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Eleven Days Away: CNN To Hold Presidential Debate On June 27th; Police: Random Shooting At Michigan Splash Pad Injures Nine; Evacuations Near Los Angeles As Fast-Moving Wildfire Grows. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 16, 2024 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has to face here. Give him a single, he does like to mingle and my favorite jingle is the S to the N double O, no. No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just run it out. Run it out. Run it out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough to rhyme orange, how about Jackson Cheerio?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cheerio. Oh Lord. Here-yo. Life is stereo with my main man, Jackson Cheerio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, good hit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a good hit. That's a good hit. He can get there. He can get there. Oh, foul ball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I am calling it. Mom, look, I made it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Oh, he's good. Maybe this is the warm up for Paris. NBC Sports just announced earlier this year that he would be a special correspondent during the coverage of the Olympic Games.
[15:00:53]
Well, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday and Happy Father's Day to everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
The countdown to a pivotal moment in the 2024 election is quickly approaching. We are just 11 days away from the first presidential debate, which will be hosted right here on CNN. As that showdown nears, the 2024 campaign is kicking into high gear as both candidates hit the road this weekend to raise money and push their messages.
Former President Trump traveling to the battleground state of Michigan, where he made a fresh appeal to Black voters at a community roundtable in a predominantly Black church in Detroit.
He also spoke at a conservative conference where he baselessly cast doubt on the 2020 election as a way to attack the 2024 election. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The radical left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020 and we are not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Listen, we don't need votes. We've got more votes than anybody has ever had. We need to watch the vote. We need to guard the vote. We need to stop the steal.
We want a landslide that is too big to rig.
Make a plan to vote either by mail or early in person or on election day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Meantime, President Biden traveling to Los Angeles for a fundraiser with former President Barak Obama and some of Hollywood's biggest stars. The event raised a Democratic record of $30 million, but his war chest isn't the only headline emerging from that event.
Biden delivered stark warnings about a Trump presidency and he harshly criticized the US Supreme Court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees, two more, two more.
He has already appointed two that have been very negative in terms of the rights of individuals. The idea that if he is re-elected, he is going to appoint two more flying flags upside down.
The Supreme Court has never been as out of kilter as it is today.
Look, the fact of the matter is that this has never been a court that has been this far out of step.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now to talk more about all of this is Charlie Dent, he is a former Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania, and also joining us is Meghan Hays, she is a former special assistant to President Biden and served as the White House director of Message Planning.
Great to see both of you.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Thank you.
CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be with you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Charlie first off to you, Happy Father's Day.
DENT: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: So what do you make, Charlie, of Trump continuing to push false claims about the 2020 election and now warning his voters about the 2024 election also being rigged.
DENT: Well, this is nothing new. Donald Trump is the only person in my lifetime who said the election was stolen in 2021 and 2016, and again, of course, in 2020, he said it was stolen from him even though it was not.
And so, there is nothing new here. He is saying it is going to be stolen in 2024. I guess, that is an assumption that he is going to lose, that is his assumption and he has people like Steve Bannon out there right now thinking all sorts of apocalyptic threats about there will be all kinds of terrible consequences if Trump loses.
Victory or death, I think is the line they've been using -- he has been using.
So this is nothing new. It is expected, and it is going to be an ugly election season, and I mean, I'd be more worried about what happens after the election.
WHITFIELD: Right, especially with those ominous words from Steve Bannon, victory or death. I mean, what in the world?
Meghan, I mean, should President Biden respond to Trump's warnings that Democrats are trying to steal the 2024 election or just move on?
HAYS: I mean, just move on, right? Like this is what he has been saying since 2020, the election was stolen as well. He also recently said the 2016 election was stolen and it is like, no, you actually won, so I am getting confused by that, but here we are.
So, I mean, just move on. I think that President Biden's best bet is just to continue to draw the policy contrast here and what he will do in the next four years and continue to draw a contrast with former President Trump to get people to turn out so we don't have this issue again.
[15:05:07]
WHITFIELD: And Charlie, I mean, let's talk about some of the money being raised. President Biden, I mean, he raised $30 million at that Hollywood fundraiser this weekend, where he also, in addition to taking in that money for his war chest, he also attacked the US Supreme Court, calling it off kilter and also reminded the audience there that the next president may get to seat two justices.
So how influential to voters might that be?
