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New Day Sunday

Trump Working With Swedish Prime Minister To Free Grammy- Nominated Rapper; Ocasio-Cortez: Stop "Using The Words Of White Supremacists"; More Than 90 Million People At Risk Of Blistering Heat; Democrats Plan To Press On Trump's Alleged Crimes; GOP To Focus On Mueller's Team And Roots Of Investigation; Hundreds Of Bones Unearthed In A Vatican Cemetery In Search For Missing Teenage Girl; New Audio Reveals Iran-U.K. Captured Tanker Confrontation; Democrats Plan To Press Mueller On Trump's Alleged Crimes; EPA Refuses To Ban Pesticide Tied To Children's Health Problems; All Eyes On Ireland's Shane Lowry At The Open Championship; Forty-Year-Old Manny Pacquiao Earns WBA Title; Yankees' Luke Voit Gets Hit In The Face By 91-MPH Pitch; Cubs Fans Give Standing Ovation For Cool Breeze. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired July 21, 2019 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:16]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAKIM MAYERS, RAPPER: I take what's mine, then take some more --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The detention of an American rapper in Sweden amid assault accusations now has the direct involvement of President Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump tweeting Saturday that he called Sweden's prime minister and offered to personally vouch for his bail. Despite the Scandinavian country not having a bail system.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): There is an elevated safety issue that we now have thanks to the president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ocasio-Cortez said this White House rhetoric about immigration is not about immigration at all.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: If this president is actually serious about security, then he'll stop acting and using the words of white supremacists.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From New Mexico to New England, nearly 200 million people are sweating it out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disgustingly hot. I'm melting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting too old for this heat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY WEEKEND with Victor Blackwell and Christi Paul. VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning to you. No break from the heat today. Triple digit temperatures expected again as a dangerous heat wave scorches two-thirds of the U.S.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And we have this video showing Iranian forces rappelling from a helicopter to capture a British flight tanker. We just received as well the radio traffic from the moment that seizure went down. We're going to play that for you later this hour.

BLACKWELL: Also ahead, hundreds of bones have been dug up in a Vatican City cemetery as police try to find out what happened to a teenage girl who went missing more than 30 years ago.

PAUL: Good morning to you. We begin this morning with President Trump's international diplomatic efforts to free an imprisoned American.

MAYERS: I came, I saw, I came, I saw, I praise the Lord, then break the law. I take what's mine --

BLACKWELL: After being tipped off, he says, by the first lady, President Trump has been negotiating directly with the Swedish prime minister and plans another phone call soon.

PAUL: The Grammy-nominated rapper A$AP Rocky has been held for weeks after a street fight in Stockholm.

Boris Sanchez with us now.

So, Boris, we understand President Trump had this call with Sweden's prime minister. We understand another is planned. Is there any indication that his efforts are working?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: None yet, Victor and Christi. The Swedish prime minister's office put out a statement to CNN essentially drawing into question some of the president's tweets yesterday. The president ended those tweets saying he had spoken with Sweden's prime minister, that he was assured that A$AP Rocky would be treated fairly.

A$AP Rocky is of course being detained in Sweden over this brawl that took place in June. Under the Swedish legal system he doesn't have the possibility of getting bail. In his tweet the president sort of tries to offer some sort of vouch, a guarantee that A$AP Rocky is not a flight risk. He also suggests the two sides agree to speak again in the next 48 hours.

That spokesperson for the Swedish prime minister said that there is no such agreement in place but that they may potentially speak again in the future. They also essentially said that the Swedish prime minister told President Trump that A$AP Rocky would not be getting any sort of favorable treatment. That essentially, everyone is treated the same under Swedish law and that the prime minister's office is independent of the judiciary, so essentially President Trump trying to help A$AP Rocky here not really getting him any sort of special treatment from the Swedes.

