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Official: South Korean Workers Detained In Georgia To Be Returned To Country; Trump Reportedly Preparing To Travel To South Korea In October; Carlo Acutis Becomes First Millennial Saint. Protests Erupt In Chicago Over ICE Threats, Federal Troops; Trump's Former Surgeon General Calls For RFK Jr. Firing; Senators From Both Parties Grill RFK Jr. On Vaccines. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired September 07, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:45]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Let me be the first to welcome you to Sunday morning. It is September 7th and this is CNN This Morning Weekend. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here's what's new this morning. There are new details in the raid at a Georgia Hyundai and LG plant. Many of the workers detained could soon be headed back to South Korea. We'll talk about the plan that just came together to send them back.

Also breaking overnight, Russia launched its largest air attack on Ukraine. More than 800 drones struck Kyiv. We've got the reaction coming from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

The Catholic Church has its first millennial saint just a few years after his death. Carlo Acutis was canonized this morning. We'll talk about the significance of the move for the Catholic Church and Gen Z Catholics.

Plus, you've seen that moment when a woman confronted by a -- confronted a man rather over a baseball at a Phillies game. Phillies made it up to the kid. Marlins made it up to the kid, eventually lost out on getting the ball. Was the woman really in the wrong here? There are two sides to this story. We'll get into it in the morning roundup.

Well, we're starting off top with the breaking news this morning. The hundreds of South Korean workers detained in that sweeping immigration raid at a Georgia mega plant, jointly run by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, is set to be flown back to South Korea. The workers were among 475 individuals detained on Thursday. This was during one of the largest immigration raids in recent history.

CNN's Mike Valerio joins me now from Seoul. Talk to us about all of the -- the variables here, because there is a constituent variable there in South Korea. There's the corporate element, the government element. What do you know?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are the people who pretty much are trying to convey, Victor, throughout South Korea that they understand that immigration law needs to be upheld. They understand, to a degree, that side of the equation. But if you put yourself in the shoes of the South Koreans who are going to the United States to try to help out President Trump's vision of making American industry great again, I think people are astonished here, Victor, that even if there were visa regularities for more than 300 South Koreans, what you've heard here in Seoul and throughout South Korea over the weekend is pretty much the following, that even if there were visa violations, how about authorities in the United States coming to this plant and saying, hey, we think that XYZ is wrong?

Instead, there is an astonished and floored feeling that people have looking at this video released from ICE, seeing fellow South Korean citizens with chains around their waist, led away in handcuffs. When you're talking about a key American ally right next door to China in this critical part of the world that's trying to help out American industry, I cannot stress enough to our American audience and people watching around the world the feeling of betrayal that is emanating from all corners of South Korean society.

So to wrap up where we're going here, we don't know when exactly this plane is leaving from Seoul, how long it's going to take to get all 300-plus people onto the plane and back home. We're trying to wrap up our reporting. When we're going to be able to talk to the people who were detained by ICE, asking them what exactly it was like? And it's still unclear, Victor, what precise infractions people had been detained under.

We have somewhat of an idea that perhaps, you know, the visa, specific visas, were not what they should have been. But it's still a pretty vague idea. But I can tell you the emotional collateral damage from this policy is still felt here, acutely so, and it's not going to go away for a long time.

BLACKWELL: All right, Mike Valerio for us there. Thank you, Mike.

We've also learned that President Trump is said to be planning a trip to South Korea next month. This is for an economic trade summit. CNN's Alayna Treene has more on that from the White House.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: So there's some new reporting that the President and his top advisers are quietly preparing to travel to South Korea next month for a gathering of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers. That's what three Trump administration officials tell me.

[07:05:10]

And this visit is being viewed as a very good opportunity for President Donald Trump to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping. I'm told that there have been serious discussions about a potential bilateral meeting between the two on the sidelines of the APEC Summit, though no plans have been finalized.

Now, I think it's important to point out that the official said that the administration is viewing the expected trip, which is still being finalized, and there are questions of whether the President could add more stops on his visit. They're viewing this as an opportunity for the President to clinch more economic investments in the United States, something that has been a key focus for him on other trips abroad, including his travel to the Middle East.

