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Trump Attends NBA Finals Game and Knicks Lose; Texas Tech QB Ruled Eligible after Sports Betting Ban. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired June 09, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Fortunately, no one was hurt.
[06:00:03]
And in Texas, a nearly 8-foot alligator was caught horsing around in a stable. An employee was able to wrangle the reptile with a lasso and pull it into an empty horse stall.
Game wardens say that the gator was safely returned to a nearby bayou.
Well, that does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: There are polls opening up right at this moment in Maine. Today in the group chat, should Graham Platner be the Democrat on the ballot in November, even if he wins today's primary?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The most important thing in this election is unseating Susan Collins.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Donald Trump becomes the first sitting president to attend an NBA finals game, and the home team blows a 13-game winning streak. Coincidence?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I yelled for help and that's -- Thank God for them. You know, because I (EXPLETIVE DELETED) made it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: There are flood waters on the rise in the Midwest. The harrowing rescue tales this morning as waters recede.
And a private jet bursts into a massive fireball during an emergency crash landing. The investigation into what went wrong this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD PAISLEY, COUNTRY SUPERSTAR: That they want to build next to the Nashville Zoo, which is an absolute nightmare scenario. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That's country superstar Brad Paisley, speaking out against a proposed data center near the Nashville Zoo. Could it pose a threat to the thousands of animals there?
And the World Cup starts this week. Could money and greed overshadow the beautiful game?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senegal-France game, it's almost like $2,000 ticket. That's outrageous. That's outrageous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, people here in New York waking up -- I don't know -- in a foul mood, maybe pointing fingers after the Knicks lose a much-hyped game three of the NBA finals.
Good morning, everybody. Good morning to New York. I'm Audie Cornish.
You know, when you mix sports and politics, you do so at your own peril. For instance, here's Stephen A. Smith before last night's tipoff at the Garden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN A. SMITH, SPORTS BROADCASTER: If the New York Knicks lose game three, this is on Donald Trump.
You think I've been on him before? I'm going to be on his ass like back pockets. Like white on rice. He got no business doing this. He doesn't belong at this game. No president does. None of them. Democrat, Republican, independent. I don't give a damn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, the president, who is a New Yorker, showed up anyway. And that's not unusual. Trump has attended the Super Bowl, the U.S. Open, college football national championship. He's now the first sitting president to attend the NBA finals.
But now, the Knicks' 13-game playoff winning streak is over. And Knicks fans, well, this is what they're saying about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted the Knicks to win this game. Trump just had to bring his ass down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a jinx. It's like the goat in Chicago. He freaking jinxed everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, today in the group chat, we've got Brianna Lyman, reporter for "The Federalist"; and Christine Quinn, executive committee chair for the New York state Democratic committee.
Sports people are very superstitious. Let's just say that. There was this tweet from Ron Filipkowski: "I'm not an expert on jinxes, hexes, curses, and voodoo. Not superstitious either, but if I was the Knicks, I probably wouldn't let Trump near the arena for game four, just to be on the safe side."
What was the point of this for Trump?
BRIANNA LYMAN, REPORTER, "THE FEDERALIST": Well, I think Trump has been a lifelong Knicks fan. There are pictures of him with Marla Maples, with Melania Trump in the '90s and early 2000s. So, this is someone who probably is rooting for the same team he's been rooting for, for decades.
CORNISH: Yes. This is the argument from Whoopi Goldberg. She said --
LYMAN: Yes, she did.
CORNISH: -- the same thing. Trump --
LYMAN: She defended him.
CORNISH: -- and Mamdani are Knicks fans. They've been New Yorkers.
LYMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: You can't tell them what they're not going to do.
I think the thing I found interesting is Trump is very much our sports president.
LYMAN: Yes. Yes.
CORNISH: Has been. Obama was an NBA guy. And he didn't go to games, because he said it creates too much of a problem for the fans.
CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE: Absolutely. Look, I live on the west side of Manhattan. It was a mess yesterday.
CORNISH: I was about to say, how are you here?
