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Race to Avert Default Disaster; Chris Christie Expected to Launch Presidential Bid; Belgorod Situation "Alarming"; Images Released of 2018 Synagogue Massacre. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 31, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): A key Democrat says she is a no on the debt deal, as conservatives push back on speaker McCarthy. We have a new look at where the vote stands, with just hours to go.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): There's new CNN reporting on a new candidate set to enter the race for the White House. Why former New Jersey governor Chris Christie says now is his time and what we're learning about his plans.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Also, it's a bird. It's a plane.

Or is it a UFO?

So many questions today. NASA is set to unveil what a nine-month long investigation uncovered.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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BERMAN: New this morning, one is in, one is out. It's getting to the point where they are naming names in terms of the vote for the debt ceiling. Democratic congresswoman Debbie Dingell says she will vote in favor of the deal.

This came moments after congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the House Progressive Caucus said she would not vote for it. Count her as a no.

As Democrats are meeting behind closed doors before the House is set to vote on the bill, it needs a simple majority to pass, 218, if everyone is present. The division right now, 222 Republicans and 213 Democrats.

Republican leadership had told the White House they could get 150 of their members to vote yes. That's a high mark for them and that would mean the Democrats would have to make up some of the rest.

When asked if progressive support would be needed to get this through, congresswoman Jayapal, who again says she is a no, she said she didn't think so. She did not think the progressives would be needed.

Let's get right to Capitol Hill. CNN's Lauren Fox is there.

As I said, they really are naming names and lining up who is a yes and who is a no at this point, Lauren.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are getting right to crunch time, John. What you are starting to see is members line up on one side or the other. And they are going to lose some members on the hard right and progressive members, like Jayapal announcing that she was going to be voting against this bill.

But this was always going to be a coalition of the members in the middle. And that is how they will get this across the finish line. In a closed-door caucus meeting, one thing that became clear is Jeffries argued to his caucus that they believed this was the best deal that they could get, that this is the option of a default or nothing.

And so that is why they are arguing that this is a bill that they should all be backing. I want to just note one other important thing that will happen today. There is a vote on the rule to bring this bill to the floor.

Usually that happens with the majority party. You can expect that, according to Republicans, they'll do that. However, Democrats are prepared to help them if they fall short of votes to get it past the finish line.

Once they pass it in the House of Representatives, which will probably happen around 8:30 or 9:30 tonight, you can expect it to go to the Senate. Once it gets over there, it becomes a question of how fast it will move. And any one member can slow it down, John. We are we are pushing up against the June 5th headline.

BERMAN: Get ready to see some strange coalitions and combinations today to get things moving. Lauren Fox, thanks very much.

Let's go to the White House. CNN's Arlette Saenz is there.

How do White House officials feel about things?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden dispatched some of his top officials here at the White House in order to try to shore up Democratic support in that meeting this morning. They've been meeting there for two hours with Democratic lawmakers ahead of this expected vote this evening.

Those briefers have included OMB director Shalanda Young and long-time aide to the president Steve Ricchetti. Both of those individuals key to negotiations. Heading into this vote, the White House has been aware that they're not going to have all Democrats on board with this proposal.

But they are just hoping to have enough Democrats to help make up any needs in the votes --

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SAENZ: -- based on what Republicans are able to put forth today. One thing that the White House has been arguing to people in one-on-one phone calls and in these briefings is that, ultimately, this is an agreement and a bipartisan agreement to avert a default.

Since the beginning of these negotiations that were occurring between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, officials you talked to have been making very clear that this would need to be a bipartisan agreement. Democrats weren't going to get everything that they wanted in this bill.

But what the White House wanted to stress to officials is they need to look at what didn't make it in, that they were able to hold off some of the Republican priorities when it came to even tougher work requirements and when it came to even bigger spending cuts.

So the White House is closely watching this later today and then they'll watch the vote that's expected in the Senate. And they've started making phone calls to senators as well as everyone is very aware that this could go down to the wire with the June 5th deadline looming.

