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Trump Receives a Call from McCarthy Apologizing for Suggesting He Might Not Be the "Strongest" 2024 President Contender; Air Quality Alerts Currently in Effect for More Than 80M Americans; South is Experiencing Dangerous Heat Wave; Energy Demand in Texas Reached an All-Time High; Supreme Court Will Decide Cases Involving Affirmative Action; Interview with Political and Historical Sociologist, Northwestern University Associate Professor of Sociology, and "The Fifth Freedom" Author Tony Chen; Supreme Court Might Overturn Ruling Allowing Race To Be Taken Into Consideration When Making Admissions Decisions; Protests Ahead of Florida's New Immigration Law; Interview with Florida Immigrant Coalition Federal Lead Yareliz Mendez-Zamora. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired June 28, 2023 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. This just coming into CNN. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called Donald Trump on Tuesday and apologized after he questioned whether Trump is the strongest candidate in the Republican race for president. Here are those original comments on CNBC yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE KERNEN, CNBC, "SQUAWK BOX" CO-ANCHOR: Can he win an election --
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: Can he win that election? Yes, he can.
KERNEN: You think he can.
MCCARTHY: The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don't know that answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: He doesn't know. But he apologized for saying it.
CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox is here with more on this. What more are you learning? This is an interesting about face. He didn't really say anything, but he said I don't know and I guess that upset Donald Trump.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a day of cleanup yesterday for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He held a call, called the former president yesterday to apologize, according to new reporting from our colleagues Melanie Zanona and Kristen Holmes, where he both apologized. He told the former president that he misspoke and, of course, he blamed the reporters for taking the comments out of context, according to McCarthy. But that wasn't where it ended, Sara. He also had an exclusive interview with "Breitbart News", a right winging -- right leaning news agency to try to talk more about why he believed Donald Trump was the strongest candidate to beat Joe Biden.
Later, his campaign sent out a fundraising e-mail, saying that Donald Trump was stronger than ever. This just goes to show you that Kevin McCarthy knows that his right flank is so important for him to hold on to his speakership. He cannot anger people in his conference who are getting behind the former president, who are fervently behind him at all times no matter what that means in term of defending Donald Trump.
And that is why Kevin McCarthy went out of his way yesterday to go ahead and apologize to the former president. And then in subsequent interviews, make it clear that he does believe Donald Trump could be a strong contender to beat Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election. Sara?
SIDNER: Politics always perilous. Lauren Fox, thank you so much for that reporting.
John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. This morning air quality alerts in effect for more than 80 million Americans. The alerts, which are impacting areas from the Midwest to the northeast, they are the result of smoke from the Canadian wildfires. People are being advised to stay indoors with their air conditioning running or wear N95 masks if you have to be outside. In Chicago this morning, the tops of building there covered in haze. In Minneapolis-Saint Paul area, the sky, very, very hazy.
Canada is enduring is -- enduring its worst fire season on record. Today alone, more than 200 fires are burning out of control.
Now, separate from that, nearly 90 million people from California to Florida are under heat alerts or advisories today. Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans, they could see their heat indexes reach 115 degrees, which, Kate, I am told, is very hot.
[10:35:00]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: Very, very hot, add a second very.
Officials in Texas say that it has been so hot that demand for energy hit an all-time record.
CNN's Rosa Flores is in Houston. She's tracking all this. And Rosa, with these temperatures hitting records and spiking, that also means energy prices is -- are spiking as well. What are you learning?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT And about a hundred times the price, a hundred times the cost, Kate. So, here's what we know. I talked to the expert that predicted the power failure back in 2021 here in the State of Texas. And here's how he explained it, take a look at this map of Texas. You see it's covered in red. What that means is that this was the price of power last week when we saw those temperatures soar, and that means that the price was at $5,000 per megawatt hour.
Now, this expert says that the cost of generating this power is about 40 to $50 per megawatt hour. You do the math, that's about 100 times the cost. Now, all of this impacts' consumers. Here's how. Take a listen.
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ED HIRS, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS: They may see it in the next bill as a surcharge, a weather-related, grid-related surcharge coming down from ERCOT. And they will certainly see it in higher rates reflected for next year simply because, you know, this is something the markets experience.
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FLORES: Now, last week when there was this spike in temperatures and the spike in demand, ERCOT, the operator of the power grid here in the State of Texas, asked people to conserve power. Now, if you're like me, you're probably thinking, OK, wait a minute. ERCOT is saying everything is going to be fine in the grid in Texas, but why are prices soaring so much? Well, here is what Ed Hirs, that expert explained to me, and bear with me for just a second when explaining this.
