Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Deputy FBI Director Considering Resigning Amid Clash Over Epstein; Death Toll In Texas Rises To 129; At Least 150 People Missing; Authorities: About 200 Migrants Arrested At 2 Raids At Legal Marijuana Farms, 8 Hospitalized; Deadly Texas Floods Highlight Impact Of Climate Change; Local Officials Face Questions Over Flood Warning System In Texas; "Billionaire Boys Club" Premieres Sunday At 10:00 P.M. (ET/PT). Aired 7-8a ET

Aired July 12, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome, welcome, welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It's Saturday, July 12th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what's happening today. It is the DOJ versus, well, the DOJ. New CNN reporting. Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has told people he's considering resigning after a heated confrontation with the Attorney General over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein memo. What he said about the case then and now? We'll get into it.

And Texas Governor Greg Abbott is calling up state emergency resources ahead of more possible flooding in the state today. And after initially saying that he wanted FEMA to go away, President Trump is now shifting his tone on the agency.

The Trump Administration's immigration crackdown has suffered a setback. A federal judge orders it to stop arresting people without probable cause. The former acting head of the Department of Homeland Security is here to respond.

Bad Bunny opens his historic residency in Puerto Rico. It's expected to bring in big money to the island. We're going to take you there a little later.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And more rain and storms for Texas with the threat of more flooding. That forecast coming up.

BLACKWELL: All right, we start with the FBI's number two in charge saying that he might soon be out the door. That's according to CNN sources. Dan Bongino has spent years pushing this federal government for more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein case. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN BONGINO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FBI: The questions surrounding this alleged suicide are numerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BONGINO: And are worth entertaining and worth getting to the bottom of quickly.

I think Jeffrey Epstein may have some videotape of people central to the Democrat and maybe Republican Party doing some things let's just say they shouldn't be doing.

Why was the CIA director meeting with Jeffrey Epstein? Listen, that Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal. Please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on this. I'm not ever going to let this story go because of what I heard from a source about Bill Clinton on a plane with Jeffrey Epstein. I talked about it yesterday. You can go check it out. I'm not letting it go ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Add to this, Bongino's boss, the FBI Director, Kash Patel, he also accused the DOJ of concealing crucial details about the case over the years. But this week, the DOJ denied it was keeping files about Epstein's so-called client list a secret. Also claimed there was no evidence that he was murdered behind bars. Epstein's death was ruled a suicide.

These explanations or lack thereof are not sitting well with a lot of people in the Trump administration and the supporters, as CNN's Evan Perez explains. Evan, good morning to you.

EVEN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino didn't show up to work on Friday and he's told people he is considering resigning, an indication of the internal discord that has been brewing among top officials at the Justice Department and the FBI over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi got into a heated confrontation in recent days over news media leaks that showed FBI officials disagreed with Bondi's handling of the issue. Bongino denied that he was behind the leaks. On Monday, the Justice Department released an unsigned memo that confirmed that Epstein was not murdered in prison in 2019, where he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.

The memo also said that there was no so-called client list and that the department would not release more documents. The reaction from Trump supporters has been angry, even though Trump himself has said he thinks the matter is closed. Prominent pro-Trump media figures, including Laura Loomer, have called for Bondi to be fired. And on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back on Loomer, saying that the FBI and Justice officials worked together on that Monday memo and that there's no daylight among the officials on this issue.

Blanche is -- Blanche is right that Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel all agreed on Monday's memo, but behind the scenes, we are told by sources that FBI and Justice officials have been at odds for months about the handling of the Epstein files review. Now, the White House is standing by Bondi, and officials are hoping

that Bongino cools off over the weekend and comes back to work on Monday. Victor?

[07:05:34]

BLACKWELL: Evan, thank you.

The death toll from catastrophic Central Texas flooding has now climbed to at least 129. Rescue teams are searching for more than 150 people still missing with expected rain threatening to slow efforts. Governor Greg Abbott activated the state's emergency response resources as more storms bring the possibility of more flash flooding.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited one of the hardest hit areas, Kerrville, Texas on Friday. The scrutiny is building over government response, including FEMA, which according to the New York Times, failed to respond to thousands of survivor calls after staff cuts and contractor firings.

