Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

President Biden To Address Morehouse College Commencement; Trump Demands Drug Test For Biden Before First Presidential Debate; Three Hostages Murdered By Hamas Recovered By IDF; Philadelphia Police Make Several Arrests on Upenn Campus After Pro-Palestinian Protesters Attempt to Occupy Building; Vigil Held for Farm Workers Killed in Florida Bus Crash; Golf Star Scottie Scheffler Calls Arrest Outside PGA Championship Course "Big Misunderstanding". Aired 6-7a ET

Aired May 18, 2024 - 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. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It's Saturday, May 18. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Amara Walker. Here's what we are working on for you this morning.

Debate demands, former President Trump is demanding that President Joe Biden take a drug test before the first historic debate right here on CNN next month. This comes as President Biden is heading to Atlanta for controversial commencement address at Morehouse College. While the latest from the White House.

BLACKWELL: Israeli Defense Forces make a grim discovery in Gaza. The bodies of three Israeli hostages who were murdered by Hamas in Israel on October 7, then take into Gaza. What this means for the tense talks to free more hostages?

WALKER: And the world's top golfer back in the swing of things after being arrested on serious felony charges in Kentucky. The latest in the case everyone is talking about.

BLACKWELL: Plus the more than half million customers in the Houston area who are without power and could be in the dark for weeks. After a hurricane force winds they left a deadly and destructive mark. Now potentially deadly heat is set to bake this area. We're tracking it all ahead.

WALKER: President Joe Biden's plans to bolster support among black voters and young voters brings him to the heart of Atlanta today. The President will deliver the commencement speech at Morehouse College tomorrow.

Now the decision was met with some resistance on campus as students across the country protest the White House's continued support of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

BLACKWELL: I spoke with Morehouse President Dr. David Thomas about the choice and he tells me the school is well equipped for this challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DAVID A. THOMAS, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE PRESIDENT: We will allow silent non-disruptive protests. I believe right now that Morehouse is an institution that can hold these tensions that threaten to divide us as a as a nation as a society as a world. And if Morehouse can hold those tensions, there's probably no place in this country that can hold those tensions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: But Thomas also explained that he will not allow police to remove any protesters rather he says he'll shut down the commencement on the spot if it gets to that point. President Biden will also make a stop at a private fundraiser today in Atlanta/

WALKER: the CNN's Camila DeChalus joining us now from the White House with more. Good morning Camila.

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Good morning, Amara, Victor. President Biden's visit to Atlanta is very important as he tries to ramp up his efforts to court black voters in Georgia and other states across the country.

Now we're being told during his visit, as you mentioned, he's attending a fundraiser. He's also meeting with black voters. And he's giving a commencement speech at Morehouse, which as you mentioned, has been met with a bit of controversy and a bit of tension on the college campus.

Now, some students I talked to say that, you know, they feel as though they really are critical of Biden just given his administration stance on Israel and their support behind Israel during this conflict. But also others say that they are open to hearing what the President has to say.

And his campaign advisors tell us that his speech that he's going to give at Morehouse College will really be an uplifting message, and one that touches upon overcoming adversity, and also about the importance of giving back to the community.

BLACKWELL: Camila, in addition to discussing Israel's war with Hamas, what else is the campaign focusing on with this visit?

DECHALUS: Well, a lot of his campaign advisors told us that he really wants to just draw this stark contrast between himself and Trump, particularly after recent polls show that support among black voters when it comes to Biden is really dwindling in the months ahead of election and he really wants to get in front of that by reminding voters what he has done an office and how he differentiates himself from former President Donald Trump.

And so part of this speech, he wants to really highlight a part of what he's done. And also while he's in Atlanta just to remind voters and connect with them on more of a human level of things that his administration the policies has an Act enacted and While he feels like he's best to run as president again and also be reelected. Victor, Amara, back to you.

[06:05:04]

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus for us at the White House. Thanks so much. Former President Trump is expected to address thousands of gun enthusiast. This is at the NRA convention today in Dallas.

Now, Trump has previously called himself the best friend gun owners ever had at the White House and he pledged to continue to defend the Second Amendment.