DENT: Well, I am not sure what Joe Biden has to say about the Supreme Court will really make a bit of difference as to what the Supreme Court is doing. I mean, it is clear to me, obviously, the Supreme Court is experiencing some real difficulties. They need a code of conduct or a code of ethics, maybe they should just simply adopt whatever the standards are for other federal judges and apply them to the Supreme Court.
That said, Biden is correct in that there could be a few vacancies in the next term, but again, that is not going to affect what any of these justices do.
We all remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg, probably stayed in the court a few years longer than she should have and then of course, Trump was able to replace her.
I suspect some of the Democrats would prefers some of the older Democratic justices to think about stepping down while Biden is still in office, and they still have nominal control of the Senate, but again, I don't think anything that Biden says will make a difference to the Supreme Court justices' retirement plans.
WHITFIELD: And Meghan, can you know, it is clear the overturning of Roe v. Wade and abortion rights, reproductive rights is a big motivator for our Democratic and Independent voters. Do you think the appointment or the nomination of potentially two more Supreme Court justices will motivate voters to choose him?
HAYS: Yes, I mean, I think that means that Trump would have nominated five different justices and that those people will have control of the Supreme Court for the next 30 or 40 years. That is a huge, huge time block that our justice system will be changed and our policies will be changed forever.
I think that people really do need to look at things like Roe v. Wade being overturned and think of who they -- you know, elections have consequences, and unfortunately the Supreme Court and the two potential nominees for the Supreme Court are really consequential to the future of our country.
WHITFIELD: Charlie, while in Detroit, Trump also made a push for Black voters by holding a roundtable at a predominantly Black church where he focused heavily on crime and law enforcement.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The crime is most rampant right here, and in African American communities.
We don't want to get robbed and mugged and beat up or killed because we want to walk across the street to buy a loaf of bread.
But the Black population wants law enforcement more than any other population.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Charlie, is that going to work?
DENT: Well, I think it is actually a very smart political play. Clearly, Joe Biden has experienced some erosion of support from the African American community and Trump is benefiting by that and this game is going to be won in the margins.
Of course, Joe Biden is going to win the African American community by a large margin, but not by a large enough margin. So anything Trump can do to cut in into that Black vote, I think is smart and I think focusing on crime is a good issue because in many of these major cities, we have seen, and many African Americans do want a more robust law enforcement presence.
And so I think, it is a smart play, whether or not it will be effective at the end of the day, who knows? But at least so far, Trump seems to be making some inroads with Black and especially Hispanic Americans.
WHITFIELD: Meghan, is that the kind of messaging you would advocate for Trump? Black communities want more law enforcement.
HAYS: No. I mean, again, I don't think that Black voters or Latino voters vote in a monolith. I think that there are many and they're not -- they've not had the luxury historically of being single issue voters. So I do think that some folks are worried about crime and funding for police, that's one voting bloc. I understand that.
But I do think that President Biden has really strong record to run on with the things he has done for the Black community and I think that just does needs -- that message probably needs to get out there more. But I don't think that answering a question about entrepreneurship with crime and how you're going to enforce defending crime in different communities, I don't think that's a good thing for Donald Trump to do.
But I also don't think having an event at a Black church with a bunch of White people and very few Black people there is a good thing either.
WHITFIELD: Meghan Hays, Charlie Dent, we will leave it there for now. Thanks so much.
DENT: Thanks, Fredricka.
HAYS: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, hopefully you'll be tuning in Thursday, June 27th. That's the most anticipated moment of this historic election season and stakes could not be higher. Join CNN as President Biden and former President Trump meet for their first debate.
Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderate the CNN Presidential Debate live from Atlanta beginning at 9:00 PM Eastern and streaming on Max.
And now, we are learning new details about a terrifying mass shooting in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Saturday. Nine people were shot in a random attack at a splash pad park, including two brothers, four and eight years old and their mother.
[15:10:08]
Authorities say a gunman pulled up to the Brookland's Plaza splash pad and opened fire on unsuspecting families and opened fire 30 times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN JAMES (R-MI): Under no circumstances is it normal for ice cream cones and flip-flops to be strewn amongst blood and bullet casings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN national correspondent, Gloria Pazmino, has the latest.
Gloria, the White House too says, it is working with local law enforcement on this case. What are you learning?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. President Biden has been in touch with local officials there and has offered his support.
