Return to Transcripts main page
New Day Saturday
Mexico To Take "Unprecedented Steps" To Increase Enforcement; U.S. And Mexico Reach Agreement To Avoid Tariffs; Biden Reverses Long- Held Position On Abortion Funding Amid Criticism; Trump Admin Imposes New Restrictions On Fetal Tissue Medical Research; Connecticut Police Search For Jennifer Dulos Who Vanished Two Weeks Ago; Officials Focus Investigation On Estranged Husband & Girlfriend; California Inmate Now Linked To The Deaths Of 60 Women; Autopsy Results Inconclusive In Deaths OF Three Americans At A Dominican Republic Resort. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired June 08, 2019 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: So, the news was announced in a tweet by the president as 11 hours of negotiations on Friday. And as part of the deal, Mexico has agreed to deploy national guard troops throughout the country; it take on human smuggling operations and allow migrants who were apprehended crossing into the U.S. to be returned to Mexico, while they wait a decision on their asylum claims. Now, in exchange, the U.S. has agreed to speed up the asylum process.
PAUL: Live from the White House, with more on the deal right now, CNN White House Correspondent Sarah Westwood. Sarah, good morning to you. What are you hearing from the White House this morning?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Christi and Victor, and the White House wants to frame this as a victory for President Trump, who is backing off his threats to impose a five percent tariff on all imports from Mexico, in exchange for those stepped-up immigration enforcement efforts, from Mexico. That deal announced last late last night after 11 hours of negotiations between Mexican officials and State Department officials here in Washington and three days of intense talks with that Mexican delegation, as the Mexico side struggled to avoid what could have been a difficult economic reality for them if those tariffs had had gone into effect that also could have harmed U.S. consumers.
And the president announcing this deal Twitter last night, wrote: I am pleased to inform you that the United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico. The tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday against Mexico are hereby indefinitely suspended. And he goes on to say, Mexico in turn has agreed to take strong measures to stem the tide of migration through Mexico into our southern border. This is being done to greatly reduce or eliminate illegal immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States. Now, the Mexican foreign minister said yesterday that he believed the deal to be fair because the U.S. had proposed more extreme measures and what was agreed to was just walked back from that line. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA BARCENA, MEXICAN AMBASSADOR: As a result of these discussions, the United States and Mexico commit to a Mexican enforcement search. Mexico will take unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration, to include the deployment of its national guard throughout Mexico, giving priority to its southern border. Mexico is also taking decisive action to dismantle human smuggling, and trafficking organizations, as well as their elusive financial and transportation networks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WESTWOOD: OK. That was actually the Mexican ambassador, calling the steps that Mexico agreed to, unprecedented. The Republicans on Capitol Hill had reacted negatively to the president's terror threat. They were worried about the economic uncertainty that this introduced, that the president would be fighting a two-front trade war. He's also engaged in negotiations with China, we have tariffs against Chinese goods. So now, moving forward, the president not going to impose those escalating tariffs on Mexico in exchange for those stepped-up enforcement deals. The Mexican side also saying that they've encouraged the U.S. to step up aid to Central American countries where the migrants are coming from to improve conditions there, Victor and Christi.
PAUL: All right. Sarah Westwood, appreciate it so much. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: So, now, there's the additional border enforcement and the help in breaking up trafficking networks. The U.S. got almost everything it wanted from Mexico.
PAUL: You know, the talks go on for another three months. The U.S. and Mexico continuing to focus on migrant crossings, and asylum issues but CNN National Correspondent Dianne Gallagher is live in El Paso, Texas, this morning, and she has Mexico's reaction to the deal. Dianne, good morning to you. What you are hearing there?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi. So, look, undoubtedly people on both sides of the border it here in El Paso -- Juarez and El Paso, likely breathing a sigh of relief that we're not going to be talking about any sort of tariffs. The symbiotic relationship between Mexico and the United States can be definitely felt along in these border towns. The president of Mexico tweeted shortly after the president of the United States did, saying basically: thank you to all Mexicans, saying that because of their support they could avoid the imposition of tariffs on Mexican products exported to the United States.
