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CNN This Morning

Senate Aiming For Saturday Vote On Trump Agenda; Supreme Court Sides With Trump, Limits Power Of Lower Courts; Crowds Gather In Tehran For Funeral Of Military Officials, Nuclear Scientists, and Civilians Killed In Israeli Strikes; Canada: Will "Continue To Engage" After Trump Ends Trade Talks; Canada's Digital Services Tax Starts Monday; Canada Will "Continue To Engage" After Trump Ends Trade Talks. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired June 28, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND. It is Saturday, June 28th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what's happening today. Senators are working through the weekend in their quest to get President Trump sweeping agenda bill passed. But there are some serious questions over whether there's enough Republican support to get it over the finish line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can now properly file to proceed with these numerous policies and those that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis, including Birthright Citizenship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: President Trump took a victory lap yesterday after the Supreme Court handed him a big win in his fight with the federal judiciary. However, the big question over whether the President can end Birthright Citizenship, that's far from settled.

The jury in the Sean Combs trial will begin deliberating on Monday. The key takeaway is from both attorneys' closing arguments. That's coming up.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Venice. Another sweltering day here. Day three of the Lauren Sanchez-Bezos and Jeff Bezos wedding extravaganza. They are now newlyweds. And it is later tonight here just behind me at the Arsenale that they will be dancing the night away with many of their guests to no less than Lady Gaga and Elton John. More in that in the moment.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And also, a strong line of thunderstorms is sweeping across portions of the Midwest. There's also a few other areas that could be looking at storms. We'll take a look in just a few minutes. BLACKWELL: First up, senators are in a time crunch this weekend.

Republicans are hoping that enough members vote to advance the President's Big Beautiful Bill Act. They can only afford to lose three votes on today's expected procedural vote. And as of last night, they were still falling short. As Senator Thom Tillis says that he will vote against proceeding to the package unless there are major changes, specifically with Medicaid, which faces major cuts to pay for Trump's tax and spending cuts.

Now, representatives are also gearing up for some changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I'm yet to see the final Medicaid, I think, because I worked hard on that one. That was what I negotiated with the Speaker and the team. And I felt like largely was what I requested came out. And it's very defensible what we did out of the House. I'm a little worried about where the Senate may tweak that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And just before midnight, Senate Republicans released the full text of the bill, 940 pages. CNN's Manu Raju looks at the changes and the chances that this bill will make it to the President's desk by Independence Day.

Manu, good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. President Trump and Senate Republican leaders are pushing very hard for a vote today on Saturday to open up debate and eventually pass his massive bill to implement his agenda. This has been fought over behind closed doors and in public for the past several months. But behind closed doors in particular over the last several days between Republican senators as well as some House members at odds over some of the key policy details of this sweeping proposal.

Remember, it deals with a multi-trillion-dollar overhaul of the United States tax code. It includes deep spending cuts, particularly to Medicaid, as well as billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars of new spending for border security projects, for funding Donald Trump's deportations, as well as defense projects, national security projects across the country.

But it is those spending cuts in particular that has divided Republicans, namely on the issue of Medicaid. That is something that has been negotiated and debated behind closed doors intensely over the last several days. And the big question today, can this vote move past its first procedural hurdle? That hurdle to open debate, the -- John Thune, the Senate Republican Leader can only afford to lose three Republican votes on this party line vote.

Right now, he has lost, appears to be two Republican votes. One of them, Senator Rand Paul, does not like the impact of this bill is projected to have on the budget deficit, and particularly does not like the $5 trillion increase to the national debt limit that is included as part of this bill.

Then there's Senator Thom Tillis, someone who's up for reelection, reelection next year, but has raised major concerns about the cuts to Medicaid. He told reporters on Friday evening that he -- he's going to vote no on this bill, he said, "period." Saying that "fundamentals of this bill."

Then there are a whole host of other Republicans, more moderate senators like Senator Susan Collins of Maine raising concerns about the Medicaid cuts. And also, the fact that she has said, you have not yet seen the details of this plan. Senator Lisa Murkowski, Josh Hawley, also raising major concerns as well. Or not saying how they will ultimately vote on this bill after raising concerns about those Medicaid cuts. And there's some who have been concerned about the lack of spending in their eyes, lack of spending cuts in this proposal. That includes Senator Ron Johnson, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Rick Scott. How will they ultimately vote?