WALKER: Trump spent Friday out of the courtroom and at his son Barons High School graduation followed by a campaign event in St. Paul, Minnesota. He continued his relentless attacks on Biden during his speech and falsely claimed he won Minnesota in the 2020 election. CNN's Alayna Treene has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor and Amara, Donald Trump repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden's mental and physical fitness during his remarks in Minnesota and he claimed that he's going to demand that the President take a drug test before participating in the upcoming presidential debates. Take a listen to what Donald Trump said.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm going to demand a drug test to by the way, I am no I really am. I don't want him coming in like the State of the Union. He was Heiser Kate can't talk. He can't walk. Can't find his way off the stage, can't put two sentences together, although he has agreed to debate so I don't know. Maybe they know something. He's going to be so jacked up for those debates. You watch.

TREENE: Now Victor and Amara, Donald Trump had previously said that he wanted to demand that Joe Biden take a drug test for any presidential debates. But what's notable about these remarks, the first time that he said this, since two debates being scheduled and being on the calendar. Remember, we're just a little over a month until the first CNN debate on June 27.

Now, I also want to point your attention to another very important topic that Donald Trump addressed. And that is that he believes as does his team, that he could compete in Minnesota come November.

Now, Donald Trump also claimed falsely that he actually won the state in 2020, despite us knowing that he lost the state to Joe Biden, by seven points. However, he did come very close to a shocking upset in 2016, when he lost the state to Hillary Clinton by less than two percentage points.

But listen, his team has really repeatedly laid out some of the data saying that they believe that he can be competitive in this state and that they plan to have a presence on the ground in Minnesota despite it being a traditionally blue state that really no Republican presidential candidate had won since the 1972. And that, of course, was when Richard Nixon had had that victory. Alayna Treene, CNN, St. Paul, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: Alayna, thank you very much. Let's bring in CNN political commentator, Errol Louis this morning for some perspective. Good morning. It's always good to see you, Errol.

So President Joe Biden, he will be meeting with black voters here in Atlanta ahead of that commencement speech at Morehouse tomorrow. You know, this is as he is -- his support from black voters and young voters has been eroding, just in general. And also, you know, in this state, a New York Times and Siena College poll out this week found among registered voters, Biden have 39 percent support versus Donald Trump, with 10 more percentage points there.

How crucial is a visit going to be like this here to a battleground state like Georgia, for Biden?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Amara. Every battleground state will be important. And this in particular will be important. Also, Morehouse is not just any black college. It's really one of the more important ones that has a very important symbolic function. And so this is going to be President Biden speaking to the whole black community, the whole black electorate.

I don't know if you've ever been to an HBCU graduation, but they very closely resemble a family reunion. It's a big, big deal. Most of the students are the first in their family to get a college degree.

And so we can expect them to hear the President lay out everything that he's done. He's not just talking to the students. He's talking to their parents make no mistake about that. He's talking to their grandparents. He's talking to the whole black electorate that he has to turn out in big numbers, if he wants to succeed.

You know, the polling numbers, by the way that show Donald Trump surging with black voters that can be turned around in an instant. In the closing weeks, four years ago at least one pollster I think it was Rasmussen had him at 31 percent of the black vote. When the dust settled, Donald Trump had 8 percent of the black vote.

WALKER: I haven't been to an HBCU commencement, and I would love to attend one and see that dynamic at play, Errol. You know, regarding this commencement speech tomorrow, how much risk is there in it? I mean, obviously, this is like you said, it's an opportunity for Biden to address, you know, black voters, including the students and their parents and their grandparents, as you say, but it's also an opportunity for the students to, you know, stage a protest and disrupt his speech.

Because as, you know, the students have been quite divided on the President's invitation to Biden which by the way came you know before the October 7 attacks.

[06:10:10]

LOUIS: Dr. Thomas sounds like he's got a pretty good strategy, basically saying he'll shut the whole thing down and deny protesters, the photo op that they might be seeking, if that's what they choose to do, meaning he's not going to have them hauled off by the cops, they'll just send everybody home.

I think, frankly, the stern stares from their parents and grandparents will probably keep everybody in line, including protesters. But of course, it remains to be seen.

WALKER: So stay in Atlanta. As you know, we all know the first presidential debate will be held right here in this studio on June 27. And as you know, Biden got pretty much most of the conditions that he had asked for, right? He wanted to in a studio, they bypass the Commission on Presidential Debates. There's not going to be a live audience.