I spoke with one official who said a lot of this is going to be about economic collaboration with other countries, but they also said other goals include a focus on discussions around trade, defense and civil nuclear cooperation. Now, another interesting part to all of this is that it could also be an opportunity for President Donald Trump to sit down with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Now, it is a question of whether or not Kim is even attending this summit. But I would know that when the South Korean president visited the White House last week, he talked a lot about wanting President Donald Trump to sit down with Kim. He invited Trump to the summit in South Korea, and he also said that he should look at it as an opportunity to try and set something up with the North Korean leader.

Now, all of this comes at a tenuous time in the President's relationship with both President Xi and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. And that's because just recently we saw Xi hold a very big military parade, something the President referred to as being impressive. But he invited the leaders of Russia, India and North Korea all to that summit.

And we saw the President, who often says that he has great relationships with each of those leaders, kind of strike back and criticize the summit. At one point, he said that he understood the reason that they were doing the parade and having all of those leaders there and said, quote, they were hoping I was watching and I was watching.

He also issued a series of posts attacking them over this meeting. One of them reading looks like we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China. May they have a long and prosperous -- prosperous future together. All to say there are a lot of dynamics at play when the President likely goes to South Korea next month.

Another one of them, of course, being trade and the tariffs between both the United States and China. We're still gathering more information on what the nature of this visit is going to look like, but we should likely see the president heading to South Korea next month.

Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.

BLACKWELL: There are celebrations happening right now in Rome after Pope Leo canonized two saints, including the first millennial. Thousands made a pilgrimage to Rome to watch as 15-year-old Carlo Acutis was elevated to Saint. The teen has been dubbed God's influencer and is credited with two miracles.

He died of leukemia, but not before inspiring many members of Gen Z to learn the teachings of the Catholic Church. Let's turn now to CNN Vatican correspondent, Christopher Lamb. Good morning, Christopher. Talk to us about it.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it was a historic moment here in St Peter's Square with Pope Leo XIV proclaiming the first millennial saint in Carlo Acutis. Leo calls the first American pope, and this was his first canonization ceremony. These preside that Leo proclaimed Carlo Acutis the saint that the other Italian state using a Latin formula, which led to a round of applause across some Peter's Square erupting.

Now Carlo Acutis died at the age of 15 in 2006. He died of leukemia, and during his short life he was renowned for his computer skills, and he used those skills to build a website to spread awareness of the Catholic faith and document Eucharistic miracles. And after he died, a following developed to him, and that is spread across the world.

And I was out in the square earlier speaking to people, including a group from Pennsylvania who had come over for the ceremony. There's a shrine in Pennsylvania to Carlo Acutis. And so there were thousands of young people, an estimated 80,000 according to the Vatican here for this historic moment, many of them young people who see in Carlo Acutis a very relatable saint and figure.

He's often depicted wearing jeans and trainers. He's not like what you might assume a saint would look like. And because he's young, he has this appeal. And because of his technological computer skills, he also has an appeal to young people navigating the digital world. He also grew up enjoying normal things like playing on his PlayStation, according to his mother. He's making videos of his family pets. So he has that relatability to him.

[07:10:19]

And I think that's one of the reasons why so many people turned out today. And of course, one more other thing, to be declared a saint in the Catholic Church, you need two miracles attributed to your intercession. In Carlo Acutis' case, two miracles were attributed to him.

One, a Brazilian boy who had a birth defect. Another, a woman who had a bicycle accident and was miraculously cured reportedly, according to the Vatican. She actually read a prayer at the ceremony today. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Christopher Lamb for us there in Rome. Thanks so much.

Breaking overnight, Russia's war on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reacting to Russia's largest air attack on Ukraine. He calls it vile. This was an all-out assault that struck a government building for the first time. The Ukrainian prime minister said her office was hit, along with other government ministries housed in that same building. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, more than 800 drones and some missiles as well targeted Ukraine's capital.

