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CNN This Morning
Senate Republicans Advance Trump's Mega-Bill In Late Night Vote; Slain Minnesota Lawmaker, Husband, Dog Laid To Rest; Severe Storm Triggers More Flight Cancellations, Delays At Atlanta Airport; Midwest Faces Dangerous Storms With Hail, Tornadoes; Tens Of Thousands Pack Tel Aviv To Protest War In Gaza; Dozens Line Up To Protest "Alligator Alcatraz"; Pope Celebrating A Special Mass At The Vatican; Eight New U.S. Archbishops Receive The Pallium From The New Pope. Trump: U.S. Strikes On Iran A "Spectacular Military Success"; Trump Announces Air Strikes On 3 Nuclear Sites In Iran; Sources: Trump Briefed Republicans Before Strikes, But Not Democrats; Iranian Foreign Minister U.S. Decided To Blow Up Diplomacy. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired June 29, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:40]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING, Sunday, June 29th. I'm Victor Blackwell. Here's what's happening right now.
Live look for you right now. This is the Senate floor where these folks are still hours into this now reading the 940-page Big Beautiful Bill Act. They started seven hours ago after the Senate voted to advance it. What's next in the process and the reaction from President Trump? We have that for.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): All of us are searching for some kind of meaning, some kind of lesson that we can learn to help ease our loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The Minnesota lawmaker and her husband killed in their home. They were laid to rest in a private ceremony Saturday. How they're being remembered by friends and lawmakers.
And after three days of pomp and protest, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos are now officially married. We'll take you inside the final days of festivities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're never interfering with a human driver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just with the robots?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we've explained that to the police as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Man versus machine. The extreme step some people are taking to silence those self-driving Waymo cars.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we have severe thunderstorm warnings ongoing right now. We'll detail where more of them could pop up as we head later into the afternoon, coming up.
BLACKWELL: We're starting this hour with the breaking news out of Washington. Senate Republicans managed to advance President Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Act in a late Saturday night vote this after extensive negotiations with a couple of holdouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: We have before us today a once in a generation opportunity to deliver legislation to create a safer, stronger and more prosperous America. With one bill, we can deliver on a number of priorities.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: If Republicans succeed, proceed and follow Trump -- Donald Trump over the cliff with this bill tied to their ankles like an anvil, they will not only doom their own communities, they will doom their political fortunes, their own political fortunes, and have no one to blame but themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: President Trump celebrated the advancement in a social media post. He called it a great victory and praised four Republican senators who shifted their votes. The bill cleared the key procedural vote, 51-49. Two Republican senators joined Democrats, voting against it. This, though, is just the beginning of the process to get the bill through the Senate.
Right now, clerks on the Senate floor, as I said, they're reading the entire bill aloud. Senate Democrats forced the major delay tactic, which could take up to 15 hours, then comes up to 20 hours of debate on the bill. Then there's the vote-a-rama. That's this open ended, hours long series of votes on amendments. CNN's Betsy Klein has more from Washington.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That Saturday night vote marked a make-or-break moment on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and President Trump was keenly aware of the razor thin margins in the Senate and all of the hurdles and uncertainties, because he had been fielding calls and holding meetings and even playing golf with a key group of Republican senators over the better part of the last 24 hours.
Ultimately, if passed, this legislation, this sweeping tax and spending package would really unlock President Trump's domestic agenda. And the White House is keenly aware that this is a critical moment to get this over the finish line while Republicans control both the House and the Senate. And for those reasons, President Trump, along with Vice President J.D. Vance, had been working those phones, holding meetings, inviting senators to the White House to get this to a yes.
The president scrapped a planned weekend in New Jersey to spend a rare weekend here in Washington, where he held a round of golf with Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, along with Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, notably, a key holdout who had concerns about spending in this package, as well as the provision that raises the debt limit. Paul ultimately voted no on that bill, but Vance himself had headed to the Senate, where he was poised to take a tie breaking vote.