This is yet another example though of President Trump sort of trying to intervene in legal matters when he's essentially told by someone close to him, in this case first lady Melania Trump, that he could do some good. Remember that he helped get a former prisoner released after being consulted with by Kim Kardashian West -- Victor and Christi.

PAUL: All right. Boris Sanchez, appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says the president's tweets and his words this past week have created safety issues for her and for minorities across the country.

PAUL: Yes. She was speaking at an immigration town hall in Brooklyn. And the freshman Democrat talked about the threats she's faced, particularly since President Trump's attack on her and three other Democratic congresswomen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OCASIO-CORTEZ: So, there is an elevated safety issue that we now have, thanks to the president. But more importantly, it's about our community. Because when he presides over that, what he's telling -- and frankly, when people air it, to be very frank, when they air these rallies just the raw footage live without real consequence, what you're doing is that you're telling thousands of people that that behavior is normal and OK.

[06:05:08]

And if this president is actually serious about security, then he'll stop acting and using the words of white supremacists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's bring Toluse Olorunnipa White House reporter for "The Washington Post" and CNN political analyst. Toluse, good morning to you.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, let's start here with the security threat. A Trump supporter was arrested in April for threatening to kill Representative Omar. Of course, there was Cesar Sayoc who mailed bombs to critics of the president.

We've heard from Democrats. We know the Capitol police are looking into it. But as it relates to the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill, how seriously are they taking what we're hearing from Representative Ocasio-Cortez?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, when it comes to the White House, we're not really hearing anything about tying the president to any of these threats. They've said in the past that whenever there are threats against Democrats, whenever the president supporters either threatened to take action or actually do take action, sometimes in the name of the president, sometimes espousing the same views of the president, the White House says, we can't be responsible for all of the people out there in the world who might do something crazy.

They say they have condemned violence. They say the president does not believe in violence or threats to any lawmakers. So, they distance themselves from it but they do not stop the president or rein in the president from making the types of comments that sometimes people may use as an excuse to commit violence or use it as an excuse to take action against any of these Congress members who the president has elevated and really shown to be, in his view, anti-American.

And when he says that, that really gives carte blanche to a number of people who want to take action and want to act on that behavior -- on that designation. When it comes to other lawmakers, other Republicans, they have tried to get to the president. They have tried to say that some of this language, some of these types of rallies, the send her back chant are over the line and they're not comfortable with it.

And they've had limited success. They were able to at least get the president to say that he disagrees with that chant but at the same time the president had said that his supporters who were chanting, send her back, about Ilhan Omar, the congresswoman from Minnesota, the president had said that these are people who love the country, who are great patriots.

So, if anyone in that crowd does take action, you would not be surprised if people make the link between the president's actions calling them great patriots, and their actions depending on how they behave. But all of these congresswomen are definitely seeing heightened security because of the president elevating them.

BLACKWELL: I read your piece, reaction from across the country to the send her back chants and the president's tweets and really the response from those four congresswomen. Has this week moved anyone across the line, Trump supporters, out of the fold, critics into -- to his camp? Has anybody move after the last seven days?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, the president's camps are very -- hardly defined at this point. There are people who are very strong supporters and there are people who under no circumstances will vote for the president. And after 2 1/2 years of his presidency, it's hard for any one thing to move people in one direction.

But this week did really strike a chord, specifically with people in the immigrant community, people who have heard, go back to where you came from chants. We spoke to "The Washington Post" people all across the country and there are a lot of people who said this really was an emotional response for them.

They've heard this in the past and the fact that it's coming from the White House, coming from the president means that they don't feel safe in their communities because they feel the president is giving other Americans the freedom to take that -- to use that kind of language against them. There are also people who support the president, who say they support 100 percent what he said. And they believe that these congresswomen are anti-American and they should leave the country. So, there are people who continue to support the president but there are a number of people who feel like what he said was beyond the pale.