This ultimately means that Donald Trump and Republican leaders have their work cut out for them. If they want to get this done by Trump's self-imposed July 4th deadline, they'll have to get it out of the Senate by the end of this weekend and through the House by next week with very little time to review the details of all the last minute changes that were made in order to secure the votes here.

But a huge moment for the Trump agenda today as the Senate prepares to have a rare session to take up this plan. But will they have the votes? That is a big question at this hour, Victor.

[07:06:27]

BLACKWELL: Manu Raju for us on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much.

Let's stay in Washington. And the Supreme Court, handed down some major wins for the Trump Administration in its final day of rulings on Friday in the court's highly anticipated decision on Trump's order to end Birthright Citizenship. The justices sided with the Trump administration and limited the ability of lower courts to issue these nationwide injunctions on executive orders.

The 6-3 conservative-led decision did not rule on whether the order itself to end Birthright Citizenship is constitutional. There's still lots of questions about even how such an order would be carried out on a practical level. It did not stop, though, the President from taking the victory lap.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president. I think taking power away from these absolutely crazy radical left judges is a tremendous -- this is such a big day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The court's three liberals split from their colleagues' ruling. Senior Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her dissent, "The court's decision is nothing left than an open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution."

Joining me now to discuss is Fred Smith, a law professor at Emory University. Thanks for coming in. This first question, let's try to separate it into two parts here, because I want to know from your perspective what does this decision on the scope of these lower court rulings, the end of these nationwide injunctions, mean for this president and for the presidency?

FRED SMITH, LAW PROFESSOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY: It's tremendous. This is -- there's really kind of been no ruling exactly like this ever. And in the last, say, almost 100 years, lower courts have on a nationwide basis issued injunctions to stop actions that, in their view, were unconstitutional. This has been true, and it was true in the 1930s. This was true when President Truman tried to seize all of the steel mills. A lower court issued a ruling, stopping that on a nationwide basis. And so, this is a really significant moment when it comes to the Supreme Court and when it comes to the presidency.

BLACKWELL: And we look at the number of injunctions. Some of that is just commensurate with the number of executive orders that have been issued by this president remarkably high compared to his recent predecessors. But would this require a lawsuit in every one of these lower court districts?

SMITH: That's exactly what it would require. So, imagine a president passes a law that says -- or sorry, issues an executive order that says no one can criticize me, no one in the United States may criticize me. And then Johnny files a lawsuit that says, well, I think this executive order is unconstitutional. A district court could issue an injunction that says Johnny can criticize but couldn't issue an executive or could not issue an injunction that says that everyone is allowed to criticize the president if they wish. Each individual would have to bring a lawsuit across the United States.

Now, one limiting principle is that when it comes to an executive order of that significance, it wouldn't be long before the Supreme Court would hopefully have an opportunity to rule on it. And then it would be enjoined on a nationwide basis. But in the short term, it would be the case that a federal district court could not issue an injunction that said this blatantly unconstitutional executive order can't be applied to anyone.

[07:10:16]

BLACKWELL: And class action status is still an option in some cases, correct?

SMITH: That's also true. Yes.

BLACKWELL: So, let me read -- this is from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's solo dissent. She wrote, "Eventually, executive power will become completely uncontainable and our beloved constitutional Republic will be no more." Intense. Is it accurate? Is it an overstatement? SMITH: It's plausible, right? So much of our constitutional order

depends on whether or not we elect presidents who respect our constitutional order. And so, to the extent that we elect presidents who respect our constitutional Republic and order and respect basic norms -- like if a federal district court says that executive order is unconstitutional with respect to Johnny, if we have presidents who say, well, we're not going to apply it to anyone, then that is hyperbole.

If we elect presidents, though, who take a different view, who say, well, I'm going to apply my executive order to everyone except Johnny, then we may be approaching some dark times.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Birthright Citizenship specifically. And first, the Attorney General, in response to many of the questions in the Briefing Room yesterday, said that that's going to be decided in October. October is the start of the session. It's not going to be decided in October, right? We likely won't get that until a year from now because it's one of the more consequential decisions.

