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Texas Attorney General Facing Impeachment; Churchill Downs Investigation; Florida Shooting; Rosalynn Carter Diagnosed With Dementia; Drone Strikes Hit Russia; Can Kevin McCarthy Get Republicans In Line On Debt Ceiling?. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired May 30, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Thirty-one billionaires, each worth more than the Treasury Department has on hand in cash at the moment. That's about $38.8 billion, among them, Michael Dell, Warren Buffett, Facebook founder -- co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Some of them are worth a lot more, like the fashion mogul Bernard Arnault, $193 billion, the Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, $185 billion, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, net worth of $144 billion.

We will see you tomorrow. Thanks for your time.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now."

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: No room for error. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing his biggest test yet, as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill. A key committee with hard-line Republicans could tank the deal in the next couple of hours on the debt ceiling.

Can Republican leadership whip the votes that they need for final passage? And could this vote cost McCarthy his job as speaker?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Moscow attacked. Eight drones strike the Russian capital overnight. Russia claims that air defenses took them out, but two people were injured. Ukraine denied any -- quote -- "direct involvement," as its own capital, Kyiv, continues to be hit with a wave of attacks overnight.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: fleeing in panic and fear. Nine people shot near Hollywood Beach in Florida, victims ranging in age from 65 to just 1-year-old. A search now under way for a suspect.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: There's a Republican revolt brewing in Congress right now. Just a couple hours before President Biden and Speaker McCarthy's debt deal faces a crucial House committee vote, conservative hard-liners are making it clear that they will fight tooth and nail to stop this bill in its track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. SCOTT PERRY (R-PA): This deal fails, fails completely. And that's why these members and others will be absolutely opposed to the deal. And we will do everything in our power to stop it and end it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Everything in their power, that could even mean stripping McCarthy of his speakership.

Freedom Caucus members are now openly floating that nuclear option. And we will be speaking to a member of the House Freedom Caucus during the show.

Right now, let's go to CNN's Lauren Fox. She is on Capitol Hill for us.

Lauren, are these Republican hard-liners going to sink this deal here just days before a potential default?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly, the Republicans in this House Freedom Caucus were railing against this legislation, saying that it did not go far enough, that it was really just crumbs compared to the bill that they had passed several weeks ago, Brianna.

But the reality is, they feel as though, once they get to the floor, if they can get to the House floor, that the votes could be there, because you are trying to find that magic number in the middle, moderate Republicans, moderate Democrats, to support this legislation.

But before they can get to the House floor, today at 3:00, the House Rules Committee is going to have a crucial meeting. That's because three conservatives that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy placed on this committee as part of the negotiation in his bid to get that speaker's gavel, three of those members are going to be closely watched today, Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, and Thomas Massie.

Two of those members spoke at the House Freedom Caucus press conference just a few minutes ago. And here's what Chip Roy said about this legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): At the end of the day, the only person that would default in this town is Joe Biden, unless Republicans default on the American dream by voting for this bad bill.

That is why this group will oppose it. We will continue to fight it today, tomorrow. And no matter what happens, there's going to be a reckoning about what just occurred, unless we stop this bill by tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: A reckoning, that is the warning here from Chip Roy. But one thing to keep in mind about the House Rules Committee is that

Republicans have the advantage there. They are the ones who typically are responsible for getting it out of the House Rules Committee. But all eyes are going to be on Thomas Massie. He's a key swing vote here.

He is actually in the speaker's office right now having a discussion. He has not said whether or not he is going to back this legislation in the House Rules Committee. But a lot of senses, given his past comments about how he would use his position on that committee, are giving us the idea that perhaps he could vote yes to advance this legislation, get it to the House floor, where leadership feels like they have a much stronger chance of passing this tomorrow, if they can just get it to the floor -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes.

And -- but, if they pass it, I mean, the expectation would be, it would take Democratic and Republican votes. Those hard-line Republicans, the House Freedom Caucus, that may be the fate of Kevin McCarthy in their hands, and we will see what they do.

