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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Resource Officer "Not Guilty" Of Neglect And Negligence; Mahomes And Kelce Upset Curry And Thompson In "The Match"; AAA Projects Record Travel Numbers For July 4th Weekend. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired June 30, 2023 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:33:55]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, the jury, find as follows as to the defendant in this case. The defendant is not guilty, so say we all this 29th day of June 2023 at Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida.
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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Former Parkland school resource officer Scot Peterson breaking down in tears in court yesterday. A jury acquitted Peterson on child neglect and negligence charges. Prosecutors accused the former officer of ignoring his training, waiting outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a gunman inside that school killed 17 people.
CNN's Carlos Suarez reports.
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CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The jury came back with a not guilty verdict on all of the charges. Scot Peterson cried as the verdict was read in court, and the families of some of the victims watched in disbelief, some of them shaking their head no. It's a scene we saw during the sentencing trial for the shooter when the jury in that case sentenced the shooter to life in prison instead of the death penalty.
Peterson was charged with 11 counts, including seven counts of felony child neglect and three counts of misdemeanor culpable negligence for this alleged inaction to stop the shooter in Parkland, Florida in 2018.
[05:35:05]
The defense argued that Peterson didn't go into the building where the shooting happened because he did not know exactly where the gunfire was coming from and where the shooter was. Peterson took cover for more than 45 minutes outside of the building before the shooter was arrested. On the child neglect charges, the state had to prove that Peterson was a caregiver, a designation not typically given to law enforcement.
Here now is Peterson after the verdict and the father of Joaquin Oliver, one of the 14 students killed.
SCOT PETERSON, FORMER SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER: Don't anybody ever forget this was a massacre on February 14. The only person to blame was that monster. There wasn't any law enforcement -- nobody on that scene from BSO, Coral Springs. Everybody did the best they could.
MANUEL OLIVER, FATHER OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM JOAQUIN OLIVER: We were there too late. I'm sick of listening to that. Who was working on the moments before what happened? Who allowed that killer to get into the school? Was that not your responsibility also?
SUAREZ (on camera): Peterson was found not guilty of lying to investigators about the number of gunshots he heard when he arrived at the scene and whether he saw people running from the building where the shooting took place.
Carlos Suarez, CNN, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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ROMANS: All right, quick hits across America now.
Travis Scott's lawyer says the rapper is ecstatic he will not face criminal charges related to the deadly Astroworld concert. A grand jury in Texas declined -- decided not to indict Scott. Ten people died and thousands of others were injured during a crowd surge at the concert a year and a half ago.
Smoke poured out of the iconic and newly-renovated Tiffany store in New York City yesterday. Fire officials say two people were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
Investigators have captured a South Carolina man they say was hiding under a fake identity for 17 years. They claim he was living in Detroit and even his wife and kids didn't know his real identity. He was wanted for drug trafficking.
Still ahead, all hail the Rockies. Pea-sized hail didn't stop one Colorado catcher from taking the field.
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[05:41:19]
ROMANS: All right. Two of the NFL's biggest stars took down a pair of superstar teammates from the NBA on the golf course.
Carolyn Manno has more in this morning's Bleacher Report -- The Match.
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this thing always delivers. I mean, The Match is kind of more from this really fun golf exhibition to showcase some of the biggest stars in primetime in recent years. It's always entertaining. We love to have the hot mics and hear what these guys are saying.
This addition featuring a foursome of teammates. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his favorite target, Travis Kelce taking on the Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the Warriors, in Vegas.
And with Steph's reputation as a scratch golfer, the Super Bowl champs went in as heavy underdogs here, but every dog has its day. And after finishing the first hole tied, Mahomes and Kelce won the next three to go three up and cruise to the victory.
But it wasn't just about the golf, of course. The goal of The Match is to raise money for the No Kid Hungry campaign which works to end childhood hunger here in the U.S. It's a great cause.
Our Andy Scholes catching up with the winners moments after the final hole.
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PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: I was proud of this guy, man. He played his tail off today. We had a lot of fun. We were a team and I think that's why we won it, and we traded off shots. And the Chiefs, baby -- we're going to keep this thing rolling.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Super Bowl champs, Match champs -- what, are we going to get another Super Bowl after this and keep it going?
TRAVIS KELCE, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TIGHT END: I wouldn't mind coming back here in February and defending the title, baby, but we've got a long way until then. And you know what? Right now, we're just -- we're fired up and ready to gear up for the season as well, man.