The majority were intercepted, but the country's Air Force says that some residential buildings were hit. At least two people died, including an infant. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now. Paula, give us the latest.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, there was no doubt that this was a massive attack by Russia overnight into Sunday, the biggest that we have seen since this war began. As you say, well over 800 drones. You had a dozen missiles as well. And although there are air defense systems at play in Ukraine, they were in some parts overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the arsenal that was coming in.

We do know that well over 50 drones did manage to hit their targets, as well as nine missiles. And the targets appear to have been, once again, we're hearing from Ukrainian officials, residential buildings. We saw a number of residential buildings being hit. In fact, we have some live pictures of crews working to try and put out fires and to try and see if there are any other survivors within these buildings.

We do know at this point that three people lost their lives, that death toll rising slightly. We've heard from many of the residents that were in Kyiv, for example. The air raid siren was -- was sounding for some 11 hours in Kyiv. And they talk about what a terrifying night it was and how it was relentless.

One family with children saying they just stayed in the shelter because they knew that there would be more missiles and more drones coming. Now, the significant part, of course, the fact that it did hit for the first time, the government ministry buildings, it was where the prime minister says that her office was. She said that there were fire crews trying to put out flames there, that the roof, the top floors were badly damaged.

And so this is an area in the heart of Kyiv that would be heavily protected by air defense systems. But the sheer number of the arsenal coming in meant that it was very difficult to protect -- protect even the heart of Kyiv. We did hear a little earlier from the mayor of Kyiv. Let's listen to that now.

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MAYOR VITALI KLITSCHKO, KYIV, UKRAINE (through translator): Yet another attack. The two city districts of Donetsk and Sviatoshynskyi have suffered the most. We are now in Sviatoshynskyi district where a Shahed drone hit a residential building. The government quarters have also been hit. A government building is on fire now. There is also a warehouse on fire in the Sviatoshynskyi district. You can hear the helicopters extinguishing the fire.

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HANCOCKS: And just in those neighborhoods is where that infant died. A young woman also died. And it did appear to be a number of high rise buildings that had been impacted. A nine-storey building, for example, a residential building that was severely damaged. A 16-storey building where the top two floors were on fire. So once again, it is the civilians of Kyiv and across the whole of Ukraine.

This was not just the capital that was impacted that are paying a very heavy price. It does come as Ukraine's Western allies try to hammer out some kind of path towards a ceasefire. But given the sheer volume of the Russian attack overnight, there were very few in Ukraine this Sunday that believe that -- that is anywhere close, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, not much evidence here in the U.S. that it appears to be close either. Paula Hancocks, thank you.

[07:15:04]

Still to come, several Mexican American communities have cancelled or postponed celebrations as President Trump threatens to expand ICE operations in the Chicago area. We're speaking with the organizer of one parade and festival about her concerns.

And America's largest gun lobby is coming up against the Trump administration. What the NRA says about a possible ban on trans Americans owning guns.

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[07:20:14]

BLACKWELL: Chicago is bracing for expanded ice enforcement that could happen anytime now. President Trump's threat to deploy the National Guard sparked protests across the city and fears of an ice ramp up coincide with the Mexican Independence Day celebrations this month. Some communities continue with planned celebrations, but others have postponed or canceled parades or festivals.

I want to bring in now Margaret Carrasco of she's the president of Fiesta Patrias Parade and Festival in nearby Waukegan. This is the largest Mexican Independence Day celebration in the area and for the first time in 30 years it will be postponed. Margaret, thank you for your time. Let's start here. Just tell me why did you postpone?

MARGARET CARRASCO, PRESIDENT OF "FIESTA PATRIAS" PARADE: What Keegan literally has great legs, stable face. It's kind of like in our backyard. So the proximity, physical process proximity, it's very, very close. Therefore, we have people on the ground, residents who reside close by, people who work inside and also outside of the base and at different businesses surrounding the area and also eyewitnesses.