So, he explained that when demand for power increases in the State of Texas, of course, because the temperatures spike, he says that the supply that is counted is only the supply from the generators that are generating power at that point in time. Now, here's the kicker, there is a sideline of power that is not included in supply. Let me say that one more time, there is power on the sidelines that is not counted as supply. And, Kate, here's the kick, once the price spikes, then they bring in that supply into the total supply for power in the State of Texas, but of course, at a much higher price.
So, you put that sideline power and the rolling blackouts and that's how Texas manages its power and they'll tell you everything is going to be fine. Yes, but it's going to cost you a little more. Kate.
BOLDUAN: And it could cost a lot more especially when you look at what -- this is what the temperatures could feel like today in some of these areas, which is just wild. Absolutely bananas. It's great to see you, Rosa. Thank you so much for doing that for us.
Sara.
SIDNER: Hallelujah for air conditioning.
The Supreme Court could be on the verge of overturning affirmative action in college admissions. Coming up, we'll talk to one expert how two decisions could upend the nearly 50-year precedent.
And a river of mud rushing into a town in China. Coming up, the search and rescue efforts to find people possibly trapped by those deadly landslides.
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BOLDUAN: Some of the stories that we're tracking from around the world this hour. Four people have died and three remain missing from landslides in Southwestern China. This happened Tuesday. Just look at this. State media reports, sudden rainstorms and flash floods triggered two big landslides early in the morning. Nearly 1,000 people were relocated as search and rescue efforts continued. And heavy rain, unfortunately, is in the forecast to continue today.
So, the PGA Tour now reassuring players that they will have a voice in the controversial new partnership with LIV Golf, which is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. A statement was issued by the PGA's policy board after they met Tuesday adding to the circus around this new controversial deal. The Justice Department is going to be investigating the partnership over antitrust concerns according to "The Wall Street Journal".
A temporary ceasefire between two warring military groups in Sudan appears to have ended with reports of renewed violence near Khartoum and the western part of the country yesterday. That was the latest ceasefire agreement in this ongoing violent conflict between two Sudanese paramilitary groups that forced U.S. diplomatic staff to evacuate Sudan back in April. The latest numbers coming in show that nearly 2.8 million people have now fled the violence, which is in its 11th week.
John.
BERMAN: Kate, with the month of June coming to a close, we are waiting for the Supreme Court to release some of the biggest decisions of the term. Those final cases cover contentious issues from gay rights to student loan forgiveness to affirmative action. Now, on that last issue, the court is considering whether colleges can continue to take race into consideration as a factor in admissions.
With us now is Tony Chen. He's an associate professor of sociology at Northwestern University. Important to mention, he also signed an Amicus brief in one of the cases before the court.
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Professor, I want to establish what this is and is not about first. First off, I think we just lost the professor, Tony Chen here. If you're still with me, Professor Chen.
TONY CHEN, POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGIST, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, AND AUTHOR, "THE FIFTH FREEDOM": Hi. I'm here.
BERMAN: This is not about quotas. The Supreme Court ruled that quotas are unconstitutional with the Bakke case in the 1970s. This is about using race as a factor in admissions. What exactly does that mean? CHEN: Well, what that means is that, as you said, race -- quotas are not permitted under the U.S. constitution. And schools like Harvard and UNC, which are involved in these cases before the Supreme Court, must look at race as one of many factors when considering the applications of folks wanting to get into school. And they can't weigh race in a mechanical way giving it the same weight every single time. They have to look at it in a flexible manner. So, race is just one of many factors that go into the decision-making process.
BERMAN: They can look at race when they want to build their student bodies if they want to, if they want it to be a diverse student body. What would it mean if they can't consider race when they're building their student population?
CHEN: That's right. So, if the Supreme Court decides to get rid of affirmative action, making it unconstitutional to practice, then schools will have to turn to what are called race neutral alternatives. These are different measures, different characteristics of application -- applicants, like their income level or the racial composition of their school, or the zip code of the school that they went to, to try to use those factors as a proxy as it were for race.
BERMAN: So, they'll still be able to look at geography. They'll still be able to look at income. Will they still be able to look at legacy if you're lucky enough to have a parent, a grandparent, a great- grandparent that went to that school. That will still be allowed, but race won't?
All right. He appears to be frozen right now. Let me see if we get the professor back. Hang on one second here.