And then he notes that they're going to gather to celebrate today in Tijuana, around 5:00 this afternoon. And now initially, a lot of the people who were planning to go there, were going to do so sort of as a demonstration against the idea of imposing tariffs on these Mexican products being exported to the United States. And so, we'll see what kind of celebration we actually get at 5:00 today. Look, we're also going to have to see whether or not this is actually going to impact the flow of migrants into the United States. We're seeing what have been numbers we have not looked at in at least 13 years here, and we're seeing an unprecedented number of families that are coming across.
133,000 people apprehended coming across the border in unauthorized areas just in the month of May. The majority of them, families, more than 11,000 of those were unaccompanied children. And we are seeing the strain on the system here. Both in processing centers and in shelters that are run by the office of refugee resettlement, and just in shelters that are run by charities here. So much so, that they are sending them to other states, other cities, to try and kind of deal with this.
[07:05:27] Now, whether or not keeping people, as they wait for asylum in Mexico, as they have been doing on a smaller scale already, is going to have an impact. We're going to have to see. But to be honest, Christi and Victor, in the past, when the White House has announced or at least talked about more aggressive immigration tactics, we have seen the migration numbers increase into the United States. Likely because the people who are in the northern triangle countries are being told that they need to get here now, before they can't.
BLACKWELL: Dianne Gallagher for us there along the border. Dianne, thank you.
PAUL: Kevin Robillard, Senior Political Reporter for the HuffPost is with us now. Kevin, good to see you again this morning. So, we heard Sarah Westwood there say, the White House is framing this as a victory. Does the president deserve some credit here? Is this a victory?
KEVIN ROBILLARD, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, HUFFPOST: I think we're still going to have to see some of the details of the agreement shake out, and you know, as the last correspondent mentioned, whether this actually does do anything to stop the flow of migrants, coming through Mexico and into the United States. That's always been President Trump's stated goal -- is to reduce the number of immigrants coming into the United States across the southern border, that's why he wants to build the wall, that's, you know, in some ways, the number one objective of his presidency. So far, he hasn't been successful in doing that.
And in fact, you know, there's been a surge of migrants at the border. It will be interesting to see whether or not the steps Mexico is taking does anything to staunch that flow of people. The big step, the headline step here seems to be that they're going to deploy the Mexican National Guard throughout more of the country. What impact that has remains to be seen. And as also, as we know, there have been times where, when the United States seems to crack down, that actually spurs more people to come forward, up from those Central American countries because they think this is their last chance to sort of make their way into the United States.
PAUL: So, it sounds like the onus is really on Mexico and the steps that they're going to take. But we do know that this also includes, in terms of the asylum agreement, and the U.S. has agreed to expedite the asylum process. Is that possible? Because the system is so overwhelmed?
ROBILLARD: Yes, this has always been the big problem with Trump's desire to speed up the asylum process. Immigration courts throughout the United States are very overwhelmed. Those are the people who have to adjudicate a lot of this. The surge of migrants at the border of families arriving, of children arriving, unaccompanied at some times, that, all of this has jammed up the system. Trump has pushed for Mexico to sort of allow more asylum seekers, to be forced to stay in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed. It appears some more migrants will stay in Mexico, and Mexico seems to be setting up ways to provide education and health care for those people. I think it will be very interesting to see how far that agreement actually goes.
PAUL: So, how soon do you think it will be before there's any sort of determination that this is or is not working? I mean, are we talking about next month and comparing those numbers to what we're seeing now?
ROBILLARD: I think it will take perhaps more than a month. I mean, this is a process -- where Trump has already put pressure on them in the past, and Mexico has already taken some of these steps. And this is further steps that they're taking. So, I think it will be difficult to know, for quite a while, whether or not this is actually working. You know, there's many things that affect whether or not migrants are coming all the way up, including one thing that's really going to matter, is both the Mexican and the U.S. economies, in recent days, have shown some worrying signs. When the economy isn't as strong in these countries, sometimes these people stay back in their home countries in Central America.
