Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Woman, Baby Die After Vessel Overturns In NY Harbor; Iran Issues List Of Demands For U.S. Before Reopening Hormuz; IRGC: Strait Won't Reopen Unless U.S. Accepts Iran's Conditions; Bug Fire Scorches California-Nevada Border Area; 12-Year-Old Girl Among Those Killed In Thailand Mass Shooting; Judge Rules Honduran Immigrant Deported Without Cause; Funeral Held For North Carolina Soldier Who Died In U.S.-Iran War; Sen. Scott Bullish On GOP Chances Of Keeping Senate; Window To Replace Max Miller On November Ballot Closes; Trump Wants DOJ To Revisit Charges For Reflecting Pool "Vandalism"; Trump Wants DOJ to Revisit Charges for Reflecting Pool "Vandalism"; ICE Officers to Get Body Cams; Perez Hilton's Family Asks for Privacy Amid Mental Health Crisis; Lionel Messi's Father Jorge Passes Away At 68. Aired 7- 8a ET

Aired August 09, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:42]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here's what you need to know today. We are following new developments out of New York where a woman and a 5-month-old baby have died after their boat capsized in New York Harbor. A dozen others were rescued. We've got new video coming in from that.

Iran is demanding that the U.S. pay it for damages caused by the war before it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Plus, for the first time, Iranian state media is releasing video of the Supreme Leader as there's speculation about his health.

New this morning, thousands of people are forced to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night as this wildfire closed in. We have more on the threat just ahead.

The polls say Republicans are facing serious headwinds heading into the midterm elections, but Senator Tim Scott is not buying it. Why he thinks Republicans could expand their majority.

And does Usher have a confession? Why some fans are convinced it was a body double performing at a recent concert. Now, Usher is responding.

Brand new week Sunday, August 19th. Thanks for starting with me. I'm Victor Blackwell.

We begin with the developing story out of New York. A 27-year-old woman and a five-month-old baby girl, they're dead after a boat overturned in New York Harbor near the Statue of Liberty last night. Divers pulled the woman and the baby out of the water. Police have not confirmed if they're related. Both were taken to the hospital where they were pronounced dead. Twelve other people were also rescued.

I want you to listen to this. This is the moment emergency crews were dispatched.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Report of New York Harbor near the Statue of Liberty reporting people in the water. (INAUDIBLE) announcing Manhattan Box 8420 to be in New York Harbor near the Statue of Liberty for people in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: One witness described what you might imagine a massive emergency response as the rescuers were searching for those victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAKOTA SANTIAGO, WITNESS: I saw a lot of ambulances, firefighters and then I saw that there were boats here and then people were just speaking that there was a mother and a child that needs to be rescued from the water. And that they were found. By that time I was already here seeing the boats just flying out, coming in back and forth. And that's when the rescue happened with the mother and the child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now the Coast Guard is working to find out what caused that boat to capsize. They plan to interview the captain. No arrests have been made.

Now to the U.S. war with Iran. Iran's foreign minister says there will be no talks with the U.S. as long as June's Memo of Understanding is violated. But Abbas Araghchi said discussions with mediators will continue. He also said that talks with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz are in the final stages. In the meantime, Iran's national security chief outlined the conditions the U.S. must meet for the strait to reopen.

Iranian state media published that list of demands. Iran's security head said that the requirements include the U.S. lifting its naval blockade.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us with more. What else do they want?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So Victor, these demands are basically the same as the points laid out in the now-collapsed June Memorandum of Understanding. Lifting the naval blockade, as you say, lifting all sanctions, withdrawing military forces, compensating Iran for damages caused by the war and releasing Iranian frozen assets.

The key difference now is that while in the June Memorandum of Understanding, Iran was also supposed to make concessions, not least of all, you know, reaching a final deal on nuclear issues before all sanctions could be lifted. Now, they are demanding that the U.S. make all of these concessions simply to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which of course wasn't a problem before the war.

So, look, we have on the one hand these talks with Oman to map out basically a new temporary route for ships to be able to safely use the Strait of Hormuz. Those are progressing nicely, according to both sides. The Iranian foreign minister this morning saying that, you know, experts are working on the maps.