All were giving us reports, red flags were coming up everywhere. And so, you know, we didn't rely on -- on Trump's press releases, but rather we made this basic decision on what local people were seeing and what they were hearing.

We had an eyewitness who saw when the huge helicopters Tomahawk came in with bringing in hundreds and hundreds of soldiers. We had confirmation that there was 300 Ice agents at the site, and then another 100 have come in. So now we're at 400.

We were able to confirm for many sources, there was 1,700 National Guard soldiers. And I think where a lot of people underestimated and why there's so much disbelief was because everyone knew that Governor Pritzker would not sign authorization to use Illinois National Guard for work with ICE.

But what he did was, they brought in National Guards from other red states. And my understanding is that there's hundreds coming more from California.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CARRASCO: ICE agents and National Guard. I mean, I'm hearing possibility up to 6,000.

BLACKWELL: Well, let me say this. Those are the numbers you're hearing. CNN doesn't have any independent confirmation of those numbers or deployments. But there was a meme that was posted. I want to get your reaction to since you live there in -- in Illinois, where the President posted. I love the smell of deportations in the morning.

And then there's this meme of Chipocalypse. He added Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of War. What's your reaction to that?

CARRASCO: Well, you know, I just heard this morning about the attacks on Ukraine. We're here in Chicago land area, and we're thinking, are we the next Ukraine? Are we the next Palestine for a war zone? I think that it's appalling. It's insane that a President of the United States is declaring war on the city of Chicago. I think that it's, the underlying message, his attack on brown and black people and gay people. Also, the areas that are really on high alert are all the Mexican neighborhoods, 18th Street, 26th Street, Pilsen, the Puerto Rican neighborhood, and also Boys Town.

So I think it's pretty clear they started with Mexicans, you know, illegal immigrants, but they're expanding. I think the African American males in Chicago are really going to be hit really hard. And, you know, I don't think that they realized it yet because everyone thinks it's Mexican immigrants and it's not.

BLACKWELL: Well, the governor says that Illinois will not be intimidated, but it's clear from your decisions relating to the -- the festival and parade that there are some decisions that will have to be made in response to what is -- is likely coming. Margaret Carrasco, thank you so much for your time this morning.

[07:25:05]

Still to come, President Trump's former Surgeon General has called for RFK Jr. to be fired. More on the fallout from Kennedy's fiery Senate hearing. That's next in the morning roundup.

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BLACKWELL: All right, more now on the thousands of people flooding the streets of Chicago Saturday to protest ICE threats and President Trump's plan to send federal troops into the city. With me now, politics reporter for NPR and WABE, Rahul Bali, Harvard Fellow and creator of "Blow the Stack" on Substack, Charles Blow, and CNN Entertainment reporter Lisa Respers France. Welcome to you all. [07:30:05]

And Charles, let me start here with where I ended the last conversation, and this meme posted on social media about the president, where he says that Chicago is about to find out why it's called the Department of War. The president, as the last person, said, declaring war in a U.S. city.

CHARLES BLOW, POLITICAL ANALYST, & AUTHOR, "BLOW THE STACK" NEWSLETTER: Well, I still play the game of substitutions where I say, what if Barack Obama had declared war on Nashville? It is that extreme of a proposition. And I lived through Waco. I lived through the right saying that eventually the government was going to come for American citizens, and that is the reason that you had to be armed and you had to assume a posture that you were going to be basically part of a militia to fight the government. Now they are advocating for and supporting and cheering a president who is doing exactly that, but because he is going after people in cities that are generally blue, they are perfectly OK with this.

We all need to be up in arms that the President of the United States has essentially said or joked, they always throw it off as a joke, but I don't think the president has the capacity to joke. When you're the President of the United States, everything is a serious thing that you do or say, and because of that, we have to look at this and say soberly that the president is now using the military might of the United States to attack, suppress, and control American citizens, and that is a very serious thing.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. And Rahul, these memes are created, and you've been on -- a part of this conversation when we discussed others, because there is an audience for it.

