Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Search For Man Accused Of Shooting, Killing 5 Neighbors; Tornadoes Tear Through Communities In Virginia And Florida; Michael J. Fox: "With Gratitude, Optimism Is Sustainable"; Soon: McCarthy Addresses Israel's Parliament; Ukraine Military: Air Defense Stopped Missile Attack On Kyiv; Thousands Across France Take To The Streets Over New Pension Laws. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 01, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:10]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: We're glad you're with us. We'll see you tomorrow. CNN News Central is now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The second largest bank failure in U.S. history. Regulator seizes control of First Republic Bank, selling its assets to JPMorgan Chase. So what does this mean for your money?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A manhunt underway in Texas. Hundreds of police officers are searching for a gunman accused of killing five people, including a nine-year-old boy. The latest on the search ahead.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Fleeing Sudan. Thousands are rushing now to leave the country amid a fragile and very imperfect ceasefire. CNN is live where a U.S. ship carrying American evacuees has just docked. We're following these developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

BERMAN: This morning, the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. Dramatic moves overnight. Regulators seizing control of First Republic Bank and it's 233 billion worth of assets. JPMorgan now stepping in as a buyer and assuming responsibility. At this moment, we're less than 30 minutes before the opening bell.

We want to see how Wall Street reacts right now. You can see futures down, but only a little bit. Wall Street seems to be taking this in stride. As we said, this is the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. The largest since the 2008 financial crisis and the third U.S. bank to fail since March.

CNN Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans is with us this morning. So explain exactly what happened and why now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, 800 JPMorgan employees over the weekend doing the due diligence of this deal. The U.S. government seizing this bank, First Republic, and then putting it up for auction, and we're told there were several, several bidders. JPMorgan Chase got the deal in the end. It's going to, you know, assume 173 billion in loans and securities, about 92 billion in deposits. And then we'll share the losses as often happens when it's a receivership. We'll share the losses for the next few years on any loans that happen to go south here. So it's a dramatic deal and a dramatic resolution of what has been a painful six-week period for people who bank at first Republicans.

Certainly, for shareholders of the bank, you know, the wiped out essentially because JPMorgan is not taking over the debt or the, you know, the credit or the stock of the company. So what should consumers know? Really important here, branches reopened this morning as JPMorgan. Customers will have full access to their deposits and to their banking apps, and you're insured up to that $250,000 limit.

It is scary though when you look at how big this failure was, but JPMorgan Chase, CEO Jamie Dimon, assuring people, this is not 2008, this is not 2009, not anything close, and it feels as though there is stability in the system that this weekend ensures stability in the system.

BERMAN: Well, it's a hell of a headline, isn't it?

ROMANS: Sure.

BERMAN: When you see the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, that sounds alarming, but we looked at the Dow futures a moment ago. You know, futures are basically flat this morning, so Wall Street seems to think, OK.

ROMANS: There is the feeling that this big acquisition over the weekend with the help of the U.S. government draws a line under the near term crisis here. Jamie Dimon, the CEO saying, look, maybe there could be another little bank somewhere that's got problems you, know, with too many uninsured deposits or bad investments. But for the most part, the stability in the banking system, you can count on that right here.

BERMAN: All right, the market's open in about 26 minutes. We will keep our eye on that to see if they remain as calm as they have so far.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thanks so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We stand by for that, but also a look at how exactly the nation's 14th largest commercial bank got to this point. The root is, John and Christine, were just talking about the root of their problems can largely be traced back to Silicon Valley Bank, more specifically, the contagion that's set in following the collapse of SVB.

First Republic is based in San Francisco and it has held many wealthy clients as customers with most of their business focused on the coasts in many wealthy zip codes. Beverly Hills, Silicon Valley, Palm Beach, Florida, Greenwich, Connecticut, New York City, just to name a few of those 84 branches that they have. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, except that many of these affluent customers held large balances with the bank, which eventually meant two-thirds of its deposits were uninsured at the end of 2022. And then after SVB failed, First Republic customers, they got spooked and they started pulling their money out fast.

First Republic reported last week that customers had pulled 100 billion in deposits from the bank in just the first three months of the year. And that happened even after 11 other banks had come together in mid-March to give First Republic a 30 billion lifeline.