BLACKWELL: So, let me ask you about A$AP Rocky. Not a conversation I thought we would be having on the show. But it has come now the center of the White House's attention at least. Is this just convenient timing for the president? I mean, while he is defending himself against people pointing out his racism, helping a black celebrity is just great timing for him? Is this the influence of Kanye and Kim West or is this something else?

OLORUNNIPA: I think, it's a confluence of all those things. The president did make a point to say that people in the African-American community had contacted him about this and he was responding. This is a president who likes to interject himself into pop culture issues because it gets him coverage and he likes to be a part of the mix, a part of the conversation.

He did have that relationship with Kanye West and he wanted to be able to show that that relationship is providing dividends for Kanye West, that he's intervening on behalf of his friend and supporter. But this seems to be an instance of the president realizing that by taking action he can get a lot of coverage.

[06:10:02]

This is sort of a bizarre situation where the president of the United States is, you know, appealed to by a rapper to help another rapper get out of custody in a foreign country. It's one of the bizarre type of situations that we have come to normalize in the Trump presidency. But he president realizes that because it's so out of the ordinary --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

OLORUNNIPA: -- he is able to get coverage for it.

BLACKWELL: And vouching for his bail when there's no bail system in Sweden. Toluse Olorunnipa, always good to have you.

OLORUNNIPA: Thanks.

PAUL: Well, there where will be -- I'm sorry to say no respite from the heat today. The dangerous heat wave that is scourging the country is continuing in the northeast. The Midwest though they're going to get a little bit of a break.

BLACKWELL: That's nice for them. And as the temperatures soar, more than 350,000 people are without power across Michigan. The heat indices are topping 100 degrees in Washington.

And also in New York. New York's John F. Kennedy Airport hit a record high of 99 degrees.

PAUL: CNN Meteorologist, Allison Chinchar with us now. Help us understand what we're going to expect say in the next 24 to 48 hours?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It's already starting this morning when you look at those morning low temperatures because in some spots they are still in the 80's. Boston for example is still 83 degrees right now. Yes, it's 6:00 in the morning and they're still 83 degrees.

Yesterday they only got down to 80. They never got any cooler than that. The forecast low this morning, they're only expected to drop about another degree or so.

If that is the case, if they cannot drop below 80 degrees, this will be the first time in recorded history that they have ever had two days in a single year where they have not been able to drop below that mark. Again, just goes to show you the extent of this particular heat wave.

Yes, we are starting to see at least a little bit of a reprieve from the heat in the upper Midwest but we still have areas along the Ohio and Mississippi Valley and especially the northeast stretching down into the Carolinas where you have those excessive heat warnings and even the heat advisories.

Here's a look at the feels-like temperatures yet again for today. D.C. getting to feels-like temperature of 110 yesterday. They're likely going to do that yet again today.

Philadelphia, New York, again, all looking at kind of covering awfully close to that 110 mark for the feels-like temperature. Now, remember that is the temperature plus the humidity combined. But even Boston they're going to have a feels-like temperature awfully close to triple digits for today.

Yes, we are going to get some relief because this cold front is going to slide through and once it does it's going to bring that cooler air behind it. The problem is that cold front is also going to bring the potential for some severe storms.

But here's a look at those temperatures. Again, look at this. You can see that cooldown here. Boston going from 98 today down to 73 on Tuesday. D.C. going from 98 today down to 75 on Tuesday. But again those severe storms that are associated with that cold front they do have the potential for damaging winds, large hail and even some isolated tornadoes for cities like Indianapolis, St. Louis, even stretching over to Kansas City as well as Denver.

And one more thing, just because it is that time of year, Victor and Christi, we've also got this to keep an eye out for. Right now only has about a 20 percent chance of developing but we are going to keep an awfully close eye on this tropical system because right now it is making its way towards Florida. And at the very least, it's likely to bring some very heavy rainfall to the area over the next five to seven days.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll watch out for it. Allison Chinchar, thank you. PAUL: Thank you.

Hundreds of bones unearthed in a Vatican cemetery. The latest in this investigation into a teenager who disappeared more than 30 years ago.

