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CNN This Morning

Several People Trapped Inside Shell Truck Stop In Cooke County, TX; At Least 5 Fatalities, Including Children, Reported In TX After Likely Tornado Struck Texas Overnight; Trump Met With Boos, Few Cheers At Libertarian Convention; Biden Touts NATO Expansion, Middle East Efforts In West Point Commencement; Nikki Haley Says She Will Vote For Trump After Previously Calling Him "Unhinged"; Closing Arguments In Trump Hush Money Case Expected Tuesday; Kouri Richins Speaks Out for the First Time; Golfer Grayson Murray Dead at 30; Butker Stands by Controversial Commencement Speech. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 26, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:00]

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chinese state media is using A.I. enhanced videos on TikTok, altering the reporter's voice and face, a disclosure on screen for just a few seconds. Easy to miss.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Under China's jurisdiction.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The videos pushing Beijing's narrative on the South China Sea.

RIPLEY: Is this a threat to democracy?

FELIPE SALVOSA II, JOURNALISM PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS: Most definitely. I think China has found a more cost effective way to get its message across.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Turning today's digital landscape into a battleground for truth, where seeing is no longer believing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Every time I do a story about these deep fake videos, what strikes me is the quality keeps improving. Our researcher Yong (ph) spent hours putting these through algorithms to determine with 99 percent accuracy whether these videos are real, whether they're fake, whether the voice has been altered, the face has been altered.

Who on social media has time for that? And a lot of people don't take the time. Which experts say is dangerous, particularly in democracies, when people are watching these videos and then potentially using the information they hear to make decisions about how to vote.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei. AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: All right. And the next hour of CNN This Morning starts right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WALKER: Breaking news, as we are on the air now this Sunday morning, a severe weather outbreak is unfolding across several states right now. We're now getting word from Texas that at least five people were killed. The extreme storms left a destructive mark near Dallas overnight.

I want to show you what's left of a shell gas station after a possible tornado. Not far from there, 18 wheelers were blown over. And searches and rescues are underway right now.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Look at Tulsa. This is Claremore, Oklahoma, near there where an apparent tornado leveled a campground. RVs, trailers tossed around were told at least four people had to be extracted. More than 200,000 customers across Missouri and Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, they're all in the dark this morning. More than 100 million people are at risk of severe weather across the country today and we are tracking it all.

WALKER: I'm Amara Walker here with Victor Blackwell on a very busy Sunday morning of breaking news. A potential tornado hit Cooke County, Texas last night, leading to at least five confirmed deaths, including children.

The storm severely damaged what is left of a Shell gas station in these pictures, initially trapping 60 to 80 people, we are told. They were later rescued with multiple non-life threatening injuries. All five confirmed deaths happened in the same neighborhood with three in the same household. At this hour, two children from the area are missing.

BLACKWELL: There are several reports of tornadoes across several counties in Oklahoma. This video of the campground near Claremore that was destroyed after it was hit by a likely tornado last night. Authorities say at least four people were killed -- pulled from the wreckage I should say. They were pulled out of that wreckage. The storms have prompted the state to activate the emergency operations center.

CNN's Allison Chinchar joins us now. That is what has happened, but there's still the threat that poses as opposed right now.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. It's not over. I mean, we still have active warnings. We have active tornado watches, that's going to continue through the morning. And then it also continues into the afternoon and evening just starts to shift a little bit farther to the east. So this is going to be a multi-day event started yesterday, continues today, and actually even goes into tomorrow, but it's all part of this over same -- over the same system.

This video here from Windthorst, Texas, for those unfamiliar, that's up around Wichita Falls, the northern Texas region. But you can clearly see that tornado there in the background, and it wasn't the only one, it was one of nearly two dozen tornado reports from yesterday, most of them kind of focused in that central U.S. area.

But you can see others over 100 damaging wind reports, 86 hail reports and some of those stretching into the southeast areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. And some of those hail reports, by the way, baseball size. We anticipate very similar conditions right now and even through the morning and afternoon.