[09:05:03]

Share prices were down by 97 percent since early March. Just let that set in for a second down. Down 97 percent.

On March 1st, the bank was trading at around $122 a share. Then since the stock prices plunged very much so now below $4 a share. All of this, making it pretty clear at the end of last week, the First Republic's fate was sealed. Sara?

SIDNER: A manhunt is underway in Texas. More than 200 officers are searching for this man, Francisco Oropeza. He is accused of killing five of his neighbors, one of them a nine-year-old boy. Survivors say, Oropeza was angry after they asked him to stop firing his rifle so close to their home. A man who lost his wife and son in the shooting says he escaped by jumping out of a window.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON GARCIA, FATHER OF 9-YEAR-OLD SHOOTING VICTIM (through translator): One of the people who died saw when my wife fell to the ground and was dying. And she told me to throw myself out the window because my children were already without a mother. So one of us had to stay alive to take care of them. And she was the person who helped me throw myself out the side of a window, but she still failed. She died. That's what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That poor dear man.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live from Cleveland, Texas that is just north of Houston. Ed, what are police saying about the suspect and warning the public at this hour?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have gotten any updates as to where this suspect might be. And law enforcement officials here in the area who've been handling this case say they have had zero leads as to where Francisco Oropeza might be at this moment. We don't know if that's changed since yesterday afternoon when they announced an $80,000 reward leading -- for information leading to his capture. But investigators continue to work that.

This is the shooting scene you see behind me, Sara. And this is where Wilson Garcia, the man you just heard from detailed to us how all of this unfolded on Friday night. He had said that he and a few others had approached their neighbor Francisco Oropeza asked him to start shooting.

In the meantime, they were calling -- the family said they were calling 911, five different times, but this area where they're at, just for context is outside of the city limits by about 15 minutes. So it's a large rural county. It takes time for law enforcement officers to respond.

Wilson Garcia told us it was about 10 to 20 minutes before -- after having that conversation with him that he then returned back to the house and started firing on the people who were gathered at at the home. The sheriff here in San Jacinto County says he is absolutely heartbroken by how all of this is unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF GREG CAPERS, SAN JACINTO COUNTY, TEXAS: My heart is with this eight-year-old little boy. I don't care if he was here legally. I don't care if he was here illegally. He was in my county. Five people died in my county, and that is where my heart is, in my county, protecting my people to the best of our ability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So there were 15 people inside the home when the shooting erupted. 10 of them survived, including Wilson Garcia's, two other children -- two and a half year old girl and the month and a half baby boy who he told us that the women had actually thrown underneath a pile of blankets on a sofa so that the gunman couldn't see the baby. Sara?

SIDNER: Ed Lavandera, thank you so much for being there and thank your crew as well.

We should mention that the suspect is considered armed and dangerous. John?

BERMAN: All right, we're getting our first look this morning at the destruction left behind by severe weather. In Virginia Beach, a tornado damaged as many as 100 homes. Look at that. All the debris forced the closure of at least three schools in the area today.

In Palm Gardens, Florida, a tornado picked up a car and flipped it over before it came crashing back down. Look at that. That is remarkable imagery right there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God. It's like right in front of -- oh my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: So after the storm cleared, you could see some of the destruction left behind. Cars piled on top of each other, uprooted trees, and things just scattered for miles and miles.

CNN Meteorologist Jennifer Gray joins us now. Jennifer, what are we looking at in terms of threats today?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The threat has gone down today. It is a pretty miserable day across portions of the Northeast, the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes region, which we'll get to. But we had a wild weekend of weather, as you mentioned.

[09:10:02]

With three tornado reports, 32 wind reports and five hail reports. So we'll take you through over the weekend. You can see the storm report started in South Texas and then extended across portions of the southeast, including that tornado, as you mentioned, in Palm Beach Gardens.

And as you mentioned, remarkable. And it just goes to show this is why we don't get on the roads when we have tornado warnings in progress because we are very lucky that we didn't see more injuries there or even deaths. It was incredible situation.

Also, as the storm went a little bit more to the north and east, we had that second tornado near Virginia Beach and just lots of damage. We had lots of big trees down, cars toppled. You can see lots of cleanup will be going on in this region over the next couple of days. The National Weather Service will be out surveying this region today to determine how strong that tornado was.