[13:05:02]

Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill for us, thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now to another escalation in Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine.

Now to another escalation in Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. For the first time in the 400-plus days since the invasion began, civilian areas of Moscow may have been targeted. This plume of smoke is the apparent aftermath of Russia shooting down a drone, one of eight that their Ministry of Defense says was stopped over the capital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKER FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So far, no deaths have been reported, though drone debris has damaged several buildings there.

Russia is blaming Ukraine. And its Interior Ministry issued arrest warrants for two senior Ukrainian commanders. But an adviser for Ukraine's president issued this denial, saying -- quote -- "We enjoy watching and predicting an increase in attacks, but, of course, we have nothing to do directly with it."

In the meantime, Ukraine's capital has been bombarded for days, the 17th aerial assault by Russia this month alone.

Let's take you now live to Kyiv and CNN's Fred Pleitgen.

And, Fred, you are learning that Vladimir Putin has now responded to these alleged Ukrainian drone attacks.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Boris.

Well, he certainly has. And he also points the finger of blame at Ukraine as well. One of the other things that was -- that was very interesting about that alleged attack that happened early in the morning hours is, the Russians were very quick to point out that these were actually substantial unmanned aerial vehicles that made their way towards the Russian capital.

They say these were fixed-wing aircraft and not some sort of octocopter that's a lot smaller than that. They said, of the eight that they took down, three of them were taken down using electronic measures. But they also said that they actually had to activate their air defenses and use missiles to shoot down the five others.

So, certainly, this was a substantial attack, as the Russians put it, on Moscow, absolutely unprecedented since the Russians started their full-on invasion of Ukraine. And you are absolutely right. Vladimir Putin, seemingly quite angry, pointed the finger of blame squarely at Kyiv.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Kyiv chose the path of intimidation of Russian citizens and attacks on residential buildings. It is a clear sign of terrorist activity.

The Moscow air defense system worked satisfactorily. However, there is still work to be done to make it better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So, as you have already noted, Boris, the Ukrainians issuing a denial earlier today, coming in the form of an adviser to the presidential administration here in Kyiv, actually pretty early on in the game, where they did say that they were happy that these drone attacks had happened, but they also said they didn't have any direct involvement in it.

Nevertheless, as you can imagine, the capital of Kyiv here, of course, bracing for possible further attacks. And, you know, this comes after what was really a very difficult night here in the Ukrainian capital. Having witnessed this overnight, there were waves of attacks by those Iranian-made Shahed drones that the Russians have been sending here for the past couple of months.

And it really was over the course of several hours that Ukrainian air defenses were firing in the air. And we were hearing them firing in the air and hearing explosions of those unmanned aerial vehicles being hit and falling to the ground. There was one woman who was killed in a large residential building. We were on site there just a couple of hours ago, and there was substantial damage to that building.

And, again, the Ukrainians, while saying they had nothing to do with those attacks on Moscow, certainly bracing for what could be even worse to come -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, again, the 17th attack focused on Kyiv by Russia just this month.

Fred Pleitgen from Ukraine, thank you so much.

And, Jim, we should note that these drone attacks in Moscow, some of them focused on one of the most elite areas of the capital city not far from Vladimir Putin's residences.

SCIUTTO: Elite and also civilian. And that raises some important questions.

We're joined now by retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Good to have you on.

Let's look at some of these attacks recently, because one phenomenon we're seeing are multiple attacks in recent days and weeks inside, well, Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine down here, but also inside Russia itself, Kursk, Belgorod, close to the border, but also, in Moscow, we have that strike on the Kremlin recently, which the U.S. says, low-confidence assessment, was probably the Ukrainians.

Now we have these drones here. On the issue of civilian targets, if that was indeed the intentional target here, what does that mean for Ukraine's war? I mean, certainly, Russia has come under enormous criticism for directly and repeatedly targeting civilians in Ukraine.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, certainly, Jim, if the Ukrainians are targeting civilians deliberately, that makes it a whole 'nother ball game.