You have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for Texas and several tornado watches in effect for the next few hours across portions of Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and northern Arkansas. And it's this cluster right here. This is where the big concern is. That's where we have a lot of the active warnings.

The pink that's active tornado warnings. The orange active severe thunderstorm warnings because this system is still maintaining its strength as it continues to move eastward. So this is where the threat is going to be for the remainder of the day today. And you can see it's got some pretty largely populated cities in the mix.

Chicago, Cleveland, down through Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis, all of these areas have the potential for that severe weather. That includes the potential for tornadoes, damaging winds. We've already had reports of winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour. That could continue today.

And then, yes, some more hail. Today, more likely focused around golf ball size, but possibly even higher than that.

[07:05:00]

The other concern, not a lot of these storms are moving very fast. And for some of these areas, they've had already a lot of storms in the last week. So that ground is saturated. Now we're going to be adding 2 inches to 4 inches of additional rainfall on top of that. So there's also the concern for flooding across some of these areas, that's why you've got the flood watches in effect.

So here's a look as we progress through the morning. You can see that whole system begins to shift off to the east hitting Chicago, St. Louis, and eventually into Indianapolis. When we get to the afternoon hours, the rest of that system continues to push into the mid-Atlantic in the northeast.

But, look at this. Then you have the secondary area of development that happens this evening. That's the one that's going to shift southward. So that's going to spread into Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and then the Carolinas by early tomorrow morning. I know not everybody works tomorrow, but some folks do.

And for those that do, or maybe you're planning to hit the roads early and travel back where you came from, you're going to start to see some of those wetter conditions as you start off the day tomorrow. So again, multi day event here impacting a lot of cities.

WALKER: Yes, it's not over yet.

Allison, thank you so much.

Joining us now is Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington. Sheriff, thank you for your time. First off, can you tell us more about these deaths in Cooke County, how they were found dead?

SHERIFF RAY SAPPINGTON, COOKE COUNTY, TEXAS: OK. We had a lot of destruction west of I-35 on the Lolo Trail Corridor. And a lot of the mobile homes, manufactured housing back in this area. And two of the bodies have -- were thrown clear from residences and three are in a single residence. But it's just now becoming daylight here and we're just really now starting to see the devastation that occurred.

BLACKWELL: Sheriff, when you say as you're learning, I understand the breadth and the scope of the damage. Does it appear to be kind of localized in one area potentially if it touched down in one spot or is there widespread damage across Cooke County?

SAPPINGTON: No, it appears to be a narrow path. Maybe you have to take one of the mile wide. And probably 45 miles in duration.

WALKER: And --

SAPPINGTON: So it was pretty localized to this southern part of the county.

WALKER: Got it. Got it. And Sheriff, if you could, if you could tell us more, I know it's still dark or perhaps the light is actually is coming up now. Regarding the search and rescue efforts on the Sunday. You know what -- I guess what the priorities right now, as I understand that there are several children that are missing from the area in Cooke County as well.

SAPPINGTON: Yes, we do have two children that are still missing at this point. And -- but as I said, we've had numerous resources that pulled in from surrounding counties, different fire departments and law enforcement agencies. And we had a lot of help throughout the night, but it's been difficult with power lines down, trees down. It took some time to get back into where the devastation is.

And as the search and rescue is still ongoing, but we are starting the recovery process as well.

BLACKWELL: When you say search and recovery is ongoing, do you know of active recovery efforts right now to pull people who are known to be trapped in some of these homes and buildings?

SAPPINGTON: I'm sorry, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

SAPPINGTON: Please say that again.

BLACKWELL: Let me try one. Insured it. Are there people trapped in buildings and there's a recovery -- a rescue effort for them right now?

SAPPINGTON: Not that we are aware of. Not that the 911 call has come in. But right now we are still going from place to place, from house to house and actively searching. It's unknown down here whether -- well, most of the power is out.