In a statement to the New York Times, the Department of Homeland Security said, "When a natural disaster strikes, phone calls surge and wait times can subsequently increase. Despite the influx, FEMA's disaster call center responded to every caller swiftly and efficiently, ensuring no one was left without assistance."

President Trump also defended FEMA during his visit and praised both the local and federal response to the deadly floods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: FEMA has deployed multiple emergency response units and FEMA has been really headed by some very good people. We have some good people running FEMA. It's about time, right, we get some good ones. They failed us in North Carolina, but when we got in on January 20th, they fixed it up in no time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is in Kerrville, Texas. Ivan, what are you seeing and hearing?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning. It's been a painfully long week for the people of Kerr County, and for some families it's been an ongoing nightmare. Right behind me is the Guadalupe River and we're still seeing widespread destruction.

To give you some perspective, we're in a park. I'm more of standing on a hill. And even further up that hill, we're still seeing debris, destruction from that flooding. And it really gives you a sense of how much that river rose and how quickly it did rise.

Right behind me here as well, you see a long row of crosses. We spoke with the artist who made those crosses. He's from Dallas. And he tells us that he built those crosses from the debris he found along the river from that flooding. Last night, there was also a vigil here in the city of Kerrville. We saw many people come together, pray, hold hands, and also gather around a fence where flowers were put up, stuffed animals were put up there as well. So, we're seeing this growing memorial here in the city of Kerrville.

And in a couple of hours, Victor, we're also going to start seeing a lot of volunteers here in the city of Kerrville begin to check in. The Texas emergency management agency has been able to secure a building here in town to make sure that all the volunteers are able to go to one specific place and sort of have that system to make sure that everybody is accounted for when they are coming out here to assist with the ongoing recovery. Again, at least 150 people are still missing.

And Victor, when we speak with some of those volunteers, it really is interesting because they tell us that they're still very much in this work mode, but at the same time, they feel like as the days go on, they'll begin to get hit with the emotional toll of what they're really living through and witnessing, especially for those volunteers who've found victims. Some of them maybe even finding articles of clothing or again stuffed animals along the river. Really painting a picture of the lives that were lost here.

BLACKWELL: So many stories there. Ivan Rodriguez, thanks so much.

And as I mentioned, today we're watching as rain is forecasted in Texas could make the already dangerous rescue efforts even harder. Meteorologist Chris Warren is with us now. Nothing like what we saw a week ago, right? But any rain is bad at this point.

WARREN: Yes, for a number of reasons. Of course, anxiety for the recovery and the search efforts. But the rain, it's not guaranteed, right? But the rain that does fall does have the potential to lead to some flooding and some flash flooding.

So, it's a two out of four with the excessive rainfall risk today. So, too much rain is a possibility. The way that rain's going to come down in the form of heavy showers and thunderstorms. Moisture is there. So, there's plenty of fuel essentially for these storms to tap into. Now when we look at the area where it's possible, yes, it does include Kerrville just outside of St. Angelo with the flood watches. Watches, you think of it this way. We're watching for warnings. And if you get a warning, that's when you need to take action.

And here's the showers and thunderstorms that are firing right now with thunderstorms right along the New Mexico and Texas border. But you notice too, if you just stare at the state of Texas, most of the state is dry right now. So, not everybody is going to end up getting rain or even flooding rain. And you can kind of see that here with the future radar, a rough estimate of where the storms are going to be later on. And you can see very hit and miss, but where those storms are hitting, they will pack a big enough punch to possibly produce some heavy flooding rain.

[07:10:40] So, here's the showers and storms lasting right into tomorrow afternoon and evening. You get a little bit of a break during the late night and early morning hours before the storms pop up once again. And Victor, as you look at the rainfall totals, it's where the orange and the red ultimately ends up is where that flooding is a possibility.

BLACKWELL: OK, I know you'll be watching it. Chris Warren, thank you.

