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CNN This Morning

Fani Willis Proposes October 2023 Trial Date For Trump, Co- Defendants; Donald Trump's Campaign Using Mug Shot In Fundraising Push; Interim Maui Emergency Management Director Hired After Deadly Wildfires; U.S. Mortgage Rates Hit Highest Level In 22 Years; A New Study Shows Weight Loss Drug Helped Some Patients With Heart Failure; Spanish FA President Vows to Fight On After Suspension. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 26, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:27]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is 6:00 a.m. Saturday, August 26. I'm Amaryl Walker.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rahel Solomon in this morning for Victor Blackwell, thank you for spending some of your Saturday with us this morning and Amara, good to be with you, my friend.

WALKER: I love to see you.

SOLOMON: And here's what we're watching for you this morning. Likewise, even virtually. So let's start with now that all of the defendants in the Georgia election case have turned themselves in what we're learning about their legal strategies. Also, how the Trump team is hoping to capitalize on the former president's arrest.

WALKER: A brutal heatwave is gripping parts of the country this weekend with dozens of cities set to break records. We keep saying this over and over. It's happening again, when we're seeing the worst of the heat and when we expect things to get even hotter.

SOLOMON: And officials in Maui say that the recovery efforts are nearly complete following those deadly wildfires, plus the new lawsuit that accuses the power company of setting those fires their response just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything's tip, tip, tip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that tipping has gotten out of control yet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

SOLOMON: Remember this vigorous debate, we had a few weeks ago to tip or not to tip from coffee shops to stadiums and even self-service kiosks, has tipping gone too far. I'm going to get your opinion on that later, Rahel, but we do have a

lot of news to get to. We begin with prosecutors in Fulton County, who are preparing for a speedy trial for some of the 19 defendants charged in the Georgia election interference case.

But, former President Trump's defense team is trying to delay the start. Trump and his 18 co-defendants are facing a variety of charges including racketeering and conspiracy. They all surrendered ahead of yesterday's noon deadline.

SOLOMON: The Republican front runner flew in from New Jersey to turn himself in Thursday evening. He was released on bail immediately after being processed. And this morning, only one, just one of the 19 co- defendants remains in the Fulton County Jail. You're seeing him here.

Last night a judge declined to set bond for Harrison Floyd, a leader of Black Voices for Trump. During the hearing, he told the judge that he couldn't afford to hire an attorney. The judge informed him that he did not meet the eligibility requirements for obtaining a public defender.

WALKER: So far two of the 19 co-defendants have asked for a speedy trial but as Katelyn Polantz reports, Trump is looking to push it back as far as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Rahel, Amara, it was a busy week for the 19 defendants in Fulton County, Georgia. But there's a long road ahead on the way to trial here with this case, the fourth criminal indictments against Donald Trump, and this one is relating to the January 6 and the 2020 election.

In this situation right now, there are defendants who want to go to trial really fast. They want to go to trial in late October, potentially that is what the DA has staked out as the date is what a judge is already looking at, and seems to agree with Donald Trump. He doesn't want that at all. He wants the trial to be held back much, much further and potentially have himself taken away from other defendants here.

The import of that is that it creates a situation where Donald Trump may be splitting from other defendants wishes that a 19 defendants might be going in different directions. We're seeing that in another avenue here too, because there are five defendants right now asking to move their case to federal court or the charges that are against them in this racketeering, criminal enterprise case in Georgia.

The way that they say that they should be in federal court is that they had some sort of tied to the federal government either they were fake electors taking direction from Donald Trump, they say or we're looking at Mark Meadows, the chief of staff in the White House under Trump, Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official.

And so watching that going forward is going to be very important to see many trials take place as judges look at this. The first one of those is set to begin on Monday, as the judge looks at Mark Meadows request to move the trial to federal court. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, Katelyn Polantz, appreciate it. Thanks. Let's talk more about all the legal stuff surrounding it. CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson. Good morning.

So, a lot of little, you know, bits and pieces here from Katelyn Polantz, one of the 19 defendants, Kenneth Chesebro, he is now scheduled to stand trial about two months from now.