It's going to be one of the earliest general election debates that we have seen. What is the advantage of that? And by the way, are you surprised at how quickly all this came together?

LOUIS: I'm not that surprised because it was either this or nothing. I mean, this is Joe Biden using the power of incumbency. He didn't have to agree to any debates at all. And so Donald Trump, of course, had to agree within hours, if not minutes, to the exact terms that were dictated from the Biden campaign. Why? Because he didn't have to do it at all.

So this is setting it up exactly as President Biden wants it. He wanted it early so that he can recover if there is some kind of a mistake or a gap. He wanted it to be without an audience so that there'll be a minimum of disruption. He wants mics to be cut off so that some of the things that we've seen, some of the disruptions from his opponent, Donald Trump, that we saw four years ago won't be a factor.

He's basically setting the table exactly as he wants. It's not a guarantee of a good debate performance, but he is definitely calling the tune and Donald Trump has no choice but to dance to that tune.

WALKER: Errol Louis, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of pallets of life saving aid are slowly starting to reach Gaza through a new floating pier installed by the U.S. military. But officials say it is not enough to stem a humanitarian crisis from getting even worse. We have the latest ahead.

WALKER: Plus, more pro-Palestinian protests and arrests at the University of Pennsylvania overnight, what we know about the protesters tried to occupy a main building on campus.

BLACKWELL: Plus, former President Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen heads back to the witness stand and the criminal hush money trial on Monday. We'll break down some of the testing moments so far and whether it's enough to sway a jury. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:21]

WALKER: New this morning, the Israeli military says more than 300 pallets of humanitarian aid were delivered to Gaza through a new floating pier installed by the U.S. military. This comes at a time when the U.N. humanitarian agency tells us that Gaza is facing a dire food situation.

BLACKWELL: Yesterday the IDF says the bodies of three Israeli hostages who were killed while escaping the nova music festival October 7 were found in Gaza. A family member says they were told their loved ones body was recovered from a tunnel.

The news comes as the situation in Rafah in southern Gaza grows as Israel appears to be moving forward towards full scale invasion. We have a lot to discuss this morning with David Sanger, White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times his new book, "New Cold Wars" is out now.

David, good to see you. Let's start here with we know that Jake Sullivan, the President's National Security Adviser, he's headed over this weekend. He's going to be first going to Saudi Arabia to speak with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

I want to get back to that if we can a little later. But He's then going on tomorrow on to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and going to say that if you're going into Rafah, we still need to see the plan to target this and not go in, you know, in this large scale way.

Is that any more effective or less effective now that the President has threatened to hold back some of those offensive weapons if they go in in a way in the U.S. deems is unnecessary?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well right now, Victor, and good morning, it's not clear that the Israelis are listening very carefully to what President Biden has to say or particularly caring what he and his other emissaries have gotten this point.

So the consistent message to the Israelis since December or January has been if you're going to go into Rafah, you need a plan to move the more than a million people who were in the city and many of them were refugees already from the north to someplace where they can get food and medical care and, and have a place to sleep.

And that plan is really never arrived. We've seen a lot of people leaving Rafah in recent times, just flowing out to it. But they still, as you said at the opening are facing these huge food shortages. So, it's not clear at this point that there's much the administration can do about that. What

[06:20:00]

What they withheld, or 2,000 pound bombs, because the administration was fearful that the Israelis would use those in a dense civilian area. And it would cause widespread civilian casualties, as well as going after Hamas.

BLACKWELL: This new pier, we heard from the White House is now open and operatives starting with, I believe 90 trucks per day, they want to ramp up to 150. Although the U.N. says What's needed is closer to 450, 500 to supply necessary materials.

How much does this change the humanitarian situation? They're considering -- we know from the U.N. it's so far below what's necessary, especially as we head into what's going to happen in Rafah.

SANGER: Oh, that's right. And the U.N. has said and others who said that they are approaching famine conditions there. So, anything helps and the pier is an innovative solution to the problem because it creates a new opening.

But as you say, 150 trucks isn't going to go do it. 450 would make a significant dent assuming that all of the other openings remain open, and one down near Rafah has been closed down in recent times as this operation has gone on. So, it's not sure that there's much net progress here.

BLACKWELL: Secretary Blinken met last night with Arab American, Palestinian American leaders. From what we know this is the third such meeting since the war began back in October.