SMITH: So, because of what we call the emergency docket, that's actually year round, right? So, let's say that a federal district court issues an injunction and the Trump Administration chooses to take that all the way to the United States Supreme Court, then the Supreme Court would have an opportunity at a really early posture to issue -- to opine on the constitutionality in some way or another on this particular -- on that particular executive order.

So, it really kind of depends on how it gets there. And a lot depends on whether or not the executive chooses to take a case like this to the Supreme Court. And I think that's what actually worries the dissenters. If you pass something or if you issue an executive order that's so unconstitutional that every court that sees it says that's unconstitutional, that's unconstitutional, that's unconstitutional, then you're kind of depending on the executive to take that case to the Supreme Court. And there's fears about why would a president do that if the alternative is that everyone has to file a lawsuit?

BLACKWELL: We don't have much time left, but I wonder what does this mean between now and a decision on the merits of the executive order on Birthright Citizenship? There's a 30-day delay, but for those dozens of states that have not filed an injunction, what does this mean for those babies that are born here to parents who are undocumented?

SMITH: I think in the very short term, there is tremendous uncertainty about babies that are born literally today. I do think that you'll see a class action filed. I also think that you'll see states kind of making the case consistent with this opinion that a nationwide injunction is necessary in order to deal with some of their injuries. And I wouldn't be surprised if you see another, either nationwide injunction or a class action that bars this executive order from going forward in the next one to two weeks.

BLACKWELL: All right, Fred Smith, thanks for coming in and helping us understand this. All right, coming up next hour on "FIRST OF ALL," I'll talk to Norman

Wong. If you don't recognize the name, here's the connection. He's the great grandson of the man whose case led to a landmark Birthright Citizenship ruling more than 100 years ago. His parents were Chinese citizens in this country. He was not born here. And this is the extension -- or he was born here, I should say. This is the extension of that Birthright Citizenship to people born in this country whose parents were not U.S. citizens. We'll get into that story and the relevance next hour, 8:00 a.m. Eastern right here on "FIRST OF ALL."

Thousands of drivers were left stranded for more than eight hours Friday in rural southern West Virginia. A mudslide triggered by heavy rains flooded northbound lanes of the turnpike. No detours in place. Drivers sat in 12 miles of gridlock. No water, no information on what was going on. The West Virginia Parkway's authority has taken full responsibility. The governor called the failure to reroute traffic unacceptable and ordered an investigation into the incident.

[07:15:07]

More than 50 million people are under severe storm threats this morning. Storms are expected to hit in parts of the Midwest and the Northeast. And there's a risk of high winds and hail and possibly tornadoes. CNN's Allison Chinchar is here with the latest. What are we looking at?

CHINCHAR: Yes, we've already got some of those storms ongoing, but it's going to be two separate areas that we're concerned about for today. We've got severe thunderstorms expected into the Midwest, but also a secondary portion that's going to happen later this afternoon across areas of the Northeast.

Right now, the bulk of the activity is focused across the Midwest. This is where you have several thunderstorms ongoing. Some stronger thunderstorms as well with lots of lightning and some gusty winds.

Off to the Northeast. We're kind of wrapping up that first round of showers that's really been focused over Maine and New England this morning. But more development is expected across the Northeast as we head into the afternoon. So, you've got two separate areas that we've talked about. Both still have the potential for those damaging winds, but you could also see the potential for an isolated tornado and even some large hail across areas of the Midwest. That includes Minneapolis, Rapid City, as well as Sioux Falls.

Now, the timing of these storms. We already have that first round on going in the Midwest. That's going to fade away and then we get a little bit of a break before the secondary round begins to appear later on today. By this afternoon, say 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., a lot of those showers and thunderstorms will fire up across the Northeast and continue to slide over much of that area through the evening.

It's going to be later for the Midwest. We're talking 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. when we really start to see a lot of those strong to severe thunderstorms ramp up. But they are also going to continue through the overnight hours. So, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 in the morning, you're still going to have some of those strong to severe thunderstorms across much of this area. And then we'll continue to see more develops as we head into the latter portion of the day on Sunday.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you.