PAUL: OK. So, let's talk about the economy, and perhaps what motivated President Trump to do this. Let's listen here to Catherine Rampell and what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHERINE RAMPELL, OPINION COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: I think the combination of the lackluster jobs numbers, and the catastrophic damage that was predicted for an economy, even if the economy were doing quite well, and it seems to be slowing, plus all of the business groups that have come out against him, 140 of which signed on to a letter today, organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Plus, the threat of an eventual confrontation, with Republicans, on the hill, who have seemed to have finally maybe sort of, kind of grown a spine. I think all of those things put together made Trump look at this deal or look at this arson, essentially that he had set, and say, you know what, I'll take whatever minor relatively meaningless concessions that I can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Obviously, she said that before we heard that there was a deal. And we knew some of the details there. But do these looked to be meaningless concessions, or is there promise of real progress here? [07:10:09] ROBILLARD: I think it obviously sort of depends, again, on
how Mexico actually implements what they have agreed to here. I think there is clearly a lot of economic pressure on both the president, because of the job numbers, but there was also a lot of economic pressure on Mexico. The government -- the economy there is not doing very well. They've had fairly anemic growth recently. Their currency has weakened. I thinks that was pushing Mexico to maybe be a little more open to making some of these concessions than they might otherwise have been because the tariffs also would have had a negative impact on their economy, in addition to all of the things we're worried about that they could have done to the United States economy.
PAUL: So, when we talk about the economy, now that there is something set in place, do some of these companies that were really concerned about the tariffs, and what that would do to their business, and the uncertainty that they feel; can they breathe a sigh of relief this morning, or no?
ROBILLARD: Yes, it definitely seems like they can. Business groups have really come up strongly against this. People were warning of sort of skyrocketing consumer prices, and the automotive industry was particularly worried, they've really established a full-on North American supply chain, where parts are coming from Mexico, into the United States. Other industries that were very concerned, I mean everything from refrigerators to cucumbers get shipped up from Mexico.
And that really would have had a major impact on consumer prices. And really, a major impact on some of the bottom lines of these companies. So, I think they're probably relieved, but we should also note that in that agreement, basically they say that the United States and Mexico are going to keep talking and that these tariffs, you'll notice in Trump's wording was suspended. He didn't say they were off the table. It's possible that he can bring them back around.
PAUL: Yes, an important note to make there. Kevin Robillard, we appreciate it so much. Thank you for being with us.
ROBILLARD: Good to be here.
BLACKWELL: Still to come, this reversal from former Vice President Joe Biden on abortion funding, is this evolution or pressure from Democratic rivals? And is this the final word on this from the Biden campaign?
PAUL: Also, police are working to determine what may have happened to a Connecticut mother who's been missing for two weeks, and there's a new aspect to their investigation this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are seizing and analyzing every piece of evidence, not only physical evidence, but hitting our witnesses, real people, and our electronic evidence. So, it's part of the complete investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: And the autopsy reports are back in the series of
mysterious deaths at a Dominican Republic hotel. Investigators are getting closer to figuring out what killed three American tourists.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:15:52] BLACKWELL: 15 minutes after the hour. Abortion rights are now at the center of the debate heading into the 2020 election. There's this new CNN poll out this week that shows that three in ten Americans would only vote for a candidate who shares their views on that issue.
PAUL: That's the highest percentage in any CNN poll, since 1996. And if you're wondering where all of the Democratic candidates stand on that, CNN's Natasha Chen shows us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With several states banning abortions, and much earlier stages of pregnancy than established by Roe v. Wade, 2020 Democratic candidates are coming forward in defense of abortion rights.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): People who are frightened are the ones who don't get access and that's just not right.
CHEN: Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Kirsten Gillibrand have called for Roe versus Wade to be codified into federal law.
SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): I think Kamala Harris had a good idea the other day.
CHEN: Harris is proposing the Department of Justice block what she called dangerous abortion restrictions in states pushing unconstitutional anti-choice legislation before they go into effect. Harris is also among a host of Democratic candidates who tweeted in support of repealing the Hyde Amendment which bans federal dollars from being used for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or where the mother's life is in danger. 15 states offer their own funding, for a wider range of abortion services, to Medicaid recipients. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports more than half of the women of child-bearing age on Medicaid do not qualify for most abortion services.