So here's where it all is now, John. As you mentioned, we're looking at this rain pushing up into the Northeast New England. We have an area of low pressure that's sitting stationary over portions of the Great Lakes and so we are seeing a historic storm shaping up across portions of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, where we're going to see an additional one to two feet of snow expected on top of what we've already seen over the weekend, which is about 18 inches, John.

The National Weather Service there is calling this one historic.

BERMAN: We're still talking about snow.

All right, Jennifer Gray, thank you --

GRAY: I know.

BERMAN: -- very much for that. Kate?

GRAY: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: Coming up on CNN News Central, Russia launching a new wave of missile attacks on cities across Ukraine. We're going to take you there for an update. And after Michael J. Fox, he talks about the more than -- his more than 30 yearlong battle with Parkinson's. Why he says that he's still optimistic, even though he also says every day is getting tougher.

And May Day demonstrations in France turning violent as protestors against the government's pension reform plan returned to the streets of Paris. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:06]

BERMAN: On the radar this morning, the mayor of El Paso, Texas has declared a state of emergency as the city prepares for Title 42, the immigration policy, to end. He says the declaration will help them prepare public shelter and housing for potential influx of migrants. The end of Title 42 on May 11th means border officials will no longer be able to quickly expel certain migrants using COVID error rules.

Michael J. Fox is speaking candidly about life with Parkinson's disease. The 61-year-old actor told CBS that he does not expect to live until he's 80, but he says he is focused on staying positive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: I recognize how hard this is for people and I recognize how hard it is for me, but I have a certain set of skills that allow me to deal with this stuff. And then I realize with gratitude, optimism is sustainable. If you find something to be grateful for, then you find something to look forward to and you carry on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Just remarkable. Fox revealed that he recently underwent spinal surgery for a benign tumor, which affected how he walks. He suffered two broken arms, a broken hand and broken bones in his face as a result of falls.

General Mills says salmonella was detected in a five pound bag of its gold metal flour. They are voluntarily recalling bags of two, five and 10 pound bleached and unbleached all-purpose flour. The bags have a better if used by date of March 27th and March 28th, 2004. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Any moment now, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be speaking in Jerusalem to the Israeli parliament, something that hasn't happened in about 25 years. McCarthy met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this morning, and all of this comes as the spotlight has been on Netanyahu as he has moved to delay his proposed overhaul of the country's judicial system.

It would be the most sweeping change to the judicial system there since the country's founding. And as we've seen and we have reported on, it has sparked massive protests across Israel.

CNN's Hadas Gold is inside the Knesset ahead of McCarthy's speech. She's joining us now. Hadas, what are you learning about today, about McCarthy's visit and about what we're about to going to hear from the Speaker?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, as we speak, Speaker McCarthy is currently within the parliamentary floor, which is just through these doors over here to my right. The Speaker of the Knesset is currently speaking. But in the next few minutes, we do expect Speaker McCarthy to address the Israeli Knesset.

As you noted, he's only the second speaker of the U.S. House to do so. And for Speaker McCarthy, it's also actually his first trip abroad since being elected speaker. And he said that this is no accident, that his first trip abroad is to Israel because he says he wants to highlight that the United States has no greater ally than Israel.

This is a much different tone and sort of chummy relationship we're seeing between McCarthy and the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Then, of course, what we've seen from the Biden administration recently, if you remember, just in the last few weeks, President Biden kind of scoffed at the idea that Benjamin Netanyahu would be visiting Washington anytime soon.

There's been a dust up over this judicial overhaul plan that Biden said he hopes Netanyahu will walk away from. Instead, Kevin McCarthy is praising Netanyahu directly in his meeting earlier today, saying that the United States admires him for his courage and for his leadership. Talking about the 75 years of the alliance between Israel and the United States and how he expects that sort of alliance to continue.

McCarthy going even further yesterday in an interview with an Israeli newspaper saying, that if Joe Biden does not invite Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House soon, he will invite Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to the U.S. Congress even without a White House invitation.

McCarthy even cracking a joke that he's being treated the same way as Netanyahu because McCarthy, he says, he has not been invited yet to the White House to meet with President Biden. So saying they're sort of in good company.