[06:05:05]

Sidney Powell as you know also seeking a speedy trial. What is the strategy here also knowing that they're both attorneys? I mean, is there a benefit to have your trial go first?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So there could be good morning to you, Amara. I think it's a strategic move. And I think the strategic move, first of all, is predicated upon separating your case from the others. What does that mean? I anticipated that they would certainly -- many anticipated that there will be separate motions, that is, birds of a feather should not always flock together, just because someone engaged in inappropriate illegal, irresponsible behavior doesn't mean that I did.

And when you mix yourself up and a group of others and you have evidence, which will come out in a compelling way, speaking of a criminal enterprise, you don't want to dirty yourself up with that. So I think a strategic move in doing that it's not only does it force the prosecutors hand to have the trial early, we know it's going to be held, or at least it's scheduled for October, late October 22, 23rd.

But the reality is, is that now you act alone, because others are saying I can't be ready in a couple of months. And therefore also you're not sitting through all the evidence with all the other defendants as well. So there could be some strategic moves. It is a strategic move, but there could be some very good benefits to going early and being separated from the others as they move forward. And all of this damaging information comes out and about what everyone was doing, what specific roles they had, and how guilty they were.

WALKER: Is the October 23 trial date even feasible, though? I mean, just hearing is looking at this court filings from the Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, basically telling the attorney is of all 19 defendants to make sure they have a flash drive that will have at least two terabytes of storage space.

I mean, and I was -- I of course Google will, how much space is that? And I think I read like 200,000. That's enough room for 200,000 photos and 500,000 documents. That's a lot of information to have to go through. So is this even feasible or not?

JACKSON: So it could be troubling, Amara, indeed. It takes a long time when you get discovery. And of course, the discovery hasn't even been given yet, right, pursuant to the court order. That won't happen until late September. And so now you're even looking at an even shorter timeframe to examine, evaluate and get your strategic defenses.

So to your question, it may not be feasible, but remember Amara, who asked for this, the defense asked for this, it wasn't the prosecutor saying, Hey, let's go, I want to be ready. Let's do this. This was in response to Mr. Chesebro, saying, hey, I want my trial. I want it now. Then the prosecutor saying fine, we'll have it now, the judge agreeing and setting a schedule.

But to your point, it may not be practical to have it move forward. There are inherent delays, that could be motion practice, that could be rights that certainly the attorney for the attorney who's going on trial may assert that take time to sort out. So although it's scheduled for that time, it may not proceed on October 23 at this point.

WALKER: So Chesebro was the legal architect of the fake electors plot. It was a multi-state plot. If his trial, let's say goes on October 23, and then wraps up before Trump even goes to trial. Do you see the outcome of that impacting Trump's trial?

JACKSON: So I think it impacts it in the following way. I think we would get a preview as the trial went forward with respect to the nature of the evidence, remember that when you have a RICO case, you're going to be talking about prosecutors, we'll be talking about the nature of the enterprise. What was everyone's role? What specifically did they do? How was that criminal? How did that fit into the others? This is a conspiracy. They were acting in coordination. And therefore it'll give you an overall sense of what the defendants as a whole were doing.

And so to that extent, it has an impact. And of course, if there's a conviction, and the conviction is to adds to all counts, it has an even further impact. Is that going to be me next will say another defendant?

And so in that regard, I think it'll certainly show the public whether the case is strong, whether it has the appropriate corroboration, and whether the other defendant should be worried. And remember, Amara, will certainly get other defendants who will plead guilty, many will fight of course, right. And many -- and some potentially can win.

But the reality is, is that I think once everyone sees the evidence coming in, they may get skittish and say, hey, can I cut a deal? Can I turn state's evidence beyond the prosecution's team? Can I get out now? So I think it has effect in that specific way.

WALKER: And what do you think is a feasible timeline, especially with Trump and his lawyers pushing, you know, for delay, delay, delay? When do you think would be the soonest for Trump's trial to begin?