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): This assault on women's reproductive rights is an assault on women, but it is particularly an assault on African- American women.
CHEN: Joe Biden was the only candidate in the Democratic field who supported the Hyde Amendment until he changed his mind this week.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I believe health care is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone's zip code.
CHEN: On the Republican side of the race, President Donald Trump was for abortion rights in the '90s but is now against them. His administration imposed new restrictions Wednesday, on the use of fetal tissue, in scientific research. His only primary challenger, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, penned an op-ed last week defending a woman's right to choose. Natasha Chen, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: All right, let's bring back now: Senior Political Reporter for HuffPost, Kevin Robillard. Kevin, let's talk about this because we heard from the former vice president that he can no longer support Hyde. Then, we heard this from a senior adviser to the campaign, Symone Sanders, yesterday, listen to this exchange closely between Jim Sciutto and Symone Sanders on why Biden supported it for so long.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: For years, he's held a position that blocks out those women based on their zip code, justifying it by saying this is part of his religious beliefs, which is a fair argument to make. It's just that it's odd to say this is so deeply held, religious, emotional, philosophical, and then say well, actually, no longer.
SYMONE SANDERS, STRATEGIST: Well, I don't think he said no longer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So, if he didn't say no longer, what is the -- do we know what the final word is from the Biden campaign on the Hyde Amendment is?
ROBILLARD: It seems fairly clear, based on what Biden said in his speech on Thursday night, that Joe Biden no longer supports the Hyde Amendment.
BLACKWELL: So, what you hear from her saying, I don't think he said no longer, what does that mean?
ROBILLARD: I don't know. I mean, Biden has been very, very clear in the past that he does support the Hyde Amendment. If you go back and look at his 2007 book, when he wrote -- before he ran for president in 2008, he is quite proud of his position on abortion. He writes that he has held it even though both sides of the abortion debate have sort of battered it. He calls it the middle of the road position. And jokes that, you know, politicians who are in the middle of the road tend to get run over. And so, he was very proud that he's held this position for at that point, it was 30 years.
And really, that position held seemingly all the way up until Thursday night. It will be interesting to see how much this change of position hurts him, if at all. I don't think it will. I think probably the campaign will move on to a different topic soon enough. But it will be interesting to see if this is a pattern that Biden ends up following into, where the different campaigns, as issues, as positions he's held in the past come up, if he is going to apologize, if he is going to sort of swear off some of those old positions. Joe Biden has an extremely, extremely long record. He was in the senate for a long time
[07:20:21] BLACKWELL: So, I want to take these separately. First, the particularly of the Hyde reversal and then the broader question of that long record. First in the particular, there's this Quinnipiac poll that came up this week that shows former Vice President Biden ahead, really within the statistical margin of error, so a tie statistically, in Texas. Does this reversal, if he makes it to the general, take some of those states like Texas out of play?
ROBILLARD: That's a really interesting question. Because it's not quite clear how much middle ground there really is left in the abortion debate. And how much, you know, a Democrat like Joe Biden could hope to win over some Republicans at this point, by adopting, you know, that middle of the road position as he called it, where he imposes the Hyde Amendment. Right now, you know, there are still some pro-life Democrats left in the country. The Governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, is one of them, probably the most prominent. But there really isn't a ton of evidence that there are that many more voters that can be won over. If abortion is your central issue, and you oppose abortion rights you're probably going to vote for a Republican.
If it's your central issue and you support abortion rights, you're almost certainly going to vote for a Democrat -- and that's reflected also in the make-up of Congress. When Joe Biden first adopted this position in the 1970s, there were plenty in of pro-life Democrats in Congress, and there were decent number of pro-choice Republicans. At that point, that number has really dwindled. There are just a handful of pro-life Democrats and just a handful of pro-choice Republicans left in Congress. So, it's unclear how much that position that he held. First of all, whether or not people knew that he held it and how much that was helping him make gains in a red tinted state like Texas.
BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about the broader question here. The fumble here on the Hyde Amendment. The campaign has struggled in answering questions about his 1994 crime bill. I mean how concerned are people around the vice president, around this campaign, that the jockey who's been sitting on the horse for five decades looks to be a little uneasy in the saddle?
ROBILLARD: So, before Biden launched his campaign, I was talking with an ally of his, and they were a little, work on the campaign broadly. Because what they said is, it's not a great idea to wake up every morning to a new headline from the Wilmington News Journal, the big paper in Delaware, from 1975 -- about something Joe Biden did or said all the way back then. And I think that is something that you have to worry about with Biden, is the Democratic Party has changed a lot since when he first entered it, and it's changed in a lot of different ways. And so, some of positions he's held aren't going to be acceptable to the modern Democratic Party.
The one thing I will say is interesting, is he hasn't, this is really the only issue that has come up so far, where he has actually changed his position. On the crime bill, he's mostly stuck by, defended it, said it, you know, wasn't perfect but the Violence Against Women Act was in there, the assault weapons ban was in there, these were all things I supported, I supported increasing the number of cops. They've mostly defended his position on this. On this, it's more interesting, because it seems that the pressure really got to them a little bit more. And also, that the argument eventually got to him. They're basically saying Biden was won over by sort of making this a racial justice argument, an economic justice argument.
BLACKWELL: All right. Kevin Robillard, always good to have you.
ROBILLARD: Good to be on.
BLACKWELL: Christi.
PAUL: A former Air Force member who previously served time for sex offenses against juveniles has been charged in connection with the death of a 9-year-old child now. That was back in 1993. We'll tell you what is going on today.
[07:23:47] BLACKWELL: You know this. Farmers across the country are hurting. Rising flood waters, and the trade war with China, are affecting their livelihoods, what farmers say they want from the government, and what they don't want.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:27:42] BLACKWELL: Police say, a fifth teenager has been arrested in connection with an attack on a lesbian couple on a bus in London. A metro police announced that arrest today and four other teenagers were arrested yesterday on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.
PAUL: Now, one of women shared this image. Look at this. This was taken moments after the attack which was on May 30th. The woman says, she shared her story on Facebook, to raise awareness, and that in the aftermath, found out many of her friends had been harassed because of their sexuality.
Also, today, police searching for a missing Connecticut woman, are focusing now, their investigation, on her estranged husband and his girlfriend. We're talking about 50-year-old Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared two weeks ago.
BLACKWELL: According to the Hartford Current, the girlfriend of Dulos' estranged husband met with investigators Friday and they walked the wooded area behind the home that she shared with her boyfriend. CNN's Jean Casarez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As law enforcement continue their investigation into the disappearance of 50-year-old Jennifer Dulos, legal documents say something police won't say at this time, Jennifer Dulos was the victim of a crime. After last being seen on the morning of May 24th dropping her children off at school, hours later, a missing person report was filed. During the search of her home, police discovered multiple stains of blood on the floor, multiple areas of suspected blood spatter, and attempts to clean up the scene. They concluded Dulos was a suspected victim of a serious physical assault.
PETER WALSH, ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: The truth of it is, that people are all dealing with, with something that doesn't even seem real, and yet, it clearly is real.
CASAREZ: Reverend Peter Walsh, led community members at a prayer vigil after the mother of five went missing. While police focused on their investigation. Calling residents of New Canaan to ask for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As part of this timeline, we seek video surveillance from homes or businesses that have cameras which capture vehicular activity on roadways.
[07:29:50] CASAREZ: That timeline had law enforcement searching a busy street in Hartford, after city surveillance video showed what appeared to be her estranged husband -- Fotis Dulos depositing trash bags into garbage receptacle more than 30 stops in all. Hours after Jennifer Dulos went missing, a woman matching her girlfriend, Michelle Troconis's description is seen with him.
Clothes and a sponge from the recovered bags were confirmed to have Jennifer's blood on them. That led police to arrest Fotis Dulos and Troconis, charging them with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
After an initial court appearance, Troconis posted the $500,000 bond, Dulos did not and remains in jail.