QUINN: Exactly, exactly. It was a total mess. Fans had to get there at least two hours early. There didn't get to be a watch party right outside the Garden.
I -- I get that he may be a fan, but you have to really appreciate when you're president, you're not just popping in and popping out. You're putting a whole bunch of people out. And in this case, he was a jinx. There is no question about it.
LYMAN: Mamdani could have been the jinx.
CORNISH: Completely like, he was a jinx. Christine Quinn, jinx expert.
LYMAN: Exactly.
CORNISH: Put that under your name.
Well, here's the thing. The reason why I'm asking about this is not just because it's funny, but also because one of the things people are accusing the administration of being in this moment, when there's economic difficulty for people, is tone deaf.
The idea that, look, we're here, the regular schmoes who want to be involved in this thing, and he comes and just says, kind of let them eat cake, right? You can watch it on TV.
And was -- what was the sort of -- I understand he's a fan, but does that contribute to the tone-deaf narrative?
LYMAN: Oh, I don't think this was tone-deaf at all. I think, first of all, a lot of those tickets, I mean, some of them are going for thousands of dollars. I think I saw one ticket price at $7,000.
CORNISH: Yes.
LYMAN: And the people who were buying them and who were courtside were a lot of people very popular among the left and celebrities, right? And I don't --
CORNISH: Did they have motorcades and massive security. Or --
LYMAN: No, but those are the same people who, for four years, lectured us that things were fine under Joe Biden. So, they also could be considered tone-deaf.
But I think the president -- politics is obviously very hostile, but sports is one of those last remaining arenas where people do put politics aside. I do --
CORNISH: Let me play for you the reception Trump got.
LYMAN: I know he got booed.
CORNISH: I just want to play it.
LYMAN: Because it's also New York City.
CORNISH: Because it's -- it's Madison Square Garden. He is the New Yorker of New Yorkers.
LYMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: And this is how people reacted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It was amazing actually. You mean when they had the camera on me? I thought it was very good. Yes, it was certainly amazing. It was -- it was, I think, mostly cheers. It was --
(BOOING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Cari Champion here, CNN contributor and host of the "Flagrant and Funny" podcast. We had to bring in a little bit of an expert, because we're political people. We don't know. We know about jinxes.
CARI CHAMPION, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
CORNISH: We know about hoaxes. We don't know when politics and sports clash --
CHAMPION: Yes.
CORNISH: -- What is the outcome? It's just New York. New York wasn't voting for Trump, en masse, anyway. But is this a problem?
CHAMPION: Listen, well, first of all, you said, you know, people in sports normally I hear you say that normally they don't really care so much about politics. They absolutely cared about politics.
This is such a rare moment for New Yorkers. People have waited their entire lives. The last time they won a ship (Ph) was 1973.
CORNISH: Yes. But isn't that why the president of the United States, who is a New Yorker, would want to be there?
CHAMPION: No. In fact, you should not want to be there, because you want to keep that same momentum going.
You know, New York is such a rare place. I've never seen fans like this before in my entire life, and they deserve to have this moment. And it was supposed to be uninterrupted, meaning we were supposed to have our watch parties around MSG. We were supposed to be in that moment.
And I do believe -- and you know, the great Stephen A. Smith said just the other day --
CORNISH: Yes, we played him earlier.
CHAMPION: You played him? So, he fully blames him. But. So that was the -- that was the vibe.
CORNISH: Yes.
CHAMPION: Like, no.
CORNISH: You can't be the cooler, Brianna. You can't be on a streak and then have someone come in and cool the street.
CHAMPION: Yes.
CORNISH: That's not political.
CHAMPION: He was the cooler.
CORNISH: I'm saying cooler. Let me play one more thing. Tommy Vietor, "Pod Save America" host. Obviously, these are Obama guys. But they're talking about the power of sports and why politicians would want to be involved. Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY VIETOR, HOST, "POST SAVE AMERICA": He knows the power of live professional sports. And that's the only, like, kind of mono cultural events we really have left. That's why he goes to a lot of games. Usually, it's the NFL. He went to the Super Bowl.
