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Rep. McCarthy Lays Out GOP's Debt Plan To Wall Street; McConnell Dodges Questions On How He'll Handle Feinstein Situation; Fetterman Returns To Senate After Battle With Depression; FL Gov Moves To "Nullify" Disney Attempt To Stop State Takeover; SpaceX Scrubs Launch Of Most Powerful Rocket Ever Built; Boston Marks 10 Years Since Deadly Marathon Bombing. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 17, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:32:07]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Here's a look at some of the top stories we're following on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We're learning more about the person that Kansas City police say shot a teen who rang his doorbell by mistake. Authorities say 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot in the head and arm after he went to the wrong house to pick up his younger siblings.

A CNN review of property records shows the homeowner is a white man in his eighties. We're not naming him because he hasn't formally been charged. Now Yarl's family attorney says that the team is in stable condition.

Meantime, the small town of Dadeville, Alabama, is reeling and seeking answers after four people were killed and nearly 30 more were wounded at a birthday party shooting.

Officials say the ages of the people killed range from 17 to 23 years old. Two of those victims were about to graduate high school.

So far, police have not arrested a suspect or explained possible motive.

One of those victims, 18-year-old high school football player, Philstavious Dowdell, who was the brother of the girl that was celebrating her 16th birthday that night.

And a judge abruptly delaying today's start of Dominion Voting Systems defamation trial against FOX News. Jury selection and opening statements are now set for Tuesday.

The 11th-hour twist raises questions about a potential settlement between the two -- Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The high-stakes showdown that has the potential to spark a worldwide economic disaster, it is heating up today. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy taking his fight over the nation's $31.4 trillion debt limit to Wall Street, doubling down on his demand that the White House agree to spending cuts before the GOP agrees to raise the debt limit.

The Biden administration has already rejected attempts to use the debt ceiling as a bargaining chip, arguing that it should be raised cleanly and quickly, like it usually is.

The debt ceiling has been raised 78 times, 29 under a Democratic president, 49 under a Republican.

And economists warned that a default could spark a global financial catastrophe, complete with job losses, benefit cuts, falling stocks and even more rate hikes.

Let's get right to CNN's Manu Raju.

Manu, tell us what McCarthy said.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, McCarthy was very clear that he is moving ahead. The House Republicans plan to try to push together they're -- push their own plan to raise the national debt limit for one year, coupled with an array of spending cuts.

This, after Kevin McCarthy and the president have not had any discussions about this topic since February 1st when the two met in the White House,

McCarthy calling on the White House to negotiate. The White House's resisted those calls, instead, calling telling McCarthy simply raise the national debt limit with without any strings attached.

Worrying that any negotiation could eventually lead to this potential, cataclysmic economic event, which would be the first ever default that could happen as soon as June or potentially as late as September depending on our tax receipts come in.

[13:35:05]

Now McCarthy made clear here that he plans to have a vote in the coming weeks. He started to give some details about his plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Here's our plan. In the coming weeks, the House will vote on a bill to lift the debt ceiling into the next year. Save taxpayers trillions of dollars. Make us less dependent upon China. Curve our high inflation. All without touching Social Security and Medicare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now he has indicated they want to move forward with significant cuts to domestic spending programs, not including defense programs. Also he wants to essentially impose work requirements on Medicaid

beneficiaries, for people who are under 60 years old. They're calling back -- talking about reversing funding that was provided for Covid relief programs.

But the challenge, Brianna, will be getting his conference in line. He needs 218 votes to get it out of the House. That means no more than four Republican defections is what he can afford. And they want to do this by May.

So a lot of work happening behind the scenes as House Republicans trying to strengthen their negotiating position with the White House -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Manu, thank you.

It is a game of chicken with huge consequences, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Speaking of games of chicken on the Hill, this is the first picture of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell returning to the Senate today.

The 81-year-old Republican has spent the last six weeks recovering from a fall. And he returns to Capitol Hill facing a big fight.

A contentious question -- question, how to handle the absence of his Democratic colleague, Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Some Democrats are calling for her to resign now. She has instead asked to be replaced on the Senate Judiciary Committee while she continues to recover from an illness as well.

The 89-year-old has missed 60 votes over the last two months. And without her vote, Democrats worry they won't be able to confirm judicial nominees. It's key.

