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Remembering George Floyd Five Years Later; Judge Pauses International Ban at Harvard. Neighbors Want More Action After George Floyd's Death; Ukraine: At Least 12 Dead In Russian Attacks Amid Prisoner Swap; Masked Man Caught On Video Vandalizing Texas Mosque; Power Outage Hits Southern France During Cannes Film Festival; DNC To Hold Vote On Whether To Redo Election Of Vice Chairs. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired May 25, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:43]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You're up early. Thanks for being with me. I'm Victor Blackwell. This is CNN This Morning Weekend. It is Sunday, May 25th.

Today marks five years since George Floyd was killed by a former Minneapolis police officer. How Floyd's family and the community are honoring his memory, that's ahead this morning.

We're also following developments out of Ukraine where Russia has launched another deadly aerial assault. People there were forced to shelter in metro stations as missiles and drones targeted the country.

Sources tell CNN the White House has put more than 100 National Security Council officials on administrative leave. Those staffers had just 30 minutes to clear out their desks and get out of the building.

Plus, the Cannes Film Festival is plunged into darkness after a power outage hit the town. And now officials say that was intentional.

Today marks five years since a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd and sparked nationwide protests and a push for reform. But in those five years, what has changed? Well, the Department of Justice may be moving on, but the community there, that community has not. And they're asking for continued commitment to reform.

CNN's Sara Sidner was there as protests grew in Minneapolis. Five years later, she's now returned to the street where George Floyd was murdered as the community struggles to rebuild for the better.

Sara, good morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Victor. You remember this, that five years ago, the people in this neighborhood, some of them, witnessed a murder in slow motion. Nine minutes of an officer, Derek Chauvin, putting his knee on George Floyd's neck. Eventually suffocating him. George Floyd over and over and over again, asking for his breath and for his life, and then calling for his mother. Five years on, there are some changes here. What we are seeing is people coming with these yellow roses and sort of planting them in the planters that in this neighborhood, folks come and volunteer to make sure that this looks pristine.

That this is a place of peace and a place of remembrance for what happened to George Floyd. But also, the people of this neighborhood asking for the reforms they wanted five years ago. They are saying that not enough has been done.

And they are very concerned about what is happening with the Trump administration. And the fact that the administration is rolling back the federal oversight of police departments, including that of the Minneapolis Police Department.

There is also an idea about how this should change over these many years. In five years, there are some in the neighborhood who very strongly believe that this road should be shut off for good. And that this should just be a place where you pray and remember what happened to a man's life.

But there are also people living here and businesses down the street that feel very differently. That feel like they want to preserve this area, but they want the roads opened up. Because now their businesses are having a very, very hard time five years on surviving.

And they want to make sure that this neighborhood has all it needs here socioeconomically. And they are also asking for the city to partner with them. But they feel like change is taking too long. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Sara Sidner, thank you so much. And we'll talk more about this anniversary in just a few minutes.

Russia pounded Ukraine overnight with its largest air attack since the war started three years ago. Russia targeted the capital Kyiv as a prisoner swap was underway. At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured as missiles and drones were fired into the region. People scrambled into the metro stations to seek shelter with damage all around as emergency workers responded.

The deadly strikes escalated as Russia and Ukraine conducted the second phase of a major prisoner swap to return 1,000 soldiers to each side. About an hour ago, Russia and Ukraine announced that they wrapped the final round of the exchange.

Let's go now to CNN Correspondent Paula Hancocks. Paula, on one side, you've got this just continued barrage. It seems like every time we come to you over the last several days, there's been this increase in escalation of the drones. And then these heartfelt reunions. Make sense of it.

[07:05:09] PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it's a day of superlatives. There's no doubt about it. You're looking at the largest aerial assaults on Ukraine by Russia at the same time as this largest prisoner exchange between the two countries. Now, I want to start on the positive, and that is the images that we see of emotional reunions.

We now know that over the past three days, 1,000 Ukrainians, 1,000 Russians have been returned home in this large prisoner exchange. Now, one of the very few positives to come out of the meeting between Russian and Ukrainian officials last week in Istanbul.