JACKSON: Yes, that really is a great question for the following reason. Remember that he's not only is he not similarly situated because he's a president, yes and I know no one's above the law if he wants you to be treated differently.

[06:10:07] But there are other trust schedules to keep in mind. Right. There are four total indictments, those cases of course being indicted prior to this. To what extent is Jack Smith's case take priority in the federal court dealing with election interference, dealing with the other with classified documents? To what extent should the Manhattan DA's case be considered?

And so an answer to the question with respect to Trump, Amara, you have to factor all that in. There are other judges, other considerations, other parts of justice that have to be meted out. So, I think we're looking not until next year, unless there's a meeting of the minds with all the parties to say, hey, look, this is the way we're going to structure this. Let's coordinate, let's do this right in the interest of justice, and in that regard, unless the others take a backseat to the Georgia case. The Georgia case certainly has to focus in on prioritize the others as well.

WALKER: And quickly, Mark Meadows, Trump's former White House Chief of Staff, another defendant, who also turned himself in. He is trying to get his case moved to federal court as you know, a hearing on that as scheduled for Monday.

Does he have a strong case to argue that he committed these alleged crimes within his role as a U.S. government official, which would then give him federal immunity? Because that's what it will come down to. Right. And as you know, and people out there don't know, Meadows was on that infamous phone call, where Trump was pushing the Georgia Secretary of State to find more votes.

JACKSON: Yes. So I think that Meadows has a shot. I don't know that it's that strong, but he certainly has a shot. And here's why, he faces two counts, right, one being in the RICO conspiracy, the other being to solicit public officials to violate the office. But his conduct comes down to being on the call that you noted, Amara, in addition to traveling to Georgia to oversee the audit that was not open to the public and making some text and other phone calls.

He's going to argue that he did it in his capacity as Chief of Staff to the President. The President had a good faith belief that there were problems with the election. As a result, he was following instructions of his boss as a public official to carry out his responsibilities. He wasn't engaged in criminality. That will be the argument.

To the extent that he will argue, he was acting as a public official and under the umbrella and color of a president who really felt it appropriate to look at this. He certainly has a shot to having it removed to federal court.

Remember, in removal to federal court, the essence of the case is the same. It'll be prosecuted under Georgia law, to be prosecuted by Georgia prosecutors, and he still faces exposure, but making the argument of removal he certainly has an opportunity to do that, and he could very well prevail based upon his arguments.

WALKER: Joey Jackson, always great to talk with you. Thanks. SOLOMON: And not long after the release of Trump's mug shot, his team started monetizing it. The mug shot appeared on Trump's website. Above a note that asked supporters to donate to his campaign. Trump even marked his return to X also known as Twitter by sharing the photo and linking to the fundraising site.

The Trump campaign is also now selling Never Surrender themed merchandise that includes everything from mugs, tees and beverage coolers with the infamous Joe house photo from the day of his while surrender.

And President Joe Biden also trying to bring in some cash and may Trump's legal troubles. On the day of Trump's arrest the president of the social media to post a link to his donation site saying apropos of nothing. Today is a great day to give.

It was a rare move for Biden, who has refrained from fundraising on any of Trumps previous arrest. Biden is headed back to the White House today after a vacation in California. And that's where we find CNN's Priscilla Alvarez this morning. So Priscilla, good morning. How else is the Biden team reacting to Trump's surrender?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it's been limited to that tweet that you just showed. It was a small but notable moment, as President Biden had tweeted as the former president went into the Fulton County jail on Thursday that a apropos of nothing. He was still sort of soliciting donations.

Now, the President Biden and the White House has so far refrained on weighing in on any justice department investigations and avoided touching Trump's legal problems. That's also true for the Biden campaign, which over the last three indictments of the former president has really refrained from fundraising off of any of them. So the fact that the President tweeted in that moment was, again, small but notable.

Now, it's not clear that that's going to mark any sort of shift moving forward. In fact, where the President and the campaign has been focusing on is really the issues and after this week, which also had the Republican presidential debate, they're rolling out a digital ad focused on abortion, it is targeting former President Trump, DeSantis and Tim Scott.