[06:05:01]
Ultimately, that was not needed. The reality here is that there are deep policy divisions within the Republican Party on the scale and scope of this bill, but the president ultimately lashing out at Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, the other no vote. He said in a post to social media just before the vote passed that he would threaten to a primary Tillis, who is up for reelection in 2026.
He said, numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the primary against Senator Thom Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks looking for someone who can properly represent the great people of North Carolina.
The president had also held a major event pushing for the bill on Thursday, where he went after those who would vote no as grandstanders and not good people. The president had been pushing to get this done by the 4th of July. He expressed a little bit of softening of that deadline earlier this week, saying it was important, but not the end all.
So, we will be closely watching how this proceeds in the days ahead as they work through some of the key provisions in this bill and this so- called vote-a-rama. This is still far from over. Once and if the Senate passes this bill, it still needs to go to the House of Representatives where they need to approve those changes before it can go to President Trump's desk. So, the president clearly has a lot more lobbying to do, and it remains to be seen if he can close this deal.
Betsy Klein, CNN, Washington.
BLACKWELL: All right. Betsy, thank you very much. Let's bring in now congressional reporter for Axios, Stephen Neukam. Stephen, good Sunday morning to you.
So, let's look ahead now. This vote-a-rama comes up time for Democrats to offer some of these amendments that are sometimes just created to put the Republicans in a spot to make some difficult votes. But there is one Republican senator, Senator Susan Collins, who wants to see some changes to the bill or she could be a no on passage. What's the path there? And is she alone?
STEPHEN NEUKAM, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Hey, good morning, Victor. She's not alone. Just the fact that Republican leadership was able to sort of get over this procedural hurdle last night does not mean that they are completely out of the woods on the passage of this bill. I mean, the central question remains whether they have the votes to pass it.
Now, all they need is 50. It needs to be a party line vote. They're using the reconciliation process, sort of a carve out that allows them to go around the filibuster and pass this with just a simple majority. But also at the same time, there are deep policy disagreements, especially that Collins, and Tillis, who said he's a no at this point, want to see changes to. And it's -- it's unclear that that those changes will be made on the floor.
So, they're not out of the woods yet. And it's very possible that Collins, somebody who voted yes for the procedural motion yesterday evening, might be a no on final passage.
BLACKWELL: And so, what's the likelihood that there would be enough of these no votes? I mean, this is the president's legislative agenda. I mean, because after this, there's going to be looking ahead to the midterms in 2026 and then on to the next election after that. But are there likely Republican senators before we even get to the House who are willing to put a death knell in the president's agenda?
NEUKAM: I think the ones to watch are Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, maybe some of the wild cards, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, I think, will be a no on this package. Again, they can -- they can lose three votes.
So, for Republican leadership on the Senate side, this is sort of a game of -- a numbers game of letting some members vote no against this. The ones who are the most vulnerable, who may come to Majority Leader John Thune and say, look, I just can't support this bill.
Letting them take that no vote but still having enough support on the -- on the back end to get this across the finish line. So, there is, you know, some internal politics and, you know, folks are always thinking ahead to 2026. And I think that's why there's an immense amount of pressure on Susan Collins and Thom Tillis, both of whom are going to be the Republican Party's most vulnerable incumbents next year.
BLACKWELL: So, whichever version of this bill, if it passes through the Senate, will have to be reconciled with what passed the House. Speaker Johnson, held a call with Republicans, telling them just to stay quiet for this moment, even if there are some concerns. What do we know about opposition in the Republican conference in the House to what is making its way through the Senate now?
[06:10:08]
NEUKAM: Yes, that's why this grueling process can become even more grueling. If they can get this through the Senate by the end of this weekend, which I think is their goal, that might slip into early Monday. The margin in the House for House Speaker Mike Johnson is even slimmer than it is for Majority Leader Thune in the Senate. And we've already seen a number of particularly conservative House members come out on social media and say that they don't support the Senate bill in its current form. Obviously, the thing that the speaker has in his back pocket is the most powerful lobbying tool, that's the president and sort of his power from the Oval Office. So, we're going to have to see what that lobbying campaign looks like and how much pressure does the president have to put on some of these House members to get them into the yes category.