CNN's Lauren Fox, she's on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, I mean, McConnell has some options here, but I imagine Republicans aren't in so much of a rush to give the Democrats a favor here so they could get their judicial appointees through.

So what are his options and what's likely to happen now?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at its core, this is a fight about judges. And we all know that Mitch McConnell knows about remaking this country's judiciary system. It is something that he has done time and time again in his position as the Republican leader.

He's back on Capitol Hill today. I tried to ask him specifically what he planned to do about Senator Dianne Feinstein and whether or not he would make it easy for Democrats to temporarily replace her on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He didn't answer my question.

But we're getting some early indications from other Republicans that they do not plan to make this an easy go for Democrats. We've heard from Senator Marsha Blackburn, as well as Senator Tom

Cotton, that they are not easily going to go along with this plan. In fact, saying that they are not going to do anything in their power to help the Biden administration advance its judicial nominees and committees.

So that leaves very few options right now for the minority leader -- majority leader, excuse me, Chuck Schumer.

Meanwhile, some Democrats arguing that they need to see Senator Dianne Feinstein step aside as a Senator. Others arguing it's up to her to decide.

Here's Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): We believe that a Senator should be able to make their own judgments about when they are retiring and when they're not. And they all deserve a chance to get better and come back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent, echoing that sentiment that this is a decision that is a personal one for U.S. Senator to make -- Jim?

SCIUTTO: I mean, it's such a big deal because with the majority of the Senate, but not the House, those judicial nominees are pretty much all that the president can do.

Let's talk about another Senator returning. John Fetterman coming back after his bout with mental illness. And I have to say courage as he's described his bout with this very publicly. What happens now as he's come back?

FOX: We expect that Senator John Fetterman is going to return this afternoon to the U.S. Senate. Obviously, we expect him to be warmly embraced by his colleagues on Capitol Hill.

In fact, in his absence, many of them talking about their own personal journeys with mental health. I sat down with Senator Tina Smith, who talked about this issue.

I expect that when he gets back to Washington today, he is going to hear from colleagues who are going to congratulate him for being brave enough to talk about mental illness.

Because this is an issue, as you know, that affects so many Americans across this country.

SCIUTTO: No question. Good to see him speaking publicly about it.

Lauren Fox, thanks so much.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Up next, in his latest act of retaliation against Disney, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis taking new steps to nullify the company's attempt to maintain its special governing powers.

Plus, the Boston Marathon is underway. We're going to show you how the city is marking the 10-year anniversary of the deadly bombings there.

[13:40:00]

Stay with us.

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SANCHEZ: Moments ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis amped up his response against Disney. Remember, the Republican recently moved to strip the company of its powers over the land that encompasses its theme parks. He tried to appoint his political allies to the board that controlled the land.

But Disney in February outmaneuvered him with a last-minute deal. So now DeSantis is vowing to formally nullify that arrangement.

CNN's Steve Contorno is tracking all of this from Florida.

And, Steve, it's got to feel like you're on Space Mountain following all these twists and turns. What's the latest from DeSantis?

[13:45:07]

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Boris. Well, it's just another day in this rivalry that has intensified into a full-blown war between the state and the country's largest employer.

DeSantis, just moments ago, laid out a host of potential new retributions that the state could take to retaliate against Disney. Let me go through a little bit of what he said, because there's quite a bit here.

He -- as you said, first up is a bill that is going to nullify these agreements that were passed in the 11th hour to try to get around DeSantis' is takeover of the district.

But he also said that he wants to put the state in charge of inspecting all of Disney's rides. Currently, they inspect their own rides. Now the state could potentially take over that.

He also floated some new ideas for what the state could do with other lands in the -- that it owns around Disney's theme park.

Take a listen to some of his suggestions there. They're pretty creative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Come to think of it now, people are like, well, there's what should we do with this land? And so you know, it's like, OK, kids.

I mean, people have said, you know, maybe -- maybe have another -- maybe create a state park. Maybe try to do more amusement parks. Someone even said, like, maybe you need another state prison. Who knows?

I mean, I just think that the possibilities are endless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: So, yes, a state theme park, maybe next door to the Disney World. That was one suggestion.