Now, what this digital ad will say is that the President would never want to have a federal abortion ban across the country that that would never become law under President Biden. This is of course an issue that this President and his campaign has been seizing on they see it as an issue and when they can really shore up voters.

[06:15:00]

And so that is where the focus is, is on these issues. And this is a digital ad that will be on YouTube TV, as well as other platforms and it will be in battleground states targeting women in those states. So, again, despite the president tweeting this week as the former president went into the Fulton County jail to be arrested to solicit donations, it doesn't mark any shift moving forward and really where we see the most focus of this campaign is going to be on the issues and in particular abortion.

SOLOMON: Priscilla Alvarez we'll watch this space. Thank you, Priscilla.

And turning down to the scorching heat that's been gripping the country. The National Weather Service says that Shreveport Louisiana reached an all time record high of 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday also says that other places are getting even hotter.

WALKER: 90 million people are under some kind of heat alert this morning. A dangerous heatwave is blanketing the south from Georgia to Texas and the Southwest could see temperatures rise 10 to 15 degrees above normal. We're joined now by CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. What do we need to know Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right, it's just about to get even hotter in some of these places. Now the focus for that is really going to be in the Southwest where they've had a little bit of a brief reprieve the last week those temperatures are now going to start to climb.

For areas of the South where it's never really stopped being hot, we're going to continue to see that heat at least through the weekend. But there is finally some relief on the way and yes, as you mentioned Shreveport, Louisiana, topping out at 110 Friday that would tie the all time record. They're not alone. Houston tied their all time record the day before on Thursday when they reached 109 degrees.

Now, Houston is still going to be very hot today, they peak on Sunday, with a high temperature only two degrees off from that record of 107. Dallas peaks today. New Orleans looking at temperatures pretty consistent the next two days. But then we finally start to see those temperatures dropping back down, at least for the upcoming week.

So again, in New Orleans this weekend, it's still expected to remain in the triple digits. But then you'll start to see those temperatures coming back closer to the normal, which this time of year is right around 91 degrees.

We've already started to see the relief up in the upper Midwest. All of this red color had been as far north as Minneapolis just a few days ago, we're starting to see that shrink back farther down to the south. And we will continue to see it shrink even further as we go into the next 48 to 72 hours.

So places like Nashville, St. Louis, Little Rock, we're going to start to see those temperatures coming back down in the coming days. It's really just going to kind of linger right there along the Gulf Coast at least until we get into early next week.

One thing that may actually provide some relief from all of these above average temperatures next week could actually be in the form of a tropical system. Yes, this system right here that we're keeping an eye on. We'll have more on that ladies coming up in the next hour. WALKER: My goodness. I'm going to watch for. Allison Chinchar, thank you.

Maui County is suing its electric company in the aftermath of the deadly and devastating wildfires, the allegations in the lawsuit and how the electric company is responding.

SOLOMON: Also Fed Chair Jerome Powell hints at more bad news for borrowers what he is saying about the possibility of more rate hikes. We'll be right back.

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[06:22:22]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. And now to some other headlines this morning. Two people were shot while attending a White Sox game in Chicago Friday night. Now at this point, details are still limited but according to our CNN affiliate WLS, the shooting apparently happened in the left field bleachers.

One person was shot in the leg the other was grazed by a bullet in the abdomen. Police say they responded immediately and the game was not interrupted.

WALKER: After a summer of extreme heat, excuse me and dry conditions and unprecedented amount of wildfires are burning right now across Louisiana, the worst of them. The fire on Tiger Island which is now burned more than 20,000 acres. Residents all across the southwest portion of the state have been evacuated including the town of Maryville, which is about home to about 1,200 people and now a statewide burn ban is in place. Officials say everything from agriculture burning to grilling out is highly discouraged. Some 400 fires have burned this month alone in Louisiana.

SOLOMON: Four new crew members are on their way to the International Space Station after lifting off earlier this morning, the Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The new crew members come from the U.S., Denmark, Japan and Russia.