Speaking of pressure, and you mentioned in just a moment ago, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, the president, as we heard from Lauren, posted on social media, numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the primary against Senator Thom Tillis. I'll be meeting with them over the coming weeks.
What's the president's record on making good on these threats? Because he makes them often against Republicans who do not vote along with some of his legislative priorities. Does he often make that real? And how effective is it?
NEUKAM: It's kind of a scattered record there. Sometimes he does, and sometimes he relents for one reason or another. I think the -- you know, the danger of the threat is that we have seen him sort of carry that out before back a candidate despite, you know, there being a Republican candidate or Republican incumbent in that seat.
So, you know, there's going to be a lot of time until November 2026. These dynamics change, but it's obvious that the president is looking very closely at who's voting for and voting against his -- like you said, this is his central legislative agenda, and we'll have to see if he's willing to put his thumb on the scale against some of these incumbents.
BLACKWELL: All right. Stephen Neukam, thank you so much. Enjoy the Sunday. Lighthearted, colorful people with a love of nature. A few of the ways friends and family described a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, who were killed earlier this month.
On Saturday, Representative Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and their beloved golden retriever, Gilbert, were laid to rest. The man accused of killing them appeared in federal court just a few miles away. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones reports from Minneapolis on the latest details in this case -- Julia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A funeral with the highest state honors in the country's first basilica Minnesota in mourning. Governor Tim Walz presenting the children of Mark and Melissa Hortman with the flags flown above the Capitol on the day their parents were killed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember your servants, Melissa and Mark --
JONES (voice-over) The political nature of their tragic deaths, the undeniable backdrop for the day's events.
WALZ: All of us are searching for some kind of meaning, some kind of lesson that we can learn to help ease our loss. And maybe it is this moment where each of us can examine the way we work together, the way we talk about each other, the way we fight for things we care about, a moment when each of us can recommit to engaging in politics and life the way Mark and Melissa did.
JONES (voice-over): In attendance for mass, former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. On Friday, mourners paid their respects as the Hortmans laid in state at the Minnesota Capitol.
Melissa, the first woman in state history to receive that distinction. Laid to rest beside them, their golden retriever, Gilbert.
Just a few miles away in federal court, the man accused of killing the Hortmans appeared before a judge. His attorney told the court Boelter has been sleep deprived due to jail conditions and communication has been difficult. The judge granted a delay and his next hearing is now set for July 3rd.
Boelter faces state and federal charges, including murder, firearm offenses and stalking. Authorities say the June 14th shooting was a politically motivated assassination and that Boelter could face the death penalty if convicted. He allegedly went to the Hortmans' home dressed as a police officer and opened fire when police showed up, then fled, triggering the largest manhunt in the state's history.
Before the Hortmans, authorities say, Boelter went to the homes of three other Minnesota state politicians. And one of them, police say, he shot state Senator John Hoffman and his wife multiple times.
[06:15:05]
Both are making a recovery, but say they are, quote, "lucky to be alive." According to court documents, authorities later searched Boelter's vehicle and found at least three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9- millimeter handgun, as well as a list of names and addresses of other public officials, most of them Democrats or figures with ties to the abortion rights movement.
There have been questions about what Boelter's wife, Jenny, knew and when. Investigators say she was initially not forthcoming with information, but later became cooperative.
On Thursday, Jenny Boelter spoke out for the first time, saying she and her children are absolutely shocked, heartbroken, and completely blindsided. She called the attack a betrayal of everything we hold true as tenets of our Christian faith, adding that from the start, her family has fully cooperated with investigators, and they're grateful to law enforcement for apprehending her husband and preventing further harm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: And, Victor, this attack comes amid a time of a historic rise of violence and threats against public officials, as well as division in America. But the main message from the service on Saturday was that there is still hope to mend those divisions, both coming from Governor Walz as well as from the pastor who led that service. Sharing a message from the children of the Hortmans where they said that, for those who want to honor their parents' memory, what they ask them to do is any act to make their community just a little bit better however small, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Julia Vargas Jones, thank you. This morning, more than -- well, actually, more flights are expected to be delayed or canceled at the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. This is after back-to-back storms.