Let's look at this from policy and then from politics. From a policy standpoint, are these meetings having any influence over the administration or the people we're meeting with Secretary Blinken seeing what they're expecting or hoping for?

SANGER: Well, you know, there's been division inside the administration about how to go deal with Israel, whether or not to cut off some of the weaponry that we were discussing, and Secretary Blinken was in sort of the Early Edge of taking a tougher line with the Israelis back in December and January.

It's the President himself who was reluctant to take the step until a few weeks ago. They're all pretty frustrated with dealing with Bibi Netanyahu, the prime minister. Secretary Blinken has been over there seven or eight times and has dealt with the Prime Minister.

Of course, we've seen the CIA director Bill Burns go over both meeting with the Prime Minister and then trying to do the hostage negotiations, this weekend, Jake Sullivan, and they all come back with sort of the similar frustration that they just don't feel as if they're getting anyplace because Prime Minister Netanyahu says, Oh, I've got this coalition government. I'm under huge pressure from my right. There's not much I can do for you.

And that's been the dynamic. Clearly, there is a political impetus here and political concern by the political side of the White House and the campaign, that this is losing the president critical votes in key states like Michigan. BLACKWELL: Let me circle back to this Jake Sullivan trip. And I said I wanted to come back to the meeting in Saudi Arabia with the Crown Prince MBS there. There is this discussion of and work really toward for some time. Saudi Arabia officially acknowledging diplomatically Israel, is there any likelihood that there will be progress there, especially if it requires Israel to make some steps toward the foundation of a second state of a Palestinian state? Does this go anywhere?

SANGER: Well, that's a great question, Victor. Before October 7, it was -- it looked like it was steaming ahead. And there are some who believe that Hamas' decision to do the attack on October 7, and we don't know exactly what the motivation was, was partly to avoid having the recognition of Israel by the most important and powerful Sunni Arab state.

Now, Jake Sullivan, who's been one of the architects of this is trying to get this back on track. It requires two things, Victor, if the Saudis are going to recognize Israel, Israel, in return would have to recognize a two-state solution a Palestinian state, living alongside Israel.

And so far its Prime Minister Netanyahu has said, absolutely not. He's not going to do that. I don't know how they get past that. The second is that the United States would have to reach an agreement in which Saudi Arabia would get a good deal of nuclear technology. And of course, the concern is, they will would turn it to bomb purposes, the administration's got to come up with a mechanism to assure that wouldn't happen.

[06:25:06]

It's a real stretch between now and you know, getting this to Congress.

BLACKWELL: David Sanger, thanks so much.

WALKER: A misunderstanding. That is how world number one golfer Scottie Scheffler is describing his arrest for an alleged assault on a police officer. We'll have details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: In Philadelphia police officers swarmed the campus of the University of Pennsylvania overnight after pro-Palestinian demonstrators attempted to occupy university building.

[06:30:02]

And neither the university nor Philadelphia Police Department said how many people were arrested. The university has now stepped up security screenings ahead of their commencement, that's Monday.

WALKER, CNN HOST: A vigil was held last night for the eight people who died in a deadly bus-crash in Florida. A roadside memorial was set up for the victims, a process bearing their names. At least, 40 others were injured in the crash.

The arrest report says Brian Howard(ph); the driver of the truck that caused the bus to crash told officers he had smoked marijuana oil the night before the crash. He now faces eight counts of DUI manslaughter. All right, the men's world number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler says he was rattled by his arrest over what he's calling a big misunderstanding with police.

It happened just before dawn, Friday, outside the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Now, Scheffler is facing four charges including felony, assault on a police officer after trying to drive around the scene of a fatal traffic accident outside the club.

BLACKWELL: And then hours later after being booked in jail and released, Scheffler was teeing off at the second round of the championship. The end of the day, tied at third place. Here is CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world's number one golfer, Scottie Scheffler defending himself after being charged with assaulting a police officer at the scene of a traffic accident in Louisville, Kentucky.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, GOLFER ARRESTED FOR ASSAULTING A POLICE OFFICER: It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding, and I can't comment on any of the specifics of it.

TODD: The incident occurred as Scheffler was trying to enter the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville Friday morning for the second round of the PGA Championship, one of the sport's major tournaments. Louisville police say they were working a separate traffic fatality when Scheffler attempted to drive past the scene.