So despite the controversies that are swirling around the Israeli government right now from this judicial overhaul that's brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis to the streets to, you know, the extremist right-wing ministers who are in positions of power here, people who weren't once were the extreme fringe of Israeli politics now in positions of power.

[09:20:09]

I don't expect to hear anything like that coming from McCarthy. I think he's going to talk about the alliance. And it's been a very warm welcome so far. In fact, actually, the speaker of the Israeli parliament, who is speaking right now gave this rendition of Hotel California in Speaker McCarthy's Honor. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: So as you can see, a very warm, very musical welcome so far. We are expecting to hear from McCarthy really in the next few minutes here. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Hadas, thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. We're going to see exactly what Kevin McCarthy has to say. Putting politics aside, he's pretty good in the guitar.

SIDNER: That was unexpected.

BOLDUAN: I agree.

SIDNER: Thank you, Kate.

Overnight, Russia launched a new round of missile attacks across Ukraine. This video shows Ukrainian forces in Kyiv using their own air defense to neutralize that shelling. Ukraine's military said they were able to fend off the attacks on the Capitol, and no one, thankfully, was injured there.

Some residents of Kyiv though did shelter in the city's metro stations. CNN's Nic Robertson is on the scene in Kyiv this morning. You were there listening to all this. I know that sound is terrifying. What is going on behind you right now, down there in the square?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this is an area that the government's put aside to show Ukrainians just what they're doing to the Russian hardware that's put up against them. A lot of this stuff came from Bucha, the early Russian invasion.

You know, and what you see here at the weekends, days like this, you see kids coming out to play, people coming out to play on it. And look, that's a sort of subliminal message, if you will. There ain't nothing to be afraid of in these big Russian tanks and heavy armor. And that's a message from the government.

And that's certainly what you hear from people in these places that have been targeted. 34 civilians wounded overnight, five of them children when three Russian missiles managed to get through and impact in the country. No fatalities.

But, you know, what we hear from the Russians is that they were able to hit all their targets. It doesn't add up. No surprise in that, that the Russian narrative is a completely at odds with reality. As you say, the missiles fired at Kyiv, none of them impacted to how Russia can claim that it hit its targets.

There is, you know, defies logic that they say they hit their targets again. If they hit their targets, they were civilian houses in the south of the country. So I think the overnight raids mostly repel, but the interesting takeaway, perhaps Russia is stepping them up. That was the second night of raids like that in four days. SIDNER: Thank you so much, Nic Robertson and your crew out there in Kyiv. Stay safe. John?

BERMAN: Former President Trump asking for a mistrial in the civil, battery and defamation trial against him. We are live as his accuser E. Jean Carroll is expected to take the stand again this morning.

States across the country have enacted new restrictions on abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. But the Republican dominated state legislature in South Carolina bucked that trend, failing to pass a near total ban on the procedure. We're going to speak to a South Carolina Republican about why she voted no.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:15]

BOLDUAN: All right. Welcome back to seeing a News Central. We are taking a live look, live pictures right now from Paris as clashes are erupting on the streets of Paris Amid May Day protest. A CNN team on the ground have witnessed fireworks, other projectiles being thrown as police who answered with tear gas.

Just take a look. It looks like a rainy day in Paris right now, and looks like they're -- clashes are erupting once again, taking a live look there. Look, May Day, May 1st is a day treated as a holiday in many countries to support -- to -- sorry, the control room speaking to me. Mayday is often celebrated with demonstrations as a holiday to recognize labor rights.

It is hitting differently this time, this May 1st in Paris because this is coming against continued kind of outrage and controversy over French President Macron's move to reform and overhaul the pension system there, which also included raising the retirement age by two years.

Melissa Bell is on the streets for us in Paris. She's joining us now, I think, on the phone. Melissa, if you can hear me, tell me what you're seeing. Oh, there.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh there. Kate, what we're seeing here at the very front of the protest, this is where the black buck traditionally see confrontation with the police. And as you can see, Kate, that's exactly what's happening today.

Compared to the last few presidents where we've been out here for pension reform, we've seen a lot more of these black buck than we had at many of the other protests. And I think that's why you're seeing it get so confrontational with the police so early on, there's an awful lot of tear gas in the air. There's been a lot of projectiles going back and forth and some pretty violent clashes already.

This is just the very front of the protest, Kate. Sorry.

[09:30:00]