Jennifer Dulos and her husband of 12 years have been embroiled in a divorce battle for the last two years.
In her original divorce filing, Jennifer told the court, "I am afraid of my husband. I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way." And claimed that he threatened to kidnap their children. Fotis Dulos denied it all to the court.
While police continue to conduct searches at properties he owns, they are also combing through mountains of trash for any evidence that can determine what really happened to Jennifer Dulos.
Jean Casarez, CNN, New Canaan, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Let's talk about this in this week's "LEGAL BRIEF". Criminal defense attorney Janet Johnson with us now. So, the new news this morning, Janet, is that they have taken the girlfriend who now seems to be cooperating. Initially, she was not, neither of them were. They have taken her to the house, they have taken her to the woods. Her presence here, is a game changer, is it not?
JANET JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: If I were defending him, I would be nervous. Because she's charged with the exact same things. And she's out on bond, she has met with her lawyer and with the authorities, and now she's gone back to the house where presumably she can tell them where evidence is.
It would make it impossible for him to say you should suppress this evidence because I didn't give any permission to search the house because it's her house too. She is certainly flipping on him and I think that's going to help the prosecution.
PAUL: So, let me ask you this though, the expectation is that they would turn on each other. I mean, that is not unusual. But what does she need in terms of evidence of proof of whatever she says to prove the incrimination as opposed to just, he said she said.
JOHNSON: Well, her words are evidence, Christi. I mean, people, you know, think its hearsay, and it wouldn't be admissible. Her words would be evidence, although, she has a motivation to try to save her own neck. But, you know, she also might claim, by the way, that she was abused, as well. Because that does seem to be a pattern with him.
But she probably knows where, you know, there might be bleach. Where there might be evidence that was used to first commit the crime, and then, you know, clean it up afterwards. And she's an eyewitness. She is someone who can say, "Yes, I did it as well, but here is what -- you know, I'm taking responsibility and here is what happened."
PAUL: All right. And Jennifer filed papers back in 2017, saying that photos was irrational unsafe, bullying, threatening, controlling behavior, that he threatened to kidnap the kids as we heard there. How important is it? Because you hear a lot of women say, listen, I filed documents and nothing happened, and I was still hurt. How important though now is it that she filed documented papers?
JOHNSON: Right, well, I mean, if something -- if they find a corpse, if it turns out that he's charged with murder, these could be words from the grave. I mean, imagine a prosecution where you have her own words talking about what he did to her. Those are powerful, powerful words. It's almost like she's testifying which you never have when somebody is deceased.
You know, it's a shame that nothing was done to keep her safe if it turns out that that's what happened. But, at least, she has documented what happened and that he was a threat.
PAUL: I want to get to this other story about this ex-Air Force member who previously served time for sex offenses against juveniles. Now, they're looking at him in a case of a 1993 death of a 9-year-old girl. How incriminating does it look for him? And how is it that somebody who had sex offenses against juveniles was still out?
JOHNSON: Right. I mean, you look at this new thing, could we have prevented this?
PAUL: Yes.
JOHNSON: Could the community have kept this child safe and is this the only child that was at risk? Today, Christi, if this happened, if this happen, if he was -- you know, served an 8-year sentence in Leavenworth, which he served. If he got out, would he be able to get away, go under the radar, and you know, we talked earlier about the 1994 crime bill. He probably would not be able to do that because of that bill.
He would have registered as a sex offender. He would have had a DNA sample which is what ultimately did convict him or did get him charged in this. He has been re-arrested on child pornography, which is why they got his DNA sample and then they matched it with DNA from the crime scene.
You know, it looks like it was perhaps a preventable crime if it turns out he's guilty. But today, we do have safety measures in place that I think would be less likely that it could have happened.
PAUL: Because they just weren't in place back then, Janet Johnson.
JOHNSON: Right, and right. Thank you, Christi.
PAUL: Yes. Thank you so much. Always appreciate your insight.
[07:35:02] JOHNSON: Thanks for having me.
PAUL: Absolutely. Victor?
BLACKWELL: A federal investigator say, they have connected a confessed serial killer to more than 60 -- six, zero -- 60 murders.
