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Greg Abbott Says Texas Sent Bus Full Of Migrants To California; Biden Announces Steps To Crackdown On Junk Fees; U.S. Government Agencies Hit In Global Cyberattack. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 15, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Last night, a bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived in Los Angeles. The trip was directed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. And now we've learned Homeland Security officials are in touch with California officials over the ongoing migrant relocation effort launched by Republican governors.

Let's go to CNN's Camila Bernal whose life force in LA. Camila, what are you hearing from people on the ground there?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris, so these migrants were given a place to sleep, they were given a meal, but most importantly, they're all getting legal help because they're meeting individually with attorneys that are helping them figure out exactly where they need to go in terms of their asylum cases.

So, this is a long journey for a lot of these migrants. A lot of them spent months trying to get to the U.S. and were in South Texas. They were placed on this bus. It was a 23-hour bus ride from south Texas to California. And some of the immigration advocates saying they did not receive any food or any water on this journey.

But it is important to point out that Governor Greg Abbott says that a lot of these small border towns are essentially overwhelmed. So that's why he's saying he's busing these migrants to places like Los Angeles and even blaming the President for essentially saying that he is just not securing the border.

Though, the people here in Los Angeles saying that they were prepared. They were ready for these migrants. They say they were not surprised. They had about 24 hours heads up. But they say they've been preparing for months, knowing that this was a possibility, bringing these migrants to an area like Los Angeles. Here's what some of these advocates are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE MARIO CABRERA, SPOKESPERSON, CHIRLA: We saw the smile in the children's faces yesterday. They were playing with toys. They are living the moment, the present. Their parents, their elderly siblings are the ones that have to deal with the traumatic experience of being sent from one place to another, not knowing if this limbo has an end. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now, we are being told that some of the migrants already reunited with family members here in California. We know of some migrants that went to San Diego, others that went to San Francisco, but there are others that have court dates somewhere else. There is one man, for example, that has to be in New York for his appearance in court. And he asked one of these advocates like, how far is New York? Is it nearby?

And so that's kind of the stories that you're hearing. The organizations here say they're asking and trying to figure out if these migrants were essentially misled into coming to Los Angeles. But of course, we'll have to wait and see what happens there. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Camila Bernal, thank you so much for the reporting. Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Well, Boris, we've all been there, right? You think you know what you're paying for when it comes to that concert ticket, that flight, that hotel room. By the time, though, you enter your credit card info, the final price is way higher than when you first logged in.

Well, President Biden just announced an initiative to combat those junk fees, as they're called. CNN Business and Politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is joining us now on this. Vanessa, how is this going to work exactly?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and just a short time ago, President Biden announcing that two big ticket giants, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, voluntarily say that they're going to put the all in pricing up front. So that's the ticket cost, that is taxes, and that's the service fee. So you know what you're getting before you purchase that ticket.

We've heard from President Biden on this at the State of the Union address. He says he's making good on that promise, and we want to show you in reality how this plays out for consumers.

So Beyonce tickets at MetLife Stadium on July 29 were going for about $300, we found. But when you went to the checkout, between the service fee and the added taxes went up to 369. Take a look at Airbnb, for example. We looked at a trip to Miami Beach from August 1 to the 6th. Before taxes we found, it was 482. Then upon checkout, when you're about to enter your credit card, 530.

And then this is one that always gets me is resort fees. We looked in Tucson, Arizona, for this weekend at a Hilton resort. Before fees, 361. And then going on to checkout 480, nearly $120 of fees. This could be painful for many Americans as they're budgeting, they're dealing with higher inflation. People want to know what they're paying for. This is an effort by the President to make sure that people aren't waiting to the last minute when they're checking out just to see how expensive things are.

He wants it all up front, and he wants airlines, he wants hotels, he wants cruises, and he wants concert venues to be really transparent about this for Americans. He feels like this is a kitchen table issue, and he wants to make sure that people aren't getting stuck with fees that they don't know about when they're first looking for these tickets and other leisure items. Brianna.

[15:35:05]

KEILAR: Yes, it's especially annoying when you're trying to compare prices between hotels or airlines. I mean, if you're looking for that Taylor Swift ticket, maybe you can only buy it on Ticketmaster. But when you're comparing prices, I find that you might go with one place over the other accidentally. Vanessa, thank you for taking us through that. I appreciate it. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Up next, it's something out of a Sci-Fi movie. A team of researchers say they've created the first synthetic human model embryos. We're going to explain how these things could be used.

Plus, CNN exclusively learning that several U.S. Federal agencies have been hit as targets in a global cyberattack. We'll break down the details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:18]

KEILAR: Now to a scientific breakthrough that some say, I might say sounds like the plotline in a horror Sci-Fi film. A team of researchers has created the world's first synthetic human embryo models. That is right. No human eggs, no human sperm, just a lab and a whole lot of research. CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us on this story. What, Elizabeth, did scientists create here and could this actually become a real person?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, the answer is no. It could not start be used to start a real person both because it's illegal, because it seems like scientifically it wouldn't work anyways. These are not human embryos. Let me repeat this. These are not human embryos. They are synthetic models that are very similar to human embryos, but they're not actually human embryos.