CHEN: Hi.
BERMAN: Professor Chen is back. OK. I was asking about other considerations that schools will still be able to make like geography, like income and like legacy. Legacy still allowed, your dad or mom went to the college, you can still get an advantage admission, but race, no?
CHEN: Well, I suppose that we would have to look at what the Supreme Court says. But what's being argued in these cases by the plaintiffs is questions about race, not about legacy. So --
BERMAN: And finally, Professor, can you explain the connection to Asian Americans in these cases. How there been a connection been presented here?
CHEN: Yes. It's interesting how Asian Americans came into the legal process on this. It wasn't as though there was an individual Asian American who had a bad experience with an admissions process that have decided to sue and wound up a plaintiff in one of these cases. These cases are brought by a membership organization called Student for Fair Admissions, which is led by Ed Blum who has made it his life's work to eradicate racial considerations from America and public policy.
And it's -- it's, sort of, no accident why Asian Americans were selected as it were as a group for involvement in the litigation process. They are pretty ideologically appealing group for someone who is critical of affirmative action. Even though there has been a wave of anti-Asian hate in the last three or four years, Asian Americans are often thought of as a model minority. They're thought of as folks who work hard and play by the rules. And so, if the admission --
BERMAN: All right. We lost the connection one last time. We are appreciative, Professor Tony Chen, for helping us understand this. Obviously, we do expect the court to make a ruling on affirmative action in the coming days.
Sara.
SIDNER: A lot of people will be watching for that.
All right. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis calls it the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration legislation in the country. Now the law set to take effect this weekend is facing fierce backlash. We're going to take you live to the protests, next.
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SIDNER: A new immigration law is set to take effect in Florida this weekend. Governor Ron DeSantis calls it, the most ambitious anti- illegal immigration legislation in the entire country. Beginning July 1st, SB 1718, as it's known, will impose strict penalties and restrictions to deter undocumented employees from working in the state. And right now, protesters are rallying in opposition to the matter.
CNN's Nick Valencia is joining us now from my old home, Fort Myers, Florida. Can you give us a sense of what people are saying there? Florida being home to one of the places where you have thousands of migrants who picked the fruit and the vegetables for the rest of the country.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Sara. The main message here is that immigrants are a pillar to the United States and add tremendous value here to the State of Florida. What you're looking at here is a collection of opponents to this law that goes into effect on Sunday. And opponents of this law, this proposed law, they call it racist. Saying that it just doesn't just target undocumented immigrants, but also those who knowingly help undocumented immigrants. Transporting them into the state, offering them jobs. In fact, businesses that offer undocumented immigrants' jobs under this law could face up to a $10,000 fine.
[10:55:00]
You're looking at community activists, undocumented workers, a collection of business owners. And we are joined by one of the organizers, Yareliz Mendez-Zamora. Tell me what you guys hope to accomplish here today. YARELIZ MENDEZ-ZAMORA, FEDERAL LEAD, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: Today, we really hope to show that this is the real Florida. Florida is a home of immigrants. Florida is a home of diverse people who make this state what it is. We are the backbone of the state.
VALENCIA: Just very quickly, responding to the sponsor of this bill, he says that this is a reaction to controlling the out-of-control situation at the border. That this is to safeguard Florida residents and to put Floridians first. What do you react to that?
MENDEZ-ZAMORA: Number one, we know that the numbers after Title 42 have fallen, and so that is a lie. And our representatives have fallen for that lie. Instead of focusing on the real issues, like the housing crisis here in Florida, like the fact that mothers are deciding between paying rent and paying for food, they have decided to follow this false narrative.
And right now, right now is the moment for Congress to act. And while we wait for Congress to act, there is something that President Biden can do to protect the over 700,000 mixed-status households that are here in Florida, and that's redesignate TPF for Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador.
VALENCIA: Thank you, Yareliz, so much. A lot of passion here. This march is expected to get underway here at 11:00 a.m. eastern, going to about 1:00 p.m. This crowd has just been growing in size since we got. We're expecting to march with them in a matter of moments. Sara.
SIDNER: She's extremely passionate. I've been looking at some of the signs, and one of them said, we feed you, and that is true. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out there in Florida. Thank you so much, Nick Valencia, for your reporting.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: So, it has been a rough start to the week if you're flying, and a super rocky start to the holiday travel weekend ahead. More flights grounded this morning over bad weather. The outlook for what could be ahead for all of us for the 4th of July travel. We'll be right back.
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