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Dozens of Rockets Fired from Lebanon Towards Israel; Israel's Northern Airspace Closed; Pension-Bill Protesters Storms Blackrock Offices; Tennessee House Moves to Expel Three Democrats; Tech Executive Stabbed to Death in San Francisco; Violent Crimes in San Francisco up by 7 percent; FBI's Botched Raid at a Boston Hotel; Air Traffic Controller Shortage; Three Separate Shootings in Florida are Connected; Climber Dies While Pushing Friend to Safety. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 06, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Update some of our top stories here we have been following around the world this morning starting with video that you have to see, it's out of Paris. Protesters in the French capital storming the Blackrock Investment building with flares, they say that they're protesting the government's pension reform plan.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Moments ago, Israeli defense forces confirming dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel this morning. They say at least one has been intercepted by the Iron Dome. Israel now closing its northern airspace for civil aviation.

Also, here in the U.S., three Democratic state lawmakers in Tennessee are awaiting their fate. Today, Republicans are set to hold a vote on expelling them from the States House of Representatives after their protests following that shooting in Nashville.

LEMON: All that and more, we will be following all day on CNN, "CNN's New Central." Thank you for joining us in. It's "New Central," covering all of these stories, and it starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're keeping a close eye on breaking news. As Israel says, dozens of rockets have been fired into the region, fired into Israel from Lebanon. We're live there in moments.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Will they be expelled? One hour from now, Republicans in Tennessee will begin a vote to kick out three Democratic state lawmakers. This all has to do with the debate over gun reforms and protests after Nashville school shooting.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And a training exercise gone wrong in Boston. The FBI breaks down the door of a hotel room, throws the occupant in handcuffs, pushes him into a shower and interrogates him for an hour. There's one problem though, the FBI made a mistake. Those stories and many more right here on "CNN News Central." BOLDUAN: All right. The breaking news, everyone. A major escalation in the Middle East right now. Israeli defense forces say dozens of rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel. Take a look at this video. Israel says they were intercepted.

Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to be receiving continuous updates now on this unfolding security situation. We've also just heard that Israel's northern airspace has been closed down. CNN Hadas Gold is live in Jerusalem following all this for us.

Hadas, what's the very latest from there?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we know from the Israeli defense forces that dozens of rockets were fired from Southern Lebanon into the western northern part of Israel. And we actually don't know that all of them were intercepted because we are getting reports of at least one person injured by shrapnel. So, that means that likely at least some of them landed or shrapnel could have also fallen from interceptions. This is all still very much developing. But what we also know is that dozens of red alert sirens were going off in the northern western part of Israel, indicating that rockets were incoming.

Now, of course, there have been days of tension here in Jerusalem at the al-Aqsa Mosque leading up to this. The Israeli police raiding the mosque twice in 24 hours they say to remove people who were barricading themselves inside with fireworks and stones. But just the act of going into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound is seen as very provocative and offensive to Muslims around the world.

We've already seen rockets being a being sent to Israel from Gaza overnight. But this coming from Lebanon, this is a new and very worrying escalation. Now, from the area where these rockets were likely fired from, there's a lot of Palestinian refugee camps. So, these could be Palestinian militants. But in the Israeli military's eyes, all of Southern Lebanon is essentially controlled by Hezbollah and all the Israeli security officials I've ever spoken to, that is their big concern about what the next major escalation or war could be here.

It would be a confrontation with Hezbollah, because Hezbollah's arsenal is much bigger, more powerful than what we see from groups like Hamas. And for Israel, the Israeli security officials, they really worry of what this sort of escalation could mean. We know that right now the northern airspace in Israel has been closed to air traffic as a result of these dozens of rockets being fired towards Israel and the prime minister is convening his secure cabinet to decide how to respond.

Keep in mind, of course, we are right now in the midst of the overlapping holidays of Ramadan and Passover. It's already been a very tense time, but what we're seeing right now in the north from Lebanon, this could be a very dangerous and very major new escalation here, Kate.