BLACKWELL: Plus, we just got the radio exchange between Iranian and British officials moments before British flag oil tanker was seized. Here's a little bit of it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you obey, you will be safe. If you obey, you will be safe.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:24]

PAUL: Well, this week a reluctant witness will be front and center in one of the most anticipated hearing in decades as former special counsel Robert Mueller answers questions before Congress. This, of course, on his report.

BLACKWELL: Democrats are intentionally preparing for it by watching hours of his past testimony while sharpening their questions and practice sessions. Here's CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent, Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): Lawmakers are intensely preparing for the most anticipated hearing in decades when special counsel Robert Mueller testifies about the findings of his two-year investigation.

Democrats and Republicans both sharpening their questions and their strategy as they hold mock hearings with top aides sitting in as Mueller. CNN have learned that Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee will focus on five areas of potential obstruction of justice laid out in the Mueller report, including Trump's order to then White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller, his efforts to have McGahn deny that the president have ordered him to have the special counsel removed.

Also Trump's order to foreign campaign manager Corey Lewandowski to tell the then Attorney General Jeff Sessions to limit the investigation to exclude the president and later threatening to fire Sessions if he did not meet with Lewandowski.

There are also episodes in the Mueller report of alleged witness tampering, including Trump encouraging former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen not to cooperate with federal prosecutors. REP. JERROLD NADLER (D-NY), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Just if he says what was in the report and says it to the American people so they hear it, that would be very, very important.

RAJU: Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee plan to press Mueller about the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election and contacts between Russians and the Trump campaign. And will ask Mueller about his finding that Trump publicly expressed skepticism that Russia was responsible for the hacks at the same time that he and other campaign officials privately sought information about any further planned "WikiLeaks" release of Clinton campaign emails.

(on camera): We can't go beyond the report.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well we're going to ask him questions beyond the report. We're going to expect him to answer.

RAJU (voice-over): With the stakes enormous, Democrats say they are preparing carefully, re-reading the entire 448-page report.

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): This is not going to be a whole bunch of numbers freelancing. This will be organized.

RAJU: Republicans, meanwhile, plan to press the special counsel about whether his team was biased as well as anti-Trump texts sent by FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page.

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): I mean we've got a lot of questions about how Robert Mueller's team was assembled.

RAJU: And they plan to raise questions about why the investigation started in the first place.

REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER: That is the basic questions of understanding the conclusion you got to understand where it started.

[06:20:03]

RAJU: But Mueller has already indicated he won't go beyond the four corners of his report.

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER ACTING FBI DIRECTOR: Director Mueller will be impeccably prepared. He's not a verbose and dramatic witness but he knows his stuff.

RAJU (on camera): But some Democrats are trying to lower expectations, including Jim Himes of Connecticut, who sits on the Intelligence Committee and told me he doesn't expect much news out of this hearing because of the expectation that the special counsel will simply stick to the report.

And also -- but other Democrats are saying it could drive more people towards the impeachment camp because of the special counsel even delivering the details from the report, people will hear it for the first time, their views could change about opening up an impeachment inquiry.

The question is where will someone like Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, ultimately come down. She of course has opposed opening up impeachment proceedings. She has privately told her members that to approach this calmly, seriously, don't raise expectations, don't lower expectations.

But at the moment, the expectations still oppose opening up an impeachment inquiry even after the special counsel testifies. Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: When we come back a cold case that's more than three decades old. We are live in Rome where hundreds of bones have been unearthed in a Vatican cemetery. Police search for a teenager who disappeared in 1983.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:03]

PAUL: It's pretty gruesome. Hundreds of bones have been discovered underneath the floors of a Vatican cemetery. Officials made that discovery yesterday, in fact.

BLACKWELL: Vatican officials have been searching for the daughter of an employee who disappeared 36 years ago.