But -- so first, I'm talking to you on a cell phone down in this area. So cell phones are still up, but we don't have any active 911 calls of rescue missions, but we are searching back in here to verify folks are OK.

WALKER: All right, we're so sorry that we're talking to you under these circumstances. Of course, we'll keep checking back in with you if you will allow that, but we wish you all the best.

Sheriff Ray Sappington, thank you for your time.

Turning now to politics, and it has been a busy 24 hours for Donald Trump. He is off to Charlotte today for the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 race. Last night, he gave what might be one of his shortest campaign speeches of the season at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C.

[07:10:08]

After he walked out to a mix of boos and cheers, he spoke for about 34 minutes.

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(BOOS AND CHEERS)

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BLACKWELL: And that went on and on. The clashes continued. CNN's Steve Contorno explains Trump's attempt to win over that crowd.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Donald Trump was booed and heckled from the moment he took the stage at the Libertarian Convention in Washington, D.C. on Saturday night. Trump arrived here hoping he could convert some Libertarians to support his presidential campaign. His supporters and convention attendees clashed in the audience, sometimes physically, as Trump suggested that it was time for them to unite.

He sprinted through his speech giving a ton of reasons why he thought the two sides should come together. The biggest one? Defeating Joe Biden.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That is why I have come to extend a hand of friendship to ask for your partnership to defeat communism, defeat Marxism, and defeat crooked Joe Biden, who is destroying our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CONTORNO: Trump did manage to win over the crowd at some points, like when he said he would put a libertarian in his cabinet if he was elected president. The biggest cheers of the night came when he said he would commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, that is the founder of the underground website, the Silk Road, whose imprisonment has become a cause for the Libertarian Party.

But he lost the crowd once again when he suggested that the party should nominate him to be their candidate for president.

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TRUMP: The Libertarian Party should nominate Trump for president of the United States. That's nice. That's nice. Only if you want to win. Only if you want to win. Maybe you don't want to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Whether or not Trump converted anyone at the convention on Saturday is unclear, but his campaign is hopeful that the outreach will help him win over some hearts and minds across the country, especially from some of these people who are considering third party candidates.

They are especially concerned about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has also been courting libertarian votes. He spoke at the convention on Friday.

Steve Contorno, CNN, Washington, D.C.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Steve.

Meanwhile, President Biden is back in Delaware after delivering another commencement speech. This was at West Point. He stayed away from mentioning former President Trump. He didn't make any appeal to voters.

WALKER: Instead, he focused on touting NATO's recent expansion and his efforts in the Middle East. But his speech also came with a warning.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have always been willing to use force when required to protect our nation, our allies, our core interests. When anyone targets American troops, we will deliver justice to them.

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WALKER: CNN's Camila DeChalus joining us now from Wilmington, Delaware. Hi, Camila. What else did the president say?

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Biden really stressed in his commencement speech the importance of protecting and preserving democracy. Like, Amara, as you just mentioned before, he didn't say Trump and say him by name, but he did talk about the importance of protecting democracy, and that is something that you've heard him say time and time again.

And when he's talked about Trump on the campaign trail, he's talked about how he believes that Trump has posed a threat to democracy and it's important to protect it. Now, he also spent some time in his commencement speech, just really talking about the work in the progress that the military has made to protect the service members talking about the lowering of the rate of sexual assaults that have taken place in the years, especially looking at the lowering rate in the last two years.

And he talked about the important work the military has done abroad. Take a quick listen to what he said yesterday.

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BIDEN: In the Middle East, while we conduct urgent diplomacy to secure immediate ceasefire that brings hostages home, our Army and Navy have deployed a temporary pier on the Mediterranean in record time to increase life-saving aid to the Palestinians. The U.S. Air Force has conducted food drops, delivering tens of thousands of meals to the people of Gaza.

