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Supreme Court Rejects Argument That Would Have Given State Legislatures Unchecked Power Over Federal Elections; Thousands Of Flights Canceled Or Delayed Due To Storms; DOJ's Scathing Rebuke Of Bureau Of Prisons Details Failures That Lead To Epstein's Suicide; Wildfire Smoke Blankets Parts Of Great Lakes Region. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 27, 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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[13:33:15]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Today, the Supreme Court delivering a major blow to a controversial legal theory backed by former President Donald Trump.

In a three to six decision, the justices rejected a case out of North Carolina that argued state courts have no oversight in reviewing election rules. Rules, we should note, that would be decided by potentially partisan state legislatures.

The theory, you might recall, was bolstered by backers of the former president following the 2020 election.

CNN's Jessica Schneider was at the Supreme Court earlier today when this decision came down.

Put this into context for us, Jessicas. Why is this case so important?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Boris, this is really the Supreme Court working to put a preemptive stop to any potential election chaos as we head into the 2024 election cycle.

What this is saying is that state lawmakers, of any party, they do not have the final say in determining what election rules, election laws, even voting maps will go into effect.

They essentially do not have carte blanche to enact whatever rules they want and state courts can step in to rule on whether those laws or rules are constitutional.

This is a much different outcome than what these conservative challengers had pushed for here.

Conservatives, especially those backing Trump in the 2020 election, backing his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, they had pushed this theory known as the Independent State Legislature Theory.

Saying that, because the federal Constitution says that legislatures are the ones who are in charge of the time, place and manner of elections, that legislatures only should be able to prescribe what the rules are surrounding federal elections.

The Supreme Court today, in a 6-3 decision, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the opinion, saying, no, that isn't the case. State courts do have a role here.

[13:35:00]

This is from the opinion that Roberts wrote. It says, "State courts retain the authority to apply state constitutional restraints when legislatures act under the power conferred upon them by the Elections Clause."

And he did continue to explain how, historically, state courts, federal courts, they have routinely stepped in to put constraints on state legislature, or even a federal legislature, if they enact certain laws. It's the power of the courts to review these laws.

This is a decision that, no doubt, has been celebrated by voting rights groups.

We even saw the former president, Barack Obama, celebrating this decision from this court. Barack Obama wrote this.

He said, "They rejected the fringe Independent State Legislature Theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances by giving state legislature's near-total control of federal election laws."

"This ruling is a resounding rejection of the far-right theory that has been peddled by election deniers and extremists here."

I will warn one thing. In this opinion, the chief justice, in writing it, did say that state courts don't have, quote, "free reign," putting some information in there about maybe federal courts reviewing state court decisions.

So while this does sort of put the kibosh on free reign for state legislatures, there could be some litigation in the future depending on how state courts step in when it comes to elections.

There will be further litigation. But at least for the 2024 election, things should be chaos free.

SANCHEZ: Some foreshadowing from the chief justice. Really a complex legal case. And not their final decision. Some big ones coming up in the next few days.

SCHNEIDER: Exactly. By the end of the week, likely.

SANCHEZ: We know you'll be back to discuss them.

SCHNEIDER: That's right.

SANCHEZ: Jessica Schneider, thank you so much.

Brianna? BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This week, severe summer storm are wreaking havoc across parts of the U.S. and that includes causing quite a mess at some of the busiest airports in the nation.

Thousands of flights have either been canceled or they have been delayed all over the country today. And it is the fourth straight day that passengers have been stranded.

United airlines hit especially hard here. Now the company is pointing fingers at the FAA.

We have CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, joining us.

It looked like summer travel was off to a decent start. But here we are.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Here we are. And it's all New York, New York, New York. That's where the problems are.

And the FAA just put in place a ground stop at LaGuardia. So stopping flights going to the airport. And also a ground delay program for flights going to Newark. And this is having this nationwide trickle- down effect.

And we know when there are big delays and big cancellations, it takes airlines, in some cases, days to recover. I just checked FlightAware, 2,200 delays nationwide, 1,105 cancellations.