Now, what we saw was many of these just in the last hour coming off buses, coming into Ukraine, wrapped in the Ukrainian flags, meeting family that in some cases they haven't seen for three years. We heard from Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying that 303 Ukrainian defenders are at home. That is for today. But over the last three days, it has been 1,000.

Let's listen to what he said on Saturday evening.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translation): The task is to bring home absolutely everyone who is currently held in Russia. And this is a joint task for our intelligence services, for our diplomats, for our entire state. Clearly, it's not an easy task, but it must be accomplished.

I'm grateful to everyone around the world who is helping us.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

HANCOCKS: But at the same time as seeing a positive development, we have seen a devastating weekend in Ukraine. The second night in a row, Saturday into Sunday, we saw this aerial onslaught, the largest since the war began.

It's being called and we've heard from the Ukrainian Air Force that there was almost 70 missiles, almost 300 drones that hit some 13 districts around the country. So not just the capital of Kyiv, but certainly we've been hearing from those in Kyiv, saying that air raid sirens were sounding all night, that some residents were told to stay in the shelters for many hours overnight.

And it really has been a devastating impact. Zelenskyy saying that rescuers were working in more than 30 cities and villages around the country trying to help those who needed help. And he called it deliberate attacks on ordinary cities. He once again called for sanctions against Russia.

We did hear from the U.S. president on Friday, the first day of the prisoner exchange, saying on social media this could lead to something big, suggesting it could be something positive. But that is not, unfortunately, what we are hearing on the ground. Officials and residents telling CNN that that was one positive sight that we saw with those prisoner exchanges, but it doesn't seem to be having any impact when it comes to the day-to-day ongoing grind of this war. And certainly we have seen that over the last couple of days with this intense onslaught of drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles fired from ships and planes from Russia's military. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Paula Hancocks, thank you.

Police in Austin, Texas, are investigating the vandalism of three local mosques. Surveillance video shows the moment a masked man spray- painted symbols on the outside of one of the mosques. This was Thursday night. Police say they're now patrolling all mosques in the city.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has details. Julia, good morning to you.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. Well, no arrests have been made, but in the surveillance video we see a suspect who appears to be a white male covering his face at the Nueces Mosque at around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday night. That man went on to spray- paint different symbols around the mosques, including one imam's office door with the Star of David.

The Austin Police Department said that they are actively investigating these incidents and are closely monitoring these and other locations around the city, adding in a statement that police is committed to fostering a secure and inclusive community where hatred is not tolerated.

Now, one member of that Muslim community spoke to CNN's affiliate in Austin and said that the Star of David in and of itself is a religious symbol they respect, but they're using it to deface a place of worship is vandalism.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SHAIMAA ZAYAN, CAIR OPERATIONS MANAGER: I've seen an increase in Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiments since October 2023. It's a shame. It's a shame to target worship places.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

JONES: The Council on American Islamic Relations issued a statement on Friday saying, quote, "These are the latest in a disturbing pattern of hate-motivated incidents targeting Austin mosques in recent months". And adding that Nueces Mosque alone had reported four hate incidents since late October last year.

[07:10:06]

In 2024, CAIR received a record number of complaints of Islamophobia nationwide, pointing to a new and concerning trend they say has less to do with religion than with political viewpoints, particularly about the war in Gaza. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Julia. Thank you.

Millions of people are traveling this holiday weekend, but powerful storms and flooding rains could put a damper on travel plans. CNN's Jenn Sullivan has more.

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JENN SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Millions of people are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend, and many of them are facing the threat of severe weather.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the heavier rainfall here, anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of rain locally, so that's a half a foot of precipitation expected.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Strong storms and flash flooding could impact parts of the Central Plains and Mississippi Valley. The greatest threats are in Oklahoma and Arkansas, as well as Missouri and Kansas. Areas of those two states were decimated by tornadoes last weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've had to move out of our house. It's going to be under construction for a long time.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Taryn Dickman's (ph) family is just one of many who lost everything last weekend when an EF3 tornado battered the northwest Kansas town of Grinnell. Another area in the line of this weekend's storms, Laurel County, Kentucky. The town of London, entire neighborhoods wiped out last weekend, and now that same area could get pummeled with rain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just keep London, Laurel County in your prayers. Because right now, I'm telling you, there's people that really need it.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Meanwhile, the Northeast and parts of the Mid- Atlantic are dealing with a rare May Nor'easter that's bringing cooler temperatures and heavy rain. All of this coming as AAA estimates a record 45 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday weekend.

