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CNN This Morning

Senate Votes To Confirm Todd Blanche As Attorney General; Thailand Mourns Victims Of School Shooting; U.S. Military Chief Is Looking For An "Off-Ramp" From Iran War; Saudi Arabia, Turkey And Pakistan Have Signed A Key Defense Agreement. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan Sign Mutual Defense Pact; Court Blocks Trump's White House Ballroom Construction, Rules Congress Must Approve; Senate Confirms Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 08, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:28]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Here's what's new today. Todd Blanche is set to become the next attorney general after a middle of the night vote on Capitol Hill, how Republicans got him across the finish line and the key priorities he's expected to tackle.

We're getting a new look at the moment after a gunman started shooting at an In-N-Out Burger in Idaho. We're going to show you what happens next.

President Trump is vowing to fight a court ruling ordering him to stop construction on that new ballroom at the White House while the court says the construction is illegal and where this fight goes next.

Plus, are driverless semi-trucks now coming to the interstates?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are quite confident that we have a very safe setup.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you view these trucks as a threat or do you view them as a benefit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do look at them as a threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: How these autonomous semi-trucks work and the arguments both for and against them coming up on CNN this morning,

Saturday, August 8th. I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. We are following breaking news out of Washington this morning. Let's

take you live to Capitol Hill where earlier this morning the Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On this vote, the yeas are 50, the nays are 49. The nomination is confirmed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: After weeks of uncertainty, Senate Republicans narrowly confirmed Blanche after one GOP holdout vote, Senator Bill Cassidy said that he would support Trump's pick on Friday. The vote was 50 to 49 with Republican senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining the Democrats in opposing the nomination. Let's go to CNN's Brian Todd live for us from Capitol Hill.

Brian, what can you tell us?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it was a long and arduous evening and morning for the senators and a really arduous week for Todd Blanche because as you just mentioned, he really didn't find out that he had the votes to be confirmed until late yesterday when Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana finally came out and said that Blanche, despite some concerns that Cassidy had. I'll get to those in just a moment.

But as Victor mentioned, this was the tightest of possible margins, 50 to 49 with Republican senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voting with the Democrats against Todd Blanche's nomination. This is what Murkowski had said about Todd Blanch.

Quote, the country needs an attorney general who will check the worst impulses of this administration. I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that if confirmed. But I simply do not have confidence that will be the case, end quote. That was from Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

So that was a very controversial series of, you know, machinations for Todd Blanche. He had worked for weeks to try to get into the good graces of senators. He wins by the narrowest of margins. The senators, of course, concerned about how Todd Blanche has become basically the face of Donald Trump's retribution campaign against his political enemies.

It was Blanche who brought indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and others. It was Blanche who sought to get reporters who had authored some controversial stories about the administration to reveal their sources. These were very controversial moves. And Todd Blanche is seen as kind of the face of Donald Trump's retribution campaign against his enemies.

These senators all concerned about whether, you know, he will continue that campaign.

One of the concerns that Senator Cassidy had was the probe into Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide who was a key witness in the congressional probe of January 6th. It's unclear whether Cassidy Hutchinson will be indicted. And that was one of the concerns that Senator Bill Cassidy had.

But in the end, Senator Cassidy did come around. It was also well documented that Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis were on the fence with this. They were concerned about that anti-weaponization fund that was so controversial and the tax immunity agreement that Donald Trump had with the IRS. When those concerns were alleviated by Blanche, Senators Cornyn and Tillis then came around.

This was a very, very tight vote and of course, the senators all watching to see whether Todd Blanche will continue to take out the president's retribution campaign against his enemies.

Also, Victor, we can tell you that the Senate early this morning passed a bill that would continue funding the government until December 11.

[06:05:05]

They are trying to avert a government shutdown ahead of the midterm elections, but it's not clear whether that's going to be averted because this measure now has to be taken up in the House, where its future is uncertain. The House has passed an alternative measure. There are clauses in the funding that the senator, the Democratic senators had come up with against ICE and other aspects that are, you know, very important to the Trump administration.

But the Senate did vote to fund the government through December 11th. We're going to see if the House is going to be able to avert a government shutdown before the midterm elections. If they cannot, that's going to be politically damaging to the Republicans, especially.