RAHUL BALI, POLITICS REPORTER, WABE NEWS: Yes, there absolutely is. The last time I was on with you, we had the Alligator Alley a meme. And look, this is what his base loves. This is what they eat up. Whether I'm out on the road with Trump supporters, or just interacting on social media, this is what -- these are the things that they want to see.

BLACKWELL: And so, let's talk now about another part of the president's base, and I don't even know if it's his base or if it's just Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s base, the MAHA movement and the fiery, contentious testimony on Thursday. Does this change anything? I mean, we heard from the former surgeon general that the president should fire him. I don't know that he is going to. But, after what we saw for those hours, does this change much?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I think what you pointed out about his -- the base loving that meme is one of the reasons why people who support MAHA are digging in, because they loved the fiery exchange. What they viewed it, from what I saw with the conversations, is that this is -- was very powerful. This was a moment, and I feel like this administration really understands the power of television. It leans into memes and pop culture, even though I really need them to watch Apocalypse now. BLACKWELL: Yeah, because the reference doesn't make.

FRANCE: Right. Right. That was a choice. A choice was made. But, when it comes to the MAHA movement, they see RFK Jr. up there really pushing his agenda and pushing his point and being argumentative and they like that, because to them, it gives power and strength.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. Go ahead.

BALI: Can I go back to your interview with surgeon -- with former Surgeon General Adams? The important thing here is what he was talking about with the agencies. What falls under HHS? CDC, FDA, CMS, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid. The reason this is so important is that could have effect on our healthcare, on the cost of healthcare, the development of new drugs. That's why all of this is so important, because it has such a big effect on those things.

BLACKWELL: And let me play a portion of that interview, something that the former surgeon general said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME ADAMS, FORMER SURGEON GENERAL: I'm just flabbergasted, to be honest, that he seems to have President Trump in a thrall. President Trump is clearly the leader on foreign policy, clearly the leader on the economy and tariffs, but when it comes to health, he is doing whatever RFK says.

BLACKWELL: Should the president fire the secretary?

ADAMS: I absolutely believe that he should, for the sake of the nation and the sake of his legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: There are some who just don't understand why he has, I guess, delegated all of that when he is so involved with the State Department, with the Department of Defense, with the Commerce and Treasury. Why has he allowed RFK Jr., who has no medical training, to lead there?

BLOW: Because I don't think it's one of his passion projects. I mean, the idea of tariffs has been with Trump long before he was even in politics. So, he has -- and he also, this idea of being in foreign policy, he loves hanging around with the dictators and a strong man, because he believes himself to be in that cohort. But, in this area, it's not really something he is really passionate about.

[07:35:00]

But, you can see him also trying to make space between himself and the anti-vaxxers, because he came out and said about Florida, saying that they were going to be the first state to not require all students to be vaccinated for all these diseases, to say maybe some people do need to be vaccinated. So, he is trying to look at this and say, I think on some level I may not be completely in the camp of RFK. BLACKWELL: Yeah. Let's talk now about the decision to give, I guess, a

sub-headline to the Department of Defense, the Department of War. Who is the audience for this?

FRANCE: MAGA, I would think.

BALI: I would say -- and also the world. I think that would be kind of a part of what he is trying to project there. I think the interesting thing is -- so, I was a military spouse for 12 years. I mean, we got out four years ago. When I think about soldiers and officers, they're worried about on-base housing. They're not worried about on-base child care pay. Those are the -- so, I don't think that's really the audience. I don't think it is officers or soldiers. It really is the base and maybe even the world.

BLOW: But, it's also an extension of the bravado. The entire persona is built around, I am strong. We are strong. We can do what we want. We are in a posture of fighting, the idea of fight, fight, fight. He has repeated that multiple times. So, this is part of that, that it feels stronger than defense, which is kind of a passive, in his kind of view, a passive word, and war is more of an aggressive word. I think it's that -- part of that propaganda. But, it is important to say that as we open this segment with, the only place that he has said he wants to go to work with is an American city with Americans in it.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, and we saw immediately, at the Department of Defense, the name plates changing, the social media handles changing, the signs for Secretary Hegseth.