And that would be a very bad move on Ukraine's part, because, right now, what they are enjoying is a lot of support from the West...

SCIUTTO: Right.

LEIGHTON: ... because they are following, basically, or at least have until this point, followed the rules of war, the rules of armed conflict.

And that becomes really important for Ukraine's war effort. They cannot afford to target civilians. And they shouldn't do so by mistake either.

[13:10:05]

SCIUTTO: Let's have a look.

We know that the Ukrainians have been using drones prior in this conflict on military targets, including something -- pretty old one here, going back to the '70s...

LEIGHTON: Yes.

SCIUTTO: ... I mean, you know, a far cry from what we're seeing now, smaller, more mobile kinds of things.

Could that lead -- if this was Ukraine, and if the civilian areas were the deliberate target, could that lead to disagreements with the U.S. and NATO partners?

LEIGHTON: So, one of the key things that the Ukrainians have done is, they have used weapons like this, like this Tu-141 drone, which is based, like you said, on a Soviet model that they have had for many, many years.

I -- this -- the idea here is that they are using their own systems to target Russia.

SCIUTTO: Right.

LEIGHTON: They are not using Western systems. They are not using U.S. systems. And they're doing that deliberately, because the U.S. has very specifically told them...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LEIGHTON: ... not to use Western systems.

SCIUTTO: Notably, they used a Ukrainian-manufactured missile to strike the Russian Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea feet, going back to the early stages of the war.

But, before we go, let's look back again at all these sites that have taken hits by Ukrainian forces in recent days, this just in the last 24 hours here. Given the anticipation of a Ukrainian ground offensive to take back some of this Russian-controlled territory down here, if you were planning this attack, might you do this to create some fear, uncertainty on the other side prior?

LEIGHTON: Absolutely.

And the reason for that is, if your main target area is all of this down here, then what you want to do is, you want to make sure that you're keeping people guessing, that you could also potentially attack in this area, and especially right here in Belgorod, because that area is not only close to Ukraine, but it has a -- is a major staging area for the Russians.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And if they attack there, that would be a legitimate target for the Ukrainians to attack...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LEIGHTON: ... in addition to all of these areas right here.

SCIUTTO: I remember, in the first day of the invasion, watching Russian tanks. We had our Fred Pleitgen up there on the border watching them drive across the border into Ukraine for the war.

LEIGHTON: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Cedric Leighton, thanks so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: This is just into CNN: Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia. We are learning this from the Carter family.

I want to turn now to CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta breaking this story for us.

Sanjay, what more do we know at this point?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this -- there was just a tweet that came out from the Carter Center specifically.

I will just read it to you, so you are hearing what we first heard just a few minutes ago: "The Carter family is sharing that former first lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia. She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones."

There was a full statement as well there that accompanied that tweet, and I can tell you that it just made mention of the fact that she has been now diagnosed with dementia. She is somebody, they mentioned and remind people of, has had a long history of advocating for people with diseases of the brain and mental illness, and reminds people that one in 10 Americans who are seniors over the age of 65 gets diagnosed with some type of dementia.

So, this is just coming into us now, Brianna. We don't know many more specifics. I will tell you that people are typically, as you know, diagnosed with dementia later in life. Rosalynn Carter is 95 years old. She's been pretty healthy up until now. She was in the hospital for a fainting spell in 2019. She had an operation to remove scar tissue from her small intestine some years ago, but generally pretty healthy.

Obviously, a lot of the attention, focus has been on her husband, the former President Jimmy Carter, and his diagnosis of melanoma and metastatic disease to the brain. But this is something that we're just learning right now, Brianna.

KEILAR: And we may be learning more. We will see.

Sanjay, thank you so much for telling us more about this.

GUPTA: Yes.

KEILAR: And, certainly, we do wish her and their entire family comfort as they are revealing this diagnosis.