BLACKWELL: Brian Todd working the late and early shift covering this vote on Todd. Blanche, thanks so much.

All right. Joining me now to discuss White House correspondent for NPR, Franco. Sorry. Franco Ordonez, good to have you on the show.

So let's talk about the justification that Senator Cassidy used to vote for Todd Blanch in which he said that essentially he's better than the alternative, that he's best to rebuff some of the inclinations of the Trump administration. What do we know about the White House's plans for the AG now that he's been confirmed?

FRANCO ORDONEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: Yes, I mean, it's not like the president is delivering too much. The president is mostly focusing on talking about how Blanche is a good job, you know, a good guy and a good person. But you're absolutely right. I mean, I think Ryan (ph) hit it very well on the head.

I mean, I think there's just so many questions about, know, what kind of, you know, what kind of leadership he is going to provide. Is he going to continue that retribution campaign? He talked about Comey. He talked about the various leak investigations that Blanche has been leading.

There are huge, huge questions about how Blanche is going to lead the Justice Department because so far he really has been kind of leading from, you know, whatever Trump seems to want to do, particularly about those political -- going after political targets. That said, this is a huge win for Trump going forward.

It kind of doesn't necessarily end, but maybe mitigates that, you know, political narrative of the, you know, intraparty fighting and, you know, kind of, you know, divisiveness between the Republicans, Trump. But, you know, I think there's just so many open questions.

And I think Cassidy is, you know, still kind of really uncertain about whether that vote is going to hurt him. Obviously, he was very emotional on the House floor and questioning whether his own supporters are going to be able to believe him.

BLACKWELL: Yes, there's also the question of how much the White House will be willing to do before the midterms. Of course, just a couple of months out from the big vote, the president acknowledged in this interview with Punchbowl News that voters are angry, but he says that they're not angry with him. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: if I don't run, will those people go out and vote? And that's the one thing I can't say -- I'm going to ask him to the question is, will they vote? Because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans. To be honest with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why angry with --

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans, but they're not angry --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The interesting thing why?

TRUMP: They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, so Fact checked here. CNN's polar poll shows that the president's approval rating is at 36 percent. So the American people are unhappy with the job that the president is doing. But to a greater point, how does this inform the general election strategy and the president's utility on the campaign trail if he thinks the candidates are the problem?

ORDONEZ: Yes, I mean, I think this president as, as you know, Victor, as we all know, it's never been one to kind of express any type of vulnerability, any type of responsibility for anything that is not going well. Clearly, clearly voters are very dissatisfied with the president. What's been happening? I mean, the concerns that your polls, at our polls, at so many polls, shows that people are very, very worried about the economy. They're angry about gas prices, they're angry about grocery prices, just frankly, the cost of living. And so much of that is related, maybe not directly, but indirectly to the war in Iran five months in, the cost of energy prices are going up. So all of that is tied to that. This president is saying that, yes, they're not mad at him and that he's going to try to help Republicans, you know, to ask his supporters to go out.

But I think it's just recognition of the reality of that he may not be, you know, this may not go the way he wants it to go and trying to do some mitigation on who is going to take the blame and who's going to take the fall.

[06:10:07]

Obviously, he's pointing to congressional Republicans who he wants to do a lot of things, kill the filibuster, pass his Election Integrity Act or his election overhaul. So a lot of -- a lot of pushing buttons and a lot of shifting blame here.

BLACKWELL: So the White House appears to be renewing its effort to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Supreme Court ruled that the administration did not give her enough time to respond to allegations. According to a new letter sent to her attorneys, they're giving her 21 days to respond to mortgage fraud allegations. Why is the White House back in this fight?

ORDONEZ: Yes, I mean, I think it goes back to one of our earlier topics about Todd Blanche. Obviously, justice this is -- this is separate from the Justice Department, but it is the president going after perceived political enemies, people that he feels are not doing what he wants to do or kind of standing in a way. The Federal Reserve is obviously a part of that. He's been wanting to put as much pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to, you know, to help the economy boost, in his opinion, to get inflation down.