Still ahead, large crowds in Iran are gathered to remember senior military commanders and nuclear scientists killed in Israeli airstrikes. The message that Iran is sending the world with these very public funerals. Plus, a new phase in the Sean Combs trial set to begin next week. What the jury heard in closing arguments? And Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos officially said I do in Venice last night. How the lavish wedding is both boosting the city's tourism industry and drawing major protest?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:08]

BLACKWELL: Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark will be late to rest in a private ceremony today. The couple along with their dog was shot and killed at their home in what Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called a politically motivated assassination. Mourners gathered this week at the State Capitol to pay their respects, including former President Joe Biden. The former President and former Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the funeral today.

The suspect, Vance Boelter, he is facing state and federal charges, including murder, firearm defenses, stalking. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

The judge in the Sean Combs trial is set to give the jurors instructions on Monday, and then they'll begin deliberations. Attorneys for both sides made their final appeals to the jury following two days of closing arguments. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo suggested Combs was targeted by the government. They claimed that they failed to present evidence of his alleged crimes.

And their rebuttal, prosecutor to say that Combs legal team was focused on victim blaming and they told the jury it is time to hold him accountable, find him guilty.

Overnight, at least nine people were killed and 16 others injured after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza. This is according to a medic in the area. He says an Israeli airstrike hit tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza City after sunset prayers. CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment. This comes as President Trump said Friday that he believes a ceasefire will be agreed to in Gaza within the next week.

This morning, huge crowds are filling the streets of Tehran as Iran holds funeral processions for dozens killed and recent Israeli airstrikes, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians. 60 people in all are being honored today. Let's go to CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen who is inside Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a gigantic procession right through the heart of Tehran. There are thousands of people here who are trying to touch the caskets. They're trying to give the folks who were on the caskets items, to rub on the caskets.

Now, there are 60 coffins in total that are going through this city. Among them, Iran's top military leadership. You have the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami. The head of Iran's missile program Ali Hajizadeh. Many others as well, including nuclear scientists, but also civilians. There's also women and children whose caskets are in this procession right now.

People here say that they're honored to pay their final respects to those who were killed, but they're also vowing to continue to stand up for both the U.S. and Israel.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Death to America, death to Israel, she says. God willing, they'll be destroyed soon.

[07:25:06]

My message to Trump is, God willing, you will die, he says, because you attacked Iran. And be sure the people will take revenge for the blood of these martyrs soon with the obliteration of Trump, Israel, and the United States.

PLEITGEN: All this comes as Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has lashed out both the United States and Israel, saying he believes Iran's military campaign against the Israelis was victorious, and that also the U.S. had gained nothing from bombing Iran's nuclear installations.

At the same time, the Iranians are vowing to be defiant, saying that their nuclear program will continue, the force of enrichment will continue as well.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Still to come, after months of negotiations, President Trump says there will be no more trade talks with Canada. The new tax from Canada that President Trump is calling a blatant attack on the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:34]

BLACKWELL: Now, the Canadian government says that they plan to continue to engage in trade negotiations with the U.S., but President Trump cut off trade talks with Canada yesterday, in a social media post. The president says that he made the decision after Canada announced a digital services tax, calling it a direct attack on America.

CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes has more.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump, announcing that he was suspending all talks with Canada when it came to trade on Friday, after they put into place a digital services tax.

Now, this is quite surprising to see this level of anger from President Trump. But when it was just about a half ago, we saw the president in Canada sitting down with the Prime Minister Mark Carney, during the G7, and they seem to be on much better terms than when we saw Carney in the Oval Office with Trump about a month ago.

They were getting along, and even at one point, President Trump saying, well, we have different ideas about tariffs and trade, but I think it's possible for us to come to some kind of a deal where we both get something that we want out of it.

Now, this is obviously not where this is ending, particularly given that President Trump called this act of putting through these digital service taxes a direct and blatant attack on our country.

He was asked by reporters later for more details on why he had suspended trade, and here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They were foolish to do it. So, I said, we're going to stop all negotiations with Canada right now, until they straighten out their act.

We have all the cards. We have all the cards. You know, we do a lot of business with Canada, but relatively little they do most of their businesses with us. And when you have that circumstance, you treat people better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, one thing to keep in mind is that the first payment of these digital services taxes were expected to go into place on June 30th. So, just a matter of days here, and they are going to be retroactive as well. Meaning, that some of these big U.S. companies could spend anywhere up to $2 billion. So, a lot of money coming from that.