All right. Everybody, stay with us. We've got a lot more when we come back. Has A.I. gone too far? The family of Orson Welles is fighting a plan to recreate lost scenes from his masterpiece "The Magnificent Ambersons".

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[07:40:00]

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BLACKWELL: Rahul Bali, Charles Blow, and Lisa Respers France are back with me.

There is this question of, is A.I. vandalism for some of these great movies? Variety is reporting that the family of Orson Welles is upset about some editing that will happen, some creation related to a 1942 classic. Tell us about it.

FRANCE: Yeah. This is the follow-up to his iconic Citizen Kane film, and what they want to do is recreate 43 minutes, I believe, of this film using A.I., and it's not just Orson Welles family that's upset about it. Like Hollywood is upset because even though they're not going to be able to monetize it, because I believe that reportedly they don't have the rights to the film, so they won't be able to like re-release the film with this A.I. footage, it's just the fact that you're attempting to do this. People get very anxious, especially in Hollywood, about using A.I., because that means you can take away jobs. That also means that you can fundamentally do what you want with an already existing project, and we've seen this before. We've seen this when they've tried to like reanimate Whitney Houston --

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

FRANCE: -- and Tupac and stuff, but no one asked for that, by the way.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

FRANCE: So, people feel a way about artificial intelligence coming in and in essence giving somebody the power to take something that is a creative project, someone else's vision, and making it their own.

BLACKWELL: Can I say this, though? I just saw The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere in Vegas. It is magical, and there are some people upset about all of the A.I. enhancements for that, but it was a really great experience. I understand the concerns about a 1939 classic being changed. But, what do you think?

BALI: Well, I mean, first of all, I think is the PR stunt, no different than Blue Horizon shooting Katy Perry into outer space. Big companies do this. But, the bigger question is kind of social conditioning around creativity. There will come a point where writing that is produced by A.I., people will be more accustomed to it, where illustration produced by A.I., people will be more accustomed to it, and also in film. And we will get to a point where the conditioning of the public is that that feels part of what is real, and that will change our relationship, the creative relationship to the work, and also viewers and readers' relationship to creativity, and that's a monumental shift in how we operate as a society.

BALI: And we have to think about that as journalists too. I don't know if you remember a couple of years ago, a German publication did an A.I.-generated interview with Michael Schumacher, the Formula One racing legend. He was severely injured. He is -- I mean, he is alive, but he is not doing interviews, and they did this A.I.-generated interview. I mean, was that above board or not? The family was angry. They got a judgment and everything. But, like, where are those lines for us? Where is -- do we have to at least put a disclaimer saying we've used A.I. for this?

BLACKWELL: A.I.-generated, yeah. Yeah.

BALI: Like, where is that line?

BLACKWELL: Well, that's something I think that we're deciding in real time, kind of building the plane as we're flying it on artificial intelligence.

[07:45:00]

Can we talk about this Phillies fan that has gone viral? This is the picture of the boy receiving a bat from the Phillies team. After, there is a woman who -- there is a home run ball that comes in. She looks like she is going to get it. Then a man comes over and grabs the ball and takes it back to his son. She then turns to the man and says, that ball was mine. You took it out of my hand. He gives it to the woman.

FRANCE: That's sense of entitlement. It's the entitlement for me, and I feel like we are in a place in this country where we see people reacting to that should have been mine. It should not be somebody else's. And so, to me, it's a bigger picture thing. I just -- I don't like the fact that he gave it over to her. I would not have given her the ball, because just because you feel like it should be yours, it does not mean -- we just -- I guess we're just flowing by vibes in this world now. So, just -- so, when you have a feeling, you should be able to go with the feeling and get what you want.

BALI: It's crazy what -- as somebody who loves going to baseball games. It is crazy what people do for baseballs. My son even had a small incident like that. By the way, much love to the Atlanta Braves. They made it right to --

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

BALI: -- my son. But, when it is, it can be a free for all for a baseball. I was surprised that the dad handed it back.