New this morning, a federal judge has ordered ICE to stop indiscriminate immigration raids in Southern California. This latest move comes after about 200 migrants were arrested. This was two raids at legal marijuana farms on Thursday.

Ventura County says eight were hospitalized, and according to president of the United Farm Workers Union, one farmer -- the farm worker died. CNN Correspondent Veronica Miracle has developments.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. The Department of Homeland Security is now saying that about 200 people were detained during the raids at the marijuana farm. We also understand from the Ventura County Fire Department that about eight people were taken to the hospital.

Now, they didn't reveal the severity of their injuries, but we heard from a spokesperson at the United Farm Workers. They said that there were people who were critically injured during these raids.

And a representative from the Customs and Border Patrol says that at least 10 people under the age of 18 were discovered on the farms. Eight of them unaccompanied minors. And so, this is now also potentially a child labor violations case.

So, a lot coming out of these raids, a lot unfolding in this investigation. And the response from city leaders as well as activists and protesters has been swift. We were just at a protest that ended moments ago. Here's what one speaker had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELICA SALAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHIRLA: We want you to recognize us for the human beings we are for the members of the community that we have always been. You cannot have our labor. You cannot have continue to have us serve you, for you to be fed by our hands, for you -- for us to build the buildings that you live in and the homes that you live in. And for you to treat us the way you're treating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: And today, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive order, really a sweeping executive order in order to bolster the city's response and supporting immigrants as well as looking for legal pathways to fight back against federal officials. She says that this is going to help but that remains to be seen especially as this investigation unfolds.

Back to you, Victor. BLACKWELL: All right, Veronica Miracle, thank you so much.

We talked about the floods in Texas, but as we head West, wildfires are forcing evacuations at two national parks. Severe heat and drought and dry conditions are making the fire danger worse across the West. Plus, one of the world's biggest pop stars launches his long awaited residency in Puerto Rico.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:18:14]

BLACKWELL: California has become a flash point for the Trump Administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. A warning, this video is disturbing to a lot of people. Video surfaced Friday of an ICE vehicle driving into and then through a group of protesters in San Francisco.

President Trump says that he's had enough of the protesters. He's posted on social media encouraging ICE and DHS to arrest protesters who assault officers using "whatever means necessary."

The raids in some cases have become chaotic. Two ended in ICE agents arresting almost 200 migrants at legal marijuana farms on Thursday where the United Farm Workers Union says that multiple workers were critically injured and some are unaccounted for.

Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is with me now. Thank you so much for joining me on this early Saturday morning. I want to get you first on the news overnight. This judge in California, this federal judge who tells the administration to stop detaining or arresting people without probable cause. Should ICE agents detain people based on accent, appearance, location?

CHAD WOLF, FORMER ACTING SECRETARY, DHS: Well, no. Look, my experience at the Department of Homeland Security tells me that law enforcement officers take in a totality of circumstances when they go to obviously target, you know, arrest or detain individuals. It's not any one thing. And look, the administration's been very clear, they disagree with the allegations in this lawsuit. I think they're going to continue -- that being ICE officers are going to continue to use legal and proper justification to detain individuals and eventually arrest them if they need to.

[07:20:04]

BLACKWELL: The argument from the lawsuit is that this is just simply racial profiling. Like, if you are just determining that because they speak with an accent, because they look a certain way, that they likely are in the country illegally, it's a violation of the fourth amendment, a violation of the 14th Amendment, and should end.

In fact, let's listen to Tom Homan, he is of course the president's border czar, describing the criteria by which these ICE agents decide who to target. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: People need to understand, ICE officers and Board of Patrol, they don't need probable calls to walk up somebody briefly detain them and question them. They just need the totality of the circumstances is right. They just got through their observation, you know, get typical articulable facts based on their location, their occupation, their physical appearance, their actions. Like, a uniform Border Patrol officer walks up to them at for instance a Home Depot. And they got all these articulable facts, plus a person walks away or runs away.

