of undermines his approach here. His approach is that he is the loudest critic. He's the person who's willing to take on Trump, and it shows that there might not be as much appetite for that as he hopes.

But one thing for sure that's notable, he's reached that $40,000 individual campaigns. That's going to get him to the debate stage. And that is something that he believes is going to make Donald Trump get on the debate stage. Trump has yet to commit to doing that. And he believes with him on the stage, Trump is going to have to commit.

BLACKWELL: Let's put those numbers back up because there's a bit of a trend here. Now, we don't see former Congressman Will Hurd, who's only been in the race for what, two weeks or so. And we don't see Larry Elder here as well who is near the bottom of the list in fundraising. But on the screen, you have Chris Christie, a Trump critic at $1.65 million. You have the former Vice President $1.2 million, who has been a little more aggressive recently in his criticism of the former president. And Asa Hutchinson who says that former President Trump is disqualified from being the nominee because of his actions on January 6th.

Is there something to glean from the most aggressive critics of the former president are at the other end of the spectrum? And those who are not as aggressive are closer but still not even close to Trump's fundraising numbers.

GARDNER: I think you're absolutely right. You're hitting the nail on the head here. You have candidates like Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, who have been less critical of the president and in some cases are friendly with him. You've heard Trump yesterday complimenting Vivek. He's complimented Tim Scott several times. And they're polling is doing better, and it seems like that approach is one that is one, getting them more dollars, but also getting them better polling numbers is to be as sort of neutral as possible, or at least very careful and targeted when they choose to criticize Trump.

And of course, there's also the race here for the Vice President. Trump is still considering who he's going to pick for that slot. And he's certainly considering folks like Tim Scott, Vivek, and those are just -- that's the second theory race that I think is also important to watch.

BLACKWELL: All right, Akayla Gardner, thank you so much.

SOLOMON: All right, tonight, what happens if America can't get immigration right? Join Fareed Zakaria for a special hour on the current crisis, Immigration Breakdown: A Fareed Zakaria Special airing tonight at 8:00 on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Novak Djokovic is eyeing another record at Wimbledon today.

SOLOMON: It'll all happen in a matter of hours. Djokovic is trying to keep alive his quest for the calendar slam, winning all four majors in a year. Let's bring in Carolyn Manno. Carolyn, look, this won't be easy.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: No, it won't. You know, but this could be a match for the ages. I mean, this is the man that pretty much everybody considers to be the greatest of all time against this young upstart, this 20-year-old Spaniard in Carlos Alcaraz, who's the top player in the world right now, but so far hasn't shown that he can get over the mental hurdle to play Novak Djokovic on the biggest of stages.

Novak is just one win away from that record-tying 8th Wimbledon title that you mentioned, his fifth straight. He beat Jannik Sinner in straight sets. He is so dominant on center court. He has not lost there in a decade, at 34 matches in a row. The 36-year-old has only lost one Wimbledon final that he's reached, and that was 10 years ago. So, we are setting the table here for quite a show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NOVAK DJOKOVIC, 23-TIME MAJOR WINNER: I think this is probably the best finals that we could have. We are both in good form. We're both playing well. We're both, you know, I guess, want to take this title, you know, without a doubt. I look forward to it. You know, it's going to be a great challenge. I think -- the greatest challenge probably that I can have at the moment.

Yes, I do have more experience playing in many more grand slam or Wimbledon finals than him, but you know, still he's in great shape. He's very motivated. He's young. He's hungry. I'm hungry too, so let's have a feast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:45:22]

MANNO: Back stateside, Messi making it official signing with Inter Miami yesterday. The deal is going to make him a Florida man to the end of the 2025 season. And in his statement, the Argentine superstar saying he's very excited about it. He's expected to debut for Miami on July 21st against the Mexican club side Cruz Azul.

The WNBA taken over Las Vegas this weekend highlighted by the triumphant return of Britney Griner. The nine-time All-Star playing in her first All-Star game since being detained in Russia. And the Mercury Star delivered on the floor, throwing down the slam dunk there for two of her eighteen points on the night. Seattle's Jewell Loyd earning MVP honors, scoring an All-Star game record 31 points on 10 threes as team Breanna Stewart beats Team A'ja Wilson 143 to 127, the final.

And lastly for you this morning, Steph Curry once again proving he can hit a shot from anywhere and not just with the basketball. The four- time NBA camp, look at this, sinking a hole in one and then losing his mind, breaking into a full out Sprint, celebrating, soaking it all in. He was winded though. When the reporter finally caught up to him to ask him about what felt like one of the biggest moments of his professional sporting career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPH CURRY, NBA STAR: 140 yards or 94 feet. But wow, I'll be out of breath for the rest of the day for a good reason though.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

CURRY: Hey, that's what I'm talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: At least we know he's not a long-distance runner I mean, there's seemingly nothing that he cannot do. But it's good to see him winded. I'm just going to say, it's good to see him winded.