AIXA DIAZ, AAA SPOKESPERSON: You want to leave as little of a chance as possible, because there are so many things you can't control when you're on the road. Other drivers, construction, the weather.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BLACKWELL: Still to come, the Democratic National Committee will vote on whether to hold a redo of the elections of David Hogg and Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta as vice chairs. Representative Kenyatta joins us live with reaction next.

And Target missed its quarterly sales mark after rolling back its DEI initiatives. More on that and the protest planned today coming up in the morning roundup. And a major blowout. The Minnesota Timberwolves wiped the floor with the Oklahoma City Thunder. We've got highlights.

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[07:17:20]

BLACKWELL: The Trump administration has placed more than 100 National Security Council officials on administrative leave. That's according to two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the situation. They say it's part of a restructuring under interim National Security Adviser, Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

An administration official says the 100 staffers got the email notification late Friday afternoon and they were given just 30 minutes to clear out their desks. The traditional role of the NSC is to advise the president on foreign policy. Its influence has been reduced under the Trump administration.

A San Diego man was among six people killed when a small jet crashed into a neighborhood on Thursday. Dominic Damian's family confirmed yesterday that he was on board. His longtime jujitsu instructor said he was a black belt with natural talent and a thoughtful person.

24-year-old Kendall Fortner, he was identified as one of the victims as well. A preliminary crash report will be posted on the NTSB website within 30 days, but that full report is expected in a year or two.

A major power outage hit southern France, cutting electricity to about 160,000 homes. A part of Cannes, where the International Film Festival is wrapping up, was also affected. Officials believe a fire may have triggered it, and they're looking into whether it was set on purpose.

Some screenings were briefly paused, but generators kicked in and everything stayed on schedule. The Cannes Film Festival has been running in that town for 78 years.

In a little more than two weeks from now, the Democratic National Committee will vote on whether to redo the election of its vice chairs, David Hogg and Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta. It stems from a challenge to how the election was originally conducted, and party divisions over Hogg's plans to support a primary challenge against some incumbents. That may play a role here.

Let's talk about that now with Representative Kenyatta. Good to see you again, sir. Thanks for being on.

MALCOLM KENYATTA, VICE CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Happy to do so. Happy holiday.

BLACKWELL: All right. So opposed to jeopardizing your position as vice chair, is there another reason or some other justification for opposition to this revote?

KENYATTA: So let me start, Victor, by making the point that I know your viewers are sort of sitting with right now. Most people do not care about this. Most people across this country are still reeling from the fact that just a couple of days ago, the Republicans in the House of Representatives engaged what can only be described as a heist.

[07:20:00]

They are stealing from poor and middle class families to transfer that wealth to the richest people in this country already. They're going to kick 14 million people off of their health care, strip away food stamps, the list goes on and on. So there's nothing I would rather be talking to you about than this.

But at the end of the day, the timeline on this is clear. The Democrats believe in due process. And after the election, Ms. Freeh (ph) had an opportunity to file a challenge based on procedural grounds that, you know, she didn't believe Robert's rules of order were followed in the way that they should have been.

I disagree with that. The Credentials Committee made a decision. And as I've said, I welcome the opportunity to talk to DNC members and to talk to Democrats across the country about what I've been doing for 110 days and about what Democrats must do to get refocused on the main thing, which is what we are going to do to make life better for working people and working families.

BLACKWELL: And I hear your point here that the machinations of who's the vice chair of the DNC may not be at front of mind for most people. Here's why we are having this conversation. It's because when we come to the 2026 election and the other vice chair who is going to face this revote, potentially, if the DNC charges chooses to do that, David Hogg has said he's going to spend tens of millions of dollars to challenge incumbent Democrats in safe blue districts.

And will that make it more difficult for Democrats to retake the House potentially. And so let me ask you this in that context. How much do you think that influences what will happen next? I understand the chronology of the complaint, the vote and when he made that announcement. But of what happened next, how much do you think that influences the decision and if he'll be allowed to stay?