Lisa Cook is a part of that, part of that battle. It's someone that he has tried to, you know, get out, out of the Federal Reserve and, you know, obviously had a very tough go on it. I'm very curious about what goes forward with the Federal Reserve. You know, just thinking about the jobs report that was really so bad, I actually wonder if the jobs report, the number of jobs going down, is actually going to help the Federal Reserve because it's going to take a little bit pressure off of the new Fed chairman and the members of the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

BLACKWELL: All right, Franco Ordonez, I will not make that mistake again. Thanks for being with me this morning.

In other headlines we are following this morning, ICE says all of its field officers will be wearing body cameras by the end of September. Under the agency's policy, video from incidents involving a death or serious injury will be released only if ICE determines it's in the agency's best interests.

That means some footage could be made public quickly, while other recordings could be withheld. And when video is released, officers, faces, names and badge numbers will be blurred or removed.

Authorities in Idaho have released new details and new video of the deadly shooting at that twin falls in and out last weekend. The footage combines surveillance video and police body cam video.

It shows the gunman arriving at the restaurant before moving through the shopping center as that attack happened. The police chief said that there were 85 calls in the first 10 minutes after the shooting. The newly released video shows people confronting the shooter before officers found him nearby. Police Three people were killed in that shooting and including an employee. Police say the suspected gunman later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Several New York homeowners are now suing over the rollout of the city's new second home tax. The tax is aimed at owners of expensive properties that are not their primary residence. Now, the suit does not challenge the legality of the new tax. The homeowners say the city wrongly identified their home as possible second residences and now they're asking a judge to block enforcement, remove the public list tied to the rollout and pause response deadlines while the case moves through court. The city says it plans to defend that program.

Next on CNN This Morning, a search for answers after five teachers were killed in a shooting at a school in Thailand. What we know about a possible motive.

Plus, an appeals court rules the construction of the new White House ballroom cannot continue without the approval of Congress. We'll explain next steps.

And no driver, no problem. CNN takes you inside an 80,000 pound big rig to see and experience what some call the future of trucking.

And as we head to break, a live look at the city of brotherly love. Good morning, Philadelphia.

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[06:18:54]

BLACKWELL: This morning, a school community in Thailand is mourning five teachers killed in one of the country's deadliest school shootings in years. Authorities say a 14-year-old student killed started shooting at his school north of Bangkok yesterday and killed five staff members and wounded more than 30 others. And then they say he turned the gun on himself.

Video verified by CNN shows terrified students hiding under desks as the teen started shooting inside the school.

Police say the teen is also accused of killing his grandparents before the attack. As for motive, officials say he may have been struggling with stress related to his studies.

Let's go down to CNN's Ivan Watson in Thailand. Ivan, a terrible tragedy. What have you learned? IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor I'm at the gates of this school, this high school, it's big, a compound with some 3,000 boys and girls who were caught up in this unspeakable morning of violence. We've been watching people come out and lay flowers because among the victims of this attack, as you mentioned, were five teachers, including a deputy director of the school and a member of the administrative staff, a guidance teacher, a math teacher and a Thai language teacher.

[06:20:10]

And the authorities have accused a 14-year-old student of opening fire on his teachers and his fellow students. The rescue workers that came here on Friday morning described showing up, treating some of the dozens of wounded on the compound of the school here as because gunfire was continuing. So this was something that went on for a period of time and has the community just absolutely reeling.

I was speaking with the father of a 17 year old who goes there. The father went to this school himself decades ago. He says I'm going to take my son back to school. When it reopens, I will bring him here. I'm sure he will be safe. But at the same time, lots of questions about how is it that a 14-year-old could have attacked not only his fellow teachers and students but also apparently shot dead his grandparents hours before he went embarked on his rampage here.

The school has put out a statement just in honor of the teachers saying, you know, your goodness and virtue and your spirit as a teacher will remain in our memories forever. This is a pattern we've seen all too much in the U.S. deadly violence at schools and at other locations.

But it's also starting to occur with increasing frequency here in Thailand. Four years ago there was a police officer who attacked a daycare center with guns and a knife and he killed more than 30 people, most of them children. It's something that Thailand's starting to wrestle with questions of mental health and gun safety which have all been raised by the prime minister who visited this compound.