Agents are trained. What they need to detain somebody temporarily and question them, it's not probable cause, it's reasonable suspicions. We're trained on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You think that follows the law that if you see a man who's standing in a Home Depot that looks a certain way and has a certain job, you assume that he is fair game for detention?

WOLF: Again, I'll go back to my comments, and I think Tom Homan expressed them as well. And this goes for a variety of different law enforcement officers. It's a totality of circumstances. It's not any one thing. It's not because they're from a specific country or they're standing a certain way. But a totality of circumstances does allow those officers to go up and question them.

And I think that's what the department is saying is they'll continue to use, you know, the proper legal justification to do that. I understand the allegations in that lawsuit. And let's be very clear about all of these different lawsuits, whether they're filed in California or anywhere else around the country. The idea here is to stop the Trump Administration from enforcing the law, arresting, detaining -- sorry, detaining and arresting individuals and eventually removing them.

That's what these lawsuits are designed to do. And I think the administration has been very clear that is not going to deter them from enforcing immigration law.

BLACKWELL: Well, those who filed the lawsuit say that the point of the lawsuit is to stop the administration from violating the Constitutional rights of those who are taken into custody unjustly. But that's their argument.

Let me move on to a different question here. I mentioned these raids on the two legal marijuana farms. 200 people thereabout taken into custody because they're in the country illegally. What about the employers who are employing hundreds of people in the country who are in the country illegally? Should they be rounded up with them and put in the wagon as well?

WOLF: Well, absolutely. I mean, you know, it's not only just the employees, but it's the employers that are employing the illegal labor as well. So, absolutely. I think there -- usually how this works as far as the employer, it's more of a the lawsuit and they're going after those employers because the employers themselves are obviously U.S. citizens.

And so, different types of legal action. Usually, in the court will take place against those employers. But absolutely the law should be administered whether it's an employee or an employer. If you're breaking the law, you're breaking the law.

BLACKWELL: And -- but is it happening, right? A case here or there can be punished with a fine. But if you have a patterns and practice as the law allows of several hundred people that warrants the type of spectacle that we saw in California, is that not a more serious case that you believe deserves some criminal consequence?

WOLF: Absolutely. But what we do know is that to build that case against these employers to show sort of a pattern as you indicated does take a little time. So, usually what you see is you see some arrests made there at the work site initially and then that case against that employer to follow after Department of Justice and others start to build that case usually from what they find during that enforcement operation.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WOLF: So, I would say let's see and wait and see if we see some enforcement action against the employer.

BLACKWELL: Listen, I'm getting a wrap from the control room, but I have one more question as it relates to Texas. 129 people at least are dead, even more are missing. Homes, businesses gone. Where is the FEMA administrator? Do you have any concern about a week or more now, the FEMA administrator was not on Air Force One with the president yesterday, have not seen or heard even a written statement from David Richardson. Are you concerned?

WOLF: I'm not concerned about that because the real work at FEMA happens in the regions. So, the region that takes care of Texas there and others, they're the folks that are on site there. They're the folks that are actually doing the work. So, the head of FEMA is important, no doubt, but from a statement or having him on the ground there, that's -- he's not going to determine the work of FEMA. The professionals of FEMA, they're in the state of Texas, will do that work.

[07:25:26]

BLACKWELL: Well, the President saw fit to go yesterday and about a dozen members of Congress. His administration saw it was fit to go. The administrator of FEMA, no indication he's been there, said anything since the flood.

Chad Wolf, good to have you on a Saturday morning. Thank you.

Communities are reeling in the aftermath of the flood there in Texas. How the devastation is shedding light on the impacts of climate change. Plus, a new report providing fresh details on what may have caused an Air India flight to crash shortly after takeoff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:25]

BLACKWELL: In Texas, families are gradually confirming the deaths of loved ones killed by last week's flooding, including children from a girl summer camp in Kerr County. The camp largely sits in a flood prone area and lost at least 27 campers and counselors.