BOLDUAN: We're looking at some video, it looks like the Iron Dome intercepting of -- at least some, as you point out, Hadas, some of the rockets. Talk to me about the context here. 2021, the last time we saw clashes after raids in situation that played out initially at that same at the al-Aqsa Mosque, and what happened after that. Compare that to what we're looking at potentially unfolding now.

GOLD: Yes. Similar situations in 2021. There was not only unrest in East Jerusalem neighborhoods and Sheikhpura as Palestinian families were under threat of being evicted from their homes, but then, also clashes in al-Aqsa. And for many of the militant groups in and around this region they see al-Aqsa as the definite red line more than anything else. They see it as the symbol of Palestinians and they see it as really what they need to defend. And that's why we always see these reactions, not necessarily from events that happened in the West Bank, even if they're -- you know, it's been an incredibly deadly 18 months or so, it's what happens at al-Aqsa that really matters.

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So, like I said, there have been injuries, but just the fact that Israeli police entering the mosque, entering the mosque as they did, engaging violently with the people who were inside, no matter what was happening inside, just the Israeli police entering that space is seen as incredibly provocative and offensive, and that's why we do sort of expect to see reactions, especially from Gaza, but something coming from Lebanon, that's incredibly new.

And what the big question will be is how the Israeli military will respond. Will they respond in the same way that they did in 2021 with Gaza that led to that 11-day war? Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. This is unfolding as we speak. Hadas, stick close. Thank you for the updates. John.

BERMAN: Right. New this morning, protesters in Paris stormed into the offices of an investment firm. You can see the flares in flags and chanting as smoke filled the building. This is the 11th day of demonstrations against France's pension bill, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64. CNN's Melissa Bell has been in the middle of it all in Paris.

Melissa, why don't you tell us what you're seeing?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this, John, is the heart of the protests. We're marching through Paris, the 11th day that the unions have gotten together. And what they've been saying these last couple of hours is that they're determined to carry on.

You mentioned those pictures a moment ago from earlier on in Central Paris, one of the characteristics of this protest movement, John, which had been pretty peaceful to begin with when it started in January is how much more violent it's become these last couple of weeks.

Let me just show you what's happening around me. It's always starts as a bit of a carnival. It usually ends with tear gas and a small minority confronting police. But that -- those early dramatic pictures, really quite extraordinary. They were railway workers who occupied that building for about 10 minutes. And what you're seeing here is very united front of the unions who say they simply don't want the retirement age raised from 62 to 64, that is set to become law, John, by the end of the year. And the government for now is saying it will carry on.

The unions we expect to tell us later tonight when the next day of strike action and protest will be. But for now, no sign that either their unity or their determination is flagging, John.

BERMAN: It's all going on right around you. Melissa Bell on the streets of Paris. Melissa, please keep us posted. Sara.

SIDNER: Now, back here to the U.S. A big question this morning is whether these three Tennessee Democrats that you see back there, they're state lawmakers, whether they will lose their jobs today, not by the voters they represent, but by their colleagues, the Republican majority in the State House.

Next hour, the chamber is set to begin voting on whether to expel Democrats Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. And here's why, the three protested on the statehouse floor last week calling for gun reform. This is after six people, including three nine-year-olds were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Nashville. CNN's Ryan Young is following this story from Nashville.

Ryan, Republicans say that, you know, the three Democrats violated house rules. But kicking them out seems like a really extreme move. What are you hearing we're going to see in the next hour or so?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Depending on who you talk to, Sara, there's a lot of emotions tied to this. Some people say this is all about decorum and breaking the rules inside the statehouse. When you see all the people who lined up here, despite all this rain, you can see the passion that's involved in this.

Sara, as you walk with me here, you can see some of the teachers that have lined up with these signs, ban assault rifle, ban guns not books. It was this emotion that people took inside the statehouse, and those lawmakers said they felt the pain from these folks then went inside and got on the floor. Now, when you talk to Republicans, they say they went the opposite direction. They should never use the bullhorn on that floor.