The government is promising emotional and mental support to victims as well as compensation to victims. The equivalent of around $30,000 to each person who was killed. Lots of questions still unanswered as a community is in mourning here. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Ivan Watson for us, thank you so much. The U.S. s war with Iran is now at a crossroads. Why? America's top general is reportedly pushing for a different path forward.

Plus, wildfires burning out of control out west. This one forced evacuations near Los Angeles. We'll find out now if today's forecast will either help or hurt those firefighters on the front lines.

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[06:27:09] BLACKWELL: The highest ranking military officer in the U.S. is privately warning that the country needs to fight an off ramp from the war with Iran. Sources tell CNN that joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine believes all military options currently on the table to escalate the conflict could wind up backfiring. The war is widening.

Iranian-backed Houthis just targeted a Saudi base in Yemen after the U.S. and the Saudis launched joint strikes against Iran backed militias in Iraq.

With tensions escalating across the region, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan just signed a mutual defense pact, much like the NATO agreement, it stipulates an attack against any one of them shall be regarded as an attack against them all. Meanwhile, Iran's parliament is reviewing a plan to ban ships linked to the U.S., Israel and other, as they call them, hostile countries from going through the Strait of Hormuz until Tehran is compensated for war damages.

Behnam Ben Taleblu joins us now. He's the senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Welcome back to the show.

I want to start with this now pact, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, their Article 5 style agreement. These are all U.S. allies. And so what is the, I guess, parallel commentary and the significance of this new alliance?

BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF THE IRAN PROGRAM, THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Well, great to be with you, Victor. Good morning. There's a lot there. There's a lot that is said in terms of what they're calling this.

There's a lot in terms of the relative status of each of these. Turkey, as you know, for example, is a NATO ally. Pakistan, for example, is a nuclear weapons state. Saudi Arabia, for example, is a major energy producer. Together that's political, military, energy power combined.

But I think past this prologue here, there have been previous attempts of other states in the region, sometimes even under the auspices of the west, to create these sorts of military alliances, and they failed. During the Cold War, for example, Iran under a previous government actually was part of that. And then even for the past maybe 10 years in Washington, there has been talk of a Middle East strategic alliance that would be evolved out of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

And still when the rubber hits the road, both then and now, despite all the problems these countries have in their bilateral and multilateral relationship with Washington, the first thing they do when they get in trouble is actually what it's not called their regional partner, it's phone a friend to back in Washington.

BLACKWELL: Yes. It may also at this point suggest some lack of confidence in the reliability of the U.S. but as you suggest that history suggests that they would call the U.S. First. A senior Iranian official said of this pact, Saudi rulers must know

that just as America's bases could not bring them security, clinging to America's lackeys will not bring them security either.

[06:30:05]

Despite the bellicosity of that statement, do you believe that Iran and the Houthis are any more reluctant to attack now that they have this alliance?

BEHNAM BEN TALEBLU, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF IRAN PROGRAM, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Oh, not at all. In fact, you saw in the bellicosity of that statement a sharp contradiction with what was said from the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, who was talking about rather brotherly relations just across the Persian Gulf with some of these other states, for example.

This is a classic tactic of the Islamic Republic, is to try to frame their escalation as merely in response to something tied to the west. Whenever that behavior ceases, the radius or the diameter of all of the Iran-backed activity actually continues.

So, now that they sense some of these countries are trying to band together, now that they sense potentially Washington is looking for an exit, I fear they will press their advantage directly as well as via their proxies.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you mentioned Washington looking for an exit. Sources telling CNN that Chairman Caine says there needs to be an off-ramp from this war with Iran. Let me play for you what Senator Ted Cruz says should happen next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I believe the objective here should be regime collapse. Once this regime is out of power, I don't particularly care who comes next. I don't have a dog in that fight. I don't have a dog. Whether it's the son of the Shah, whether it is the MEK, whether it is someone local, as long as they are not an Islamist who hates America and is actively trying to kill Americans.