[07:05:03]

On the other hand, Iranian officials, including the foreign minister and others, are making it pretty clear that that deal won't guarantee the reopening of the Strait. Take a listen to the IRGC spokesman on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOSSEIN MOHEBBI, IRGC SPOKESMAN (through translation): The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz follows its own specific mechanism and has no connection whatsoever to the negotiations between Iran and Oman. Whether the Strait of Hormuz is reopened depends on the conditions under which the Islamic Republic decides to reopen it. And that, in turn, depends on the extent to which the United States accepts the conditions set by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, look, I mean, this clearly shows that Iran is hell-bent on using this leverage it has with the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to the maximum. And I think, look, big picture, we're about a week on now from Trump backing off a threat of massive escalation in this war to give diplomacy a chance.

We do, you know, have the Iranian foreign minister saying they're still working through intermediaries, albeit without direct talks. We do have this Iran-Oman track to map out these routes through the Strait of Hormuz. But are we any closer to actual peace talks? It doesn't seem like we're on that track as of now, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Clare Sebastian, thank you.

Developing now, a new wildfire is burning along the Nevada-California border, one of the several currently plaguing the West Coast. This is the Bug Fire. It burned through more than 4,000 acres north of Reno. It's growing. And now in Washington, there are three fires burning near Spokane. They forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate the area.

Firefighters told CNN affiliate KXLY that they saw flames 150 feet tall and smoke so thick they had to drop to their knees just to breathe. The battle against these flames has turned deadly. A dozer operator fighting the Wrights Spring fire in Oregon was killed Thursday. And Friday, a helicopter helping the U.S. Forest Service crashed over Utah. Two people on board were killed.

Heavy rain, severe thunderstorms, they're targeting the Midwest today. Major cities, we're talking Chicago and Detroit, they're on high alert for damaging winds and flash flooding. CNN's Allison Chinchar tracking the storms for us, and you say it could get pretty bad.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we could also be adding tornadoes possibly to that mix. So in addition to flooding and damaging winds, which are bad enough alone, we could also be having some other concerns. And the key thing here, too, is for some of these places, it's going to be multiple days in a row.

So here's the main focus today. Again, you can see kind of the northern plains stretching down through the Ohio Valley. That's where the focus for a lot of these strong to severe thunderstorms is going to be. This is where they are right now. You've got a lot of lightning right here across portions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, down into Missouri.

We've had severe thunderstorm warnings off and on this morning. The new one now is this flash flood warning that is focused just north of Des Moines. You can see there near Fort Dodge. So again, just because of the amount of rain that has already come down in some of these areas, more severe storms are expected throughout the day.

You can kind of see this what looks like a Cinderella slipper shape that kind of goes through much of the central portion of the country. That's where the main focus is going to be for those severe thunderstorms. The vast majority of them are going to be after lunchtime today and continue through the evening hours.

Yes, damaging wind will be the main focus, but we can't rule out the potential for some hail and even an isolated tornado. Here's a look at that line as it continues to slide east. So say around 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock local time, that's when it's going to start sliding through the Chicago suburb area.

Then it will continue to make its way off to the east as we go through the late afternoon and into the evening hours. And then this is going to be the target point for all of the flooding concerns later today as well.

BLACKWELL: We know you will be watching it.

Allison Chinchar, thank you.

A 12-year-old girl has now died from injuries caused in Thailand's worst school shooting in years. She is the first student confirmed dead in Friday's attack. Authorities announced Saturday that she died of those injuries. The attack happened when a 14-year-old stormed his high school just north of Bangkok.

After his shooting rampage, he turned the gun on himself. Five school staffers were killed, and police say that he also killed his two grandparents in their home.

Former President Joe Biden's prostate cancer has spread beyond his bones now. In an interview with the BBC, his son, Hunter Biden, said the former president is in pain and called it very sad to watch. Hunter Biden also said his father is still speaking out on issues he cares about and remains engaged in public life. The 83-year-old former president announced his cancer diagnosis in May of last year.

A Honduran immigrant is now back in the U.S. after a judge ruled that he was sent back to his country without cause. Jose Martinez-Andino was here legally with special immigrant juvenile status and allowed him to live and work in the U.S., but he was arrested by immigration authorities in Montana in March.

CNN's Rafael Romo explains his case and the judge's decision.

[07:10:11]

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to CNN in a statement that Jose Martinez-Andino was returned Wednesday to the United States to comply with an order by a federal judge. CNN shot this video of the immigrant at the airport in San Pedro Sula, Honduras just moments before his flight.

A federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled in June the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security must facilitate Martinez- Andino's return because his detention and subsequent deportation may have violated his due process rights by allegedly not allowing him access to an attorney and coercing him to sign papers for voluntary departure he did not understand.

I spoke with the immigrant's legal team after Martinez-Andino was returned to the United States and they told me their client should not have been deported in the first place because he had legal status in this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON CHAN, MARTINEZ-ANDINO'S ATTORNEY: There was a due process violation that there was a judge who listened to both sides and ruled in favor of the plaintiff and then ordered the government to return him and facilitate his return. And then the government complied with that order. And now he is back this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: If he had legal status to work in the United States and live legally in the United States, how can he end up being not only detained but also deported from the country?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYLA BLUMENTHAL, MARTINEZ-ANDINO'S ATTORNEY: It can happen if someone commits a crime or some other change in circumstances takes place to justify detaining that individual. But none of that took place here and there was no procedure here. That's really where we came in saying that due process has been violated.

ROMO: According to his attorneys, Martinez-Andino had what is known as special immigrant juvenile status that allowed him to live and work in the United States under a visa meant to protect immigrant children. But during the current administration, one of Martinez-Andino's attorneys says minors in this category who do not yet have their green card may also be targeted by ICE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERRICK HENSLEY, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: In this case, the ICE officers or Border Patrol were able to take advantage of that and say, hey, you don't have your green card yet. We're going to tell you that you don't have a right to remain here. Even though in point of fact, he was within a couple of months from being able to get his green card.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that Martinez-Andino was taken into custody on March 18, accepted a voluntary removal and was returned to Honduras on April 10. On August 5th, Martinez-Andino was returned to the United States by court order and is currently in Border Patrol custody.

The 21-year-old immigrant has a three-year-old daughter who is a U.S. citizen. And his attorneys told me they're trying their best to get them reunited soon.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Athena.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, Ohio Congressman Max Miller shows no signs of dropping his reelection bid despite serious accusations about domestic abuse. What staying in the race could mean?

Plus, Buc-ee's, the convenience superstore chain, is taking a small- town gas station to court. More on that trademark battle ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:18:02]

BLACKWELL: Family and friends said goodbye this weekend to a U.S. Army soldier who died in the line of duty. Sergeant Michael Swinton of Fayetteville, North Carolina, died last month in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone. He is one of 18 U.S. service members who have been killed during the war with Iran.

He was just 30 years old with a wife and a 4-year-old daughter. His funeral was held Saturday in North Carolina. And a processional will carry him to his final resting place tomorrow.

Voters head to the polls on Tuesday for primary elections in five states -- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Vermont, and South Carolina. Now polling suggests that several of the races are too close to call. The special GOP Senate primary in South Carolina features Darline Graham, the sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, against a crowded field. Graham is filling out her brother's term and has President Trump's endorsement.

CNN Anchor and Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju joins us now from Washington. Manu, good morning to you. You had a chance to sit down with South Carolina's Republican Senator Tim Scott. He's in charge of the campaign arm for Senate Republicans. How is he feeling about the primaries?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's bullish, even though the midterm environment is very sour for the GOP right now and the Democrats do have a path back to the Senate majority. It is a narrow path to the Senate majority, which is why Scott is feeling pretty good about the Republican chances right now, because in order for Democrats to win back the Senate, remember, they have to win back a net of four seats.

And that means they have to pick up seats in Republican states like in Ohio or in Alaska or in Iowa or in Texas, in addition to trying to beat Susan Collins in Maine and flip an open North Carolina Senate seat. And they have to hold some key seats in Georgia, Jon Ossoff, the incumbent Democrat running there. And then there is Michigan. That is a state that we focus on a lot because it is a Democratic seat. It is an open seat.

[07:20:02]

And we've seen that messy Democratic primary play out last week, Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive candidate there, defeating Haley Stevens in that race. Tim Scott told me that his job got easier when Abdul El- Sayed won that primary. They think they can defeat him.

And the attacks from his group, Tim Scott's group, has been coming out against Abdul El-Sayed since he became the nominee. And they've been using his full name in these ads. His name is Abdul El-Sayed. Of course, he's the son of Egyptian immigrants. And the name that they've been citing in this ad is his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

And I asked them about the decision to use El-Sayed's full name in those campaign ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And I saw your early attack ads against him. You're using his full name in these attack ads, which has gotten some attention, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. He goes by Abdul El-Sayed. Are you trying to say hint, hint to voters he's Muslim?