CNN's Bill Weir explains how the camp tragedy highlights the impacts of climate change.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Victor, as you -- as you drive the highway that winds along the Guadalupe River, you see miles and miles of destruction like this stacked up against surviving trees on the river bank, homes, cars, timber, and of course, this is where a lot of those dog teams are searching for those missing here. There is such raw heartbreak now over a week since the flash floods. The president -- the FEMA director, coming here today amid their promises to end FEMA, as America knows it today.

There has been mixed reviews for the response here, which is always the case. But what people should really understand is FEMA is more than just sort of meals and cots after a disaster. FEMA is responsible for alerting Americans to the threat of flash floods wherever they live, but FEMA maps are horribly outdated.

For example, Camp Mystic, where those girls were lost. Eight of the buildings, if you look at FEMA maps, were inside that 100-year flood plain, the most dangerous stretch. But if you use maps from places like First Street Foundation, non-profits that take into account modern climate trends, that number jumps to 17 buildings.

FEMA only thinks 13 million Americans live in flood zones. The number is probably closer to 60 million, because the maps are so outdated. So, if it's incumbent on states and locals, municipalities to fend for themselves as the climate warms up, does that mean places like Kerr County have to figure out the hydrology and the moving life or death line?

These are massive questions at a time of real pain and heartbreak here. But there is also changes in mindset for families who send kids to camps along the Guadalupe here. And instead of maybe evacuation plans that call for kids to get on busses when a storm hits, there needs to be more of a tsunami mentality to go for high ground in order to save lives.

Because now, there are new levels that long time Hill Country residents never imagined they would hit on flood plains. Earth is changing. You can just google, flash flooding in the last month around the world, and you can see it everywhere in every continent.

But again, knowledge is power, Victor. And the more the federal government, in places like Texas, the state government refuses to talk about climate change and tries to bury the science around it, it becomes more incumbent on local communities to look out for themselves and adapt with these changing forces that are just so violent and so unpredictable.

BLACKWELL: Bill Weir, thanks for that.

You know what? Let's dig into the climate change impact now with Monica Medina, who is the former principal deputy administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration known as NOAA. She worked under the Trump administration. Thank you for being with me.

So, NOAA has faced some funding cuts. The president's nominee to lead NOAA, Neil Jacobs, he faced Senate confirmation this week, supports the president, proposed 27 percent cut to NOAA's budget.

Senator Markey said that a cut that's substantial without impacting weather readiness is hallucination. Do you agree with that? That, a 27 percent impact, there is no way you can avoid preparedness with that cut.

MONICA MEDINA, FORMER PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you so much, Victor for having me on today. And I have to say, I'm a Biden administration --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: I'm sorry.

MEDINA: And I served in the Obama administration at NOAA, and I agree 100 percent with Senator Markey. This is hallucination.

Republican policy decisions are reckless and are leading to tragic and preventable deaths. Innocent lives were lost here. These people who were in harm's way during this storm were failed at various levels in the emergency management system. And I think we're going to find that without trying to lay blame on any one person, I think we know that our system isn't up to the task of climate change.

[07:34:59]

And unfortunately, the president continues to call climate change a hoax, and members of his administration have downplayed or dismissed the notion that these storms are getting more and more deadly.

And to hone in on the new NOAA administrator nominee, I think the challenge is that in the past, he served in NOAA during the Hurricane Dorian episode, when the president drew on that hurricane map and tried to persuade people that the storm was going in a different direction than it actually was.

And Neil Jacobs' backed the president then, and I suspect he, or I'm fairly certain, he will back the president on cuts to NOAA and to FEMA. And this is just tragic. Our divisiveness in our country is leading to deaths. And it's clear that the people in Kerr County didn't want the disaster assistance that the Biden administration made available to them, and when they finally took it, they didn't use it to put important storm preparedness, you know, measures in place.

And as a result, here we are, looking for people who tragically died in a storm in which they could have been warned and they could have been out of harm's way.

BLACKWELL: My apologies for the administration misidentification. Let me get your reaction to something we're seeing from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. She posted yesterday, as there are questions about this storm. She posted, "First, they said we were crazy for saying that they are controlling the weather and spraying chemicals in our skies. Now, they are admitting that they're controlling the weather and spraying chemicals in our skies, but that it's not causing any harm. Call me crazy. I don't care, but I'll go ahead and say it. Weather modification and geoengineering is deadly and dangerous."

