Likely. Were following the legal and political implications. Plus a warning to Donald Trumps legal team from the judge overseeing the election interference case, saying more inflammatory statements will require a quicker start to the trial. We are live outside the court. And the death toll as they have yet to even start searching the hundred of burned out buildings. Well take you live to maui. Were following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. Another controversial investigation that could have some pretty big repercussions for 2024 is escalating. Today a Special Counsel was designated in the federal probe of hunter biden. Attorney general Merrick Garland named david weiss to the role. Weiss has been leading this investigation. Yes, he has. Hes been leading the investigation into hunter biden for the past five years, in fact. This week he asked himself to be elevated to that role of Special Counsel. Were following that in realtime. First our correspondent cara scunel is on top of the doj threat and Lauren Fox Up On capitol hill to get the reaction. Tell us first how did this come about today . We got the Surprise Announcement from attorney general Merrick Garland where he said that david weiss, the u. S. Attorney in Delaware Appointed by former President Trump and asked to stay on for this very investigation, Merrick Garland said that weiss had asked him on tuesday to be appointed Special Counsel, to give him Greater Authority in this investigation, and garland was saying it was really in the Public Interest to do this. Take a listen. I have concluded that it is in the Public Interest to appoint him as Special Counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide mr. Weiss all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently based only on the facts and the law. Now, its not clear what led weiss to change his mind and decide he did need Special Counsel status. As youll remember hunter biden had reached a Plea Agreement with weiss office in which he would have pled guilty for two misdemeanors for not paying taxes on time as well as an agreement on a gun possession charge. That fell apart in court last month after a judge asked a number of questions and said she wasnt ready to sign off on it. Hunter bidens team had until today to weigh in private where they were in negotiations on whether they were going to revive this plea deal or not, and Hunter Bidens team had asked until monday to respond, but then we find out theyre appointing a Special Counsel. So the prosecutors in the court filing telling the judge their negotiations have reached an impasse, and they were going to move ahead towards trial. Hunter bidens team was caught offguard by this. His attorney saying thistill expect a fair resolution in this case, and they say its hard to understand how they had reached this Plea Agreement, whether there were any charges they could bring they could successfully win. His team say there arent. They say the judge has given them until monday to weigh in on this, but certainly a lot of questions still here about the designation of the Special Counsel. Lets go to capitol hill now. Lauren, you were up there. Lawmakers on the republican side theyve been calling for a Special Counsel for some time now. Now its here. And their criticisms have only intensified still. Yeah, briana, you point out last year a number were kaling for a Special Counsel to be called in this case. Now theyre saying essentially naming a Special Counsel has changed nothing for them in terms of persowing their own investigations into both lupter biden and his foreign Business Dealings and also how this investigation played out by david weiss. D you hear from House Speaker kevin hy in a tweet just a few moments ago saying, quote, this action by the bidens doj canne used to obstruct congressional investigation or whitewash the biden family corruption. If weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal, he couldnt get approved, how could he be trusted as the Special Counsel . You have other republicans in the senate like Lindsey Graham arguing this is little more than a bad political move. Heres what he said on fox news. What are the political implications for the president and his reelection bid do you believe . This is like the dumbest, dumber than dirt political move. On a friday afternoon and anything bad you want to talk about on a friday afternoon, they make a fourminute announcement were going to turn weiss into Special Counsel to remove any and all doubt. Theres no Ongoing Investigation of hunter biden or joe biden. Why would you accept a plea to have the case if you were going to continue to investigate the guy for other crimes . Nobody ever does that. The only reason were talking about this is the plea deal blew up because of a good judge. Reporter theres also some Practical Implications of what the effect is going to be because david weiss had been in negotiationwise the House Judiciary Committee about potentially coming forward arguing he wanted to clear up some things he said just werent true for allegations that had come from two Whistle Blowers. Now, of course, were wondering whether or not david weiss will still appear. The House Judiciary Committee saying they still do expect him to come forward and they havent heard otherwise. Of course we reached out to the department of justice to get more clarity on whether or not weiss still plan tuesday come to capitol hill some time in the next couple of months. Kara, these republicans angry that weiss, that the Special Counsel is not someone new, that simply the u. S. Attorney has been designated. Do they have a point . How unusual is it that the attorney general stuck with weiss and didnt approve someone else for this investigation . I mean it is