So, now, we're not sure whether or not this vote is going to happen in the next hour, or do they go through some of the resolutions first before this happens. But this is really unprecedented in terms of how this is going to move forward. The Republicans definitely run this. And so, they had the majority. This could absolutely happen. There have been groups that have come out and said, we should not be focused on this. There are six lives that have been lost, and you had those officers who heroically ran in and took care of the threat. And that should be the conversation about how we stop this from ever happening again.

But instead, now, you can hear the pain and the people talking about how they should move forward. But today, everyone is going to be focused on what happens inside because of procedural movements from the Republicans.

SIDNER: Well, Ryan, really good reporting there. Thank you so much for bringing us that.

John, all of that kicks off next hour.

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BERMAN: Yes, it does, Sara. And if it all goes through as perhaps expected, it will be the first time in the chamber's 227-year history that a member would be removed for violating chamber rules. Now, as Ryan just reported, the context here, is the protest at the state capital calling for new gun safety measures? Last Thursday, three house Democrats, as Ryan reported, joined the protest. They approached the podium on the house floor even though they had not been recognized to speak.

So, that was a breach of house rules. It brought a halt to the chamber for nearly an hour. That is the activity under question today. And this is what matters in terms of the expulsion vote. As an epilogue to this, on Monday, dozens in the house gallery were ordered to leave after Republicans voted to move forward with the expulsion vote. As that unfolded, one of the lawmakers who may be removed today says another state representative assaulted him and took his phone. Look at this.

Representative Justin Jones says he has filed a police report over the alleged assault. Now, since the Civil War, only two house members have been expelled in Tennessee. In 1980, it was after criminal charges. And in 2016, it followed sexual misconduct allegations and an attorney general investigation. Both of these were bipartisan votes, not at all what's expected yesterday, Sara -- or today I should say, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John. Members of a grand jury may soon find out what Vice President Mike Pence and President Trump discussed in the lead up to the deadly January 6th insurrection. CNN has learned that Former Vice President Pence will testify under oath before that grand jury after deciding not to appeal of federal court ruling ordering him to speak. CNN's legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, is here with more.

Paula, what more can you tell us about what Pence's decision-making was about saying, hey, I am not going to try and get out of this ruling and go forward with some sort of appeal?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well Sara, he believes he at least got a partial constitutional victory here because he will not have to answer any questions about things that he did in his official role as president of the Senate on January 6th. But prosecutors really weren't that interested in that particular aspect of January 6th. Instead, they want to ask him about the pressure campaign that he faced from the former president and his allies as they tried to get him to block Biden's victory. They're also going to want to know about that heated phone call he and the former president had right before the insurrection. Other witnesses have discussed that. They're also likely going to want to talk to him about the threats that he faced from Trump supporters on the capitol that day

Now, this could potentially, Sara, be historic. I mean, this would be the first time that he would be cooperating in a criminal investigation against the former president, testifying under oath. Now, at this point, we don't know the exact date for his testimony or his appearance before the grand jury. One of the questions hanging out there is whether Former President Trump will try to appeal this on his own on executive privilege grounds.

And so far, this investigation, he has lost every time he has tried to push this issue of executive privilege. But I'm told even if they lose on executive privilege, they may appeal just as a formality to preserve this potentially for future appeals. So, it's unclear if they were going to appeal, and that will impact when this could potentially happen.

SIDNER: Paula Reid, thank you so much there from Washington, D.C. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. An investigation is underway after a prominent tech executive was stabbed to death in San Francisco. What police are saying about that attack now?

Plus, the FBI is facing some heat today after agents detained the wrong person in a botched training exercise at a hotel in Boston. You want to hear those details.

And a shortage of air traffic controllers could be contributing to a series of recent near collisions at airports across the country. Coming up on "CNN News Central."