And so, that's from the member of Congress, and then, the EPA posted online. Americans have legitimate questions about contrails and geoengineering, and they deserve straight answers. What's your reaction to that legitimate questions about weather control and geoengineering?

MEDINA: There is nothing about this storm that was controlled by scientific experiments regarding geoengineering. The government is not controlling the weather. The people who are modifying the weather are all of us out there who continue to put polluting gasses into our atmosphere that are causing our climate to heat up, and that's the real weather modification that's going on right now.

And this kind of disinformation leads people to think that every part of the warning system can't be trusted at a moment when they have to move quickly and every minute matters. And that's the real tragedy here. That we have leaders in government -- Republican leaders in government, who are undermining the very systems that have been put into place.

And as a person who served in government, it's heartbreaking to me to think that people, my fellow Americans, would believe that I, in my role in the federal administration, under a democratic president, wouldn't have their best interests at heart. That's heartbreaking. And the weather forecasters out there in America and the FEMA first responders sure as heck are not thinking about whether the person is a Republican or a Democrat, whether to get the storm forecast out in certain congressional districts or in certain states. The whole system is falling apart because Republicans are taking it apart and dismantling it and failing to fund it at the levels we need in order to meet the moment with climate change.

BLACKWELL: The president is kind of as soften as his language, the rhetoric on what's next for FEMA. At the beginning of the administration, he said FEMA is going away. Now, he's complimenting them for doing great work. They say they are going to change what it is.

I just asked the former acting secretary of DHS if he had any concerns about the FEMA administrator -- acting FEMA administrator being missing in action over the last week. We have not heard from him. We have not seen him. He wasn't on Air Force One with the president and members of Congress and the administration yesterday. And so, do you have concerns that the head of FEMA is missing from this entire conversation and operation, seemingly?

MEDINA: I do have grave concerns about that, and I disagree with your previous guest. The prior FEMA administrators in Democratic and Republican administrations would have been on the ground not because they are needed to make critical decisions, but because it's symbolically showing that the government is there to help. And they can make some of those higher-level calls that need to be made at the local level.

Right now, what we have is a FEMA and homeland security system that the Trump administration -- the Trump administration and Secretary Noem put into place that are requiring decisions to go all the way back to Washington.

[07:40:12]

The kind of decisions that should be made in Texas or wherever that disaster strikes.

And make no mistake, there will be more this summer, and it could happen anywhere in this country. No part of the country is immune from these kinds of climate weather shocks.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And sources have told CNN that, that requirement to have decisions about $100,000 grants or expenditures go all the way up to the secretary caused delays in the really critical immediate hours around the start of the dangerous flooding.

Monica Medina, I got to end it there, but I thank you for your time. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:30]

BLACKWELL: Wildfires have forced evacuations at two national parks out west, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park near Denver, and part of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Lightning sparked both the fires and crews worked to save the visitor center at Black Canyon. So far, the fire the Grand Canyon's North Rim, it doesn't appear to be a major threat to the park.

A new report obtained by CNN suggests what may have caused that deadly Air India crash last month, the fuel supply going to the engines cut off.

The London-bound flight went down just after takeoff, 260 people were killed. India's aviation investigators say the fuel control switches in the cockpit were somehow flipped. Now, cockpit audio captured one pilot asking why the fuel was cut off, while the other responded that he didn't do it. The plane crashed into a medical college. Several people on the ground were killed, and there was one passenger who survived. The graveside of former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter is now open to the public. Visitors showed up early yesterday in Plains, Georgia to pay their respects in the garden that Mrs. Carter designed herself.