unusual the requirement under the provisions of the law for a scial counsel is to appoint somee who is impartial and fair. Weiss did stay on. He was a trump appointee, someone that was not appointed by biden. Of course this is his son under investigation. We have seen in other investigations that they have brought in outsiders, people have not been involved. Even in jack smiths case he did keep on a number of the top attorneys who were working on this carb, although it is unusual weiss is staying in this role although he does have five years of knowledge where this investigation has gone already. Kara scunel, lauren fox, all over this breaking news. Thank you both. Lets turn to another Special Counsel case today. This morning was the first hearing in the trump election subversion indictment. It was focused on setting up rules how trump can handle certain evidence in the case, but the judge also sent out some clear warnings of her own regarding what the former president says publicly about the case. Cnns Kaitlan Palanz is outside the courtroom in washington. What happened in that courtroom today . Reporter there was a clear signal from judge Tanya Chutkan that there is justice and there is politics and donald trump as a criminal defendant charged with multiple federal crimes, in her Court Justice is going to have to come first. One of things she said specifically is that the fact is that he, donald trump, is running a Political Campaign currently hato yield to the administration oice. And if that means he, trump, cant say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how its going to have to be. Those are the judges words. And the reason shes saying them here, alex, is because she is putting some sort of parameters around what donald trump can do with the evidence hes receiving as his team prepares for trial. The things he will learn specifically about witnesses, searches the Justice Department conducted, things that are very sensitive to this case that have never been shared with him before. And so as he gets that information, judge Tanya Chutkan has found that there is law that allows her to say to him you cant share these things widely if they are under my order, that they must be protected Going Forward to trial. The reason to do that is to make sure that the trial has integrity, that the jury pool isnt tainted, that witnesses arent intimidated, and then on top of that there are other restrictions for donald trump in that hes out on bail. And one of the conditions for him not to be sitting in jail awaiting trial is that he cant talk to witnesses about the details of this case, and he also cant publicly try and intimidate them or obstruct them in a way that would hurt the system of justice that is ing to be put in place he as he heads to tal. Another quote from the judge about a fair trial, it is a Bedrock Principle of the judicial process in this country. Legal trials are not like elections to be won through the use of a meeting call, the radio, and newspaper. This case is no exception. Alex . Kate polantz at the courthouse, thank you very much. Lets bring in a contributor and new york staff writer. Lets start with the hunter biden part of this year. Designation of a Special Counsel today, what is your reaction to that and really how we got to this point . You know, this Justice Department has done a lot of things that, you know, have been unprecedented including most notably what theyve been doing with donald trump. This is also unprecedented. I think we have to observe that, look, ive never seen a federal Criminal Case travel this strange path. Five years, you know, a u. S. Attorney from a prior administration. Theres a Plea Agreement that seemed like it was about to wrap everything up, and now its falling apart in this dramatic fashion. From here its unclear where theyre going next. Related to the tax charges they were supposed to file in delaware, and they now have a right to file more charges than just the ones already part of the Plea Agreement. Evan, also in term of the reaction inside biden world, what do you think the president is feeling today . Do you think they assumed that this was all going to go away with that plea deal . But now its clearly going to drag on into this into this campaign season. How do you expect them and specifically the president to contend with this . Well, alex, you know, theres a very personal element to this and the a political element. The personal element lets call it what it is, very painful. The fact its his son, a close member of the family, in and out of the white house, traveled with the president on foreign trips recently. And this process which seem to be kind of winding down is now flaring up una way that could drag on for a long time. Which for a personal matter is a painful thing for any family. As a political fact, yes, this now establishes this as a piece of the conversations. But i think one of the things you hear clearly from the people in the white house and specifically around the president is theres been a fiveyear investigation of this matter as we know by a u. S. Attorney appointed by donald trump. And it has yet to find a simple example of a case in which Hunter Bidens efforts to enrich himself. He was trying to take advantage of his connections in politics, that the president actually did anything that would benefit him or the president did anything to change policy. That fact hasnt change, and now what were waiting to see is where does this investigation go . Anytime you get a Special Counsel. At the moment the facts on the ground remain the same. There is no evidence joe biden benefitted. Evan, he mentioned the political side of this. You mention how unprecedent asked how bizarre this whole thing seems to you. How much do you see