BERMAN: All right, Arlette Saenz, keep us posted.

BOLDUAN: John, we're talking about the big items that have been talked about a lot, permitting reforms and work requirements, there are many pieces to this bill. And one aspect we haven't talked much about is the impact it has on federal student loans.

If passed as is now, the agreement would end the pause put in place by President Biden on student loan repayments. It would end that about August 30th and that means people would have to start back up with payments after that. And they would start to be charged interest after then.

The moratorium started in March of 2020 and that was with the pandemic. And it's been extended since then by the Biden administration. The House Speaker touted this as a Republican victory on Sunday.

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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The pause has (INAUDIBLE) in 60 days of this being signed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK --

MCCARTHY: So that is another victory because that brings in $5 billion each month to the American public.

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BOLDUAN: So there is that and in what appears to be a compromise with the White House is the president's waiver program remains in place and untouched as part of the deal that he struck with McCarthy. This is a program that cancels up to $20,000 in student loan debt for

about 43 million Americans who make less than $125,000, about 26 million people have applied for the relief so far.

But this situation is in legal limbo and is separate from the debt debate, as the fate of the program is now before the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the matter soon.

SOLOMON: A lot of people are watching this closely, Kate. Thank you.

This morning, the Republican field for 2024 getting even more crowded. Sources say former Trump ally and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie formally launching the presidential campaign next week in the critical state of New Hampshire. CNN's Omar Jimenez is following this for us.

What are you hearing about Christie's plans?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, as you mentioned, multiple sources have told me that former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is expected to announce his bid for the presidency in the 2024 race on Tuesday.

This is expected to happen in a town hall format in New Hampshire at St. Anselm College and previously, folks in his camp have said that he has been talking to stakeholders, to try to decide whether to jump into this race.

And it does seem he's gotten to that point. Over recent days, allies have launched a super PAC; that gives an indication for supporters of where he sort of fits into this race.

And the person who runs that super PAC put out a statement that reads, "Governor Christie has proven he's unafraid to tell it like it is and he's willing to confront the hard truths that currently threaten the future of the Republican Party.

"Now more than ever we need leaders to have the courage to say not what we want to hear but what we need to hear."

Over recount months, former governor Christie has not been shy in attacking Donald Trump, saying that Donald Trump has failed this country. And he's said himself at a previous town hall that, if he plans to get in this race, he does not plan to shy away from the former president, who is looming large over the GOP field.

SOLOMON: Omar Jimenez, thank you -- John.

BERMAN: So former governor Chris Christie says he is in, joining the race next week.

How does that change things?

With us now, CNN political director David Chalian.

One thing you and I have learned over years is it's folly to say anyone does or doesn't have a chance this early on.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN HOST: And it takes all of the fun out of it, John.

BERMAN: That, too.

For him to win, what would need to happen?

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BERMAN: And how does he change the complexion of this race?

CHALIAN: Chris Christie would need to literally convert the Republican primary electorate into a place where it is not currently. Our most recent CNN poll, John, had 60 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents that ruled him out of their consideration.

That's the mission ahead of him to change. But it's also going to be really important to watch how Chris Christie embraces this role as presidential candidate this time around.

Is this somebody who is seeking to run this campaign in the pursuit of the Oval Office and to govern the country?

Or is this somebody who is going to be on a mission to rid the Republican Party of Donald Trump?

Because everything in the months during his consideration of this, leading up to it, indicates his singular focus at this point has been to try and knock Donald Trump off course here and get him to a place where he has no longer got a grip on the Republican Party.

BERMAN: Of course, the question then would be who does that benefit?

If Christie takes on Trump, does that benefit Chris Christie -- or some other candidates, say Ron DeSantis.

And I bring up the Florida governor because I think one of the open questions over the last few months is how would governor DeSantis campaign against Donald Trump?

How would he differentiate himself from Donald Trump?

I think for the first time we have an answer to that. DeSantis campaigning in Iowa has been giving these speeches, where he lays out distinctions between himself and Donald Trump. And I think we can put those up on a screen right now.