According to FlightAware, more than 450 flights were canceled yesterday, hundreds more delayed. Right now, there are at least 50 cancellations and nearly 90 delays at the airport just as millions get ready to travel for the 4th of July holiday. AAA says more than 5 million people are expected to fly for the holiday break.
Meanwhile, strong storms are also moving into the Midwest, with the chance of damaging winds, hail, tornadoes. CNN's Allison Chinchar joins me now. What should people and where should people be concerned most?
CHINCHAR: I feel like we're a broken record because we just keep talking about these storms.
BLACKWELL: Every weekend.
CHINCHAR: Yes. And in some of them, it's going to be the exact same place that we had some of the storms yesterday. So, we're not even talking really a shift.
So, let's take a look at exactly what we're talking about. For today, the main focus is really going to be across portions of the Midwest and maybe even areas of the Central Plains. This red targeted area here, that's where we have the best chance of strong to severe thunderstorms.
You're going to have some isolated showers and thunderstorms in other places. But when we talk about the peak damaging winds, those kinds of things, it's really going to be focused over the Midwest. And that's where we already have some of those ongoing storms.
You can see we've even got a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings ongoing right now. We've had them off and on throughout the early hours. It's likely going to continue as that band continues to slide to the south and east.
We also have a couple more into portions of Missouri and even a few more over into Oklahoma. Again, this is just going to be kind of par for the course for the rest of the day today. Two separate areas still the main focus, as we mentioned, Midwest and Central Plains.
We do still have a few lingering showers and thunderstorms that could affect portions of the mid-Atlantic as we head into the afternoon. The main concerns here are going to be damaging winds, but we cannot rule out some large hail, maybe golf balls or larger, and the potential for some isolated tornadoes. Here's a look at the timeline. Again, you really start to see things ramp back up across the Midwest, that four, five, 6:00 p.m. timeline today, and then they will continue through the overnight. In fact, in some of these areas, it actually fills in more after 10 p.m. tonight. So, going into the overnight hours it's going to be very key to have those emergency alerts on your phone, something that can wake you up in case you have a tornado warning overnight tonight.
Here's a look tomorrow morning, even 5:00 in the morning, you are still going to have some very strong storms to start off the day tomorrow across areas of the Midwest, as that cluster of storms continues to slide eastward. The other concern, because we are a broken record, we are talking about this day after day. There's also the potential for flooding, because some of these areas, that ground is already saturated from days of rain, and now we're adding more rain on top of it.
So, especially where you see this yellow highlighted area, that's where we have the greatest threat for some flooding due to the excessive amount of rainfall that's going to take place. But really, anywhere you see here, shaded in green, even some portions of the southeast and along the Gulf Coast, where they've also had very heavy rain the last few days, Victor, we could be looking at the potential for some flooding there as well.
BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thank you. Coming up, a special ceremony is happening this hour at the Vatican as eight U.S. archbishops are set to receive special honors. We're going to take you there.
And tens of thousands of Israelis turned out to call for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of the hostages.
[06:20:00]
That's coming up after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Headlines now. Tens of thousands of people packed Tel Aviv, Saturday, pushing for an end to the Gaza war and for the return of the remaining hostages. There are a lot of people calling on President Donald Trump to try to force Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war.
[06:25:03]
It has now stretched on for more than a year and a half. And 50 of those hostages are still in Gaza, according to the Israeli government.
Dozens of cars lined a highway in Florida to protest the new migrant detention center that's nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz. It's set to open on Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security says it could house up to 5,000 people in tents and temporary shelters. Members of the Miccosukee Tribe say that the detention center violates their land rights and is in danger -- a danger to the environment. And now to the Vatican, where Pope Leo held a special mass as he looks to reshape the Catholic church. Eight Americans were among the dozens of new archbishops blessed by the Pope today. They received a pallium, a symbol of their authority and unity with the Pope. Among those American cardinals were several who have been critical of the Trump administration and its policies.
CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb joins me now from Rome. So, describe for us the significance of what happened today.
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it was a historic service in Saint Peter's Basilica behind me with the first American pope giving the pallium to eight archbishops from the United States.
The pallium is a vestment that's a symbol of authority and unity with the papacy. And of course, it comes at a time when several leaders in the church in the United States are really at odds with President Donald Trump on his policy on immigration. Amongst those receiving the pallium was Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., who has spoken out against President Trump's migration, deportation plans. And Pope Leo himself has spoken in favor of defending migrants.
Now, the question is, of course, how much will Pope Leo be a counterweight to President Trump on topics such as migration? It's going to be fascinating to see how that develops. Pope Leo got his own style. He's not as outspoken as his predecessor, Pope Francis.
But the archbishops who received the pallium today were all appointed by Pope Francis and want to continue the reforms of Francis in the United States, similar to Pope Leo, where, of course, in the United States there has been some opposition to Francis. So, perhaps today marks a new moment for the U.S. hierarchy and the U.S. leadership of the church going forward, Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right. Christopher Lamb for us there in Rome. Thank you. Still ahead, are Republicans quietly rolling back gun regulations inside Trump's mega-bill? We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:32:37]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump is a step closer to a major win with the Senate voting to start debating his so called Big, Beautiful Bill. But there are still hurdles ahead of a potential final passage.
The GOP tax and spending package passed the key procedural vote 59-41 just before midnight. It's a multi trillion dollar bill, lowest federal taxes for some and raises defense and border security spending. It would also cut government safety net programs like Medicaid, which provides medical coverage for qualifying low-income Americans. The President says he wants the bill on his desk by July 4th. One of the controversial measures that made it into President Trump's
bill involves firearms. It provides tax relief on silencers, short barreled rifles, shotguns, other weapons. Republican hardliners pushed hard for the change and other changes, and the Senate added it.
Joining me now to discuss is CNN contributor Stephen Gutowski. He is a gun safety instructor and firearms reporter for The Reload.com.
Stephen, good morning to you.
A lot of our focus has been on, you know, the state and local taxes and Medicaid and some of the other elements, taxes on tips. But those who are focused on gun rights and really this gun accessory industry, this is a major element.
What's the significance of what is in the bill?
STEPHEN GUTOWSKI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (on-camera): Yes, so this part of the bill affects what's called the National Firearms Act, which is a law that's been around since 1934 that imposes a $200 tax on a number of different kinds of firearms, including short barrel rifles and shotguns and silencers and machine guns.
This bill only deals with the former, but it ends up eliminating the tax. It keeps the registration aspect of that law in place. But in the end, it's going to make it more affordable for people to buy silencers and the other affected devices.
BLACKWELL: What informs, I should say, because I've done a little reporting around this, and it started during the first Trump term, this explosion of the gun accessory industry and these suppressors, these silencers that are becoming so much more popular in the U.S.
[06:34:59]
GUTOWSKI (on-camera): Yes, well, in 1934, a $200 tax on every silencer sold would obviously make it much, much, much more difficult to purchase those for the average American. But after 90 or so years, without that tax being pinned to inflation, it's become more affordable over time, obviously.
So people have become more and more interested in purchasing silencers, both for recreational shooting, but also to help prevent hearing loss. That's the common defense you'll hear from gun rights advocates as to why this, you know, sort of reform is necessary, trying to make these more available to the average person.
But yes, so eliminating the tax altogether will likely see an even bigger increase in demand. And we've seen millions of these sold, you know, through the legal process over the last couple of years as well. So, it should be an interesting boom.
BLACKWELL: Yes, Don Trump Jr. is one of the advocates for these suppressors or silencers, as they're commonly known. This is a part of his explanation of why.
This is from a company that he worked with called Silencer Co. Let's watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP JR.: I've had the privilege of being able to hunt in Europe, where some of the strictest gun laws in the world exist.
And guess what? Virtually every hunting gun there is suppressed. It's about safety. If you had that kind of noise levels in any other industry as you would in shooting sports, you know, OSHA would be all over the place. People would be going crazy.