They say when an officer, detective Bryan Gillis stopped Scheffler and attempted to give him instructions, quote, "subject refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging detective Gillis to the ground." The detective was injured, though not seriously.

CAM ROGERS, PGA TOUR & GOLF EXPERT, BLEAV: We're talking about the number one player in the world, right? Who was in contention at a major championship. And then is arrested before his tee time, probably an hour-and-a-half before his tee time. And it's this type of adversity that you really never see in the game of golf.

TODD: "ESPN" journalist Jeff Darlington witnessed the arrest and filmed it.

JEFF DARLINGTON, JOURNALIST, ESPN: They told him to stop, when he didn't stop, the police officer attached himself to the vehicle, Scheffler then traveled another 10 yards before stopping the car. The police officer then grabbed at his arm, attempting to pull him out of the car before Scheffler eventually opened the door.

TODD: Darlington filmed Scheffler being led away in handcuffs, police telling him to stay back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now -- right now, he's going to jail, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to jail and there aren't nothing you can do about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing you can do about it.

SCHEFFLER: I think my body was just -- I was just shaking the whole time. I was shaking for like an hour.

TODD: It seems to be a he-said, he said situation. Scheffler says he was proceeding as directed by officers, and his attorney says he never assaulted an officer with his vehicle. An almost surreal set of events surrounding a golfer with a so-far sterling reputation.

JAMES COLGAN, GOLF MAGAZINE: He's probably one of the most docile guys in professional golf. He's just an incredibly happy-go, lucky, kind individual.

ROGERS: We have a scenario where Scottie Scheffler could be hoisting the trophy on Sunday evening and then going to court on Monday.

TODD (on camera): Scottie Scheffler's attorney says the golfer will plead not guilty to the charges and will cooperate fully with the investigation. As part of his statement, Scheffler also expressed sympathy with the family of the deceased accident victim, saying, quote, "it truly puts everything in perspective". Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: And Carolyn Manno will have much more on this in sports coming up in just about 15 minutes from now.

BLACKWELL: This week, Donald Trump said he had a very good day in court after watching his legal team bombard his former fixer, Michael Cohen on the stand. One of those dramatic moments in court next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

WALKER: Former Donald Trump lawyer John Eastman pleaded not guilty to participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona. An Arizona grand jury handed down indictments, charging Eastman and over a dozen other Trump allies last month.

Eastman is the first defendant charged in the Arizona case to appear in court. Other Trump allies are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks. BLACKWELL: And investigators said one of those allies, Rudy Giuliani

was hard to find. But on Friday, Arizona state prosecutors say they were able to finally serve Giuliani with the indictment for his alleged role in the fake elector scheme.

But prosecutors say it took them weeks to find Trump's former lawyer, but eventually served him last night in Florida. Giuliani is expected to appear before a judge in Arizona on Tuesday.

WALKER: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer at the center of the hush money trial will return to the stand on Monday for a fourth day. Trump's defense teams is set to continue their cross- examination of Cohen.

BLACKWELL: On Thursday, he faced hours of intense questioning as defense attorneys accused him of lying during his testimony. CNN's Kara Scannell has the latest.

[06:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trump's ex lawyer, Michael Cohen, in a dramatic moment on the stand, grilled over his memory of a key phone conversation that directly implicates former President Donald Trump in his criminal trial.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes --

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: Nobody wants to do this. This isn't fun. They get personal, they get nasty.

SCANNELL: Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche confronted Cohen on his testimony about the deal at the center of the case, that he paid off adult-film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to kill her story of an alleged affair with Trump, which Trump denies.

Cohen, who is the prosecution's key witness, testified earlier this week that on October 24th, 2016, he made a phone call to Trump's bodyguard, Keith Schiller. He said he used Schiller as a conduit to speak with Trump, to say the Daniels deal was resolved and he was moving forward.

But an intense exchange inside the courtroom that could undermine his testimony, Blanche showed records that moments before the brief, one- minute and thirty-second call, Cohen sent a text to Schiller for help with prank calls he was receiving from a 14-year-old.

There was no mention of Daniels in the text. Blanche showed the text messages. Cohen said, "who can I speak to regarding harassing calls to my cell and office, the dope forgot to block his number." Schiller responded, "call me". Cohen told the defense attorney today he didn't remember the harassing phone calls, but after confronted with them, maintained, he spoke to Schiller and also Trump.