What I have urged President Trump repeatedly, what I've urged Israel to do repeatedly is arm the protesters, give them the guns to let them overthrow their own government so that it's not American boots on the ground. It's Iranians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And so, there may not be political support for that in the U.S., and Ted Cruz says there should also be the blockade, military strikes paired with arming those protesters. But you can hear the diversity of opinions coming at the President.

What do you expect is next? And what is -- let's say Caine gets his way, that there's an off-ramp. What is one aside from the MOU that fell apart, that saves face for the U.S.? TALEBLU: Well, I think the only face-saving option for the U.S. and

the President in particular, who the sharp difference with his party is that he's not up for re-election. Instead, he's looking for a legacy, in fact, a foreign policy legacy in a very critical region of the world that has befuddled many of his predecessors.

So, no doubt, I think we can expect more both from him in the United States over the next two years in this area, and even an exit, I fear, would not really be an end to the conflict, because, again, if the Islamic Republic senses weakness, the radius of instability, the radius of escalation, the radius of bullying, and the radius of threats to our interests is only going to grow, which will draw the U.S. back in, perhaps when it's less prepared or less ready.

That's why I think if the most likely path is the President focusing, or some would even say over focusing on a deal, a more narrow deal over the Strait of Hormuz, then one would hope that there's a covert action strategy.

There's a political strategy, there's a military industrial strategy during the period of time when the President takes perhaps not the face-saving option, but a pragmatic option of trying to open the Strait based on a diplomatic agreement between the Iranians and the Omanis.

And then doubles down and contests and challenges the nature of that escalation. And I think the one takeaway, you know, everyone, Republicans and Democrats, should take to heart from the commentary of Senator Cruz, is that after 47 years, it's not the weapons from this regime that are the threat, it's the finger on the trigger. And that's why I actually think we cannot be indifferent to what comes next.

BLACKWELL: Behnam Ben Taleblu, always good to have your insight. Thanks so much. A federal appeals court says President Trump is breaking the law by building a massive new White House ballroom. That ruling sets the stage for a Supreme Court showdown over the President's $400 million project.

Now in its 2 to 1 decision, the court said that Congress has not ceded unfettered authority to the Executive Branch to fit a particular President's desires. CNN's Kristen Holmes has the latest from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): President Trump is vowing to bring his ballroom project all the way to the Supreme Court after an appeals court ordered them to halt their construction on the project without congressional approval.

Now, in a lengthy screed on Truth Social, President Trump talked about national security and almost didn't mention the ballroom at all, instead pinning this on safety. He said that two Obama and oh -- and Biden appellate court judges just voted against the desperately-needed military center.

[06:35:00]

He's referring to the ballroom required for the national security of Washington D.C., and our country itself. He goes on to say the decision has been stayed. And just for your note, the court itself stayed their own decision.

They gave them two weeks to appeal this to the Supreme Court, says that they'll be immediately appealing. Then he goes on to say the military and Secret Service are viewing this horrended(ph) -- horrendous, politically-motivated and unlawful ruling as a national security threat to our nation in that the entire complex is being built for the protection of our country, and additionally, all future presidents.

Now, I did talk to a number of White House sources tonight asking, what is Plan B here? What if the Supreme Court doesn't actually take this up? Or what if the Supreme Court does and rules against President Trump?

And I was told at this point, there's not a lot of conversations happening around Plan B, that these legal advisors at the White House believe that they are on solid ground. They believe the Supreme Court is not only going to take this case up, but will rule in President Trump's favor.

Now, no one could tell me exactly why what was giving this level of confidence, but right now, they say, they are still confident. One thing is clear, President Trump is doubling down on this. He will do anything to get this ballroom built.

And there is a large question here. Overall, what happens if the Supreme Court rules against this? Right now, there's just a large gaping hole on the White House. Is this something that Congress is going to have to get behind because of what is happening at the People's House?

