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Disruptions At Airports; Bad Weather Affects Airports; DeSantis And Trump Trade Jabs; Subway Death Suspect Appears In Court. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired June 28, 2023 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:31:27]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The air is a mess. More than 80 million Americans are under air quality alerts today due to smoke from Canadian fires. We experienced it here in New York a while back. Now people from the Midwest and the northeast are being advised to stay indoors with their air conditioning running or wearing an N-95 mask if they have to be outside. That is how bad the air is.
This is the scene from Chicago on Tuesday. Look at that. That is not fog. That is smoke. You can see the skyline covered in it.
Take a look at another video from Milwaukee. You can barely make out where the buildings are. Look at that. Because the smoke is so heavy. And this is the scene in Minneapolis St. Paul, where the sky, very hazy today there. Canada is enduring its worst fire season ever. Across the country more than 200 fires are burning out of control today.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And there's no sign of it letting up.
And then also here, another ground stop at another U.S. airport this morning. Delays have just been stacking up already today at Boston's Logan Airport due to storms. And so far across the country more than 700 flights have been canceled. According to the tracking site FlightAware, that's almost halfway to yesterday's painful total with 2,000 flights canceled.
CNN's Jason Carroll is at LaGuardia for us in New York and CNN's Pete Muntean is back at his home base at Reagan National Airport, just outside Washington.
Pete, first to you. What is going on here? Yes, weather, but where are we?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: We're layer on layer of issues here, Kate. You know, here at National Airport, which the weather here is actually pretty clear, the cancellation board already lighting up a bit. The numbers are accelerating. We've seen about 1,385 delays so far today. That's gone up about 200 delays in the last hour. Seven hundred plus cancellations. So, really, today already is only paling in comparison to yesterday. Although the day is still pretty young.
Look at how bad things were last night at LaGuardia. This is an image from Flight Radar 24 of all of the airplanes piling every nook and cranny of the taxiway. Ground stop there. Also at JFK, also at Newark. And the FAA said one of the reasons the ground stop was put in place at LaGuardia simply because there was going to be gridlock on the ground.
So far today already looking a lot like yesterday. Newark, LaGuardia, JFK topping the list of airports for cancellations. Also, Boston Logan and Chicago rounding out the top five.
What we're seeing now is airlines really trying to scramble something that -- to rebuild after something that built up for days this meltdown that we're seeing right now that United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says really started for that carrier on Saturday. And he puts the blame on the FAA, saying they simply did not have enough air traffic controllers to handle all of the flights coming in and out of Newark, United's big hub. Kirby says simply, the FAA frankly failed us.
United, at one point yesterday, requested a ground stop in Newark for flights going into there to try and catch its breath. Although we've heard there were internal problems as well at United. They had issues with flight attendants simply getting on the phone to crew scheduling to try and get back to the places where they needed to be.
We are looking at a holiday weekend in the face and we're only days away from the start of July 4th, 2.8 million people scheduled to go through here at check points at Reagan National Airport and at airports across the country.
[09:35:12]
It's a big one, Kate, and we're already seeing airlines melting down a bit.
BOLDUAN: I know. And I just really do not want to be the bearer of bad news for folks as we're like inching - we've got - we're days away from the like -- people are probably traveling right now for the Fourth of July holiday and this is what we're seeing as we lead into it.
MUNTEAN: Yes.
BOLDUAN: We need more than fingers crossed. So, Pete's going to work on that and we're going to get over to Jason Carroll at one of the airports that Pete was just mentioning that's feeling really the brunt of the pain.
How is it going there? What are you hearing, Jason?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, here at LaGuardia Airport we've seen some flights taking off and landing out here on the runway here. So that's some good news. A little bit of movement there.
But the numbers are not so good. LaGuardia, so far, 137 cancellations. At JFK, 87. At Newark, 142. And, of course, Kate, there are the stories. One story in particular, one woman had eight flight delays, OK, and then she ended up deplaneing. Then four hours waiting in line. And then she ended up overnighting in Newark.
This morning spoke to a family. They were supposed to fly to Florida on Spirit Airlines. They said this morning they got there and were told all of a sudden their flight was canceled. Their next flight not available until July 3rd. So their holiday is ruined. That's the story being heard over and over again at airports all over the country.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were a lot of kids, they didn't have no Pampers. Like I said, long line. Kids that were crying, sleeping on the floor. Old people, too, sleeping on the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's elderly couples behind me. I'm like, these people can barely walk and now they're standing in lines for 10 hours. So now we're going to drive to Minneapolis because they can't get us out until Friday at the earliest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people sleeping in cots. There are people like openly weeping at like cafe tables. You know, it's like -- it's a human tragedy really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: You know, Kate, you hear so much talk about, you know, the airlines blaming the FAA, the FAA pointing their finger at the airlines, caught in the middle are the passengers. That's what's clear here.