BLACKWELL: He's leave something on the table for the rest of the athletes. SOLOMON: For the rest of us mortals. Well, the athletes too.

BLACKWELL: Basketball and golf and what is next, pickleball?

MANNO: I'm just -- I'm going home.

SOLOMON: Yes, yes, exactly.

MANNO: Well, he can play that too. He can play that too.

SOLOMON: I can't thinking -- I can't stop thinking about Djokovic saying, look, he's hungry, I'm hungry, so let's have a feast.

BLACKWELL: Let's feast.

SOLOMON: All right.

MANNO: It's going to be good.

SOLOMON: Yes. Carolyn Manno, thank you.

All right, still ahead for us, scientists are warning that record hot temperatures along Florida's coast could trigger one of the state's worst coral bleaching events. We'll talk about the impact they could have coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. A record marine heat wave off the Florida coast has sent water temperatures soaring to unprecedented highs, and that is putting marine life in danger and also threatening one of the most severe coral bleaching events that the state has ever seen. It's another example of the impacts of a human cause climate crisis.

Let's bring in coral reef expert and coordinator of the Coral Reef Watch at the ocean -- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Derek Manzello. Derek, thanks for being with us this morning. Look, hundreds of miles of Florida coral reef are in danger. How concerned are you?

DEREK MANZELLO, CORAL REEF EXPERT: I'm very concerned because our previous record in our satellite sea surface temperature data didn't occur until about mid-August. So, we've hit the record temperatures over the last six days. And this is occurring about a month earlier than it's ever occurred before in the satellite record, which goes back to the early 1980s.

SOLOMON: So, scientists are warning that we could see a severe coral bleaching event. Can you help me understand what exactly is causing the coral reef to lose its color, lose its pigment?

MANZELLO: So, corals are very, very sensitive to deviations in heat stress. So, all it takes is about heat temperatures to be a degrees Celsius or two to three degrees Fahrenheit above the normal average maximum temperatures they experience and stay at that level for a month or more and they'll start experience bleaching. Now if the heat stress subsides, corals can recover from bleaching. But the real issue is even if a coral doesn't die from bleaching, it has very downstream negative impacts that can last for years. Growth rates, reproduction declined for about two to four years, and then the corals become increasingly susceptible to coral diseases.

SOLOMON: Well, talk to me about that -- the further downstream impacts and I'm thinking perhaps about other sea life, about the larger ecosystem. What are the impacts of that?

MANZELLO: So, coral reefs create the three-dimensional architecturally complex reef framework habitat structure. Now, it's been estimated that about 25 percent of all marine organisms associate with coral reef habitat structure at some point in their lives. Now, believe it or not, unhealthy coral reefs (AUDIO GAP) that this structure is maintained and constructed only slightly outpaces how fast it erodes due to biological activities and physical activities like storms.

So, once we go about 10 percent live coral cover, our reef system becomes net erosional. Now, a recent study by NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey has found that about 70 percent of the reefs in Florida are already net erosional, and this was before this heat stress. What this means is we're losing vital habitat that so many marine species that have economic importance depend on in Florida such as sea turtles, sharks, fishes, stone crabs, spiny lobster, all of these things depend on coral reef habitat.

SOLOMON: How concerned are you about the impact this could have on coastal erosion and the impact of that in future severe weather?

MANZELLO: Well, healthy reefs. Are very important in protecting coastal -- providing coastal protection from sea level rise and storms. So, as reefs degrade, storms are going to cause more damage to coastal areas like in the Florida Keys and Southeast Florida coast.

SOLOMON: Finally, Derek, before I let you go, I mean, we know the Earth is getting warmer. Is it too late? Do we still have time to turn this around?

MANZELLO: There is definitely still time and things are -- all is not lost yet. However, marine heat waves are increasing in magnitude, duration, and frequency, and this is really wreaking havoc on not only coral reef ecosystems with many marine ecosystems across the planet. We're really in an existential crisis mode for coral reefs as we know them.

SOLOMON: Derek Manzello, thanks for being on the program today.

[06:55:26]

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, dangerous heat is gripping much of the U.S. right now. When we might see a break? That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLOMON: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. I'm Rahel Solomon in this morning for Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. You know, you've been teasing me for two days now about my -- I got stinginess on the jackpot for these big lotteries.

SOLOMON: You know it.

BLACKWELL: You've not said that you would be giving up any money.

SOLOMON: I'm a very generous person.

[07:00:00]