BLACKWELL: Contrarian opinion, I think the dad is -- has some blame here as much as, maybe not as much as, as the woman who went over to get the ball. If you look at the video, he walks, what, 50 feet to go -- leave his seat to go and get the ball. At that point, it's anybody's ball, right? It's not delivered to the woman. They're fighting for it. He walks back. She goes to him for the ball, not the child. He takes the ball out of the kid's mitt and then gives it to the woman.

BLOW: When you have like this, it is a deliberative process.

(CROSSTALK)

BLOW: But, whatever the case, you always give the ball to the kid.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes.

BLOW: And even if the dad realized that he was wrong for going over to get it -- and gave it back, at that moment, you say, thank you, and you give it back to the kid.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. She should have -- once she saw the kid had it, he left it with him.

BLOW: A kid always gets the ball.

FRANCE: That's right.

BLACKWELL: All right. Well, Rahul, Charles, Lisa, I know that my Twitter and Instagrams will be full of comments.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: I'm used to it. Thank you, everybody.

FRANCE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Hey, this week, CNN is shining a light on innovators who have found creative ways to solve problems in their communities. We call them Champions for Change.

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[07:50:00]

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BLACKWELL: The U.S. Open men's final, it is a good win, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

CNN's Andy Scholes will be there, and he joins us now with a look ahead from New York. Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, Victor. Yeah. This men's final, it's as good as it gets. One versus two, Alcaraz versus Sinner. These two guys will have now won the last eight Grand Slams. So, we are now fully in the Alcaraz-Sinner era of tennis, and this is going to be the rubber match between the two this year, when it comes to Grand Slams. Alcaraz beat Sinner in that epic comeback in the French Open final, but then Sinner got revenge at Wimbledon. This is going to be Sinner's fifth straight Grand Slam final. He has won three of them. Alcaraz, though, leads the all-time series nine to five. The men's final starts at 2 Eastern. President Trump is expected to be in attendance.

Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, successfully defending her U.S. Open crown. It wasn't easy, though, against Amanda Anisimova, who was trying to win her first ever Grand Slam title. Now, the New York crowd was really behind the 24-year-old New Jersey native, trying to will her to victory. After losing the first set, Anisimova battled, forcing a tie break in the second, but that's just where Sabalenka thrived. The reigning champ would come through to win her 19th straight tie break, take the match in straight sets.

I got a chance to catch up with Sabalenka afterwards, and I asked her, how does it feel to be the first woman to go back-to-back at the U.S. Open since Serena?

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ARYNA SABALENKA, WORLD NO. 1 WOMEN'S SINGLES TENNIS PLAYER: That sounds crazy for me. I never thought that I'll be able to achieve something like that and winning back to back. It means a lot and it's just crazy. I think I need another day to realize what just actually happened.

SCHOLES: After the French Open, you said, after that tough loss, you're going to drink tequila and eat gummy bears. Do you drink more tequila to eat more gummy bears after a loss like that, or after a big win like here in New York?

SABALENKA: Well, I don't know. I think it just -- I think I'll definitely drink more after a win like this.

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SCHOLES: All right. We've got a big day of sports on tap, as it's also the first Sunday of the NFL season.

[07:55:00]

Aaron Rodgers is going to make his Steelers debut against his former team, the Jets. It's certainly going to be fun to see what kind of welcome he gets from that New York crowd. Tonight for Sunday Night Football, what a matchup, Josh Allen and the Bills hosting Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Remember to set those fantasy lineups by 1 Eastern this afternoon.

And finally, in College Football, we had another chapter of spit-gate. South Florida had the ball. They had 225 to go, down one. After this play, Brendan Bett spits on a South Florida player. That got a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. He was ejected from the game. And unlike Jalen Carter and the Eagles on Thursday, 13th ranked Florida did not win. That penalty helped the Bulls advance down the field and get a game-winning field goal as time expired. Florida head coach Billy Napier called the winning "unacceptable", Victor, and I can't believe it happened twice in a three-day span.

BLACKWELL: Yuck. Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

And thank you for joining us. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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