But right now, the biggest issue is getting that appeal to the Supreme Court and seeing what they decide to do next. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: In the 1980s, sports became bigger, bolder, more unforgettable. Revisit the decade of iconic moments and legendary rivalries in a new episode of "DECADES IN SPORTS". Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bird and Magic is one of the great rivalries in the history of team sports, and their rivalry had begun in college in the championship game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Indiana State and Larry Bird actually go undefeated through an entire season, and they get to the national championship game. Meanwhile, Michigan state with a lot more blue-chip players and Magic Johnson also get to the national title game. And Bird and Magic, one white, one black, one urban, one rural, are tied together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't have scripted this any better. It was the ultimate series of contrast, and a rivalry was born.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Watch a new episode of "DECADES IN SPORTS" tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

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[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: New this morning, the Senate has just confirmed Todd Blanche as Attorney General. The President's former personal attorney will continue to lead the Justice Department. He narrowly survived an overnight Senate vote, 50 to 49.

Republican Senator Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats in opposing Blanche's confirmation. Sources tell CNN, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is trying to find an off-ramp for the Iran war.

And he has privately told other top Trump advisors that the military options now on the table could backfire. And now Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a new NATO-style mutual defense agreement of their own.

A new study finds that robotic therapy can help people with spinal cord injuries move more freely and live more independently. But the technology can come with a really steep price tag, and it puts it out of reach for a lot of people.

And that issue is personal for a 2018 CNN Hero, Amanda Boxtel. She lives with paralysis. And as CNN Heroes marks its 20th year, we're highlighting her efforts to bring that high tech therapy to the people who need it most.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA BOXTEL, CNN HERO FOR 2018: I feel like the mountain had robbed me of the use of my legs, but I was determined to show that I wasn't going to give up so easily.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: At 24, Amanda Boxtel was paralyzed in a skiing accident. After years of physical therapy, she had the chance to try a new, costly technology; an exoskeleton designed to help people with mobility challenges.

BOXTEL: I stood up and I walked for the first time in 18 years, and it was as if all of my dreams were burgeoning to life in one upright, powerful moment.

COOPER: Amanda purchased her own exoskeleton and walked 130,000 steps in a year, easing her chronic pain.

BOXTEL: Right leg was the first to come back. Is that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.

COOPER: In 2015, she founded Bridging Bionics to help other people with mobility issues benefit from the technology.

BOXTEL: It's not easily accessible. It's not affordable. And I thought we could get a whole community up and walking with this unit.

COOPER: She even teamed up with her fellow 2018 CNN Hero, Ricardo Pun-Chong, who provides free housing and support for sick children and their families while they undergo medical treatment in Lima, Peru.

[06:45:00]

When Amanda learned a child in his program needed a wheelchair, she wanted to help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has cerebral palsy and she was in a stroller. She's been in a stroller for her whole life. It's time, don't you think? For her to have a wheelchair to call her own. Look what we have for Dalaska(ph) --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much. With this new wheelchair and with her surgery, she's going to have a better life.

COOPER: Amanda recently secured a dedicated space for her work, allowing her to help more people access high tech physical therapy.

BOXTEL: We are truly giving the gift of mobility for free or next to nothing to help our community get upright and walking again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, to learn more about Amanda and Bridging Bionics, go to CNN.com/heroes. Next, A.I. shake up, maybe rolling down the interstate. We'll take you inside the driverless semi-truck that may soon be sharing the road with you. And good morning to Pittsburgh, and a live look for you this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Volvo plans to begin rolling out its massive commercial driverless trailers early next year. Now, of course, there are concerns about a 55,000 pound, plus big rig driving down U.S. highways with no one behind the wheel. So, how safe are we? Our Ed Lavandera rode shotgun in one of them, and he has all the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are climbing into the cabin of a 55,000-pound time machine, and the question at the heart of the ride we're about to take is, how far into the future are we really going? TERRY WALKER, DRIVER: So, we're going to take a drive.

JENS HOLTINGER, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, VOLVO: Going to take a drive.

WALKER: Test drive --

LAVANDERA (on camera): Well, none of us are driving apparently.

WALKER: No, none of us driving.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): This trailer rig was built by Volvo and a company called Aurora develops the computer system which drives the vehicle.

HOLTINGER: There's double-steering system --

LAVANDERA: Inside the cabin with me is Jens Holtinger, he's Volvo's Chief Technology Officer, and in the safety driver's seat, but not touching the steering wheel is Terry Walker. We've been invited to take a test drive in this autonomous truck down interstate 45 south of Dallas. The steering wheel has a jittery start as it pulls out of the truck yard, but it quickly settles down.