In the face of Iran's recent unprecedented attack on Israel, we brought partners together, including Arab nations to repel the sustained assault.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DECHALUS: Now, Amara, it's really important to know how he acknowledged what's taking place and what the military has done in places like Gaza, particularly as he's been facing a lot of pushback about what his administration has done. And so he's reminding these -- this graduating class about the work that the military has done, but what his administration has done and what they will have to continue to do in the months and in the months ahead.

Amara, Victor, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Camila DeChalus for us there in Wilmington, Delaware. Thank you very much.

Joining me now is CNN Political Commentator Errol Louis. Errol, good Sunday to you. Let's start with former President Trump at the Libertarian Convention.

[07:15:06]

The fact that this even happened that the presumptive Republican nominee is now speaking before a different party, which will nominate its own candidate. Was this a predictable reception?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Good morning, Victor. This is not somebody who libertarians are necessarily going to take to. On the other hand, Donald Trump had no choice but to try and appeal to them. Four years ago, famously in Georgia, for example, this is just one example, Donald Trump lost Georgia by 11,780 votes. The Libertarian candidate got something like 62,000 votes in that same election. So, he didn't need to win over the whole room, but he needed to appeal to some segment of them. And this was the outcome. He may be appealed to a handful of them. He didn't expect, I think, to get the whole room or get the whole party. But he had to give it a try.

WALKER: I read this morning, a 2018 editorial from the Libertarian Party on their website. It's entitled, Trump is the opposite of a Libertarian. So that's the view from the party of former President Trump. How much of this was about trying to blunt any appeal that RFK Jr. might have with Libertarians?

LOUIS: Well, it's that same problem, Victor. I mean, again, in Arizona, and in all of the key battleground states, in Michigan and so forth, RFK is making headway. And if a no name candidate, Jo Jorgensen was her name, could get 62,000 votes in Georgia last time, RFK could probably do as well or better. And so, he's got to thread that needle.

Donald Trump has to sort of figure out how to get to a better place than when he lost four years ago. Joe Biden, by the way, has his own version of the same problem. These third party candidates really are going to be meaningful coming down the home stretch.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Nikki Haley now, former presidential candidate, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She has now said she will vote for Donald Trump. She hasn't endorsed him, which is, I guess, some distinction between the two saying everyone else should vote for him. She's not campaigning for him, at least not yet.

She's going to vote for him despite having said this during the campaign.

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NIKKI HALEY, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At some point, maybe we should say the reason that America keeps losing is because of Donald Trump.

I feel no need to kiss the ring.

Donald Trump got out there and just threw a temper tantrum.

We lost in 2018. We lost in 2020. We lost in 2022 and Donald Trump's fingerprints were on all of it. How much more losing do we have to do before we realize maybe Donald Trump is the problem?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Nikki Haley has flip flopped on electability, suitability of Donald Trump since 2016. Does this announcement help him? Does it help her?

LOUIS: Well, it definitely helps Donald Trump because an endorsement is an endorsement. Now, no matter how many caveats or asterisks come with it for her, it sort of sets her up nicely for 2028. You can already hear what you just played as the beginning of a stump speech for her next campaign, where she says, I told you so.

I told you this wasn't the guy. I tried to be a team player and pull them all -- pull them along as best I could. But we've got to have a different way of looking at all of this. So both of them get a little bit of what they want. And, you know, when you're getting closer to a convention, that's exactly how politics works, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Errol Louis, good to see you this Sunday. Thank you.

Still to come on CNN This Morning, attorneys in Trump's criminal hush money trial is spending the holiday weekend preparing for closing arguments. More on what each side needs to focus in on and how Republicans are responding to the former president's legal trouble.

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[07:23:46]

WALKER: A big week lies ahead for former President Donald Trump. Closing arguments in his hush money criminal trial are expected to begin Tuesday. And after six weeks of testimonies, we could find out if former President Donald Trump becomes the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.

Here to discuss all that and preview his -- of the show of his next next hour is Inside Politics Anchor and Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. Good morning to you, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

WALKER: We're saying it possibly historic week ahead.