This is a tax that we have seen the E.U. have. We know the United Kingdom has it. The United Kingdom actually still has theirs in place, even after the United States struck a trade deal with them, seems like maybe the U.S. thinks it got something in another area there. But it's something that President Trump has railed against for quite some time, and clearly here ending any current negotiation over trade with Canada, over this decision.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

BLACKWELL: And with me now, Thomas Smith. He is an economist at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. Professor, welcome back to the show.

So, let's start here with this end of talks between the U.S. and Canada.

This digital service tax isn't a surprise. It's just the money is due on the 30th, maybe a couple of billion-dollars because of its retro activeness. How big a deal -- big a deal is this, considering that things looked fine for the last couple of weeks between the U.S. and Canada?

THOMAS SMITH, ECONOMIST, EMORY UNIVERSITY'S GOIZUETA BUSINESS SCHOOL: Yes. I mean, it's actually a big deal. I mean, for the president to say that the United States doesn't really do much with Canada is ignoring the fact that Canada is our second-largest trading partner, coming slightly behind Mexico. And actually, Canada is the largest consumer of U.S. exports. So, Canada buys a ton of goods.

And the president actually negotiated a new North American trade agreement, I think, it's called USMCA.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: But, I mean, and that was to modify some of the relationships between the United States and Canada. So, they are important trading partner, and he is the one that, you know, organized the current trading rules.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the chronology is important because he came in, in the first term saying we have to get rid of NAFTA. And most people agree that NAFTA needed to be revisited.

SMITH: Sure.

BLACKWELL: Replaced it with USMCA, and now, comes into the second term and rails against the trading relationship with Canada that he negotiated in his first term.

What's interesting here also is that Friday, the markets closed up pretty high. I mean, the Dow didn't create a -- hit a new record, but S&P and NASDAQ did --

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Yes.

BLACKWELL: These statements from the president, I would have imagined maybe a month ago, two months ago, that would have had some impact is the market discounting these assertions from the president now?

[07:35:00]

SMITH: Yes, I think, you actually nailed it there. I mean, it's -- anytime the president right now says, oh, we're going to impose a tariff, we're going to do some other kind of trading relationship, then, he immediately backs off of it as soon as he sees the market make a move. And I think the market is now already baking in the fact that the president is likely to modify his stance at some point into the next week or so.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: I mean, of course, we have a shortened trading week coming up because of the Fourth of July. But if he stands, you know, pat with some of this talk and actually starts going into, let's say, a more robust anti-trade relationship, we could see the market starting to decrease again.

BLACKWELL: The president said that he'll tell Canada within seven days what it will cost to do business in the -- with the U.S. I imagine that's a tariff rate, but a reminder that U.S. companies pay those tariffs, Canada is not paying the tariff.

SMITH: Yes.

BLACKWELL: There was, I mean, all out calamity that was predicted by some economists after the announcement of these higher tariff rates. Now, most of the world, the tariffs for the imports from those countries have come down to 10 percent. But how is the economy, as we close in on the 90 days that the president set to make these deals, how is it holding up?

SMITH: So, the economy is actually in pretty good shape, right? We are seeing relatively low unemployment, although it keeps ticking up slightly. We're still seeing inflation not quite hitting the Fed's two percent level, but inflation is kind of ticking up again. And we're also seeing some modifications of some numbers that were put out previously.

If you recall our last conversation, we saw some front-loading of some consumption early as when people were sort of anticipating these tariffs.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

SMITH: And then, we saw a drop in GDP. Just the other day, they modified that GDP dropped down a little bit from about 0.2 percent to about 0.5 percent. And then, we're seeing some real big pullbacks in some consumer spending. So, a lot of people are not buying cars. So, we've seen actually a decrease in the consumption of automobiles, probably because they would be hit by some huge tariffs, and those prices would be pushed right to consumers.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Well, July 9th is the end of that 90-day window. The 90 deals in 90 days, and we're still waiting for the list.

Thomas Smith, professor at Emory, thank you so much.