79-year-old Samuel Little is currently serving three consecutive life sentences for murder in California. And just last week, he was indicted in the deaths of two women in the Cleveland area from decades ago.
Now, according to the FBI, Little has confessed to killing more than 90 women in 14 states between 1970 and 2005. If confirmed, that would make little the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history.
PAUL: Well, the FBI is assisting now officials in the Dominican Republic as investigators are searching for what may have caused three American tourists to die within days of each other. What we're learning this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Officials in the Dominican Republic are waiting for toxicology results to determine the official causes of death of three American tourists who mysteriously died within days of one another.
PAUL: CNN's Rosa Flores has more from the Bahia Principe Hotel in the Dominican Republic. Look at this.
[07:39:43] ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Bahia Principe Hotel firing back Friday after getting negative attention following the deaths of three Americans in the Dominican Republic. We are awaiting toxicology results that will determine the cause and manner of death of those three Americans.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, we learn from the Attorney General's Office, the preliminary results of the autopsies which show the following.
Miranda Schaup- Werner who died on May 25th had a heart attack. The couple from Maryland, Nathaniel Edward Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day had internal bleeding of the pancreas and liquid in the lungs. All of this is under investigation and the official cause and manner of death have not been determined.
We gained access inside the hotel. We had learned from national police that Schaup-Werner stayed in room 55221. Take a look at these pictures, the outside of that room looks like every other room, the hallway looks normal. We were able to walk by and snap these photographs.
And then, we do have another development that might provide a little comfort to the grieving families, and that is that their government is involved in the investigation. The FBI is assisting with the toxicology tests. That after the Dominican Republic National Police asked for the FBI's assistance.
And finally, health inspectors were at the Bahia Principe Hotel on Thursday. And we are expecting the results of that inspection at any moment. Rosa Flores, CNN, La Romana, Dominican Republic.
PAUL: Rosa, thank you so much. And you know, there's some trouble in the U.S. for farmers. These historic flooding that we've been seeing in many parts of the country is taking such a toll.
Look at this video. I know it looks like a river. That's a farm. CNN talked to the farmer who owns that land. We're going to tell you what he's saying, next.
BLACKWELL: And this Sunday, on the United Shades of America, W. Kamau Bell visits Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most segregated city in America. The highlight why living while black can be so challenging. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
W. KAMAU BELL, STAND-UP COMIC, TELEVISION HOST When these workshops happen, sort of anti-blackness workshops, it feels like it's either black people showing up who are kind of like, "Yes, irony, aren't though?" Do you know what that mean? Or it's like white people showed up who are like, "Oh, my God, I never had any of these thoughts."
And it feels like, you know, if those people in the room together, one of them is not being served sometimes. Do you know what I mean?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we've learned is that a lot of the issues of other intersections of oppression become more real here. So, we focus on race. Yes, you can bring up that white people are problematic, but why we're talking about anti-blackness as black people play into that too, even you.
BELL: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so what does that mean in this space?
BELL: OK, and just for the record, as I came in here, one of the producers told me that you're related to Sonny Liston. I'm pretty proud of myself that I didn't ask any Sonny Liston questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, that's my great-uncle.
BELL: Yes, it's cool, yes. I'm not going to ask any questions because that's not what we're here to talk about.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, well, I represent though.
BELL: I like it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: "UNITED SHADE OF AMERICA" with W. Kamau Bell airs tomorrow night at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:47:18] PAUL: 47 minutes past the hour right now. And listen, U.S. farmers are having a heck of a time right now. Because first, they were so much concern about the president's trade war with China. Now, flooding is their issue.
BLACKWELL: Now, as this flood water continues to just really ruin some farms, St. Louis County, which is near historic levels. And farmers are worried they won't be able to make ends meet. CNN's Dan Simon spoke to one farmer affected by the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where are we at this exact moment?
ADAM JONES, FARMER: We are directly over my field, which I was going to plant soybeans in this year.
SIMON: Adam Jones is a fourth generation family farmer. His fields, which would normally be sprouting corn and soybeans, have turned into lakes.