A total of nine people sustaining gunshot wounds, ranging in ages from eight years old, four years old, and 78. These were families and young children that were gathered for Saturday of play at the local splash pad. This took place in the Rochester Hills section of Michigan.
We are learning a little more about the victims, including that group as you mentioned, all members of the same family, a four-year-old boy was shot in the leg and an eight year-old boy sustained gunshot wounds to the head. He remains in critical condition along with a woman believed to be their mother. She is 39 years old. She was shot in the stomach and her leg as well.
Now, Fred, we are learning more about this suspect. Police identified him earlier today. He is Michael William Nash from Shelby Township. He is 42 years old.
And police tell us, is that this shooting appears to have been random. He drove up to the splash pad, got out of his vehicle and started firing multiple rounds, at least 28 shots were fired. He reloaded that weapon multiple times, then fled the scene, barricaded himself in inside his mother's home. That is where police responded to.
They were able to contain him inside that location. There was a standoff between the suspect and police, and what you're seeing there is video taken by a drone that was deployed into the house.
Police tell us they believe this is the weapon that was used. You can see its sort of military style assault rifle that was used in this shooting which would explain the large number of times that he was able to fire and the fact that he was able to reload multiple times. So far, we have not learned anything about the motive. As I said, police saying, it appears to have been random and witnesses talking about how chaotic it was when they first heard the shots. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERYL DELCOTTO, WITNESSED THE SHOOTING: We were sitting on the patio and we heard -- we heard what we thought was firecrackers and it was -- I guess it was gunshots because we -- because we heard people screaming like "Help us. Help us."
So we ran around. I called 911.
I've seen people lay on the ground. I've seen a guy who was shot in the stomach who was sitting on a chair, an older man, and I've seen this guys like, "Where's my --
His son was coming down on the stretcher, blood all over his face and it was -- it was scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAZMINO: Fred, police says that the suspect was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside that home. His mother was not home at the time, and the last thing I will mention, Fred, is this is a community that was impacted by gun violence yesterday, but this is also home to the Oxford High School shooting, which took place back in 2021.
So many of these different communities across the entire country impacted by gun violence. Here, we have, once again, this community reeling from this shooting once again, and really, it just sounds like a complete miracle that more people were not injured and that no one was killed.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Still very sad on what is supposed to be a fun Father's Day weekend.
All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.
On to Texas now, where a deadly shooting took place last night. This one taking place at a Juneteenth celebration. Two people are dead and multiple others injured, including two children when police say a fight broke out between two groups of people, and this happened in Round Rock, Texas, which is about 20 miles north of Austin.
According to police, the two victims who died at the scene were innocent bystanders. Police are still searching for a suspect.
[15:15:00]
Musician and Texas native, Paul Wall, performed at the Juneteenth celebration about an hour before the shooting. He posted on Facebook: "Prayers up for Round Rock. This truly hurts my heart." And wind warnings are up for parts of Los Angeles County as firefighters scramble to slow down a fast-moving wildfire. We are live as helicopters use a local lake to help put out the flames.
Plus, supporters of former President Trump say, he is not a threat to democracy because they say America is not a democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you concerned if Trump loses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: That there will be another January 6?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I think there will be Civil War. That's what I think will happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:20:25]
WHITFIELD: We are tracking a dangerous wildfire that is rapidly growing in Los Angeles County. The Post Fire has burned through more than 12,000 acres and forced at least 1,200 people to evacuate a state park.
Let us bring in CNN's Camila Bernal, who is near the evacuation zone in Gorman, California.
Camila, how fast is this wildfire spreading?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is incredibly fast, Fred, and its only two percent contained at the moment. That's the problem that there is still so much work to be done here.
And what the crews are doing, you see them here behind me is that they are trying to create these fire lines, trying to keep this fire from growing any further.
I want to show you just up the hill near where I am. There is still a lot of these hotspots. This entire area has been scorched by this fire and up at the top of the hill, you see you crew there, they are working to clear a lot of this terrain, essentially using hand tools and chainsaws to get it out of the ways so that it doesn't spread as quickly.
You mentioned those evacuations. Already, 1,200 people have been told to evacuate. There are also others under evacuation warnings. This is between Pyramid Lake and Gorman, and authorities saying you just have to be ready in case you have to leave.