So, what they did try was they tried putting embryos into monkeys, embryos made in the same way into monkeys, and it did not work to start a pregnancy. So in other words, it wasn't quite the same thing. What they're hoping to do with these embryos, Brianna, or the actually, I'm correcting myself, what they're going to do with these synthetic embryo models is use them to research.

For example, why do some embryos miscarry? Why are there genetic diseases? There's lots of really interesting scientific research they can do with these embryos, and they've created an image of them.

It's very interesting when you look at the blue cells, those cells would go on, if this were a real embryo, to become bodily tissue, it would become blood cells, it would become muscles. The red cells would go on to become the amniotic sac. Brianna. KEILAR: Very interesting. All right, to repeat, not actual embryos. Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you for that. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now to a CNN exclusive. We're learning several U.S. federal government agencies have been hit by a global cyberattack. This comes after a hacking spree over the last two weeks crippled major universities and even hospitals.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper is with us, joining us now with more. And Jake, you're going to look at some interesting angles on this story on The Lead.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Well, the information is still relatively new. Several U.S. federal government agencies have been hit by this global cyberattack that uses a vulnerability in a file transfer software called MOVEit to get into systems. It's not clear if a Russian speaking ransomware group, a group called Clop, is actually behind the attack, but the same group has claimed credit or blame for previous attacks that have affected the BBC, the University of Georgia, Johns Hopkins University and others.

As of now, we're told by the TSA and the State Department that they were not victims of the attack. But you can see those are some of the companies that were hit already. Shell, British Airways, the BBC and the states of Minnesota and Illinois.

It could potentially this attack expose thousands of people's personal information and banking information and more to this hacking group. So it's something that we're just learning about and monitoring right now.

SANCHEZ: Certainly, an area of concern when it comes to engaging with Russia and China and other North Korea, other actors that CNN potentially be nefarious.

TAPPER: These Russian hackers were the first to exploit this vulnerability in this file transfer software. MOVEit. But they won't be the last, for sure.

SANCHEZ: Yes, something to monitor on The Lead, for sure. And also, we're looking forward to a big launch coming soon.

TAPPER: Yes, July 11. I have a -- I have a new novel coming out. All the Demons Are Here. It's the third in the trilogy of the Charlie and Margaret Hellfire thing. I wanted to bring you a copy of it.

SANCHEZ: Much appreciated, Jake.

TAPPER: I mailed you one, but I think I had the wrong address, so I just wanted to give it to you. I know you liked the first two.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And I wanted to ask you. You had some interesting details in the first two about the 50s and 60s --

TAPPER: This one in 70s. This one takes place in 1977.

SANCHEZ: Some historic nuggets that folks weren't aware of, like the Frank Sinatra thing in the last.

TAPPER: Frank Sinatra, Joe McCarthy in the first. This one has Evil Knieval --

SANCHEZ: OK.

TAPPER: -- the death of Elvis Presley. I know you weren't yet born in 1977, but let me tell you something, it was a wild time. UFO, Studio 54, New York City. Blackout, Summer of Sam. You've read about it in the history books for us. So I know you weren't born until eight years later, but this one's '77, and it's a fun romp. I hope

SANCHEZ: I can live a piece of it through all the demons are here. Of course, be sure to watch The Lead with Jake Tapper starting at the top of the hour. Of course.

KEILAR: Still waiting for my book. Washington, DC. not Washington State, Jake. Just FYI.

All right, coming up, an asteroid the size of the Brooklyn Bridge is about to fly by Earth today. NASA is calling it potentially hazardous. We're going to tell you just how close this thing is going to get, and I feel badly for even teasing our next story with Boris right over there.

[15:45:03]

So I'm just going to say as little as possible because it involves the Denver Nuggets and a missing trophy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: So police are the ones who are supposed to catch people speeding, right? Apparently not all of them. If you watch this video, it's a sheriff deputy pulling over an Orlando police officer for going too fast. Check out the excuse that he gave this deputy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am going into work, my man. Why are you trying to pull me over as I'm going?

[15:5:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you're going to 80 and a 45.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going into work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Where you're going to go for work?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it look like I am dressed for? What does it look like I am dressed for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Deputy Hilton. Let me see your driver's license?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That excuse, as you may apparently recognize did not fly with the deputy. The police officer is now charged with fleeing or eluding an officer in a patrol vehicle, reckless driving, unlawful speeding, and resisting an officer. He has since been relieved of duty. Brianna.