I mean, it's about safety. It's just another rule the government wants to put in place for no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Now at the time, the President did not seem as energized about this as Don Trump Jr. is, less opposed, maybe more agnostic to silencers or suppressors. Has that changed?
GUTOWSKI (on-camera): Well, after there was a shooting in Virginia Beach during President Trump's first term, where he actually talked about wanting to outlaw silencers altogether. So, you know, he hasn't talked much about it in his second term. He hasn't talked much about this provision at all, but perhaps his view has changed.
Certainly, there's a very strong contingent inside of the Republican Party that wants to see these, not just have the tax removed or eliminated, but have them taken off of the National Firearms Act altogether. That was the initial push here, but was rolled out by the parliamentarian, you know, just the other day.
So now they're going with this as a fallback option.
BLACKWELL: And to talk about just how passionate some in the Republican Party are about this, I want everyone to listen to the president of the National Association for Gun Rights and his call for deep regulation. This was after the decision by the parliamentarian to pull that out of the bill because apparently it did not follow the rules for reconciliation.
Let's watch that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are calling on Vice President JD Vance, Majority Leader John Thune, and every Republican senator to do the only responsible thing, override this decision. If Republicans in the Senate allow an unelected bureaucrat, appointed by Harry Reid of all people, to derail one of the most significant pro-gun reforms in a generation, then they are surrendering their credibility on the Second Amendment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: And so first, is there any appetite in the Senate to do that? Second, is there a potential electoral consequence if they don't?
GUTOWSKI (on-camera): There's very little appetite to overrule the parliamentarian. In fact, we just saw they got through the first procedural hurdle to move this bill through. It seems likely to pass by Monday, you know, perhaps.
And there's been no move by the Senate Majority Leader Thune to do anything to the parliamentarians. I think it's viewed by leadership as akin to sort of nuking the filibuster and they don't want to go that far.
It could have political backlash for them. I certainly have seen groups like the National Association for Gun Rights or Governors of America say they'll primary Republicans who don't try to override the parliamentarian.
So it'll be, it remains to be seen what kind of effect that'll have, but it could come back to haunt them a bit in the midterm, certainly.
BLACKWELL: All right, Steven Gutowski, thank you. Enjoy the Sunday.
So, the boats have docked, the champagne is flat, the whispers around Venice, most extravagant I do, they are still going.
Final wrap up of the wedding of the century, maybe even more than that after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:44:29]
BLACKWELL: After three days of swarms of paparazzi and protests, the Bezos Sanchez wedding wrapped up in Venice. The city's Ministry of Tourism estimates that the festivities will generate more than two- thirds of the city's annual tourism turnover.
CNN's Melissa Bell reports from the Canals.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, it was a three- day extravaganza, that saw bewildered tourists passing on the streets of Venice not just the odd celebrity who are amongst the 200 or so guests who'd been invited to the Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos now wedding, but also protesters since there were a number of actions carried out in the run-up to the wedding but also over the course of the three days.
[06:45:10]
It was in a sweltering heat that the couple got married on Friday evening. What we understand from Venetian officials is that this was an entirely ceremonial wedding, there was no civil ceremony held here in Venice. Still Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos have now emerged from a wedding really that has had nothing low-key about it and watched by so many paparazzi who'd made their way here to Venice to catch what glimpse of the celebrities they could.
And of course, the dress that we now know Dolce and Gabbana had made nothing had been left to chance the final events on a Saturday night held at the Arsenale a giant party for the very many celebrities who made their way all the way here to celebrate this very particular wedding.
Victor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Melissa Bell, thank you.
Frustrated people living in Los Angeles are using street smarts to outwit AI. The clash between humans and those self-driving cars, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:50:43]
BLACKWELL: Both AI versus humans in a neighborhood in Santa Monica Some people who live there say they're just fed up with the noise from those Waymo driverless taxis. They're now in at least five metro areas across the country with more locations expected, and while they're popular with some riders, others say that the beeping sound they make when they back up is just annoying.