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BOLDUAN: Just in this morning, new weekly jobless claims. CNN's Rahel Solomon has all the numbers for us. OK. So, what are we looking at with these first time claims this time?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. So, this is our weekly look at how many Americans are filing for unemployment benefits. It gives us a sense -- it's a proxy of layoffs, right? It's first government data where if we were going to see layoffs, we would see it here.

So, the data just released within the last hour showing that 228,000 Americans applied for initial claims unemployment benefits for the week ending April 1st. That is the decline of about 18,000. I should, however, say that the prior week was actually revised up by about 48,000.

BOLDUAN: OK.

SOLOMON: To put this all in context, we're still hovering at pretty much pre pandemic loads. We're a little bit higher, but pretty much hovering at about that 200,000 levels. I want to show you how this can be true, but also, take a look at some of the layoffs because that is also true, right?

BOLDUAN: Right.

SOLOMON: I mean, how often are we talking about major companies that are laying off workers, and we can show you some of the companies that we're talking about, but you'll really sort of see some themes, right? It's a lot of the tech players. It's a lot of the financial companies. But -- and some of the major companies like McDonald's, like the Fords of the world.

And what we're seeing is that it's actually the small and medium sized companies that are powering a lot of the job growth that we're seeing and it's concealing the layoffs at some of these major tech companies.

BOLDUAN: There's also -- coming up -- you know, we have this important look today. And tomorrow, we have another important look, of course, the monthly jobs report.

SOLOMON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And people are keying and very closely, even more so than they usually do. Why?

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SOLOMON: Yes. So, the jobs report has become very important the last like year or so, but even more so tomorrow because it's the last jobs report we get before the next fed meeting in early May. So, I want to show you expectations. So, the expectation is that we will see job growth of about 240,000.

BOLDUAN: OK.

SOLOMON: And the unemployment rate will hover at about 3.6 percent. To put that in context, if, in fact we do see levels like that, that would be the lowest job creation we have seen in years. But I would argue the fed would probably like to see that. So, that's why everyone's watching it so closely to see what does it mean about the labor market, and perhaps more critically in this environment, what does it mean to the fed?

BOLDUAN: Maybe some indicators that the fed has been waiting -- long waiting to see might be playing on.

SOLOMON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: All right. Let's see. It's great to see you, Rahel. Thanks for bringing it to us.

SOLOMON: My pleasure. BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right. Kate, this morning, an investigation is underway in San Francisco after the founder of Cash App was killed in a stabbing attack. Bob Lee was just 43 years old. There are a ton of questions surrounding this murder, and the death is definitely putting a spotlight on safety in San Francisco. Police data there shows that violent crime is up 7 percent this year.

CNN's Veronica Miracle live for us in San Francisco. Veronica, what are you learning about this case?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we understand that the San Francisco Standard, it's a local online site, has actually reviewed surveillance video of the moments leading up -- or excuse me, the moments after the stabbing. It apparently shows Bob Lee walking alone on Main Street, gripping his side with his cell phone in one hand, and leaving a trail of blood behind in the other -- the San Francisco Standard also says that in that video, it shows him walking up to a car that had its hazards on.

He lifts up his shirt, shows that he's been stabbed and that car drives off. He collapses there and then. Apparently walks, is able to get up, walks a short distance and collapses in front of an apartment building. Separately, the San Francisco Standard also was able to obtain the 911 call made by Lee himself to police where he apparently is screaming, help, someone stabbed me. That happened at around 2:34 a.m. And apparently, authorities were able to show up a few minutes later, but he did, as we know, succumbed to his injuries.

Bob Lee had an extensive resume in the tech industry. He was really respected. The founder of Cash App. He was also the first chief technology officer of Jack Dorsey Square. There has been an outpouring of support from those in Silicon Valley and, of course, his friends and family. His father posting on Facebook, honoring his son, saying that, Bob would give you the shirt off of his back. He would never look down on anyone and adhere to a strict no judgment philosophy.