CNN Contributor, Barbie Nadeau has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): The forensic teams ventured beneath the old floors of the Vatican's Teutonic Cemetery in search for new answers on Saturday. A new investigation into the search for Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old who mysteriously went missing 36 years ago led officials into two underground tombs where they unearthed hundreds of bones for examination.

The latest tombs are adjacent to two others that were searched last week. The Tomb of the Angel pointed to the tombs of two 19th century German princesses. But when the tombs were opened, no traces of human remains could be found. The reason, explained by the Vatican, was that the princesses' remains may have been transferred during construction in the '60s and '70s.

Orlandi's older brother, Pietro, who has been present through every step of the investigation, said it's his duty to look for her. The children of a Vatican clerk, the two of them used to run in the garden as, though, it was their playground. Nearby lies the cemetery that may hold the painful answers to his lifelong search.

Pietro told CNN to think if she was buried in the ossuary all these years just 200 meters from our house, it would be devastating. His sister's disappearance sparked conspiracy theories that included everything from Italian mobsters and international terrorists to the highest powers at the Vatican. No evidence has been found to support any of the rumors.

The Orlandi family has met with the last three popes, but this investigation is the first time the Vatican has allowed such a search on their property. And the new cooperation from the Vatican has given the family faith that they're not alone in their search for answers. While the recently unearthed bones cannot be considered evidence just yet, further studies next week will help steer the direction for everyone involved in this puzzling mystery.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Our thanks to Barbie Nadeau.

So, we have new audio recordings from the moment a British flagged oil tanker was captured by Iranian vessels. We will play more of it for you after the break, but here's a bit.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No challenge is intended. No challenge is intended.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you obey, you will be safe. If you obey, you will be safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I reiterate that as you are conducting transit passage in a recognized international strait, under international law, your passage must not be impaired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If no challenge is intended, no challenge is intended, I want to inspect the ship for security reasons, over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, that was the radio exchange between a Royal Navy ship Iranian Armed Forces vessels moments before a British-flagged tanker was seized.

Now, look at this video, because this is the first video of the moment the Stena Impero was seized. You saw the men there on board wearing masks.

PAUL: Iran says all 23 crew members onboard the ship are safe, that they're healthy and, quote, on their own vessels right now. CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance with us now. Do we know, Matthew, where this vessel is and where the crew, if the whole crew members, all of them are on this vessel and who they're with?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi, we've got a pretty good idea. The vessel, the Stena Impero, has been taken to an Iranian port just a short distance from here, actually, across the Gulf of Oman in a place called Bandar Abbas, which is an Iranian port on the southern coast of the Islamic Republic. It's a commercial port but it's also the main Iranian naval base as well. And we understand that the British-flagged oil tanker is being held there.

We also understand the crew are there as well. We believe they're still on board the vessel and have not been taken off, although obviously we're not there so we can't actually confirm that. We know that the company in charge of the ship, that owns the ship, has said it's been in contact with the insurers. The insurers have made contact with the port authorities Bandar Abbas, and the crew are in good condition. So that's one reassurance.

But what we're waiting for now is what the British government is going to do in terms of their next steps. Now, they've said they're in consultation with their partners, including the United States and others, to decide what steps to take. There is a possibility of sanctions. The British government has refused to rule that out at this stage. But they are saying they want to settle this diplomatically and not through military means.

At the same time, another British warship is being moved into the region. And given the sort of backdrop of escalating tensions in this Persian Gulf region, particularly with the United States and Iran, it's easy to see how this incident could spark off something much more violent. Christi?

PAUL: Matthew, is there any indication what Iran wants from holding this?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, it's a good question. I mean, I think the interpretation that we can make from it is that it wanted a bargaining chip. We have to remember earlier this month, the British seized a vessel carrying Iranian oil off the coast of Gibraltar. They said they did it through legal means because the ship, they believe, was carrying oil to Syria, in violation of European Union sanctions. So they're holding that now.