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Not at all. What we're saying -- what we're only saying to voters is a simple thing. He says he's the most dangerous candidate you can find. He's right. We should trust his words, not ours.

RAJU: But why not just use his name, Abdul El-Sayed, which he goes by.

SCOTT: Well, listen, I go by Timothy Eugene, and so I get called that all the time. Here's what I know about that question. It's about what he stands for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, as you can see, this is going to be a very intense, messy race. So the attacks are already flying at Abdul El-Sayed. And the GOP chairman there of the key committee thinks that not only can they flip the Michigan seat, he thinks they can actually pick up Republican seats, which is what not many people here in this town believe.

But perhaps he wants to be optimistic. He's paid to be optimistic. But nevertheless, he does feel pretty good about their chances of holding on to the Senate and keeping in the GOP hands, Victor.

BLACKWELL: While I've got you, let's talk about Ohio and Congressman Max Miller. The window to replace him on the ballot for November is essentially closed. He had until yesterday to give notice that he was going to withdraw by the deadline tomorrow. The 7th District favors Republicans, but Miller's staying in this race. Does that give Democrats a potential pick up here?

RAJU: Possibly, and that's what is causing so much concern within the Republican ranks. Remember, this is a district that Donald Trump carried in 2024 by 11 points. Max Miller, in that same cycle, got 51 percent of the vote. He did win comfortably, but that's because there was an independent candidate and a Democratic candidate splitting the vote.

Now, their -- Miller would go head-to-head against a Democratic candidate in this race. And the real fear is that Donald Trump is not on the ballot, Donald Trump's numbers are sinking, and then Miller is weathering this unfolding scandal that has caused so much distraction and hurt his standing among many voters in his district, which is why there was a big push over the last several days among a lot of Republicans urging him to get out of this race.

Miller has been defiant all along. He's been telling me for days he will not get out of this race. And, of course, the person who has not called on him to get out of this race. Donald Trump, he has stayed out of it. He said he's going to stay out of this fight. He said it's called a family issue. And a lot of Republicans wish he'd used his bully pulpit against Max Miller, but he decided not to, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Manu Raju, thank you so much.

And be sure to see more of Manu's interview with Senator Tim Scott on Inside Politics Sunday that's coming up at the top of the hour right here on CNN.

President Trump is sticking to his claims that vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He's even called on the U.S. attorney to revisit her decision to drop the charges in the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:28:15]

BLACKWELL: President Trump is publicly demanding the Justice Department reconsider dropping charges over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. In a Truth Social post on Friday, the President asked U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to revisit her hastily made decision, his words.

Despite the President's claim that it was vandals who damaged the reflecting pool, Pirro's office said it was the contractors who led the renovation on the National Monument that were responsible for the damage. She said it was a botched job.

Joining me now to discuss Talent Booker and Entertainment Host, Mara Davis, Washington Bureau Chief for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tia Mitchell, and Attorney and Court TV Anchor Julia Jenae.

The President has been up as recent as the last few hours, posting pictures of the reflecting pool and just the bold letters that spell vandalism several times on social media. Julia, legal first. Pirro would have prosecuted this case. If you remember when she came out and announced the charges, she wanted to do this. She believes she had a case. She didn't have it in the end.

JULIA JENAE, ATTORNEY: She said she looked into it and there's not enough evidence. She made public statements that would no doubt be a defense exhibit if this was something where she took the charges again. But, you know, the judge has to decide whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice, and that hasn't been decided yet. So really, it's in the judge's hand right now. If it's with prejudice, then they can't go back and file charges against him later.

BLACKWELL: What's this mean, Tia, for -- obviously this is something the President's passionate about, but for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes, I think that the President is not happy with her. We know he rewards loyalty above everything else, including above like, you know, are people actually carrying out their jobs? Are they qualified? Are they meeting the requirements of their jobs, which U.S. Attorney Pirro appears to be doing?

[07:30:00]

You know, she said, I looked at the facts, I looked at the evidence, and, and I tried to prosecute the case until it became clear to me that this was not something we should be pursuing. And I think she's concerned about her licensing and her stature as a practicing attorney.