the political here impacting the legal . I think that theyre intertwined, right, unfortunately for the Justice Department you cant take the politics out of the law in this situation. Its a variation the problem they have with the trump prosecutions, too. They want to have a clear delineation between law and politics, but these are political figures, the most prominent political figures in the country. To some extent i would imagine this is aimed at Ploicating Republicans On Capitol Hill who insist on having this designation. Let me ask you about that because they are thoroughly unhappy about this. They say theres a two tier justice system, they wanted a Special Counsel, but then the Whistle Blowers came and they insisted david weiss said he wanted to be Special Counsel but couldnt, but even no david weiss said in a letter thats not what happened. Now theyre saying no, they and dont really like him. What do you make of that . Because this certainly doesnt seem like Something Good for President Biden and democrats candidly. Personally i think they want this to go on as long as possible through the 2024 election. Weiss has all the institutional knowledge, right. If you brought in someone else to take it over theyd have to get entirely up to speed, theyd have to relearn everything. They might need to revisit, and thats time, resources, and i think, you know, what weve seen on capitol hill this year surrounding hunter biden suggests that republicans really like this to be front and center on the news. Evan, you did touch on the personal side of this and how President Biden would be seeing this. Do you think that theres any regret on the president s part for running not just the first time but now running for reelection because it does put such a heavy spotlight on his sons troubles. Well, this has been a fact of his life for a long time. You know, the rallies joe bidens been in politics for decades as you know. He knows when you run, its not just yourself, but your family run. He would not have run for president in 2020 or indeed 2024 were it indeed not something hunter biden and Hunter Bidens kids were willing to go through. This is Family Affair when it comes to the biden family, and i think they knew what they were getting into it. Biden talked about it explicitly before. I think the thing to keep in mind theres going to be a sustained effort to try to generate what is in effect a counter scandal to balance out what is happening around trump, who is after all the republican candidate here. Hunter biden is not running for president , so for the moment this is a painful matter for the president painful and has political implications, but this is a different fact than having a republican candidate whos in fact facing his own Special Counsel. It is different, of course, but certainly as voters see it, i dont know, it creates sort of something or allows an opportunity to try to create the idea there isnt, and i think thats what were going to see republicans do. Thank you so much to both of you for coming in. We appreciate it. And ahead this hour on cnn news central, were going to take you live to maui where people are desperately trying to leave the island including one man who says he lost everything. Plus, worrying new signs americans are struggling to pay the bills. And salacious new allegations against Phil Mickelson including claims he lost close to 100 million betting. Thats my boy. Stay off the freeways only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. A man, his family, and his tractor, penny. These are the upshaws. And this is their playound. Theres a story in every piece of land, run with us On A Hn Deere Tractor and start telling yours. Young lady who was, mid 30s, couple of kids, recently went through a divorce. She had a lot of questions when she came in. I watched my mother go through being a single mom. At the end of the day, my mom raised three children, including myself. And so once the client knew that she was heard. We were able to help her move forward. 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Worsening depression, including suicidal thoughts, may occur. Most common side effects are headaches and sleepiness. Its quviviq. Ask your doctor if its right for you. Subways slicing their turkey fresh like on the titan turkey. Piled high with double the cheese and more meat. I proffer freshly sliced turkey. Its my favorite mouth guard flavor. Mmmm. Now available at subway. The sub, not the mouth guard. Soon residents of the decimated town of lahaina will be able to go back home. The states governor just telling a local Television Station that people should brace themselves, though, because, quote, they will see destruction like theyve not ever seen in their lives, and that is really the truth when you look at these pictures. Mauis mayor expected to make the official announcement residents can return to lahaina or to be honest what is left of it later today. In the meantime the white house says its Emergency Response is ramping up. The federal government just releasing enough food and water for 5,000 people for five days. And at this point at least 55 people are dead from the devastating wildfires. That number, though, is expected to keep climbing substantially. We have cnns Veronica Miracle at the airport for us. I know its always busy there, but its busier than usual, veronica. Tell us what youre seeing. Reporter thats exactly right, briana. This airport has seen its fair share of very busy Summer Travel days especially with everything thats been going on with airlines, but this is at another level. You can see right here the lines behind me. But during this live shot im going to try to walk the entire length of the line to get into tsa, and well see if we can get to the line as