Blanche pacing the courtroom, his arms flailing and his voice rising, said to Cohen, "that was a lie. You did not talk to President Trump on that night. You talked to Keith Schiller about what we just went through, admit it?" Cohen calmly replied, "no, sir, I don't know that it's accurate."

Blanche moved to show the jury texts between Cohen and the team, Cohen writing, "this number has just been sent to Secret Service for your ongoing and continuous harassing calls over the past three days. If you are a minor, I suggest you notify your parent or guardian."

The prankster replied, "I didn't do it. I'm 14. Please don't." Cohen responded, "please, have your parent or guardian contact me before Secret Service reaches out to them." Before getting to the phone call, Blanche spent the morning trying to paint Cohen as a vengeful liar.

Cohen confirmed he has insulted Trump countless times, including on his "Mea Culpa" podcast. Blanche played clips for the jury.

COHEN: I truly f-ing hope that this man ends up in prison. But revenge is a dish best served cold. And you better believe I want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to me and my family."

SCANNELL: Blanche also pressed Cohen repeatedly about lying to Congress in 2017 about the Trump organization's Moscow project. There were a couple of different lies Blanche asked, "that's correct", Cohen replied. Cohen later apologized to Congress during his on-camera testimony in 2019.

COHEN: I am sorry for my lies and for lying to Congress. I have done some real soul-searching, and I see now that my ambition and the intoxication of Trump power had much to do with the bad decisions in part that I made.

SCANNELL: Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, still to come, following a terrifying storm that has left a large swath of the Houston area without power, people there will now have to deal with soaring temperatures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:00]

BLACKWELL: Houston is facing a triple-digit heat index. Hundreds of thousands of people without power after violent storms pounded the city this week, at least, seven people were killed in the destructive storms. It saw winds of up to 100 miles per hour tear through the Houston area.

WALKER: This morning, more than a half a million customers across Texas and Louisiana are still without power. And that outage could last for weeks, not good news. CNN meteorologist Elisa Raffa joining us now. Hi there, Elisa, what's the latest?

ELISA RAFFA, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we're watching that heat that will build for people without access to power or air conditioning. Still, more than half a million people without power, most of them in Texas, most of them near that Houston area.

And if you look at that heat index the next couple of days, this is the temperature tacked on with a humidity. So, it'll feel hotter than it is, and we got heat index value is approaching triple-digits in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, middle and upper 90s for your heat index, and Houston with those real feels in the low and middle 90s.

Again, in area without power. So, it may be hard to get access to air conditioning. We also have air quality alerts in effect, because with that air so hot, it could be stagnant and it can trap background-level ozone that comes out of the tail-pipes of our car.

So, that means that the air quality is poor around the Houston metro, even down into Galveston could be -- could be problematic and unhealthy for sensitive groups, especially those with any heart or lung, a sickness or disease. So, something to keep in mind, be careful as you're doing that clean-up outside.

We do have a line of storms that's really pounding New Orleans this morning, stretching all the way up into central Georgia with some heavy rain and some lightning. The flood risk continues along the Gulf Coast, they have a flood watch in effect from New Orleans through towards Panama City, where we have some warnings in effect right now, and up into south and central Georgia.

We're looking at a widespread, 2 to 5 inches of rain, and this area is already pretty saturated. On top of this, the severe risk continues as we go through the day today, you see that yellow slide two out of five risk from Panama City to Jacksonville, where we can continue to find damaging winds, large hail, and a few tornadoes as we go through the day today.

So, storms continue to fire up in the southeast as we go through the day today, and additional round as we go through tomorrow. Then our eyes will set to the central plains, where we will have an additional severe threat ramp-up through tomorrow and Monday.

[06:50:00]

WALKER: All right, Elisa Raffa, thank you. The fantasy of an art heist has always captivated the public eye, but what many don't realize is that these stories are rooted in real life events.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Randi Kaye takes us behind the scenes to the 1990s Boston during one of the biggest art heists in history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Eighty one minutes, that's how long it took to pull off the biggest art heist in history. It was St. Patrick's Day weekend, 1990, the two thieves posed as Boston police officers and convinced one of the security guards at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to buzz them in. It was about 1:30 in the morning. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The path is interesting. They took the guards after they handcuffed them and taped them and brought them into the basement. About 24 minutes elapsed before we see them again.