Also what's clearing up, at least at the moment, is, that's the weather, so that should help with some regards. The weather tomorrow as well as the next day supposed to be on the positive side. So that should help some things. The question is, can the airlines rectify this before this weekend when the passengers really start to load into some of these airports ahead of the holiday upcoming on July 4th?
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Yes. And, Jason, you travel a lot for work and, you know, and for play, and you know that it's just this feeling of helplessness when people are -- and everything feels -- there's no human interaction, everyone is speaking to like a voice far off in no man's land and you can see that on the faces of the people that we see from LaGuardia Airport in this video that we're running next here -- next to you on the wall. It's just - it's everyone knows this feeling. We all need a break.
Thank you, Jason. Thank you so much. Jason's going to be tracking that for us. Pete Muntean will now live
once again at Reagan National Airport.
I really -- I really don't need another airport -- another holiday where Pete Muntean tells us to come back on -
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I know.
BOLDUAN: Come back on next year. We just don't need this.
BERMAN: I was staring at the cars behind Jason Carroll there. The traffic jam.
BOLDUAN: Well, that's - that's actually low. That's easy traffic.
BERMAN: A shout-out - a shout-out to the people who were in those cars listening to us right now.
BOLDUAN: Thank you all.
BERMAN: We're thinking about all of you.
BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.
BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis taking new swipes at each other at dueling rallies in New Hampshire.
Actor Kevin Spacey in court this morning, on trial for sexual assault charges. We have new details ahead.
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[09:43:19]
BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis taking big swipes at each other as the two leading Republican presidential candidates campaign in New Hampshire. Among other things, Trump is criticizing the size of the town hall crowds that DeSantis is drawing, while DeSantis claims that Trump overpromised and under-delivered during his time in office.
CNN's Steve Contorno and Jeff Zeleny standing by with the details.
First let's go to Steve in St. Petersburg for the DeSantis view on all this.
Steve.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: DeSantis is trying to make a case to Republican voters that he would be a more effective leader than the former president, basically saying that he can get the Trump agenda done that Trump himself couldn't get accomplished. The wall that Trump promised in 2016, he said he would actually get that done. And listen to how he talked to -- talked about one of Trump's main promises back in 2016, draining the swamp. Here is what DeSantis said to New Hampshire voters yesterday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL) AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I think the idea of draining the swamp in some respects I think it misses it a little bit because if you -- we didn't drain it. It's worse today than it's ever been by far, and that's a sad testament to the state of affairs of our country. But even if you're successful at draining it, the next guy can just refill it. So, I want to break the swamp. That's really what we need to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Now, Trump, of course, has been accusing DeSantis of basically just running on all of the same issues that Trump is running on. And he, of course, likes to needle DeSantis as well over their poll numbers. DeSantis is trailing Trump.
[09:45:02]
That has been the case going back to the start of this race. And yesterday he talked to New Hampshire about why he continues to attack DeSantis in this race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Somebody said, how come you only attack him? I said, because he's in second place. Well, why don't you attack others? Because they're not in second place. But soon I don't think he'll be in second place, so I'll be attacking somebody else.
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CONTORNO: Now, Trump also criticized DeSantis yesterday for -- for supporting changes to Social Security, which is something that is going to continue to be a big part of this race going forward, John.
BERMAN: Donald Trump always reading the stage directions there on the campaign trail.
Steve, thanks to you.
Let's go to Jeff Zeleny now for some of the bigger picture view from Trump world.
Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's interesting, I'm not sure that you can break a swamp. But the point is still clear, that Governor DeSantis is clearly trying to remind voters that Donald Trump did not accomplish all he set out to. We heard it earlier this week about the wall. He said that Donald Trump did not build the wall. That is true. He did not drain the swamp. That also is true.
But you also notice that big banner behind Governor DeSantis. It says "restore sanity." That may be a change from the Biden administration, but perhaps also a not so subtle message about how he is promising a change from the Trump administration.
So, John, what we are seeing here in these summer months, really week by week by week, we are seeing these candidates draw some differences between themselves and between themselves and Donald Trump. So, yes, Governor DeSantis is not out there sort of hammering the former president again and again, but there really are some, you know, very interesting messaging things going on here about what Trump did not accomplish. That's one of the things that DeSantis is trying to do to get his sort of attention up, his poll numbers up over the summer.