Now when they reach the station, they'll join seven other astronauts who have been there since March and will discuss this a lot more throughout the day.

And this morning on Maui, the search of the fire zone is nearly complete. Search crews and cadaver dogs had made it through 99 percent of the disaster area. Now they're beginning rechecks of the hardest hit areas.

WALKER: They've also began to search the waterfront finding personal items of people who jumped into those waters to get away from this flames. They have found everything from jewelry and purses to cell phones. Right now the death toll is holding at 115 but it is expected to rise in the coming days and weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHIEF JOHN PELLETIER, MAUI POLICE: We are making recoveries and we're doing everything we can to make as much of a recovery of a human being as possible. We also know that we may have some commingled recoveries. The number that we have is what's confirmed that we believe and there is a good chance that will change as we are doing our forensics and our exams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: As for the people who are still missing, the FBI I released a list of 388 names of people who have been unaccounted for.

[06:25:05]

In the 24 hours since that list was released, authorities have received hundreds of calls, some to verify information about a person on the list, others to claim a person on the list is live. Authorities say they are still getting these calls and hope to have an updated list soon.

And interim head for the Maui Emergency Management Agency has been selected after the last administrator resigned just one day after defending the decision not to sound the islands' sirens during the fast moving fires there.

SOLOMON: Darryl Oliveira has been tapped to take the seat while a permanent replacement is found. Oliveira is the former administrator of the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency and will start on Monday.

Meantime, Maui County now suing the state's largest electric company they claim that Hawaiian Electric left their power lines energized during the high winds and at the fire was a direct result of their negligence. CNN's Natasha Chen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Amara and Rahel, the Maui County lawsuit against the electric companies alleges negligence and recklessness. They call this a human made disaster. Specifically the county is saying in this lawsuit, quote, defendants inaction caused loss of life, severe injuries, complete destruction of homes and businesses, displacement of thousands of people and damage to many of Hawaii's historic and cultural sites.

They say that the electric companies didn't keep up their equipment well that there was advanced wood decay, that they did not have a policy to shut down de-energize the lines, especially when there were high wind watches and red flag warnings in those days leading up to the fires, that they knew there was a high probability that wildfires may happen.

To that end, the CEO and President of Hawaii Electric said about a week after the fires, that is actually controversial practice. Even though there are places like California, Oregon, Nevada, that shut down those lines de-energize them as a way of preventing wildfires. To the lawsuit the spokesperson of the utility companies told CNN that their main priority is to take care of Maui residents and the county and they're disappointed that the county took this litigious route. And a separately the Washington Post is reporting that the utility actually removed poles and lines, other equipment from where the Lahaina fires reportedly started preventing investigators from being able to view the original scene undisturbed. That's according to the Post's investigation into court documents letters, records. CNN is still working to independently confirm that.

The Post does say that those actions violated national guidelines on how utilities should handle and preserve evidence after a wildfire. To that, the spokesperson of the electric company said to The Post that they are in regular communication with ATF and local authorities cooperating to provide them as well as attorneys representing people affected by the wildfires with inventories and access to the removed equipment which they say they've carefully photographed, documented, and stored.

Also, as you may have noted, the list of unaccounted people is down to under 400. Now, down from more than 1,000. The FBI verified those names and the police chief did say that this was going to be a painful moment for the loved ones of the people listed there right now. Of course the death toll stands at, at least 115. Amara and Rahel, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, Natasha. Thank you. And if you would like to help those who have been impacted by the wildfires in Hawaii, you can go to cnn.com/impact.

Yo-Yo Ma is sharing his musical gift with the people of Maui.

SOLOMON: The world renowned cellist posted the tribute on social media on Friday, and in it he expressed his deepest sympathies and also played the Hawaiian song Aloha Oe. Take a listen.

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[06:30:00]

WALKER: It's official and it's not a good thing. Mortgage rates have soared to the highest level in 22 years. Mortgage rates now at a painful 7.23 percent. This is the highest the 30-year fixed rate mortgage has been since June of 2001.