SMITH: Thanks for having me again. Appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still ahead, the Venetian extravaganza that so many people are talking about. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, officially man and wife. CNN's Melissa Bell is in Venice for the wedding of the year. And telling by the movement on a boat. MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're on a boat. It's a little bit cooler out here, Victor. I'll tell you about the heat a short while ago. We also get a particularly good view of where tonight's events are going to be taking place. Elton John, Lady Gaga will be officiating. And again, this will be the end of a three-day extravaganza, which has come at huge cost, but has had nothing, no key about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:42:43]

BLACKWELL: Now, moving into the third-day of an estimated $50 million celebration, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former journalist Lauren Sanchez now married in a Venice ceremony after a two-year engagement.

Vogue featured Sanchez on its digital cover, showcase the Dolce and Gabbana gown she wore for the ceremony. Celebrity guests included Usher, Leonardo DiCaprio, the Kardashians.

CNN international correspondent Melissa Bell is here to share the highlights and what's ahead for the big finale. How about it?

BELL: And to give you Victor a little seasickness on a Saturday morning, we thought it would be good for you and our viewers. First thing on a Saturday morning, we decided this was the best position we could get, because, of course, you'll imagine everything's been so tightly controlled. We simply can't get near any of the events, obviously.

This, though, the Arsenal here in Venice is where the big last day of festivities are going to be held. You can see some art installations there. This is because every two year, they have this big art festival here in Venice, and that's what was left over. It's the old medieval shipyard, not quite as glamorous as where they plan to have the big final bash to the north of Venice and the medieval church, but they had to move just because protesters were threatening to throw themselves into the canal, Victor, to try and get in the way of the celebrity guests making their way to the event.

And so, they moved it here, a big victory, say the protesters, the No Space for Bezos group was created in just three weeks. Soon as they got wind the fact that this big extravaganza was happening in their city, they got together to protest things like the cost of living, climate change, and they have really been making their feelings known of the course of the last few days.

What we gather is going to happen later today is not just this big bash here, which is going to involve Elton John performing and Lady Gaga, but also protests. Now, they have not been authorized by Venice Town Hall, but we understand that the protesters are keen, once again, to make their voices heard, and they are planning to march the city center later today.

BLACKWELL: Melissa, I wonder, how is the Italian media. how are they covering this event?

BELL: Well, as you can imagine, Victor, there is been a huge amount of interest, of course, not just from the international press, the paparazzi, but of course, the Italians.

[07:45:00]

Let me just give you an idea of this morning's headlines. This is the local Venetian newspaper, the Yes of Bezos. It headlines, of course, the newlyweds actually tied the knot yesterday. This is one of Italy's big daily newspapers, Corriere della Sera. There, you can see they've made the front page of every Italian newspaper, and she was looking pretty glamorous in that Dolce Gabbana dress.

There been a lot of speculation about what she'd wear. It was released last night there again, on La Repubblica, another big Italian daily. A lot of attention, of course, has been given to this wedding, because, as you can see, after three days, nothing was left to chance. It is the eye hopping amount of the wedding you mentioned a moment ago, Victor, more than $50 million by Italian estimates.

There is the guest list, 200 and 250 of them, wealthiest and most famous people in the world. And, of course, the location. Victor.

BLACKWELL: And you did all of that, braving that chop, I have to focus on the horizon behind you so that I can finish the show.

Melissa Bell, thank you so much.

All right, still to come. This was a pretty emotional moment. Matthew Schaefer was selected first overall in the NHL draft. Andy Scholes has your sports highlights after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:43]

BLACKWELL: It's been a slow start to the hurricane season, but the tropics are starting to show some signs of heating up.

CNN's Allison Chinchar has the details for us. What do you see?

CHINCHAR: Right. So, the latest update, we just got about 10 minutes ago, we are keeping an eye on this particular system here, right along the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. It has a 50 percent chance of developing into a named tropical system in just the next 48 hours.

And what they are expecting is, as that cluster of thunderstorms crosses over into the Bay of Campeche, it could, in turn, end up developing a little bit stronger, and becoming the next named tropical system as it makes its way along the coastline there.

Now, one thing that could be working against it is Saharan dust. Now, you'll watch some of the Saharan dust as it kind of plays through. And notice the timeline, June 30th, July 1st, July 2nd. So, this is all the next couple of days. So, it could be have to contend with some of that Saharan dust, which really does not help development for these types of tropical systems.