Now, for many, it was a moment to reflect on the Carter's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SOSBY, RESIDENT, SUMTER COUNTY: First, in 2010 at the Peanut Festival here in Plains, and in '14, I started helping her with her book signing, and we became close in that -- and that, today, is this honor, just to show that I'm here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, many people have those personal stories. The site is open to visitors daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

At home in Puerto Rico, international superstar Bad Bunny kicks off his 30-show residency. The cash flow and the massive fanfare is expected to bring to the island. We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:51]

BLACKWELL: The new CNN original series goes inside the notorious billionaire boys club of the 1980s. On the surface, it was a social and investment club, but in reality, it was filled with greed and fraud and even murder.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: Greed is good.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: What Michael Douglas did for greed on Wall Street --

JUDD NELSON, ACTOR, "BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB": Lamborghinis, Ferraris.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Judd Nelson did for greed in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

NELSON: A lot of excess. A lot of exuberance.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): At the height of his Brat Pack fame, Nelson played Joe Hunt in the hit TV miniseries "Billionaire Boys Club," based on the true story of an L.A. kid who scammed his way to a lavish life.

NELSON: He definitely wants to succeed. And he wants it to be shiny. He wants all the glitz and glamour of someone who makes a million- dollars a year. WAGMEISTER (voice over): It was an era of '80s excess. Cocaine, cars, and the rise of the yuppie in search of it all.

NICOLE LAPIN, HOST, "SCAMS, MONEY, AND MURDER" PODCAST: I think L.A., in the '80s, was all about image and the illusion of power. So, what Joe Hunt did is he capitalized on that access. He was not only running a scam; he was selling a dream.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): It all descended into another staple of a wild Hollywood story, murder, as chronicled in the new CNN docu series "Billionaire Boys Club".

LAPIN: It was American psycho meets Wall Street or Gordon Gekko, and the media just went after it.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): Before the Menendez brothers. Before O.J. The "BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB" helped start the era of the celebrity trial.

LAPIN: It played out in the backdrop of Hollywood, covered by Hollywood. It read like a Hollywood movie. It still does. And that's why there's so much fascination decades later.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): It's a story Nelson has lived now for decades.

NELSON: Only in this kind of a profession, can you play the guy, and then, 20 years later, play the guy's dad.

WAGMEISTER (voice over): In 2018, Nelson returned to play Hunts' father in a big screen version of "The Billionaire Boys Club." He says the new docu series brings a timeless lesson to a new generation.

NELSON: Hiding in plain sight are many things that are dangerous to us. So, we are vulnerable to people that say good things to us, that compliment us, that like us, or pretend to like us. It's a cautionary tale.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WAGMEISTER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.

BLACKWELL: And the new CNN original series, "BILLIONAIRE BOYS CLUB", airs tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

Bad Bunny, he is making history and boosting Puerto Rico's economy. His two-month residency in San Juan is the first of its kind for the island, and it kicked off last night with the first of 30 sold out shows.

Now, let's talk about economic impact. Nearly $200 million according to discover Puerto Rico, and that's a conservative estimate. Hotel bookings, flight searches, tourism, are all way up, with 600,000 fans expected to visit the island just for the shows.

[07:55:06] I'm feeling great. You can really feel the emotion in the air. Everybody is excited. It's a once in a lifetime event. We really looking forward to it. Everybody is trying to get their ticket here today.

BLACKWELL: It is a cultural moment, and, of course, an economic win for Puerto Rico.

All right, "FIRST OF ALL", is coming up at the top of the hour. Today, loved ones are going to gather to remember Jabari Peoples. This is a story that you're not going to see a lot of places, but we think you should watch this.

He was a teenager killed in Alabama by police, and even after he's laid to rest, the question surrounding his death remain because police are not releasing the body cam footage, and a state lawmaker says that one of the family's attorneys is partly responsible for that.

The congresswoman or representative and the family attorney will join us.

A head start. It's a vital resource for millions of low-income families across the U.S., but under a new mandate from the Trump administration, undocumented children could lose access to that and other services. The former head of Head Start under the first Trump administration joins me.

And a Confederate group is soon a state park in Georgia over its plans to add an exhibit on slavery and segregation. They accused the park of going woke. The attorney for the group is here with me, those stories and conversations you likely won't see anywhere else coming up on "FIRST OF ALL", after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END