Take a listen to what the LA Fire Department is saying about this fire. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG LITTLE, LA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: So, along with that 10,500 acres burned, we have zero containment at this point. We have numerous resources in place.
We have Los Angeles County, we have Ventura County, Kern County, Angeles National Forest and Cal Fire arrived this morning.
The winds are probably going to be the biggest factor in battling this blaze. We are going to have gusts as high as 60 miles per hour, but that would not be a constant.
Mostly, we are going to say an average about 24 mile per hour winds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNAL: And that wind is really the huge concern for firefighters. We are also seeing a lot of water drops, just resources in the air and on the ground as these crews work to try to get that containment.
But again, so far, it is just at two percent -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And Camila, the Los Angeles County and Ventura County Fire Departments are warning residents about stronger winds and higher temperatures. So might there potentially be more evacuation orders?
BERNAL: Yes, it is always possible. The red flag warning is in place until tomorrow afternoon. We are talking high temperatures, very low humidity, and the problem with the winds is that right now, throughout the day, we are going to experience 45 to 55 mile per hour wind gusts and overnight, that is the biggest concern because you can see 60 to 70 mile per hour wind gusts and that spreads those fires really quickly -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Camila Bernal, thank you so much.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:27:42]
WHITFIELD: New today, Israel implementing a new daily tactical pause for humanitarian aid this weekend. That pause is now over for today. The IDF says, it will open the route daily from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the European hospital in Khan Younis. Israel says, there are more than a thousand truckloads of supplies standing by at the crossing.
CNN's Oren Liebermann is live for us from Haifa, Israel. Oren, has the fighting intensified since this latest tactical pause ended?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has certainly continued. It is not clear if it has intensified, but we should get a better sense of that in the coming days here as the tactical pause takes place.
It starts at 8:00 AM and goes until 7:00 PM. So for 11 hours a day along a very specific route, if we can show this picture, it is from the Kerem Shalom Crossing, one of the only operational crossings at this point where there are a thousand trucks waiting at what has become a bottleneck, and that aid will flow into Gaza towards the northwest end to the European hospital with the desperately need for it throughout Gaza.
The UN says some 50,000 children are suffering from malnutrition. That, on top of concerns of sanitation, sewage, famine, especially in Northern Gaza. So this humanitarian aid is desperately needed. This tactical pause is part of getting it in from the place where it is being held up it seems.
WHITFIELD: And then Oren, the IDF's chief-of-staff said today that there is a "clear need" for military recruitment of Ultra-Orthodox Jews who are currently exempt from military service. Tell us more about that.
LIEBERMANN: Fredricka, it was a very interesting statement and quite surprising frankly to hear it from the IDF chief-of-staff, especially now, and that is because, of course, Israel's military has been fighting in Gaza four eight plus months, and the soldiers are frankly exhausted.
So there is a need for more manpower and the easiest way to tap some of that manpower is to draft after conscript part of the Ultra- Orthodox population. But the reason this is important is it is one of the few issues that has a chance to truly threaten the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
He has effectively kicked this can down the road, trying to maintain the status quo of this exemption, even as the high court here effectively, Israel's Supreme Court has said this burden needs to be shared across society.
But if the government would have passed something that drafted more Ultra-Orthodox soldiers, it could effectively force the Ultra-Orthodox leaders who are opposed to this to withdraw and collapse the government.
[15:30:10]
That is why this is such a political hot button issue. So it is fascinating to see the IDF chief-of-staff jump in and say, look it is not fair and there needs to be a greater sharing of a tremendous burden across society and that is truly something that resonates here across much of the state of Israel.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Okay. Oren Lieberman, thank you so much in Haifa, Israel.
All right, back in this country, some Trump supporters say America is not a democracy and they're okay with it.
Hear from them, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:35:19]
WHITFIELD: President Biden touts his re-election campaign as a fight to preserve democracy, but if you ask some Trump supporters, the former president is not a threat to democracy because they insist the United States is not on a democracy.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan spoke to some of those supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: What happens if Trump loses?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see him losing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think he lost the last election to be honest.
O'SULLIVAN: You think he's going to win?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Without a doubt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No doubt.
O'SULLIVAN: You want if he doesn't this time? What happens to the country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're in trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are done. We're done.