The Federal Reserve's inflation-curbing campaign has sent home affordability to its lowest level in several decades. Buying a home is more expensive because of the higher mortgage rates and rising home prices due to lower inventory. And Fed Chair Jerome Powell hints at even more bad news for borrowers.

SOLOMON: Yes, the economy is growing faster than expected, and Americans are still spending, and that's good news, but Powell is also warning that those trends also fuel inflation. CNN's Matt Egan explains.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Rahel and Amara, the Fed is not declaring victory over inflation, not yet. During this major speech at Jackson Hole, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, he acknowledged that inflation has cooled considerably. But Powell, he stressed that inflation is still too high, and he admitted that the Fed may need to do more to fix that.

Of course, the Fed has already done a lot, spiking interest rates at the fattest pace in roughly four decades. And those steps have catapulted mortgage rates to 22-year highs, lifted credit card rates to record-highs. And Powell, he acknowledged that the full impact of this inflation-fighting medicine has yet to be felt. Still though, the Fed chief drops some hints that he's not satisfied.

[06:35:00]

Powell threw cold water on recent inflation cool-down, arguing that this process is just beginning. He also noted GDP and consumer spending have been hotter than anticipated. And even, the housing market is showing signs of a rebound. Now, Powell warned that all of this combined with a strong jobs market could undo some of the inflation progress.

So given all that, what does the Fed do next? Well, Powell conceded that there is considerable uncertainty on that front. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE, UNITED STATES: We can't yet know the extent to which these lower readings will continue, where we're underlying inflation will settle over coming quarters. Twelve- month core inflation is still elevated, and there are substantial further ground to cover to get back to price stability as is often the case. We are navigating by the stars under cloudy skies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Clearly, Powell is trying to give himself some wiggle room, and that makes sense. He wants to see how the economy evolves before deciding what to do about interest rates. But for consumers, the message is clear, no relief from high borrowing costs is in the cards any time soon. Rahel and Amara?

SOLOMON: Definitely not the message most consumers -- and I would argue even markets wanted to hear.

WALKER: Yes --

SOLOMON: Rate hikes are not finished, not yet, at least. All right, Matt Egan, thank you. Well, still ahead for us, from ride-shares to those self-service kiosks, you know, the ones that we see pretty much everywhere, has tipped and gone way overboard. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:40:00]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Tipping etiquette. It's leading to confusion, and I would argue some strong opinions at checkout counters about whether tipping is required, and if so, how much?

WALKER: Yes, I would say a lot of frustration too for many workers, they rely on tips to earn a decent wage, right? But consumers are becoming a bit fatigued with the expectation to leave a tip for everything, from a cup of coffee to an Uber ride and more. CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This screen is stressful for many.

(on camera): Does the flip of the screen feel like a lot of pressure?

CARLY CULLEN, NEW YORKER: It does, and they give you options like 10, 15, 20, even with like Uber, Dash --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes --

CULLEN: And like Grubhub, all of it, like, everything is tip.

YURKEVICH: Do you think that tipping has gotten out of control?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Tips are part of American culture, meant to be a thank-you for good service. But today, more and more Americans are confronted with the question, would you like to add a tip?

CULLEN: It is tricky everywhere, right? Like if you're at a coffee shop, if you're at the hairstylist, if you're coming out of a taxi, like I don't know the rules then and I often don't know what to tip.

YURKEVICH: A recent study found that in the high number of cases, participants who were presented with a tip screen had more negative emotions to the payment experience than those that didn't, and it wasn't even a real world scenario.

DYLAN BOSCH, FLORIDA RESIDENT: The thing, you go to a coffee shop, and all they do is just twist around the laptop is like, why am I tipping?

YURKEVICH: But the small group we spoke to said more often than not, they do end up tipping.

JOSEPH GUZMEN, NEW YORKER: I put a dollar or two, I don't mind. As long as like, you know, it's not a lot, I just put it, because I don't mind, this is -- at the end of the day I'm helping out, you know, other people.