Number one, Ron DeSantis points out Trump comes from money. He has blue collar roots.

Ron DeSantis says, that he would have gotten rid of Anthony Fauci during the pandemic and Donald Trump did not.

And Ron DeSantis claims that Donald Trump allowed lockdowns and he did not. So you can sort of see drawing lines there, DeSantis is.

How significant will this be?

CHALIAN: Pretty significant. I think you're right. And I think there was a DeSantis two-step that we saw last night in the Iowa debut. In the room for his speech, he was largely not focused on Donald Trump.

And his wife, who anybody who has followed Ron DeSantis' political career, will know, is his most senior adviser when it comes to politics. She was on the stage, clearly indicating she will be a critical part of this DeSantis campaign.

As you noted, he touched on his biography a bit. And also this vision, John, that I think will be a twofold message for him. One, that the elites in Washington are not representing the people. He believes he's got an ability to do that.

Two, that he can defeat what he sees as a dangerous, leftist approach to American politics and the so-called "woke" ideology that he sees and that he's proven he can beat it electorally, like by 19 percentage points last November in his re-election race, as well as in his string of legislative victories in Florida.

But when he took reporters' questions, he was not shy about going directly at Donald Trump -- on COVID, on abortion, saying Donald Trump is trying to attack him from the Left. He's willing, it seems, on day one on the campaign trail, to take Trump head-on.

BERMAN: David Chalian, always great to see you. Thank you. I look forward to continuing this discussion.

BOLDUAN: Half a dozen people have reportedly been injured on Russian soil after a serious uptick in attacks on the Russian border regions.

In another territory, two Russian oil refineries just up in flames, allegedly targeted in separate drone attacks. This video was shared on social media. And it shows the aftermath of one of these attacks very clearly up in flames.

This video we want to show you is a large explosion of a monument near Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian officials say the Russians may have been trying to blow up the road there to disrupt an impending Ukrainian ground offensive. Sam Kiley is with us.

Sam, what are you learning about these attacks in Russia?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we've all been talking, haven't we, for some weeks now, about the Ukrainian counter offensive. Very few of us have the imagination to think that it might involve or even focus operations inside Russia. But that is what essentially, at least at this stage -- excuse me -- we're seeing.

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KILEY: So you've got that destruction of the junction of the three countries of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, allegedly by the Russians, to try to block a potential advance. Just to the east of it, over the last couple of weeks, there have been a series of drone attacks all along the northern border with Ukraine.

Now we're seeing border incursions, the governor of Belgorod talking about six people injured, significant numbers of children and other civilians evacuated from Russian villages close to Ukraine.

Then in Krasnodar we've got the oil refinery on fire again. The Ukrainians are not claiming responsibility for these. But added up, this looks like, as a Zelenskyy adviser says, an escalating campaign directed inside Russia.

In the last couple of days, the British foreign secretary said essentially if Ukraine wants to attack military infrastructure in Russia, it's free to do that. The problem is Ukraine has agreed with many military donors that it wouldn't attack with donated weapons.

It can use its own weapons for that. But this is designed to rattle the Russians and it's having that effect.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Sam.

SOLOMON: Five still unaccounted for after a partial building collapse in Iowa.

A Florida school board met last night because of a teacher who showed her class a Disney film.

Arming teachers in the classroom has been proposed to help stop school shootings.

But would it work?

We'll hear what teachers think.

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BERMAN: The bank where an employee opened fire and killed five people in downtown Louisville is permanently relocating. The bank's CEO said the move will take place at the end of June and is meant to honor the victims and those still recovering from the tragic event.

A Moscow court has rejected an appeal from a jailed Putin critic. Alexei Navalny asked the court to allow him to access documents from his case. He is serving a nine-year sentence after being convicted of fraud.

Al Pacino will be a father again at the age of 83. A spokesperson confirmed the news to TMZ on Tuesday. Pacino's 29-year-old girlfriend is eight months along. This will be Pacino's fourth child.

BOLDUAN: So court is back in session this hour in the death penalty trial of a man accused of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. Jurors hearing from the sister of one victim today.