The Iranians are absolutely furious. They vowed retribution. They said they were going to do the same thing, and they seemed to have carried through with that and actually seized this British-flagged tanker on Friday. Now, they've got this really potent bargaining chip. So if there is a negotiation between the two countries, then it may well boil down to a simple swap. You give us our tanker back, or our oil back, and we'll give you yours, Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right, I'll take it. Matthew Chance for us there in the UAE. Thank you so much.

[06:35:00]

Democrats, they hope to change minds with their questioning of Robert Mueller this week. This is the hearing, the testimony that so many have been waiting for. Can that be done or have most minds already been made up on the conclusions of Mueller's report?

PAUL: Also, president Trump's CPA is making a ruling in favor of chemical manufacturers and farmers, but could it come at the cost of your child's health? We have more on that.

BLACKWELL: And our new original series The Movies continues tonight with the 2000s, from the Dark Knight to Gladiator, Monsters Inc., here from the actors, the directors, the people who brought you your favorite scenes brought into light. Get the stories behind the movies you love. The Movies airs tonight at 9:00 right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour right now, and Democrats are making it clear they will not be handling Robert Mueller with kid gloves this week when he testifies. Here's what Congressman Adam Schiff said about Mueller's belief that the report should speak for itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): He has made it clear that he doesn't want to go beyond the report. And I want to make it clear that is a choice that Bob Mueller is making. That is not required by law. That is not required by regulation. It is not required even by DOJ policy, although the DOJ says otherwise. That is a choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:34:58]

PAUL: Joining me now, Guy Smith, former Clinton White House Adviser. He served as Special Adviser to the President during his impeachment, and CNN Political Analyst, Julian Zelizer, Historian and Professor at Princeton University.

Gentlemen, I'm so glad to have both of you with us.

Guy, I want to start with you, because you have said this testimony will be, quote, a seismic political spectacle that will politically damage President Trump. What specifically do you believe we're going to hear that we don't already know about this report?

GUY SMITH, FORMER CLINTON WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Well, what we're going to see is people who have never read the report, which is most everybody, and they have only heard President Trump and the Attorney General say he's been exonerated, which it does not do.

So what's going to happen is that they're going to be hearing Robert Mueller in his own words say the President obstructed justice. The American people have not read this thing. This is 440 pages. And people, they listen to the media, Trump says he's been exonerated. There are four words in here that say this, does not exonerate him.

Now, what's going to happen is there isn't going to be a bombshell. What's going to happen is that this is going to chip away at Trump's base. This is why he's so scared. This is why all this racist stuff started this last week. It's a distraction.

He knows that there's going to be a lot of bad stuff and the American people are going to start to say, oh, my God, I had no idea it said this. And this is going to continue to chip away at his base, not the people that wear the red hats that stand behind him, but like white women in suburbs, independents.

And remember, he gets good ratings among Republicans, but Republicans are only one quarter of the electorate. Independents are the most of the electorate and he's losing among the independents. That's why his campaign went so crazy about the polls about a month ago. They know they're in trouble.

PAUL: So, Julian, to Guy's point, yes, he said he wasn't exonerated, but also did not say the President obstructed justice. So my question to you is -- we heard from Adam Schiff there. He told Manu Raju earlier, the Democrats will ask Mueller questions that bleed outside the scope of this report, and they do expect him to answer. He, obviously, putting it out there that, look, it's his choice if he's not going to do it, but we're going to do our job, is basically what he's saying.

Mueller vowed he's not expounding beyond this. What do you think we're going to learn that may be new?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think we're going to learn almost anything that's new. I think the point is to hear him say it, to turn this from a written document into an oral document and an oral document to the author.

So the potential impact is in an era of television and social media, seeing Robert Mueller and hearing him make the case about why there was a lot of bad evidence in his report about what the President has done could be damaging.

That said, I think there're limits to what's going to happen. Congress is going into recess, Speaker Pelosi is very clear that impeachment is not on the table, Republicans have lined up behind the President and we're in the middle of the summer. So, if there's an effect, I think it is more long-term than anything dramatic happening in the next few weeks.