YURKEVICH: This is Provisions on State, a butcher shop, there's no table service, no cooking or serving, yet they'll ask you if you'd like to tip.

(on camera): A flip screen in a butcher shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

YURKEVICH: I don't think I've ever seen that before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

YURKEVICH: How did you decide to do that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These men and women have a knowledge base that they're sharing and taking care to share with the guests that come through the door. And they're not pressured to tip, but they want to because they're paying for a service provided. Does anyone have like fork-cutting grabs(ph)?

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Emily Mingrone(ph) owns the butcher shop and two restaurants in New Haven, Connecticut. At the restaurants, her front of house staff make the state's tipped minimum wage, $6.38 an hour, tips bring them to $40 an hour on average. But the back of house staff make half that, and aren't eligible for tips.

(on camera): This movement to get rid of the tipped minimum wage, are you for it, against it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm against it, and I think, frankly, it's kind of clueless.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Eight states have abolished the tipped minimum wage, which in some is as low as $2.13 an hour. The National Restaurant Association is fighting against it, calling it a top issue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's money that's going to come out of my pocket, take away from the people that aren't getting tipped, I would need to raise my prices which then causes pushback from the guests.

YURKEVICH: But the group, Want Fair Wage is moving legislation and bowing measures to end the tipped minimum wage in 25 other states including Illinois.

DESTINY FOX, CHICAGO SERVER: That's how I live, is with tips.

YURKEVICH: Destiny Fox(ph) works in two Chicago restaurants. She's saving up for school. She makes just above the state's tipped minimum wage, taking home $9.40 an hour. Tips add 80 percent to her take-home pay. Without it --

FOX: It wouldn't give me the means to live, to pay my bills, to eat, and to do the things that I'm planning on doing, school, and I mean, it's everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: But tipping is a complicated issue, but the rule of thumb that we got from speaking to restaurant owners and servers is that, if you get good service, you give a nice tip. If you don't, you can reduce your tip. We also learned that those flipped tip screens, the person serving you actually doesn't know how much you've tipped or if you've even tipped at all.

[06:45:00]

And guys, in terms of which generation is the most generous with tipping, babyboomers, 83 percent say they tip, but Gen Z, just about 35 percent. Amara, Rahel?

SOLOMON: OK, so my thing is personally, that it feels like the percentages have gone up. So it used to sort of be 15 percent, 18 percent, 20 percent, and you would feel generous if you were given 20 --

WALKER: Right --

SOLOMON: Now, it seems like it's like 20 percent, 25 percent, 27 percent. I mean, it just feels like the scale is moving up. So not only are we being asked to tip more, we're being asked to tip more.

WALKER: But you know, if you're in a restaurant, which, you know, I'm often tipping at a restaurant, and if you do get not horrible service, but not the best service, you still feel obligated to tip at least 20 percent, right? So it used to be something that you would volunteer to do because it's -- you know, I got great service. Sure, I want to tip in this circumstance, but now it's obligatory.

And that's what I don't like about it. You know, and at some point, you're going to start -- who is going to prevent, you know, the USPS worker or the FedEx worker or your dentist from placing a jar and saying tip?

SOLOMON: Yes --

WALKER: Why not?

SOLOMON: So I think it's a uniquely sort of American problem. Because I think tipping in general is a lot more common here, but it's become even more of a problem, I think as of late.

WALKER: Yes, for sure. I mean, I wish we had a clear-cut rule as to when and how much, but I don't think we're going to get that. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

WALKER: A new study is showing how a popular weight loss drug could now benefit patients with a common type of heart failure.

SOLOMON: Research from the latest clinical trial of Wegovy suggests that the drug could potentially expand its use beyond what it's currently being prescribed for, which is diabetes and weight loss. CNN's Meg Tirrell breaks it all down for us. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Well, we know that drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic are widely used for weight loss and for diabetes. But increasing evidences suggesting that they have benefits for the heart as well. And a new study just out looked at the use of Wegovy, which is the drug called Semaglutide, which is approved for weight loss and obesity.