RAJU: Yes.

WALKER: So how are congressional members reacting to the possibility that Trump could be convicted?

RAJU: You know, Republicans are signaling that they plan to stand behind him, even if there is a conviction. They've been very critical of this hush money case. Even if I put -- as I put the question about the underlying alleged conduct of a covering up a extramarital affair, something that Donald Trump denies, but the allegation therein -- some of them don't want to touch the tawdry allegation, but they say overall this case should not have been brought.

Then there's a separate question about whether Donald Trump deserves absolute immunity from criminal charges. That is an argument that they are making before the Supreme Court. It's actually blocked two federal criminal cases that he is now facing, and that's the question that I put to a number of senators last week. Some of them don't agree with Donald Trump's argument.

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[07:25:11] SEN. THOM TILLIS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: I don't believe anybody deserves absolute immunity. You know, the fact of the matter is, the last thing I want to do, that sounds a whole lot like the position we got rid of when we fought the Revolutionary War. Kings have absolute immunity. I don't believe presidents should.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: If a president ordered the assassination of Manu Raju, I don't think they should be held immune.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Yes, but the question at the moment is, how will the hush money case impact November's election? Will it impact any of these members down ticket? A lot of those Republicans in those swing districts that I asked about whether they will still align themselves with Donald Trump, whether they'll still campaign with Donald Trump if he is a convicted felon, many of them said yes, some of them, though, and some of the more vulnerable districts, though, declined to comment about that until there's a verdict.

WALKER: Well, and we also learned several days ago from Speaker Mike Johnson that he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress. Chuck Schumer has not yet joined, signed on to this joint invitation, if it becomes a joint invitation. How is this news being received on the Hill?

RAJU: You know, Democrats are certainly divided about this prospect, especially members on the left, progressive members who have been sharply critical of Benjamin Netanyahu and his government in the way they have prosecuted this war.

I asked Jamaal Bowman, who's a New York Democrat, member of the so- called squad, people on the far left of the House Democratic Caucus, someone who's facing his own difficult primary challenge over the issue of Israel, about whether or not he agrees with the ICC's prosecutor's effort to seek arrest warrants about Benjamin Netanyahu. And whether himself, Jamal Bowman, would attend that speech when it's delivered to Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So you wouldn't go if you attended?

REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D), NEW YORK: Hell no.

RAJU: And then what about this idea of arrest warrants for Netanyahu from the ICC prosecutor?

BOWMAN: Well --

RAJU: Is that a good -- do you support that?

BOWMAN: Well, yes, I mean, the ICC has their process of determining what's a war crime and what isn't. You know, obviously the warrants for the Hamas fighters who did what they did on October 7th are warranted. And it seems like they're warranted for Netanyahu as well. (END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Democratic leaders don't share that same position. In fact, they have been sharply critical of the ICC prosecutors seeking those arrest warrants. But, I put the question about whether or not Netanyahu should speak to Congress to Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries himself. He said that that is an issue that they plan to discuss more within their own caucus, given how fraught the politics there is on the issue on the left.

WALKER: Very fraught on the left. Manu, so what's on top for your show today?

RAJU: Yes, so we're going to dig a little bit more into all the booing and everything that happened, of course, in that Libertarian convention last night with Donald Trump addressing the crowd. But I also have a sit down interview with Tony Gonzales, who is the congressman from Texas. He's facing a difficult runoff on the right over, in some part, a vote that he took about two years ago to enact a gun safety law.

He represents Uvalde, Texas, of course, the site of that horrific school tragedy -- shooting that happened two years ago. He's facing his first test in the aftermath of that vote, but also that underscores a larger fight within the GOP over tactics, over the direction of the party. And he has some choice words for his critics.

WALKER: All right, looking forward to that. Manu Raju, good to see you. Thanks so much.

RAJU: Thank you.