KENYATTA: Listen, I don't think it's going to influence it at all. And I think that chronology is so important because miscommunicating that chronology intentionally or not has been about setting up a narrative that there are folks who are trying to, you know, trying to get him. That's not true.

And people have tried to say, you know, Malcolm, what is up with this disagreement with you and David? And I've made this point over and over and I'm going to make it again today. The truth doesn't take sides. It doesn't have an opinion, but it also doesn't defend itself.

And what I've been trying to make clear is, yes, I am frustrated by this challenge. I don't think this challenge was appropriate, to be honest. However, this challenge is not in response to anything that David is trying to do with leaders we deserve. I want to be clear about this. I want people to hear me say it. The Democratic National Committee is not an incumbent protection racket. I am not protecting a single incumbent. I'm not endorsing a single incumbent. And if people want to step up and run for office for whatever reason they want to do so, I encourage them to do so.

I have a literal whole documentary called Do Not Wait Your Turn. And so I am right in line with that. But at the end of the day, the disagreement really is whether or not people think 10 party leaders should be trying to choose the Democratic nominees for president or state rep or for members of Congress or whether or not we should trust voters. I believe that we should trust voters. And to me, that's very simple.

BLACKWELL: And so let me put a point on that, then. Do you believe that members of the DNC should be neutral on Democratic primaries?

KENYATTA: Listen, this is not about organizations being neutral. And I'm not making a judgment on what leaders we deserve should do. One of the first events I did after I was elected, obviously in my personal capacity, was for Run for Something, an organization that has spent years now getting young people elected to office.

But the point is this. If you support somebody running in a primary, you don't need to send $5 to, you know, to David or anybody else. Send $5 to the candidate that you support. As it relates to the 10 people who ran to lead this party, this wasn't like you weren't forced to run to lead the party.

Of the 10 of us who ran to lead the party, people should know that we are not trying to put our fingers on the scale and pick our favorites. Because there's been a miscommunication that David wants to get rid of all old members and replace them with new members, when in fact, David has said that's not true.

And in fact, there are a number of members who are over the age of 80 who he supports. So I think that we need to get out of this, who does this person think it should be, who does this person think should run or not run. We should leave it to voters.

A robust primary process is key for this party. It is important that we have those debates, that we have those conversations about what our future looks like.

[07:25:05]

But the 10 people should not be trying to decide, you know at the Democratic National Committee. We need to trust voters. And that's why Chair Martin laid out, you know, a massive reform package to get this DNC refocused on the only three words that matter.

Make life better. That is our mission. That is our message. And that's why I started this interview talking about the heist that has taken place against the American people by these Republicans who are doing the bidding of billionaires.

BLACKWELL: Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, thank you so much. And we'll watch to see if that vote happens.

And we want to make sure, you know, that we also invited David Hogg on the show this morning. We did not hear back.

Still to come, a judge temporarily blocks President Trump's plan to stop Harvard from enrolling international students. My panel weighs in on what could come next in the battle between the administration and the university.

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[07:30:00]

BLACKWELL: Today marks five years since the murder of George Floyd set off a movement nationwide. But what has changed? Joining me now, Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Race and Culture reporter, Ernie Suggs, and Jason Lee, senior editor of Bossip. Gentlemen, welcome back.

ERNIE SUGGS, RACE AND CULTURE REPORTER, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Thank you.

JASON "JAH" LEE, SENIOR EDITOR, "BOSSIP": Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, let's start here. I remember that video, and I'm sure many of us remember that video of Floyd's daughter, Gianna, saying, my daddy changed the world, and he did for a period. Question this morning, and what I actually started my 8:00 show with yesterday is, has the world changed back?

SUGGS: It has. And I look at it as kind of like reconstruction. You know, all the progress that we made as black people after reconstruction, which was pulled back after a while. And I think what we're seeing right now is a pullback. After George Floyd's murder, all the companies, all the corporations decided that we -- you know, we needed to do something to address systemic racism in this country. And now, we're seeing this systemic pullback of all of that. So, we're kind of regressing as a country because of -- you know, as a result of George Floyd.