He also said that the state could look into selling the districts utilities and also taxing the district more. You know, Disney owns a lot of property there and the state could tax it and try to, you know, punish the company that way.

So, Boris, this is all playing out now, and we'll see how Disney responds. But right now, the company has yet to say anything.

SANCHEZ: A state prison next to Disney world. Sounds like a brilliant idea.

Steve Contorno, thank you so much for that.

Brianna, over to you.

KEILAR: The launch of the most powerful rocket ever is scrapped. We have details on the technical difficulties that forced SpaceX to make that call.

Plus, nearly 30,000 athletes from more than 100 countries are flooding the streets of Boston today. We're live on the ground as the city marks 10 years since the deadly bombing.

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[13:52:02]

SCIUTTO: Failure to launch. The most powerful rocket ever built was scheduled to complete one full orbit of planet earth, but an 11th-hour technical issue forced engineers to scrub the mission.

It was SpaceX's first attempt to launch its starship rocket after years of testing. CEO Elon Musk says it is a small step towards his ultimate mission -- it's a big one -- sending humans to Mars.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live at SpaceX headquarters in Texas.

So, I wonder, what do we know now what caused this delay? And do we know how long the delay will be?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Elon Musk and SpaceX has only said that it was a pressurized valve somewhere in that starship rocket system that appears to have frozen, causing the pressure -- the pressurization problems that the system was having.

And all of this was happening just minutes before the scheduled launch. There were thousands of people here on the southern edge of South Padre Island, looking about five miles south towards the launch pad there. The anticipation was really building up for this moment.

The rocket should have -- rocket ship had 10 million of liquid methane and liquid oxygen that would propel the booster up into the sky. So everything was ready. And then that scrub announcement was made.

And that came as a real letdown to many of the people. In fact, Jim Taylor, who we met, drove from Georgia, 19 hours, just to be here this morning. He was rather emotional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM TAYLOR, DROVE 19 HOURS TO WATCH LAUNCH: It'll happen. Been watching it for 2.5 years every day. And so it gets scrubbed today. It'll take off tomorrow or whenever it is. He'll fix it and we'll get going.

This is going to change the world. Chokes me -- chokes me up. But it's going to change the world like 1969 did, when they -- when they did the moon landing. You know, that brought us Tang and Velcro. And who knows what this will bring us.

But this is like flying a seven-story house wherever we want to. It's amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So, Jim, right now, SpaceX says it will be at least 48 hours before they can try to launch this rocket again.

And as you mentioned, this is the signature rocket ship in the Elon Musk SpaceX program. So a lot of eyes on what happens here later this week -- Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes. As they say, space is hard. Let's hope this is just the first step.

Ed Lavandera, watching the launch.

Brianna, to you.

KEILAR: Jim, it's race day in Boston, as tens of thousands of athletes are taking part in the 127th Boston Marathon. It's an exciting day for many.

It's a somber one, too, as this year marks 10 years since that horrific bombing that killed three people and injured hundreds of others.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is live for us in Boston.

Give us the latest from the finish line there -- Polo? [13:55:04]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is rainy, Brianna, it is cloudy, but that is not enough to dampen the spirits of Boston.

This is what it looks like when the world comes together and arrives here in Boston. Over 30,000 runners from over 120 countries.

Here where they're turning. And then they still have about four miles left before they finally make it to the finish line. You can see the look of exhaustion.

It is clearly a huge celebration. There are certainly some sombra undertones just over 10 years after that tragedy.

Brianna, I had the opportunity to speak to some of the folks here that are watching that are routing these runners on.

They say that, yes, it certainly is on their minds, but it is not top of mind. They say, what better way to celebrate the memories of the lost and those injured then by coming out here on a rainy day to cheer these folks on.

In fact, there's a young man that's sitting in this chair that's seeking some shelter right now. He was born 10 years ago, his mom telling me. How she not been having him, she likely would have been by the finish line cheering on some of the runners that day.

KEILAR: Polo, thank you. It is beautiful to see.

Boris, what's ahead?

SANCHEZ: Still to come, new details on the man who shot a 16-year-old boy in Missouri after he rang the doorbell at the wrong house. CNN NEWS CENTRAL continues in a moment.

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