Biden talks about democracy, you know, saving democracy. They are the ones that are killing democracy.
O'SULLIVAN: Obviously, there is a lot of criticisms of Trump that he is bad for democracy, that he is bad for American democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I say something?
O'SULLIVAN: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are a Republic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a Republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not a democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a Republic. We are not or democracy.
O'SULLIVAN: One thing we've been hearing at Trump rallies like this over the past few months, is that America isn't really a democracy. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America is not a democracy, it's a Republic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, it is not a democracy. Okay, democracy is actually not as good as you think it is.
O'SULLIVAN: But for centuries, America has celebrated its democracy.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy is worth dying for.
GEORGE BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy remains the definition of political legitimacy.
O'SULLIVAN: But some Republicans and pro-Trump media are pushing the idea that America is not a democracy.
WILL CAIN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST, "FOX & FRIENDS" WEEKEND: The United States of America is not a democracy. We are a Constitutional Republic.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The United States of America is not a democracy. You don't want to be in a democracy.
PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST, "FOX & FRIENDS" WEEKEND: We are not a democracy. We are a Republic.
O'SULLIVAN: Is America a democracy?
ANNE APPLEBAUM, AUTHOR, "AUTOCRACY INC.": America is a democracy. It was founded as a democracy.
O'SULLIVAN: I've heard a lot of conspiracy theories. I hear a lot of things out on the road. But to hear Americans, people who would describe themselves as patriots say that America is not a democracy. That stopped me in my tracks.
APPLEBAUM: You are hearing people say America is not a democracy because there are people around Trump who want them to be saying that, who have been planting that narrative.
O'SULLIVAN: Is America a democracy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, not right now. Yes, we are a republic.
O'SULLIVAN: What is the difference?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like democracy, let me think this through -- that is government. I don't see freedom in democracy. I see freedom in the republic.
APPLEBAUM: Honestly, the word democracy and the word republic have often been used interchangeably. There isn't a meaningful difference between them.
O'SULLIVAN: So much of the warnings and criticism about Trump is that he is a threat to democracy, that he is anti-democratic.
APPLEBAUM: Absolutely. If they can convince people that we don't have a democracy, then it is okay that Trump is attacking democracy because it doesn't really matter.
O'SULLIVAN: So why, like why has democracy become a bad word?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it is being used in a way change the flavor of our country, which is a republic.
APPLEBAUM: These words were used in different ways in the 18th Century, and it is true the founders didn't want direct democracy by which they meant people gathering on the town square. They wanted representative democracy.
But I think the reason why this conversation about language has risen now is because there is a part of the Republican Party that would like to rule as a minority and they need an excuse for why that is okay, and so they have begun to say, we are not a democracy, we are a republic.
And it is not a hundred percent clear what that means, but I think they mean we want Donald Trump to be able to do whatever he wants.
O'SULLIVAN: Some people I've been speaking to at Trump events recently --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: -- have been saying America is not a democracy, it is a republic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've always been a democracy. First of all, I mean, we have -- we used to have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We used to have that, too. Now, they are picking on the Christians and the Jewish people.
I mean, how much work can we take?
O'SULLIVAN: Are you concerned if Trump loses --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: That there will be another January 6?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I think there will be a Civil War. That's what I think will happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'SULLIVAN: And Fred, of course, there is a legitimate discussion, debate to have on what form of democracy is here in the United States, but that is not what is happening here, right?
What is happening here is an attack on the word, on the concept itself. These folks have heard that Trump is a threat to democracy. They have heard that as a criticism and therefore, people are trying to convince them, they are trying to convince others that America isn't a democracy in the first place.
[15:40:04]
So if we are not a democracy, therefore, Fred, Trump's threat to democracy isn't relevant here, so it is all about language, it is all about words -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much.
All right, tonight on the CNN Original Series, "Secrets and Spies," drowning in debt and desperate for cash, a top CIA agent makes a deal with the Russians. Here is a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought, I shouldn't be a courageous man. They said, you want me to die? All right, I will die for you and I will die for Britain.
I will die for a free and Democratic Russia.
So I went.
We are officers who have pledged our allegiance to motherland. So what do you do to officers who betray their own motherland? What do we do to them?
You execute them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The new episode of the Original Series, "Secrets and Spies" airs tonight at ten o'clock only on CNN.