LEE: And part of that regression is the backlash against that groundswell, that movement in the first place. You see things like Ben Shapiro offering a petition, putting out a petition to get Derek Chauvin pardoned from his federal conviction. And, you know, it just -- it speaks to the, I guess, insidious nature of how people feel when they see black people fighting for justice, trying to get justice and how deeply it can go to kind of, to your point, setting us back and kind of reversing things that we all took for not maybe for granted as this is how we should behave, this is how we should occupy space as a society.

BLACKWELL: You know, I was looking in preparation for this conversation of some things that have changed that are not going to be reversed, right? We've seen the reversal of some of the consent decrees. We've seen the reversal of some of the commitments on DEI, Black Lives Matter painted down the middle of the street in Washington and New York and other cities, those are gone. The only thing, as cynical as it sounds that I found that has changed and quite permanently is aunt and mom and Uncle Ben of products and the changing of names and things as superficial for many, not all, as that.

And so, what is the plan? Is there still the infrastructure that we saw five years ago, socially, to try to push for some of those changes? Does that still exist?

LEE: I think there are definitely people who are still fighting the good fight, and I think that people are still galvanized by these things because we haven't really stopped seeing big cases where police misconduct has become a -- has been an issue.

And so, I don't think that people will necessarily stop that fight, but it is, I think, disheartening to a lot of people to see, you know, you need that motivation to be able to get out there and to protest and to fight these things. And when you see these reversals, it is going to be disheartening for a lot of people.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let's talk about the decision from the Department of Justice that just before the five-year anniversary, the DOJ announced that they would be ending consent decrees with the Minneapolis Police Department, of course, Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed, Louisville, Kentucky, where Breonna Taylor was killed, stopping investigations in other cities as well.

This is the assistant A.G. over the Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, in a recent interview explaining part of that decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARMEET DHILLON, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: Anytime one cop does something wrong, it must be because there's a systemic problem at the police department. There's poor training, there's ineffective policies, there's ineffective resources, and -- or there's racism. There's always racism that's underlying most of these police consent decrees.

In so many of the recent instances of police consent decrees in the United States, woke prosecutors in those cities and woke city councils and woke mayors went along with them. They wanted them because they too don't like the police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I should get some context to that first portion. That's what she was saying was the justification that others used for opening these practices -- the patterns and practices, investigations and starting these relationships with police. And so, what's your reaction to what you heard there?

[07:35:00]

SUGGS: Well, I mean, as soon as she said woke, that you understood where she was coming from. These consent decrees and how the police departments operate has always and will always be a consistent problem. And we -- I mean, I think you know what she's talking about and what we're -- where we're going with these in light of the George Floyd decision is a step backwards.

And I think that we, you know, as you talked about how, you know, the motivation and just the motivation and just the frustration that we are all going through, the country's going through and dealing with these things is just going to be continue.

LEE: And the flippant way that she says racism, as if racism is not a major problem in America historically, and especially inside of police departments. I mean, to act as if this is just a fairy tale that people are making up, even after everything we've seen, going as far back as Rodney King and all the way up to George Floyd. Yes. There is obviously a huge problem with these things in police departments and to not want to get to the bottom of it, as -- you know, especially if you are a person who leans more right-wing.

If you love the police, then you should want the police to be upstanding. You should want the police to be held to that higher regard to where you have officers on the streets who you know don't carry this type of biases that lead to violence against black people, brown people, and other marginalized folks.

BLACKWELL: And let me read from the DOJ report, the findings of their investigation of the MPD, we estimate that the Minneapolis Police Department stops black people at 6.5 times the rate at which it stops white people given their shares of the population. Similarly, we estimate MPD stops Native American people at 7.9 times the rate at which it stops white people given their population shares. And during the stops, DOJ found that officers unlawfully discriminated against black and Native American people in both searches and use of force.

So, the flippant way that you described it, how she talked about racism, those are the findings over a 10-year period from the MPD. We'll continue the conversation. Talk about Trump v. Harvard with Ernie and Jason after the break. Stay with us.

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[07:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Jason and Ernie are still with us. So, let's talk about Trump v. Harvard. A judge has to temporarily blocked the president's ban on Harvard enrolling or even retaining their international students. They're making up about 30 percent of the enrollment at Harvard. Who wins this?