It's pretty amazing to think that you might be in a tractor, and today you're in a boat.
JONES: Yes. And we're in four feet of water. So, it would be halfway up the wheel of a tractor.
SIMON: Yes, it's pretty -- it's pretty surreal.
And the latest round of flooding, Jones says, has diminished any hope of a viable product for hundreds of farmers. Many of whom had already been reeling from President Trump's trade war with China.
JONES: And we're not going to make any money this year. SIMON: Located in the small town of Old Monroe, north of St. Louis, Jones says the tariffs had already cut into his bottom line. With China slashing its purchase of American soybeans.
Though farmers have been promised government assistance, he doesn't know how much he might receive, and the notion of a bailout wears on his pride.
JONES: Farmers don't want a bailout. We don't -- we don't want government money. We just want a free market. Most farmers are still supporting President Trump, but I think it's wearing out. The flooding is obviously more difficult. The tariffs might be more frustrating because somebody has control over the tariffs.
SIMON: For now, his immediate concern is trying to save the house, built by his grandparents. These pumps said a homemade flood wall have mainly kept it dry. He says the water won't fully recede until July. Too late, he says, for any planting.
JONES: You don't get your food from the grocery store. You get it from the grocery store, but we're out here working our tails off to grow it for you, and we're having a pretty tough time.
SIMON: Yet, he says most farmers wouldn't have it any other way.
JONES: Farming is a fashion. It is what I love. I don't -- we don't farm for money. It's what I love. I mean, my dad does it and did it, my grandpa did it, my great grandpa did it, right here on this land. I'm fourth generation on this farm and I take pride in that. And I just have a passion for agriculture and unfortunately.
SIMON: Dan Simon, CNN, Old Monroe, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[07:50:00] BLACKWELL: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is downplaying the potential impact of climate change. How the secretary says modern society could adapt to environmental changes.
PAUL: And happy birthday Queen Elizabeth. She is celebrating her birthday today even though it's not really today. We'll take you to London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.
PAUL: Well, the Los Angeles County health department, says a seventh person with a confirmed case of measles traveled through Los Angeles International Airport. A seventh person. So, officials are working to identify any travelers who may have come into contact with that infected person, because now, they could be at risk.
BLACKWELL: And the number of measles cases in the U.S. has reached another high and could still climb. White House officials reportedly blocked an intelligence aid from submitting (INAUDIBLE) committee on the dangers of climate change.
According to the Washington Post, Rod Schoonover's testimony said human-caused climate change could be "possibly catastrophic". Well, that would contradict with the Trump administration's official stance on climate change.
In a recent interview with The Washington Times, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed climate change as a long-standing trend. He said modern societies adapt to a changing environment, possibly by moving to different places.
[07:55:15] PAUL: President Trump had this cryptic tweet on NASA's space mission. And a lot of people are trying to figure it out essentially, they're trying to decipher it.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
PAUL: "For all of the money we are spending," he wrote. "NASA should not be talking about going to the moon. We did that 50 years ago. They should be focused on the much bigger things we are doing, including Mars -- of which the moon is a part. Defense and science.
BLACKWELL: So --
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL: So, can you guess what part of this is confusing for people?
BLACKWELL: Yes. One of them, at least. In this tweet, the president appears to be backing off his earlier goal. This is -- this is the policy part of it. To put Americans back on the moon by 2024.
But NASA's administrator tried to clarify the sentence with the tweet of his own. He says this. "As POTUS said, NASA is using the moon to send humans to Mars." Nice cleanup job there to try, at least, of the president's tweet. Still plenty of questions.
All right, Queen Elizabeth is celebrating her birthday with the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony. She turn 93 years young in April. But according to tradition, she's celebrating that birthday today. And take a look at the festivities there. That's great, hundreds of soldiers and musicians are participating. And I know you're wondering, the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, yes, she was there in her first public engagement after the birth of her son, Archie.
So, the terror threat, it's no more. The president strikes a deal with Mexico.
BLACKWELL: Coming up, Republican Congressman Ted Yoho, joins us with his reaction to the agreement. Stay with us. NEW DAY continues after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:00:00]