Of course he, you know, is struggling a bit more than he thought he would. He thought that, you know, he was the Republican candidate that people were awaiting for. He's finding out it's a little more difficult.
But he was in New Hampshire yesterday taking questions from voters. And, John, as you know very well, covering campaigns, that's what you must do in New Hampshire. He started out by not taking questions from voters, not explaining what he would do. Now he is very much a normal candidate in that respect.
And, increasingly, taking a few shots and drawing distinctions with former President Donald Trump.
BERMAN: What does a DeSantis campaign think that it needs from New Hampshire? New Hampshire is such a strong state for Donald Trump.
ZELENY: It certainly is. I mean one thing would probably just to be surviving it. I mean, of course, we are just in the month of June now, so at least seven months before the New Hampshire primary. Big questions about how many candidates will still be on the ballot there, how many would survive Iowa.
But it is an uphill climb for Governor DeSantis. He knows that. But say, for example, he would win Iowa. You go on to New Hampshire. It often has a different response. So, I think what he's doing now is just introducing himself to voters. And he needs a strong showing sort of everywhere. But we're in the very early stages, of course, of the New Hampshire primary campaign. But clearly I think he's just trying to show that he can be a strong presidential candidate and, by doing so, trying to draw some distinctions there with Donald Trump.
BERMAN: While he learns how fickle the voters in New Hampshire can be.
ZELENY: For sure.
BERMAN: Jeff Zeleny, great to see you. And Steve Contorno, thanks to you as well.
Kate.
ZELENY: You bet.
BOLDUAN: So, can you break a swamp?
BERMAN: Yes, I was trying to think about how that would look with a sledgehammer smashing it into the water. Break. Break.
BOLDUAN: Or like - or like, you know, it's like the Red Sea or something. I mean, yes, says the great philosophy Jeff Socrates Zeleny on CNN news.
We bring you so much here. So much. Pond that as we also look ahead to this.
Coming up for us on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, Daniel Penny in court. The man accused and charged in the chokehold death on a New York City subway is facing a judge this morning as the charges against him are unsealed. We are live outside the court in New York.
We'll be back.
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[09:53:00]
BOLDUAN: Very soon the man accused of choking a homeless man to death on a New York City subway is going to be appearing in court. Attorneys for Daniel Penny say that he was trying to defend himself and other passengers when Jordan Neely began acting erratically on a train last month.
Now, CNN's Omar Jimenez is outside the courthouse for us once again in Manhattan with the very latest.
So, Omar, that's what - that is what Daniel Penny's attorneys say, but what is going to happen in court today?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. So, one, Daniel Penny just arrived about 30 seconds ago behind me, going into the courthouse here to go in front of a judge. This will be the first time he's been in front of a judge after being officially indicted by a grand jury on second-degree manslaughter charges for the killing of Jordan Neely. And as you alluded to, we've already gotten glimpses into some of their defense here, that Daniel Penny and his attorneys believe that Penny did what he had to do in that moment to protect not just himself but others in that subway car. And his attorneys have gone so far as to say that if this goes to a jury trial, they feel very confident that his actions will come out as justified.
Take a listen to some of what Daniel Penny has said about that incident, and about what he felt he needed to do in those moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL PENNY, DEFENDANT: I knew I had to act. And I acted in a way that would protect the other passengers, protect myself and protect Mr. Neely. I used this hold to restrain him.
I didn't want to be put in that situation, but I couldn't just sit still and let - let him carry out these threats.
(END VIDEO CLIP) JIMENEZ: Now, as you can imagine, attorneys for Jordan Neely's family don't quite agree with that characterization. They, for one, say that this indictment was the correct result and a good first step. But they've also said that the grand jury's decision tells our city and our nation that no one is above the law no matter how much money they raise, no matter what affiliations they claim, and no matter what distorted stories they tell in interviews.
[09:55:01]
And all of this, of course, goes back to May 1st when witnesses say Jordan Neely went into this subway car here, was acting erratically, as one witness described it, saying that he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he wasn't - that he was ready to die. And while that witness says he hadn't actually attacked anyone at that point, what those other passengers felt in those moments will be critical in this cases as, again, this arraignment gets underway.
BOLDUAN: Omar, thank you for being there. We'll get back to you.
John.
BERMAN: We have new reporting on who the special counsel is talking to in just one of the investigations into Donald Trump. Important new developments happening this afternoon.
And then a startling new report on what might have been in the Russian revolt. Plans to kidnap some of Russia's top generals.
And we just got word that President Biden made brand-new comments on the situation in Russia. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
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