SUGGS: Well, I mean, you know, let me just tell a quick story if you don't mind. I'm a 2009 Harvard grad, Nieman fellow at Harvard, and half of my class was at international. Even when I went to North Carolina Central University for undergrad, which is an HBCU, we had a substantial amount of international students. You went to Howard, you went to Emory. We all know how important and how valuable what they brought to these campuses. Not only for them, but for us.

So, I think that, you know, for the Trump administration to threaten Harvard, to threaten what they are bringing in terms of international students, international flavor and that international intellect and just sharing of ideas is tragic. And it's tragic because it's a political thing.

BLACKWELL: Which the president supported before the election. He supported highly skilled immigrants coming into the country, creating that contrast between those immigrants and the immigrants that he didn't want to keep in the country, part of his deportation effort.

LEE: Well, this just appears to me like it's another like high stakes clout chase for the Trump administration, right? They -- this order was obvious. It was said to be in violation of the Administrative Protection Act, right? This is the act that is supposed to guarantee due process when agencies try to enact policy. This is the same act that tanked his revocation of DACA in his first presidency. So, you would think that he knows that he can't really get away with this, and even if he's serious about it, this is just another way to keep this story moving in the news, to keep MAGA base fed, that the Trump administration is doing what they said they were going to do. They were going to eliminate basically immigrants out of this country.

The other part that I find interesting is that at a place like Harvard, where they say over a quarter of the students are --

BLACKWELL: Yes, international students. Yes.'

LEE: -- international students. So, if you're saying that you only want American students at Harvard and you're pressuring them with DEI -- for standing on DEI and saying, we're going to continue these programs, we're going to continue to help the affinity groups in any way that we can, what are you really saying about who you want at Harvard? If there's no DEI and there's no immigrants who is supposed to be the representative of Harvard, just white people? What are you actually saying when you're attacking the university in this kind of way with these type of policies?

BLACKWELL: I think the focus of the administration and their targeting of Harvard and Columbia and some of these elite schools relates more to the protests over Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. And so, you know, it all kind of stems out of that hearing that we saw with the presidents of the universities. We saw Claudine Gay and her resignation.

[07:45:00]

And so, that may be the center of it. The question really is -- for me is are there enough Harvard connections to the administration that makes this more difficult for this administration to do that?

SUGGS: I don't think so because a lot of people in the Trump administration are Ivy Leaguers and a lot of them are Harvard people and they're -- this is still going on. So, I think this is kind of playing to his base of this Trump as this, every man. And it appeals to an -- it appeals to a sliver of its voters who are skeptical of elite institutions like Harvard and Cornell and Howard and North Carolina Central University, in Emory, where I went to school. And this is what he's playing on.

So, I don't think that there is a contingent of Harvard people in their Trump administration who are pushing back on this, but they do whatever he says.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about something that was published. Chicago Sun-Times, they published the syndicated summer reading list. I like a good summer reading list when I'm on the beach. I like to get a good recommendation.

SUGGS: I do like a good book.

BLACKWELL: You know. Problem is some of those books do not exist. It was published and created using artificial intelligence that creator the list admitted. So, "Tidewater Dreams" that was described as a -- this author's first climate fiction novel. The author's real, the book is not. "Boiling point" fake. "Migrations" fake. "The Rainmakers" fake. And so, the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times highlighted that this did not come from one of their writers. How does this happen though?

SUGGS: I was looking forward to reading "The Rainmaker."

BLACKWELL: You know, really was looking for "Tidewater."

SUGGS: Yes. Yes. But I mean, I think this is the problem with artificial intelligence. This is like where we're fearful or we are at threat of being lazy. And this is what this was. This was lazy. It was generated. No one checked it, and this is what's going to happen. This is what's happening. This is why you need human interaction when you're dealing with A.I.

LEE: It almost feels like this is an anti-intellectual karma, so to speak.

BLACKWELL: A reading list.

LEE: A reading list of things that you should read that are created by a computer that are not generated by a person. And how does -- I don't know how it gets through. But also, speaking specifically to A.I., I understand where A.I. can be helpful in some situations. This doesn't seem like such an arduous task that you need a computer to generate. Why not just find the books or use books that you've read? Like why do we need these simple things to be done by a computer? I'll never understand it.