Thank you, Sanjay -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, the former first lady long an advocate of people with mental health issues. Well, another story we're following, people are still missing after

the partial collapse of an apartment building in Iowa. Now outraged family members are demanding a pause in plans to demolish what's left.

Plus, what's going on at the home of the Kentucky Derby? An emergency summit is under way at Churchill Downs after two more horses died over the weekend. That's a total of 12 in just a month. A lot of hard questions there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:43]

SANCHEZ: In Hollywood, Florida, police have detained one person and are searching for another after a Memorial Day mass shooting.

Nine people were shot, including a 1-year-old child, near a crowded beach. You can see in this footage people running for cover, some of them even. Running to the water's edge seeking safety.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is live for us at the scene.

And, Carlos, investigators say that this shooting started because of an argument between two groups.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Boris.

And just a few minutes ago, we received an update from Hollywood police on where this investigation stands. We're told that, of the nine people that were shot in this Broadwalk yesterday, three have been treated and released from an area hospital.

We're also being told that several people detained yesterday and that two of the individuals that were detained have been charged with essentially having a firearm on them, though we're told they have not been identified as the shooters in what happened out here yesterday.

We're told that, in all, five handguns were recovered at the scene here. Now, the Broadwalk behind me reopened this morning after being shut down because of this investigation for a good part of Monday night. Cameras in and around the Hollywood Beach area captured as folks who'd gathered here for the holiday ran for cover.

[13:20:08]

They ran for safety after hearing these gunshots. We also saw a number of videos that were posted on social media showing some of the injured being treated right there on the beach. We're told that Hollywood police officers, they had a number of officers in and around this part of Hollywood because they were anticipating these large crowds.

And so they were able to quickly respond to the scene here and get everyone that was hurt, injured in all of this to a hospital -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: It's tough watching that footage, seeing the fear in the crowds, some people tucking their children underneath them, because they thought they were targets of gunfire.

Carlos Suarez, thank you so much for that -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Davenport, Iowa, police now say that five people are still unaccounted for in that partially collapsed apartment building. You see part of it here. At least two people are believed to still be inside.

There's a ninth person who was rescued last night. This is a collapse that happened on Sunday, and officials are facing an excruciating decision. They say the entire building could buckle and that it needs to come down, but residents are pleading for them to wait for more possible survivors to emerge.

A family member of one of the people who is still missing, a man named Ryan Hitchcock, spoke last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY ANDERSON, RELATIVE: The city does have a plan, and pushing any delays is one more day that he's under there, making -- going through all of -- all of this. Ryan wouldn't want anyone else to put their lives at risk to, unfortunately, somebody who probably has not survived.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, officials said the original plan was to demolish the building today, but they are not doing that just yet, and they are -- quote -- "continually evaluating the timing of the demolition" -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, it is home to the biggest horse race in the world, but, today, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, is the subject of an emergency summit.

Regulatory and safety officials are scrambling to understand why there's been a series of tragic horse deaths in the weeks surrounding the Kentucky Derby. In just one month, the famed track has seen 12 horses die. That includes just another two over the weekend.

CNN's Nick Watt, he's with us now.

Nick, questions in the sport for some time about drugs, whether those -- that was impacting the horses' health. You had a trainer banned for a period of time because of such concerns. Do they know what's causing this? And how unusual has this stretch been?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, how unusual, that is a very interesting question that I will get to in a second.

So, what happened here, Jim, two more horses died over the weekend, and that has prompted this investigation that really is -- the sport of horse racing is at an existential crossroads. Can it really survive the headlines, the deaths happening in the sport, not just at Churchill Downs, but across the country? So this meeting today is being held by -- it's called an emergency veterinary summit, and it's being held by a body called the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Now, it was created after a wake of headline-grabbing tragic horse deaths here in California. This is a national body.

They are now sending down to Kentucky a track supervisor. Often, when horses die, suspicion falls on the track, because a lot of horse deaths in racing and training are, the horse gets injured, then has to be euthanized. So, there's a track supervisor, also this meeting of vets and officials to try to figure out what happened.