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MANNO: One of the best moments of the night actually happened before the first ball was teed up. Turner Sports legend Ernie Johnson getting a surprise from his longtime friend and broadcast partner Charles Barkley. Take a listen.
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CHARLES BARKLEY, ANALYST, TNT'S "INSIDE THE NBA": It's an honor and a privilege to congratulate Ernie Johnson going into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
ERNIE JOHNSON, 2023 SPORTS BROADCASTING HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE: I am humbled beyond words, so thank you so much. It means the world to me. I've been at this -- been at this for -- been at this for 34 years at the same place and over 40 years in broadcasting, and I'm stunned. So, thank you so much. I appreciate that very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MANNO: Big congrats to Ernie there, one of the best in the business. He's going to join Sir Charles in the Hall of Fame now because Barkley was inducted two years ago. But a really nice moment there and a fun event.
Just down the road in Vegas, the two best teams in WNBA squaring off. The Aces and the New York Liberty both loaded up this off-season, finally facing each other Thursday night.
The Aces did what they've been doing all season long, though. The defending champs pulling away in the second half with all five of their starters scoring in double figures in the 98-81 win. Vegas improves to 14-1, becoming the third team in WNBA history to start a season with one loss in their first 15 games. The other two went on to win the championship.
Lingering smoke from the wildfires in Canada delayed yesterday's game between the Padres and Pirates in Pittsburgh for 45 minutes. The air quality was so bad that Pirates star Andrew McCutchen put on a mask after hitting a single in the first inning. He and other players questioning whether that game really should have been played at all. Look how bad it was. Pittsburgh ended up winning 5-4 despite those hazy conditions.
And another wild weather story. The calendar says it's summer, Christine, but this looked more like a winter wonderland before the Dodgers-Rockies game in Denver. The area hit with severe storms covering Coors Field with this pea-sized hail.
But the players were loving it. They embraced it. Rookies catcher Elias Diaz playing around like a kid on a snow day.
Once the game got going you've got to give a heads-up to the grounds crew as well. The Rockies didn't fare too well. The Dodgers ended up getting the win.
But still, how funny is that -- just slipping and sliding? A different kind of sliding than we're used to.
ROMANS: Wow. Colorado has had some crazy weather the last few weeks.
[05:45:00]
MANNO: Yes, a wild scene all around.
ROMANS: All right, nice to see you, Carolyn. Have a great weekend.
Coming up on EARLY START, millions of Americans will travel today for the holiday weekend. The record-breaking numbers expected this year, ahead.
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ROMANS: Your Romans' Numeral this morning, 107 -- U.S. debt. The pile of U.S. debt is set to hit a record high of 107 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in the year 2029. What that means is the money the U.S. owes in big national debt will significantly exceed the size of the economy. Now, that is despite the bipartisan debt ceiling deal which is expected to reduce federal deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. The big drivers of the debt were not addressed in that deal.
All right. Looking at markets around the world, Asian markets finished mixed. European markets are higher right now. Eurozone inflation fell more than expected in June.
On Wall Street, stock index futures are leaning higher. The Dow and S&P rose yesterday after major lenders cleared the Fed's stress test, and there was another round of strong economic data. The Nasdaq slipped but is on pace for the best first half of a year in history, up almost 30 percent this year.
[05:50:14]
Mortgage rates ticked up to 6.7 percent last week. And on inflation watch, gas prices fell a penny overnight to $3.54 a gallon. The Fed's preferred inflation gauge is due out later this morning.
All right, the Fourth of July holiday weekend is here. If AAA's estimates are correct, this holiday weekend will be record-breaking. More than four million Americans expected to fly to their destinations. That's 11 percent higher than last year and six percent higher than in 2019.
Let's bring in Lindsey Roeschke, travel and hospitality analyst for the decision intelligence company Morning Consult. Nice to see you this morning.
So, I'm looking at these numbers. I mean, this is pre-pandemic kind of travel here. And it's been a rough few days. This will be a big test for the industry.
LINDSEY ROESCHKE, TRAVEL AND HOSPITALITY ANALYST, MORNING CONSULT (via Webex by Cisco): Absolutely. It's more than pre-pandemic travel. As you said, numbers are looking to outpace 2019. It's definitely going to be a big test for the industry.