WALKER: And be sure to join Manu at the top of the hour for Inside Politics right here on CNN.

Coming up, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker defends his controversial commencement speech. You're watching CNN This Morning.

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[07:30:00]

WALKER: All right. If you're just joining us, we have breaking news out of Cook County, Texas, where CNN has confirmed at least five deaths after a likely tornado hit overnight. We are told children are among those killed. We will have more information as we get it.

Now, the storms that spawned this possible tornado are still raging across several states this morning. More than 110 million Americans are at risk for severe weather today. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar will be back to track it all in a few minutes.

BLACKWELL: Well, a little more than 48 hours away now from closing arguments in Former President Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York City. With me now with a closer look at what to expect is former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland. Jeremy. Good morning to you. JEREMY SALAND, FORMER MANHATTAN PROSECUTOR: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Let's start with the big question. Big question first. Do you believe that the prosecutors have proven their case? The jury will determine the guilt or innocence of the former president, but that they proved that Former President Trump falsified these business records in an effort to cover up another crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

SALAND: All right. So, you're asking me to read the mind of the jury. That's always a fun question. I do think that the case went in very well. I thought they got their evidence in. I thought that Michael Cohen did a great job. I thought that David Pecker did a great job. I thought the evidence was there to corroborate. It wasn't just the testimony. It wasn't just the shoulders of Michael Cohen. It was a lot more. You had Hope Hicks. You had the handwritten notes from Weisselberg. You had the call logs.

So, I thought they did a good job. And at the same time, I thought the defense kind of failed. They really didn't take down Michael Cohen. They didn't really poke the holes I thought that they needed to. And then Bob Costello, he kind of lost that opportunity to really have an impactful testimony. So, overall, I thought they did a good job.

Now, is that proof behind a reasonable doubt for the felony? You know, I could go out on a limb and say, I think they've got the misdemeanor. The felony will be interesting. I don't think there'll be an acquittal. I think at best he's hoping for a hung jury.

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: How much do you think the prosecutors will rely on in closing arguments Michael Cohen's testimony? They did a lot of work before they put them on the stand to offer the documents, other evidence so that the jury would not have to rely exclusively on him. How much will they in the closing?

SALAND: Well, you know, I think the way they handle Michael Cohen is they come out and say, arguably, you didn't need Michael Cohen. A lot of the evidence speaks for itself, but he was a vehicle and the catalyst to make this all happen.

But whether you like Michael Cohen, whether you'd want him to date your sister, whether you'd want to be your brother-in-law, whether you'd want it to be your next-door neighbor, that's fine. You don't have to like the guy. This is not a likeability contest. Is what's he truthful in that moment in time? Was he honest and credible?

And you heard him speak and he knew he came here to get eviscerated and torn down by the defense, to be humiliated, and he came here and composed and honest and forthright. So, I think they're going to really take out his bad faults and his detractions and build them up, but they're going to have to rely on him because he was there and he's a big ugly and they know full well that the defense is going to say this is all about Michael Cohen. If you can't trust Michael Cohen, you can't convict. And the prosecution is going to say, that's not the situation. Like it or not, we did our job and this was the evidence.

BLACKWELL: Stormy Daniels. Does the defense have to deal with her accusation of what actually happened at Lake Tahoe? Do they have to go into his denial that this engagement that there was actual sex or do they -- can they just stay on records?

SALAND: Well, they opened the door to that and they're opening and denying it. And to appease Donald Trump, they're going to do it. Now, does that make a good attorney? Does that make a good legal decision and strategic decision? Maybe not. But I don't think at this point they should ignore it. It's irrelevant, frankly, whether they had sex or not is completely inconsequential.

It's whether -- because if you recall, there was the doorman who had the story about the child that was born, and that was a lie and a fraud. So, you know, they don't need it. But I don't think at this point they hide from it. They just got to confront it and deal with it and move on. But that's Donald Trump playing the marionette game with his attorneys. They made a big deal out of it out of the opening and it's been a theme throughout this trial. So, they're stuck.