CNN's Nick Watt has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want the Waymo to stop beeping at night that hold on -- sorry, so we have to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Careful. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a person inside of it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no human inside of it. OK. We're on, we're on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're never interfering with the human driver.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just with the robot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we'd explain that to the police as well.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Santa Monica residents faces hidden from security cameras disabling self-driving Waymo robot taxis. They call it stacking.
WATT: Man versus machine?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man versus machine. Yes. WATT (voice-over): It's getting near midnight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll try lasering the next one.
WATT (voice-over): They object to the robots flashing lights, backup beeps and the general hubbub, keeping humans awake at nights, and disturbing their days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please step back.
WATT (voice-over): Stacker One (INAUDIBLE) asked us not to use his real name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I for one would walk down the center of the alley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to stop -- stop honking. It's the middle of the night.
WATT: Waymo tried to get a restraining order against you to stop you doing this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: True.
WATT (voice-over): As we wrapped up talking to Stacker One.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next, she's sighting on.
WATT (voice-over): Robot gridlock.
WATT: Sighting them for -- for what?
WATT (voice-over): Parking tickets. If there was a human behind the wheel, she couldn't.
WATT: Parked in the alley without a driver, that's the issue?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.
WATT (voice-over): Under current California law, a robot can get a parking ticket, but not a traffic ticket, lawmakers still working on that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the solution is to treat these cars like their cars. And so, you can watch it even now, it didn't stop at all at the stop sign, is rolling. It's rolled all the way, it stopped right at the edge.
WATT (voice-over): This is a very visible example of a massive issue, we haven't figured out how we live alongside and legislate AI.
HAMID EKBIA, DIRECTOR AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS POLICY INSTITUTE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: The public should be involved in in conversations before the fact, before these technologies are let loose. You know, all AI technology should -- should go through this process.
WATT (voice-over): Professor Ekbia heads the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute.
WATT: It's physical we can see it. We can hear it. We can stand in front of it, but that's not going to be the case?
EKBIA: No, no, trust me. No. So we better do something before it's too late.
NANCY TAYLOR, RESIDENT: It's like a light show Las Vegas. So, you have to have blackout curtains.
WATT: Did the city or way more anybody speak to the humans who live around here?
TAYLOR: No, and I asked if I could come to their City Council meeting to ask questions.
WATT: Right.
TAYLOR: And they said oh, they have a waiver. There's not going to be a City Council meeting.
WATT (voice-over): Waymo wouldn't talk to us on camera, we strive to be good neighbors a spokesperson told me via e-mail They're working with the city as we explore and implement mitigations that address neighbors' concerns. They have limited the human workers noise, planted some bamboo hoping to muffle, stop using one of the lots most nights and limited the robots speed in the alleys.
But they're still beeping.
TAYLOR: You know, they've not done enough in fact last night, it was worse.
WATT (voice-over): Santa Monica officials say this isn't loud enough to violate the city's basic noise ordinance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told them that this is a violation of the Santa Monica noise ordinance prohibiting business support operations of any decibel level between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. And there's no mention of an exception that says if you get a robot to yell for you, you're allowed to do that at night.
WATT: What do you think the rest of us can learn from your experience as to how we should all progress through this age of AI as humans and robots are going to be coexisting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing things that we've never been able to do in the past is great, but if it comes at the expense of humanity and human happiness and joy and being able to live life and not being inconvenienced constantly, what's the point?
[06:55:04]
WATT (voice-over): Nick Watt, CNN, Santa Monica, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BLACKWELL: Did you see the guy in the parking lot directing traffic to the driverless cars? Bruh, they can't see you.
All right, there's much more ahead on the next hour of "CNN This Morning Weekend."
First, can President Trump push his Big, Beautiful Bill across the finish line by July 4th?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Welcome to "CNN This Morning," Sunday, June 29th. I'm Victor Blackwell.
Here's what's happening right now.
And we've got a live look for you at the Senate floor. The clerks are still reading, 940 pages of the Big, Beautiful Bill --