KEILAR: Nice try, though, right? By the time you go to sleep tonight, if you can sleep after we tell you this story, NASA is expecting an asteroid just to zip by Earth. This actually happens more frequently than you'd think, but this guy's getting close enough, and it's pretty big to be deemed a potentially hazardous object.

This length of this asteroid spans the central walking path of the Brooklyn Bridge. To put this into perspective. CNN's Tom Foreman joining us now on this. We've actually talked about some scary things today, like killer AI.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

KEILAR: Now we've got this giant asteroid.

FOREMAN: Yes.

KEILAR: How close are we talking here, Tom?

FOREMAN: Well, for something that big, it's pretty close. Yes, that's the comparison. Look at how big this thing is out here. And if you look at the actual measurement of it is fairly far out there. Around two and a half million miles away out there. But point to bear in mind that's about 10 times as far as the moon. Is that pretty far away? That's pretty far away.

But NASA's threshold for what they consider potentially hazardous is 4.7 million mile. Big distance, but in the cosmic sense, not that big really, you know.

KEILAR: Yes. Armageddon is my reference point.

FOREMAN: Yes. Yes.

KEILAR: So this feels a little farther.

FOREMAN: Armageddony, yes.

KEILAR: What makes this potentially hazardous?

FOREMAN: Two things. One, this, the location.

KEILAR: OK.

FOREMAN: In fact that it's come fairly close. This one, by the way, has been here six times before, since the early 1900, and it will come again.

KEILAR: He's not getting the message.

FOREMAN: No, it's not. It keeps hanging around, but also it has to do with the size of this thing. Look, their threshold is 500 feet plus in size. This one, obviously, more than three times as much as this.

However, I will note it is not as big as the one that killed the dinosaurs, which was probably about 6 miles wide. Still, if you had an impact from this, it would be a big deal. And the reason they're tracking these so much more these days and experimenting with the idea of how you might be able to divert one out in space is because they flatly say if one got this close, this big, or bigger, we cannot stop it, in part because it's traveling about 12 miles per second that's fast, and there's no stopping it if it gets that close.

So they're tracking them a lot more and saying maybe if it's this big, we can see it far away and nudge it some different direction and prevent turning into some kind of crazy apocalypse movie.

KEILAR: It is interesting because they're experimenting with that. It's not just to keep us up at night. They're actually trying to do something here.

FOREMAN: Although it does.

KEILAR: Sure it does. All right, Tom.

FOREMAN: Good to see you.

KEILAR: Thank you. Good to see you. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Up next, a sad Miami Heat fan will be forced to report on the Denver Nuggets championship parade and whether a missing MVP trophy has been found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:57:45]

KEILAR: All right, not to end Boris's day on a low note. Actually, I think we're going to need some tissues for this. Can we have, OK, here we go. But not in Denver, because Denver is celebrating its NBA championship. Hundreds of thousands of people, not Boris, but they were expected to descend on downtown for this parade and look, it kind of looks like they all showed up here.

You may have seen a clip from earlier this week when nuggets player Nikola Jokic, the NBA finals MVP, found out that there would be a parade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKOLA JOKIC, DENVER NUGGETS CENTER: When is parade? When is parade?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thursday. JOKIC: No. I need to go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I'm happy to report the most casual superstar ever is no longer so casual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOKIC: You know that I told that I don't want to stay on parade but I want to stay on parade. This is the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Got to love a good parade.

SANCHEZ: Yes, love a good parade. Also love co-anchors that are really empathetic and care about you and are nice enough to bring you tissue when deep down inside you're struggling and suffering.

KEILAR: I send you texts.

SANCHEZ: You did. You were very supportive. Brianna was very supportive. Especially when the Heat were doing well. I do have to say, though, he lost the finals MVP trophy.

KEILAR: Yes. How does he lost do that?

SANCHEZ: He lost it. Having a good time, I guess. But he's like the least enthusiastic superstar I've ever seen. He was like, I want to go home at one point after they win the championship that we should note so many players strive for their entire careers. He was like, yes, I just want to go home. Nobody loves their job, right? He literally said nobody loves their job.

KEILAR: How many days -- because how many days did he have to wait for the parade when he said that?

SANCHEZ: That was Monday night.

KEILAR: So he's like three days.

SANCHEZ: Did you see how people came out? Of course it changed his mind. Nevertheless, congrats to the Denver Nuggets of my friends in Denver, Isaiah, Greg, everybody that's celebrating out there right now, getting drunk, like, I wish I were in South Florida.

KEILAR: These are the best things, though, these parades to celebrate. I think they're so wonderful. Maybe he just didn't know. Maybe he just didn't understand.

SANCHEZ: Maybe he didn't understand. I look forward to the next one. You could mark it down. Next year. There will be a parade down Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. Brianna, you're invited.

KEILAR: I'm going to be there. Did they find a trophy? SANCHEZ: They did.

KEILAR: OK.