im talking. So a lot of people have been trying to get out. In fact, the government, the county is asking people to leave to save resources for those who have been impacted by the fire in lahaina, the three fires that have been burning here. In fact, we spoke to one man who with his wife they came here on vacation from sydney, australia. They were in there hotel on monday. They saw the fires burning. They got stuck. They had not been able to communicate with the airlines or really the outside world, and theyve been subsitting off of berries and fruit and a sandwich that they were able to get from aid workers. Take a listen to what he had to say. Were living primarily because were just using our food and resources that the locals need. Cant say were glad to be leaving because we love maui, but we have to. Tee have to do the right thing and leave the resourcess to the people who need them. But well be back. Reporter so many people that we have spoken to recognize that this is obviously an incredibly dire situation for the people that live here, but vacations, of course, have been absolutely destroyed. So many people who spent thousands of dollars have been impacted. Were coming up against a bench here, but im just going to turn over this way. The line continues. The line goes on and on and on and this has been happening all week. You see people camping out, people sleeping with sleeping bags, people bringing around water. All over the county whether youre impacted by the fires or youre a traveller here who had your vacation interrupted, its been a real mess. Certainly has. We talked to a State Senator who represents lahaina yesterday, and he said they need food, they need fuel, and they need tourists to turn back around. And i think that man whos heading back to australia said it best, you need to leave the resources for those who need them. Veronica miracle, live for us, thank you. Alex . Thanks, briana. We want to speak now about this with lafina davis who lost her home in maui. Thank you for joining us today. We can only begin to imagine what a difficult time this is for you and how youre processing what youve been through. We understand you lost your home that was on Front Street In Lahaina itself. If you wouldnt mind tell us and our viewers what you were feeling, what you saw as the fires approached your home. Thank you so much for this opportunity to speak on the behalf of my family, my ohana, and my community and our town weve lived in for generations. You know, its hard to describe because most of most of the feelings and emotions at that moment had to be suppressed in order to be quickly moving and to gather our families, gather our things and get out. I was fortunate enough to leave when i saw the dense, black smoke ensue and consume come from the Mountain Side and consume down to the ocean, and then quickly approach our home. Even at that time i i still was in disbelief it would ever reach our house. We were unable to like gather any of our personal belongings. I got my computer and my important documents, but that was it. We later tried to return to only watch our entire house burn to the ground. And not just our home but our entire neighborhood and community. So the emotions at that time were numbing, shocking. Its been several days. Ive been able to decompress. I was relieved to find out that all of my family was accounted for and evacuated as of yesterday afternoon. So thats allowing me to, you know, have a little bit more confidence and unravel and unpack the emotions that we are that i and my family are going through right now. That is a huge relief, and of course were extremely happy for you. Were also looking at these incredible scenes of devastation in lahaina right now. We have heard some criticisms for the authorities about lack of warning, question about sirens and evacuation orders. You yourself have criticized the mayor of miami and the Police Department saying they failed your community. What do you think they should have done that they didnt . So i want to start off by recognizing our governments efforts, commending the national guard, the maui Fire Department, the maui Police Department, and the community of local individuals on the ground who are making a difference right now. The initial the initial impression of the community of lahaina is that we were not evacuated, that we were not given any warning. You know, the community is angry. Theyre hurt. But with new information as its coming out, i learned that the maui Police Department were on foot going from doortodoor getting people out the best that they could. All communications were down. There was no way to get information in our out. And the Civil Defense was not operational at that time, so i dont believe that it was possible for that to happen. I believe the Fire Department was, you know, doing their best. The maui Police Department did their best, and the local Community Also was doing their best. New information and, you know, from my Close Friends and families. They were woken, they had to flee on foot. They had to jump into the river to escape the flames. They grabbed their neighbors and threw them in the river to escape the flames. The same thing down at lahaina harbor on front street. So ive reconsidered my initial hurt and anger towards the communications that was going into lahaina. For myself i was frustrated. I did go up to the highest point to get Phone Service so i could reach those that i know in media and in communications on the island to get out word that the actual situation. Because what was coming over the airways just wasnt enough information for the residents to be able to evacuate and escape. I feel like theres going to be a lot more theres a lot of unaccounted for people, and were going to find a lot more of our friends and family. We have heard that from the mayor today that the death toll is only those who have been found outside and that searches still need to be carried out inside. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us. We know how difficult this is, and we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and the stories of others, such dramatic stories of escape and survival weve been hearing over the course of the past few days. Of course our thoughts are with you, your family, and the entire maui community, so thank you for coming on. Thank you for the opportunity and all of your efforts. All right. And for more information about how you can help hawaii wildfire victims, you can go to cnn. Com impact or just text Hawaii To 707070 In Order to donate. Okay. Ill work on that. Save 50 on the sleep Number Limited Edition smart t bed. Plus, 36 Month Finanancing on select smart beds. Shop now only at sleep number. Im saving with liberty mutual, mom. They customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. You could save 700 dollars just by switching. Ooh, let me put a reminder on my phone. On the top of the pe oh only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. janet so much space . That open kitchen tanya oooh definitely the one ethan but how can you sell your house when were stuck on a Space Station for months . . . brian no guys, opendoor gives you the flexibility to sell and buy on your timeline. janet nice intercom flightdeck, see you at the house warming. Good checkup . No, great checkup [laughs] nailed it again keep up the good work for great checkups, crest has you covered because crest prohealth protects 100 of your mouth for 24 hours. Look, ma no cavities crest. jack were standing up for our right to be lazy. jan by sitting down. ronald and Reclining Back lyn we work fulltime and parent fulltime. lyns husband we will be reclined until further notice. andi its our right to let the dishes soak overnight. rob and to mow the lawn. Tomorrowish. ben we proudly declare that yes, we are still watching that. ariel and no, we wont be cooking tonight. damon we, the lazy, are taking back lazy. doreen . By getting comfy on our lazboy furniture. vo lazboy. Long live the lazy. Americans are feeling the pinch of inflation, and Family Budgets they have the bruises to prove it. According to moodys analytics the higher prices are forcing families to spend 709 more each month compared to two years ago. Cnns mattegen is joining us to break this down. That adds up to 8,500 a year. That is a huge increase. Its massive, and it really explains why some families having such a hard time getting by right now. Inflation has cooled off considerably. Weve gotten two big Inflation Reports in the last two days, and both of them make that obvious. Were nowhere near those Inflation Levels of last summer, and yet inflation can be cumulative. There is a Snowballing Effect here of two years of price spikes, and so americans are spending a lot more in a lot of different areas including, of course, housing and anybody trying to buy or rent right now knows that. People are spending more at the grocery store, on recreation on things like streaming and buying tickets and also on cars, On Buying Cars and insuring them. Both things can be true. Inflation has cooled off and its also done a lot of damage over the last two years. Two things can be true at once very much. Matt egen, thank you very much for that. And this just in sam bankman freed, has been ordered back into custody after violating the conditions of his bail. Kara, one of the allegations is that he was tampering with witnesses. Yeah, alex, thats right. And the judge finding today that there was probable cause to believe that bankman freed attempted to tamper with witnesses twice. That visual you see on the screen is bankman freed arriving to the courtroom today. That is the last time hell be walking as a free man. Hes expected to go to trial october 2nd, but the judge revoking bail and prosecutors asking for this because the Tipping Point seemed to be bankman freed spoke to the New York Times about a person in this case. This is a Top Executive at ftx and the sister hedge fund. He said that was an attempt to tamper with witnesses and potentially intimidate her from testifying at trial. Shes pleaded guilty to numerous serious crimes and is going to be one of the governments star witnesses. So hed been out on 250 million bond, staying at his parents home in palo alto, california. The judge revoking that today. And interesting to note his parents were in the courtroom today. According to my colleague theyve not come to a number of court appearances, so definitely a sign they were prepared for this to happen. Now theyll likely not see their son until the trial date. The bankman Fried Attorneys asked him to stay out until they could approve this ruling but the judge said no, they didnt know what kind of mischief he could get into during that time. Thank you very much. Brianna . Still to come on cnn news central, a 17yearold just entered a not guilty plea in the deadly stabbing of a gay dancer at a brooklyn gas station. Ahead what his Attorney Says may be his defense. And the Illinois State Supreme Court ruled on whether to uphold a ban on Assault Style weapons. Stay with us. Rude. Who o are you . Im an investor in a fund that helps advance Innovativive Sports Tech like this smart fitntness mirror. Im also mr. Leg day. 1989 anyone can become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq, a fund that gives you access to nasdaq100 innovations. 