They looked at this in obesity and heart failure, and specifically, a type of heart failure called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. And that's one of the more common forms of heart failure, and It often occurs in people with obesity. So, in this trial, they looked at this group of folks, and they gave them this drug and compared it with placebo over the course of the year.

And what they found is that it led to increased weight loss, 13 percent on the drug compared with just more than 2 percent on placebo, but also improvement in symptoms of heart failure, things like shortness of breath, fatigue, trouble with exertion and swelling, also improving exercise function and quality of life for these patients.

So doctors, I spoke with were very excited about this data, saying it was really the biggest benefit they've ever seen with a medication in this patient population on that symptom score. And this really adds to the amount of evidence suggesting that this kind of medicine really can have benefits beyond diabetes and weight loss.

With this trial, also a recent trial showing that Wegovy can reduce the risk of a heart attack, stroke or heart-related death by 20 percent, and people with cardiovascular disease and who are overweight or have obesity. So, these really are creating a lot of excitement in the medical world. There are also uses that Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy is testing this drug for -- and the chemical name is Semaglutide looking at liver disease called NASH as well as Alzheimer's disease.

So, there are a lot of potential uses here. Of course, a lot of folks ask about the side effects and the drawbacks potentially of these medicines. The most common side effects are gastrointestinal issues, typically things like nausea and vomiting. Those can be intolerable for 5 percent to 10 percent of patients, but typically, go away after you've been on the drug for a little while, and you sort of get used to it. There are some more severe side effects that doctors are on the lookout for, one that CNN has done a lot of reporting on, that has not been proven to be linked to the drug.

But the way the drug works is partly to slow the passage of food through the stomach. And there is a concern that for some patients, that can happen too severely and actually lead to stomach paralysis. It has not been proven to be a link with the drug, but it is something that doctors are on the lookout for and are calling for more research into.

Of course, there are other issues with these drugs including that, there's a shortage for some patients. They cannot access the medications, and also with insurance coverage. Doctors are hoping that increasing evidence showing the health benefits of these medicines will help with insurance coverage, but they are pretty expensive, more than a $1,000 per month without insurance. So that's something they hope will improve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Our Meg Tirrell reporting there. Meg, thank you.

WALKER: Spain's soccer chief is not backing down. He is refusing to resign after fierce criticism over an unwanted kiss on a star player. How the Spanish soccer team is reacting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. And backlash continues for Spain's soccer President Luis Rubiales after he forcefully kissed a player during their World Cup celebration.

WALKER: Yes, Andy Scholes is here with more on --

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes --

WALKER: On this story that just took a really wild turn --

SCHOLES: Oh, my goodness, just when you think this story might be nearing its end, it does take another wild turn, Amara. You know, many expect this Spanish soccer President Luis Rubiales to resign after he was heavily criticized for forcefully kissing player Jenni Hermoso during the World Cup trophy presentation.

And I'll show you that kiss right here, but not only did Rubiales not resign yesterday in front of an extraordinary general assembly that was called, he doubled-down saying that, that kiss was mutual, and he said he would fight to the end, calling what was happening to him an unjust campaign and fake feminism.

Well, after that, the player who was forcefully kissed, Hermoso, released a statement saying, "in no way was it mutual". She said, quote, "I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven sexist out-of-place act without any consent on my part." Now, Hermoso also said, she had been pressured to release a statement that would verify Rubiales' version of events.

Now, Spain's women's players are standing by Hermoso, saying they will not play until Rubiales is out. Well, Rubiales and his office now tripling down, saying that he has not lied in his version of events, and in a statement threatened legal action against Hermoso. The federation went on to say the players have an obligation to participate in Spain matches.

All right, Simone Biles meanwhile thinking about her quest for a record eighth U.S. title last night in San Jose, California. Biles, a little shaky start to the beam, but recovered with a dazzling performance. And then the four-time Olympic gold medalist doing things that only she can do on the board. Just another fantastic performance. Biles finished in first place in the all-around vault, floor routine and balance beam. And here is Biles on her day and what drives her to keep competing.