PAUL: And, Guy, I wonder if that's the plan here. My question is, what's going to play out in this hearing? Is this more about the 2020 election more than anything at this point?

SMITH: Yes, I agree with Julian. I don't think this is going to happen and then there's going to be a call for impeachment. There will be some more Democrats that will say they want an impeachment inquiry to begin, but I don't think that suddenly the Congress is going to go to impeachment.

I think what this will be is a continual drip, drip, drip of negative political attention on what President Trump has done, the malfeasance that is right there in the report but nobody has seen it. And when they see the movie, when they see Robert Mueller live on television saying, yes, this report does not exonerate him. Yes, he didn't criminally conspire with Russians but the Russians helped him. He knew about it and didn't tell anybody. Americans will not think that is okay.

PAUL: Julian, I want to listen together to Jeffrey Toobin when he was asked about the effectiveness of the prep work that's going on amongst Democrats for this hearing. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's better than not preparing.

[06:45:00]

But what they're not doing is what good congressional committees have done throughout congressional history, which is give the questioning to lawyers who know how to ask questions.

In the Senate Watergate Committee, the famous, you know, Sam Ervin Committee, in the Iran-Contra Committee. The lawyers did most of the initial questioning so they could establish a narrative. Here, you're going to have five minutes of Democrats, five minutes of Republicans. It's going to be very hard to tell a story that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And Guy referred to this as well, telling the story, turning the book of what is this report into a movie to engage the public and see if it understands it. If this movie does not captivate the public, what's the payoff?

ZELIZER: Well, the payoff on the one hand is just accountability and putting this case to the public one more time so we understand what happened in this presidency. There is a value historically to doing this. But, again, the payoff is really at this point no longer whether impeachment inquiries will happen but creating a record for Election Day in terms of what Americans are voting for.

PAUL: And, Julian, can they tell the story in the way that, you know, Jeffrey Toobin just talked about in five minutes for dems and five minutes for Republicans?

ZELIZER: I think it's going to be incredibly difficult. It wasn't just that lawyers were part of the Ervin Committee hearings. Those were over a long period of time, they were very methodical, there were several sets of Watergate hearings. So Congress really invested in telling the story. This time around, so far, Congress has not been part of this process.

PAUL: Guy Smith, Julian Zelizer, we appreciate you both so much. Thank you time for us today.

SMITH: Thanks a lot.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

PAUL: Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: The EPA has announced it will not ban a pesticide linked to serious health problems in children. Now, this is a victory for the chemical industries and farmers. Both have lobbied to continue using the product. Rene Marsh has the full story.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: So, Victor and Christi, two big wins for chemical manufacturers in just the last two weeks. This week, the EPA decided not to ban chlorpyrifos. That's a widely used pesticide that scientists say is associated with neurological problems in children, potentially resulting in lower I.Q.s disorders like ADD and autism.

Now, the EPA says environmental groups actually failed to provide sufficient evidence to support banning this pesticide. The agency said that it will continue an ongoing review and make its next determination about the pesticide by 2022.

Now, the EPA banned it for household use. That was back in 2000. But it was still allowed for agricultural use. So this pesticide is already being used on our fruits and vegetables. A ban was initiated under the Obama administration, but that was then reversed once President Trump took office.

And just last week, the agency approved the expanded use of a pesticide that's also known to be highly toxic, this time to bees. Sulfoxaflor will be allowed for use on some crops for the very first time in areas where under the Obama administration it was prohibited.

Now, the EPA says that the pesticide is the only product that can protect crops to prevent economic losses with limited environmental impact, but scientists say both of these moves are prime examples of the EPA operating counter to science and putting the interest of the chemical lobby ahead of public health. Victor and Christi?

PAUL: Rene, thank you so much.

And coming up, Cubs fans gave a standing ovation at Wrigley Field. It wasn't for anything that happened on the field though.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the 50th anniversary of Tranquility Base, a multinational crew has pulled into port at the International Space Station.