HOLTINGER: So, what you see here is actually what the -- what the vehicle is seeing. So, vehicle is in the constant surveillance.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Now, we're on the Interstate starting to pick up some speed.

(Voice-over): The multiple cameras and radar systems detect all the cars and objects around the truck. They tell me the Volvo truck is designed to cruise in the right lane at 10 miles per hour under the speed limit.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Oh, this is interesting. It just switched lanes.

HOLTINGER: Yes --

LAVANDERA: There's a police officer, has someone pulled over.

(Voice-over): With good weather and long open highways, Texas has become ground zero for several companies, testing and refining autonomous trucks. But more of these trucks are expected to be on the highways in the years ahead without safety guides in the driver's seat. As we cruise down the road, there's debris on the highway, the truck changes lanes.

(On camera): Oh, it's picking up the tire. Debris on the road and seem to have --

WALKER: Yes, so now it's going to straddle it out.

LAVANDERA: So, it was navigating between the tire debris on the road?

WALKER: Yes.

LAVANDERA: So, here's a truck with its hazards on. We've slowed down to about 45 miles an hour.

(Voice-over): This time, the Volvo truck changes lanes and passes the slower rig.

(On camera): What do you tell people who don't like the idea of being next to a massive truck like this, with no driver inside?

HOLTINGER: It's a driver that has constant surveillance, 360 degrees, 500 meters ahead, never gets tired, never gets distracted. We are quite confident that we have a very safe setup.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That is a concern for people like Michael Perez with the Teamsters Union representing drivers in Texas.

(On camera): Do you view these trucks as a threat, or do you view them as a benefit?

MICHAEL PEREZ, TEAMSTERS LOCAL 745: I do look at them as a threat.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): We met Perez at his union hall in Dallas. For 22 years, he drove short haul distances. He worries autonomous trucks will put lots of people out of work, and he's skeptical these trucks are as safe as the companies claim.

PEREZ: Humans, and especially trained CDL truck drivers, they make decisions in real time where a machine is all computerized, and we feel that the technology is not there for them to be safe and be able to make decisions the way a human can.

LAVANDERA: Volvo says it plans to deploy at least 300 of these trucks without a safety driver early next year. We put the concerns to some of the top executives at Volvo and Aurora.

CHRIS URMSON, CEO & CHAIRMAN, AURORA: I really think if you're a truck driver today, you're going to be able to retire a truck driver? Skepticism is rational. This is something new. It is game-changing and people should have questions.

The fact that it can operate indefinitely and it doesn't get distracted, it doesn't get confused, it doesn't get tired, it means that it's paying attention to everything around it. And it's really going to be a big benefit in driving those accidents towards zero over time.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So, you think it's a fundamental economic disruption.

NILS JAEGER, PRESIDENT, VOLVO AUTONOMOUS SOLUTIONS: This truck doesn't need, you know, a lunch break, doesn't need a coffee break, it doesn't have, you know, mandatory break times. You can go much further. You can go faster.

[06:55:00] And that is of course, super valuable.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The four-hour drive comes to an end. We came across one last test. While we were focused on our interview in the cabin, a woman walking on the shoulder of the highway comes into view.

(On camera): Well, there's someone on the road right there.

(Voice-over): The Volvo truck changes lanes briefly until it passes the woman safely.

(On camera): We spent about an hour riding in the truck. It was a controlled set route, but it did give you a sense of how the truck generally operates. And we also spoke with a number of experts to talk about where this industry is headed.

And they all told us that for the foreseeable future, you're going to see these autonomous trucks in the southwest and in the sunbelt states, where there's generally good weather and wide-open highways, where it gets much more complicated will be in urban areas as well as mountainous states like in the Rocky Mountains, as well as the Northeast and Midwest, where there's severe Winter weather to contend with.

But the bottom line is, there are a number of companies, not just Volvo pushing to put more of these autonomous trucks on the highways. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Wow, all right, Ed, thanks so much. Ahead in the next hour, a medical mix-up with really life-altering consequences. A woman is suing after undergoing a hysterectomy, only to find out she didn't need it. We'll hear from her in the 7 O'clock hour.

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