SUGGS: Or simply just double check it.

LEE: Or double check it.

BLACKWELL: That's true.

LEE: Or double check it.

BLACKWELL: That still works.

LEE: It's simple. Google is your friend, bro.

BLACKWELL: That still works. Ernie Suggs, Jason Lee, thank you both.

LEE: Thanks.

SUGGS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still to come, the National Hockey League, the Florida Panthers have pushed the Carolina Hurricanes to the brink of elimination. Carolyn Manno has highlights after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: The Minnesota Timberwolves showed out in game three of the Western Conference final. CNN's Carolyn Manno joins the now. They beat Oklahoma City, not even close.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It was. And Minnesota was back at home with their backs against the wall for game three of the Western Conference finals, Victor. And it really showed they fought their way back into this series. They continue to fight for the chance to make it to the finals for the first time in franchise history.

Anthony Edwards with an all-time performance Saturday night. Opened the game by single-handedly outscoring the Thunder, 16 to 14. And Minnesota kept their foot on the gas. It took a 31-point lead into the half. Edwards finishing with 30 points, nine boards, eight assist, and two steals on just 17 shots in a 143-10 win. His teammate, Julius Randle, also turning in a noteworthy performance. He added 24 points. And Oklahoma City Star and League MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, just never really got going. The Thunder ice cold for most of the game. Minnesota reminding the world and maybe themselves just how physical they can be, even though there's more work ahead.

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ANTHONY EDWARDS, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES SHOOTING GUARD: I was super happy about the physicality that we brought and the energy that we brought, because being down two, oh, man, it's all about bringing energy and we brought high energy. This one is over. I know everyone is happy about this one, but we know this team, OKC, going to come out and bring hell of energy and be ready to go. And they going to try to win game four and we got to come out and exceed their energy and try to, you know, get a win and go back to game five. So, we'll be ready.

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MANNO: In the NHL playoffs, the defending champs are one win away from a third consecutive trip back to the Stanley Cup finals tied at one with Carolina going into the final period last night. The Panthers using a five-goal scoring barrage in a span of just a couple of minutes, really to put the hurricanes away. And after a 6-2 final on Saturday night, Florida now has a three nothing lead in the Eastern Conference finals, looking to be in very good shape there.

It is an action-packed weekend in Indianapolis. You've got Pacers, Knicks, the Indy 500 and the WNBA, the Fever and the reigning champs, the New York Liberty. New York surviving a furious second half rally in this game from Indiana in a game that featured 14-lead changes and came down to the final seconds. Pretty entertaining. Sabrina Ionescu, giving the Liberty the lead at the free throw line with three seconds left before Caitlyn Clark got the ball into her hands, looking to hit the game winner, potentially force overtime even, but she gets locked up on Natasha Cloud and the ball is stripped. After the game, Fever coach Stephanie White said she thought that Clark was fouled on the play. Still, the fever looking like they have really taken a step forward early in the season. The champs, the Liberty, staying undefeated at 3-0, 90-88 the final.

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Indianapolis might not have a major League baseball team, but ahead of today's race, fans around Major League baseball, Victor, are showing their excitement the Indy 500 way with milk. The celebration, making it all the way to city field in Queens after the Mets 5-2 win over the Dodgers. And what was the rematch of the NLCS. We're going to see one lucky driver do the same later today after winning the greatest spectacle in racing.

But the driver I'm concerned about, Victor, is the Uber driver who had to pick that guy up and take him home. It's disgusting. It's disgusting.

BLACKWELL: That looks like whole milk too. Carolyn Manno --

MANNO: It's at least 2 percent.

BLACKWELL: -- thank you very much.

MARTIN: Sure.

BLACKWELL: Hey, Octavia Spencer finds comfort in -- I need to fix my face because I'm still thinking about the milk. Octavia Spencer finds comfort in New Orleans on a new episode of the CNN Original series, "My Happy Place." It airs next Sunday at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.

Thanks for watching this morning. Inside Politics Sunday with my new Raju is up next.

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