Usually he's more welcome in those, you know, sort of Southern NFL spaces. I -- I don't think he will be here. I mean, he's also buddies with James Dolan, I think, the owner of the Knicks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Always pals with the owners.
VIETOR: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not a real player guy.
VIETOR: Yes. No. But like, look, he loves the limelight. He loves every spotlight. And he will attempt to co-opt this one, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Just that word. Corrupt -- co-opt. We know that he loves sports. UFC Claw rising like a phoenix on the lawn.
CHAMPION: I don't know if he -- do you really think? I don't think he loves sports. I --
CORNISH: He's always been. He's been going to ringside games and matches.
CHAMPION: No sitting -- no sitting president has ever attended a finals. Right?
Look, Barack loved NBA, as you pointed out.
CORNISH: Yes.
CHAMPION: And he went to a few games, but he would never do that. One, it's on our dime. Two, it disrupts everything that goes on while you're there.
And yes, UFC is a different thing for him in terms of for Donald Trump. That's more of his fan base. That's where he lives. That's where people love to see him. He has, obviously, the relationship with Dana. So, when we see him at the NBA finals, it really throws off everything
that people wanted to be a part of. It changes the --
CORNISH: Yes, it'll be interesting to see if any of this comes down on Dolan, who obviously --
CHAMPION: Yes.
CORNISH: -- has some interesting --
CHAMPION: Like, why invite?
CORNISH: Renovating Penn Station. And there's a bunch of questions there about that relationship that I wonder if people are going to probe more now that they are -- I don't know -- angry.
CHAMPION: Beyond.
CORNISH: Being from Boston, let me tell you, I know to keep my mouth shut. I'm not messing with no New York fans, because I'm trying to live out a long, happy life.
All right. Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about L.A. now. It looks like Spencer Pratt might be out in that mayoral race. The former reality TV star finding he's falling behind. So, was the red wave in L.A. just a splash?
[06:10:13]
Plus, the queen ready for her return. Serena Williams back on the tennis court today. Why now?
And then were going to talk about Hunter Biden trying to reclaim the narrative. Is it working?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN'S SON: I know there's going to be a lot of haters, and a lot of trolls, and a lot of people saying really, really awful things. But I've heard it all before. It doesn't even faze me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:15:13]
CORNISH: It is now 15 minutes past the hour. This is your morning roundup.
Sam Bankman-Fried, who orchestrated one of the world's largest financial frauds, wants a pardon.
The co-founder and CEO of the crypto exchange FTX was convicted on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy. And in fact, he's serving a 25-year prison sentence. He officially applied for a pardon, according to the Justice Department.
But back in January, Trump told "The New York Times" he would not pardon Bankman-Fried.
And two people confirmed dead after a private jet crashed while attempting to land in the Dominican Republic. The plane blew up in flames after skidding across the runway.
Officials say the pilot and copilot, both U.S. nationals, died. No passengers were on board.
And the Nashville Zoo pushing back on a proposal to build a nearly 70,000-square-foot data center right on the edge of its property.
Country music star, Nashville resident Brad Paisley, trying to drum up support for a petition against the project.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAISLEY: Let's stop it. We don't have to do this here. Build them somewhere else. But let's keep Nashville as beautiful and as -- as great an attraction as it's always been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: D.C. Blocks, the company behind the proposal, assures there would be no health risks to the residents or the animals.
And don't call it a comeback. Today, the GOAT, Serena Williams, officially coming out of retirement. The 44-year-old will play a doubles match at the Queens Club Championships alongside a Canadian teenager.
When asked why now, she told reporters why not? Now is the best time for her and her family.
I have to take this to Cari Champion. What is your thesis on the coming back?
CHAMPION: So, I love how she's like, she's preparing us. She's managing us. She's managing upwards, as they would say.
CORNISH: Managing the expectations.
CHAMPION: Exactly. She says, oh, it's just for my kids to see me play.
I totally believe that. But I think she, like Allyson Felix, like Lindsey Vonn had done. Everyone's prepping for the Olympics. My theory is that she's like, yes, I'll work my way to playing singles.