Now, unusual, is it unusual? Well, Churchill Downs says -- said to us: "It is with absolute dismay that we report this highly unusual statistic."

Opponents of horse racing say it's not unusual at all, that, on the average year for the past five years, 25 horses have died at Churchill Downs every year, that horses die on tracks every day in this country.

Patrick Battuello, who is a guy who runs this organization called Horseracing Wrongs, he tracks the deaths. And he told me about this meeting today: "It's the same rhetoric we have heard ad nauseam at track after track in state after state for years now. And yet the killing continues. Horse racing guarantees certain levels of killing."

Now, remember, Churchill Downs was already in the spotlight. 2021, Medina Spirit won the Derby and was then disqualified for a doping failed test. Bob Baffert, one of the biggest names in the sport, was banned from Churchill Downs.

So this sport is really going through a very tough time, claiming that it wants to try and clean things up, keep horses safe. The opponents say that is an impossible goal. You cannot keep horses safe as long as you make them race.

[13:25:09]

So, those are the two sides. Let's see what comes out of it today and let's watch over the next months and years just how this sport fares, again, as I say...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

WATT: ... whether this sport can even survive -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, that word, the use of the word killing in that statement, right, not -- not...

WATT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: In effect, saying that there's agency here by those involved. That's remarkable.

We know you will keep following it. Nick Watt in Los Angeles, thanks so much -- Boris. SANCHEZ: Impeachment articles against Texas Attorney General Ken

Paxton are now in the hands of the state Senate. They were delivered yesterday, the last day of the legislative session.

Paxton has been accused of widespread corruption and abuse of power, though he denies any wrongdoing. He calls this impeachment vote -- quote -- "a politically motivated sham."

Let's get to CNN senior national correspondent Ed Lavandera.

Ed, some state lawmakers are calling the evidence against Paxton overwhelming. When does this trial start?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be the summer of impeachment.

Right now, what we have heard from state senators is that, on June 20, a committee that will establish the rules for this impeachment trial will present those rules. This hasn't happened for a statewide officeholder in Texas in more than 100 years. It was back in 1917 that the Texas governor was impeached and removed from office.

So, as -- in the words of Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick today, some of those rules are outdated. So, that will happen. And then there's another resolution that says that the trial must take place before August 28. So, look at sometime in there between June 20 and August 28 this summer for this trial to take place.

Now, we -- we know that there will be 12 House managers overseeing the presentation of the evidence. Of course, Dan -- Ken Paxton will have the opportunity to present his case. Whether or not he will testify in his own behalf is not known at this point.

But Ken Paxton is not going quietly with all of these allegations swirling around him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: The fact that I was prohibited from presenting evidence to defend myself reveals that this shameful process was curated from the start as an act of political retribution.

STATE REP. ANDREW MURR (R-TX): So this is about facts and this is about evidence. And at the end of the day, my colleagues and I will not stand for public corruption. And that's why we're proceeding to a trial in the Texas Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And the man you just heard from there is Representative Andrew Murr. He oversees the committee that brought the 20 articles of impeachment against Ken Paxton.

And he's one of the 12 that will be presenting that evidence to the state Senate later this summer, and, as we mentioned, 20 articles of impeachment ranging -- the charges include bribery and obstruction of justice, just a long litany of charges.

And many of the people who have been voting in support of these articles of impeachment say it's about time that Ken Paxton faces this reality.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and there are some issues potentially complicating this process. Notably, Ken Paxton's wife is a state senator. So what will happen with her?

Ed Lavandera, thanks so much for the reporting, as always -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Up next: The trial for the man accused in the deadliest antisemitic attack ever in the U.S. is getting under way, prosecutors including some graphic details in their opening statement.

And later: The 11-year-old boy shot by a police officer who responded to his 911 call for help, the child's family is now suing and calling for the officer's badge.

We will have details on that after a quick break.

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