BLACKWELL: Last question. This is on a different case. The former president sent out a campaign e-mail suggesting that President Biden "was locked and loaded to take me out," referring to the Mar-a-Lago search, standard language as it relates to execution of search warrants.

Special Counsel Jack Smith's office asking the judge in the classified documents case for a gag order on comments from Trump related to law enforcement. Do you think that that the judge will grant that?

SALAND: If Judge Cannon is not allowing herself to be swayed by the Kool Aid that she might, you know, know that people are consuming, and hopefully she is not, you know, and if she wants to be more a district court judge than some hearing -- judicial hearing officer at a DMV proceeding, then she does her darn job and says, this is not OK. You cannot be saying these things.

You have a right to free speech. I'm not stomping on that at all. I'm going to have a limited order here. Don't endanger the jury. Well, it's not a jury yet, obviously. Don't endanger the prosecution. Don't start lying. Do not do these things. It's such a disservice.

And no matter the color of your goggles, and we've discussed this before, I think over time, blue or red, you can't tolerate and accept these lies, fight your case in the courtroom, fight your defense in the courtroom, stick your rights up in the courtroom, but do not do this outside the courtroom. And if I'm the court, I make that limited order to make sure the integrity and safety is maintained.

BLACKWELL: Jeremy Saland, thanks so much. Enjoy the week.

Still ahead on CNN this morning, we hear from the Utah widow accused of murdering her husband with fentanyl Kouri Richins speaks from her jail cell for the first time.

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[07:40:00]

WALKER: For the first time, Kouri Richins is speaking from her jail cell. She is the Utah widow accused of killing her husband, Eric, by allegedly spiking his drink with the lethal dose of fentanyl. She then authored a children's book about grief. Richins was denied bail after her arrest a year ago.

BLACKWELL: Well, now, she is criticizing prosecutors and the media and claiming her innocence publicly. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June, but that could be delayed again. CNN's Camila Bernal has the latest.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, Kouri Richins is saying that it is time to speak up. She says she's anxious about her hearing and her trial. She says that she is ready to give this one heck of a fight. This is the first time that we hear from her. She spoke to two different news outlets. And it's the first time that we hear from her after she went on local television to speak about her children's book about grief.

Now, this also comes a week after her attorneys that have been representing her this entire time withdrew from the case, citing an irreconcilable and non-waivable situation related to her civil cases. Now, there are two new attorneys that were appointed. We've yet to hear from them. We did reach out, because it is unclear exactly when this audio was recorded and when it was released.

[07:45:00]

But I want you to take a listen to part of what she told ABC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOURI RICHINS, GRIEF BOOK AUTHOR: What I've really done is protect Eric at all costs. What I really didn't do is murder my husband. I could not and would not ever do that to Eric or anyone for that matter. I will not give up. I will not give in. Please just give me a chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now, let's take a step back. Kouri Richins was accused of killing her husband by giving him a cocktail, a Moscow mule that was laced with Fentanyl. The toxicology report later showed that he had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system. And prosecutors say that it was Kouri Richins who purchased the drugs. They say she withdrew money from his account, changed the life insurance policy, and they say they have cell phone data that shows her searches where she searched things like what is the lethal dose of fentanyl.

Now, her previous attorneys had argued that essentially there was no proof that she was the one that purchased the drugs. They'd also argued that financial troubles were not a motive for murder. We've yet to hear from her new attorneys, but we did hear from the family of Eric Richins, and here's the statement that they released. We are never surprised by the rantings of this deranged woman. What she did to her children's father is unforgivable and her complete lack of compassion or empathy for them is deplorable.

Now, in terms of what's next here, there was a scheduled hearing on the 18th. Her new attorneys are now asking for more time. So, there's now a scheduling hearing that is on the books for June 21st. We'll have to see what the judge decides and whether or not they're going to have more time to prepare for this case. Amara, Victor.