CORNISH: Hey, don't say Lindsey Vonn, then. I mean --
CHAMPION: Well, not in that way. But she came out of retirement.
CORNISH: Yes, yes. CHAMPION: All of these women are coming out of retirement, because they're meeting the expectations of guess what? So what if I'm 40? So, what if I'm 40 plus?
CORNISH: Yes.
CHAMPION: I'm still going to play. I still have the desire.
CORNISH: I thought she did it because she saw big sis on the court and was like, you know what? I miss it.
CHAMPION: I know. I mean --
CORNISH: I have a sister so I feel like that's what would happen.
CHAMPION: That might be a little bit of it, but I have a feeling she'll play the Olympics.
CORNISH: Well, listen, I want her kid to see her play, too.
CHAMPION: Of course.
CORNISH: Shout-out to Olympia. OK.
After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, prediction markets and pro sports. Is it time for new rules to protect players and the integrity of the games?
Plus, there is dangerous flooding. There's also efforts to rescue people from rising waters.
We're going to be going live to Mexico City, as well, which will host their first World Cup match two days from now. Mexico versus South Africa.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:52:20]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT MCAFEE, ESPN SPORTS ANALYST: We are getting a ruling just one day after the NCAA basically comes out and says, This guy's not allowed. OK? This is not -- we're not doing this. This judge comes out and says, Actually, can play.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: All right. As the sports world grapples with the world of sports gambling and prediction markets, a new ruling is sending shock waves through college football.
The NCAA ruled Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was ineligible after placing more than $90,000 in bets on college sports, and that includes 40 bets on his own team when he played at Indiana. Now, a federal judge has overruled all of that. The judge,
conveniently based in Texas Tech's hometown of Lubbock, argued that Sorsby will suffer, quote, "probable, imminent and irreparable injury" if he's not able to play for the Red Raiders this year.
And the chairman of the NCAA calls the decision a glaring integrity threat. He wants Congress to pass a new bill which would allow them to enforce their gambling restrictions, adding, quote, "It's needed now more than ever."
I want to note here that CNN has a partnership with Kalshi, a prediction market.
And I'm bringing in Randall Williams, sports business reporter at Bloomberg.
I wanted to talk to you, because as we are having this conversation about betting in general --
RANDALL WILLIAMS, SPORTS BUSINESS REPORTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Sure.
CORNISH: -- there is this push to regulate harder prediction markets. What's the difference between betting in a prediction market and betting with DraftKings or regular sports betting book at Vegas?
WILLIAMS: Sure. So, let's say sports gambling is more "I'm putting money into a sports book" than "I'm going to get that money right back."
In Kalshi and Polymarket, it's derivative based. And so, what the offerings of Kalshi and Polymarket have seen, you've been able to bet on Gatorade. You've been able to bet on the Gatorade color after a team wins a Super Bowl. You've been able to --
CORNISH: Strikes in Iran.
WILLIAMS: Exactly.
CORNISH: Capturing Maduro.
WILLIAMS: All of these things are very, very manipulative because of the fact that people will seek out information in order to make a ton of money. That's called insider trading.
And so, from a sports perspective, the last thing that you want, especially after all of these years of sports gambling with the MLB, with the NBA, with the NFL. We've seen suspensions across all of them in different cases and even at the federal level, as well. They're trying to get a handle on these things.
CORNISH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Now, different leagues have different approaches. Some are partnering with them and trying to say, Hey, if we don't partner with them, then they're going to run rampant. Others are saying, not so fast. CORNISH: Yes.
WILLIAMS: We want to see what happens first.
CORNISH: So, to your point, the MLB has a data sharing agreement again, because they're trying to catch bad actors.
WILLIAMS: Right.
CORNISH: I've been paying attention to this story, because we've actually talked here at CNN to, like, college-age adults. There was one story where the student said, the ads got me, and he was talking about prediction markets specifically.
[06:25:03]
He says, "Predictions absolutely mean gambling. And frankly, I'm surprised you loopholed this so well to allow someone like me to gamble on this stuff."
This is what he was writing in his comments.