Looking back at Memorial Day, that was the first big test this summer and it generally went off pretty smoothly, but there were no big weather events on Memorial Day. And I think what the last week has shown us is there is not a lot of wiggle room in the system, so when there is storm activity that's causing ground stops or delays, it's really causing kind of a ripple effect throughout the entire system. And that does look like it's going to be the case for the rest of the weekend, unfortunately.
ROMANS: It's been remarkable the demand for travel. AAA estimates that passengers are paying 40 or 50 percent more for flights compared to last year but the bookings are not slowing down at all.
Is this pent-up demand?
ROESCHKE: Yes, definitely. It's a combination of pent-up demand from people staying home from the pandemic. Also, the fact that people are kind of traveling further. International travel is up five points since last summer. It really shows us that people missed doing this and they really want to continue to do it.
The only thing that I would say is obviously, summer is the busy season and people are shelling out for these higher ticket prices during the high season. But I believe we're probably going to see a lower off-season this year because of that. People are spending now but may pull back on some of these smaller weekend trips when we get to the fall.
ROMANS: Interesting.
So let's talk about some of these travel hassles. Airports and airlines cannot control the weather, but there's been some finger- pointing on issues like staffing and some finger-pointing to the FAA.
What do you make of how we can make it go more smoothly, or do we just have to live like this this summer?
ROESCHKE: I think, unfortunately, passengers don't really have a lot of control over it because it is a combination of things. It's the things you can't control, like the weather. It's FAA hiring.
I think the big thing from the consumer perspective is that there is low trust in airlines right now. Only 16 percent of Americans said that they trust airlines a lot. That's low already. Airlines have been starting to kind of rebuild that trust since the issues that happened over the winter and now, this stands to be a bit of a test again.
And I think where potential high points come in is when airlines are able to help customers when their flight is delayed. Sometimes you can't help if a flight needs to be delayed or canceled because of weather or staffing issues.
But where consumers really start to lose that trust is when they don't feel like they're getting the customer service from the airlines to right the wrong. So whether that's accommodations being covered or being rebooked -- and the problem is with so many people disrupted, it's really hard to get that service right now. So it looks like that's where the dots need to be connected to kind of rebuild that trust.
ROMANS: Lindsey, I was reading something you wrote about how people use search engines for travel planning. It's still such a popular way to plan for travel. And I was wondering is AI maybe something that could chip into that or change how people book their travel.
ROESCHKE: It's interesting. It certainly can and there are a lot of major travel companies that are working on integrating generative AI into their platforms. I think it's going to need to be a bit seamless for consumers to adopt it. And the reason for that is as you said, search engines are still the most popular way that people search for travel and book travel, and that's because they like to have some control over the process. There's not a lot of trust in generative AI to this point. So the more
it gets integrated into the tools and feels seamless the more customers are going to actually adopt it. But for now, they're kind of in favor of taking the reins themselves to make sure that they're getting the best value for their money and the best options in travel because it is a huge investment and people want to make sure that they're spending --
ROMANS: Right.
ROESCHKE: -- money the right way.
ROMANS: Lindsey Roeschke, thank you so much. Have a great weekend.
ROESCHKE: You, too. Thank you.
ROMANS: All right. Just ahead, education Sec. Miguel Cardona will join "CNN THIS MORNING" live talking about the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action and how the Biden administration is bracing for a decision on student loans.
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[05:59:19]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malea, come to the side. You're doing good.
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ROMANS: All right. A hammerhead shark circling a woman paddleboarding in the Gulf Stream off Florida and it was all caught on camera.
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MALEA TRIBBLE, CHASED BY HAMMERHEAD SHARK WHILE PADDLEBOARDING: I was just kind of doing my thing and I felt a little bit of a tap on my board but I thought I was picking up seaweed.
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ROMANS: OK. Malea Tribble was paddling from the Bahamas to Florida over the weekend to raise money for cystic fibrosis -- a charity. She and her group were about halfway through the Gulf Stream when the shark showed up.
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TRIBBLE: I saw my husband's face drop and I saw him tell the captain to shut off the engine and him then guide me into the boat. And so, as soon as he did that I knew it was a shark.
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[06:00:04] ROMANS: She was able to get out of the water. She got into the boat but she didn't let the shark stop her. After a 10-minute break she got back on her board and paddled on all the way to Florida for a very good cause.
All right, thanks for joining me. I'm Christine Romans. Have a great weekend, everybody. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.