WALKER: All right. Camilla Bernal, thank you. Coming up, Andy Scholes is here with sports.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: We start sports with some tragic news. Pro golfer Grayson Murray has died. He was just 30 years old.

WALKER: Yes. Andy Scholes is here with us now. Andy, officials say the PGA Tour say they were devastated obviously by the news.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. Everyone devastated. He was playing at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth on Friday when he withdrew from the tournament due to an illness.

Then yesterday, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan broke the news that Murray died Saturday morning. And Murray, who had spoken about his battles with alcohol and mental health in the past, he was having a breakout season after winning the Sony Open back in January. No cause of death was announced.

Now, Peter Malnati was playing with Murray this week and just heartbroken by the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER MALNATI, PGA TOUR GOLFER: It's so funny. We get so worked up out here about, you know, a bad break here or a good break there. You know, you look at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: You see, it affected everyone on the tour. Commissioner Jay Monahan, he spoke with Murray's parents and they urged for the tournament this weekend to continue because "that's what Grayson would have wanted." Murray was just 30 years old.

All right. Elsewhere, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker speaking publicly for the first time since giving the controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College earlier this month. Now, Butker, who's a devout Catholic, says he does not regret expressing his beliefs. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRISON BUTKER, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS KICKER: At the outset, many people expressed a shocking level of hate, but as the days went on, even those who disagreed with my viewpoints shared their support for my freedom of religion.

In my seven years in the NFL, I've become familiar with the positive and negative comments, but the majority of them revolve around my performance on the field. But as to be expected, the more I've talked about what I value most, which is my Catholic faith, the more polarizing I have become.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. So, the Chiefs are heading to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl on Friday. It's not clear if Butker will attend after criticizing President Biden in his original speech.

All right, finally, the Birmingham Southern Baseball team is heading to the Division 3 World Series. But get this, when they take the field, their school will no longer exist. The small private liberal arts college has been open since 1856, but it's closing on May 31st due to financial difficulties.

But their baseball team ain't done yet. There's a -- they won their super regional to keep their season going. There's actually a GoFundMe set up to help the team's World Series trip to Ohio. As of this morning, guys, it's at $37,000. And the school's athletics account on X said it best, campus may be closing, but the story. is still to be written.

WALKER: Let's go.

SCHOLES: It would be so cool if they win the championship.

BLACKWELL: They're creating a movie. They're creating screenplay.

WALKER: They are.

SCHOLES: Oh, Netflix is all over that.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SCHOLES: They're all over it.

BLACKWELL: Andy, thanks so much.

WALKER: Good to see you.

BLACKWELL: All right. The breaking news we've been following all morning, at least five people dead. Look at this. Five people dead after a possible tornado. We'll take a quick break and get you more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:55:00]

WALKER: At least five people have been killed, including children, after a possible tornado hit Cook County, Texas overnight. It destroyed homes and cars. It cut power to thousands of people.

BLACKWELL: The storms are not over yet. CNN's Allison Chinchar is with us now. Where's the greatest threat right now?

CHINCHAR: Right. So, the main focus right now is across much of Missouri areas of Kentucky, Southern Illinois and Northeastern Arkansas. It's this cluster right through here. The red box indicating a tornado watch that's still valid for a few more hours as this strong line of thunderstorms slides east.

You can see we have active tornado warnings, that's the pink color. Even some severe thunderstorm warnings as well as the whole system continues to spread east, and it's going to do that for the rest of the day. So, all of these areas you see here have the potential for severe thunderstorms today. This includes Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville, down through Memphis. All of those areas looking at the potential for, yes, tornadoes, but also damaging winds and very large hail, golf ball size or even larger.

Then we see that shift a little bit further eastward once we get into the holiday on Monday itself.

[08:00:04]

So, now, you're talking Washington, D.C., Raleigh, Charlotte, again, Atlanta, Montgomery, and then back through other areas.