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Now republicans are blasting trumps appointment for the job, david weiss, saying they dont trust him to be impartial and president ial candidate ron desantis said this before an audience in iowa. And its like if he were the Special Counsel, if he were republican hed be in jail right now and we all know that. Let me bring in cnn anchor of the lead jake tapper whos also our chief washington correspondent. What do you make of these criticisms . I think there are some legitimate questions about this whole situation. First of all, i do think its fair to question why would u. S. Attorney weiss be appointed to Special Counsel . Usually a Special Counsel is an outside attorney. It has happened before. Durham came from inside, and the attorney general has the right to do that, but it is odd. Second of all, this was a this plea deal was picked apart by the judge, so one could ask why would you stick with the u. S. Attorney if he you know, this was a failure, a colossal failure. The two sides had not even eagreed upon what was in that plea deal. And there are questions about whether it was harsh enough this plea deal, whether it was strong enough. Beyond that there are some other questions i have which include the u. S. Attorney weiss, now Special Counsel so one of the reasons to make him a Special Counsel supposedly is so he has to ability to charge in other venues outside delaware. But i believe he had previously argued publicly that he had the right to do whatever he wanted, and then the whistleblower said, well, Behind The Scenes Weiss was complaining he couldnt do that, he wasnt able to do that, and the Justice Department and weiss denied what the Whistle Blowers were saying, but this move makes it seem as though, well, maybe the Whistle Blowers were right. Maybe what they were alleging is true, and he didnt have the ability to charge whatever he wanted to charge, and now he does. So i do have a lot of questions about that, and i do think some of the political questions being raised by republicans have merit. Weiss was kept on by the Biden Administration. They could have gotten rid of him, but he was kept onto negate this argument of impropriety. And so it do you think the democratic argument that were going to hear now that he was nominated or confirmed under the Trump Administration is going to be forceful enough of a response for that . Its a completely legitimate argument to make, that this u. S. Attorney was appointed by trump and the Biden Administration to their credit kept him on because he was doing this investigation and they didnt want any allegations of conflict of interest. But there are also questions about the u. S. Attorney now Special Counsel weiss decisions since then. And we cant pretend that there are not political pressures and political wins out there. There are. All im saying is i do have questions about all of this, and i understand some of the questions being raised by republicans although again at the end of the day the evidence of crimes needs to be presented, whether its evidence against hunter biden, not just the Misdemeanor Crimes that were part of the plea deal, but if there are bigger or stronger ones, then lets see the evidence. Itll be very interesting to see if that trial widens the scope beyond what was discussed in that plea deal. Now it merits a Special Counsel, so does he know of stuff that should be in a Special Counsel investigation that wasnt in that plea deal . Maybe he does, but then why do that plea deal . Its all very suspicious. Fascinating. And im sure youre going to be having terrific discussions on the show. Jake where tapper, thank you very much. And be sure to join jake at the top of the hour on the lead. We certainly will. And allegations Phil Mickelson was considering betting on a tournament he was playing in. And wait until you hear how much he allegedly lost gambling. Your brain is an amazing thing. But as you get older, it naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness,. Thankfully, the breakthrough in evagen helps your brain and actually impros memory. The secret is an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. At stores everywhere without a prescription. My dad was a hard worker. He used to do side jobs installing windows, charging Something Like A Hundred Bucks a window when other guys were charging four to fivehundred bucks. He just didnt wanna do that. He was proud of the price he was charging. My dad instilled in me, always put the people before the money. Be proud of offering a good product at a fair price. I think hed be extremely proud of me, yeah. The minute you drive off the lot. Or more. Thats why farmers new Car Replacement pays to replace it with a new one of the same make and model. Get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. Farmers mnemonic now to some of the other headlines were watching this hour. The illinois Supreme Court has ruled the states Assault Weapons ban is constitutional. A republican lawmaker sued to stop the law saying it violated equal protection rights. But in a 43 ruling today the court disagreed. The law was signed after last years Highland Park mass shooting. Also today a teenager pleaded not guilty to stabbing and killing a gay man who had been dancing to beyonce at a gas station in brooklyn. The 17yearold suspect was arraigned this morning on a charge of Second Degree murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors allege he stabbed 28yearold professional dancer oshea sibly who they say was defending his friends from homophobic and antiblack slurs. And a total of five republican president ial candidates have qualified for the upcoming primary debate after signing onto the required Loyalty Pledge from the rnc. The pledge declares that candidates will support the partys eventual nominee and forego a Third Party Bid of their own. As of today donald trump, Chris Christie and mike pence have met the