Artificial intelligence and your faith, A chatbot tries to help the faithful with unintended consequences.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:16:20]
WHITFIELD: The New York City Mayor requested that rapper, Sean "Diddy" Combs return his key to the city. The request came after CNN obtained video footage from 2016 of him assaulting his then-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
Since November, Combs has been hit with seven civil sexual assault lawsuits. Mayor Eric Adams said the key to New York is for those, we are quoting now, "... who act as a model for fellow and future New Yorkers."
The key was returned to the city's possession on June 10th.
We remember the image of Pope Francis strolling through St. Peter's Square wearing a white puffer coat with a silver bejeweled crucifix.
Well, the image went viral prompting people to ask who is styling the Pope? Only to later learn, after millions of views, the image was a deepfake.
Well now, there is Father Justin, the AI priest who can answer questions about Catholic Doctrine.
The chatbot quickly caught on, but after giving users advice, that was a bit wild, Father Justin was defrocked.
CNN digital producer, Jon Sarlin is here with this now. Good to see you, Jon.
These are kind of the warnings and the worries of AI, aren't they?
JON SARLIN, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Fred.
So we are a few years now into this AI boom and different organizations, different businesses are trying to figure out how AI might work for what they do.
Well, this one organization in San Diego, a Catholic organization in Catholic Answers, decided to try to use these new AI technologies for the spiritual realm. It had some unintended consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about this an AI priest? Could you imagine?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the US, an AI priest, that's right, an AI priest has been shut down after going rogue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He began taking confessions like a real priest and suggested a baby could be baptized in Gatorade.
SARLIN: Who are you?
JUSTIN, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: I am Justin.
SARLIN: Are you a real person?
JUSTIN: I am an artificial intelligence program to provide information and answer questions about Catholicism.
SARLIN (voice over): Catholic Answers, a Catholic advocacy organization runs catholic.com, priding themselves on using new school tech for an old-school religion.
Christopher Check is the president of Catholic Answers.
SARLIN (on camera): People have questions about Catholicism, you have the answers.
CHRISTOPHER CHECK, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC ANSWERS: We do. We do, and we've had them for over 40 years. SARLIN (voice over): So it shouldn't be a surprise that the AI boom caught their eye.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a huge proponent of using technology for good and I think AI has a lot of promise. It is okay to be skeptical. In fact, that's a good thing. I'm skeptical, but I do think there are some really good applications for this technology and I am excited about what it can do when its used for good.
SARLIN (voice over): They decided to build a Catholic chatbot with a persona, think PlayStation 2 graphics and place it in a bucolic Italian setting.
He was christened Father Justin.
JUSTIN: The Church teaches that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, not just symbolically or metaphorically.
CHECK: By the use of this technology, we were going to be able to reach many more people than one of our apologists are one of our staff members is able to do.
SARLIN (on camera): Should a politician who is pro-choice be allowed to accept communion?
JUSTIN: The Church teaches that life begins at conception and that abortion is a grave sin. Therefore, promoting policies that allow abortion can be seen as cooperating in this sin. However, the decision to deny communion is typically left to the individual bishop or priest.
CHECK: That's a no perfect answer. That is exactly what we want him to do.
[15:50:08]
SARLIN (voice over): In April, Father Justin went live.
Controversy soon followed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: AI is infecting Christianity and it wants you to get baptized in Gatorade.
SARLIN (on camera): So after it was released, someone used it and Justin told them that it would be acceptable to use Gatorade in a baptism.
CHECK: Correct.
SARLIN: That isn't correct.
CHECK: It is not.
SARLIN: Right?
CHECK: He did find that answer at what we would have regarded to be a respectable source. We have since corrected that and we owned it and he will not repeat that error.
SARLIN (voice over): There was one criticism they act on quickly that an AI shouldn't be referred to like a priest. Father Justin was downgraded to just Justin.
CHECK: We realized this is now, the priest character, is now interfering what we want to do with this platform and we changed it instantly. In fact, I think, well, it took about an hour.
AI is here and we have two choices. We can stick our head in the sand and pretend it is not here, that it has no application in spreading the faith. I don't believe that is true, it does.
And by using a device like this and testing it, we are going to find out how best to use AI to spread the gospel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SARLIN (on camera): All right, so Fred, as you can see there, they told me that even with these kind of embarrassing mistakes, like the Gatorade one, they welcome it because for them, that is more information they can use to train this AI to do what it is supposed to do.