WILLIAMS: Sure.
CORNISH: "A hundred percent should be banned before my -- before more kids like me use it, because God knows they shouldn't."
Now, there's a couple of things that the sports leagues have written to federal regulators asking for: raising the betting age from 18 to 21.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: A ban on waging on your own team. We just talked about that in the introduction. Ban over/under bets on fouls and injuries, getting injured.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
CORNISH: And then mandatory fan conduct rules. What's going on there?
WILLIAMS: Well, first of all, multifaceted. As far as the betting age, when you think about if you're on TikTok, if you're on ESPN, if you're on NBC, there are so many betting ads; and there's even betting sections of the shows.
As far as the kids themselves, when you're watching these things, whether it be Pat McAfee, whether it be "First Take," whether it be "SportsCenter," whether it be from FS1 and FOX, you're going to see so much of it that you're going to be like, well, why not?
CORNISH: How bad could it be?
WILLIAMS: How bad could it be? And then, it's like, you win once. Now you're chasing that thrill. And that can be a very addictive process. So, from the league perspective, they're like, OK, let's try to push
this until their brain is a little bit more fully developed, and then they can make their own decisions.
But the reality is the floodgates of gambling are already open. When you accept money, this is a possibility, and people are going to try to win a lot of it.
CORNISH: So, Donald Trump actually was just posting about this on Truth Social, where he said, "It's critically important that the CFTC's exclusive authority over prediction markets is maintained and that they will thrive."
Can you talk about where he's coming down on this issue and where that compares to what the leagues are asking?
WILLIAMS: Well, I think what President Trump is asking, I think is more impartial to or more partial to the fact that Kalshi and Polymarket have things that are outside of sports offering.
You mentioned some of the Iran war strikes. You mentioned when President Maduro was -- was captured. If you can bet on some of those things, like who's to say that doesn't leak and compromise an operation?
And so, he is trying to get a hold on and say, hey, we have some things going on at the federal level that are a serious issue. I think those things run in line with some of the sports offerings, as well.
But it remains to be seen how well the sports world and President Trump will work together on these, because President Trump was at the Knicks game yesterday. He's also targeted the NFL for the Sports Broadcasting Act and trying to see if -- if you know, the district -- excuse me, the distribution among streamers and traditional broadcasters is too wide.
So, I think they are walking in the same path, but just at different paces.
CORNISH: Do you have a question? You were looking.
CHAMPION: No, I was just really curious, like, why is that his business?
WILLIAMS: President Trump's?
CHAMPION: Yes.
WILLIAMS: I think it's his business because of the fact that he just doesn't want leaks out there. He doesn't want to be known as the president who had insider trading at all of these different things that were going on that were a result of him. So, if someone's going to be making money from his operations, he wants it to be himself or the people around him.
CORNISH: Well, I -- I should say -- we should note there is currently, I think, a U.S. service member who is facing --
LYMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: -- charges for allegedly placing wagers, contracts in prediction markets over the when and where of Maduro. So, it feels like these things are just now sort of entering the judicial system --
WILLIAMS: Right.
CORNISH: -- where a lot of it will be hashed out.
Randall, I want to let you go. But before I do, Knicks. Are you -- where are you on Trump as cooler or Knicks just had a bad night?
WILLIAMS: Oh, I believe President Trump absolutely cursed the Knicks.
CORNISH: Oh, cursed!
LYMAN: Oh, wow.
CORNISH: Strong language. All day.
WILLIAMS: Listen, I've been to several events that President Trump has attended: UFC events. I was at the Super Bowl that he attended, and all of them had different results.
But this one, I was like, I don't think he should go to this one just because of the fact that they were riding high. And now he shows up, and we see what happens.
CHAMPION: Cooler. Yes.
CORNISH: OK, the word from Bloomberg business. Local man says. No.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, it's primary day in Maine. We want to talk about that. Can voters there get over the scandals weighing down Democrat Graham Platner's campaign?
Plus, a U.S. Army helicopter goes down in the Middle East. President Trump will be giving an update on the crew on board.
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[06:30:00]