But again, that is coming in conflict with being loyal to the president. And again, the president doesn't really care about those other things. Loyalty is paramount to him.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Does it seem that her job is in jeopardy?

MITCHELL: Yes, I think so. I mean, especially if, as he's pressuring her now, that's what he uses his Truth Social account to do. It's literally in black and white now. If she doesn't execute on what he asked for, I think there could be frustrations there with him.

BLACKWELL: Let me give you the big number. 73 percent, this is the recent CNN poll, 73 percent of U.S. adults say the president has not paid enough attention to the country's most important problems. He wasn't posting about the war last night or gas prices or the job losses. It was the reflecting pool. MARA DAVIS, TALENT BOOKER AND ENTERTAINMENT HOST: Well, the American people are going to root for the underdog. And here we have basically tourists, people walking around the reflecting pool who are now being looked at by the justice department. And for what reason?

BLACKWELL: And he was an Olympian. David Hearn, an Olympian.

DAVIS: Who are people going to root for this multiple time Olympian who was basically just checking out what was going on? There's a woman in the story who was a veterinarian who saw chunks of paint in the pool and thought an animal might get to it. So, who wouldn't be curious? I mean, this is just kind of what people do. So, I think at the end of the day, people are going to root for the underdog here.

And I think there must have been some discovery in this legal case where they were going to be opening up everything. And when the American people are going to say, you know, I may have done that. I've been to D.C. I've seen that reflecting pool. I would probably want to touch it too.

BLACKWELL: The New York Times has a fantastic report about how the contractor got the job to paint the pool. And this was someone that was recommended by an employee of the president. Suggest people check that out to you.

Tia, let me come to you with an announcement from ICE. By September all agents, field agents will be fitted with body worn cameras, you know, chalk one up for transparency. One would think, however, according to the policy, body worn camera footage of interactions that cause death or serious injury will be released only if it's, quote, "in the best interest of the agency." How much transparency is there if they decide, well, this makes us look good?

MITCHELL: Yes. And I think, I mean, it's going to always be on how it's applied as journalists. We know that with public record laws, it's not just the feds, which are, you know, can notoriously be slow and reluctant to release public documents. But even your local law enforcement, sometimes they don't release body cam footage. They'll cite different reasons why.

But the fact that the footage exists is a good thing for people to know because that they'll -- they will be able to put public pressure on ice in and the DOJ and other entities that may be investigating if something happens, because now the public will know that officers should have body cam footage that, again, we might not be able to get it through the feds. But if a state or local entity is also investigating something that might happen in the future, maybe they can get it that way.

BLACKWELL: Julia, on the question of in the best interest, is that as malleable as it sounds, or is there some legal argument that can be made that they have to reach a threshold on best interest?

JULIA JENAE, ATTORNEY AND COURT TV ANCHOR: You know, we wish I would say in the public's best interest. And oftentimes that's what we hear from officials, like Tia said, with when they have this footage that doesn't get released, they say, well, it's not going to help the conversation or it's going to unduly make things problematic or inflame emotions, but it's not actually going to move the ball forward.

In terms of that phrase, I don't think it's necessarily unusual. I think it may be policy in other places as well. So, in terms of the threshold, the fact that it exists is a step in the right direction, but it's not the wording that we would like to see.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Often what we hear is that it would jeopardize an investigation or there are questions still being answered. But for blatantly, the ICE directors say, well, we'll determine if it's in our interest to release it. I can imagine the fight that would come if we get to a point where that video is necessary to clear up some speculation.

All right. Everybody stay with me. Coming up, Usher fans are fired up, accused of the singer of using a lookalike at his concert. We have the video and the response from Usher. So, you be the judge.

[07:35:00]

And if you're heading out, remember, you can stream the show from anywhere in the U.S. right from the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Usher or you sure? Fans in New York are convinced that the R&B star had a double on stage as him to perform a few songs during his concert at MetLife Stadium.

[07:40:00]

My panel is back with us. OK. So, we've got the video because it is all over socials. This is the guy that people think is the usher double. So, let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know what's going on here. But look at this. Look at this. Yes. Yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, this is from Friday night. People -- I mean, it is not just one or two. There are many people who believe that Usher had a double up there dancing and it was not him. And let's put up the side by side. We put up the side by side. On the left is the man that was on stage Friday night was probably Usher. But on the right is a picture of Usher. What do you think? Same guy?