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BLACKWELL: And that's happening 50 years after the Americans walked on the moon. The team included an astronaut from the U.S. and one from the European Space Agency, along with a Russian cosmonaut.

PAUL: Well, the expedition will last until October 2nd.

BLACKWELL: The final round of the British Open is happening right now in Northern Ireland, and it's a local golfer who is taking control of the tournament.

PAUL: Andy Scholes is here with more on this morning's Bleacher Report at the (INAUDIBLE). We are watching it. I couldn't take my eyes off the scenery.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: The scenery?

PAUL: The scenery is taking --

SCHOLES: Sceneries, like the weather, not great. You know, the British Open weather is never very good. But, guys, you know, when the tournament started, you know, all eyes were on, you know, Rory McIlroy. He grew up in Northern Ireland. He the favorite because played the course, Royal Portrush, all the time growing up.

But no one is really talking about his fellow Irishman, Shane Lowry. But I'll tell you what, they are now, Lowry, an incredible third round, eight birdies and no bogeys on the day for him. And with Rory missing the cut, all the fans, they are now pulling for their guy, Lowry, to win his first Major.

Yes, Lowry was getting chants up and down the golf course. At 16 under, Lowry has the lowest three-round score in Open Championship history. And he said, Saturday, well, it was the most special day of golf he's ever had.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANE LOWRY, IRISH PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Honestly, that's the most incredible day I've ever had on the golf course. It's -- I honestly can't explain what it was like. I set the ball walking off to the 17th tee, I said, we might never have a day like this on the golf course again, so let's enjoy this next half-an-hour.

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SCHOLES: Yes. Lowry takes a four-shot lead into the final round, which has already started this morning. Tee times moved up today because bad weather is on the way. They could have wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour later today. Lowry and the leaders are going to tee off at about 8:45 this morning.

All right, at 40 years old, Manny Pacquiao is champion again, Pacquiao defeating 30-year-old Keith Thurman by a split decision in Las Vegas last night, handing Thurman his first loss ever.

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Pacquiao now the oldest Welterweight Super World Champion in boxing history, he said he hopes to fight again next year. But for now, he's returning to the Philippines to be in the Senate when it goes back into session.

Now, one guy that could easily take a punch from Pacquiao, Yankee's First Baseman Luke Voit. Watch this. Voit is going to take a 91-mile- an-hour fastball from the Rockies' Chad Bettis right off the face.

PAUL: Oh, my gosh.

SCHOLES: And somehow, Voit doesn't even go to the ground. You take another look, gets him right in the chin. He just walked to first base. Voit would stay in, score a run, but he would then leave the game. He was tested for a concussion. And actually the results came back clear.

All right, finally, the heat wave making it rather miserable at baseball games all over the country this weekend, but this was great. Fans at Wrigley, they were baking in the stands with it being 96 degrees. But a wind shift occurred in the seventh inning dropping the temperature all the way down to 80. And when the wind shifted occurred and started blowing in, all the fans stood up and started cheering and gave Mother Nature, guys, a big standing ovation. Isn't that great?

PAUL: Oh, my gosh.

SCHOLES: I've never seen it before, I don't think. Just the wind changing direction and everyone recognizing it and giving a big standing ovation all together, that was great.

BLACKWELL: That was fantastic.

PAUL: The wind there, the wind at the Open, anyway, that's like my excuse on the golf course, when the wind -- it was the wind. The wind messed everything up.

BLACKWELL: I can't believe that man was hit in the face by 91 miles an hour.

SCHOLES: And didn't go down. It would have killed me.

BLACKWELL: That would have been the end of my week.

PAUL: Pretty much. Thank you.

So right now, more than 90 million people are being told to stay inside as this dangerous heat wave grips more than half of the country.

BLACKWELL: How long this scorcher will last? The next hour of New Day starts after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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