KAYE: Motion detectors placed throughout the museum picked up their trail for nearly an hour and a half.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's in this hallway where we see the first motion detectors go off. So, it's about 1:48 and they're walking down this hallway together, and they enter the Dutch room --

KAYE (on camera): Which is right there --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly, and from the Dutch room, they took six pieces, and that's where interpreting --

KAYE: Including the Rembrandt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The three Rembrandts, the Vermeer, the Flink and the Chinese vessel, and that's where in terms of dollar value, that's where the lion's share of the theft occurred.

KAYE (voice-over): As the clock ticked, one thief stayed behind in the Dutch room and cut some of the paintings out of their frames, the other thief headed back down the hallway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The same path backwards goes through the early Italian room, the Raphael(ph) room, all the while passing incredibly priceless art. And walks back through to the short gallery where the thief takes five sketches by Degas and a Napoleonic Finial from a top of a flag that Napoleon's first regiment carried.

KAYE: Later, this oil painting by Edouard Manet was taken from the Blue room on the first floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hung right below Manet's portrait of his mother, it was about 8 by 10, and it was in a gold-gilded frame, and it was here.

KAYE: Adding to the mystery, even though motion detectors picked up the thieves' trail by the entrance on the first floor, and all throughout the second floor, there are no records of anyone entering the Blue room. And if the thieves knew how to evade the motion detectors, why would they only do so in the Blue room?

At 2:41 a.m., the door to the museum opens and closes, and then opens and closes again four minutes later. It must have taken the thieves those two trips in and out to load up the art, then justice suddenly as they arrived, the thieves were gone. Randi Kaye, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Tune in tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. for "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED, GARDNER ART HEIST: STEALING BEAUTY". Sports with Carolyn Manno is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

WALKER: Well, earlier this hour, we reported on golfer Scottie Scheffler's run-in with police at the PGA Championship in Louisville, despite all that, he not only play, but he played well.

BLACKWELL: Carolyn Manno is with us now. So, Scheffler still faces the very real prospect of criminal charges, but he focused play pretty well.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was exceptional. He's always been able to compartmentalize, that's what makes him the best. But I mean, to finish his round 9.5 hours after he was handcuffed, nobody had that on Scottie Scheffler's bingo card heading into the second round, least of all, him.

Everybody at Valhalla Golf Club was aware of what occurred, by the time he came back to the club house around 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning, and he took to the range about 30 minutes before he was set to start a second round, which is not a ton of time to warm up, but at 10:08, he had all the applause from the crowd.

He ended up teeing off, took a few holes for him to settle in, but he ultimately didn't waste much time cementing himself as a favorite to win the PGA Championship. The world number one's final 16 holes, bogey-free, and he carded a five under 66, which is incredibly impressive, given the circumstances and putting the Masters champ squarely in contention for his second major win of the season. Afterwards, he admitted reality still hadn't really set in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHEFFLER: I feel like my head is still spinning. I can't really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell, that was a first for me. You know, that was part of my warm up, I was just sitting there waiting and you know, I started going through my warm-up, I felt like there's a chance that maybe I'll be able to still come out here and play.

And so, I started going through my routine. I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today, but like I said, you know, I still feel like my head-spin a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Scheffler and everybody else chasing this man, Xander Schauffele after a record time first-round, Schauffele followed that up with a solid day Friday with four birdies again, just one bogey to finish it 12 under, and taking a one-shot lead as he looks to finally break through and win his first career major.

Meantime, Tiger Woods will not be around for the weekend in Louisville missing the cut after shooting six over on Friday including triple bogeys on two of his first four holes, making it 11 straight rounds at majors in which Tiger has not broken even par. In the NBA playoffs, the home team has won every game so far in the

series between the Nixon Pacers, and that was true again Friday night after getting run out of Madison Square Garden in game five, Indiana, bouncing back at home with the style of play that has worked so well for them all season long, sharing the basketball six, Indi players scoring in double-figures led by 25 points from Pascal Siakam as the Pacers force a winner-take-all game seven back in MSG on Sunday.

And finally, the Florida Panthers now four winds away from making it back-to-back, Stanley Cup final appearances, game tied with less than three minutes left in regulation.