Now, regardless of whether this gets named or not, it is expected to bring a tremendous amount of moisture up here along the eastern coast of Mexico. But, depending on where the system ultimately ends up, in the Bay of Campeche, it could slide a little bit further north, bringing a lot of that very heavy rainfall to portions of southern Texas as we head into the early portion of the upcoming week.

So, certainly something to keep an eye on. Now, if it does strengthen, if it does develop into a tropical system, the next name on the list is Barry. Now, normally we don't get the second named system until about mid-July. So, this would actually put us maybe a few weeks ahead of schedule, compared to rather slow start to the month of June.

Again, all questions lie on what happens with this system over the next several hours. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thank you.

Special tribute from the top pick on night one of the NHL Draft. Andy Scholz joins me now.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Victor. So, Matthew Schaefer from Ontario, Canada, he was the top pick in this year's NHL draft. The 17-year-old, he was selected by the New York Islanders, and when he put on that islanders' jersey for the first time, he immediately saw and kissed the pink breast cancer ribbon that was on it.

Now, Schaefer lost his mom to breast cancer back in February of last year, and he was very emotional thinking of her on his big night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW SCHAEFER, NUMBER ONE PICK, NEW YORK ISLANDERS: Yes. I think it's just my mom, for sure. I miss her a lot, and I wish she could be here, but --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's got a front row seat to it.

SCHAEFER: This means a lot to me, obviously, you know, maybe some people are -- just driven, but, it really means a lot. And, you know, I wish my mom, you know, could be here today in person. Obviously, she lifts me in spirit. So, yes, it means a lot to me, and it's such an honor.

SCHOLES (voice over): Now, later in the draft, there were more emotions as the widow of Johnny Gaudreau, Meredith Gaudreau, took the stage to a standing ovation to make the pick for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

MEREDITH GAUDREAU, WIDOW OF JOHNNY GAUDREAU: I just wanted to take this time to thank every single team and every single fan base for your support for my family this past season. It's truly --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)!

GAUDREAU: It's truly an honor to be here, and from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

SCHOLES (voice over): And Meredith's husband, Johnny and his brother Matthew, were both tragically killed while riding bikes when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver back in August. Johnny played 11 seasons in the NHL after Meredith made the 14th selection for the Blue Jackets, the crowd there at the draft in L.A. they chanted, Johnny, Johnny, which is pretty cool moment.

All right, in baseball, meanwhile, the fans in Cincinnati had a night at the ballpark. They got to see first baseman Spencer Steer hit not one, not two, but three home runs. First career three home run game for Steer.

Reds were up 8-0, entering the ninth, but the fans still on the edge of their seats as starter, Nick Martinez had a no-hitter going. But the first batter of the inning, Elias Diaz would end up hitting a double, ending that no-hit bid. The Reds, they would still end up winning 8-1, but Nick there losing that no-hitter in the night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHOLES (on camera): Yes, I've been to hundreds of baseball games my life. Still never seen a no hitter in person. One thing I really want to be at, at some point.

BLACKWELL: I feel like maybe you're the bad luck token for somebody's team.

SCHOLES: -- there rare.

BLACKWELL: It's like, is Andy here?

SCHOLES: Yes, no, no, tonight.

BLACKWELL: Oh, not out tonight. All right. Thank you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

BLACKWELL: All right. "FIRST OF ALL," is coming up at the top of the hour. One family's legacy, it's closely tied to the Supreme Court decision that just gave President Trump more power to carry out his agenda.

[07:55:05]

We're going to hear from the great-grandson of the man whose case led to a landmark decision on birthright citizenship more than 100 years ago.

Plus, Florida's native tribes are speaking out against construction of a migrant detention facility dubbed Alligator Alcatraz. Why they are so upset about where it's located?

And later, a family is demanding answers from Alabama police after the death of 18-year-old Jabari Peoples. They say they were not properly alerted when an officer shot and killed him, and now they want to see the body camera video. They say what police are claiming is not actually what happened. His mother, sister, and the family's attorney will join us.

Those stories and conversations you likely will not see anywhere else coming up after a break on "FIRST OF ALL".

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END