requirement but yet not signed the party pledge. Now to the exclusive allegations rocking the golfing world, claims three time masters champion Phil Mickelson is a prolific gam br. That may not surprise you, but this may has lost close to 100 million in bets. The accusation made in an upcoming book, even alleged at one Point Mickelson considered betting on the ryder cup, a competition he was playing in. We have patrick snell, the host of Cnn World Sport with us. This is absolutely the talk of the golf world. Phil mickelson one of the most popular and successful golfers in the history of the sport. He did cause controversy i will say last year when he joined the saudibacked liv golf series. These allegations are according to a book released later this month by a professional gambler, billie walters. He was in what he described as a gambling partnership. The total losses likely close to 100 million and hes waging 1 billion over the last 30 years. Citing his own betting records and additional records provided by Unnamed Sources Walters alleges between 2010 and 2014 mickelson made over 7,000 wagers on football, on basketball, and baseball. An excerpt published saying that mickelson in 2011 alone he made 3,154 bets, an average of nearly nine per day. I will say cnn has not been able to independently verify these claims. Walters himself was convicted of Insider Trading back in 2017 and sentenced to five years in federal prison. President trump commuted his sentence in 2021. And i want to get to this because this is one of the more stunning allegations that walters makes is that mickelson asked him to bet 400,000, brianna, on the u. S. Team to beat tim europe, back in 2012. He was part of the team that lost that final day. Walters wrote he doesnt know if mickelson ever placed that bet. Mickelson denies gambling on that years ryder cup. Meantime i do want to get this from the fourtime major winner rory mcllroy, the northern irishman reacting to the books allegations and take a listen, not holding back in any way. The talk of the golf world is this book excerpt that came out about Phil Mickelson. Im curious what your reaction, what the reaction in there was when you read about it. I mean at least he didnt bet of the ryder cup this year because he wont be a part of it. I think rory was ready for that question. He certainly delivered. Back to you. Wow, i mean no love lost between those two for sure, patrick. What is mickelson saying here . Mickelson taking to social media to deny the allegations. The 53yearold posting this. I never bet on the ryder cup. While its wellknown i always enjoy a friendly wager on the course, i would never undermine integrity of the game. Ive also been very open about my gambling addiction. Ive previously conveyed my remorse, took responsibility, ive gotten help. Ive been fully committed to therapy that has positively impacted me, and i feel good about where i am now. Needless to say, brianna, this is one were going to follow any developments and more fall out because there could be more. Back to you. I think there will be. Patrick snell, thank you for that. A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in maui amid concerns the death toll will continue to rise. A live areport ahead on cnn. But first a look at this weeks cnn hero, a man who after watching his aunt and grandmother struggle and die from preventable diseases is dedicated to bringing health care to remote areas of ghana. Weve been to communities where they havent seen a doctor before. Literally they havent been to the hospital before. Weve designed the van like a clinic. Depending on the persons condition and needs, additional labs were done. We have some point of care labs we do in the van. We have medications, and so its like a onestop shop for people. Uptodate weve served over 4,000 people. So imagine if we had two or three vans. Our vision is to really expand. Words cannot describe the feeling that you get providing care for someone who otherwise wouldnt be alive if your mobile health van wasnt there. dad we got Ourubaru Forester Wilderness to discover all of the places thatake us feel something more. vo subaru is the National Park foundations largest corporate donor, helping expand access for all. Thats why the new titan turkey is proferred by this football pro. And proferred by this football pro who actually uses her feet. And if we profer it, we know youll prefer it too. I use my feet. Have you seen me scramble . Fundamental freedoms are under attack in our country today and there is a National Agenda at play by these extremist socalled leaders. It will be a national ban on abortion. It is the tradition of our country to fight for freedom, to fight for rights. To fight for the ability of all people to be who they are and make decisions about their own lives and their bodies. And we will fight for the ideals of our country. Before we go, we do want to highlight a video from the devastation on maui, and that is lahainas banyan tree. This is now ordinary tree. It is one of the citys most beloved landmarks. Such a gorge tree. It was planted back in 1873, so 150 years ago as an 8 foot sapling that came from india and grew to shade nearly twothirds of an acre. For generations it has been a Meeting Place there in lahaina, a place of rest and sanctuary, stretches a full city block and is now more than 60 feet tall. This is video that was actually shot, this one were showing you here by hawaii senator brian shakt. And while the tree is Still Standing you can see the damage to it. Its not clear at this point if its going to survive fully. Its not the worst loss of this fire that has claimed dozens of lives but the fact it is Still Standing and still may live is much needed sign of hope for the town, for that island, d