JENAE: It's bold if it's not the same. He's so far in front. He's taking off his hat. I mean, the only thing is covered is the sunglasses. I think that's pretty bold. I can't tell. DAVIS: This is a move. You know, you hear about this at rock concerts a lot where there's like a guitar tech in the back who's taking over the big solos, right? Like that is a common thing. But this is on another level.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

DAVIS: Daddy is home. I mean, what is going down here?

BLACKWELL: Tia, what do you think?

MITCHELL: I mean, the fact that this has come up before it appears to be a pattern of Usher using a dancer for certain numbers when he wants to take a little break. And I'm not mad at it. But if he is doing that, he probably needs to come clean and let that dancer take a little bit of credit.

BLACKWELL: Well, so Usher has responded. There's so many people have accused him of using a double at the show on Friday night. He responded on social media. You all are funny. Clone? They can't clone this. How you all come up with this? A.I. ain't that advanced.

Nobody's saying it's a clone. Nobody's saying it's A.I. They're saying it's a different man. But here they are side by side Usher Friday night and Usher according to Getty Images. You be the judge.

All right. let's move on. So, everybody's favorite pit stop Buc-ee's is now filing suits. Julia, this is your story of the week.

JENAE: Yes, this is not the first time Buc-ee's has done this. I'm a fan of Buc-ee's, but they are going after some of these smaller mom and pop type marts. This is one in Georgia that in 2024, they have this teddy bear that is their mascot. And Buc-ee's is filing infringement saying that could confuse their customers because it's got an animal. It's a cute animal. It's got a hat on. And teddies and Buc-ee's sounds a bit similar. But people are not happy about this, you know, giant coming on and going after these smaller places.

I'm thinking if there's not 50 sparkling bathrooms or beaver nuggets, you know, you're not in a Buc-ee's. So, legally, but you know, these smaller companies, they've got to get attorneys and they've got to fight it. So, it could be very challenging.

BLACKWELL: Our affiliate, WANF, Buc-ee's suit cites many supposed resemblances, including both characters are wearing hats. Both characters have solid black noses and red tongues. The company also says Teddy's sounds too much like Buc-ee's.

I could tell them apart. I feel like most people could. The Teddy's market denied the claims they called this part of a pattern of overzealous, groundless and bad faith trademark litigation. Buc-ee's sued another one called the Beaver's Mart where it was a beaver. So, maybe you understand that. But a bear in this one, I'm not sure.

Mara, this is your story of the week. The request from Perez Hilton after fans called authorities as he allegedly self-harmed during an investigation.

DAVIS: Yes, I wanted to bring this up because first of all, it's horrible what was happening. And also, let's look at the tech companies that should have been regulating this. It should have been taken down as soon as all of this was happening. But they came out with a statement that said, we want to respect the family's privacy at this time. And I feel for the kids because the kids are innocent in this.

But Perez Hilton is someone who made a career on not respecting people's privacies and especially famous people's children. I can think of Adam Sandler's kids. I can think of Demi Moore's kids. I can think of he made an entire business.

Now, he's trying to repent and says he's found religion. And that's what a lot of people, when they do bad things, they think it's going to clear them of that. But it is rich that they would say respect the privacy at this time when we were in a blog culture of just really, really mean stuff that this man made a whole brand out of. It's just a terribly tragic situation.

BLACKWELL: According to his website, he's still hospitalized under the Florida Baker Act. He posted this, we, again, respectfully ask members of the media to leave the home and surrounding area. Stop following any family members. Cease photography of Perez's children.

[07:45:00]

We also ask photo agencies not to purchase, publish, or distribute any photographs of the children that may have been taken. And as you said, the children should be off limits here.

DAVIS: It's fair for the kids.

BLACKWELL: The children should be off limits.

DAVIS: But this is just really -- it's -- I think it's a reflection on celebrity culture. And you did a story earlier about influential culture. And I think it's just in the bigger picture, what does this mean when it's all coming home to roost?

MITCHELL: I just think we should point out that Perez Hilton did this on a live stream because he wanted the attention, right?

DAVIS: Yes, that's right.