One of his friends also speaking out saying, he's still in shock. He was supposed to see Bob just a day after he was stabbed. Take a listen.

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JAKE SHIELDS, BOB LEE'S FRIEND AND MMA FIGHTER: I actually lived right where he got killed, and I used to walk there all the time at night. And I did start slowly playing last (INAUDIBLE) safe. And that's probably why I moved. I'm in Vegas now. We're supposed to hang out tomorrow night. That's a little strange. It literally just happened. So, my mind still processing it. You know, when you lose someone, you're just like, damn, this is not expected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: Now, in terms of what exactly led up to the stabbing, that is not clear. Some people are speculating that this was a random attack. But the San Francisco Police Department has not released any information about the circumstances surrounding his death. They have also not released any information about the suspect. John.

BERMAN: Veronica, I know you're working your sources. Please keep us posted. Thank you so much for that report.

And, Sara, I know you've done extensive work on the situation in San Francisco.

SIDNER: Yes. We spent some time there. We have an hour documentary that's coming up on all the issues there. A lot of people very concerned, this being one of the most recent, but there are many more.

Now to Florida, where a sheriff's deputy says an arrest could be imminent in the shooting death of those three teenagers. Their bodies were found in three different locations in Marion County. Investigators tell CNN, the teens were friends and were together before they were shot. They believe the three had been in the same car at one point. CNN's Carlos Suarez joins us now from Miami with the very latest.

What are you hearing about this potential arrest?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, according to the Marion County sheriff's office, they have several leads in this investigation. They've talked to a good number of folks in this community, and they're hopeful that they're going to make an arrest soon now.

Now, this morning, the sheriff's office released a photo of a car that was found submerged in the lake with one of the three bodies. We're told that this car belonged to 16-year-old Layla Silvernail. She is one of the three victims that died last Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Now, the timeline here with respect to this photo, at least according to the sheriff's office, is they believe this photo shows the car in the hours before the three people were killed. We believe the last time that the car was seen in this community about 90 minutes north of the Orlando area was around 10:40 at night on Thursday.

[09:25:00]

The sheriff, we spoke to him yesterday, got an update on the investigation, and here's what he told us.

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SHERIFF BILL WOODS, MARION COUNTY, FLORIDA: We do have some leads. Good leads into a couple of suspects that hopefully will lead us to an arrest. We have a pretty good idea, at some point during an investigation when evidence, testimony, witnesses, all that begins to line up and we're confident that arrest will be forthcoming.

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SUAREZ: All right. So, remember, Sara, we have three victims here. The first was found last Thursday, that was 16-year-old that Layla Silvernail. The following day on Friday was a 17-year-old boy. And then, on Saturday was a 16-year-old girl. Again, she was the one that was found inside of Layla's car. Sara.

SIDNER: Are you getting any new information on the victims? I know you talked about one of them was in the car. Police think that car is hers. What else do we know?

SUAREZ: Yes. So, of the three victims, the only one that has been identified by the sheriff's office has been Layla Silvernail. She is described as someone who was well known in this community, again, in Marion County. She played on the softball team. According to the sheriff, as well as some post on Facebook, she really enjoyed the sport. And in fact, the softball team last night released a statement to CNN talking about the impact that this young girl had on her teammates. It reads in part, "Layla was a caring young lady, an amazing athlete, a cherished teammate to so many young girls." Sara.

SIDNER: Carlos Suarez, thank you for all those details. It's a really, really sad story. Stay with us. We will actually speak with Sheriff Billy Woods live next hour. John.

BERMAN: So, a huge ice column falls during a climbing expedition. The tragic and heroic story out of Utah. What happened to the climber who saved another climbers life as the ice came tumbling down?

And we're just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street where U.S. futures are down right now heading into the last day of the trading week. New jobs numbers out just moments ago showed weekly jobless claims coming in above expectations. This is all a prelude to tomorrow's monthly jobs report.

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