WHITFIELD: Jon, this is remarkable timing because we just saw Pope Francis in Italy meeting with world leaders at the G7 to talk about AI.
SARLIN: That's right, so you know, the Vatican has been very open and forthright about the dangers of AI.
Back in 2020, the Pope and the Vatican had a Rome call for AI ethics, a framework of AI ethics that they've been pushing, tech companies to sign on to. Microsoft and Cisco have signed onto that and now, at the G7, the Pope is meeting with most powerful leaders in the world, urging them to take the threat of AI seriously.
Its concern spanned from the proliferation of fake news of how AI can fuel autonomous weapons systems and more broadly, he is concerned about how AI and algorithms can remove our choices -- in our everyday human choices from our lives.
So the Pope has been really making AI a focus of what he thinks world leaders need to address.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jon Sarlin, all so fascinating. Thank you so much.
All right, a six-month-old baby is trapped in her car seat unconscious and without a pulse after a deadly accident, that's when the Florida Sheriff's deputies springs into action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. DAVID MUSGROVE, CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: I think dad mode kind of kicked in. You know, I am a father and little presses in the sternum area just to try to jumpstart her heart, while I was doing it and then I heard her gasp.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:57:56]
WHITFIELD: All right, this chilling story out of Florida, where a motorcycle going more than a hundred miles per hour collided with an SUV, and inside was a mom and her two young and children in that SUV and that is when Sergeant David Musgrove demonstrated extraordinary bravery and ended up saving that family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This still means something to you.
MUSGROVE: It does. It is humbling that people would see me as a hero. I was just a guy doing my job.
LISA FOLEY, KAYLEIGH FOLEY'S MOTHER: Had he not been there and acted so quickly and known what to do, you know, we wouldn't have Lola.
You know, he is the reason that she is here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she alive?
MUSGROVE: Let me check. Let me check.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no.
YOUNG (voice over): Less than a year-old, Lola had to fight to survive after this horrific accident.
Charlotte County Deputy, Sergeant David Musgrove was on routine patrol when a motorcycle raced past him at a speed estimated to be over 100 miles per hour.
The white flash shown here on his dashcam, a hint of the chaotic scene he would arrive to seconds later.
The motorcycle had crashed into a young family's SUV and they were trapped inside.
MUSGROVE: I tried to signal for motorcyclists. This is going to be -- I've got to find it first. Send EMS.
At some point in that intersection right here, she got clipped by the motorcycle.
KAYLEIGH FOLEY, MOTHER OF RESCUED CHILD: I remember going across the median and I just looked to my left and I see a bright light and then just the crash.
MUSGROVE: Oh man. Hold on. Hold on. Let me get you guys out there.
YOUNG: The motorcyclist was killed. Kayleigh Foley could see one of her two daughters, but not Lola.
MUSGROVE: Hey, come here. Come are please.
YOUNG: With the help of a bystander, Musgrove is able to get three- year-old, Ariel to safety. I need you to hold this little girl, please.
MUSGROVE: I looked underneath the motorcyclist and that's when I saw Lola. Lola didn't look good. She didn't look like she was breathing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh no. No.
MUSGROVE: I just heard her breathe. Come on.
YOUNG: Youve been doing this job for a while, but what is it like to have your whole heart jolted into that moment?
MUSGROVE: I think dad mode kind of kicked in. You know, I'm a father and little, little presses in the sternum area just to try to jumpstart her heart. While I was doing it, and then I heard her gasp.
I just heard her breathe.
KAYLEIGH FOLEY: My daughters are my everything. They are all I have besides my parents, but if something were to happen to either one of them, I would be lost for sure.
LISA FOLEY: Absolutely devastating because, yes, I very well could have lost all three of my girls that night. I would not have wanted to live another day.
YOUNG (voice over): For the next three weeks, Lola battled to stay alive with help from her doctors and nurses, while this family prayed together a guardian by their side.
LISA FOLEY: So yes, he is Uncle Dave. He is going to be a part of our family forever.
MUSGROVE: Lola is perfect. She has a clean bill of health. Now she is going to be a year old July 31st. I believe I was put in the right place at the right time.
YOUNG (voice over): Ryan Young, CNN, Inglewood, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[16:01:09]