They also heard what has been detailed as just horrific audio coming from 9-1-1 calls at the Tree of Life Synagogue, including a call capturing the final words of one woman before she was shot, 84-year- old Bernice Simon.

She said this, "Tree of Life, we're being attacked. I'm scared to death."

She was killed and her husband was also killed. Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, he recounted hearing the gunshots, telling the court that he expected to die. CNN's Danny Freeman is back with us from Pittsburgh following from inside the federal courtroom.

Danny, talk to me more about what we've learned today and also seen today, because some of the evidence that you heard presented in court yesterday has been released.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kate. Already this morning, it's been an emotional and tense day in court for day two of this trial. Let me start with those new images and those new exhibits released in the past hour.

So by the court, these are exhibits presented in court yesterday but we are getting the first look at some of these this morning. They are images primarily inside of the synagogue. Some images include crime scene tape and some blood on the floor and even what looks like a spent magazine from a rifle on the ground.

And there's also a video of Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, of the Tree of Life congregation. He is running from the synagogue, churching his kippah, his yarmulke on his head, as he runs past police officers, who just had saved him and cleared the way for him to actually escape.

And that was the moment that the rabbi talked about on the stand, just a moment of gladness to be alive but still such fear because of the carnage that happened inside.

There's also an image that I want to show you, Kate, because it's very visceral. We saw it again just about 45 minutes ago. It's an image of a prayer book, that appears to have a bullet hole shot right through the top of it.

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FREEMAN: And the rabbi spoke about this image as well.

That prayer book was, quote, "witness to the horror of that day. And one day, when I'm not there, this book will tell a story that needs to be told."

These exhibits painting a new picture of what we are understanding happened inside of that synagogue that day in October 2018. Meanwhile, we did also hear from two more witnesses today, including Carol Black, the sister of Richard Gottfried.

She also was a survivor of the shooting and she remembered three victims, not only her brother, Richard, but also Melvin Wax and Daniel Stein, all of them New Life congregants, saying they were truly the hearts of that congregation.

We are expecting more witnesses today on the stand.

BOLDUAN: Danny, thank you for paying particular attention to the prayer book with what appears to be a bullet hole. When I saw that just as an evidence exhibit, that brought goose bumps to me, when you think of so many of us who sit in a synagogue and use those prayer books every day and how that was shattered in that synagogue.

Danny, thank you for bringing that to us. We will continue to follow this trial, of course, for all of you. Rahel.

SOLOMON: This morning, officials in Iowa are trying to decide whether to keep searching for survivors inside of a partially collapsed apartment building. What remains is unstable and could come crashing down at any moment.

Right now five people are still unaccounted for and two of them are believed to be inside. Adrienne Broaddus is with us.

There were plans to demolish what's left of the building.

Where do things stand now?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, yesterday crews went back inside and searched portions of the building they believed were safe, those portions they thought were safe to explore after this Sunday collapse.

They were able to rescue people's pets but authorities say there were no signs of any human survivors. At least five people are unaccounted for, including two believed to be in the rubble. One woman told members of the media she thinks the person she loved died. Others are still holding on to hope. Listen in.

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PRESTON MCDOWELL, BRANDEN COLVIN'S COUSIN: You all want to tear down the building and you know you've got five people still unaccounted for. Help me understand that.

CAPTAIN JAMES MORRIS, DAVENPORT ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF: As much as we want to, we want to get everybody out and we want to do it right now. I apologize that I get upset but -- there's a lot of things that we have to factor. So understand, it's not that we don't want to do this; it's the fact that we have to do it in a safe manner.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROADDUS: And he talks about doing it in a safe manner. We heard from the fire chief, who also said they don't want to send in first responders and the building collapses and then we have more people who are injured. We will continue to keep our eye on this, Rahel.

SOLOMON: We know you will, Adrienne, just an incredibly difficult situation for everyone involved there. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you -- John.

BERMAN: A heated Florida school board meeting over the Florida teacher reported for showing a Disney film.

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