MITCHELL: And I'm not saying it doesn't come from a core place of maybe mental instability or mental illness, but you know, the attention is not something that just came up out of nowhere. It's something that he literally invited as to how this played out. And it does go to show you the attention economy, the impact of social media and influencers, you know, doesn't always have a positive effect.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of socials, MySpace could be making a comeback. The owners say they plan to revive MySpace. Are you all in for another social media for MySpace to come back? MITCHELL: I'm in. I'm in for the sparkly backgrounds. I'm in for like learning how to code so you can make sure that the right song plays at the right time.

BLACKWELL: Listing your top eight?

MITCHELL: I'm in for the top eight. But even you could code it and make it a top 16 if you want.

BLACKWELL: I was never that advanced.

MITCHELL: Oh, we -- I used to have a time on MySpace. So, I'm ready.

DAVIS: And people like nostalgia now. We're going back to throwbacks. And as long as we know what the algorithm is serving us, and if MySpace isn't doing this, look, before this segment, I did more beaver research for this Buc'ees story. And -- well, I'm Googling is a beaver a rodent? And apparently, I'm not the only one.

BLACKWELL: OK.

DAVIS: So, if MySpace is going to give us just great music, connect us with friends and fun memes, I'm down.

JENAE: Are they going to revive our old pages is my question.

BLACKWELL: Oh, I hope not.

JENAE: That's not good --

BLACKWELL: Boy, some of those direct messages from MySpace. All right. Thank you all for being part of the Roundup this morning.

Next in sports, tempers flare in Chicago after this flagrant foul resulting in an ejection. The highlights next. Sports became bigger and bolder. Revisit the decade's most iconic moments and legendary rivalries from the miracle on nice to Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson in a new episode of "Decades in sports."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bird and Magic is one of the great, 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: A new episode of "Decades in Sports" airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Temperance flared after a flagrant foul against Sophie Cunningham in last night's Sky vs. Fever game. Coy Wire is with me now.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, this score, the final score, quickly became secondary to this controversial foul and an explosive accusation that followed. Things got heated when the Indiana Fever, Sophie Cunningham, took a hard foul from Chicago Sky's DiJonai Carrington. She caught Cunningham across the head and neck area. Officials assessed Carrington a flagrant two-foul, meaning an automatic ejection. Here it is again. Indiana went on to win 90-86. Here's Fever head coach Stephanie White's thoughts on this foul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE WHITE, INDIANA FEVER HEAD COACH: I mean, look, it was a hard foul. I don't think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen and I thought it was the right call. But, you know, one of the things about Nai is that she's going to play her butt off, man. She's going to compete. Nobody's going to go walking in for a layup. And so, I'm not -- I don't oppose the hard foul, but I also don't think that she intentionally went for the neck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now, while the game was still being played, Carrington posted on social media white privilege, Indiana fever. Cunningham responded to reporters who asked about that post off-camera by saying, I think the league is taking care of that. This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out and I deserve to be kicked out. There's no reason ever to play that card.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomes a star-studded new class. Cardinals icon Larry Fitzgerald, second all-time in NFL receiving yards. Adam Vinatieri, most prolific scorer in NFL history and some Super Bowls with the Patriots. Panthers tackling machine, Luke Kuechly and 49ers great Roger Craig. Drew Brees, who helped lift New Orleans to his first Super Bowl title in the years following Hurricane Katrina. He retired owning NFL records, including most consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Five careers, five different journeys now, one football forever home.

Finally, a touching tribute during a difficult time for Leo Messi and his family.

[07:55:00]

Messi's father, Jorge, died Saturday at the age of 68, according to the medical center in their hometown of Rosario. And thousands of miles away, Messi's inter-Miami teammate and longtime Argentina teammate, Rodrigo De Paul, found the net and immediately removed his jersey to reveal another one underneath, it was Messi's number 10. That's a goal dedicated not just to the player, but to his friend and the family behind him. That's sweet stuff.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's a really nice tribute there. All right. Something for you to check out this morning. One woman called this encounter with an irate hippo one of the most terrifying moments of her life. Understandable, look at this. The animal charged her tour boat in Botswana after it may have gotten a little too close. The woman said her tour guide smiled at the end. Nothing was funny. They were just relieved.

You all, stay away from these animals. I mean, how many times a buffalo got to touch you all in the air?

WIRE: Hippos can run like 35, 40 miles an hour, I think, let alone seeing it swim at you like that.

BLACKWELL: Do not underestimate those hippos, but give them a little space. And if they know you're visiting, just give them some room.

All right. Thank you so much for joining us for CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:00]