United taking it really hard on the chin, 533 delays, 402 cancellations. We're talking about two in every 10 of its flights. One in five of its flights. That's a big impact.

The real issue is that this is really impacting United in Newark, New Jersey, and that is a place where so many United flights fly in and out of.

And we're seeing the problems on the ground there in Newark. We are seeing people sleeping in cots in some places as far away as denver. They can't get hotels.

United's CEO, Scott Kirby, came out pretty hard against the FAA in a memo last night, an internal memo, we obtained here at CNN.

He says, "The FAA, frankly, failed us this weekend."

He points to these problems at FAA, air traffic control facilities on Saturday and Sunday, really compounded by the weather. So we're layer upon layer of issue here.

And he said that really led to massive delays, cancellations, diversions, as well as crews and aircraft out of position. So we're seeing the deck of cards coming tumbling down in some ways.

And let's set this against the backdrop, Brianna, of what will be a huge weekend for summer travel. July 4th right around the corner. The TSA said on Friday there will be so many people flying, about 2.8 million people.

KEILAR: And these all of are the airports that have been affected.

MUNTEAN: Right.

KEILAR: So huge problems with Newark and United, but this is the trickledown as well.

MUNTEAN: Yes. And the FAA says these are the places where we could see bad weather impact today.

So not only is it New York, but also, all the way to Boston. We're talking going the D.C. area as well. Even all the way down into Florida.

So we see they happen in this really widespread way, even when there is a problem at one place.

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KEILAR: July 4th though, is going to be --

MUNTEAN: Well, the weather will be good for the next couple of days. Wednesday and Thursday look pretty good on the east coast. Although, we'll see. Summer storms can really cause everything to come tumbling down so quickly.

KEILAR: All right. I'm not going to travel. I'm going to solve the problem --

MUNTEAN: I'll be working.

KEILAR: -- for myself and for other people. I'll be working, too. Maybe we'll be here.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Hopefully, not talking about problems.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I wish the best to people.

Pete Muntean, thank you.

Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Yes. Those airports look scary.

[13:40:01]

Well, dangerously high temperatures have millions of people across the south under heat alerts now. The summer swelter could get even worse.

And the Justice Department tears into the Bureau of Prisons over Jeffrey Epstein's death. Ahead, what investigators say were multiple +failures that made his suicide possible.

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SCIUTTO: Here's a look at some of the other headlines we're following this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Nearly 70 million people, over 20 percent of the U.S. population, are forecast to see high temperatures, possibly more than 100 degrees, over the course of the next week. Look at that map there.

[13:45:01]

The National Weather Service has issued excessive heart warnings for Dallas, Baton Rouge and New Orleans where they expect the heat index could reach 120 degrees.

Also, the CDC is warning public health officials about a handful of locally acquired cases of malaria. There hasn't been a case of malaria transmitted inside the U.S. in nearly 20 years. And 95 percent of cases of mosquito-spread illness are found in Africa.

This summer, four people in Florida and one person in Texas seemed to acquire the disease locally here in the U.S. The cases do not seem to be related to each other. The CDC said all the patients are in treatment and improving.

Prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger. He's the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students last November.

Prosecutors say the case met the standard for the death penalty, given the, quote, "atrocious nature of the crimes." They noted they have received no information about mitigating circumstances that would stop them from pursuing a capitol sentence.

The hearing is set for this afternoon on a series of motions, including a request to delay the proceedings. We'll stay on top of it.

SANCHEZ: Nearly four years after Jeffrey Epstein died in a New York jail cell, a new DOJ report issues a scathing rebuke of the Bureau of Prisons. It details multiple failures that led to Epstein's suicide.

And for the first time, we're also seeing photos of his cell.

Now, some people may find them disturbing so we do want to warn you first.

Remember, the 66-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell with a noose around his neck just weeks after he was arrested on charges of sex trafficking minors.

The medical examiner ruled it as suicide. But his death sparked a rash of unfounded conspiracy theories. This DOJ report found no evidence of criminality.

CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now live. Kara, bring us up to speed on the details in this report. Do you think it will be enough to finally stop the incessant questions surrounding suspicions over his death?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, that is the big question here because conspiracy theories have been abound since Epstein died on August 10, 2019, just several weeks after he was arrested on the sex trafficking charges.

What this report finds through interviews is that -- and looking at some of the evidence that they uncovered in this, was that the problems here began several weeks before Epstein's death, that it was even late July where Epstein was found lying on the floor of his cell with an orange cloth around his neck. It was then that the Psychiatry Department said he needed to have a cell mate.

It turned out that just before he died, he did not have a cell mate in his cell. That person was transferred out and they didn't replace him.

That enabled them -- the situation and the opportunity that this report found that created the ability for Epstein to then die by suicide.

He was also able to stockpile bed linens. You can see from the photo of his cell that was taken the day he was found, he has numerous orange bed linens, blankets, sheets, that they said he was able to fasten into nooses, more than one, that he was able to use to hang himself.

And that the guards, who were supposed to be doing 30-minute checks -- Epstein was in a special housing unit known as The Shoe. This is where, every 30 minutes, do a prisoner count.

This report determined that beginning at 10:40 p.m. on that night before, until 6:30 a.m., when he was discovered, they didn't do any checks. And the guards had falsified records to suggest that they were.

So a number of shortcomings. They didn't have video in place to give a live feed into the area where the guards were, where they should have been able to see if the video was working, what Epstein was up to in that cell. So a lot of issues there.

The big question of the criminality, I mean, it showed there were no defensive wounds from the medical examiner's report. No evidence of a struggle.

The report finds that all prison staff members interviewed by the OIG said they didn't know of any information suggesting that Epstein's cause of death was something other than suicide.

Likewise, none of the interviewed inmates provided any credible information that Epstein's cause of death was something other than suicide.

The report saying that the problem here really hurt the victims of that fiend because they weren't able to get justice -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Such an important point.

Kara Scannell, thank you so much.

Brianna?

[13:49:31]

KEILAR: In Canada, it is officially the worst wildfire season on record. And we're only at the beginning here. Check this out. These are live pictures from Milwaukee. Smoke from these fires now impacting cities across the Midwest. We'll have new details next.

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KEILAR: Part of the Great Lakes region getting a new whiff of dangerous wildfire smoke today. Look at Milwaukee. That's Milwaukee. That's not just a gray screen. That is what they are dealing with there.

Those wildfires in Canada just keep burning and sending smoke down into the Midwest. Air quality alerts, they are in effect for several Great Lakes states.

We have CNN's Adrienne Broaddus who is in Chicago for us.

These pictures, unbelievable, coming out of Milwaukee where you can barely see the stadium where the Brewers are normally playing, Adrienne. When is this expected to abate?

[13:55:03]

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's expected to dissipate by tomorrow at midnight. That's Central Standard Time. Brianna, that's according to the National Weather Service.

But if you are here in Chicago walking downtown, not only can you see it, if we move positions you can see the smoke filling the sides of the building. You can smell it. You can taste it.

I spoke a short time ago with Juan Rojas. He's a lung doctor here in town at Rush University Medical Center. And he says the air quality here in Chicago right now ranks among the world's worst.

He's been practicing here for a long time and he says he's always concerned about his patients, but never has he had to worry about the air quality here in Chicago.

But it's not just here in Chicago. It's also across the Great Lakes region. So if you are in this area or in the Great Lakes region, doctors are warning to limit your activity outside. Take a short walk instead of a long run or a bike ride.

It's the summer in Chicago, but it's gray and hazy here today -- Brianna? KEILAR: Yes, maybe it is the time for some indoor activities there in

the Midwest in these places affected by this.

Adrienne Broaddus, live for us in Chicago, thanks for the report.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: Ahead, we are getting one side of the story. How the Belarus president said he stopped the Russian revolt and where he says the Wagner boss is right now.

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